Page 11

E verything hurt. My whole body felt like it was being torn apart from the inside as another contraction ripped through me.

The babies weren't ready. I wasn't ready.

Aidon's power flowed steadily into me as he held me on the couch.

But his energy couldn't fully stabilize the chaos of whatever was happening.

The visions I'd seen were burned in my mind.

The fragments were of a future that seemed too vast and terrible to comprehend.

"Where the hell is Clio?" I gasped between contractions. The symbol on my belly pulsed frantically. Its light was so bright it shone through the blanket Mom had draped over me. My skin felt like it was on fire where the mark blazed.

"Two minutes out," Selene called out. Her phone was pressed to her ear, and her usual calm demeanor was cracking around the edges. "She's breaking every traffic law in existence. And using magic to ensure she isn’t pulled over."

My eye caught Nina and Mythia finishing the circle in the kitchen.

I wasn't sure what good it would do now.

A fresh wave of pain made me squeeze my eyes shut.

When I opened them, I saw Mom and Nana working in tandem.

Their magic wove protective barriers around me while Stella monitored my vitals with shaking hands.

The mobile from Hades spun wildly overhead and each rotation seemed to correspond with another wave of pain.

" This doesn’t seem like real labor ," Tarja projected. Her tail was twitching anxiously as she paced beside the couch. " It feels like the magic is trying to force something that shouldn't happen yet. The babies' are fighting against it. "

"They're strong," Aidon murmured as he pressed his hand cool against my forehead. "Like their mother."

"Flattery won't stop me from crushing your hand during the next contraction," I warned him. I immediately proved my point as another wave of pain hit. The windows rattled in their frames as my magic surged.

A familiar car engine roared into the driveway.

A second later, tires screeched. The sound of a door slamming was followed by rapid footsteps.

Seconds later, Clio burst through the door with her bag.

She was radiating healing energy as she raced to me.

Her hair was windswept, and her shirt was inside out.

"What’s going on?" she demanded as she dropped to her knees beside me. Her hands were already glowing with diagnostic magic.

"Contractions started after a failed protection spell," Mom informed without breaking her focus on the barrier she'd cast. I wasn’t sure how much it was doing for me, but I appreciated it. "They're getting stronger and closer together. About forty-five seconds apart now."

"And the symbol?"

"Going nuclear," I ground out as another wave of pain hit. Sweat beaded on my forehead as I fought against the magic trying to tear through me. "I saw things about the babies. Their future. It was too much. There were ancient powers, and Olympus was-"

"Save the prophecy report for later," Clio cut me off with her hands pressing against my belly.

Her healing magic clashed with the symbol's ancient power and created sparks that danced across my skin like static electricity.

"This isn't natural labor. The magical surge from the vision is causing a cascade effect in your system.

We need to break the feedback loop before-"

She was cut off by my scream as the worst contraction yet tore through me.

It felt like my insides were being rearranged by a particularly enthusiastic interior decorator.

The blanket from Hades and Persephone suddenly lifted into the air and unfurled like dark wings.

Where before it had shown constellations, now ancient symbols blazed across its surface.

I was getting really tired of shit popping up and matching the mark on my belly.

"Holy shit," Nina breathed, staring at the blanket. "Those weren't there before. They look like they're moving."

"Focus," Clio snapped, though her eyes widened at the display. "Aidon, I need more of your power. As much as you can safely channel into her. Everyone else, I want you to direct your energy through me. We have to stabilize her magical core before these contractions trigger actual labor."

"Will that work?" Stella asked. She was gripping my hand with enough force to bruise. "The power she is putting out is off the charts."

"It has to," Clio said grimly. "These babies aren't ready to be born. Twelve weeks early would be dangerous even for normal triplets. For divine ones? We have no idea what could happen."

My back arched as everyone's magic flowed into Clio, and Aidon’s power surged into me.

Clio became a conduit for the others, directing the combined power into a healing matrix that wrapped around me like a cocoon.

The pain began to ease, but the symbol kept pulsing like a disco ball at an end-of-the-world party.

