Nightfall (Part 1)
Trita and I were seated by the pool in the shaded gardens.
Sonya had taken Narray to visit Persephone and Malreus for the day, while Barrios was on Earth, handling some reaper affairs.
"Do you think we should be worried?" Trita asked casually as she flipped the page of a magazine Barrios had brought her down from earth. Even though we didn't live there anymore, Trita still kept in the loop with all the daily news- and when I say 'daily news', I meant she loved tabloid trash.
I shrugged, my eyes fixed on the lesson plan I'd created for my advanced Astronomical class the next day. They only had one class scheduled with me per week and it was a rather difficult subject, specifically because it incorporated some ancestry magic. "Probably not."
We were discussing Hemera and Apollo's oddly blooming relationship. No one knew about it, except for the two of us. I knew because Hemera and Apollo confided in me. Trita knew because- Well...
It's Trita. Tabloid trash junky equals local snoop.
She knew.
Besides, it wasn't that hard to guess...
Recently, after Apollo had made his move and Hemera had sort of 'showed interest in it', they were inseparable. It was both adorable and nauseating to watch. Apollo cooing over a woman was very... weird. Don't get me wrong- I was elated for both of them. Apollo needed a stable and healthy relationship in his whirlwind life and Hemera deserved to be happy. She always did so much for others and rarely sought her own happiness.
Right now, she was definitely happy.
I spotted them approach from across the gardens. They weren't hand-in-hand- the relationship hadn't reached that stage just yet, but their shoulders were brushing against one another and their smiles were big and bright.
Some might argue that they were moving a bit fast, but I think it was just a case of two people who have always had a small weakness for one another and who've now finally found the time to explore that desire.
Trita lifted her head up at the sound of Hemera's laughter. She shot me a small smile and looked down at her magazine again, her grin still lingering; "I still think we should be worried..."
"For Apollo's sake? Hmm..." I chuckled and watched him look up to where we sat. He waved hesitantly. "Definitely." I waved back and beckoned them over.
Trimorphe purred softly; completely oblivious to our conversation. She was fast asleep on the big sofa and her paws were tucked underneath her, for comfort. I stroked her fur a bit and her purring grew louder.
Hemera walked up the stairs with a broad smile; "Afternoon, ladies!"
"Hello..." Trita giggled and leaned up to hug Hemera.
"Hi there. Where were you two?" I asked slyly and shot Apollo a look. He glared at me with a smile, his tone sheepish. "I took Hem to see the great waterfalls."
"It was beautiful!" Hemera gushed and walked over to hug me hello. I smiled up at her with a knowing look; "The whole morning? It's like ten minutes away?"
I noticed her cheeks redden immediately and Apollo quickly jumped in to save her; "Uh, and then we sort of went for a walk up the mountain towards the lookout point."
"In those shoes?' Trita looked down at Hemera's strappy sandals. Her smile was full of teasing. "Your feet must be aching."
"Uh, yes. Oops. Guess I didn't think that one through..." Hemera blushed and stuttered.
They were both so bad at lying it actually, physically hurt me not to ask them how their snog-session went. But I didn't. Out loud.
As if hearing my thoughts, Trita shifted her eyes to mine and they lowered into a dry slant. She smirked and I followed suit.
Apollo pulled a chair out for Hemera and the princess sat down quickly. She tried to ignore the way Apollo grazed his hand over her bare shoulder in the process. It was so sweet; it made me think of the time when Thanatos and I were still so fresh in-love and we didn't even know it yet. Every touch, every whisper and every look meant so much. These two were in it so deep.
"So, is there still lunch left? I'm starving." Hemera asked as she spotted the empty table.
Apollo rubbed his stomach; "Me too."
"I thought you might be..." I said playfully and the two of them shot each other a look. I lifted my hand to the servant behind me. Petyr walked up the stairs and bowed; "Bring the king and princess plates, please. Some snacks and breads. Perhaps some dessert. Wine?" I asked Apollo. He nodded quickly and I turned my head back to Petyr and waved him away.
He smiled and promptly left to do his task. Hemera leaned back in her chair and gazed up at the clear, blue sky; "Gods, isn't all of this sunlight amazing? Tundra barely has any sun."
