"Alena!" A deep voice shouted frantically, shaking her body profusely as whoever it was tried to rouse her. "Alena, wake up! We need to go now!"

The faint shaking reached her shoulders, causing a low groan to fall from her throat as her head began to ache. She wished that the bothersome voice would leave her alone.

"Alena!"

"Leave me be." she grumbled, swatting away at whoever was trying to wake her up. "If I knew any better, Klari, I'd swear you were--"

But as the words spilled seamlessly out of her mouth, something stopped her, and all of a sudden all her memories came rushing back in on her.

Passing out when searching for Damari, making breakfast and doing chores with her family, going to the shore with Klari...

Klari.

Alena's eyes flew open as she sat up in a hurry, grabbing for whatever was in her reach as she screamed. "Damari! Help me!"

"Alena! Alena, shh! It's all right, I'm here." The man said as Alena held on tightly to his wrist.

Slowing down her breathing, she stared at him briefly, taking in his tussled form.

His blonde curls were in a tangle while his widened eyes depicted just how anxious he was to get moving.

Staring at him longer than was necessary, it finally clicked that he was there, that he was with her, and that he was okay.

A wordless cry parted her lips and she fell into his arms, holding him close as she shook with agony, all her memories attacking her at once.

His shoulders were stiff at first, not moving as she wrapped her arms around him and held him tight, but gradually she felt his muscles loosen and his arms relax as they came around her waist to hold her close.

"Alena," he crooned, his hand rubbing her back gently as he whispered in her ear, "what's wrong?"

But Alena couldn't reply, instead she buried her face in his neck, inhaling the scent that she knew to be his.

She could feel his breathing and as she calmed her own, she could hear the beating of his heart pounding steadily against his chest as she listened to it intently.

He shifted her in his arms and moved a strand of her hair from her face, staring deeply into her eyes with worry. "Alena, tell me what's wrong, please. You're never like this."

Inhaling softly through her nose, Alena felt like her chest collapsed in on itself at his words, not being able to breath properly as a pitiful sob escaped her.

"I..I remember, Damari." she heaved quietly, shaking even more as pressure built up behind her eyes. "I remember them all."

He pulled away from her and held her at arms length. "You remember who?"

Her lip trembled as she gave him a watery smile. "I had a sister. I had a family," She shrugged her shoulders pathetically, giving a small laugh, "and they loved me."

Damari went silent, only staring at her before pulling her into his arms once again as her mewlings turned into cries, echoing around the pair as she struggled to quiet herself.

The pressure continued to build inside her, not just behind her eyes, but in her heart as well, so many emotions crashing into each other all at once like the waves on the ocean shore.

Her mouth fell open as she tried to speak. "I let them down, Damari. I lost my sister, she was taken away and I couldn't protect her."

"Alena, it's okay, that was a long time ago."

"Damari, she's gone!"

Standing to his feet, Damari helped Alena up to her full height, putting both of his hands on the side of her eyes so that her gaze could meet his.

"Alena, we have to go, now, she's after us. I understand your hurting, but if we don't go now we're never going to make it to the Underworld."

"Who's after us?!"

Damari moved inches away from her face, his eyes now opened wide with fear. "Hecate."

Moving away from him she took in her surroundings and saw that she was deep inside one of the underwater caves that lined the base of Mount Palímör; the large space in the cavern washed in darkness as the pair sat quietly, making it possible for the faintest of sounds to reach their ears if necessary.

When the name passed Damari's lips, Alena could swear that she felt a deep chill saturate the air around them, sinking into her bones as she processed what that name meant.

"She's here?"

"She's the one that had you under her spell for the past few hours." Damari hissed, pulling her in closer as if he would never let her go.

Alena's breathing began to accelerate again. "Her spell? It felt like I was only with my family for hours, Damari."

His blue eyes fell onto hers as he started to move her towards the entrance. "Alena, that was a memory. It was poisoning you and the bond we share just as she was doing to me."

Holding her hand to her head, Alena cursed under her breath, looking to the ceiling in frustration. "Of course, Hecate is the Goddess of Witchcraft."

