Aria looked at her phone as a shrill scream announced a new text message. It was from Cody.
"Get to Heidi's house now!" the text read.
Aria felt a chill run down her neck as she flipped her car around and changed course to Heidi's house.
"What's up?" Autumn asked in concern.
Aria handed Autumn her phone without speaking.
"Uh oh, that doesn't sound good," Autumn said nervously. "He didn't even make a joke."
Aria nodded, a sense of worry gnawing at the pit of her stomach. They had left Heidi's an hour ago to pick up some audio cables at the guitar center. What would have normally taken less than half an hour had taken twice as long as a result of the number of people stopping to snap selfies with the two of them. The school concert from the previous night had hit social media like wildfire, and while Heidi was hidden from cameras by an amorphous blob, Autumn and Aria enjoyed no such anonymity. Everywhere they went people would stop to gawk at them like they were some kind of celebrities.
Cody had stayed to work on a song with Heidi while Aria and Autumn were equipment shopping. Autumn was furiously texting Cody as they drove nearly twice the speed limit.
"He said she is having some kind of breakdown," Autumn informed her worriedly.
Aria increased the speed of her new car even more, noting the ever-present military escort behind them matching their speed. As soon as they pulled up to Heidi's house, she jumped out of the car and ran into Heidi's house, not bothering to knock.
Heidi's mother and sister were both in Heidi's room with Cody, looking helpless and frightened. Heidi sat on the floor with both arms covering her head as she sobbed uncontrollably, her body heaving with each frantic sob.
"She doesn't seem to be able to hear us," Cody told them quietly. "Every time we try to touch her, she freaks out. We were just in the middle of recording a song when she snapped."
Aria stared at Heidi in shock. She had always thought of Heidi as completely unflappable. To see the powerful goddess in front of her in such a state of hysteria was terrifying.
Autumn pushed through them and knelt down in front of Heidi. She took a deep breath and then shouted in a voice that could probably be heard on the space station, "SNAP OUT OF IT, HEIDI!"
Aria stared at Autumn in amazement. Cody and Mrs. Rockwell were also staring at the tall blonde with shock on their faces.
Heidi flinched at the deafening command, but she did slowly lower her arms and raise her tear-streaked face to stare at Autumn. Her eyes were filled with sorrow, and there was no sense of another presence visible in her gaze. Aria had never seen Heidi without at least a hint of the other entity that shared her body. She almost didn't recognize her.
Autumn leaned forward and pulled Heidi into a comforting embrace. Heidi shuddered, and the tears began pouring down her cheeks in torrents as she clung desperately to Autumn.
"We're here for you, Heidi," Autumn whispered soothingly. "Everything is going to be alright."
It took nearly five more minutes before the storm of weeping began to subside. As Heidi's sobs slowly receded and her breathing evened out, Aria walked over knelt down next to her as well, resting her hand on Heidi's back.
"Are you okay?" Aria asked tenderly.
Heidi shook her head. "No. I don't know if I can do this."
"You don't have to," Autumn told her firmly. "You tell Hades that you're done. Find someone else."
Heidi took a deep shuddering breath. "She can't find someone else. It's too late."
Mr. Rockwell had walked into the room at some point and was watching Heidi in concern.
"Nonsense," Autumn declared firmly. "She's a goddess. She can make it work."
"She's not a goddess," Heidi sniffled. "She wouldn't even be here if there were any other way. She's doing this to save us. All of us."
"Where is she?" Aria asked with a frown.
"I told her to leave me alone," Heidi replied as a few more tears leaked out of her eyes. "She's being as gentle as she can be, but the more I see, the heavier the burden grows. I'm not sure we are worth saving."
"What did you see?" Autumn asked gently. "Would you like to talk about it?"
Heidi shook her head. "No. It's not something I would ever want you to hear about. She tries to use music to help me understand, because there is so much power in music to help buffer the vividness of the memories; but sometimes even the music can't soften the blow enough."
"What can we do to help?" Aria asked, trying to ignore her growing sense of helplessness.
"Exactly what you are doing now," Heidi said with a wan smile. "I'm just overwhelmed right now. So long as you are there for me when I need you, I'll manage."
"We'll always be here for you," Aria told her firmly. A chorus of assenting sentiments echoed around the room from the others watching her.
Heidi took another deep breath, and the life force around her seemed to brighten as she sat up straighter. "Aset, I'm fine now."
As soon as she spoke, the other presence flooded the room and Heidi's eyes lit up with their usual intensity.
"It won't always be like this," Heidi's voice spoke, but it was obvious that it wasn't Heidi speaking. "When this world is safe, things will change. This time it will be different. I will make certain of that."
Aria stared at Heidi in awe as she felt the other entity in the first person for the first time. There was an ageless wisdom of such awesome magnitude that Aria could only marvel at the vastness of it. Within those wise eyes there was an undercurrent of compassion that went beyond her mind's ability to comprehend. She found it impossible to believe there was anything this being was incapable of doing.
"There will be very difficult times ahead for all of us," she spoke softly, her voice filled with determination. "Heidi will depend on all of you to keep her sane and whole. Your love will give her the strength to go on when all hope seems lost and despair threatens to engulf everything she believes in. I chose all of you because of your strength of character, and most of all, the depth of your compassion. You have not disappointed me. Thank you."
The vast presence receded into the background as she finished speaking. Aria took a deep breath, then stood up.
"Who's Aset?" Aria asked curiously.
"She's the Egyptian goddess, Isis," Mr. Rockwell answered in a subdued voice. "One of the oldest Egyptian goddesses. Some say the mother of all of the other gods. Protector of the dead and goddess of children."
"Not a goddess," Heidi said firmly. "Just a scientist. The greatest scientist who's ever lived, but still a scientist."
"I thought she was Hades?" Aria said in confusion.
"She was also known as Hades, in one of her incarnations," Heidi replied with a small smile. "She's lived more lives than you can possibly imagine. She's been fighting in this war since the beginning, but this will be the last battle, if we are lucky."
"So who are these other gods that have been popping up all over the world?" Cody asked.
"Other people who have joined her cause throughout the ages to rid the world of Titans," Heidi replied, her eyes shining with sudden excitement. "It's extremely hard to coordinate the incarnation cycle with compatible hosts, but she was able to make changes to the process last time that would ensure everyone is incarnated this time. We will have an army of all the heroes throughout history to fight the Titans with us."
"Who is everyone?" Cody asked, tilting his head in a manner reminiscent of Heidi. "The Greek gods of mythology?"
"All of the gods of mythology," Heidi answered calmly. "Norse, Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Aztec, Sumerian...all of them. Of course, some of them are the same people known by different names throughout history, but you get the idea."
"Sounds like quite the party," Cody breathed, his eyes distant.
"Just wait," Heidi replied, all signs of her breakdown gone. "A gathering the likes of which this world has never seen is about to commence."