Athena heard the Mother's despairing cry as she left her body and arrowed after the staff.

"Burn it!" Athena cried. "Burn it right now!"

Hephaestus responded immediately. While Apollo was still struggling to get his weapon out of his holster, Hephaestus had moved to the edge and was firing the laser at full power directly on to the staff. The snake writhed and hissed, the Mother screamed, but Hephaestus kept the laser playing over the staff. He kept firing until the ...