Chapter Seven
I wasn't sure when or how I fell asleep.
I just remembered it was the first time I hadn't fallen asleep into nightmares and dark memories. It was a blissful blank sleep that left me feeling rested and well. Even better was waking up to the warm sweet smell of cinnamon rolls and coffee. I hummed contentedly at the warm scents coupled with sunlight pouring across my back like a relaxing hot pad.
I was reluctant to leave the bed, but the cramping in my stomach finally urged me out of bed. I shuffled to the bathroom to shower and change into a pair of black jeans, draping the plush burgandy towel over my shoulders as I made my way to the kitchen as I dried off the ends of my hair.
I paused in the doorway to the kitchen to see Dorean stooping over to open the oven, taking out a tray of sticky cinnamon buns, puffy and swirled like something out of a Home Design magazine. He looked adorable and sweet in white sweatpants with glitter Greek letters down the side for the brand name, and a white shirt that clipped at the collar with short sleeves. It was odd how something so feminine managed to look masculine on him. It took talent to do that.
Not that I'd tell him that.
"Morning," Dorean greeted me brightly, startling me from my thoughts as he took out some homemade icing and layered it into the rolls, "I got bored and wanted to make something. Hope it's okay."
"Make anything you want." I answered, drifting over to watch him decorate the rolls before he capped the icing and tucked it into the fridge. I held my hand out over the rolls, feeling the warmth ooze off them before picking one up and taking a bite. The heat was hardly a bother to me. I just savored the way it practically melted in my mouth.
"Don't that hurt? It's hot." Dorean added, tilting his head to watch me curiously. I shrugged, taking another bite as I took a seat at one of the bar stools.
"Heat's never particularly bothered me." I said briefly. Dorean nodded and hopped up to sit on the island counter as he picked up a roll and blew on it to cool it, his legs kicking back and forth while his tail coiled out across the island counter and fell down the other side, his wings tucking themselves closed so as not to knock over the pots and pans on the rack overhead.
"You said Atlantis was hot."
"Yes, most of the time. Our winters were a bit chilly."
"Was it very sunny?"
"Extremely. Rarely a cloudy day."
"Uwahh," Dorean made a sound of delight, "It sounds so nice there! Inferi never have sunlight. Maybe once or twice a year, but not every day. Is why I like here. It's so sunny and pretty! I want to see ocean up close. I never seen ocean. Is that okay?" I nodded, licking icing off my fingers as I rose to my feet, watching Dorean's eyes glow excitedly.
"Finish your breakfast and we can head out." I said. Dorean made another sound of excitement and gobbled up his cinnamon roll, hurrying to clean up his mess as I went to my room and tossed the towel aside before grabbing a black tank top, tugging it on before I went to Dorean's room to see him looking into his cloest with curiosity. I had teleport his clothing items here as well as a few additions myself.
"Is something wrong?" I asked, pausing in the doorway. Dorean smiled a little uneasily, his tail doing that nervous swirling and flicking thing.
"Not sure what to wear. What do you wear to the ocean?" He asked. I didn't want to come into his room without permission, but he didn't seem to mind when I did. I made my way over to his closet, stepping inside to take a couple of things off the rack before handing them to him.
"These should do fine. Do you burn in the sun easily?"
"I'm not sure."
"Well, I'm going to get you some sunblock in case. Your skin is really pale and could burn easily." I responded. Dorean nodded, and I left the room to my bathroom where I grabbed a bottle of sunblock. I wouldn't need any. My skin didn't burn, both because I was a god and it was a bit on the dark side. Golden tan from both my heritage and the hot sun that hung in the sky. The only thing that inhabitated the skies here. There was no moon or stars anymore. The only reason the sun stayed behind was because I was a minor god of the sun. The rising of the sun was rebirth, daylight. Had I not been, there would be no sun and it would be eternally dark.
I returned to Dorean's room, slowing down until I came to stop to see Dorean in the swim trunks I'd given him and the white button up shirt. The swim trunks were just a bit snug, and short because I couldn't resist being a pervert. They hugged his perfect little backside and his tail fell right over it and onto the floor behind him. The shirt had been made with special holes in the back so that his wings could slip right through them. He'd found a few barrettes to hold his bangs back from his bright, happy face. He jumped when he saw me, beaming from ear-to-ear as he ran over to me.
