Something about the air seemed to thicken as the days pass. It was only day 3 since Aesop's confirmed passing. Solemn and woe stricken, the halls of the training grounds seemed quieter, eerily so. The sounds from the kitchen and the pitter patter of soft foot steps being he only things to break the silence. The other warriors watched as Leo Beck moved the halls as though a shadow loomed over his head making him bow, they all understood what he felt. That day, was the day they had first seen the strong commander shed tears. Even he notices this fact. For the last time he had broken down the same way as he did was the day that damned Freddy Riley lost his daughter in the woods. Emma, she was so young back then,
He remembers promising to himself, the day he saw Aesop, an orphaned boy who remembered little to nothing, that he won't allow Aesop to have the same fate—the fate of falling into death's hands so young. However fate is a prickly deity who held no regard for the good and bad but only for what will amuse them, and in the end—his little boy was stolen from him the end age of 22.
Usually, Leo Beck preferred his funerals the same way he delivered his enemies to the dust. To bury them as quick as possible with ceremony for the sake of respect. However, he couldn't bring himself to immediately deliver his only son to Gaea's arms. So he lay in a dark room, lit by candles; it did not fit him, not at all. Aesop, despite having the visage of the moon's silvery grace—was a child that drew brighter in the sun. The darkness that swallowed him was a selfish monster.
The mourning father sighed as he continued to tread the halls, uncertain of his destination. He looked out to see the gray skies with no sun in sight. it seemed as though even the sun mourned his death in secret. "Sir Beck." The aforementioned man looked back to see one of his warriors, Joseph Desaulnier, approach him with heavy soles. Joseph Desaulnier, the new recruit half or so a year ago. The same recruit his son had a mutual fondness for. Leo beck remembered the way his son's cheeks bloomed at the flowers the other boy left him—and now he laments knowing that they both will never see that sight again. "What is it Desaulnier." His voice gruff and low. Joseph stood straighter as he asked "Can—can I please see.." can I please see him? His name went unsaid in his lips. The man blinked before nodding as he stared beyond into the sky, "You were one of his close friends, it is only fitting." "Thank you sir." He bowed and lead himself out, and as he did Leo Beck only felt sorrow surround him as his mind kept rewinding into the times he lost his two precious persons.
The dark room was a cellar Leo Back never bothered to use. It was cold and had he seen it any other day—he wouldn't be unsettled but he is. It was as though that room morphed into a place from the underworld. As the sun god descended upon the stairs, he could hear his footsteps echo in the chamber; he could feel the cold bite at his skin, but by now he was used to it. Since that day, the heat the usually radiated inside him like a furnace burned out—Joseph grimaced. When he arrived, he felt a lump join to his throat. There lay Aesop Carl, his flower, still in a bed of silken cloths with candles surrounded him. Drawing closer, he saw the body wearing the garment he had both for him, the very same garment Aesop saw that day in the market. He remembered fondly when Aesop said it was too lavish for him, when in fact nothing was enough in his opinion. The youth deserved the world and everything it can give him.
Aesop Carl looked like a young god despite the cool shadow on his face. The garment showcased his effeminate grace as well as his normally androgenous features. The gold accents highlighted the litheness of his hands and ankles. It was a shame, a great shame, that he would never be able to run wearing it. Silently, Joseph took a hold as Aesop's hands and clasped them into his own, slightly wincing at the cold touch. "Death does not suit you my dear." He murmurs into the soft expanse of his skin. It had been three days since that day when the heat in his heart that burned like a furnace went out cold. Three days since he had sequestered himself back at his estate in Olympus where Emma had watched as he shed the tears he was unable to release, hidden away from prying eyes except from his blessed. It was Emma herself that made him go, for closure she had said, but really—
He had been thinking—deeply thinking that perhaps he could bend reality for a little, just a little. That perhaps, with the heat in his heart, he could thaw the ice-like death that clung inside the youth's body. It was a fault possibility, dare he say a stupid plan, but anything that could possibly help must be tried.
