Chapter Five
I woke up to an eerie warmth and the sound of water rushing. It sounded like rain the more I listened to it. I grimaced, opening my eyes and blinking the blurriness away, lifting my head to find myself in what looked like a rundown shed. Or a mill of some sort, judging from the amount of machinary that sat around.
I looked down to see that I had been strapped to a chair by an odd restraint. It looked like rope, but it wasn't regular rope. I could feel an unbelievable power pulsing through it, making it glow an eerie shade of gold. I scowled at it, confused, when I heard something shift in the darkness and I looked up just as a bright light turned on and flashed me in the face.
I hissed, watching Alexion come into the light. He looked tired and annoyed. He wore black corduroy overalls with the sleeves tied at his narrow waist, a sweaty black wifebeater hugging the bulging muscles in his chest. If he wasn't such a hot piece of ass, I'd kill him right here, right now.
But Malachi wanted him arrested, not killed. Though tempting as it was.
"What is this?" I muttered dryly, tugging at the restraints to leave, only to find myself still trapped. I blinked, looking down at the ropes in confusion. I tried to teleport, but I wasn't going anywhere. I jerked my head up to pin Alexion with a menacing glare that he took in stride.
"I'm not going to kill you," Alexion said dryly, coming over to stand in front of me so I had to tilt my head back to glare up at him, "I captured you to talk."
"Do you do this to all your gamer buddies?" I asked flatly. Alexion frowned.
"Only the ones that had motivation to kill me in real life."
"Well, remind me next time we play Left 4 Dead. That way I can set you on fire or feed you to zombies."
"You do that anyway."
"So, what, is this revenge for that? You want me to suck your cock or something?" I demanded, making Alexion's eyes flash angrily for a split second before it settled. The eerie part was that that split second of anger sent a crackle of chilling power through the air that made the hairs on my arms stand on end. Something about this guy wasn't right. It probably had something to do with being a Titan, and yet, it felt like there was something more to it.
"What is this thing anyway?" I asked under my breath, tugging at the restraints again. It seemed like the more I fought against them, the tighter they grew. Alexion nodded as if reading my thoughts, which unnerved me.
"It's a special restraint made to capture anyone with god blood in their veins." He responded calmly, making me stare at him in surprise. Who invented this crap thing?
"I did." Alexion deadpanned. I glared at him.
"Don't read my thoughts. And what the hell do you mean you invented it? Why would you invent something that could probably put you out of commission too? Aren't you a Titan?" I demanded. Alexion looked pained at the reminder as he swallowed and averted his eyes.
"That's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about. It's important. I need you to get your brothers to call off the hunt for me." He said at last, turning to look at me again more fiercely this time. I barked out a laugh at that, unable to resist. Me? Talk my brothers into doing something? I was barely treated with an ounce of respect by anyone. Why would he think for a second that I could convince all my hotheaded stubborn ass brothers anything? Obviously he didn't know how bad my experience with brothers was.
"Oh yeah sure," I said sarcastically, making Alexion narrow his eyes, "Let me just visit each doting brother of mine and politely ask them to call off the manhunt for the spy who plans to release the Titans. Sure, I'll do it, but only because they'll gut me like a pig if I do. I'm real masochistic that way." Alexion wasn't amused, but he didn't snarl or yell at me. Instead, he sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"I'm not trying to release the Titans." He stated, making me roll my eyes. Although, there was something in me that actually believed him. After what Malachi had told us about Alexion, why would the guy want to release the Titans?
Alexion had been Cronus's lover for the longest time before he turned on the Titans and joined Zeus's side during the Titanomachy. Afterwards, Zeus had supposedly drained Alexion and threw him into the underworld to live out his days in misery and woe. Apparently, Alexion had been doing his own thing in the underworld, having since long been forgotten by the man he chose sides with.
Why would he want to help the Titans if he turned on them? There had to be a reason. I had brought it up during the meeting, but like with everything I said, Malachi ignored it and put out the warrant for Alexion's arrest anyway.