"How do you use this?" He asked when I handed him the bottle.
"I can apply it for you. Let's head out to the patio first." Dorean nodded as I led him through the house to the patio. I squirt the white substance onto my hand and touched Dorean's arms, making him yelp in shock. I looked at him, removing my hands instantly and he blushed to the tips of his pointed ears.
"Sorry," He managed, "It's cold!"
"I should've warned you. My bad." I responded. Dorean gave me a shy smile as he looked back down at his feet. I felt a smile threatening to tug at the corners of my mouth, but I didn't let it dare. I swallowed it down and began to apply the sunblock to Dorean's pale skin. It was smooth and translucent. It reminded me of white chocolate fresh out of the wrapper. And the sunblock just made it even whiter. He reminded me of a china glass doll, even with the faint pink on his cheeks from the heat and his earlier reaction.
Once I was finished, I grabbed a couple of towels and we headed down to the beach. The sand was hot and silky, but Dorean didn't seem to mind as he ran ahead of me and stood on the shoreline as the warm water drifted onto the shore, then sucked itself back out to sea. I set our towels down and approached the water slowly, frowning down at the crystal clarity of it.
At one point in time, this shoreline had been swarming with little fish, the occasional scuttling crab and white birds, not seagulls, though, soaring down close in hopes of making a meal of the little clams that burrowed beneath the wet sand. There had also been rows of colorful shells beneath the water's surface, some a bit sharp and dangerous, some smooth and beautiful.
Now there was only the water and the dust of what had once been.
"What's wrong?" I blinked, looking down when a soft hand touched my arm and I found Dorean staring up at me with big silver eyes. I looked away from him, moving away from his touch, as nice as it was. I wasn't accustomed to people being so comfortable with me and whenever he touched me, a spark went through me and ignited a lust I was fighting hard to keep at bay.
"I haven't actually been out here in a while." I told him, which wasn't a lie exactly. I had tried to stay away from the ocean. While there were very good memories of the seas of this realm, they were too painful to relive.
"Why not," Dorean asked incredulously, following me as I started to walk along the shore, "Is so pretty and warm! I love sunlight! And the water is warm too. Can we swim in it?" I hadn't even considered actually swimming in the water. I was hesitant, though. I just nodded to Dorean and he smiled, but instead of running out into the water like I had expected him to do, he reached his hand out and took mine.
A soft tiny palm in mine, tugging me towards the water. I dug my heels into the sand.
"I don't think I should go in." I replied, trying to slip my hand away from Dorean's, but much to my surprise, Dorean had an incredibly strong grip. For someone who was so dainty and cute, Dorean was definitely more physically strong than I thought he was. He just kept smiling at me.
"Yes. I don't know how to swim. I want Xenon to show me, yes? It will be okay. You said there no fishies in there. No fishy will come eat you." He added, as if that made anything better, but he said it so adorably that it took all my strength not to laugh at him. So he took advantage of my attempt to contain my emotions and pulled me out into the water.
It took some doing to get past the occasional wave that crashed into us, but we managed to wade out up to our waists. I laid my hands down on the water's surface, closing my eyes and urging the sea to calm itself. I was tired of getting bitchslapped by the salty waves. The sea cooperated, because its master was no longer in existence, so I had complete control. It gave me pause as I stared out at the ocean that traveled on into eternity.
My older brother, Teslius, had been the god of the sea, as well as the Khalian of wisdom. His sacred creature had been the shark and he adored them. Whenever he went missing, my father would send me or my siblings out to search for him and we always found him in the ocean, playing with several sharks at once. They never attacked him. They loved him as much as he loved them. They were always nuzzling him and nipping playfully at him, so as not to hurt him. Even if one did take a harsh nibble out of him, he didn't kill them or hurt them.
Teslius was the twin to Ulenon, the Khalian of fertility. He was constantly chiding Teslius for ditching our family reunions to go swimming.
"We have important business to discuss," I remembered Ulenon telling Teslius once as we planned for a battle against the Greeks, "You don't have time to be cuddling your beasts." An exact copy of Teslius with long flowing black hair over broad shoulders and matching white eyes, Ulenon was just a bit scarier than Teslius, and far more serious.