"How dreadful." Apollo agreed as he swung a leg over the other and turned a bit in his chair to look at Hemera.
I noticed then, for the first time, that they were both deities connected to the sun. Apollo was the god of the sun and Hemera was the goddess of daylight and day. Talk about a perfect, golden couple...
"I can't even imagine that. I hate winter." Trita muttered and popped a grape in her mouth as one of the servants placed the bowl down on the table.
Apollo reached over for a bunch and handed it to Hemera with a smile while she spoke; "Oh, I know! It's awful really. I prefer the heat. How about you, Rora?"
"I don't really mind. I grew up in a small harbour town where it was misty in the mornings, hot during the day and cool at night. I think that's why I like it here so much. This region is perfect. It's not too hot and it's not too cold. There's always sun and the lake makes me feel like I'm close to the ocean." I smiled and thought back to the first time I saw this palace- I was in shock. It was magnificent and massive.
Even Olympus can't compare to how beautiful I found Thanatos' palace. Hades' home was too dark and misty for my liking. Olympus was too gold and bright, and often very dry and hot. Tundra was too cold and Poseidon's palace was very humid.
Sometimes Thanatos' palace had a nasty spell of rough winds blowing in from the nearby desert, but that was very seldom and usually those nights were the best, because all the heat was replaced with cool and quiet summer nights.
"You know, I've never seen the ocean." Hemera said shyly.
"What?" The three of us said in unison at Hemera's confession. I was so stunned, but it did kind of make sense. The Underworld didn't have any oceans- just rivers and lakes. And even though Hypnos and Thanatos have travelled to Earth so many times, didn't mean Hemera had ever gotten the chance to- or wanted to.
"Really? I can't believe that!" I asked with wide eyes. She was so old- how could she never have been to a beach?
Trita was just as surprised as I was; "How?"
Hemera shrugged and rubbed the back of her head; "I don't know... I kind of have a slight fear... of water." She mumbled the last part and bashfully looked down at her lap.
The servants placed a few plates of different, appetizing foods around the table while we continued to question Hemera. I shook my head; "You're scared of the water?"
"A bit."
"I never knew that..." Apollo said softly and his eyes melted at the sight of her so vulnerable. His eyes were practically heart-shaped and filled with love.
"There is honestly nothing to be scared of- I know it's easy for me to say, and yes, the ocean can be dangerous, but I need to take you to our beach house in Seagull's Valley so you can experience a sunset on the beach. It's just... wow." I said as I pushed my glass out so the servant could fill it with more water.
Hemera nodded and smiled nervously; "No, I know I should, I just really haven't had the time or the nerve, to be honest, but I want to."
"Seagull's Valley is perfect for a beach picnic! We should totally do that!" Trita grinned and clapped her hands with glee. She loved throwing parties and she absolutely loved having an excuse to go up to Earth.
"You and Thanatos have a house there?" Hemera asked as she buttered herself a slice of freshly baked rye bread.
"Thanatos gave it to me for my twentieth birthday." I smiled, remembering the night he'd surprised me. I was so stunned and happy. It was honestly my favourite place to be with him. Once the baby is born, I think I'll ask Thanatos if we can spend our weekends there. I want my children to experience the beach like I did. "It's special to us."
"I never knew my brother was such a romantic." Hemera giggled as she took a bite out of her bread. I smiled down at my glass of water and thought of him. I think there's a great deal of things Thanatos hid from his siblings and I'm so happy that I was able to bring out all those beautiful qualities.
"So it's settled!" Trita said with a broad smile; "Next week we have a beach party!"
"Excellent! I can work on my tan..." Apollo smirked and popped a grape into his mouth. Oh, he was no doubt delighted by this. He'd be able to see Hemera in a bikini. Sly devil...
"So... You're afraid of water." I smirked with a mischievous sparkle in my eye and turned my attention to Hemera; "You didn't go see the waterfalls, did you?"
I brought my glass of water up to my lips, but my eye caught a ripple in the big jug of water on the table. The ripple doubled in size.
Hemera was flushed with a bright red and Apollo glowered in my direction as his new lover struggled to find an excuse or explanation, but my eyes were set on the moving jug.