"You believe me," Alexion said suddenly, making me frown at him now as he cocked his head to stare at me intently, "You know I'm right. I'm not here to let the Titans go. I'm trying to kill Cronus." My eyes flickered at that and a stab of unwanted sympathy for the Titan king pierced my heart. Even though I didn't say anything, Alexion picked up on it right away and his eyes flared with hate and rage. He grabbed the arms of my chair and leaned in dangerously close to my face, so I could smell the cigarette smoke on his breath.
"Do not feel sympathy for that bastard." He seethed past clenched teeth. I glared at him.
"Considering my brother killed me countless times. I kinda have a soft spot for lovers who get betrayed and killed." I returned icily. Alexion tightened his grip on the arms, his blue eyes flashing silver for a moment, then back again.
"If anyone was betrayed, it was me." He snapped, then roughly shoved himself away from me. My eyes followed him curiously as he paced like a giant cat trapped in a cage. He looked like he was struggling to regain composure again. It was kinda weird seeing Alexion flip out. He was normally a calm, laid back sorta guy.
"Okay," Alexion decided at last, turning to face me as I narrowed my eyes on him, "I haven't told anyone this, but I'm telling you because I need your help."
"You need my help? Oh, this is gonna be good." I replied cheekily. Alexion glared at me for the longest time without speaking before he took a deep breath.
"I'm not exactly a Titan. They gave me the title Titan because it was the generation that the Titan's ruled. I'm a primordial god." He stated. I stared at him, not sure whether to laugh in his face because he was probably lying, or to freak out because he could be telling the truth.
The primordial gods had existed since the beginning of time. They were the first of us, the ones who birthed the rest of us. They were ancient and incredibly powerful. Most of them were pretty tame, so when the pantheons began to war amongst themselves, they wanted no part in it and all went into hiding to avoid being used and cheated. Adrian's grandmother was a primordial god named Nyx, the goddess of the night. That was as close to a primordial god anyone here was gonna get.
But to actually have a primordial god standing in front of me was chilling. It made sense, though, the more I thought about it. It was only logical that a primordial god had such restraints as these, and to be sneaky enough to hide under the noses of other gods.
"There was no primordial god named Alexion." I said at last, trying to find a hole in his story. Alexion stared at me blankly.
"Because I wasn't allowed to consort with them. They hated me."
"Why would they hate you?"
"Because I'm the god of killers. God killer to be exact."
"You kill gods."
"I can kill anything," Alexion explained bitterly, "I can kill gods, immortals, even gods from other pantheons. That's why the other primordial gods hate me. I sprang out of Chaos like the rest of them. And when I did, I killed another god on my way out, by accident. When they found out, they deemed me the god killer and shoved me away from their temples. I was a threat to them. So they called me a Titan and pretended it was their generation's fault I existed. They told me to go to Cronus and when I did, Cronus said he fell in love with me the moment he saw me. He told me he'd protect me and keep me with him always and I believed him. He even kept me in the same temple he shared with his wife on Olympus." That was quite a feat. It was dangerous when a god or goddess cheated on their spouse, much less bring the third party into the same house.
"But Cronus wasn't as sweet as he was in the beginning," Alexion muttered, "He started to think that because I was a god killer, I'd kill him if he didn't discipline me. Even worse, he wouldn't let me use my powers. He told me to craft something to restrain gods. Something that cut my god powers off from the Source. Something that he wanted to keep in case the gods turned on him. Well, when I was finished making the restraints, he used them on me and kept me tied to his bed. I had to obey his schedule. You don't know what it's like to be tied down like a dog and having your master use you, then forget to feed you and water you and even let you take a piss. And whenever the other gods pissed him off, he'd take it out on me."
"Didn't the other gods know about you?" I asked with a frown. Alexion scoffed.
"They didn't care. They knew what I was. Best to put the god killer in the hands of the king of the Titans, right? Even Rhea didn't care. She'd walked by me hundreds of times to get to the bed she shared with her husband on occasion. He would have sex with her on the bed right next to me. He wouldn't invite me in with them nor would he let me touch myself. If I wanted something, I had to get it from him. A smug cocky bastard of a god." He spat in disgust. I didn't say anything to that. I wasn't even sure what to say.
