This is the fourth story in my Shadows series. If you don't want to be extremely confused, please go back and read my other three stories - The Shadows of A Heart, The Shadows Darken, and The Shadows of Her Heart.

If you already have, first, I give you a round of applause *claps* because it has been a long ride and we've still got two books to go. Don't read if you're not in it for the long run.

I'm working on a lot of other stories right now, some on Fan Fiction and some on Fiction Press, (and school sucks!) and so my updates won't be as often as I'd like.

Reviews encourage me to update more often.

Enjoy!

:)

Third Person: Zytaveon

"Do you know what you've done?!" He spat.

"I…"

Veon had no clue what to say. He was still recovering from the shock of seeing his older and more god-like twin brother, and he was still confused about the cloud that made him pass out. He was trying to figure out how they connected, but his brain wasn't working at full capacity at the moment.

"Foolish, ignorant, reckless! You! You made her emotional! You made her throw away all of our work! All because she loves you. How asinine!"

"Y…you're…Zyanya?" Veon realized.

"No! I'm the bloody Pope!"

"B-But…how did you-?"

"Oh, for my sake, get over it! I'm only here because you are the only one left on this forsaken hunk of a daughter-in-law that I can still possess without blowing them up! And you're not going to last forever; I'm not going to last forever, and now any chance we had of fixing that little debacle is gone because of you!"

"W-Wait, hold on a minute-"

"We don't have time to 'hold on!' Being in your head is like being drugged! I can barely think straight, everything's hazy and I feel ready to pass out! You know that feeling you get when you burp up soda and it burns your nose? Of course you do; I'm in your head. Imagine that feeling, but constantly consuming your entire essence! It hurts! And yet I'm stuck here! Having my own existential crisis like the rest of the small little Greco-Roman pagans!"

"So…you were the light that went into me last night? And now…you're inside my head?"

"And it's driving me insane! More insane than normal!"

Veon couldn't tell if he should be amused or afraid of the fact that she(wait, it was a 'he' how, right?) had to clarify.

"Wait…why did you leave Lu?"

"Why did I leave that sorry excuse for a host?! I'll tell you why."

He kneeled in front of Veon.

"Because if I were to fall into the pit, Tartarus would've been able to destroy me in my weakened state! It took everything I had to get out of her in time before he got a firm hold on me."

"But why couldn't you just go down and rescue him yourself?"

"Tartarus jumped my husband and locked him up down there in his pit. Without him, I was instantly weakened to the point that he wouldn't need to ambush me if he wanted to win in a fight. Now, as much as I want to bust into the Underworld and retrieve him, I know that I'm no good to him dead, and I know that he'd tell me to be cautious, to be patient, and to not be rash. And I was. I did everything I knew that he'd want me to. I waited, I tried so hard, and yet everything was ruined by you."

It was weird for Veon to see basically himself talking as someone else, but he could sense that Order was seriously concerned for Chaos's wellbeing, talking about him with a longing that he could tell was very deep. He understood that Order had gone to drastic measures to get back Chaos, basically casting aside Lu's life as well as anyone else who got in her (his?) way, but Veon saw the caring side of Order, the reason why they were so desperate.

"Can Lu get Chaos out of there?" Veon asked.

Order scoffed. "Maybe. But him going into her is like me going into you. It's entirely possible, but it's going to be extremely uncomfortable, and she won't get much of a power boost from him, if any at all."

"You mean…she-"

"Even if she manages to contain Chaos, she'll have only her own power to rely on while she escapes Tartarus with him inside. And the longer she hosts an incompatible Primordial, the more it's going to eat away at her body and soul. The same goes for you as well, boy. You'll last a fortnight at most. Maybe another week if you're strong enough. Just because you can host Chaos properly doesn't mean you'll last very long with me."

"Veon, you there?" Nico called.

"Don't bother pointing me out to anyone," Order warned. "I'm only in your head. No one else can see me."

"I'm here!" Veon called back.

Nico opened the door and poked his head in. "What? Did you sleep on the floor? I thought you'd woken ahead of me, but you weren't at breakfast."

"Yeah, I just…I'm fine."

He raised his eyebrow. "Okay…well, the others wanna know where you are, so…"

"I'm coming."

Nico nodded, although he didn't understand what Veon's explanation for sleeping on the bathroom floor was. He got the message that Veon wasn't really willing to talk about it, so he kept quiet.

He followed Nico out to head to the dining hall to join the others. Order followed him the entire way, walking as though he was in the room as well. He seemed to have a passive-aggressive attitude, and Veon knew that it was probably because Order really didn't want to be there. He was angry at Lu for breaking their deal and going to Tartarus instead of Veon, but he blamed Veon for being the reason she had done so. It was all because she loved him that she'd tried to prevent what happened, probably also the trauma of the failure with Kaze as well. Order had to admit that Kaze had been an accident, but in the long run, he thought it would be beneficial in hardening Lucy into what he needed, but in the end, it turned into one of the reasons she'd changed her mind. Humans were so unpredictable, really.

As the others tried to keep their hopes up about going forward, the topic of Lu gaining Chaos's power to be the Deus ex Machina of the situation was brought up a couple times in order to sustain troop morale. Veon realized with dread that she wouldn't have Chaos's actual power even if she managed to host him. And that was his fault. If he had gone down there, he would've been able to use Chaos's power, or at the very least allow Chaos more stability than Lu would, since he was the one meant to be Chaos's host.

"You wanna tell them?" Order asked, leaning against the wall of the dining hall casually.

No, he didn't. The hope that Chaos's power would be able to protect Percy and Annabeth was probably the only thing keeping this crew going. Emily was using that as a catalyst for hope throughout the crew, and if he was to burst their bubbles like that, then they wouldn't have a strong enough reason to keep their strength. All they would be able to do is tell themselves the three demigods were strong enough to make their way through the dungeon of monsters in the inescapable Underworld and close the most guarded doors in Tartarus all on their own, and that wasn't the most believable thing in the world. Veon knew that the group needed all the encouragement they could get at this point, and he kept his mouth shut, dreading the reality of the situation.

He knew his best friend was strong, he knew Lu could perform miracles. And for now, that was all he could tell himself to keep going. It wasn't a lot, but he knew that he couldn't let the others feel the same doubt. So Veon bit his tongue as the others spoke of all they needed to do to not let Percy, Annabeth, and Lu down. Audrey made a comment about how the three of them had the easier job with Chaos's power on their side, and Veon internally winced.

"Humans," Order muttered.

He couldn't understand them sometimes. Their whole 'hope' and 'belief' thing was still out of his grasp. Understanding emotions was always Chaos's thing. Order continued his passive-aggressive demeanor as he tried to keep his own confusing feelings in check as well. He was currently trapped inside this boy, the only one he could currently blame for his predicament since Lu was now in Tartarus. It was going to be a long few weeks for both of them.