There are many things I could have done, waking up in a world of bright white light. Cry. Begged. Find the door to the other side and go through. Screamed. Get super pissed off about that stupid, irritating fae bitch getting the better of me, again.

Instead, I just sat and waited.

Who would come this time? Alistair, Reece - maybe some other long lost relative, the ultimate god of the gods, my grandparents, the other friends and people that I've lost.Maybe, just someone?

I never had to wait this long before.

"You are one of us now, child. It will take more than a mere cut to end your life." A woman softly said, a hand on my shoulder. "This is not your end."

I look up into one of the most beautiful faces I had ever seen. Her eyes were a deep brown and kind, her nose the right size and shape; her lips were full and pouty in that way you wish you could achieve in your selfies without the overdose of botox. I wanted to stare at her for as long as I could.

"Rise child, you are safe here." Her hand slid off my shoulder and was offered in front of me. Taking it, I felt completely calm, and as I stood before her, I decided she had to be an angel, like a real heavenly one. "Welcome."

"To where, exactly?"

"The Underworld." She smiled revealing a perfect set of teeth.

"And you are?" I ask, trying to keep my tone neutral. She bowed slightly, yet the look on her face told me I should know the answer. I did, I just didn't want this peaceful moment to end. "Hecate."

"Indeed. It is a pleasure to meet you, Elise Bunting."

"You know who I am?"

"Hard not to know the way word travels around this place." She shrugged. "Hades and his minions do not realise I can hear them from below. It's been quite a journey for you hasn't it."

The white fades away, and we're suddenly sitting in a small living room of a cabin. Trees fill pots around the window, drop down from shelves beside jars of herbs, sand, and tiny creatures. I see one full of moving mice and try not to stare for too long. In all, it's kind of cozy, if not a little damp and rundown. More plants sit in pots along the wall, on cupboards, everywhere. It's a bit, odd, but who am I to judge right now.

"So, this is hell?" I ask, trying not to further judge her decorating style as well as the ripped sofa and stained cushions.

"This is the Underworld."

"The difference?"

"No noisy, tortured neighbours keeping you up all night, or views of the centre of the earth. Better climate too." She smiled, setting down a tea set on the table, before motioning for me to take a seat.

As she passed each plant, they all seemed to follow her, reaching out leaves like limbs desperate to touch. I don't blame them, there was something magnetic about her energy as well as her beauty; a dangerous combination.

"Ah, right." I sit on a creaky wooden chair and watch her pour.

"I was raised in a house like this. It makes me feel calm," She closes her eyes for a moment and takes a deep breath. "I feel your confusion, I can imagine how this must be for you."

"Well, you're kind of nice for a dead deity that I apparently just got myself sacrificed for. It's going to suck with whatever is next. Are we going to fight for the right to go back to my body or something?"

"Thank you." She sipped her tea, and for how strange this all was, I wasn't going to be touching anything she offered to me. "And that won't be necessary. I have no desire to return."

"Maybe tell your cult of worshipers that. Might save the dry cleaning bill for those altar costumes." I shudder at the memory of those final moments.

"You would think my silence would say enough. It has been centuries in your realm since I answered their calls."

"Why?" This really wasn't what I was expecting.

"Your people see me as evil. A monster to be feared. I am none of those things. I blessed your world with the magic of mine, and it was your people, the demons that already lived there that turned it dark," Hecate growled, the air altering from calm to tense and the plants appeared to shake with the energy that came from her. "I could not undo what I did, those that were faithful stayed on my path of light, while others. Well, they did not."

"The dark and light fae." I think out loud.

"The witches, mages, spell keepers, sorcerers. Whatever it is you call them these days." She snapped. "They forget their origins, their creator, their purpose!"

Cain created us, the Hunters, Slayers and Trackers. Hecate essentially did the same only with those who possess magic. There was just so much in our past and history that we didn't know, understand and not just for us, the general human population and even the supernatural. How much had been lost of the centuries, changed and altered.

"Do not think too hard or too long about this, young one. We would be here for an eternity if you were to try and understand, or even make sense of it all." Easy for her to say. "That power that is inside you now, it's raw and pure, but old and tainted. It has been resting for too long and has only just started to awaken."

"Tainted?"

"Those born with these powers all start the same. No one is particularly stronger than another, but rather, the vessel themselves decides that. Just how they decide how to use their gifts. It is not so much the power they are born with, but the abilities they have to use it."

"I don't know quite what you're saying."

