Contents
Chapter 33: A Siren’s Promise
Overview
Ares spends hours torturing Cyclopes to death, shocking the arena and reminding Alexis that Augustus is heir to the House of Ares. At the symposium, Alexis secretly recruits the siren Lena for speakers to advance a risky plan. A hostile press announces interrogations of younger Chthonics, heightening danger. Persephone publicly supports and warns the press, while Kharon and Augustus close ranks around Alexis.
Summary
In the Coliseum on SGC Day 2, Alexis watches Ares methodically torture and kill Cyclopes with his bare hands for hours under a humming electric dome. She notes Augustus’s resemblance to his father and grapples with the contrast between Ares’s cruelty and Augustus’s tenderness, while Nyx coils for comfort and Augustus steadies her.
When Ares finally leaves the arena, the crowd is stunned. At the symposium, amid music and tinsel, Alexis reunites with the siren Lena, who hints the games are a sham. Spurred by Ceres’s notes and a resolve to resist, Alexis asks Lena for solar-powered speakers with a plug-in port to support a covert plan. Zeus orders no talking to sirens, and Lena is pulled away, but they silently confirm the request.
Alexis numbs herself with ambrosia and sits with Kharon and Augustus among the Chthonics. Tension simmers with Patro and Achilles nearby. Kharon feeds Alexis and keeps a grounding touch while Augustus watches protectively; their shared closeness grows as they sit pressed together.
Agatha reveals the Falcon Chronicles: first a smear calling Alexis unfit as protector; then a worse report—Zeus and the Federation plan to interrogate younger Chthonics after their rounds, illustrated with Medusa’s image. Hades shuts the scroll, worried. Persephone calmly promises to handle the reporter, kisses Alexis, and urges composure.
Before leaving, Persephone orders Kharon and Augustus to treat Alexis right; Kharon vows he would die for her, and Hades toasts him. Alexis recognizes that the danger has peaked—the consequences are imminent—even as her allies tighten their support and her clandestine plan begins to take shape.
Who Appears
- AlexisNarrator; traumatized by Ares’s brutality, recruits Lena for speakers, drinks to cope, targeted by press, bolstered by Persephone, Kharon, and Augustus.
- AugustusHeir to Ares; comforts Alexis, mirrors his father’s appearance yet protects her, pledges solidarity at the Chthonic table.
- KharonGuardian and soldier; vigilant, feeds and steadies Alexis, enraged by smear, vows he’d die for her.
- AresGod of War; tortures and kills Cyclopes for hours with his touch, terrifying the arena and underscoring his cruelty.
- LenaSiren and ally; reunites with Alexis, warns of sham, agrees to procure solar speakers despite Zeus’s ban.
- PersephoneQueen of the Underworld; comforts Alexis, threatens the press, demands Kharon and Augustus protect her.
- HadesChthonic leader; stresses unity, shuts the hostile scroll, toasts Kharon after his vow.
- ZeusOlympian leader; forbids talking to sirens; his regime announces interrogations of younger Chthonics.
- AgathaContestant; shares the Falcon Chronicles, exposing the smear and interrogation plan.
- PatroContestant; sits nearby, tense and conflicted, silently reacting to Alexis.
- AchillesContestant; glares and smokes, visibly restraining anger, a simmering presence at the table.
- NyxAlexis’s serpent protector; coils around her shoulders, offering physical comfort during the ordeal.