"Why did you call me?" he remembered this arrogant voice well.

The souls stopped and began to run away. The goddess of spirits did not seem to notice her wards, curiously looking at Eugene.

"I'm asking for help!" Eugene barely muttered. His injuries were not so serious that the words were pronounced with such difficulty, but asking for help from this woman was too hard for him.

"Really? Are you asking me for help?" the goddess pulled out the golden lasso and grabbed the disappearing souls that twisted, rushed about, screamed, but could not escape. "What will I get in return?"

Eugene looked up at Melinoia. Despite the fact that she was the goddess of spirits and lived in the dark kingdom of Hades, doing the dirty work, looking after the restless dead, entertaining herself by scaring mortals at night, she was beautiful. Many years ago, he admired her gloomy beauty and reveled in the caresses of the goddess with a black soul, but now he was disgusted with her.

Eugene thought about the price he was ready to pay the former lover for his life and winced. Once the only thought of the subtle caresses of Melinoia excited him, but now he was ready to die to erase those memories.

"I'll give you anything you want!" he sighed fatefully.

Eugene would never say these words if it was not a matter of life or death, but the Balance, the preservation of the Source, and the great war were at stake. He could not fail the Commander, who entrusted him with the mission he had never dealt with before.

"Mmm… I've been long waiting for these words! You were my favorite toy of all the creatures!"

Not so long ago, these words could have hurt his ego, but not now, when he realized that the Gods were the creatures that he despised even more than people.

"Good!" the goddess nodded.

She pulled the lasso, snapped her fingers, and a cage appeared, into which she placed the souls. The cage burned them when they tried to break free, bouncing off with a piercing cry.

"They'll sit there until the new Carrier picks them up."

"What do you want as pay for your help?"

The goddess slowly came up to Eugene and ran her finger along his tattoo.

"No, my boy, I'll get it when I think it's right. And believe me, you won't be happy about it – that's for all the insults I had to hear from you and, of course, for treason! You know I don't forget anything and certainly don't forgive."

Eugene did not argue. When the goddess left, he jumped into the portal and went to the Commander. He had to tell what was really going on and how much worse the situation was, differing with what Tol had imagined. It was the first time when he saw so many restless rebellious souls.

Over the past few hundred years of history, there were only a few cases of escape, but such a number should not have been even given the fact that the entrance to the Transfer was unguarded for almost a day in a row.

Everything happened for a reason. Those were not ordinary circumstances. All this resembled rather a well-thought-out plan. And the faster the main idea would be determined, the better it would be for both worlds.

Heavenly Palace. Olympus.

The room was filled with light. It seemed that it was made of sunlight, but it was not. The air was filled with the incomparable, fresh, sweet, and exquisite aroma. The spacious hall with white floor, carved columns and crystal sofas was a worthy abode of the Gods. There was a pedestal with a throne in the center, where a bearded, completely naked man was sitting. He was glowing; showing no interest to anything that was happening. He was barely listening to the dispute of a beautiful black-haired goddess, the patroness of marriage, and his offspring, the god of war and bloodshed.

"We need to intervene! We need to put everything into place before it's too late!" Ares insisted, wanting to quench his thirst for blood.

"We have no right to do this. The Source is well protected. The Balance is under the supervision of the Guardians, so we can't stick our beaks into their business. That's not our problem," Hera retorted, as the thought of descending from the cozy Olympus sickened her.

"We have been idle for thousands of years, allowing these creatures to do what they wanted. Look where it's gotten us! We're one step away from a terrible tragedy! I can awaken my army, and everything will be solved in a few minutes!"

"Your soldiers bring the Earth more devastation than all the restless souls together," Demeter said, worrying about her kingdom.

A languid sigh echoed through the spacious hall, creating a semblance of noise, similar to the rustle of leaves in a windy weather. This barely audible sound was more eloquent than any words. It meant that the Thunderer was tired, and when he was in such a mood, everyone around could get in trouble. The gods quieted down, cutting their dispute short.

"We'll intervene as soon as necessary. Until then, let them deal with the issue without us!" Zeus waved his hand, signaling that the discussion was over.

There was absolute silence, so characteristic to the Heavenly Palace. But suddenly the golden Gate swung open under the impact of hundreds of thousands of souls. They screamed, raged, hovered around confused and surprised Olympians.

I woke up suddenly, like from a nightmare. Actually, I did not know what was that dream. It seemed so real because I still felt the coolness of the Heavenly Palace on my skin and the smell in the air of the hall.

However, I was not in the Heavenly Palace but in my room… hovering in the air. I was lucky that Jackson was not in the room, and he did not see me soaring under the ceiling.

"How will I get down?" I asked myself. But the interesting thing was that it did not scare me, though I got into this world just a day ago. I was getting used to this life, but it was not clear whether it was good or bad.

Little by little, I was getting down to the floor, though it wasn't easy. Now, the gravity was different for me than for others. This was very unusual and fun, and I started enjoying this.

I heard voices in the kitchen. Hasn't Jackson gone to work? I hurried to the noise, but slowed down in the hallway. That was the last thing I needed. My friends came over. They surrounded my boyfriend and were laughing at his barely witty jokes. The sense of humor was not his strong suit. Everybody knew this, but my friends stubbornly pretended that he was devastatingly funny. Mickey and Rosy never change; they could not resist a handsome guy, even if he dated their best friend. The most important was that there was not even a slightest hint of sulking for ruined plans of last night. They probably did not remember anything, like every time they have a drink.

"Good morning!" I greeted, and only then they paid attention to me.

"Darsy, baby, you're up!" Jackson was glad to escape from the grip of those pushy ladies.

"Hi, girls! What are you doing here? And why aren't you at work?"

"It's Saturday, babe!" Jackson reminded me, trying to be considerate.

"And what are you doing here?" I repeated my question to my friends.

"What? Come on! Classes start on Monday. We have to throw a party and celebrate the start of the semester!" Mickey said.

"I even know where we'll go and what we'll wear!" Rosy echoed.

"Not a chance. After last night, I'd never go anywhere with you again! I thought I'd die after how much alcohol you poured into my booze. I don't know how long it'll take me to recover after that party…" I mumbled the last sentence to myself.