"Take Hades and Zeus. Brothers. Hades was a quiet child, he enjoyed the simple things in life whereas Zeus needed to be the centre of attention. They were equal in power, only they used it in different ways. Had Hades sought more fame and attention, then perhaps we would have seen more conflict as they grew. Perhaps we would have had a different King all along." She mused. "Aphrodite is a lover more than a fighter. If she were gifted with a love of war in her heart, instead of well, love and all that comes with it, perhaps Aries would be sharing his battlefields with a comrade fiercer than even he."

"What about Cain?" The words leave me before I can stop them.

"He is no different. His gifts were perhaps more of a curse than any will ever understand. He is all. The ability to see and then do, a great burden to bear. He rivals them all, his gift is their gift, their powers all matched, but the abilities are not."

I get it, I think. It's the person, not the magic that decides who is good or bad, and for what purpose they use them for. It went wrong for Hecate when she brought those abilities into our world because the magic wasn't theirs, just like how it isn't really mine. We have it, we control it, but some people are just wrong, while some are good, and the power we have attaches to that rather than gifts the Powers and Gods were also born with.

"You would not have these powers if he did not think you could control them. You are not like the other child, and that is your greatest power." She sips her tea, the mood transitioning into a calmer state.

"Did you know Sobek-Ra?" I'm not sure why I ask.

"I know of him." She looks at me over the edge of her cup. "Drink your tea."

"I'd rather not. Drinking something I shouldn't have is how I get here in the first place."

"Maybe you wanted it, and so it was."

"Yeah, because I totally went out tonight hoping to get drugged up and sacrificed."

Hecate shrugged. "Drink the tea, child. I mean no harm. I may already be dead, yet if Hades was to learn I did something to the God Killer, I am not immune to being sent to Hell or worse."

"What is worse?"

"Some things are better left unknown." She put down her cup. "Drink. I want to see what the tea has to say!"

"What?"

Rolling her eyes, she showed me her empty cup. The remnants of the tea were stuck in clumps at the bottom, and looking into my own, tiny bits of tea stuff floating around. With a sigh, I drink it and cringe at the taste. No milk, sugar or honey or anything sweet seemed to be in there and once done, I set it down.  Hecate was up in an instant, peering over my shoulder.

"Pick it up with your left hand and move in a circle three times from left to right and then turn it upside down on the saucer." I do as she says. "Now put it the right way."

Again, I do as she says and quickly picks it up, studying it intently. A series of mm and ah sounds come from her as she looks at the remnants inside.

"Good news is there is happiness in your future. Only, that is in the far, distant future. It's there though." She mumbles something I don't catch. "I don't like this or this."

"What does that mean?

"Never you mind!" She puts the cup down and takes her seat. "Now, I think it's time you went back."

"No, tell me what you saw first!"

"A battle in your present. You are here, and I do not want any part of that." She crossed her arms, pouting again.

"What could possibly happen here? What else did you see?" I never knew I believed in that stuff until now.

"There is passion involved or maybe you are just a passionate person? I hope so, a war of hearts never ends well!" Hecate scolds. "Three hearts, maybe four. One is much, much darker. A hateful heart. All you do is with that passion, instinct. You act before you think."

"Four?" That sounded complicated.

"Maybe more, in the future. See." She points to the clump down the side and she's right, there are actually many hearts all in different shades of the tea. "The big one represents you. These dark ones, it could be someone reoccurring. You will encounter this hate three times, see the sword there, there and there? Battle comes each time."

Including here. "This makes no sense."

"It doesn't have to." It's then I hear the moaning, and Hecate freezes. "Go, child."

"What is that noise?" I get up and look out the window.

The plants reach across as if to cover it and looking out into the mist, I start to see shapes of people walking by. "Who are they?"

"The unplaced. You should go."

"Unplaced?"

"We don't all get cabins here. Some are left to wander. Never you mind them." She tells me gently as the plants stop trying to hide the outside.

"Why?"

"Various reasons. Your Sobek is one of them. He was not sent to here as his kind typically do. Cain ensured he would be left to suffer after his passing. There are many like him amongst them." Hecate sighs. "It is what it is."

"I don't get it. He was a god, shouldn't he go be where the gods go like you?"

"This is my own agreement with Hades. I carry the torch, guide the new arrivals to their final destination. In return, I get this." She sits on her sofa, stroking the nearest plant. "Think of the Underworld like one your concerts. We each get a ticket to go in but have to do so at our gate. When we don't, well, we get lost. Our powers guide us to where we need to be, but we're dead, so we don't need them anymore, so they are technically the ticket in."

"Then why don't you get your torch and help get them to their seat. Clearly, you know who they all are?" I snap back.