A chill coursed through me at hearing what he said, though. I could feel the sympathy in that dark corner of my heart trying to escape to him. He had no idea that I could relate to what he was saying. Granted, Cain never strapped me to the bed and kept me there, but he wanted to do everything for me, as if I were a helpless babe and at first, it didn't bother me. But after he turned on me and killed me countless times? Now it was pissing me off.
He was killing off my whores. He was taking away relationships, and with it, bits of my sanity. Even I had to admit that I was probably on the same level as a psychopath.
"So, that's why you turned on Cronus and joined the Olympians?" I asked. Alexion tsked and folded his arms over his chest.
"You're damn right, but I have this habit of making friends with the douchebags. Zeus promised me a place in Olympus if I joined him. I mean, whoever has the god killer on their side wins, am I right? Yeah, well, I helped him win. I was the one who helped design the lightening bolt that killed several Titans. So what does the bastard do once he wins? Not only am I not given a place on Olympus, the jerkwad rips away my power and throws me into the underworld." He explained bitterly.
"Well, sorry your life sucks," I drawled, "But I don't see why that's any reason to ask me for help. I don't even have the number of a decent therapist." Alexion gave me an annoyed glare that I just shrugged off.
"I need you to get your brothers off my ass. I don't have time for you guys and I actually like you, when you're not talking anyway. I just need you to leave me alone long enough for me to go in and slit Cronus's throat and drink his blood."
"Uhm, ew? Why his blood?"
"To absorb his powers, you dingdong," Alexion snapped impatiently, "That's how it works. Just get out of my way and let me kill Cronus, then you can return to your awesome adventure of trying to appear decent as you hold back the rest of the Titans." I narrowed my eyes. It was way too simple, the way he explained it, and so what if he killed Cronus? Zeus betrayed him too.
"You're going after Zeus next." I concluded. Alexion didn't say anything, just stared at me blankly. I snorted and shook my head.
"No way, buddy. You can gut Cronus all you want, but you can't touch Zeus."
"I don't think I asked for your psychopathic opinion."
"Uh, you're the one who wants to kill a couple of no-goods."
"And you want to kill your brother."
"Ah, yeah, but you don't see me trying to make a scene of it and capturing random people to help me do it."
"I'm not asking you to help me," Alexion stressed, his anger rising, "I'm just telling you to stand down, or so help me, I'll kill you too. And honestly, we'd be much better off without Zeus calling the shots anyway. He's--"
"Doing a fine job," I deadpanned, making Alexion look at me incredulously, "Oh yeah, sure, our lives sucked, but not everyone else's. You can't make the rest of the world suffer just because your life's a piece of crap, you selfish prick."
"Yeah, well, after people beat you down, cheat you, and beat you, you start to realize everyone is the same. Look, I don't need to explain myself to you. I'm telling you right here, right now. Call off your brothers, or I will happily take them down to get to what I want. And I'll start with your precious twin." He finished, making me burst out laughing.
"Go ahead," I exclaimed, "Rip his heart out and feed on it to absorb whatever powers he has left. In fact, when you do, tell me ahead of time so I can make popcorn and come watch." Alexion smirked at that, coming around to stand behind me. I stiffened, feeling his hands on the sides of my head, tilting it back so I was looking up at him.
"You can play that game with me all you want, but I know the truth. I can see it whenever someone mentions his name," Alexion murmured, tracing my lower lip with his thumb and making me grit my teeth, glaring up at him, "You don't want Cain dead. You want him back. You want him to try and apologize again. You want him to try again. So you two can be what you were before Cain killed you that first time out in the field. You want to be brothers, friends, and most of all, you want to be his one and only lover again."
