Chapter Five
I honestly didn't want to stick around for this.
I had things to do. Like get back to my house, to an imp that was probably trying to make my place look like a clone of Disney Land, only maybe a glitter fairy vomited everywhere. Yeah, nothing says I'm a total bad ass ancient Atlantean god like glitter and Mickey Mouse.
And yet, I couldn't bring myself to leave. I should have. I had no right to be here. I never stuck around with clients after I made the bargains. It wasn't my place to do so, not to mention, despite my rugged exterior, I easily got attached to people. As much as I hated to admit it, I'd gotten painfully attached to the Sons of Hades and their dilemmas. Which probably explained why I was standing near Theo's mansion, cloaking my presence, while Steele prepped Aria on how they planned to reinintroduce mother and son.
A mother who tortured her son all through his childhood and turned him into the self-loathing little brat he was. For all the horrible things Theo had done in the past, like hunt Adrian or have people killed for looking at him the wrong way, he was still a person. A child that needed attention.
Even worse, he'd gotten happier since he and Sept got together. It would bring his whole world crashing back down if his mother were to appear now of all times.
Still, I held my tongue. This was none of my business and I couldn't really do much about it. I never involved myself with clients.
Or at least, I tried not to.
I remained silent, watching Steele and Aria converse. Aria looked more than ready to storm in there and take back what she thought belonged to her. It never belonged to her in the first place. Hades always told his mistresses that all the riches he's giving them now, were meant for their children and not them. They were welcome to stay with their child, but they had as much power as a regular civilian. It was a little cold, but I could honestly see why Hades put that rule into motion, especially with psychos like Aria.
Steele hung back as Aria opened the doors and made her way into the building. I stuck close behind her, watching her zip down her black leather jacket, as if anyone wanted to see her breasts. She walked with a predator's stride, though. And even from here, I knew she had concealed weapons. Her spiked heels clicked a dangerous beat on the black marble floor as she walked down the hallway and into the throne room.
Theo was sitting at his throne, wavy blood red hair like his mother's, cut to his shoulders. Red eyes scanning a file folder that was making him frown. He only wore his black leather pants and his velvet red and black cloak. He sensed the disturbance and looked up. He droppd the file folder on the floor and his face went as white as a sheet as Aria slowed down to stand just a few feet from the throne, her hands on her hips as she gave him a smug smile.
"Aw, look at you, sweetheart. Lounging like a satisfied little kitten." She mused. Theo looked around frantically, like he was trying to find someone to help him before he scrambled off the throne and stepped away from it like it was on fire. Aria watched him with menacing red eyes, the way a spider watched a fly.
"What's wrong, baby? Did mommy scare you?" She asked, feigning innocence. She took a step toward him and Theo took two back. He looked speechless, his mouth opening and closing for a moment before he swallowed hard. His muscles had gone rigid and he still looked horrified to see her, those red eyes as round as saucers, but he managed to keep a relatively good poker face.
"W-What are you doing here?" He managed at last. Aria's eyes flared.
"What the fuck did I tell you about stuttering, boy?" She sneered. Theo actually flinched at that and took another step back until he had bumped into the wall. He didn't speak again, which only seemed to fuel Aria to continue teasing him. She was acting the same way now as she did then when they had shared this elaborate palace.
"Speak to me correctly, or I'll break your jaw again." She ordered.
It was odd. Even though Theo had kicked his own mother from the palace and had remained strong and powerful and obnoxious since that day, this was admittedly the first time I'd seen him so timid and nervous. But then, given his parentage, it was any wonder he wasn't hiding under his bed and crying.
"What are you doing here?" Theo repeated, this time through clenched teeth. Despite the fear that swirled in those red eyes, the hate was overpowering. A rancid stench that filled the air far stronger than Aria's for him. Aria didn't back down, her red eyes narrowed on him.
"I heard you've been causing quite a ruckus, boy. You've upset a close friend of mine. What did mommy tell you about behaving?" She demanded. Theo eyed her warily, inching along the wall as she stalked toward him. He was nervous still. He was probably praying that Sept would swoop in and save him at any moment, but Steele had anticipated such a thing and put in a call for a fake attack on the other side of the city.
