The Sea and The Moon

Chapter 23

This seemed to do the trick. His eyes were icy cold, but I shuddered at the fire burning beneath his icy orbs. A white-hot flame that threatened to incinerate me with just a glance. By now, his eyes were locked on a deep brown, as he regained control of his body. He glared at me.

"What did you say?!" He roared. I smiled sheepishly at him.

"Nice to have you back?"

"Nice to have me what? Wait, what just happened?" He asked completely confused. It seemed that he was not aware of what happened during the time that Peitho had taken over his body. Then I realized something. The moment that Peitho had been forced out of Nico's body, she would be alert Apollyon and most likely come running. We didn't have much time and if we were going to act, then we would need to do so quickly.

"Ok, Nico, I don't have any time to explain right now, but we really need to go. There is something that we need to find in this compound, but it must be done quickly, or else there will be no second chance."

"What do you mean? What are we trying to find? And what the hell is going on right now?"

"I told you that we don't have much time. I will explain it to you after, but first, let's start moving, he might be here any moment."

'Who?" He asked. I just ignored him, because I knew that any answer I gave him would only lead to more questions. I rushed out the still unlocked door with Nico close behind me, still very confused as to what was going on. I couldn't blame him, because I would be confused too, if I woke up in a dark room, standing next to your best friend with no recollection of anything that had happened for the past couple months.

I had no idea where I was going, and I was only guided by the slight pull in my gut, leading me to the key. I could still sense it because it had been part of me for the longest time, and my soul was still yearning for contact again. The sensation soon became a tug, that was so strong that it threatened to yank me to the ground.

At last, we reached a room with a closed door, but I was certain that this was the one. Nico padded up behind me and leaned on his knees to catch his breath.

'Geez, bro. What's gotten you so riled up?" He asked. I shushed him and motioned for him to stand behind me. There was no telling who or what was behind this door alongside the object that I was looking for. I tried to handle but found that it was firmly shut. I brought up my knee to my chest and smashed the door with my leg, breaking the lock in the process. The door swung open on its hinges and slammed against the wall with a loud clank! I winced a little at the loud sound.

I surveyed the room and was shocked to find that it was empty, no sign of anybody around. I turned around and looked at Nico who seemed to be awed by something. A glowing object, floating in mid-air between two metal pillars was sitting in the middle of the room with lightning arcing around it.

"That is the most powerful object ever created," I told Nico. He looked at me skeptically.

"I knew you were stupid, Perce, but stupid enough to steal this? That's taking it to a new level!"

"Wow, thank you so much," I said sarcastically. I walked up to the middle of the room towards the two pillars. I could almost feel it reaching out to my soul and I knew that if I let it, then it would latch on like a leech, just like before, but I had no intentions of letting it do so. I did not need this thing latched onto my body any longer than it had already been.

Just as I was about to reach it something emerged from the shadows to my right.

"Ah, I knew you would come. Once Peitho reported to me, all I had to do was come here and wait for you to walk right into my outstretched palm. You are so predictable, you know that?" Apollyon said, stepping away from the wall that he had been leaning on. !