Making Bonds

"Don't touch that," Jack warned Sharina yet again. She drew her arm back, heeding to his warning for two seconds, then reached forward to touch his mom's attempt at molding a vase.

Jack sighed and leaned back into the couch, wondering why they had to use his house as their meeting place. After Zeus returned to his head, the god had thrown a series of orders at Jack. First, the trio each and separately teleport to a known location. Jack was beginning to suggest the dig site he met Newt when they both asked if they could warp into his house.

"How do you know where that is," he had asked, very reluctant to let them inside his abode.

The host of Hades, Sharina, as she had ever so annoyingly introduced herself confessed she had been trailing him since he collapsed in the middle of the road. Newt also confessed to stalking him, although he started much earlier.

Jack refused at first but was thrown a barrage of insults by Zeus, who was very pissed off. Jack had tried to plead the god, but Zeus didn't seem to want to listen. He almost seemed to be in more of a hurry than before.

Sharina had been the first to leave. Unlike the others, she had immediately bonded with Hades despite their massive differences in personality. Jack could've moved faster if Zeus wasn't holding a grudge against him, but he still managed to make it and thankfully, in one piece. Newt, on the other hand, hadn't arrived yet.

"Hades says Poseidon was always bad at the whole instantaneous transportation thing," Sharina informed him. "We might be here a while."

Jack was then stuck with her for over an hour. He couldn't tell what was worse, Sharina getting handsy with everything she laid her eyes on or Zeus being incredibly silent. Either way, he wished Newt would get to his house faster. They needed to be out before his mom got back.

"Are you always this quiet?" Sharina asked, now holding his mom's vase in both hands.

"I don't like people," Jack replied curtly, wishing she would go back to playing detective.

Setting the vase down, she sat forward. "Why not?"

It sounded genuine, but Jack felt she was humoring him. After all, most people did. Shaking his head, he looked out a nearby window to his left.

"I just don't."

"Bullshit," she swore. "Let me guess, you got bullied as a kid?"

Jack finally looked into her eyes. It reminded him of Noel all those years ago. Jack hated people that tried to get close to him. He tried to avoid Newt when they had first met, and now the second host seemed to want to buddy up.

Give me a break, he thought, shutting his eyes.

"So are you going to reply, or I'll have to straddle you before you talk?" Sharina threatened, holding Jack's gaze.

Jack opened his mouth to speak, and heard a heavy knock on the front door. Frowning, he stood up. His mom would just unlock the door and walk-in. After the incident with the Stymphalians, he was paranoid about what monster would come next.

"Open the goddamn door!" Newt yelled from outside, pounding in the front door again.

Releasing a breath, Jack quickly walked up to the door, picking up the key from the small table. He inserted it into to keyhole and twisted, swinging the door open as the lock drew back.

"Water," Newt gasped, brushing past Jack.

Jack stepped back, trying to minimize contact with Newt's sweaty body. Locking the door, he walked into the living room.

"Don't tell me you ran here," Sharina laughed, watching as Newt stumbled into the kitchen, panting heavily.

"Piss off," Newt managed between breaths, tilting his head under the kitchen tap.

Jack watched him in disgust. "There are cups right there," he gestured to a small stack of three cups.

"Mragwhwha," Newt mumbled as water flooded into his mouth.

Jack and Sharina watched Newt drink for a few minutes before their patience wore thin. Sharina, scowling, marched up to Newt and shut off the faucet, before dragging him back by his waist.

"Hey!" he complained, looking to Jack for help, but was met with a bland stare.

Sharina flung him down in the chair where she formally sat and then took a seat on the couch, beside Jack.

"Now what," she asked, looking to Jack.

"Hold hands," Zeus commanded in his head.

Jack lifted his eyebrows. "What?"

His question was met by silence. Sighing, he held his two hands out to both Newt and Sharina.

"He said hold hands," Jack told them.

"Weird way of trying to get a pretty girl to hold your hand," Sharina commented, grabbing his hand then reaching out to Newt.

Newt shrugged and leaned forward, grasping both of their forearms. "What happens now?"

His answer came as swiftly as everything had. Jack felt like he had been smacked across his chest and sent flying backward. The first thought that came to mind was teleportation, but this felt much different. He didn't feel the warm vanishing feeling he experienced before. Instead, it was painful and felt very real. Unable to lift his outstretched hands to his body, Jack forced his eyes open.

Though he felt like he was flying, Jack couldn't see a thing. The darkness reminded him of how he woke up when he fell off the cliff. Fighting back the memory, he squeezed his eyes shut. A loud smack followed after.

"That was nice," Sharina muttered beside him, clearly woozy from whatever had just happened.

Finally able to let go of their hands, Jack fell off the chair and onto his knees, vomiting the little he had in his stomach.

"The hell are you doing?" Newt prodded at Jack's head with his feet.

Jack looked up at him, also noticing he was as dizzy and unfocused as himself and Sharina. Feeling a tug in his gut, he brought his head back down and hurled once more.

"You puke air?" Sharina grunted from above.

Jack opened his eyes and saw she was right. Instead of brown vomit, all he saw was golden light reflecting off the floor. Shaking his head, he noticed it wasn't light but in fact, the floor was made of actual gold.

"Where are we?" Jack stood to his feet, side by side with the others, all taking in the strange, but magnificent sight.