His voice gave me chills. I couldn't tell if what he was saying was pissing me off or scaring me, but either way, I was trembling against the ropes, trying to get free of them, but they only tightened to the point where I swore I heard my ribs crack under pressure. I couldn't even find the words to respond to what he was saying. I just watched the smile melt off his face, relieved when he frowned.
"I'm going to let you go now. Don't try to look for me. I won't be here. I have a home somewhere you can't find me. You'll have to make the choice on your own. Stand down, or you can be one of the first of the Olympian age to perish by my hand." With that, Alexion stepped back at the ropes disintegrated off me into golden ash on the floor. I gasped for breath, stumbling out of the chair, looking around quickly for any sign of Alexion, but he had vanished in the dark room.
I gritted my teeth, rubbing my arms. That guy gave me the creeps.
Even worse was that his threat wasn't idle.
He was going to kill my brothers and myself, and anyone else who gets in his way, if we don't stand down and let him take revenge on the bastards that wronged him.
Granted, Zeus wasn't a great guy. He was 50% douchebag, 50% horny bastard. He cheated, he lied, he drank, he partied, he ruled with an iron fist. He was worse than any dictator the humans could imagine, and yet, he was still our king. His rule was bringing about important changes, as well as his siblings and children and other odd creations.
And if Alexion killed him... If Alexion killed Cronus?
He wasn't just killing another god.
He was killing king gods.
Zeus and Cronus were extremely powerful, which is why they ruled in the first place. If Alexion killed them, he'd cause the natural balance to rupture and kill everything that ever existed. The world, the creatures that inhabitated it, everything would cease to exist. We'd become a blank space.
Nothing.
Emptiness.
And the thought scared me way more than death. At least death was a place.
Non-existence? Uhm, no, thanks.
I didn't want to stick around any longer and instead of going off to search for Jahlia's apartment, I flashed myself into Malachi's office again to see him with Adrian. Thank the gods they weren't making out like my other nasty brothers. Malachi was sitting on the edge of his desk, looking a little depressed with Adrian trying to comfort him, but they both stiffened when I appeared in the room.
"Sorry to interrupt your gooey love moment, but we have a problem." I stated. Malachi narrowed his eyes on me with a look that clearly said he thought I was the problem, but once he got a load of what I had to say, he'd rethink that attitude. Or at least, that's what I thought until Malachi spoke before I could.
"Yeah, and it's your temper."
"Yeah, well, we can talk about my charming personality later. Right now--"
"No," Malachi cut me off sharply, making me glare at him, "We're going to discuss it right now. You scared Dorean this morning and now he's afraid to leave his room. Adrian came to talk to me about it and we both think you need to at least apologize, so he'll leave his room to eat." I twitched, biting my tongue hard enough to taste blood as I fought the urge to throw something snarky in his face.
Big deep breathes, Abel. Big deep breathes. At least he's not asking you to kiss the imp's ass.
Might as well.
"Well, so sorry," I drawled, "But anyway, Malachi--"
"Not to us," Malachi snapped, making me scowl, folding my arms over my chest, "Apologize to Dorean. And while you're at it, you can apologize to Tayo for ruining the kitchen. He threw a fit and refused to make lunch, so now we're stuck without a chef. Since you're the one who caused this whole mess, I need you to go into town and have Fiona from the shop on West Corner to come in and take his place for tonight. While you're at it, fix the countertop and clean up the mess you made in the kitchen. No one wants to go near it."
Big deep breathes, Abel.
Big.
"And when you're done with that, you can get to work trying to find a place for your guest to live."
Deep.
"Actually, while you're out, contact Joshua's Bakery and have them make a cake. Dorean's birthday is coming up and Adrian wants to make it special. In fact, when you call Fiona, ask her if she'd like to cater the event. I'll pay her enough for her to even retire next year."
Breathes.
"And get Dorean a present for his birthday, Abel."
Oh, screw this.
"Oh yeahh," I said slowly, clenching my fists, "Suuure. Why not? I mean, with all this running around, I have plenty of time to stop and spend what little money's left of my salary on a present for an imp. That won't seem odd at all. I have an idea, why don't I just buy him a sex toy? He probably doesn't have any now that he lives in a big nice palace."
