Hadie's Arc

Chapter 1 of 4

Hadie stood in front of the statue and forced himself to look at their faces. His parents. Frozen mid-reach, like they'd been trying to shield each other when the curse hit. He'd run the numbers a hundred times since the Titans broke free. The probability of reversing petrification without divine help sat somewhere near impossible. He knelt and brushed dust from the base where the family photo had fallen. The frame was cracked straight through the middle, splitting his father from his mother. His siblings smiled up from the glass, unaware of what was coming. Hadie slipped it into his jacket pocket. If the Rangers asked what he was looking for out here, he'd already planned three different answers. None of them were the truth. The ground around the statues told its own story. Cracked earth spread out in all directions like a web. No water had touched this place since the Titans passed through. The curse had drained everything—moisture, hope, time itself. Hadie pressed his palm against the dry soil and felt the wrongness of it sink into his skin. This was what the Titans left behind. Death that looked like stone. He stood and met his mother's frozen eyes one last time. Harold would ask where he'd gone when he got back to headquarters. Ace would notice the dust on his boots. Pegi would see right through whatever excuse he gave. But standing here, looking at what happened when gods fell and mortals weren't there to help, Hadie made his choice. He'd tell them. Not all of it, not yet. But enough to let them fight at his side with their eyes open. His parents had tried to face the Titans alone. He wouldn't make the same mistake.