The Games Gods Play

Lyra discovers Hades’s altar for Persephone in his home while he’s away. She pays her respects, then a satyr arrives with a message from Zai to meet behind Hermes’s temple. There, he decides to bring her to the viewing platform atop the waterfalls so the gods can’t hear them talk. The area, however, does not allow for any powers to be used.

Zai tells Lyra how, after the Labor, Dex became furious with him for aligning with Lyra instead of the other members of the Mind virtue group. He and Rima, Apollo’s champion, kicked him out of their shared house. Lyra offers to break their alliance, but Zai refuses. She offers to have him stay with her and Hades, but Zai is unconvinced. Zai tells her that Rima isn’t allying with Dex out of principle, but rather because she’s against Lyra winning.

Zai specifies that Rima is terrified of Hades becoming the King of the Gods. They talk strategy, but Dex, Neve, Dae-Hyeon, and Samuel find them. Dex tries to intimidate Zai and force him to change allegiances. As they approach them, Zai and Lyra jump off the waterfall. Zai’s boots don’t activate quickly enough to allow him to catch Lyra before she plunges into the waterfall leading to the River Styx.