"Not my fault it happened. We don't get involved. As I said, it is what it is." She shrugs. "Now, let's get you-"

I'm outside before she finishes, and the mist parts as I stand outside her cabin. Looking back, a vast forest seems to surround it, yet in front of me appears barren and lifeless. I shiver from the cold.

"Get back in here, right now!" She sounds like my mother when she's angry.

"Where is he? Where is Sobek?" I demand, walking closer to the mob.

"Who knows! They will start to sense your life energy if you get closer. Your body could be theirs for the taking!" Hecate sounds panicked now, suddenly at my side. "What are you doing?"

"I am going to find him and get him to his seat. He may have betrayed me, but he doesn't deserve this. He suffered in life, he deserves to find peace."

"You can't just go and-"

"Yes, I can." I keep walking.

"You don't have your powers here, you are defenceless against them."

"But I have you, right? Pretty sure Hades would be mighty annoyed if you let anything happen to me." I smile at her.

"No. You have a one-way ticket back to the in between, and then, go back to your body." She scolds.

"Your call." I shrug.

Then I run.

Probably not the best option considering what I was putting at risk, but while I was here, I had to try at least. His magic was now mine. I owed him, something, didn't I?

The group walks on past as I climb up onto some rocks to get a better look. Silver moonlight casts dark shadows of them, only looking around, I don't see a sky or much of anything else. Just hills of nothing with the odd moving clump of spirits, ghosts, whatever they are, walking along as the one that just passed did.

Sobek could be anywhere and even if I found him, then what?

"He isn't here," Hecate says as she appears beside me.

"Take me to him." I hesitate. "Please."

Sure enough, we leave the rock and end up near more rocks, only different ones that from one look at, I know I can't climb if I have to. Looking around, I see nothing, and just as I am about to ask Hecate about it, I notice the small pool of water.

"Be quick. Make your peace or whatever, if he allows you to. We need to go, we shouldn't be here!" She snaps, yet vanishes a second later.

"Sobek? Sobek-Ra?" I call out cautiously, nearing the edge of the water.

A ripple grabs my attention, a small trail of bubbles follow and I quickly retreat. Just in time as a large, crocodile emerges from the water and onto the shore. He silently looks me over, powerful jaws opening as the creature hisses, soon disappearing as a man takes its place.

"You."

"Oh, hey!" I give him a tiny wave.

His breaths in loudly, water dripping from him as he closes his eyes. He isn't the crocodile man I first met, despite his little transformation just now. His golden accessories are missing, and the scrap of cloth that covers him from the waist down isn't the same kind of fabric as before. He is skinny and what hair is on his head is patchy and balding.

"Come to gloat, Hunter?" He finally snarls. "Did you make it back to your time without me or is that why you're here now?"

He sniffs again, stepping closer.

"You're not dead, but not alive either."

"Despite our past, I want to help you," I tell him. "I can help you leave this place and find when you're meant to be."

He laughs, a raspy, chesty sound that leaves him coughing. "No one can."

"I made it out of the past and back into the future. I am nowhere in The Underworld. Do you really doubt me?" I challenge.

"Why would he? You are the God Killer, yes?" A female voice asks from behind us and spinning around, I hear the splash of water as Sobek vanishes.

It isn't Hecate standing there now.

Actually, I have no idea who is standing there.

Her face is covered with a scarf, except for her eyes which hold so much hate, I almost cringe. The ninja attire is a little much-considering everything, yet I see the gold of her sword as she raises and my stomach sinks. I have no powers here. I am vulnerable and weaponless. A quick look behind me shows that Sobek isn't going to be much help and subtly running my hands over my jeans and waist, I really don't have any weapons.

"Maybe, depends who's asking?" I glare at her and somehow we both step in the opposite direction at the same time, beginning to circle each other.

"I'll tell you once you're dead." She snarls, suddenly rushing forward.

Out of nowhere a sword appears in my hand and just in time as I block her first hit. I kick out, hitting her stomach and suddenly we are separated, circling once more. A quick look around and I spot Hecate with her torch, holding back a hoard of the moaning figures that are trying to come into the little cove. I am so going to get a big old, I told you so, from her if I survive this. Maybe even if I don't - who knows what will be next for me if this psycho gets her wish.

"It's ironic you know because people always tell me I have no manners. Now I know there is something out there-" She charges forward again. "That is worse than I am at meeting new people. I go by Elise too, not just god killer."

My talking infuriates her more, and as we fight, she reveals she is not one of the dead or even like Hecate, because as I hit her arm, I see skin that bleeds, and her powers have her disappearing all over the place. Her presence is strong, her breathing is heavier than mine. She is here in body, and I am not. It makes sense now as to why I have no powers here, and also why my thigh isn't bleeding from the scratch I just got.

