Ares And Mia

Chapter 45

I push myself out of the bed, staggering through the unfamiliar room. Fear blooms in my chest when the door cracks open. "Mia?" Lightning crackles around me, static electricity filling the room. Golden eyes widen slightly and he raises his palms toward me, his face clicking in my head instantly.

"Apollo..." My knees give out, but I'm in his arms, guided toward the bed. He smells of dew and mountain air as he props pillows up behind me. "It all makes sense now."

"What does?" The god of the sun presses his knuckles against my forehead, before handing me a glass of water. I felt sluggish, unease pressing against my skin as I downed the cup.

"Atlas knew from the beginning, he knew Ares was going to break his swear to the Styx. So-so he made sure that there would be a consequence," Apollo furrows his brow at me, before shaking his head lightly.

"How do you know Ares's oath? You've been unconscious for four days—"

"Four days?!" I scream, dropping the cup as I try to put it onto the night stand. Apollo catches it, before trying to stop me from getting up. "You let me sleep for four days?! It's—The prophecy started, how the hell isn't the world on fire right now?!"

"You need rest—"

"No, you need to listen to me!" I grab his collar and pull him down toward me. I can see the distinct changes from bronze to gold in his irises, to the way his pupils dilate slightly as he takes me in. "The first prophecy, where I'd be his saving grace or his downfall, that means that there's going to be some sort of bad thing happening! And the second prophecy, it is the bad thing!"

"The second prophecy where you would bring doom to the gods?" Apollo echoes, eyes flickering as he took in my words. I nod quickly.

"Atlas's consequence was the freeing of the original twelve—"

"Titans." He finishes for me and he slips from my grasp. I can barely hide the tremble in my hands.

"How did you... how did you know?" I whispered. Apollo looks unfocused, watching something that I can't see. A vision. I push myself up, stabilizing. The door is pushed open and Ares walks in, eyes crimson. Hermes follows after, his presence sending chills down my spine.

"Did you hear what I said--"

"We did." Ares reaches for me and I take his hand, looking into his eyes. They're silver-flecked, calmed down slightly.

"Are you okay?" I whisper to him. How... How was he out so early? Five days must've passed, unless... of course. Time would move differently when we moved through states of life. Ares nods, before running a hand through his hair. "And you," I fix my eyes on Hermes. He smirks at me. "you knew what was going to happen, didn't you?"

The trickster god.

"You figured it out?"

"It was me, wasn't it? You wanted me to transport my own soul to the Underworld." The prison was in the Underworld. So, just by stepping into the prison, I fulfilled their request. I huff a breath, shaking my head.

Apollo snaps back to reality, squeezing his eyes shut. He seems to almost be in pain. "Hades is getting reports of disturbances in Tartarus. You understand what's happening now, don't you?" His hostility shakes me as he growls at Ares. "The wrong has to be righted."