•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•
Thanatos is the personification of death.
He is the son of Nyx, the goddess of night,
And the brother of Hypnos, the god of sleep.
When the time allotted to humans by the Fates had expired,
He carries them off to the underworld.
•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•
Zion propped an arm to the back of the chair, his legs parted in a casual manner. His hair was mussed with dark circles shadowing his eyes. The triplet shifted a cold gaze from Liam to me, then Geovanni to Pharoah. The eerie atmosphere seemed to go on for centuries until he cracked his knuckles and tilted his head. "I would like to make a few things clear. What Zeus did, goes against everything I stand for, and I apologize on his behalf."
The sins and I were cramped up on one sofa directly adjacent to Zion. I sat between Pharoah and Liam, feeling small from their sheer size. Ever since we arrived, the sins didn't look happy. They were irked by the fact that I'll be meeting Zeus; the one who forced me into this situation in the first place. The only person with a more elated demeanor was Pharoah.
The sin of pride relaxed beside Geovanni as he watched Zion with a mild smirk. "You don't look so good."
At the words, my body instinctively sagged. Zion's current state had been my fault. Whatever Liam and I did at the boutique had an effect I didn't expect, and it ate me up from the inside. When we got to star-crossed inc, Zion's room was in a complete wreck; you could barely recognize it. The guilt felt like knives buried deep in my abdomen.
"Don't worry about it." Zion ran a hand through his hair. He hesitated for a second, unsure about uttering his next words. It took a few seconds before he gave in. "Helena came over. Somehow, she sensed something was wrong and rushed to star-crossed inc just to find me. Even after everything Zeus did, she still came back. It was baffling at the time. She knew exactly what to do. And in a few seconds, every raging turmoil I felt for the past ten years had receded considerably."
I could almost picture it; Helena rushing in to find Zion in a mess. She'll try to hug him or give him some sort of solace. She might probably caress his cheek and offer the most motherly smile you'll ever see. And she might try to kiss him in his distracted state, but I know she wouldn't. Despite her obsession, she'll never do anything to hurt him.
Liam sat forward with interlaced hands. "Zeus didn't try to kill her?"
Zion nodded. "He was oddly calm. It got me thinking...Zeus kissed Penny before you arrived to get Helena to leave. He knew you three would've used her as leverage to keep him from hurting Penny."
Liam's eyes flashed red as his claws sprung out. "Zeus forced himself on Penny?"
Zion nodded, his face looking grim. I felt more than see Geovanni and Pharoah tense, their anger rolling off in waves. Not sure what to do, I threaded my fingers through Liam and Pharoah's hands, trying to calm them down. Liam released a heavy breath. He tightened his hands against mine before glancing at Zion. "Well, he's right. Lust would've killed Helena without hesitation. Hell, I want to kill her now to get back at him. But his actions are not tailored to you. You're not responsible for Zeus' actions. And Helena is innocent...for now."
Hearing Liam say that made my heart melt. Zeus transferred the bond to form a rift between Zion and Liam. That way, he has a better chance of evading Zion's promise so he could kill Liam himself. But I guess that plan won't work because Liam understands this, and so do Pharoah and Geovanni.
"So...Zeus does care for Helena," I said in a low tone. Gathering enough courage, I met Zion's eyes. "What about you? How do you feel about Helena?"
Zion glanced at Pharoah and Geovanni with mild irritation. "I want these two to leave first."
"What!?" Geo was ready to throw hands but Pharoah smacked him upside the head.
"Respect his privacy, nitwit." Pharoah's cat eyes met the triplet. "Zion doesn't trust us...yet."
Zion arched an eyebrow at the weird statement but decided to ignore it. Soon, the sins left through an open window, leaving Liam, Zion, and me. Finally, alone, Zion released a breath before burying his head in his hands. "I want to give Helena a chance. She's made her feelings clear ever since middle school, but I keep pushing her away.
"Oddly enough, Helena has been helping me out in certain circumstances. She has been my partner in many leadership roles throughout high school. The exchange program is one of them. And with her being my vice president, the burden regarding those matters has...lessened. Maybe, being her beloved doesn't seem so bad."
I furrowed my eyebrows, then glanced at the wrecked room. "When you were in a fit, what happened?"
Zion hung his head as he tried to recall. "She came right in the middle of it and--"
"She calmed him down like a sailor in the eye of a storm."
We turned to Eros who stood in the doorway. Dimitri was by his side. The god of love walked towards us, arms held professionally behind his back. "I've never been familiar with Helena. But after seeing how she handle Zion, she has my respect. Anybody with a brain, will know not to interfere when someone like Zion is blinded by rage. Especially with Zeus' ability at his disposal. Helena bandaged him up and talked him down. Before I knew it, they were sleeping soundly on the couch--"
"Shut it, Eros. You're revealing too much."
The god of love chuckled and sat on the sofa beside the triplet. Dimitri followed, his smirk in place. "Honestly it was surprising. You should've seen them, Penny. They were actually cuddling--"
"Shut up, Dimitri!"
I smiled at their banter. If Helena is the only one capable of relieving Zion of his burdens, I'll gladly support it. "So, If Zeus cares about Helena, won't he break the bond to be with her?
Zion pursed his lips. "I don't think so, Penny. He's still adamant about it. It's like he's making me figure out his abilities on my own. If this is his way of training me, it's stupid. He still wants to kill you, though."
I snorted. Not unless Helena tells him 'no.'
Now that it's plain he likes her, it works for us. The place reverted to a ghostly atmosphere once more.
"And what about, Pedro?" Liam asked. "I've been waiting patiently to have a go at Henry, Wyatt, and, Epimetheus. When do we get to spill their guts?"