Theo was on his own.
"You're not my mother," Theo blurted angrily, clenching his fists and making Aria's eyes flash angrily, "Get out! I told you to leave centuries ago, and I meant it!" Aria took quick strides over to him and Theo went to get away, but he smacked into the wall behind him and Aria had him by the jaw, sinking her fingernails into his skin.
"You can't tell me what to do you, you sniveling little shit. I spent hours in labor for you. You should be on the floor. Kissing my feet!" With that, she rammed her knee between Theo's legs and he yelped like a struck puppy, falling to the floor, doubled over in pain. I grimaced, cupping myself. Yeah, women really knew where to kick a man where it hurt most. Aria smirked down at Theo as he struggled to recover, to push himself up, but Aria shoved him back down on his knees, then lifted her foot and put it on his head, shoving him down all the way so his face hit the floor.
Theo panted hard, seething in both rage and pain as blood oozed past his teeth and nostrils. He moved to blast her away from him, but she caught his wrist and twisted it painfully, again resulting in another pained yelp. She kicked Theo back onto the floor as he grimaced in pain, draping an arm over his stomach and glaring up at her. Aria didn't back down for a second. She glared down her nose at him.
"I'm going to tell you what you're going to do," She began, making Theo curl his lip at her, "You're going to leave Steele alone. You're going to go to your room and sit there and be grateful that I didn't rip your head off as an infant. And if you don't wipe that look of contempt off your face, I'll do it for you." When Theo didn't listen, she backhanded him hard, then grabbed him by a handful of hair and tore him to his feet. Theo gasped as she swung him around so she could tilt his head up and she could glare down into his face.
"Don't make me repeat myself, you waste of space." She sneered. Theo winced. I waited for him to try and attack her again, but he didn't. It was like he was too afraid to. A sad day when a demigod bowed down to a she-devil bitch. But then, Aria was Theo's mother. No matter how awful and cruel she was, Theo had never ordered her killed or attacked or tortured or anything. Even though he said he didn't consider her as his mother, in the end, she was and he knew that and he hated it.
A fissure of power made me turn my head to see Sept appearing in the throne room. Sept was an ex-god from the Egyptian pantheon. With warm olive skin and black hair currently braided over his shoulder with dark eyes ringed heavily with kohl, black leather pants and a matching tank top, he could easily be a model. But his twisted, angry expression ruined it.
"What are you doing here?" Sept demanded of Aria, who blinked and looked up, but didn't loosen her grip on Theo's hair.
"Who the fuck are you? A servant?" She demanded. Sept's eyes flared hatefully. He obviously already knew who Aria was, and what she'd done.
"I don't answer to anyone, but Theo," He warned dangerously, "And if you don't get your hands off him, I'll have to break then." Aria studied him for the longest time before she laughed out loud, roughly letting go of Theo, who stumbled a bit. She raked Sept with a less than pleased stare, but continued to grin.
"So what? You don't like women? Even worse, you're sleeping with an Egyptian? Boy, you've sank to the lowest of the low. I'd sooner fuck an imp than an Egyptian." She commented. A sliver of irritation cut through me at that and it seemed to hit Sept too, because he started toward her, but much to my surprise, Theo ran up to him and caught him before he could go at Aria, who stood there looking all smug and proud.
"Sept, no!" Theo ordered. Sept glared at him incredulously.
"She's a bitch."
"She's my mother." Theo's voice was pained. Sept's muscles rippled with tension, with the urge to rip Aria's smug smirk off her face. Theo was breathing hard, wiping his bloodied nose on the back of his hand before he turned to Aria, but his eyes dropped to the floor at her feet, like he was afraid to meet her scornful glare.
"Leave." Theo told her, but his voice sounded shaky. Aria curled her lip.
