Cursed [malexmale]

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

We left Olympus shortly before sunset.

I could tell Apollo was still more than reluctant to go, or let me go. He constantly checked over his shoulder, constantly reached for me beside him to make sure I was there, and would even stare at me to make sure I was actually there and he wasn't just dreaming. For a moment, I was aggravated by it, but relaxed when I realized he was just being paranoid again.

Part of me wanted something to attack us, for the sole purpose of allowing me to kill it, to show Apollo that I didn't need his help, that I didn't need to be treated as if I was fragile. I wasn't fragile. I could take care of myself, but it would seem the more I boosted about it, the more Apollo denied it, so I gave up and decided to wait until the time came to prove him wrong.

We teleported to the main temple on Atlantis for a quick pit-stop to let Zetnos know we were entering his domain. For some reason, Hannibal thought that was necessary, but no one argued with him.

The temple had changed significantly since Lea took over. It was no longer a cold dark temple made entirely of marble and gold and ancient carvings of battles and legends. It was designed to look like a Greek temple in front with the tall Doric columns and pointed roof, but it stretched into a walkway that led to an open entrance and the rest of the building was made of two large tiered towers, and a flat back end, probably home to the meeting hall while the rest of the temple probably harbored all the antiquities and such.

"I'll go ahead and let them know we're here." Arikos said when we arrived. We gave a nod and he went ahead. I frowned, glancing at Hannibal, surprised he hadn't gone in, even though he'd suggested it. He stuck near one of the columns and sat down on its pedestal while Menoetius milled around the ridiculously long steps that led up to the temple where Apollo sat, leaning back on his elbows to take in the hot Atlantean sun overhead.

Unlike Olympus, Atlantis was far more humid. The air was particularly thick and heavy, very warm and made me wish that our uniforms weren't made of black hydra skin. The sounds of a thousand insects rose up from the miles and miles of ancient jungle around us, birds calling out and singing in the distance. From our top on the highest peak of the Atlantean mountains, I could make out the scattered islands surrounding this one called Leanorius. The other islands, some home to merpeople and others to ogres, and even one owned by a Shade demon, an Atlantean demon that fed on the moonlight five days a month, and the other spent starving and angry.

A warm blast of air swept around the mountain top and I sucked in a deep breath, suddenly feeling nostalgic.

My time in Atlantis, all those years ago, hadn't been the greatest, but there were times when I stood in this very spot and thanked the Source that I was allowed to breath this fresh clean air, to listen to the sounds I'd never hear anywhere else. Whole different species of animals had gone extinct with Atlantis, the phoenix, the varg-leopard, the sabertooth panther, the list went on and it broke my heart that mortals would never be able to see these creatures, never have any true evidence of their existence.

As if on cue, a roar echoed through the trees, deep in the jungle and excitement rushed through me as I recognized the sound of a varg-leopard. Large cats that bore an almost uncanny similarity to the clouded-leopard, except these bore larger teeth and were generally found in neutral tones, grays and blacks and whites, in order to blend into the background of their environment, and their most prominent feature was the black mask that went over their eyes and flicked at the sides, dipping low on either side of their small muzzles.

"Do you miss it?" Apollo's voice made me stiffen and turn to see him standing beside me. I hadn't even noticed coming up to me. I looked back out over the jungle, rubbing at my arm.