With Blood shall come Desire (MxM)

☽ Chapter Twenty ☾

𝕱ive days went by. The two gods spent the days in their new hiding place, waiting for some sign that would help them decide their next move. They ate, drank and slept. They laughed, remained silent and only showed their pain to each other. In those few days they had built a connection to each other that became stronger than both of them had anticipated. Many stories were told of battles, past events. Of happy and sad years. Silthos spent much of his time at the window during the day, watching the people walking through the streets. Aristaeus watched the moon in the blackness of the night, waiting impatiently for some hidden message from Lunaan. Was he still unable to locate his lover due to their strong connection? Or was the baker's blood already flowing through the clouds and would soon fall as bloody rain on the earth, making the most beautiful flowers grow atop mourn?

On the fifth day both gods sat again at the table by the window and stared at each other in silence. They knew they had to act, things couldn't continue like this.

Aristaeus was shuffling some cards but his eyes were trained at Silthos. They had felt the presence of other gods, but none had come close enough to find them. Nevertheless, everything some deity passed their house, were motions stopped, their senses sharpened and their blood froze.

Suddenly Aristaeus smelled blood. The god stilled in his movements and looked towards the door. "Stay here.", he said calmly and stood up. There was someone outside that seemed to be in incredible pain, that even the god couldn't stand it. When Aristaeus opened the door, a man, covered in blood fell into his arms. "Silthos!" Shit. Aristaeus immediately recognised the dirty blonde hair. It was Lunaan's lover - Vincent. "Destiny... Send me...", the mortal's voice was barely a whisper and his whole body was trembling.

Silthos widened his eyes and immediately went to the side of the human. "Vincent, what..." He carefully searched for wounds on the body of Lunaan's lover and tried to stop a crucial bleeding on his neck by putting his hand on it. "We have to message Lunaan that you are here... he is worrying himself to death-"

"Don't." Vincent managed to grab Silthos' hand and looked at him with stern eyes, even after everything he went through. "Destiny... told me to wait... the gods are still onto me... they can't find him..." Aristaeus furrowed his brows and managed to get the man onto the couch. "We need to get the bleeding to stop. After that we'll talk." The wounds seemed pretty serious but luckily Aristaeus didn't find any burns on the man's body. A burn from the sun god could mean a definite end for a human.

Silthos helped Aristaeus get Vincent on the couch and tore his shirt open to examine his wound closer. A clean open cut like a smile was carved into his neck. Not too deep to kill by instant, but deep enough to let him bleed to death when untreated. Much blood was running down his neck to the chest, soaking into Vincent's shirt and colouring it pink. Furthermore, his body was covered with bruises and cuts. The mind of Silthos started to work fast and images popped up in his head about the torture this mortal must have gone through. "I could press onto the wound to stop the bleeding... Aristaeus can you close this thing... or control the blood! Come on you are the fucking god of blood and war you should know how to treat wounds or blood, please!" The voice of Silthos sounded hysterical, he was caring deeply for this little human's life.

Aristaeus suddenly grabbed the god by the shoulder and turned him towards himself. "Silthos, you need to calm down. Take deep breaths, alright? He's going to be fine, I will fix him up." Aristaeus had tended many wounds in battle. And although it looked pretty serious right now, he knew that the wound wasn't fatal. Whatever happened up there, the baker seemed to have been tough enough to survive it. And the emotions of Silthos were influencing Aristaeus' a lot. He had noticed it in the last few days more and more. Whenever the god had been happy or sad, Aristaeus had felt it too. And right now it was important that Silthos was calm, otherwise it would affect him as well and that wouldn't be of any good use.

"When you have calmed down, you will get me some clean towels and water, alright?" Aristaeus was talking calmly to the god while he started working on the baker.

With the help of his powers he managed to stop the bleeding and regulate the man's heartbeat. It would give them enough time to take proper care of Lunaan's lover and keep him alive.

Silthos watched Aristaeus and focused on his own breathing. Deep in and out. Deep in and out. The chaos - the waves in him turned into slow waves again, crashing softly against the riffs, leaving a clear and washed mind. He slowly calmed down and nodded. "I'll be back in a few seconds." He got a towel and some water, still focusing on his breathing a bit. Aristaeus got this.

It was quick work to patch Vincent up. Aristaeus worked concentrated and thanks to Silthos his mind was calm as well. Soon the baker was wrapped in bandages and sleeping peacefully. Aristaeus wiped his hands on a towel and stood up, inhaling deeply. "We should let him sleep..." Aristaeus turned towards the other god and raised his brows. "Why do you think he talks about Destiny?"

Silthos watched the little mortal's chest lift up and down as he breathed calmly. The redhead shook his head as Aristaeus pulled him out of his thoughts. He repeated the question of the god in his head, over and over, but the words didn't seem to make sense. Repeating them seemed like stealing their meaning. But then it hit him suddenly: "She saved him. She helped him break out." Silthos widened his eyes and looked down at his hands. "She betrayed Aurelius... a betrayal of the league of gods. My grandfather loves her... but not enough. She will receive punishment." Silthos stopped his own words and wrapped his hands before his mouth, gasping for air.

"But why would she do that? It must have something to do with the prophecy." Aristaeus came to a gruesome thought. What if he was the reason for the gods death? What if, by some sick twist of fate he got in possession of the sword and was the one to pierce it through him? Aristaeus felt sick to the stomach. All these completely absurd thoughts were trying to consume him and he quickly needed to escape them. "Silthos, we need to stay calm. When Vincent wakes up he will tell us what happened and we can take measures. If your sister is in danger I will try my best to help her.", he looked sternly at the god. "You trust me, right?"

Silthos gazed up at the other god and nodded slowly. His hands lowered from his lips and he swallowed hard. "I do. I trust you, Aristaeus. But... did you ever even question how my sister lost her sense of sight?" The redhead stared down on the floor with his hands slightly shaking. "She was still a young existence... but the court of gods they-" He stopped himself again and took a shaky breath.

Aristaeus had heard many rumours but he had never been interested enough to dig deeper into the mystery. He himself had never been in the court of gods. When the sun god took his heart it had been a forbidden act, but no one had cared about it. Why would it matter if the god of war and blood couldn't feel anymore? Emotions were a waste of space for him, weren't they?

Aristaeus clenched his jaw and pulled Silthos into the kitchen, so that they wouldn't disturb the human. Quietly, he started to heat up water in a kettle, preparing to make tea. Over time Aristaeus had noticed that Silthos calmed down with the help of this beverage. "Tell me everything, Silthos. From the beginning."