‘Now that,’ Virgo croaked, her lungs desperately refilling, ‘was highly sub-optimal . . .’

‘Virgo,’ Elliot gasped. ‘I . . . you . . . why . . . ?’

For the rest of time, Elliot would deny any mention of it. But the long, loving hug that he then gave Virgo when words were insufficient was one of the most beautiful sights Zeus would ever witness.

After who-cared-how-long, Elliot looked straight into her eyes.

‘What were you THINKING?’ he shouted.

Virgo shrugged.

‘Seemed like a good idea,’ she smiled.

The two friends looked at each other. And then the laughter came. And it wouldn’t stop. And before long, everyone else was laughing too.

‘I don’t understand,’ gasped Elliot, wiping happy tears from his eyes. ‘What happened? Why wasn’t Virgo, like, blown to pieces?’

‘I’m guessing because there is only one force in this universe stronger than all the elements combined,’ Zeus declared, taking Virgo into a giant bear hug.

‘And that, my darlings, is love,’ declared Aphrodite, joining in the cuddle.

The King of the Gods gazed upon his heroic young friend. As he had so many times before, Zeus guessed exactly what his mortal friend was thinking.

‘Gross,’ Elliot muttered, before being smothered in hugs and kisses by Aphrodite.

‘Where is the Chaos Stone now?’ Athene asked.

‘There isn’t one,’ shrugged Elliot. ‘When the beam bounced off Virgo, it kind of . . . exploded.’

Zeus breathed a sigh of relief. The Chaos Stone was gone. No longer could it threaten the mortals. Nor the Gods. Nor the Daemons. Speaking of whom . . .

‘Where is—’ he began.

‘Hypnos?’ said Hermes, responding to a face-call from the Daemon. The other immortals and Elliot gathered around his phone. ‘Oi – where the bosh are you?’

‘Oh, you know me, here and there,’ said the bruised and battered Daemon. ‘Nowhere you need to worry about. Maybe . . .’

‘I want you where I can keep an eye on you,’ said Zeus. ‘I still don’t trust you one iota.’

‘I’m hurt,’ gasped Hypnos. ‘And after all I’ve done to help you? Who do you think let Hermes and Hades out of that prison? How ungrateful . . . anyway, can’t chat. Now all the drama’s done, I need to find myself. I need to be me. So, I’m going back to what I do best – being other people. Of course, I need somewhere a Daemon would go unnoticed . . . I think I’ll try my hand at politics.’

‘Where’s your brother?’ said Athene quickly. ‘We can’t risk him escaping.’

‘Oh, don’t you worry – I’ve already taken care of him,’ giggled Hypnos. ‘I don’t think Brother Dearest will be bothering you anytime soon . . .’