Cursed [malexmale]

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

"You think there's a spy amongst the Olympians?" Arikos asked.

We returned to Apollo's temple and gathered at the dining table to have a meeting of our own, and also to escape the fact that Zeus's guards were already taking up position around the property and pushing Apollo to the edge of his patience. In order to keep him focused on something aside from killing them, we talked him into sitting down to discuss our own plans.

"I felt something," I said quietly, a chill creeping through my bones as I remembered the eerie feel of eyes boring into me, "Someone watching me, and it felt malevolent and cold. I almost thought it was Artemis, but when I turned around, she wasn't looking at me anymore and I still felt someone's eyes on me for a moment longer before it was gone, but all the gods left at once." Apollo frowned, rubbing at his jaw warily.

"It might've been Hera," He offered, "The fact that none of us, except Hephaestus is her actual child, makes tensions with her pretty high. Hell, given what Hera did to him, even he can't stand to be in the room with her for longer than ten seconds." Arikos scowled.

"What'd she do?" He asked. Apollo gave him a droll stare, but I patted Apollo's hand, instantly making him melt like putty in my hands, making me smirk.

"Arikos wasn't around during that time," I reminded him, making his mouth form an "O" of understanding, and I smiled at Arikos patiently, "As you saw at the meeting, Hephaestus was born with a clubbed foot and Hera was disgusted by him, so she threw him from Olympus and he fell into the ocean, where an Oceanid called Eurynome carried him to shore where the mortal, Thetis, found him and raised him until he ran away shortly after his eighteenth birthday where he came across a band of pirates, who taught him the crafts of artisans, weaponry, sculpting. You name it. As an adult, he returned to Olympus with a gift for Hera, a golden throne, and when she sat on it, well-"

"He pranked her, hardcore," Apollo said with a toothy grin that I resisted rolling my eyes at, because he would be the type to be amused by a prank on Hera, "She sat the throne and couldn't get up. Hephaestus cursed it so she'd never be able to escape it. Unfortunately, Dionysus ruined all the fun and tricked Hephaestus into removing the curse and freeing Hera. Zeus found it so damn funny he kept Hephaestus on Olympus and Hera was infuriated, not that she could do anything about it."

"Zeus makes the rules." I said grimly. Arikos nodded.

"I noticed, but he's not that bad," He said, earning stares from everyone at the table, "What? When you've lived your entire life under Atlan's thumb, guys like Zeus look like fluffy bunnies. I can already tell the guy has an ego the size of Atlantis, but something about his tone told me he's pretty serious about keeping the mountain safe."

"Yeah, for himself," Apollo said with a wave of bitterness, that made Arikos raise an eyebrow, "Zeus comes off like he gives a shit, but everything has a hidden agenda. If anything, this situation is just as dangerous within the pantheon as it is outside." Arikos frowned.

"With Atlan as the outside force? I find that hard to believe." He said, but I shook my head.

"Apollo's right. Zeus is obviously plotting something behind the scenes. His idea to gather the Khalian, while intelligent to lure Atlan in, is very dangerous. Khalian can be controlled," I added, making Arikos frown curiously, and I sighed, raking a hand through my hair as I leaned on the table, "Over a decade ago, the Titans Prometheus and Epimetheus found an ancient ritual composed by a man named Daedalus. The ritual allows the caster to summon the Khalian and control them. It doesn't sound like Zeus is collecting the Khalian as bait."

"He's collecting them as weapons." Menoetius muttered under his breath, speaking for the first time the entire day. Arikos blinked, then suddenly looked uncomfortable.