"You know, you clearly didn't do your research," I tell her, liking the growls of frustration as I manage to stop her each and every time she thinks she is going to win. "Semi dead or not, powered up or not, I killed my first god when I was only, just a Hunter. I know, not bad for an advanced human. The first time, I came across Hades, even got a bit of a shock."

She says nothing, more grunts and curses as we fight on.

"So, how about we make this easier for everyone, and you just tell me who you are?" Hecate is fighting a losing battle and Sobek is no help. This bitch seems to be set on keeping me away from the dead goddess, who happens to be my only way out of here. "Clearly we have some issues, or at least I know you do. Me, well, yeah I got more than I think we have time to go through right now, but I'm not popping up to randomly try and kill people for no reason."

"Oh but I do. I saw your boyfriend survived my present. Such a shame!" She clucked her tongue, and I saw red.

"You? You did that?"

Our swords meet, a battle of will and strength follows as we fight to hold the other back.

"With the assistance of that, naive little fae creature. He shames himself by choosing you over his own kind. He brings embarrassment to his kin. Such a weak Power, he thinks only with his-"

She doesn't get to finish as I drop, barely missing her sword that sways uncontrolled from the sudden loss of mine against it. I kick up, behind her knees, and she falls onto her back. In seconds I am there, my fists collide with her face, and then we're both on the ground, wrapped around each other as blood pours from her nose - reaching for the golden sword that will end it all.

I barely get it in my grasp, when the ground trembles and using her to push off against, I just get my finger on the hilt and roll onto my back, throwing it up and while it wasn't a great shot, I catch the side of her face. The woman screams, clutching the fabric of her mask as her hands are painted red. Everything stops.

We make eye contact. I will never forget those eyes.

"This, is not, over!" She screeches and disappears.

I collapse on my back feeling exhausted. "No, it's not."

"Elise!" Hecate calls as the trembling stops. "My lord, I can explain!"

My lord?

Sitting up, the mob is gone, Hecate is dropping to her knees in front of a large, dressed in black, man. The tension is so thick I could start cutting at it with the sword, which I keep hold of as I slowly stand up.

"I do not wish to hear your excuses, you have just-"Hades roars.

"Then hear mine," I call out, slowly approaching. "It's not her fault."

He is beyond furious. I don't think there is a word to use to describe his current emotional state. Hecate disappears, and slowly he turns to face me.

"How, what- I don't. What the fuck has been going on for you to be here?" He finally shouts. "This isn't another realm Elise. It's the underworld! Do you even understand that?"

"Yes. Completely." I tell him, finally dropping the sword and holding my hands up as though I've been caught red-handed. Which I kind of was. "There's a super funny story that-"

"Wait," he holds his hand out, and I shiver. "Oh, you have got to be, no. You are not-"

He does it again.

"I'm semi-dead?" I shrug.

His hand goes to his forehead as he closes his eyes and mumbles a lot of words I don't recognise and the ones I do, shouldn't be repeated.

"Hecate?" He finally asks.

"Innocent."

"The crocodile?"

"Also, innocent."

"Who knows that this happened?" Hades sighs.

"Um, no idea. I got sacrificed, kind of, but she was all, no, I don't want your body as my new vessel because I like it here. You have some very loyal staff." I smile, trying to lighten the situation.

He stays quiet. "So you're a sacrifice to Hecate?"

'Technically, yes."

"Technically, I am supposed to be turning you into one of her plants."

"What?"

"And so I find you here, why?"

"Why would I be getting turned into a plant? And I just said, got sacrificed and-"

"With Sobek. Of all the places in the Underworld, I find you here." He ignores everything else, and suddenly the crocodile is between us. It takes a few moments before Sobek is laying in its place, and he doesn't move. "Explain."

"So, Hecate was being an amazing hostess, and we got talking over tea," I start.

"She read your tea leaves?" He interrupts.

"Yes?" Hades rolls his eyes and motions for me to continue. "And she mentioned what happens when you don't cross over I guess, how you're supposed to. I felt bad for him and want to help get him where he's supposed to be. Everything was going great until psycho ninja bitch turned up."

"Psycho Ninja Bitch?"

"Isn't that why you came?"

"No, I came because I sensed an upset down here. Of course, I find you!" He huffed. "I thought I sensed someone when I got here, but then a few other things got my attention instead."

"Hades, I'm sorry for the upset. I didn't plan on any of this-"

"You never really do, do you?" He sighs.

"But, can you please let him go to where he should be? I have his powers. He ended up in this pond because of me."

