Love conquers all, so they say. That should always have sounded more threat than promise. 

The darkness in the halls has a name. What is it that you love? What is it that motivates you, what bonds keep you from the abyss? What now that it smiles at you from every corner with nicotine stained teeth? What now that the light is filled with the ageless presence of Hades, as though he was the only alternative?

The council of the gods has run through the ship for all to hear. Hearts pounding and storming and still; words heard from inside as much as out. It boils against the terror of the assassin, the danger given name and face. The risk of a perilous future against monstrous craving, or the gentle beacon of a compassionate ending. 

Bella and Redana walk together through garden corridors amidst trees beautiful and monstrous. The hunt has lost its urgency; Mynx will need to hide to recover, and so a steady pace is better to avoid missing any clues or tricks. The seeping growth of Demeter's forest is all about the Plousios and in the distance a fairy flute can be heard. 

Alexa arrives at the kitchens, seeking Dolce. The Biomancers have provided a list of materiel they require to prepare the operation, which will require at least the co-operation of the Hermetics. A perilous request given the traditional Hermetic negotiating techniques. Dolce is still there with Jil who is sitting silently. She eats like Achilles in Xeno's restaurant, each bite half the size of the one before it, reducing down to just barely dipping the edge of her spoon into the precious mixture and touching the sugar against her teeth. To eat any faster might make this moment end for her and so the act of eating is drawn out to an infinity. She is insensate to the world as she does this, so entranced it is unclear she even heard the voices of the gods.