Power Thief's Revenge [BL]-Chapter 158: Grand Escape

Chapter 158: Grand Escape
The golden light of the cage emanated around them, feeling like a warm embrace. Safe, but temporary.
Hermes knew it. They couldn’t stay in this little sanctuary forever.
"Alright," Hermes muttered, dragging himself upright. His chest still ached from earlier, but his arms had stopped trembling. "Time to move."
Magni was practically bouncing on his heels, his fire-lit eyes now gleaming with that extra solar glow. He grinned like a kid who’d just found his favorite toy. "These beams.... these are incredible. Did you see the way the shadows scattered? I’ve never felt anything like it."
He rubbed his temples, then mimed blasting lasers from his eyes, complete with sound effects. "Pshhh! Pshhh!"
Ymir leaned against the wall, unimpressed. "You look ridiculous."
Magni ignored him, peering at his reflection in a shard of bone-polished wall. His eyes flared golden-white for a second, then dimmed. "No, seriously. This is art. Fire is brute force. Ice is control. But this.... light.... it’s..."
He clicked his tongue. "It’s pure."
Ymir scowled but didn’t argue. Which said enough.
Finally, he muttered, "Fine. It is... fun."
Hermes nearly choked. "Oh? The Ice Prince is actually having fun?"
"Shut up." Ymir’s ears were pink, though he pretended not to hear.
The shadows outside shrieked again, pounding against the barrier. It was starting to flicker. Hermes clenched his fists.
"We do this together. No splitting up. Keep the beams steady, keep moving, and don’t stop until we’re out."
Magni spun his ax once, its fiery edge glowing brighter under the solar infusion. "Yes, Brother Modi!"
The golden light cracked. The shadows poured in like a tidal wave.
"Go!" Hermes barked.
They exploded out of the cage, beams cutting through the black mass. Hermes’ eyes burned, light lancing forward and cleaving a dozen tendrils.
Ymir’s daggers sliced through another, but this time, instead of reforming, the cuts burned golden, sealing the things into dust. Magni let out a battle roar, swinging his ax in wide arcs, each strike flaring like a miniature sunrise.
The catacombs became chaos. Shadows wailed, the sound like a thousand voices overlapping. Bones rattled from the walls, raining down. The three of them carved a path, golden fire and frost weaving together in a wild dance.
Hermes almost laughed. For once, they weren’t retreating. They were winning.
But there were too many. For every creature they burned away, three more slid from the walls. "Up ahead!" Hermes shouted, spotting the faint square of moonlight leaking through a crack.
"Stairs!" Ymir grunted, kicking a tendril off his leg. "Move!"
They sprinted, beams lighting the path. Shadows swarmed the walls like spiders, racing to cut them off. Hermes flared his power, blasting a wide sweep that lit the entire corridor. The monsters shrieked, evaporating in sheets of smoke.
Magni whooped, throwing himself up the steps two at a time. "Ha! You see that? Gods above, I love this power!"
Ymir rolled his eyes but sliced another creature in half. "Don’t get used to it."
The trapdoor above them was locked. Hermes didn’t hesitate. He blasted it with his beams. Wood and metal exploded outward. Cool night air rushed in.
They scrambled out, collapsing into the empty barn. The night sky stretched above them, stars glittering like jewels. The smell of grass and earth hit Hermes, sharp and grounding.
For a moment, none of them spoke. Just breathing. Just alive.
Then Magni collapsed onto his back, laughing breathlessly. "That... was... amazing."
He looked at Ymir. "You can’t tell me you didn’t enjoy that."
Ymir hesitated.
Then, begrudgingly: "...A little."
Hermes smirked. "I’ll take it."
They didn’t linger. Not when the shadows were still screaming faintly below. They hurried back to the rented van, the farmhouse looming silent behind them like a memory that didn’t fit. Hermes drove, gripping the wheel tight as the headlights cut the road.
For a while, the only sound was the hum of the engine and country music Hermes flicked on just to irritate Ymir.
"Turn that off," Ymir groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Nope," Hermes said. "Part of the southern experience."
Magni leaned forward between the seats, humming along to the twangy lyrics like he’d been born in Nashville. "I like it."
Ymir slumped lower in his seat, muttering under his breath.
Hermes laughed as he drove, but his mind was still racing about the implications of what they had seen in the farm.
An empty house.... An empty barn... A golden cage in a crypt...
Just what kind of childhood did Raphael Mirasol have?
***
By dawn, they rolled back into Haven City. Skyscrapers replaced cornfields, neon signs buzzing awake. Hermes parked near his building just as Somner and Aphrodite emerged from a corner café, still in costume.
Somner’s mask was crooked, his hair sticking out in tufts. He waved with a grin. "There they are! How’s your little trip down the South?"
"Long story. We’ll tell you when we get home." Hermes said. "Hop on in."
Aphrodite trailed behind, quiet as ever, his pink hair falling into his eyes. He carried a small paper bag of pastries like it was fragile cargo.
Inside Hermes’ apartment, the chaos gave way to something softer. Pizza boxes spread across the table, beer cans popped open. The Grrberus pups yipped around their ankles while Xolotl lay curled on the couch like the one normal thing in the room.
Hermes recounted everything—the farm, the barn, the catacombs, the shadows. Magni added sound effects whenever Hermes glossed over the fighting. Ymir corrected the exaggerations. Somner cracked jokes about "farmhouse crypt chic" while Aphrodite just listened, eyes flicking quietly between them all.
When Hermes mentioned the golden cage, Somner whistled. "Solar-powered panic room? Whoever built that was prepared."
"Prepared for what, though?" Ymir asked. "Why build something like that under a barn in Virginia?"
Magni shrugged. "Maybe Raphael’s family knew more than he lets on."
Hermes didn’t answer. His mind kept circling back to one thing. The taste. Familiar, somehow. He shoved the thought down with another swig of beer.
They sprawled on the couch, half-eaten pizza between them, when Hermes flicked on the TV. He just wanted noise in the background.
But the first words that filled the room made his stomach drop.
[Breaking news tonight—Paragon Reveals Copy Cat’s True Powers, Involvement in Night Cyclops Incident.]
The camera cut to Raphael’s face. Calm. Handsome. His golden eyes steady on the er.
Hermes froze, the beer can slipping from his fingers and onto the carpet.
A/N I’m recovering from dengue fever and there’s a chance it might return. I already ran out of stock Chapters so if it comes back, I would have to take a hiatus. Hopefully that doesn’t happen. But just a little heads up.