"Don't you tell me what to do, you snot. You may have kicked me out before, but this is my home. I raised you here. If it weren't for me, you'd be drowning in a puddle in Greece!" She snarled. Theo said nothing. Sept took another step toward Aria, but Theo caught him again and held him back, but he gripped Sept tightly by the arms. He didn't even look Sept in the eye now. Sept was gritting his teeth.
I had a feeling Aria wasn't going to leave her new palace.
But that's fine. She'd have to sleep with one eye open because Sept looked like he was seconds from ripping her to pieces.
I decided to take my leave, teleporting from there to my home back in the desolate Altantean realm. My house still looked the same, which worried me a bit. Wasn't Dorean going to do something to it? I had actually expected to come home to an elaborate fairy princess design.
I walked up the steps and opened the front door. Instantly I was hit by a nostalgic scent. I sucked my breath in sharply, closing my eyes as the heavy smell of freshly baked bread, sweet trees and fruits, and ocean air, all coiled around me. It reminded me of how Atlantis had been before it was destroyed. I blinked a few times, bewildered when I opened my eyes to see the foyer.
The old wooden end table under a tall mirror had been redesigned and had more of an exotic touch to it, layered with gold trimming. I cocked my head curiously and wandered to the kitchen. It had been restyled to be almost entirely white, save the island counter and stove. Above the island counter, the pot rack had been decorated with grapes and vines. Sitting on the counter was a loaf of honeyed bread, still steaming. I looked around, still having trouble taking in everything.
Had Dorean done all of this?
I slowly made my way to the living room. The walls had been painted totally white, prestine and solid, with ancient decor littering the walls. Things like swords and a hoplon, even the armor that I had kept buried in my closet. The sofa had been switched out for a warm brown color, two of them now sitting at a sort of V shape with a nice looking recliner at the center. Across from this, the fireplace had been lengthened so now it was long rather than tall, and the flat screen television was bigger and newer. Nearby was a round cafe table near the window with a chandelier dangling over top of it.
Where was that imp?
I wandered past the television and stepped through the doorway into the dining room. Sleek hardwood floors, and upon closer inspection, I recognized mahogany wood. I raised an eyebrow, then looked up to see the large square dining table with four chairs sitting around it, making me wonder what gave him the idea that I'd have anyone over to use them. Beyond that, between two glass doors that led outside to a new, intricately decorated patio, was a large glass and wood case that held all of my daggers inside on gold stands. Beside that on the far wall was a large wooden cabinet with glass doors so I could look inside and see all the ancient artifacts sitting inside.
"Dorean?" I asked, confused. I could've sworn he mentioned something about sparkles and glitter. Or did I mishear that? Surely not.
"Xenon home!" A voice cried. I turned to see Dorean coming into the room. He was dressed in a pair of black jeans, a white long and loose vest over a long sleeved gray shirt. He had a smudge of white paint on his cheek and some more smudges on his jeans. His white hair was held back by a black headband decorated with glitter.
"Dorean?" I asked for confirmation. He beamed, looking around before looking at me sheepishly.
"I told you I'd be done when you got back, but... I got carry away and didn't finish. See patio, yes?" He asked excitedly. I was still too shocked by the new design that I could only nod. He beamed and rushed over, taking me by the hand and leading me out one of the crystal glass doors to the patio.
A white marble slab, stretched out a good thirteen feet on all sides. A round picnic table sat off to the side near a grille, seven more chairs (he was seriously overestimating my social skills), and a clear blue pool, not too big, not too small, sitting opposite the table. There was a small wooden canopy that held hyacinths and other colorful flowers. I wasn't even a flower guy and I found it positively enchanting.
It'd been far too long since I'd seen something this impressive, this beautiful, and this nostalgic. It reminded me so much of home that it made a lump swell up in my throat. The scent of the flowers and ocean water. Fresh baked bread inside mingled with leather and fire crackling in the fireplace. It stole my breath away.
"Xenon okay," Dorean asked, looking a little nervous, "I was using what you told me about your home." I looked at him, confused.
"I told you about... Atlantis?" I asked. Dorean nodded, beaming.