"Oh, don't be such a clam," Teslius said, making Ulenon grimace at his horrible choice of words, "We haven't officially declared war on them anyway. Besides, Iiu says Shara might give birth to pups any day now I much rather stick around for that than watching you hack at innocent people." Ulenon made given him the most murderous glare.
"You'd rather watch a shark give birth than fight for your people?! And the Greeks are not innocent!"
"I meant their worshippers. The gods themselves can fuck off."
"And to do that, they need to be forcefully persuaded."
"That doesn't make any sense."
"Teslius."
"Ulenon."
The conversation had been rather silly and they had argued again. That seemed to be a running problem within my pantheon, especially amongst twins. Even our younger set of twins, Drak and Drulius picked fights with each other. They were worse to each than they had ever been to Anexius himself. But when I had brought it to attention to my father, he'd only laughed and assured me it was just a natural thing amongst siblings.
But I think killing your entire pantheon was anything, but natural.
"Xenon got that serious look on his face again." Dorean's voice disturbed my thoughts and I snapped out of it to look at him flatly.
"I was just remembering something silly," I answered briefly, "Did you say you wanted to learn how to swim?" Dorean nodded eagerly and splashed the water. I smiled lightly at that, but quick enough so that Dorean didn't catch it before I began to instruct him on swimming. The last time I had done this was with Anexius. He'd been the last of us to learn how to swim because my siblings grew impatient with him. They had left me incharge of teaching him. It had been a necessary trait to have, considering we lived on an island in both our realm and the mortal realm.
Granted, we could simply teleport places, but swimming was more fun. And how pathetic would it be for a god to die of drowning? I shook my head at the thought and continued to teach Dorean, who seemed to catch on quite well. He was a little lopsided, because of his wings that flutter and splashed at the water, obviously loathing the process, but his tail spun through the water and kept him afloat. I really didn't need to teach him anything what with that tail of his.
"Ah, I love the ocean," Dorean cooed happily, smiling up at the sky and wading through the water, doing more a doggy paddle so his wings were poking out of the water and drooping helplessly, "I want to have a house on the ocean. Not a big one, but one of them cute little ones."
"You wouldn't want a mansion?" I asked, watching him swim back and forth in front of me. He had an entire ocean to swim in, but he preferred to stay closest to me. Dorean wrinkled his nose.
"Mansions nice and all, but too big. Don't wanna live in such big place. It get lonely and scary."
"You wouldn't live with anyone else?"
"I guess so," Dorean admitted with a little shrug as he waded over to me, then found the sandy bottom and stood there so the water came up to his shoulders, his head tilted up to stare at me, "But he gotta be super special. He have to let me make the house look very nice and teach me new things and be nice to me. And he can't tell me what to do." I almost smiled at that.
"A he?" I asked for confirmation and Dorean nodded, swimming around a little more.
"Boys easier to live with. Girls okay, but they say weird things sometimes. Like, some things I don't know what they are."
"Oh?"
"Yeh," Dorean said, then wrinkled his nose as he came to pause in front of me, "Like something called a monthly. Don't know what that is. Sounds yucky, though. I ask Adrian what that was and he said it wasn't something I had to know about." I burst out laughing before I could even stop myself. Dorean looked at me, bewildered as I struggled to contain my laughter. I hadn't laughed this much in a while. It felt so odd after so long. A deep fluttering in my stomach that rose into my chest.
"What so funny?" Dorean asked suspiciously. I shook my head quickly, sobering into a smile and occasional chuckle.
"Adrian's right, Dorean. You don't need to worry about it."
"What if I get a girlfriend?"
"Do you want a girlfriend?"
"Not really," Dorean admitted, "Not interested. I like having lots of very good friends. And candy. Candy is also important. It make people happy and jumpy. Girls? They okay when they being nice, except Fos. Fos never really nice to me. She say that I should wear this smelly stuff called col... cologne. She bought me some for my birthday, but oh gosh, it so smelly. It just awful. It make garbage smell good. I rather smell like closet than like stinky cologne stuff." I smirked at that.