"Technically it was because-"

"Doesn't matter. He doesn't deserve this, I never really considered all of the underworlds, stuff before. I can't just leave him." I will beg if I have to.

"Why? Why get involved?"

"Because-" I would feel guilty? Was it more than that though? I look at Sobek and think of the god I first met. Until he abandoned me, I kind of liked him. He already had been cursed and trapped by Cain for long enough. "I don't want him to keep suffering because of other people's actions."

"And his actions?" Hades questioned.

"He's been punished long enough. I killed him, shouldn't I get a say in where he goes?" I argue. "Please, Hades. I'd owe you one?"

Sobek coughed, then let out a bitter laugh. "Careful, girl."

I look at Hades, and he seems to be considering it. Then we leave the pond, the sand now golden and the air feels warmer. Looking around, I feel like I've stepped onto a movie set for the new Mummy movie with pyramids dotting the landscape in the distance.

"Is that the Nile?" I gasp, seeing the twinkling river nearby.

"No, we're not in Egypt or your world." Hades rolls his eyes. "Thank her, Crocodile."

Sobek stands up, sand in his hands that he watches float away as he slowly lets it go. He isn't as skinny as he was a second ago, his clothes are new and clean with his accessories returned. Long back hair has reappeared, his height and build as large at Paytah's once again. This was the god I first met. Slowly he steps forward, disbelief on his face.

"I have made it," he whispers, "I am home."

Turning to face me, he frowns as tears run down his cheeks. "Thank you, Hunter."

"You're welcome."

Hades and I stand there as he walks towards the water where his people, aka a crocodile army, rise up to greet him. He stays in his human form as he goes in and then is gone.

"Do we say a prayer or something?" I ask Hades.

"Why?"

"Isn't that what you do when things like this happen. Amen. God Bless. Peace be with you."

"I guess if that makes you feel better?" He shrugs. "Now tell me about this ninja?"

We're outside Hecate's cabin, and I miss the warmth of where we just were. I look at the forest with new eyes and shiver once again.

"Female. Good skills. She said she was the one who poisoned Apollo and vows there will be a round two." I move towards a smaller bush near the path up to the door. "Are these really all her sacrifices?"

"Hecate died, long ago. Those who worship her, seem to put a value on ending life in her name. Normally, I would send them somewhere else, but she takes pity on them, and this was her solution."

"What's her deal though? How did she-"

"She made the ultimate sacrifice, that was her own doing. No more will be said. We do not, ever, speak of it." He warned that dark and dangerous edge back in his tone. "Go inside. She will show you what to do next. And we will speak again soon."

He disappeared, and almost reluctantly I went in. 

I found her in the kitchen watering plants. A few rabbits hopped around by her feet, and from outside I could hear chickens. A white rabbit appeared from under the broken dining table, settling on my foot.

"He likes you." She says softly, not turning around.

"Hades?"

"Him too, but I was talking about Mango."

"You named your bunny Mango?" I picked it up, not realising how heavy it actually was.

"You question the wrong things, child."

"Are they all sacrifices too?"  She nods. "Expect a new goat soon then."

"I'm sorry for making trouble."

"No, you're not. I warned you there was a battle coming, and still, you went out there."

"Well, I wanted to help Sobek. I didn't think your tea was telling the truth."

"Yes, you did. It just didn't stop you though. You are stubborn and foolish." She half scolded, smiling as she took Mango from me. "That girl, she is a Power. I do not know how she got in here, but I will tell Hades all I can when he returns."

"Did you see her in the tea?"

"The dark heart. That one does not act out of love. I feel evil in her soul. She is incapable of feeling, except for herself. Unlike you, who feels too much." Hecate sighed. "Be careful, young one."

"I will."

"I hope so. I see what's in you too. What you are capable of."

"Does it involve an end of the world level of oh shit." A vine came towards me, and I tapped it away.

"It may. Perhaps it's not the end of the world, but the start of a new one. You a leader, a queen, a goddess in your own right. Embrace your power. You were born for this." She came closer, one hand on my shoulder, and on her thumb, she had something red. Before I could panic at the sight of a dead Mango, she wiped it across my forehead, and everything stopped. "You are a Phoenix Elise, kept in water. Until now. I give you permission to rise. And rise again. You are fire, you are life, you can create or destroy, the power is yours. Rise from the ashes of the past, and come alive again."

Her eyes stared into mine as the first threads of the vine reached me. I couldn't tap it away this time, and everything began to fade away until there was nothing.

"Honey for your throat and I'd appreciate some Ivy in my collection." Hecate's voice rang in my ears as loud as the chanting that took its place.

With a gasp, I did as Hecate told me to do.

I rise.