Astarte, Zoe, and Gilgamesh reappeared in Mia’s living room. Gilgamesh helped Zoe to a chair while Astarte went to wake up Zane. As soon as she gave the command, his eyes popped open. He jumped up off of the couch, furious. "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? You can’t just go around controlling people when you can’t get your way! That’s the second time you’ve messed with my head—and the second time it put my sister’s life in danger!" His anger fed the armor’s power as the temperature in the room dropped. Ice was forming on his clenched fist. They all held their breath, stunned. Zane never lost his temper.

Astarte lowered her eyes. "You are correct. For one who has claimed friendship, I have used you intolerably. Your outrage is justified. But know this—I did it for our greater good. My instincts were to bring her with me. I have learned to follow my mystical instincts for they are rarely wrong. She was a great help to us. If you feel that you must avenge yourself somehow, so be it. My life is yours. Kill me if you wish." Astarte bowed to him, completely serious.

"Uhhh…what are you…that’s not…I mean." Astarte had just neatly deflated his anger as if she’d poked a hole in a balloon. He let out an exasperated frosty breath, throwing up his hands. "Never mind! Just don’t do it again!"

"You have my sincerest apology and my solemn word that even if the earth is in peril, I will not do that to you." This time, there was a hint of humor in her tone.

Zane merely nodded absently because by this time he’s noticed Zoe sitting in a chair looking paler than usual. He felt like he’d been punched in the gut. He knelt down beside the chair, looking up at her with worry. "What happened?"

"Nothing that wouldn’t have happened to you if you’d been there. So don’t even start fussing."

"But…"

"No ‘buts’, Zane. We didn’t choose the armor—it chose us. Not you. Us. We’re connected in mind and spirit. Always have been and always will be. That won’t ever change. We’re stronger when we’re together. You saw the truth Mia showed us. The armor’s not destroying me. It’s making us stronger. I’m tired because I just used up a lot of energy on an experiment—a little trick we hadn’t tried before. But it worked." She beamed with satisfaction. "It worked great."

Zane sighed. "Really?" He just looked at her for a minute. Then he smiled back. "Well I guess you’re going to have to teach it to me then. I don’t want you making me look bad."

Mia was very glad to see the two of them more at ease. She wished she could say the same about Trace and Gilgamesh. They weren’t trading murderous looks anymore, but the silence between them worried her. They would have to do this on their own, though—she’d done all she could. She turned to Astarte. "How’d it go?"

Astarte held out her hand, the orb glowing darkly in her palm. She gave it to Mia who then took it to Anubis. He hesitated before reluctantly accepting it.

Astarte walked over to him. Her eyes were full of pride and sadness. "You’ve been entrusted with something wondrous. The Armor of Chaos is special. It wasn’t imbued with earth energy by the Ancient Ones like the Sentinel armors were. This armor taps directly into the Universal Chaos--a primordial force. Two gods have died to create it. Redeem yourself if you feel that is what you must do, but do not surrender, do not simply quit. Honor their sacrifice by protecting this world." She left him standing there and walked over to the window. She could hear him and Mia having a conversation, but she was deep into her own thoughts. Gilgamesh was suddenly beside her.

"Are you all right?"

"I am fine, merely wistful. Kuk and Kauket died so that we might have the armor. Two more ‘immortals’ dead. The world changed so much while we were in that other dimension. Many gods that I knew in my youth are long gone. There are so few gods of any pantheons left at all. And I sensed none of my family when we returned to Earth. At times, I feel very lost and alone." Astarte was silent for several minutes. Then she looked at him out of the corner of her eye, a little smile curling her lips. "At least I have you and now the Sentinels and…Trace." She saw Gilgamesh’s cheek twitch. Astarte’s voice had an edge of anger this time. "Gilgamesh. We’ve been together too long, come too far, for this. I feel for Trace the way that you do—he’s like a brother. Nothing more, nothing less. My feelings for you are definitely not familial."

Gilgamesh spun her around to face him. "Why have you never truly said that? We’ve been together thousands of years and you’ve rarely touched on the subject."

"We were very busy during that time—fighting for our lives almost every day. And I thought no words were needed between us. Obviously, I was wrong. Another of my kind would have understood. But I often forgot that you were human, or that there was ever a time when we weren’t together. I also have had little personal experience with such things—I did not know how to say the words you needed to hear. But the blame is not entirely mine. You were silent those years, as well."

"It is common for gods and goddesses to dally with humans. That is their way. But they rarely have deep feelings for their human companions. I did not think a great goddess would genuinely be interested in a lowly human such as I. I feared that you would just laugh in my face. I was no longer even a king when I met you—just a crazed wanderer with nothing to give you worthy of your station."

"You had yourself. That’s all I ever needed."

Trace’s voice startled them out of their private little world. "Hey! If you two are done gushing all over each other, Mia wants to talk to us all." As Trace walked away, he muttered, "I feel like I’m in a really bad soap opera or something."

Gilgamesh wasn’t quite sure he knew what that meant, but he wasn’t amused at Trace’s tone. Astarte, however, had been studying up on pop culture and smiled at the thought. They rejoined the others. Astarte didn’t know what they’d been talking about, but they had the TV on. There was another special bulletin about an attack in the city.

Mia just shook her head. "Nemesis and her Spirits of Doom are at it again. We have to get down there and stop her. Do you think we can all work together this time? Zane? Zoe?"

Zane looked at his sister. He knew now that there was no way he was ever going to be able to cut her out of the Sentinels—there would only be trouble if he tried. He looked at Zoe then nodded at Mia. He wouldn’t try to block her from the armor again.

Mia then turned her attention to Trace and Gilgamesh. "And what about you guys? I’m not going to have to break up any fights between you, am I?" She tried to inject a light note in her tone, but she wasn’t sure if they bought it. The anger seemed to be absent between the guys, but it had been replaced by something else—a sense of loss.

Gilgamesh was having a hard time with the turmoil of his emotions. He’d lost his best friend long ago, just recently found him again reincarnated, and then suffered the sting of old bitterness and rivalry best forgotten. Trace still smarted at his friend’s betrayal, but it was the fact that Gilgamesh had never told him the truth that bothered him the most. They looked at each other then assured Mia there would be no trouble. They would fight side by side because the world was in danger. After that…maybe they could work this out. Maybe not.

Mia seemed satisfied with that. "We should try to capture Nemesis once we get there. Maybe I can help her the way I did you guys. But if we can’t do that, we should let her go. I’ll be paying attention this time and I can probably get a sense of where she goes. Then maybe we can take the battle to the Children of Nyx’s front door."

Astarte was trying to imagine all the problems they would face, but she was also curious about Anubis’s commitment in one particular area. "What about Nemesis? Or should we call her Oshay now? What if she refuses to accept the truth."

Anubis’s eyes widened. "We have to make her see it. There is no other way."

"Even if she would destroy us, the world?"

"It will not come to that. We can’t let it. Remember. She is being manipulated as we have been. Our experiences were brief and look at the trouble they have caused us. We don’t know how long she has been in their power. I was under Talpa’s influence for a long time, but with the Ancient’s help, I was able to find my way back to myself. We must do the same for her."

Now Mia wondered what would happen if Nemesis still wanted to fight to the end. "I’ll do what I can to help her. It’ll be hard in the middle of a fight. That’s why we need to catch her. But you know that I can’t do anything to change her emotions—just show her the truth."

Anubis lowered his eyes. "Then I hope it is enough."

Astarte exchanged worried glances with Mia. "Let’s go." Astarte held up her hand, the Jewel of Life flaring up from its chain around her neck. They all disappeared in a flash of red light.