As Betsy stares at the remaining two paths in this journey, a child-like resistance to continuing on overcame her as she continued to stare blindly at the sign that advertised the journey into Olympus. Between that and the cold-sweat sort of dread that she felt standing in front of Midnight, Betsy found herself quite unwilling to take another step further. Sitting down square in the center once again, she crosses her arms and silently vows to wait until they, whoever “they” happened to be, finally gave up and sent her home.

“The journey isn’t over, Betsy... You have to keep going...”

“The fuck I do.” She growls out loud, looking around futilely for the voices. “I don’t know who thought it was a good idea to bring me here, but I’ve had enough. I’m done, you can send me home now.”

“You still have so long to go, Betsy... Get up, it’s time to keep moving.”

Rage consumes her as she jumps to her feet and spins around. It was obvious that whatever was happening would stop until she finished whatever it was, she was meant to. Scowling, she troubles over which world to explore next, before marching for Olympus. Pausing for just a moment, she turns to flip off the disembodied voices urging her in before pushing her way through. The shiver runs through her as she crosses and then it’s done; a cursory look around shows causes her to draw in a sharp breath. She knew the River Styx quite well from her time travels in Excellence, but what she was doing there now left her baffled. Looking down, she realizes she’s tightly grasping something. Opening her hand, she realizes it’s some sort of crystal vial to contain liquid; running a finger over it, she thought she could feel it pulsing under her fingers. She looks up at the hellscape before her as her pulse begins to race; Sure, enough she was about halfway through the treacherous journey through the jagged mounts. Dragons had begun to notice her presence and were stalking ever closer, slinking silently through the valleys on silent wings. Her heart sinks into her toes as she realizes the hopelessness of the mission before her; she knew that whoever had set her on this path had set her up to fail.

A single teardrop falls from her face and onto the crystal vial in her hand. It begins to thrum with life, scaring her further; as her panic increased, a bright golden light began to shine from the sky directly above. A booming voice called from within.

“Fear not, my child, for I have decided to take pity on you. Dry your tears, for I will send you exactly what you need to complete your mission.”

Betsy looks up towards the light and gasps as a face materializes out of the clouds. “Zeus? ... Wait for a second, you aren't Zeus, you're..?!”

“That’s right sister mine; the Tyrant has come to help you out of trouble once again.”

Glaring up at him, Betsy balls her hands into fists and plants them on her hips. “I didn’t ask, nor do I need your help.”

“Don’t be silly, Psyche; we all need a little help from time to time. I’ll get you through Aphrodite’s bullshit, don’t worry.” Shawn was going for soothing, but his booming voice made him sound dangerous. “I don’t know why you’re being like this; just let me help. It’s not going to hurt you to let me help you.”

Eyeing the dragons slinking between the jagged mountains, she felt doubt stab her heart. Another tear fell from her face as she attempted to continue her climb towards the river. Realization dawns on her as begins to piece together what’s happening; Stopping, she turns her face up to the cloud in time to see a majestic eagle emerge from the golden clouds. Hope explodes in her heart as the eagle effortlessly fights off the dragons that held her paralyzed in fear. Swooping down to her, it gracefully catches the vial in its talons and glides directly to the River Styx. Filling the vial, the eagle drops it gracefully into her waiting hands and disappears once more into the clouds. Falling to her knees in thanks, Betsy sends up a prayer to Zeus for his assist. When she rises to her feet, she turns due north to Mount Olympus, fear rising in her throat for knowing what’s to come...

____


“Hey brother mine, I’ve got a couple of things to say that may or may not ruffle some feathers. Not yours, I’m sure, but I’m going to add a trigger warning anyway. There are a few things we need to put to bed, once and for all.

First and foremost is this insistence on reminding everyone of your charitable acts in favor of Atara and me in past matches. We get it, you’re a regular Lancelot, but here’s the thing: Neither of us ever needed, nor asked, nor wanted your help. Speaking for myself, I appreciate the looking out, but it wasn’t necessary. My winning the GCWA Righteous Rumble was more than an assist from Legacy, it was an accident of fate mixed with some clever timing. Didn’t anyone ever wonder why I didn’t get back in the ring right away? Watch the replays one more time, you’ll spot, more than once, me taking a peek to see where we were at in the match. But that’s not the point, is it Shawn? You’ll make yourself look like a hero for sacrificing your shot at Mack, but it wasn’t you that helped me win; it was Legacy as a whole. It took all of us too; the Big Bifford wasn’t getting out of that ring with just you or I pushing his lard ass.