Suddenly, my glass shook in my hand and the table creaked.
Trimorphe's head shot up with a snarl and Hemera's blush faded as she sat up straight in her chair; highly alert.
Apollo's eyes shot to mine, but his hand caught Hemera's and held it close. Trita's lifted her legs from the table and dropped the magazine. My throat dried and my heart sped up with erratic beats as we sat, waiting for something to fracture.
The ground shook and with a deafening blast of energy, a massive black portal opened up in the centre of the garden, spraying dirt and shredded petals everywhere.
I fell back off my chair and onto my ass, but luckily I'd caught the table's top with both hands before the jolt could swing my head back against the stone floor.
Trita was smacked onto the table and I spotted a small river of blood roll down her temple. She cussed. Apollo and Hemera had reached for each other and fell onto the ground with painful groans. The servants practically fell to the ground to help us all up- most throwing themselves on the floor to protect the king.
I pushed a few back and shouted at them to drag Hemera and Trita inside. Trimorphe was all over me, trying to see if I'd gotten injured. She knew I was expecting- she could sense it too, just like Dionysus.
I rubbed her head and pushed her away a bit so I could stand up. The black portal spewed forth a thick smoke; it hovered over the gardens like a dense plague of black mist. The sun's rays were seemingly blocked out by some dark magic and the whole palace was thrown into deep shadow.
It looked like... nightfall.
Thanatos' POV
Hypnos, Moros and I were thrown from my portal at the speed of light.
My feet hit the ground and I started running towards the entrance of my palace, but Hypnos' hand caught my wrist and yanked me back. "Wait!" I was pulled back into his chest and looked up to the heavens to where his finger was pointing.
The sky was an ominous shade of black; nearly charcoal in hue and filled with fog and mist. I waved away the thick smoke from my face while, Moros coughed and did the same. The fog was like a living, breathing creature; it was trying to wrap itself around our legs, but I kicked it away.
"What is this?" Moros asked incredulously and waved away more of the pestering fog.
I coughed; "Mother."
"Opis!" Hypnos shouted right by my ear and waved a hand in the air, signalling to the old butler where we were. Opis stood by the railing of the second floor, his eyes wide and his hands wildly moving around, trying to clear his line of vision.
"Masters!"
"Opis! Where are the girls?" I asked impatiently and coughed a bit as the fog made its way down my throat.
Opis wheezed; his eyes were red. He was suffocating. "The... G-gardens! Outback!"
"Go inside! Close the doors!" I shouted and he nodded quickly, not bothering to argue. He retreated back into the palace and closed all the doors. I could spot him directing some of the guards to follow us, but we didn't have the time to wait for reinforcements.
"Come on!" I pulled Hypnos by his wrist and he, in turn, pulled Moros along with him. We pushed towards the back gardens. It was quite a while away, but we were sprinting with everything we had- our boots clapping against the stones and our hands hastily waving away the fog.
I could barely see where I was heading as the fog grew denser and more abundant as we neared the terraces. I was panicking- to say the least. I stopped dead. We had no idea which direction to run now; everything was covered in shadow and mist.
All I could see was Hypnos and Moros; they were both breathing heavily and their eyes were wide with terror. Hypnos' voice sounded so unlike him. He was panicking too; "W-where are we?"
"I don't know!" I shouted and tried to wave the mist away so I could make out a familiar statue or patch of grass- anything, but it was a futile attempt.
"Magic!" Moros shouted, "Use Magic!" He gestured to his hands and waved them around with alarmed eyes.
Hypnos and I shared a look and lifted our hands, levelled with our chests. I pushed for the energy to blast from my palms, but... nothing happened.
Hypnos jerked his hands around. His eyes widened and he turned to me with anger; "What is this stuff? I can't do anything!"
"Shit!" I barked and shook my hand around; my rage was now doubled by my confusion and deep fear. I had no idea what we'd just gotten ourselves into, but I suspect it was anything but good.
Moros watched as we tried to light a small fire with our fingers snapping together, but the fire merely started up and was then quickly smothered by the overpowering mist. He shook his head in disbelief. With a stutter he said; "What do we do now?"