In the silence of the room, a sudden light appeared encasing the both of them. Joseph's earthly disguised melted away to reveal liquid gold for eyes, porcelain for skin and threads of gold for hair. No one would be unable to deny him of his Identity as Apollo with his radiance. Warmth trailed from his heart to his fingertips until it reached Aesop's own hands before circulating into the youth's body. New found hope bloomed after the healthy flush of Aesop's skin returned to him. The cold had disappeared. However as he waited and waited—the youth remained rooted in his slumber.
A dizzying wave of despair rushed in and filled his being as it dashed his burgeoning hopes for the youth's revival. "I see you're finally visiting him." Ms. Dyer entered in with such hushed foot steps that Joseph couldn't even register that she had entered—or perhaps he had been too caught up in his head that he couldn't even see that he was revealing his identity to her, perhaps he no longer cared. "Ms. Dyer I—" "It took you three days to even visit; and they say you are his lover." Joseph lowered his head, shame eating away what was left inside him. Emily dyer sighed and shook her head, "To think a sun god would act this way—Azrael, wouldn't want this for you."
Joseph staggered, his heart stuttering at the name. "Hah, I should have known!" He laughed, cupping his face as his hair fell out of place. "You were always a bit too strange. Meek and yet demanding of course he'd chose the likes of you!" Ms. Emily Dyer stern eyes trailed after the poor man. "Who else would be able to bless someone with healing but him—" "You're missing the point here Apollo—" "Joseph! not—" The god screamed with such ferocity the candle light wavered in his presence. That façade, however, faded to reveal the grief that tore him apart. "I—I am not fit to be a god—" "—Not with how you're acting!"
Emily, despite her short stature, walked up and grabbed the god by his robes—making them see eye to eye. "Can't you see there's something amiss here? Aesop couldn't have just suddenly died! He was healthy—healthy as a newly blooming flower do you really think he'd die without reason?" A familiar look of rage crossed Emily's eyes, "One of you silly gods tampered with his future. Can you for once stop acting like children!" Her grip faltered, a sob choking her from letting out words. Two pairs of eyes flittering towards the still body of a sleeping youth. "There's still a chance. He's not dead, but he's not alive either." Joseph's breath hitched the moment he realized what Emily was eluding to. "His body is resisting decay." Emily raises one of Aesop's limbs, showing that even though it is riddled with cold—there are no signs of decay, no blood leaked from his form.
"His soul is the one that is missing."
"And there is only one place in this entire world where souls like his goes—" "The underworld." Emily nodded before placing a dark obsidian like orb in his hands. "This, is from your brother. There's something off with Aesop's dreams he said. I don't know what, but you might be able to use this as evidence. Convince Hades if you can." "I..." Joseph stared into the orb in contemplation. Gently, he raised the orbs to his eye level before temporarily releasing his eyes from their glamour.
Vivid scenes of a dark void and a familiar cloaked individual caught his attention, as well as a braided woman brandishing a pair of scissors. Hot searing rage seem to flood his system. "What does that damn squid have to do with this?" he seethed, he knew no one else bearing that patterned cloak but his own 'uncle' Poseidon. "Careful! You might melt it—" "And that—GAH I should have known!"
"Calm down you're not making any sense!" Emily scolded, rubbing the bridge between her nose in stress. "Get a grip will you? Now I know what Azrael meant when he said you're a handful." "I am not!" "That only helps to prove the point."
Emily smiles. It was hard to see any of them as gods, both him and Azrael. By technicalities, Apollo and Azrael—commonly mistaken as a a girl, Artemis they call him—would be one of the older gods, but really in her eyes they were just young adults. Twins torn apart by duty by Zeus, made to live separately. Cursed with their own loneliness, Azrael by being trapped in his garden in the moon and Apollo by his own...father, if you could even call him that.
"Azrael...he's told me about you—" "Oh! so tell me what else he's snitched about—" "Can you stop being a child? In front of Aesop no less?" With that he quieted down, a tinge of shame marring his usually proud self. "I'm sorry.. it's just it's been so long I—" "I understand. he understands. He only wants the best for his brother after all and this is why you must take this chance." the dark orb shined in his hands, his brother's signature.
"He doesn't want you to be alone anymore."