"There's something else," Mythia said suddenly, wings shimmering with agitation.

She'd been so quiet I'd almost forgotten she was in the room.

"The ley lines are reacting to this. All the ancient power nodes are destabilizing.

The pixies have been sensing it for weeks, but we didn't make the connection until this labor started. "

"What do you mean 'destabilizing'?" Aidon demanded. The shadows in the room deepened with his concern.

"The earth's magical framework is shifting," Mythia explained as she hovered close. "Like tectonic plates realigning themselves. I think the babies’ power is awakening something old. Something that's been sleeping in the magical bedrock since before the gods took power."

"That's not... ominous at all," I managed through gritted teeth.

My phone rang, making everyone jump. The tone was ‘We Will Rock You’. It was Jean-Marc's ringtone. Nina grabbed it from the side table, checking the screen. "It's Jean-Marc!"

"Put it on speaker," I managed, the contractions finally starting to space out under Clio's care. The healing magic was working. I wish I didn’t feel like I'd gone ten rounds with a Titan.

"Mom?" My son's voice crackled with static. "Something weird is happening here. Like, our kind of weird. This guy I know from class, his mom just showed up out of nowhere. She says she's a keeper of Greek magical history. She felt a disturbance that led her here. She knows about the babies."

"What?" Aidon's power flared protectively, making the lights flicker. "How is that possible?"

"She says she's been waiting for signs of 'The Awakening'. It’s some kind of prophecy about children who would bridge the old world and the new. Mom, she has books full of symbols that look exactly like the one on your stomach.” I regretted showing him when we talked over FaceTime. I’d promised to be open and honest with him, rather than keeping him in the dark, though.

“And get this,” he continued. “They're written in ink that changes color when you touch it. "

Nina's eyes widened. "That reminds me about a book I found in Hattie's library.

There was this ancient text about 'The Awakening'.

It talked about children who would be marked by old magic, who would restore the balance between divine and mortal realms." She paused, looking uncertain.

"I didn't think it was related, but now. .."

"Absolutely not," I said, struggling to sit up despite everyone trying to keep me lying down.

"There are no prophecies about them. No ancient destiny to balance anything.

These are my babies, and I'm not letting some cosmic plan dictate their lives before they're even born.

I've seen enough Greek tragedies to know how that usually turns out. "

The symbol flared again, but this time it felt different. If I didn’t know better, I swear it was responding to my determination. The shadow-blanket's symbols shifted and formed new patterns that made Mythia gasp.

"What now?" I asked, not sure I wanted to know. "Please tell me the blanket isn't telling us about the end of the world."

"These look like markers of authority," she said as she moved closer to study them. Her wings cast prismatic light across the shifting marks. "They're similar to sigils used in Eidothea to denote those who command the oldest magics. But they feel...”

"They feel what?" Aidon prompted before I could. He was as tense as I was.

The tiny pixie lifted one shoulder. "They feel like they're protecting them. Looking at it from this point of view, I think the mark on Phoebe is a shield.”

Nana cocked her head and regarded Mythia. “You’re saying the old powers aren't trying to control the babies. They're trying to guard them until they're ready to come into their power. Like the magic is a godparent."

"That tracks with what Darnell's mom is saying," Jean-Marc added through the phone. "She says these symbols haven't been seen since the first age of the gods. They only appear when something monumental is about to change. The last time was during the Titanomachy."

"Because that comparison isn't terrifying," I muttered.

The contractions had finally eased completely under Clio's care.

It left me feeling wrung out but no longer in immediate danger of premature labor.

"So instead of just being pregnant with divine triplets, I'm apparently carrying some kind of supernatural revolutionary force.” I hated the pressure on our tiny bundles of joy. They shouldn’t have this kind of pressure so early.

Clio wiped sweat from her brow, her hands still glowing with healing energy.

"The surge is stabilizing, but barely. One more push like that and we might not be able to contain it.

" She fixed me with her best doctor-knows-best stare.

"No more protection spells. No more pushing your limits. The symbol is there for a reason."