"You talked about it in your sleep lots. I listen," He added, looking embarrassed, "Sorry if it not what you want. I can do it all over again." I shook my head quickly, then looked around again, swallowing hard before speaking.
"No, Dorean... It's... It's very nice." I said at last. I wasn't accustomed to handing out compliments, even if they were well-deserved. In my line of work, I couldn't afford to compliment someone. It could just lead to friendship and friendship could become disasterous. And yet, I couldn't resist complimenting Dorean. I didn't want him to feel bad... And his gift of redesigning my house in a way that reminded me of home was incredibly kind. I couldn't even remember the last time someone had done something nice for me.
"Oh good," Dorean sighed in relief, then beamed, "I made food! We can eat and watch the TV." I just nodded, still trying to take in everything. I just followed him to the kitchen and watched him grab a couple of sleek black plates. He cut a couple slices of bread and added some figs on the side before handing me a plate and leading the way into the living room.
I sat down, taking a piece of bread off a slice and popping it into my mouth. Wow. It actually tasted delicious.
"You know how to cook?" I asked Dorean, who blushed a little as he chewed on a fig.
"Ah, not really. Baking, yes. Cooking... Still working on it." He answered. I nodded at that, then looked up as Dorean turned the television onto the underworld news channel. How weird that we had television channels the humans would never know about. They were doing a report on, much to my displeasure, about Theo's mother returning to Styx.
"No," Dorean said loudly, making me look at him to see him glaring at the TV, "That is mean!"
"What's mean?" I asked. Did Dorean know about Theo's mother? He seemed to, because he still looked upset as he explained.
"Theo's mama is very mean. Adrian told me so. He said she did bad things to Theo and that why Theo is sad all the time. Theo not a nice person. It his mama's fault, not Theo's. I don't like her. She should go away. Far away. Like... Like China far away." He added. I felt a little guilty now. It had been my fault Aria showed up in the first place, but someone had summoned me for a bargain and I had to take it.
That was my curse.
As a broker, I had to accept any bargain someone wanted to strike with me, so long as they had something of equal or greater value to trade with. Refusing could lead to dangerous consequences that I didn't want to test. Granted, it wasn't as bad as Callias's curse. His eternal servitude was final and there was no breaking it and to be honest, it was good with me.
Nothing pleased me more than seeing that bastard forced to serve a jackass like Apollo.
And thinking about him only angered me further and I didn't want to scare Dorean, so I took a deep breath and just ate in silence as Dorean made occasional comments on things that came up on the news.
"Is so stupid," Dorean was saying in irritation, "Someone ought to lock Theo's mama away. Theo is bad, but he only hurting, that's why. Is like puppies. If a puppy is hurt, it gonna bite you, yes? Or a kitty. Theo more like a kitty."
"Kittens are cute, though. Theo... Not so much."
"I dunno," Dorean admitted with a shrug, "Theo kinda cute when he being nice. Like when he was being all nice to Abel and Malachi." A sliver of jealous shot through me at that and caught me off guard. I had never been jealous before in my entire life, and yet, I knew that's what this feeling had to be. I didn't like that Dorean was complimenting Theo. Admittedly, Theo was attractive, but he wasn't my type and he was irritating as hell. A major turn-off. And the fact that Dorean was defending the snot annoyed me. I just remained silent as Dorean continued to rant.
I had never known him to be so talkative before, but I suppose if you learned a language, it was all you wanted to do. Talk in said language.
"And they all bein' so mean to Hannibal. He like Theo. In lots of pain. That why he do such mean things before, but now he have Akin, so everything is A-okay. Don't gotta be so mean. Why can't everybody just be quiet and be nice to each other? Then there'd be no more problems. Hades should make a rule that everyone gotta be nice to each other... Except he kinda mean, so I see why he don't do that." Dorean added, scrunching up his nose. I smirked.
"Don't you think there's any good in him?" I asked. He seemed to find good in the oddest people. Dorean nodded, though, as he licked sugar off his fingers in a way that made my body tighten and my teeth grit. I wish he wouldn't tease me like that. Not that he knew what he was doing.