The woods used to be a comforting silence, but now the same cannot be said. Eli Clark walked with careful steady steps; the earth was wet, heavy with the tears of the sky that it swallowed his feet. He felt alone even though he wasn't. His lovely companion, the owl he had given him still there. Nevertheless he can never outrun fate, it seems the sea god had finally noticed his impertinence and severed the bond between them. Eli Clark could no longer communicate the same way he did to his owl. Even with the boundary that's been set between them, Brooke rose stayed. May it be out of need or loyalty—he was still glad for the company.
After all, even if he hadn't gone through what fate had set him up to do, he still lost everything. He lost his everything, and he couldn't get him back. The world would never be as bright he muses. It's never been for someone like him, whose past revolved around loosing everything he cared about every time. He should be used to this by now, he should be, but he wasn't. Loss isn't something anyone should get used to, but it would've been easier if he had. The earliest memory he could date was the moment the war happened—the war that ripped him away from his family and childhood friend, effectively turning him to an orphan. The second was when he lost his mentor who had taught him how to survive, he had lost sight of him during one of his insistence to raid a dilapidated temple. The third was—
His lonesome musings came to an end when he heard a chuckling noise from deeper in the woods. Eli quickly hid himself and whispered a low command to his owl. "Search." at his words the owl took flight and disappeared into the woods. That would prove yo be a mistake. As he stood alone in familiar yet estranged woods, the voice only continued to chuckle at his expense. "Mortals are so fascinating." the voice proclaimed, it echoed all around him as though it were from his head. Eli felt a cold seize his heart "Show yourself you fiend!" "Fiend?!" the voice feigned an offended gasp. "I am no fiend you ignorant imbecile! why you should bow before me." A shadow amassed himself before him until a face formed "For I am a God."
Cold sweat formed at Eli Clark's temples. This entity looked familiar, eerily so, but it also looked like a caricature. Long silken hair and golden pools for eyes—it's lips twisted to an animal sneer. It looked like Joseph, but also not. "Awww, enchanted are you—" "You are no God; you are—" Dread. A terrifyingly strong mass of dread invaded his body. As the entity stared at him with it's stolen face—Eli felt as though there were insects crawling around in his stomach. "huh.. You really have a talent for impertinence towards Gods don't you." it sneered as it came closer. With cold hands it wrapped itself around Eli's jaw. Blood bloom from where it placed it's sharp claws. "However, I'm rather amused by you. Be lucky I won't smite you where you stand."
Roughly, it let go of Eli's jaw "Instead, I offer you a deal—" "I'm done with deals.!" Eli exclaimed but the so called god ignored him. "I am well aware that you've lost your beloved." it hugged it's form mockingly. "So I'm offering you a simple deal. I'll ensure you a safe journey to the underworld—free of charge."
Eli Clark looked at him dubiously, for all the right reasons, to which it scoffed. "Here I am giving you a chance for redemption and you just—" "Who am I to believe what you say?" Eli interrupted for the umpteenth time. The entity gave him a a wry face "You don't. All you need to know is that I'm giving you a chance to see him again. after all—" it's eyes flickered with an odd sense of merriment. "I do have a penchant for love stories. So.. what do you say? will you be taking this deal? it isn't as though it's your first time."
Eli swallowed the lump in his throat. Is he really doing this? Is he really accepting another deal? as he contemplated his thoughts, The idea of seeing Aesop again dominated his mind, and so he said—"I accept." A big smile appeared on the false Joseph's face "Great! I'll see you in 6 days. All you have to do is to take the flowers he kept in his heart." "Wait what do you mean!" but by then the entity left, disappearing as a mass of shadows. Eli Clark sighed. He should have known there would be a catch to his words. Still, 6 days to figure out what the nameless god meant would be enough, or at least, he hopes it does.
The entity watched as the blindfolded man left the forest with quirked up lips. This would surely be an amusing one. However, A dark gleam crossed it's eyes as it held a certain owl in it's grasps. It squirmed and cried with terror. "I wanted him to die." He murmured, thumbing the terrified owl in his hands. "but not by your master." the owl squawked in pain at the intense grip the entity exerted. "Still, I suppose we can have round two." The entity moved moved away from the shadows revealing a freckled face. "This time, he'll be killed by the right god." He smiled, his murky green eyes shining. Without warning he launched the owl into the air, watching as it scrambled away. "Run along to your new master!" he yelled. He looked up as the darkened sky thundered above him.
"I cannot wait to see this tragedy."