"Yeah, cologne's not much to my liking either. You don't need it anyway. You smell fine without it." I said it without even thinking. I hesitated, mentally cursing myself for slipping up, but Dorean looked thrilled.
"Oh yay! I'm so glad I smell good," He laughed delightedly, "I was worried 'bout it. Didn't want people to run away from me or nothin'." I smiled at that. I had never let my guard down this much around someone, but Dorean made it so easy. He was so warm and inviting.
Was this what drew me to him? I felt safe with him?
A cold tingle shot up and down my spine and I grimaced, making Dorean look at me curiously.
"Sorry," I sighed, "We have to get out. I've got to go to work." Dorean pouted, but he didn't argue as we made our way out of the water and grabbed our towels, heading back across the patio. I paused when Dorean looked around, his tail flicking excitedly. I could see the gears turning in his head, making me tilt my head at him.
"I want to make food," Dorean declared, turning to face me as I arched a brow, "I make us great dinner tonight! We can eat out here and do talking. But you can't come home 'till sunset."
"You're kicking me out of my own house?"
"Until sunset." Dorean reminded. I smiled.
"Okay," I agreed, "I should be able to do that. Just try not to burn my house down or invite any strangers in, all right?" Dorean nodded eagerly and I left him to do his thing. I went to the shower to rinse off before changing into a new pair of jeans, a black sleeveless turtleneck, and a long leather jacket. I snatched my sunglasses up and placed them over my eyes before I teleported to the poor soul I was being summoned to.
The heat of my realm faded behind a thick column of black smoke that carried me to my destination and a moment later, I felt a strong fissure of power cut through the air and I recognized it instantly, resisting the urge to curl my lip back in a sneer. Replacing the blistering heat of the Atlantean realm was a more moderate, warm temperature and the heavy scent of flowers, fresh water, and pine. The sugary smell of ambrosia wafted in there somewhere too. The black smoke faded to reveal a colorful garden of flowers, particularly that of the hyacinth. A neat white fountain sat in the center, surrounded by a marble walk, and standing not too far from it was the towering temple that belonged to the Greek god of music, light/sun, poetry, and oracles. And probably some other crap that nobody cared about.
But the god hadn't been the one stupid enough to summon me, oh no.
Anexius stood not too far from the fountain. No, he went by a different name now.
Callias.
He still looked the same as the last time he dared to summon me. Tall and slender, a creature of absolute beauty and perfection. His long, waist length hair was now the stunning shade of red that matched that of the son of Hades, Zelios. Not quite as dark as Theo's, but still a vibrant shade. It was pulled up into a curled ponytail with glittering gold ribbons. He wore transparent white robes to reveal an equally stunning body.
And the very sight of him disgusted me.
"Why are you summoning me." It wasn't a question. It was a statement. He knew better than to summon me. He had made a foolish attempt at it the last time, and he'd even brought Noe and Zelios along, as if their presence would ease my hatred for him, but it did nothing. And now they both knew that our relationship was strained.
Strained?
More like non-existent.
"Xenon," Callias's indigo-colored eyes shone in the afternoon sunlight, "It took me forever to get this coin off Artemis. Please, don't leave. Not until I'm finished speaking." I snorted. He'd gotten the coin from Artemis? Why did she have one of my coins? She should know very well that I don't associate with the gods, and the only reason I came to Hades is because we had an agreement. Sort of.
"I've heard enough of you." I said tightly, taking a step back to leave, but Callias rushed forward and grabbed me by the wrists. Anger boiled my blood to the point where I felt like it was lava flowing through my veins, not blood. I went to slap his hands off me, but he tightened his grip on my wrists and clenched his teeth. His eyes flashed from indigo to white and the red of his hair faded to his original hair color, the shade of obsidian.
"Don't run away from me," Callias hissed, baring his fangs at me, his white eyes flaring with a temper I knew he had fought long and hard to try and keep at bay, but he'd finally snapped, which made me a bit curious, "I almost lost my head trying to get you back to me! I won't let you leave, not until we're done speaking!" I curled my lip at him and finally jerked my wrists out of his grasp.
"You can't use your god powers unless Apollo gives you permission, whore."
"I am not a whore!"