"Abel!" Malachi protested angrily, then glanced at Adrian, who frowned at me in disapproval, but I was so far from finished with this rant that I went on, even though Malachi's look promised me death.
"Let's see, fix the counter that you could fix in two seconds, contact a woman who hates me in town to come work here for the day and cater the party of an imp, which will show up in the papers for everyone in the underworld to see. Oh, I'm not finished yet. Then you want me to apologize to the imp and give him a birthday present. Is that what you want, Malachi?" I asked, voice tight. Malachi glared at me.
"Yes, and I can do without the attitude." He tacked on sharply. Anger seeped through my veins and I was one word away from sinking my fingernails into Malachi's throat, ripping it open and bathing in his blood.
Malachi had never been easy to deal with. But he'd never been this difficult. At least before Malachi and I could talk and share witty banter from time to time when neither of us were working our asses off to try and make Inferi look more like a well-bred town than a demonic slum. But then this precious soft-hearted little half-Titan shows up and suddenly Malachi lavishes all his attention and affection on him. They've only known each other for what? A few months? And suddenly it's Adrian this, Adrian that.
Adrian wants this, so we gotta get it. Adrian wants that, so we gotta get it. Adrian wants to bring an imp home, and despite the fact that it'll make us look bad considering we're treating him decently, who cares? So long as Adrian wants it and is happy.
Oh, and it doesn't matter that I've been his brother for my entire life, that I was there for him these past few centuries. Doesn't matter that I was there during his little drunken midnight pity parties and listened to him spew his problems and suicidal thoughts.
In fact, let's reward said loving brother by making him apologize to an imp while we plan his birthday party.
"What were you gonna say before?" Malachi asked at last, frowning at me. I hadn't realized I'd gone silent, staring at him. My anger was still boiling, but instead of lashing out like I normally did, I just laughed.
"Ohh, no. I forgot. It wasn't important. Lemme just get all that done for you." I vanished before Malachi could say anything else and as soon as I appeared in my room, I let loose a powerful wave of energy that shattered the windows into a thousand pieces. The blankets, pillows, and sheets shredded themselves. The wallpaper on the walls tore off and the walls cracked from the pressure. The carpet hissed and sizzled, but there was no fire, the floor boards creaked before splintering. Everything else in the room broke or tore.
I took deep, heaving breathes, debating whether to go back and open Malachi's chest and rip his lungs out. I could barely see through the red haze of rage in my vision. I didn't even notice Jahlia standing in the doorway of the bathroom, staring at me with a toothbrush sticking out of her mouth until she took it out and spoke.
"What's got your panties in a twist?" She asked. I blinked the rage away, snapping my head to stare at her as she closed the opening of the robe she wore. A tattered thing that looked like it had once been baby blue, but was now a brownish grey. I frowned, walking over to her and touching the robe, sending a steady flow of power through my fingertips and into the material, mending all the tears and tatters, cleaning it and restoring it to its rightful pale baby blue. Jahlia looked down, mildly surprised, then back up as I turned and went to the windows, touching the frames.
The billions of shattered pieces shot up from the wet balcony outside and stuck themselves back together before settling back into place in the frames. I went around, dragging my hand along the walls and fixing the cracks and wallpaper.
"You're kinda freakin' me out, tatter tots," Jahlia warned, coming into the room as I stooped down to fix the floor boards and mend the carpet, "What happened? You look a little, ah, ruffled."
"Oh yeah," I said with enough venom to kill a hydra, "Ruffled is an understatement. Right now, I'm gonna get in trouble for playing a part in the death of all my brothers." Jahlia raised an eyebrow, watching me curiously as I fixed the bed and her eyes widened.
"You're serious?" She asked, coming to stand beside me as I sat on the bed, lifting a knee up and resting my elbow on it so I could put my cheek in my palm.
"I found Alexion."
"The man your brothers are looking for?"
