“You’ve woken him,” Hades chastised as he tried to soothe the babe in his arms. “We understand balance. We have worked tirelessly to maintain that balance.”

But he thinned his lips at the next part. It was the worst case scenario, after all. “The lifestream demands death for its health, and the mortals supply it well. Why are you so eager to give up? Certainly there must We a way through it. Isn’t it worth trying? To end the suffering?”

“And we’ve arrived at how we started. You would have me accept death, but you will have to kill me to make that happen.”