"Sure there is. He love Persephone lots and lots. And he love Malachi and Theo and all of them lots and lots. He just don't know how to show it." He explained matter-of-factly. It did make sense, though. Hades had been swallowed by his own father upon birth and rescued by Zeus, only to have Zeus and Poseidon stick him with the job of ruling the underworld when Hades actually wanted to rule the skies. Not to mention, Demeter hated his guts for stealing her daughter away and Hera... Well, Hera hated anyone with a heartbeat.
Suffice it to say that the closest thing Hades had to parental affection was when Persephone decided to go mother on him and would lecture him on his bad choices. And even though most people saw them as a cute and loving couple, no one bothered to look deeper than that.
Oh sure, they loved one another. But if Persephone ever had the chance to permanently leave Hades, she would take it in a heartbeat. She loved the earth and her mother and humans and nature far more than she loved living in the dark shadowy underworld with her tempermental husband.
And worse still was that Hades knew that.
What would it be like to live knowing that if your lover had the chance to leave you, they'd take it without a second thought?
It sounded painful.
No wonder why Hades always seemed to have stick up his ass.
"There's niceness in lots of people," Dorean was saying when I tuned back in to see him tilting his head at the television screen, "Some people just too scared to show it, or they don't know how cuz no one ever taught them. Adrian taught me how to be nice."
"You weren't nice in the beginning?" I asked. I had difficulty trying to imagine Dorean being mean to anyone. There was a child-like innocent and sweetness to him. You'd never know that he'd spent centuries as a sex slave. Blaine had also been that sort of slave and it had turned him bitter and cold and paranoid. But not Dorean. He still managed to maintain an innocence that most people who have thrown out the window.
"No," Dorean admitted, looking embarrassed as he ran his finger around on the plate to gather up the rest of the sugar, "Kinda hard to be nice when people so mean to you all the time. Masters was always mean to me. Tellin' me what to do and how to be. It made me hate them."
"Hating people isn't mean."
"Yeah huh," Dorean responded sternly, making me raise an eyebrow, "It make you mean person. It make you hate everyone, even the nice people. I even hate Adrian in beginning, but don't never tell him that. It'd make him sad."
"How could you hate Adrian?"
"He buy me like I was a toy. It hurt my feelings. I didn't want no more masters. I just wanted to be alone... But then Adrian taught me sharing and being nice and clothes and speaking. He buy me nice things and always tell me that I'm not a toy. I'm a person too. I can be a nice person. And I like that. I like being a nice person and see niceness in other people."
"Yeah, but some people deserve to be hated." I muttered. I instantly thought of Callias and it boiled my blood. I couldn't find anything good about him anymore. He destroyed an entire race of people just because he was sick of being the butt of everyone's joke. He even damned himself for it, damned me for it. He left me alive because I was supposedly the only nice person to him, but that was his mistake, because now I hated him more than our siblings had. He was a selfish prick and I hoped Apollo was destroying him.
"No," Dorean said, making me frown at him, "There's always a reason for people to be mean. You just have to give them a reason to be nice."
"I don't want to talk about it." I replied flatly. Dorean nodded like he understood.
How strange that this entire time I had seen Dorean as just a child, something innocent that I could have to keep me sane. And now I was seeing him as... well, as an adult. Sure, he spoke in broken sentences and he liked things that sparkled and he liked candy and toys, but the way he spoke... It was the wisdom of someone who'd thought a lot about the world.
Once upon a time, I would have seen his views as childish, but that's just it. He saw the world clearly and the rest of us just tried to see it through faded mirrors. Too afraid to see the clear picture, wanting to make things more complicated than they were.
He was very smart.
Too smart, though.
Eventually he would find out that he couldn't leave, find out what I'd done to get him here.
And then he would hate me. Even though he sounded like he never would, I knew there was a limit to his patience. When he found out what was really going on, he would be shattered and it would be all my fault and then I'd be the mean person.