But that brings us to our final Inferno when we found ourselves in a four-way match for a shot at Mack O’Connor. I already had everyone oozing salt by replacing James, but your comments were especially fun. Coming into Legacy, I did have reservations about being seen as the potential Yoko of the group; I hope I’ve proven by now that’s far from the case. I have ambition to a fault, no more or less than you or anyone else in this business. My fault is being over-opinionated and shooting off at the mouth before I take a step back to think at times. Something you yourself have attempted to guide me against; though for the life of me, that’s a lesson I’m just not hardwired to learn. I run off emotions, I always have. It’s just who I am, I’m never going to be as calm, cool, and collected as Shawn Warstein and I’m good with that. I have to do what works for me, and if you think that makes me weaker, I’ll just have to show you all the ways you’re wrong.

I got off track a little bit, didn’t I? What I was actually attempting to get to was the fact that you allowed me to get a pin over you in that match to keep things lickity split between the competitors. Again, a favor I never asked of you, but one that had a mutual benefit behind it. You didn’t do it for me personally, you did it to ensure Legacy kept their numbers game to give yourself the better odds. The fact is, you didn’t do anything I wouldn’t have done, you just had the opportunity to do it first. That never bothered me, though, because the way that played out was a fucking travesty as it was.

I love you to death, brother dearest, and hold you in the highest regard. But I’ve stampeded my way through March Madness thus far and will do so all the way to the very end. And see, I’ve done without your help. You’ve already grabbed everything there is to have here; It’s someone else’s turn to do the same. It just so happens that my agenda sees me as the next person doing so. All you’re doing here is reiterating a point that everyone already knows: Shawn Warstein is one of the greatest. You literally have nothing left to prove to anyone; Glory just seems to fall into your lap at this point in your career. Some of us *cough*ME*cough* aren’t quite so lucky as to be at that stage yet. I suppose what I’m getting at is my motivation to win is likely much stronger than yours. Whether that helps me or not is something we’ll both find out together... But I’m not holding back, brother mine. I want this entirely too much and I’ve come too far to stop short now.

If that means finally proving once and for all that I never needed you to make my way upwards, so be it...

... Let’s keep that prestigious title within the Legacy.

See, Osira? This is what sibling rivalry looks like.”

_____

She now stands before Aphrodite after her arduous journey; She’s not at all surprised to see that she bears a striking resemblance to Atara Themis. Besides her is an Ares that looks exactly like... Shawn? Catching her look of surprise, Ares touches a finger tauntingly to his lips. Sweeping her emerald eyes back to Aphrodite, she stumbles backward a few steps. Aphrodite shakes the vial in front of Betsy’s face. “You will answer me- Who helped you?”

"No one, pinky promise.” The Impossible Traveler stutters, earning a hard look from both gods. Ares shakes his head while Aphrodite considers her with glittering eyes.

“You’re lying, Psyche. I may not be able to prove it, but someone helped you. No matter... There’s nothing anyone can do this time.” A smile tugs at perfect lips as Aegean blue eyes light up with wicked intentions. “One final mission to prove you’re worthy of my son...” She pauses for dramatic effect as Betsy’s heart pounds. Aphrodite produces a box from the air itself. “I’m sending you to the Underworld on a special quest: Seek out Persephone and fill this box with some of her beauty. Caring for Cupid after your betrayal has taken a toll on my looks; I need it for the theater tonight. Bring it back to me and then we shall discuss your future.”

Closing her eyes, Betsy feels thoroughly defeated as the undesirable idea of heading into Hell sinks in. Aphrodite thrusts the box into her hands and dismisses her with a flick of her wrist. An invisible hand pushes her into a seemingly endless void of falling until she crashes back to Earth. Sitting up and looking around, she realizes that Aphrodite had placed her far from her destination. With a sigh, she gets to her feet and brushes the dirt from her gown; getting an idea of her bearings, she heads due east towards Taenarus.

____

“Oh Atty... I’m only doing this part because it’s obligatory of me. Rawr, if we meet, I’m going to beat you. Buah hahaha, I win. I’m just kidding, I know better than to take you as casually as that. I mean, you’re the Goddess to my Impossible Traveler; but the fact stands that you were the Goddess long before that. Ever since I stepped foot in XWF; nay, in the industry as a whole, the name ‘Themis’ held some weight. But in XWF in particular, the name Atara Themis packed a wallop. It was obvious from the very start that you were the bar these girls had set their standards too. Geri Vayden couldn’t stop bragging about one win she claimed over you in suspicious circumstances. Jenny Myst even forced herself to admit that if it weren’t for you, she wouldn’t be fuck all of what she is now. Okay, I may be exaggerating her words a bit, but the meaning was definitely implied. The point is, you set a standard that was meant to be too high to reach. Even the women who carried the title after you left felt threatened by the legacy you’d left behind; you were the unrivaled epitome of the Shooting Star Division.

