The reporter's frown deepened. "Social media is flooding with paranormal claims and theories but be rest assured, science will explain this and come up with a cure."

Queen turned her phone away and paused the video. "That's basically the summary of last night."

I heaved a sigh. "When I killed Thanatos, I thought things would finally be normal. How long do we keep doing nothing about this?"

"What can we do?" Bryce sounded defeated. He began quoting the revelation given to us by the Morai over a week ago. "Legends' children meet Hades' son, a sign that their quests have just begun. The underworld Prince must contend with Death, Racheal West has a meeting set. The sleeping army will spread far and wide, the work of Da Vinci shall be your guide. To crown it all, a captured king, and a rumble for power in the heavenly ring."

He caught his breath. "Queen and I were both there when you killed Death and met your mother's soul. So quest one fulfilled. This is obviously quest two, the sleeping army stuff. But we still don't know how to stop them. Are we supposed to fight them? They're just ordinary people."

Queen tucked her hands in her cargo pants. "Of course not. If the origin of this is a deity from Greek mythology, then it has to be Hypnos. Either him or Hecate. I can't think of any other being who can pull off such a stunt."

"But aren't they both based in the Underworld?" Bryce pinched the bridge of his nose. "No offense dude, but I thought your dad was in charge of making sure those in his domain don't overstep their boundaries."

"Tch," he talked like I was close with my father when in reality we've barely spoken since I came back to life. My father only whispered in my head a couple of times and even that ended right before I faced Thanatos. Hades has literally been ghosting me. "You can offend him all you want. Apparently, he's terrible at more than just parenting."

Queen sagged her shoulders. "So...are we going to finally decide what to do about this current dilemma?"

The way I saw it, all roads led to one place. The place where I could confront my father, heck even confront Hypnos if I had to. A handful of heroes had gone there in the past without dying. Perhaps that's where we needed to go to get answers. "Guys, I think we might have to find a way to the Underworld."

Bryce looked like he just saw Thanatos. "You can't be serious."

"Think about it," I said. "Hypnos is probably abusing his power and according to history, his cave is in the Underworld. My father's also in the Underworld. And so is Hecate. If we want to stop what's up here, we'll have to find a way to go down there."

Queen sighed. "I had a feeling you'd suggest that. Though the thing is, the heroes of the past who went there alive never actually revealed the path they took."

"We'll need to find a doorway ourselves." Bryce stroked his chin. "Call me crazy, but I think that car from my dreams might be a clue."

Queen and I gave him skeptical glances.

"Just saying," he raised his hands in surrender. "Could just be random too. Say, how about we get something to eat? The Cheesecake Factory, maybe?"

"No homemade tacos?" I whined. "Or burritos?"

He shrugged. "Hey, I got permission from my parents to stay the weekend at your place but my Abuela, wasn't really in support. You know, with all the sleepwalking stuff. Bottom line, she wasn't in the mood to cook for me. Or us."

I took a deep breath. "Alright, the Cheesecake Factory it is. From there we could go shopping. Let me grab some cash from one of the stashes."

"Not too much cash, though," Queen called after me as I strode back into the mansion. "Don't want us drawing a lot of attention this time."

"Sure," I replied without looking back. Inside the living room, I opened the bird box of the grandfather clock and grabbed a few bucks. This stash didn't look like it would run out for at least a week. But I was determined to uncover another one of Harvin's hidden money stashes over the weekend. It's the only way I could get by short of doing illegal stuff-- which I'd probably suck at.

I also grabbed my golden two-pronged scepter from beside the fireplace.

Making my way back to the front door, I declared. "Let the slayers of Death go grab a bite."

****
The streets of Short Hills were decimated. Almost every window we passed by was cracked or broken. As we approached 1200 Morris Tkpe Street, I spotted the aftermath of a car crash. The fire still blazed from the overturned vehicle and I couldn't help but shiver at the thought that I kicked the bucket this way before.

Passerbys hurried along, most were filled with anxiety. It wasn't difficult to see they were armed. Some even held their handguns and knives openly. No doubt wary of encountering the worst this city could offer.

Naturally, they all sidestepped for the three of us. It probably had something to do with the ghastly sharp points of my scepter and the long face I wear whenever I think about Harvin's sacrifice. Queen and Bryce had known Harvin but not as much as I did. They liked him, I needed him. Though my mother and father were absent when I resurrected, to me, Harvin represented them both. Queen was right, I needed company at the mansion.

Queen and Bryce, they were sunshine; families at home, fit in perfectly in this Era.

Me? I was midnight rain, a stark contrast, and my current gloominess reflected my thoughts.

A sudden side hug gave me goosebumps and fixed me on the spot. I turned to see Queen's arms wrapped around me, the warmth of her body made my heart somersault. Her hair had a strawberry scent I couldn't help but enjoy.

"We miss him too," she whispered.

"Yeah," Bryce admitted.

"If I could," Queen grinned. "I'd move in with you. But my parents would probably say I'm too young--whatever that means."

I chuckled as she dropped her hands to her sides.

We continued our walk, taking a corner. The parking lot in front of the Cheesecake Factory was in view. A couple of steps later, we faced the entrance to our destination. The cream-colored paint, pseudo arching door, and bold red logo which read 'The Cheesecake Factory' all worked together to give a perfect standout look.

"There's so much to choose from," Bryce whined. "I'm bad at making big choices. Ugh."

"Don't move!"

Our heads snapped to a man at the edge of the restaurant. He was clad in dark camouflage and a bulletproof vest and leveled a shotgun at Bryce with a crazed look in his eyes.

"Woah!" Bryce's hands flew up.

I snarled and blocked my friends, scepter pointed at the threat. "Mind where point that." There was a deadly edge to my voice.

He grunted. "I could say the same about you, kid." He lowered his shotgun. "Your friend should be careful about the type of sounds he makes. His groan startled me from my nap. I almost mistook him for one of them."

I examined the makeshift post behind him. "You're on guard duty?" Since when did restaurants start employing the army's services?"

"Private security," he corrected. "And everyone's hiring us these days. Bet they're scared these sleepwalkers will soon turn into zombies."

Bryce fumed. "Well, before you get trigger-happy, check if your target is actually a target!" With that, he stormed into the restaurant.

I pointed two fingers at my eyes before whipping them around to the guard and following Queen into the restaurant.

***

"Did it have to be takeout?" Bryce pouted.

"Bryce Vinci," Queen said. "We still have a lot of shopping to do before sundown if we want to stay in the mansion all weekend. Of course, it had to be takeout."

"I knew that," Bryce muttered as he glanced at the takeout bag in his hand. "I just wanted you guys to reconsider eating at the restaurant."

Peering over my shoulder, I saw that guard from earlier talking to an infuriated middle-aged man. We were far away from the entrance but I could still hear the yelling.

We turned a corner, the street was desolate. I had a feeling everything would go smoothly from here on out.

Suddenly, the roar of an engine from behind had us spinning on the spot-- just in time to see a white Rolls-Royce speed past us. Then it screeched to a halt.

I tilted my head in confusion. Four men burst out of the car with Glocks pointed at us.

"Holy crap!" Bryce raised his hands.

I tightened my grip around my scepter, jaw clenched. But I knew powerful as my weapon might be, it didn't go well against guns.

Queen tried for a docile voice. "Can we help you?"

A fifth man emerged from the back seat, dressed in a deep black suit like the others but instead of a black tie, his was red. He held a cane whose head was shaped like a skull. "You three are coming with us. Would you prefer to do that dead or alive?"