"And sorcery as well as crossroads and necromancy." Damari added lowly, a tiny rustling sound drawing his attention to the front of the cave. "We also happen to be at a crossroads if you hadn't realized it yet."

Looking through her fingers in puzzlement, Alena stared at Damari intently. "What do you mean?"

Grabbing ahold of her hand, he guided her through the confusing pathways, passing multiple twists and turns until they reached the front of the cave, shadows casting themselves across Alena and Damari's figures as they stared out at the path they had travelled.

"Where are the hippocampus', Damari? And how did you suffer the same as I ?"

Damari's expression turned grim and he directed his gaze farther down the path. "I couldn't bring them because Hecate reached them first."

"What do you mean?" Alena asked, even as she followed his line of vision, holding back a gasp as she saw what was occurring merely a few miles away.

It could have been a cloud of dust sailing across the sea floor's large expanses, but Alena knew better, watching the cloud overtake their camp as the hippocampus' neighs approached their ears, turning into horrified shrieks as the cloud thickened and they could no longer be seen.

Turning back around to face Damari, Alena stared back up at him in sorrow. "What happened to them?"

His expression didn't change, but his voice had turned cold and lifeless as he stared out from the cave. "You know what happened. What always happens to those who fall under the clutches of one such as Hecate. She isn't known as the goddess of Necromancy for nothing."

All of a sudden, the cries ceased, and Alena found herself staring back out to where their steeds had once stood, only to see that not even a saddle was left in its place, the swirls of sand surrounding the deserted camp dissolving into oblivion.

"The path we rode, it leads to the Mount, but also to the entrance of the Underworld. This very cavern does in fact, as well as another path farther south, create a three way convergence and meeting point for Hecate."

Alena jerked away from him in surprise. "How do you now this? I highly doubt you are experienced in the arts of the god of Death and the goddess of Necromancy."

Damari cocked his head to the side in acknowledgement. "Well yes, that's true, but when a half mad goddess is frequently attacking you from within your mind, I'd suspect you would be in a place she'd rather you weren't, don't you?"

"That is an awful assumption, honestly. You have to have a better explanation for this then simply stating the obvious."

"If you must know then," Damari coughed out, dragging her back through the tunnels and past the area they had been sitting in moments earlier, "I found this."

She looked up at Damari skeptically and leaned forward to look at what he was pointing at on the cavern floor, hoping that it was something that had given him a genuine and thought out explanation for once in the time they'd been together.

As she moved closer, she could see the faintest of carvings begin to appear in the stone, the engraving in the dark stone becoming more prominent as she bent down to the floor.

A misshapen helmet was etched deep into the rock, the fading light from the outside of the cave causing a glint to spark across its top, an ominous ambience surrounding its place.

"The Helm of Hades." Alena whispered with awe, her fingers grazing the rough surface delicately as she stared at the symbol. "You're right, we're close."

"And that is why her powers are so strong in this place. She is one of the guards of Hades, one that in the tales of old is said to be a friend that holds his trust."

A high pitched screech rendered the cool air, causing the hairs on the back of Alena's neck to rise and her breathing to grow shallow at the blood curdling sound.

Damari looked timidly over her shoulder. "I don't think that's a welcoming party."

"No," Alena agreed, brushing away small rocks as she looked around at the ground, "I'd say it's rather someone coming to give us a more unfortunate greeting."

Her hands moved rapidly, dusting aside everything and anything that could possibly be near the representation of Hades.

"What are you doing?" Damari asked, flustered, watching the opening of the cave closely as she continued to search around the stone. "You do realize this isn't the right time to be searching for gods knows what while an angry goddess is most likely right outside this cave waiting to eat us alive."

Alena snorted, leaning her head closer towards the image of the helm as something caught her eye. "Do you know anything about mythology?"

"Yes I do, why?"

She rubbed her fingers over an engraving that was set in miniscule lettering below the helm, its meaning blurred as she struggled to make it out.

