Bryce and Hunt arrive at the shore in Hel and immediately confront Apollion for calling Hunt “son.” Thanatos appears with Apollion, and Aidas insists they have come to talk, not fight. When Hunt instinctively tries to shove Aidas away from Bryce, Hunt passes through him and realizes Bryce and Hunt are only insubstantial “ghosts” in this black-salt dream, unable to harm the Princes—or be harmed by them.

Thanatos escalates the shock by declaring Hunt is not Apollion’s son and claiming, “If anything, you are mine.” Bryce and Hunt notice milky-eyed hounds in the temple shadows; Aidas says the animals are Thanatos’s companions and promises they will not attack. Thanatos, the “Prince of Souls,” remarks that Bryce’s starlight smells “fresher,” implying her power has been newly altered, which makes Hunt consider Bryce’s recent discovery that her light is now laced with darkness.

With limited time before the dreaming draft wears off, Aidas persuades Bryce and Hunt to enter the Temple of Chaos, where five chairs ring a central, bottomless pit. Apollion tells Hunt he is “disappointed” Hunt has not freed himself from the “black crown,” and Hunt demands an explanation. Thanatos says black crowns were Asteri-made collars that once enslaved Hel’s princes and were later adapted to bind beings on Midgard.

Apollion adds that the black crowns cannot contain the Princes of Hel, so Aidas had been surprised to see one on Hunt; Apollion claims Hunt was “made by Hel’s princes,” so the crown should not be able to hold him. Bryce presses for the truth from the beginning and lays out what she knows: the Asteri invaded Hel, Hel united to drive them out, then pursued them to Midgard but failed and has since tried to return through the Northern Rift. She also confronts Aidas about his love for Theia, and Aidas admits Theia was deeply flawed but eventually regretted her actions and tried to atone.

Aidas explains that the Asteri ordered Pelias to use the Horn to close the Northern Rift; the Horn broke before fully sealing Hel out, leaving a tiny wedge that allowed limited contact. Helena used black salt to commune with Aidas, hoping to restart the war, but Hel was too depleted to strike unless the Rift could be fully opened. Thanatos reveals a key reason for Hel’s weakness: vampyrs and Reapers defected to the Asteri, shattering Hel’s armies. Aidas concludes that Helena realized the war would not be won in her lifetime or by her sons, and begins to reveal what Helena discovered about what Theia did in her final moments.