Ori forced down the sour taste in her mouth and gripped the closest cushion between her fingers, wringing the loose tassels. A warning prickled at the back of her mind again, insisting that somewhere, something was out of balance. She felt every pair of eyes glued on her as each of her friends regarded her with different measures of combined concern and understanding. They had emerged from the Underworld together, but what they had experienced in its depths marred their narrowly-won victory.

“I hate to say it, but Juno has a point.” Ori lifted her gaze to Juno’s, and in the pools of blue, Ori recognized the same dismay that she felt in her bones. Her statement hung heavily between them, and Ori wished she could take it back, just so they could continue to pretend that Valere was the worst of their worries.

“Not you, too,” Bea groaned and leaned against the wall, crossing her arms over her chest. “We’ve fallen for his half-truths before! This is what he does!”

“It’s not a great point,” Aurelia reiterated, “but it is a valid one. You’re right, Bea. Valere is an immediate danger, and I’m worried about dealing with him. If it was just him, then my answer would be completely different, but it’s not just about him right now. Deathbringer was the worst enemy we’ve ever faced, and he wasn’t even at his full power.

Apollyon scares me. I’m terrified of what he can do! Look at this place, Bea! We have night lamps and crystals in every room. Mads still gets night terrors about the Underworld, and I’ve seen you looking over your shoulder every time you pass a dark room. Above and Below, Valere’s afraid of him, and I can’t remember him ever looking scared. Can you?” 

She hoped one of them would refute her, but nobody did.

None of them had escaped unscathed by the hellscape. The all-consuming, dark oblivion of the Underworld had thrust them to the brink of absolute ruin. Yet, they had persevered. Hand in hand, they had pushed on and carried each other onward and upward until they finally emerged in the light. 

In the aftermath of their crusade, they had found comfort in each other. With time and effort, they had managed to piece together some picture of normality, but the picture never came close to the real thing. Their idea of normal couldn’t compare to what it had been before their descent. The picture they pieced back together was pinned in place with piercing needles that could just barely keep the tattered scraps in place. Every so often, a pin would fall out of place and reveal unwanted, ugly memories hidden behind the portraits they kept up. Then, they were forced to pin things back in place, facing the horrors they wanted so desperately to leave behind.

Ori ran a hand through her silver hair, as if she could wipe the memories away that easily, but she knew better than to believe that she could escape the feeling of dread. The sense of doom plagued her just like it did with every step they took into the depths. She had been overwhelmed by an intense urge to run and hide throughout that entire year, and the instinct had worsened when they actually descended into the Underworld. It had only disappeared altogether upon successfully refortifying the barrier.

Mads pulled a blanket around her shoulders and burrowed further into the corner of the couch. Bea dug her manicured nails into the unmarred skin of her arms. The rest just shook their heads and murmured in agreement. 

“No, never,” Cece cleared her throat and sat upright on the couch. “It’s not like Valere to be visibly shaken by something.”

“Exactly!” Some of Juno’s confidence and optimism returned now that the general opinion shifted in her favor. “We have an opportunity to get ahead of Apollyon this time, and we need to take it before it gets away. So, we need to start looking…” 

“Not so fast,” Ori interjected before the golden-haired blonde could get ahead of herself. “We’re not done talking about what happened earlier, June. We need to have a real conversation about this now and sort it out before we face Valere or Calpurnia again.”

“I thought we just did.” The priestess stated, regarding Ori with confusion.

“I’m not talking about the issue with Valere.” The archer sighed and tried again, “We need to talk about you. At the gates, you completely ignored what we were saying. You can’t keep making these massive, life-altering decisions on your own! We aren’t teenagers anymore! We can’t run head-first into danger all the time!”

“I’m not going to ignore warning signs when they’re right in my face!” Juno’s expression hardened defensively. “I told you, I can sense something coming!” 

Juno’s gift for clairvoyance rarely led them astray, so her confidence wasn’t completely unfounded. True prophets who could foresee specific events spoke in riddles, and only a handful of geniuses ever manifested the ability. Clairvoyants, like June, were far more available and more reliable. They possessed an awareness of the general outlook related to future events. As a Vessel, the scale of Juno’s clairvoyance surpassed most others’ and encompassed the very fate of the world. A typical clairvoyant could predict if someone’s day would go well. June could predict the end of an empire. 

“You still should have considered what we were saying,” Cece pointed out bitterly. “We should’ve had the conversation as a group before we let him through the gates.”

“He could’ve disappeared if we waited that long!” Juno countered.

“Who’s to say that we wouldn’t have found him later on?” 

“That’s not the point,” Ori spoke up before they could get caught up in the what-ifs. “You’re a powerhouse, but the rest of us don’t have an unlimited reserve of Divinity. It’s dangerous, and we need to consider the consequences before rushing in.”

“I can protect us,” Juno insisted, and the fire in her eyes reignited at whatever threat she imagined. 

“You shouldn’t have to!” The frustration that had been building in Ori’s chest all morning finally burst out. “We don’t have to be in situations where we’re in danger and need you to protect us! Just because you can save us doesn’t mean we should take on every threat that lands at our doorstep!” She drew a shaky breath and let her whole body sink into the cushions.

“So, what? Should I just let the world fall apart, then? I didn’t ask for this responsibility!” 

Neither did we! The words blared in her mind, but Ori bit her tongue before she could say something that she knew she would regret later. Her muscles ached. Her head throbbed. They had allowed a demon on school grounds. All Ori wanted to do was catch her damn breath.

 Luckily, Minerva stepped up to reason with Juno while Ori searched for her composure, “You know that’s not what she means. We need to be more selective with our battles.We have to set an example for the students.”

“I wouldn’t have taken the risk if I wasn’t sure of myself!”

“Are you sure?” Madrigal piped up from her burrow at the edge of the couch. “Or did you take it because you were scared of what would happen if you didn’t?”

When Juno didn’t refute the questions posed, Aurelia knew that Madrigal’s uncanny habit of hitting the nail on the head got the best of their friend. It wasn’t magic. Mads just had a way of observing the world around her that helped her catch on to things that the rest of them often overlooked.

“We know you’re worked up because you’re worried about us,” Bea said and wiped tears away with the heel of her palm. “We may not be as powerful as you, but we’re strong, too. We are just as worried about you as you are about us. The Divinity you conducted to exile Valere almost killed you. I don’t want us to keep getting hurt over and over again.” The waver in Bea’s voice seemed to get through to Juno, and the bull-headed woman crossed the floor to draw her best friend into a tight embrace. 

Minerva nodded in agreement with Bea’s sentiments. “We don't follow your lead because you’re destined for greatness. We’re with you because we trust you, so you need to trust us when we voice our concerns.” 

“I do trust you,” Juno stated firmly, and the tension in her body dissipated. She leaned into Bea’s embrace more warmly. 

“I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at the situation,” Ori clarified with her heartbeat and breathing even again. “I’m sorry.”

Juno rested her head on Bea’s shoulder and offered Ori a modest smile. “So am I. It wasn’t my decision to make, and I shouldn’t have made it by myself.”

“So, what do we do now? Where do we even start?” Cece glanced around the room, waiting for someone to provide any ideas. 

“Well, the most obvious choice is a library,” Minnie supplied with a touch of eagerness. 

Ori rose to her feet and stretched to relieve some of the tension in her body. Twisting her torso until a satisfying pop sounded, she took a glimpse out of a long window overlooking the pier. “We can start tomorrow.” 

“Why not start now?” Mads asked. 

Ori pointed at the dock where the Alpha Team of gladiators dropped anchor from their yacht. “I think they’ll want to know what’s happening.”