Bonds

Jack Makes His Choice

"We want our grandma back."

His words hung heavy in the crowded main room of the so-called "Big House." Everyone huddled around the small table growing more uncomfortable with each repetition of his unbudging demand.

Hephaestus, who occupied the entirety of the floral-print couch with his massive frame, refused to look him in the eye. The Olympian shifting uncomfortably in his seat, while he rapidly assembled and disassembled something called a "coocoo clock" as his leg bounced off the floor.

Kayla, the Daughter of Apollo, sat on a "folding chair" at the head of the "coffee table," her eyes darting back and forth between him and Hephaestus. The green haired demigoddess was doing better at hiding her discomfort than the grease covered god, but the way she flicked her fingers against the string of her bow told the truth. The 'twang' of the bow adding further tension to the room.

Chiron, the mythical trainer of Olympus' greatest villains, sat opposite of Kayla. The centaur's lower body concealed in a wheeled chair and a green and black plaid blanket. After Hades and Hestia had left to attend to some urgent business Chiron had tried to help he and Hephaestus reach an agreement, but had quickly grown quiet at his demand for Grandma May's return. Now, the bearded half-man watched him with pursed lips while absently swirling his glass of sickeningly sweet "lemonade." The 'clinking' of ice against glass nearly in sync with the Daughter of Apollo's plucking.

Seymour the leopard head (which was the strangest and cruelest thing he had ever seen) contributed to the unease by emitting a low, throaty growl. The mounted head only ceasing its attempts to be threatening when one of the many demigods huddled outside the room's door tossed it a snack.

"Can I have one of those snack thingies?"

And then there was Ivy...

The chaotic nosos was the only being in the Big House who was not tense, opting to fly around and touch everything she could get her misty hands on. Chiron had been opposed to Ivy's exploration but when he told her stop, she started to lick things out of defiance. Bemoaning the cost of something called 'disinfectant' the centaur ceased his efforts to hinder her.

"Uh... sure?" One of the many sons of Apollo answered before tossing Ivy one of the pieces of artificial meat. The treat soared through the air, narrowly missing Chiron's head as it went, and Ivy intercepted it with her mouth- the treat harmlessly passing through her head and landing on the floor.

"I keep forgetting about that," Ivy frowned as she stared at the fallen treat.

"As do they," Chiron muttered. The centaur casting a dirty look at the blond Son of Apollo as he took another dainty sip of his lemonade. "I'm sure the mice appreciate it though..."

The tense near-silence began to settle over the room once more, but Hephaestus finally spoke up. A small, Celestial Bronze phoenix popping out of the clock as their eyes finally met.

"Jack... The souls of the dead are Hades' domain. Not mine," the god stated slowly. His dark eyes flicking down to watch the phoenix fold its wings and return to the clock. "And even if I were-"

"It's not natural, Jack," Kayla signed. Her chair creaking as she leaned forward to look him in the eye. "When someone dies, they go to the Underworld. I know that it is hard-"

"Why?" The question came out harsher than he meant, and he felt a twinge of guilt at seeing the Daughter of Apollo jump in surprise. But he had been trapped inside for eight-hours-fourteen-minutes-five-seconds-and-forty-eight-milliseconds, trying to come to an agreement for peace between New Tartarus and Olympus, with four of those hours going nowhere after Hades and Hestia left for "reasons". Their disappearance somewhat rubbed him the wrong way, as it felt like they were not taking him seriously as they had done in the throne room, and his agitation had only grown since.