"Argh!" Hypnos yelled and threw his dagger through the shadows. I was about to tell him to calm down, but the sound of metal hitting metal clinked through the air and we paused.
I shot my twin a look and my heart sped up; "Did you just hit the-"
"-pool shed." He nodded and I felt my heart lower down into my chest again. The pool shed was right beside the large, round swimming pool and that meant the terrace was....
I lifted my arm up to the left and felt around. Hypnos watched me closely and grabbed my wrist, just to make sure that we didn't lose each other in the deep fog. Moros pressed up behind me and tried to feel around too.
My ring bumped against something and I reached back to grab it. It was the wooden pillar of the terrace. "Got it." I said with more confidence than I felt. I jumped up onto the terrace and grabbed my brothers' hands, pulling them up too.
We walked forward, careful not to walk into a railing or over the edge. The pool was somewhere on my right, so I kept walking more towards the left, cutting a diagonal line to where I thought perhaps Aurora might be. Suddenly, a loud metallic screech filled the air and Moros groaned out in pain. "Dammit!"
He'd walked into one of the steel chairs. I turned my head to shush him, placing my finger on my mouth; "Be careful. We need to be quiet- Oof!" I walked into the table.
Hypnos fixed me with a worried look and tried to help me back up and away from the table as Moros snickered softly at the back. "Are you okay?"
I clutched my pinched balls and replied with a high, exasperated voice. "Ah-ha..."
"Ooh..." Moros said teasingly, but with a pained expression. He could only imagine the hurt I felt. "That's gotta sting."
I breathed out and slowly let go of my aching groin. "Mamma mia."
"You called?"
The voice of Nyx floated through the thick mess of shadow, causing the three of us to straighten up and look around in anger and dread. I turned quickly to the side and tried to make out which way was which. "Where are you?"
"Oh, now where's the fun in telling you that?" She chuckled mockingly and the voice kept floating from one side of the garden, to the other.
"I swear, If you hurt anyone, I will kill you!" I screamed with fury and Hypnos growled at her; "Leave them alone!"
"Who says I'm here to hurt anyone?" She was laughing at us. It made my blood boil over.
"You used me!" Moros shouted at Nyx with the disappointment and anger of a young child. He wasn't always as close to Nyx as the others sometimes were, but he did in some regard still see her as his mother. Now, however... I only saw betrayal in his eyes. "How could you?"
"Oh, please..." Nyx's voice sounded annoyed; "Peitho was a whore and my boy can do better."
"Will no one ever be good enough for your children?" I snarled and tried to blast energy from my hand towards the sound of the voice, but nothing emitted from it. I shook it around, but I felt no pulse there. She laughed manically; "Don't bother!"
"How are you doing this?" Hypnos asked in bewilderment and tried himself, just to make sure.
Nyx tutted; "Oh, boys. You haven't seen me fight wars, have you? Where do you think you inherited the gift of magic? Your father? Don't be ridiculous."
"Stop this!" I shouted, but she ignored my cries of anger and continued with laughter in her voice; "As for the matter of 'who will ever be good enough'? Well, no one, frankly."
She sounded angry now- very angry. "If you had all just done as I'd commanded- married and stayed within the family, we wouldn't be in this mess!"
"You're insane!" Hypnos shouted at her, but Nyx ignored him too. "Am I? It's the way of the gods! It's the way things have always been done! Don't act like you're so high and mighty. Your father and I fell in love; you don't think there are those in our family who love each other too? How naive..."
I shot Hypnos a look of confusion, but he had just as little knowledge about what Nyx was talking about. I shook my head; "What are you even saying? You're not-"
"Oh, open your eyes!" She shouted, but then her anger turned back to laughter and she sounded almost proud. "Yes, Eris loves you, you know, but you never took my damn advice, did you? Well, one of your brothers did."
Hypnos and I turned around to look at Moros, our eyes wide with dread, but he was looking up at the sky, trying to find the origin of the voice. When he noticed us staring at him, he blinked slowly with confusion. Quickly though, he understood and waved his hand in the air, half-gagging; "What! No! It's not me! I loved Peitho..."
We sighed in relief, but that only left two options. A sudden thought crossed my head- it was something Apate had said when she'd caught the barmaid in Dolos' room that night at Pavlos' Tavern- 'This again! I thought I told you not to do this to hurt me?'
