Chapter 20:

Iliana Pov:

Coming home from her shopping trip she expected many things, from Ezra training to him being a menace to society. To see her father tied up in their living room with a cyclops next to him certainly confirmed that she was partly right though this wasn't completely within her expectations.

She contemplated just leaving but knew her lover would only become more of a menace left to his own devices, so she headed towards his office. Now that she was closer she could hear music coming from the room.

'Is that a saxophone,' She thought to herself before opening the door, to the sight of Ezra sitting on a chair completely naked. He ignored her as he played the classic hit that dubbed a man, from his previous verse, as 'epic sax guy' on the saxophone.

'You lost your virginity to this,' She heard her mother tell her and promptly blushed. Her mother had access to communication because the goddess didn't really know boundaries and personally visited the house and did her magic to be able to beat the anti-scrying wards. Ezra wasn't too pleased about the events but this hasn't been their main base for a while so privacy concerns weren't really the issue

'What's wrong with this and stop spying on my private things,' She said as she eyed his abs and junk, though she was mostly transfixed by the music, surprisingly enough.

'I got the information about your virginity from Aphrodite, I certainly didn't appreciate being taken out to a club because of the status of my daughter's purity,' She heard her mother say and wanted to die.

Ezra took this time to stop and stared at her, "I sense we have a voyeur in our midst, if you wanted to see me naked, you could have accepted me as your apprentice,"

"Maybe you should wear some clothes and I wouldn't have to burden my eyes with your image," Hecate replied in disgust.

"Maybe you shouldn't pry into the homes of others, it looks like it is time for me to upgrade the wards again," Ezra replied in amusement. "And you are a talented actor Lady Hecate, the fact that you are still here shows you don't feel any disgust, so don't bother faking it,"

She felt her mother's connection disappear. Ezra and Hecate had a decent relationship before he and Iliana got into a relationship now, the two bickered like mother-and-son in law.

"Got her," Ezra said with a chuckle."What is it you need that you chose to interrupt an award-winning show,"

"The two prisoners in our living room," She replied.

"Oh that. Well, it is nothing important, just our methods to immortality.'' He said, causing her to do a double-take and then sigh. She got the gist of what it entailed, she knew the cyclops from Ezra's various ranting, the one that almost killed him and did kill his father, so she knew sacrificing him could mean increased longevity

Did she like her father? He basically kicked her out and threw her into a foster home because he didn't like all the supernatural creatures that appeared and the fact that a woman, even his own daughter would become more powerful than him, certainly didn't help. Before that he was mentally abusive, trying to break her self-confidence in order to feel better about himself.

"I don't want to sacrifice my father, even if I don't like him," She replied, causing him to sigh.

He walked towards her and gently grabbed her chin."As I thought, the person you dislike the most is your father. I interrogated him and while I didn't care for most of it, the fact that he hurt you means his time on this planet is limited. So he will either die by your hands or mine."

She swallowed. Shouldn't she defend her father, she knew she could convince Ezra to at least let him go, either with a dozen curses and injuries but he would still be alive, but she couldn't muster up the will.

She hardly disliked anyone in her life, so Ezra who was her best friend would easily know not just because he knew her tells but also because his touch would easily identify who she likes or disliked, she couldn't defend against it and even if could, she wouldn't hide her thoughts from him.

"Fine," She said softly and Ezra smiled before kissing her on the brow, causing her to smile.

Ezra Pov:

We were currently in the maze, in my personal workshop, I had everything I needed, now I just had to wait till the optimal age, something that was easy to accomplish thanks to the time dilation of the place.

Being in control of Daedalus meant I could make sure the time inside would only be faster than outside, rather than slower. It was difficult but combining magic and his knowledge of science, it was doable.

So now I spent most of my time in the maze while letting my clones handle the other things. They were far weaker than me, but I didn't use them for combat but to learn useful things. Like learning how to play the sax, the best investment of my life.

My clones also set up the ward crafting. Since Hecate would keep on breaking in, I would have had a breakdown sooner or later. It also helped me in grinding my wards skills against a goddess, I am honestly not sure why she keeps doing this. Hecate was basically a neet, so it isn't really surprising that she is a troll as well.

I dismiss those thoughts though and stare at my and Iliana's sacrifices. A few virgins, demigods and our most hated foes, are ready to be sacrificed. I soon began the ritual, placing everyone in the right spots.

Iliana and I undressed and began chanting the ancient greek words. The vitality of our sacrifice began transferring to us and we were granted eternal youth. We were still killable but at least the marches of time weren't breathing down our neck

"Guess I don't have to worry about growing old," Iliana said as she examined herself "I don't feel too different,"

"Neither do I but I know it worked. Wanna celebrate," I asked and we soon reached our bedroom for some steamy activities.

A/N: You can read ahead on patre,on/ DickMcJones.