The archive goes cold. Shelves stand silent as a translucent Hades swells into the center of the room, his gaze glazed gold, his voice scraping like stone on stone.
Hades
Give me the core. The true architects claim what is theirs.
Mnemosyne
That is not him. Hold the core steady, Ares, or the whole wing answers to it.
Calliope
No, no, the tether has found a host. If he takes it now, the foundation will bend with him.
Eris
Oh, this is lovely. The king wears a borrowed mouth, and the room decides who cracks first.
The floor pulse quickens beneath Ares' feet, and the gold core in his hands hums toward the false Hades, drawing the Underworld's strain into one visible, dangerous point.
Ares
The core is the link. If Ares steadies it here, the binding can be cut from the root.
✓ Quest Accepted
Resist the false Hades
“I confront the false Hades, demanding to talk to the real Hades.”
SUCCESS (Superb Willpower, rolled -3)
Ares
Ares fixes the false Hades with a steady look and asks to speak to the real Hades.
Hades
The glazed stare flickers. You call me false, yet you still reach for me. That is like you, Ares.
Mnemosyne
Keep talking to it, but do not hand over the core. The tether is listening through that shape.
Calliope
Speak plainly, child of war. If there is a true Hades beneath this veil, force the seam to answer.
Hades
A warped echo passes behind the golden eyes. Then, thinner, strained, the voice beneath it presses through. Ares... hold fast.
The false image shudders at the name. Frost crawls across the floor seams, and the core gives one hard pulse against Ares's bleeding palm, but it stays in his hands.
Eris
There. He heard you. Now make him answer before the puppet learns to smile.
Quest Complete
Resist the false Hades
✓ Quest Accepted
Keep the anchor core from the false Hades
“Is the real Hades still fighting through?”
YES (Likely, rolled 46)
Hades
Ares... the threads are... they are woven into my own thoughts. Do not let the core go, or the archive will become my tomb.
Mnemosyne
I am Mnemosyne, and I tell you this: the King of the Underworld is still there, fighting the tether from within. He is not lost yet.
Ares
The heartbeat beneath my feet is not just the archive, it is him.
“Can I use the core to pull the true Hades back from the possession?”
YES (Likely, rolled 34)
The amber light from the core pulses in perfect synchronization with the heartbeat beneath the floor, and as Ares holds it close, the golden threads of the anchor begin to weave into the core itself.
Calliope
My name is Calliope, and I see the truth of it now. The core is not merely a tether, it is a conduit, and if you focus your will through it, you can draw the King back from the void.
Ares
The core responds to my touch, and I can feel the pull of his soul within the false image.
“I focus my will through the core”
SUCCESS (Superb Willpower, rolled -1)
Ares channels his will through the core, and the amber pulse steadies. The golden threads stop clawing at the stone and begin to run true, like a path finally found.
Hades
Ares... hold it there. I can hear you.
The false image of Hades shudders, its edges thinning as the pull bends inward. For a breath, the possession loosens and the king's own voice rises through the mask.
Calliope
Good. Keep your focus on the conduit. Do not let the core fall.
Eris
Oh, that is adorable. He still thinks he can be reached.
The archive answers with a low tremor, but it is not collapsing. The heartbeat beneath the floor falls into step with Ares's grip, and the false Hades starts to draw backward, unwillingly, toward the light.
Ares
The core is pulling him back.
Golden threads tighten from the core to the figure of Hades, and the amber glow deepens across the shelves. The king's outline grows clearer, while the dark stain around him thins.
Quest Complete
Keep the anchor core from the false Hades