As my brothers laid down facing opposite directions, I shifted into a white Maltese. They knew about my nightly routine. Like any good dog knows, Master comes first. But Hades wasn't here. My tail drooped. Omicron and Epsilon will have to do. I sniffed in their direction, breathing in a familiar scent. It wasn't as strong as usual, which means they are asleep. Or dead. I quickly made sure they were alive. "Stop licking me, Sig." Omicron groaned and rolled over. Good.

I looked up. The moon was bright and round. I've never seen it before, but I know it is good and night is good and Artemis is best. Maybe she will be my Master. I would like that, if she was nice. She is the moon goddess so she must be nice. The sky is nice and the breeze is nice. It smells like many things. I will list some of them. Forest, Hellhounds, water, sunflowers, flowers in general, ocean, Omicron, Epsilon, the Underworld, a little bit of Artemis, peace, me, and a lot of something I can only describe as warm and happy and cozy. I took a deep breath and howled, a pretty song about the night and safety. Afterward, I turned in twelve circles, six clockwise and six counterclockwise. After I had successfully built a scent barrier, I curled up in the fetal position and fell asleep.

I was home, but no one else was there. Hades was standing at the door of his palace, his arms open. I ran to him, but instead of returning my embrace, his hands flew to my throat. I managed to choke out 'I love you, Master'.

Hades smiled sweetly as he said 'Good dog.' He released me and I fell backward into a dark room. An electric shock collar was around my neck and a heavy black chain connected the collar to my wrists. Hades held the other end, but was farther away and elevated. White light poured from somewhere behind him. He frowned. 'Sigma, why did you leave? You can't survive there without me. Of course, I'll have to punish you for disobeying me,' many volts of electricity coursed through my body and I cried out. The pain stopped as Hades continued, 'but after that I can be your Master. I am your Master. Stay loyal to me, Sigma. I have to rescue you now. Why did you make this difficult?'

'I'm sorry, Master. I love you.' I said.

'It's your job to love me. Forever. You are my dog. You have to love me no matter what. That's the Code of Dog. You are a disgrace and a disappointment to me. Get up.'

I looked down, confused. I was already standing. Hades came closer to me and yanked the chain upward. My wrists flew above my head and the collar began choking me because it was attached to my wrists. Now suspended in the air, I slowly rotated in a circle.

'Do you love me?' I heard Hades say. My chin was pulled up so I only saw him for a few seconds at a time.

I gasped and began to hyperventilate. 'Yes.'

'Do you love me?'

'Yes.' I can only see four colors so my hands were somewhere between blue and black and throbbing. I think that's called navy. Ow, my neck hurts. I can't really breathe. This is not good.

'Do you love me?'

I'm getting dizzy. What question did he ask? I'll just say yes. Except I can't breathe. Are those spots? Sometimes Mom calls me Spot. I like Mom. She's nice. But what's not nice is that I can't breathe. I can't talk but Hades wants me to. I love him. I will try to tell him that. 'I- I lo-' I gasped. This hurts. I'm scared. A drop of something hit the ground. I heard it, so I must be crying. No! I love Hades, so I can't cry!

'Sigma, answer me. Do you love me?'

What? I can't think straight. I don't like this. This hurts. I'm scared. I moan quietly. I want to say something but I can't so it stays in my head. I need to get it out. I am crying again, I think. This hurts. I'm scared. I need to talk. I need to talk to Hades. So I pulled myself with my hands. They are almost black and I can't feel anything. 'Yes, Master. I love you more than I love myself.' It all ran together as one word but I think that's okay. But it's not okay because this hurts a lot and I'm scared and I see spots and I am crying. I don't like this. I want it to stop.

Hades grabbed the collar and my arms fall. I take short, tiny breaths. That is all I can do. If Hades let me go, I would not stand up. He leaned in close to my ear. 'Then prove it.'

I turned and felt something hard and crackly kind of. I touched it and it broke. Then it was all over me. I screamed.

I opened my eyes and didn't move. I laid there, breathing for a while. Something was in my hand so I looked at it. A leaf. I rolled onto my stomach and sat up. There were leaves all around. I scattered a few of them. My hands were not black or navy or blue or anything other than their usual pale. My neck had no marks that I could tell. It was all a dream, but tearstains were on my cheeks. I had screamed, I think.

"Sigma!" I heard Epsilon call. He came over, going around the sleeping form of Omicron. "What's wrong? I heard a scream."

I shook my head, through fresh tears were refilling the old stains. "Nothing. Just- It was just a nightmare."

"Nothing doesn't make you cry. What was it about?"

There was no use trying to hide it anymore. But I couldn't tell him. "Oh, Epi! Not now, not now!"

I turned and ran into the forest, wishing to be alone and wishing to with people. I collapsed between tree and tree and tree and tree. And stayed there and wailed. Sometime later, I felt arms wrap around me. I didn't know who they belonged to and I didn't bother to check. I just pressed into them and cried some more. I am so confused and so scared. After a couple minutes, I felt a little and very tired. I also had a headache. I looked up at my comforter, who was still there. She was wearing a shimmery grayish dress that went a little past her knees. Under that, leggings and boots covered her legs. I glanced up at her face. She was very pretty and her dark (but not black) hair was tied up in a braid. A simple band was around her head, the same color as the dress. She caught me looking at her and I quickly averted my eyes, turning sideways. "Um. Thanks." I said quietly.

She smiled. "Maybe you would be more comfortable is I was-" Without finishing the sentence, she transformed in a large silver wolf. I sniffed a little, immediately sensing power and feminism, as though I didn't already know she was a she. She was standing in dominant pose; her ears were forward and her tail was straight up. I shifted into a wolf and folded my ears back, crouching low. My tail curled between my legs as I looked sideways. She licked my cheek and huffed, then thrashed her tail and took off deeper into the woods. Translation: It's okay, you can relax. Follow me. So naturally, I chased after her.