Too bad I shattered that in no time at all.

I honestly didn’t mean for that to come out quite that bluntly, but there’s no taking it back now. You are literally one of my favorite people on this planet, but if the time comes for us to face off... It’s icky and I hate thinking about it. I literally hate the idea of having to go up against you than I do Brother Mine, and the idea of that one doesn’t exactly tickle me pink, either... But much like with him, I will fight my ass off to get through you to the next round... Or to the final bell itself, if it happens as such. If it means anything, you’re one of the few I’d feel better losing to if I’m not meant to walk out the victor. It would be so easy to focus on you and Shawn, given the drama that goes into our potential matchups, but I just really want it to be one of us claiming the title of Queen/King. If it’s Miss Fury or your sister, I might actually vomit on camera.

It’s funny that Shawn would attempt to come after both of us over the same thing; Doesn’t that say more about him than it does about us? I don’t know, I think he just needs to let those incidents go. If we needed his help all those times, why are we even still here? How did we possibly make it any farther if he wasn’t holding our hand to cross the road? Ah, well... We both have something to prove to Brother Mine that night; I just hope he doesn’t let his mouth write any checks his butt can’t cash. I’m not talking in regards to in the ring, we both know damn well he can handle himself in there perfectly well. I’m talking about the fallout of all this... In the heat of things, certain things could be said that can’t be taken back. That’s what makes this part so hard; I hate having to do this shit against my friends. I was never naïve enough to think I wouldn’t have to, it just sucks.

Geez, I’ve really laid into Brother Mine today, didn’t I? No hard feelings, Fuzzy Wuzzy, you know that.

As for the rest of you who aren’t Atara and Shawn... Watch your ass. I’m not finished yet.”

___

Betsy emerges from the Underworld clutching the box full of Persephone’s beauty. Every bouncing step she takes towards Olympus is giddy; Never had she thought she would be able to have an in-depth conversation with the Queen of the Underworld. Persephone herself had been very sweet to her; sympathetic towards her plight, she offered up the piece of her beauty without argument. Once their business had concluded, they had talked for hours on end of gossip among the gods, news of fashion and entertainment, and the upcoming wars. Betsy could see how easy it was to lose track of time down there, even if it wasn’t for the same reasons as most of the other occupants.

Now she skips along the path towards the great mountain the gods called home, careful not to drop the box and lose the beauty within. Her own curious nature nagged at her to take a peek at the treasure within, but she resists temptation and continues along her way. Even so, a little voice at the back of her mind continued to whisper temptations into her brain.

“You just went through hell for Aphrodite... You deserve to see what’s inside... You deserve a little piece of the beauty that Aphrodite would keep all to herself.”

“I can’t.” She whispers out loud in reply, but the voices don’t cease; instead, they grow ever louder.

Distracted completely, she begins walking aimlessly through the woods, heading straight for the barrier that was now fully concealed by the shade of tall trees. Turning the box over and over in her hand, she goes to war with herself over whether she should take a look inside or not. The furious face of Aphrodite floats to the forefront of her mind and causes her to shudder. Crossing her again wouldn’t be in her best interest, especially if it meant losing her husband forever. Well, Psyche’s husband, who she supposed she was in this particular moment. As this thought flits through her mind, she smiles and chuckles sardonically. It was almost poetic how this particular cast of characters had played out in this particular world... Or sequence... Or whatever the fuck all this was.

It wasn’t until she ran directly into the thick wooden post that she realized she’d accidentally crossed the barrier between worlds. Her eyes widen as she realizes she still has Aphrodite’s box in her hand. Her heart drops to her stomach as she turns and attempts to walk back through; Like before, she couldn’t get through no matter how hard she tried. Stepping back, she looks up wonders just what the logic behind all of this was. Nothing about it made sense; it still didn’t make sense. Still... She looks down at the box in her hands. A sly smile creeps over her face as she realizes that she would be allowed her temptation now.

“Betsy... Whatever you do, don’t open that box!”

She almost drops it to the ground as the voices scream from all around her. Snarling, she spins around in a fast circle, shouting out into the emptiness surrounding her now. “And what if I do? Who’s gonna stop me; you assholes won’t even show your faces.”

Looking back down at the box, she rips off the top and looks inside expectantly. To her surprise, all she sees is vast, empty darkness within; That’s all she sees too, for, within seconds, her body falls limply through the barrier for Midnight as she falls into a deep, comatose slumber...

TO BE CONTINUED...

FORMER