"Because I do not think that a being such as Hecate would eat you alive. She would much rather torture us by slowly mutilating our minds from the inside out, warping dream and reality until they were one and the same, whereas the results would be us not knowing our heads from our toes."

Damari inhaled sharply, a bark of laughter following shortly after as he moved deeper into the cave. "Oddly enough, that isn't as soothing as one might think."

Ignoring his attempt at light banter, Alena smoothed away at the stone again, leaning closer until the Greek wording became clearer and she could finally read what it said.

"The Sight.. unseen... The Sound.. made profound.. The Gates of Hades.. will rise."

"What could that possibly mean." she whispered to herself, her fingers subconsciously running across the worn leather of the draw string that held her bag against her back.

Pressing her fingers along the fabric, her mind stopped and her eyes opened wide, a grin flying across her face as she pulled the bag off of her back and searched through its contents.

"What is it?" Damari asked quietly, the screeches that had sounded moments before now bouncing off the cavern walls, moving closer. "Would it be able to aid us in escaping this seemingly dire situation?"

"I believe we've been in the same dire situation for some time now, don't you, Sailor?" Alena asked quizzically, chuckling quietly at the nickname she attached to the end of her sentence. "Now do be a good little boy and guard the opening in case something were to decide to attack us."

Damari's stunned look met hers as she pulled the conch shell out of the bag and handed it to him.

"If anything happens and we get separated, I want you to be protected, so only use that when you most need it. Otherwise, it will have been a wasted call."

He straightened his spine and steeled his jaw, his eyes freezing over as he prepared to head over to the front of the cave, but something stopped him.

Spinning around, Damari watched Alena's hair fall forward into her face, framing it lightly with wispy curls as she pulled out a small brass spy glass, treating it with great care as she placed her other belongings back in her bag.

He hadn't realized until now how gentle she was when treating objects from above water, almost as if she were afraid the objects would shatter if she were to move them one wrong way or the other.

She was one of the most caring people he had come to know, and behind her mask of self doubt and crime, he realized that she was a woman who deserved to be cherished and loved. To be given a love that was so pure that it would throw all her doubts to the wind.

A love that he couldn't give her.

She deserved better than a sailor who could barely afford to provide for his family and she deserved far better than a life below the sea where she was controlled day in and day out by the creature inside her.

She deserved better than him as an accomplice.

Bending down next to her, he ignored all the fears and insecurities that were screaming at him to stop any nonsense before it started, but he couldn't do it. He couldn't cut off his heart from the one thing it craved so much to be near.

He removed the spy glass from her hand and watched her sea green eyes advance slowly up and over his body until they reached his eyes, a desire unlike any other burning in their depths.

He knew this desire, for it mirrored his own, and he couldn't hold back as he laced his fingers around the nape of her neck and ghosted his lips over hers, just barely tasting the smooth satiny feel of her lips before pulling away to push a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Whatever happens, stay safe." he growled out hoarsely, his emotions running haywire as he struggled for sanity. "We stay together for as long as we can, but if one of us can make it to the end and the other has to stay behind, we take the chance. All right?"

He could see the liquid brimming in her eyes before he saw it.

One single tear, sliding in a lone trail down her cheek. The excruciating pain brewing in her eyes as the salty drop burned a scalding path along her skin.

"All right." she muttered almost incoherently, turning away from him before coughing into her elbow, "now I suggest that you make haste to your post, Mr. Callos, or else we could very well find ourselves overrun in minutes, would we not?"

A sorrowful smile stretched across Damari's face as he ran a hand longingly down the length of her hair. "Yes, I'd believe that very well could happen, Miss Cali."

His hand fell from her shoulder as he accepted the conch shell she held out to him, holding it tightly in his palm as he moved past her hunched body to head towards the entrance of the cave, preparing himself for whatever fate would greet him.

Yet just as he positioned himself against a tall, ungainly rock that sat in a group of others just under the lip of the cave, he could hear a faint melody reach his ears as he stared out across the sea's magnificent beauty, and he could hear himself replying in turn with a soft harmony of his own.

~*~*~*~*~