At the sudden shift in topic, we all sat up, completely alert. "We have his location." Eros turned to Zion. "Don't we?"
The triplet nodded, his face deadly serious. "The garden of Thessaly. I've used my abilities to order a few eagles in that direction. They will be scouting the place for any signs of settlement. If we're lucky, they'll spot Pedro. For now, we need to work on our abilities. If we want to battle against Epimetheus and his goons. We need to have a fighting chance."
He turned to Dimitri. "Hunter can train with you. Now that he's showing his abilities, he needs to learn how to control them. He should be able to defend himself in case he becomes Epimetheus' target. We have one week to train, and we need to give the best we've got. We need to get Pedro back before his birthday."
"It's your birthday too." Liam arched an eyebrow. "You were all born on the same day, right?"
Zion nodded. "Yeah. We'll bring Pedro home. And when that day comes, it's going to be a grand party."
~~°~~
It's been five days. Not a day has gone by without indulging in some form of training. After school, we went straight to Star-crossed inc to use the garage; An underground basement right underneath the club. Hypnos, the god of sleep, usually initiates battle stimulations to make our training more realistic. But he escaped when the old star-crossed inc collapsed. We don't need him, though. He was a traitor and was working on par with Henry and Wyatt. He was the reason Henry invaded my dreams to terrorize me.
During our training, we all worked together, and that includes the sins. On some occasions, we trained with subtle abilities during school hours. For example, turning a pen to ash. I can now control the range at which I spread my chaos ability. That ideology helps me reduce damage so I don't hurt my friends by mistake. Helena has also been training with me.
Yep, you heard that right. Now that Helena is familiar with the greek gods. Zion had asked she joins us. And even though she hasn't shown powers yet, she still participates in martial arts. It was a skill she developed ever since she was eleven. She and I got close with each passing day. Being the only girls somehow made us gravitate toward each other. She was sweet and on most occasions, she acted more like a sister I never had. I expected Hera to gain consciousness and kill me, but that never happened.
Pandora has also been quiet lately. When she does appear, she observes me with a milder frown. I could tell she was glad I was reuniting with the sins, but the idea of me meddling with the gods had her on edge. It didn't matter. As long as she isn't trying to gain control, I should be fine.
I called my dad a few days ago, asking if he was alright. He was elated and kept screaming about how he shook a visitor's hand and was healed. I was happy for him, but I couldn't bring myself to smile. Epimetheus had truly kept his word, but I hate to associate myself with that monster. Since then, Eros had doubled all securities at home. But that still left me unsettled.
Within these past few days, Hunter and I have gotten close. I can proudly say I'm the only girl he actually talks to in school. Don't get me wrong, he's still annoying, but his hostility has reduced remarkably. There was no sign of Phyllis ever since the fight with Liam. It's almost like she has disappeared. I still remembered the last moments before she vanished without a trace. How her eyes tracked me from across the parking lot. I hope she doesn't come back to bite me.
Standing in the hallway by the locker, that was the thought that plagued my mind. Zion and Helena stood to the side as they discussed a project being implemented for the exchange program. Seeing them work together for once was heartwarming.
"You haven't talked to Vanni and Killian, have you?" Helena snatched a document from the triplet's hands and shuffled through the pages with furrowed eyebrows. Her bangles were prominent beneath the white lights.
Zion watched her for a minute. His eyes morphed a complete white before reverting to their initial state. It meant one thing; this wasn't the first time I caught Zeus catching glances at Helena. It barely lasts a second, but it was still there. "We need to find those two. They keep disappearing. Well, except for Killian. He keeps watching me like a freak. It's weird."
I smiled. "He's a griffin, Zion. They all have deep respect for Zeus."
Zion grunted in disapproval but didn't openly object. Now that he was here, my mark kept buzzing at an irritating pace. I wasn't too bothered about it. With time, it'll get better; almost nonexistent.
"Hey Zion, check this out!" Hunter emerged out of the blue with a phone screen in his brother's face. "I finally beat Dimitri's high score. Isn't that amazing?"
Zion's lips tilted into a warm smile. "Congratulations."
"Let me see." Helena reached for the phone but Hunter stepped back on reflex. Her face dropped at the icy look in his eyes.
Hunter cleared his throat. "Um...I heard you were both looking for Killian and Vanni. I could text them."
Zion nodded, sending a concerned look at Helena. Before anything could transpire, Hunter grabbed my wrist and dragged me down the hallway. What happened back there wasn't Helena's fault. It was more of Hunter being Hunter. It made me realize that she was being treated the same way I was a few weeks ago.
"You have Killian's number?"
He kept up his pace like a man on a mission. His free hand tapped away on his phone. "Only Vanni's."
"Does Dimitri know about this?"
Hunter snorted, rolling his eyes. "He's not my babysitter, Penny. I can take care of myself--"
He collided with a hard chest. Hunter blinked a few times before meeting Dimitri's grim face. He forced a nervous laugh. Dimitri grabbed his chin and tilted his head, exposing the greek mark between his neck and shoulder. His purple irises roamed the pulsating tattoo in mild puzzlement. "It's been two days and I keep getting a constant buzz from you. Are you okay?"
Hunter tried to nod. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"
His friend arched an eyebrow. "Tell me the truth, Hunter."
Hunter tore his chin away, eyes sliced to the side. "Okay, I don't know what it is either but I keep getting an ominous feeling."
I stepped into the triplet's line of sight, also getting curious. "About what?"
Hunter released a deep breath. "Death. Two people we know are going to die."
Any idea, who these people might be?
Any thoughts about Helena?
And just so you know, the YouTube video at the beginning of the chapter is a song that gives off Helena vibes.
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