"Yes, you are," I threw back in disgust, raking him with a repulsive glare before meeting his eyes, where a flash of pain flitted through them and a flicker of guilt stung my heart, until I pushed it away, "And that's all you deserve. I told you to stop summoning me. I don't want to hear another word come out of that mouth of yours, and in case you've forgotten, I can still use my god powers whenever I want, and I can make sure you never speak again." Callias seethed angrily, clenching and unclenching his fists. He squeezed his eyes shut, took a deep breath, looked around a little before relaxing, meeting my eyes.
"Xenon, please," He pleaded, "Please. Let me speak to you again. I miss you--"
"Miss me? How the fuck do you think I feel?"
"You don't have to live there alone," Callias insisted, reaching for me, but I quickly recoiled from him, making him wince as if I had slapped him, "Xenon, please. Let me speak. I worked too hard to get that coin so we could see each other again. You had no idea what it was like for me back when everyone else was still alive. How hard it was to wake up each morning fighting a battle amongst my own people--"
"They were our siblings! They're supposed to be jerks!"
"Not like that," Callias shouted, making me glare at him as he took deep breathes to try to calm himself again, "They were cruel and inconsiderate and selfish and unworthy. I couldn't stand it anymore. I had to do something. But I didn't want to hurt the only person on that damned island who didn't treat me like trash. I didn't know you would suffer this much. I never even meant for you to find out." How was that supposed to make anything better, I thought angrily. He would have been a murderer and he would have lied about it and I would have found out sooner or later and it would have hurt ten times worse than it already had.
"You'd have lied to me." I said past clenched teeth. Callias scowled.
"To protect you! We could have lived together--"
"Where?! You're a slave!"
"You could own me," Callias breathed, then looked around quickly before approaching me, making me tense, "You can still own me, Xenon. Please. Just say the word. Give me my name back and we can be together again. Even if you want to live in that gods forsaken realm. I'll go there. I'll spend the rest of eternity making up for what I've done--"
"If you ever," I began threateningly, grabbing Callias by the throat and making him gasp and wince in pain as I applied pressure to his windpipe, "Ever fucking come near that realm again, I will personally rip you to shreds and throw you back into the dark abyss that birthed you, you stupid whore, do you understand me? You've tainted that land enough. I don't want you soiling it further with your filth." Callias sank his fingernails into my hand, trying to pry my hand off his throat, but I didn't even flinch.
"How could you choose that spit of land over me," Callias choked between gasps for air, his white eyes welling up with tears, "I love you, Xenon. You're my brother, the only brother I need." I seethed at that and tore my hand away from his throat, watching the bloody gashes well up where my fingernails had turned into claws and cut his skin. He gasped, clasping a hand over the blood that dribbled down his robes and stained them red. That wound would have killed anyone else, but not Callias. He would be much harder to kill.
In more ways than one.
"You don't love me," I spat in disgust, "You only love yourself. For someone who so loathes the gods, you are very much like them, Callias."
"But you're not," Callias gasped, dropping his hand away from his bloodied throat, "You're not like other gods, Xenon. You're kind and considerate and--"
"Are you fucking kidding me," I laughed almost hysterically, making Callias suck in a sharp breath, like my words caused him pain, "I'm just like the other gods! I can control whoever the fuck I want. I can use my powers whenever I please. And I can have whatever I want. Including the little imp that now makes his home with me." Callias's eyes glowed hatefully.
"An imp?! You'd rather have an imp in your home than me?!"
"I'd rather have a thousand imps and six hydras in my bed than have you in the realm," I barked, making Callias flinch, a tear sliding down his cheek, but I looked away before any sympathy for him could well up, "Never fucking summon me again, do you understand me? Apologize and suffer all you want, Callias, but from here on out, we are no longer brothers nor kin. You are an enemy of Atlantis. And I am Atlantis." With that, I let the cloak of black smoke coil around me as Callias cried out and reached for me, but the smoke sucked me away and teleported me to Styx.
I was still seething with rage and wanted so badly to just go home and destroy everything, but the only thing that kept me from going there was Dorean.
He had wanted to surprise me with dinner. That was the only thing that kept me from blowing up the whole damn planet.