"Ah, man's another understatement. This guy is a primordial god. He was called the god killer." I added bitterly. Jahlia wiped the left over toothpaste off her mouth and sat down beside me slowly, still looking shocked.
"I've heard about him," She said, making me look at her in surprise, "I never knew his name. I just heard that there was a Titan that they called the god killer. I thought he ended up in Tartarus with everyone else." I shook my head, letting myself fall back on the bed and glare up at the ceiling. I was still pulsing with hot anger over Malachi and his douchey self.
"Nope, he's in Inferi-- Or, well, was. The bastard jumped me in an alley and threatened me."
"Threatened you?"
"Yup," I muttered, then changed my voice to sound exactly like Alexion's, "Get outta my way so I can kill Cronus and Zeus, if you don't, I kill you and all your brothers because I'm a god and I can do whatever the frick I want." I rolled over onto my stomach, burying my face into my blankets and yelling angrily into them. I felt Jahlia rest her hand on my back, rubbing gentle circles that would've lulled me to sleep if I wasn't so pissed.
"Well, you have to tell Malachi, right?"
"Yeah."
"Did you?"
"No."
"Why not? Do you want Malachi to die?"
"I do right now."
"What about tomorrow?"
"Maybe."
"Oh, don't be a child," Jahlia whacked me on the back, making me growl and roll over to glare at her, but she was giving me this stern motherly glare, "Go out there and tell your brother that your life, as well as your other brothers' lives are in danger. Not to mention, without you clowns saving the world, who will? Certainly not me, or Hades, or Zeus even. People are depending on you to save their lives."
"Oh joy," I grumbled, rolling back over, "The world's screwed like a whore on St. Patrick's Day."
"Man up," Jahlia insisted, kicking me in the side and making me scowl, "Quit sulking like a child. Just because you're having a fight with your brother doesn't mean the rest of us should suffer from it, so get off your ass and go out there and tell your brother he's gonna die. And while you're at it, grab me some Cheetos, a vibrating dildo, and any movies with Chris Hemsworth in it." I snorted, pushing off the bed and standing up, folding my arms over my chest.
"That is the weirdest combination anyone has asked me for."
"I ain't askin', pumpkin butt, I'm ordering."
"Pumpkin butt? Ruuuude."
"Want me to call you gumdrop nipples?"
"So, any movies with Chris Hemsworth?" I asked, backing up. Jahlia smirked, leaning back on her hands and giving me a nod. I vanished from the room and went about doing the things Malachi asked me first, hoping it would put him in a good enough mood to listen to me. I cleaned up the kitchen, fixed the counter, called Fiona, put in a request, contacted Joshua's bakery, stopped by a liquor store to grab the weird crap Jahlia asked for, except I had to go out of my way to find Jahlia her disgusting lady toy before I finally made it back to Malachi's office, but it was empty. I cursed, reaching out with what was left of my powers to find him, but he wasn't here, so I went to the lobby where Fos was sucking on a lollipop shaped like Spongebob as she flipped through Demonic Fashion.
"Where's Malachi?" I demanded. Fos jumped, startled by my sudden appearance. She frowned, taking the lollipop from her mouth to reveal Spongebob's deformed, melty face.
"He with Adrian in his room. He ask everyone stay out. And also, he gave list to you to do more things." She added, taking a slip of paper out from under her magazine and handing it to me. I glared at the paper and the instructions on it, growling deep in my throat.
"What the friggin' hell. I have something important to tell him!" I snapped, frustrated. I tried to flash into his room, but he had it blocked off, which only frustrated me more.
"Don't get mad at me," Fos exclaimed angrily, "I not your boss. You go do things on list. Maybe when you done, he be done."
"Oh yeah sure," I growled in irritation, "I've lived with the jerk long enough to know when he's purposely avoiding me. Fine. Tell him he can die for all I care." I flashed from Malachi's palace in Inferi to Styx to get all the special foods Malachi had requested for Dorean's stupid birthday party.
Leave it to Malachi and Adrian to be the only people in the world who would celebrate an imp's birthday with an actual party.