I'd assumed it was because Apate and the girl were friends and Dolos had fooled around with Apate's friends before, but- Oh. Gods.
"Thanatos looks like he's got it." Nyx snickered and I felt the blood drain from my face.
Hypnos impatiently asked; "Well?"
I gulped. "Dolos."
"Dolos?" Moros gagged and shot us both a look of worry; "But who...?"
"Oh." Hypnos said with a deadpan expression as the realisation struck him too. To be honest, it was fairly obvious- why hadn't we ever seen it before?
"Who? Who and Dolos-" Moros asked, but the question answered itself. His eyes widened and he nodded slowly. "Ooh."
I shook my head and swallowed hard. I looked up to the sky and shouted; "So what? If they want to be together, what does it matter to us? Are you not happy that your children are happy?" Yes, so I was partially lying. It did matter somewhat to us- most of us.
The old ways of the gods were traditions we, as brothers and sisters, had agreed not to promote in our family, but Nyx never relented in her methods. Gaia raised her brood the same- hence why Zeus married his sister, Hera, and many others followed in the elders footsteps. But we agreed we wouldn't. Now, though...
We were all much older and able to make individual choices.
I suppose I could live with the fact that my siblings had fallen back into an age-old custom, so long as they were, in fact, happy. However, if this was solely Nyx's doing and my brother or sister was forced, persuaded or tricked into this situation- I would spare no mercy.
"Happy?" Nyx loudly scoff at the mere notion; as if it was but a fairytale and we ought to have known better. "You think that I'm happy that out of ten of my children, only three ever obeyed me? Do you think I'm happy that our family is a laughing stock because of you?"
"Excuse me?" I growled and pushed through the shadow, ready to ensnare my mother with murderous hands, but she continued to evade me.
"Yes, you!" Nyx shouted angrily and the shadows vibrated with her emotion; "You, who I trained to be king and now look! You're the king's lapdog. How pathetic!"
"I'm his friend. Although, I forget that you're rather unfamiliar with the concept."
Nyx laughed loudly, but I still sensed her anger there. Anger and a thin tone of something else. "Where did I go wrong with you? I should never have trusted Zeus or Hades. They made you both so weak and sentimental."
Hypnos rolled his eyes; "I've had enough."
"And so have I!" She countered with a sneering voice; "You know what I should have done?" She paused for effect and continued on with a sick smile in her darkening voice. "I should have just made you two hate each other from the moment you were born. That would've solved all of my problems."
Hypnos and I shared a look- his eyes were clouded with anger and worry. She wasn't wrong; if Hypnos and I were raised to despise the other, things would have been so different. I wouldn't be the man I was today. He made me a better man and Nyx knew that too. I shook my head; we'd make it out of this- like we made it out of everything. Together.
She flicked her tongue; "Don't act so high and mighty. Dolos wasn't the first. I know exactly how close you two were." She chuckled and Hypnos cleared his throat and looked away from me. I bit my inner cheek.
"Wow." Moros whistled and the sound echoed. "You are insane."
Nyx snarled at us and the voice disappeared with a clap of thunder. I turned back to grab my brothers' wrists and pulled them with me towards the stairs leading to the upper terraces. Moros was still shaking his head when I pulled him towards me; "I don't believe this. I knew she was a little eccentric and shallow, but this? Gods, our mother is insane."
"How astute of you." Hypnos said dryly and narrowed his eyes. Moros shrugged at his words, not bothering with a comeback. I turned to them to work out a plan of actions to find our sister, Aurora and Trita and anyone else in danger, but suddenly a hand gripped the back of my shoulder and I twirled around, kicking my leg out in response.
A familiar groan of pain rang through the air as the lump hit the ground with a whack. I gasped and crouched down next to a very pissed off Aurora. "Oh, shit! I am so sor-" She pulled me down by my collar until our noses met. Her eyes were blazing with annoyance.
"Next time, try not to kill me!"
"Next time, give me a little warning." I grumbled and kissed her forcefully.
Moros pulled a face. "Not the time."
"Couldn't agree more. We need-" Hypnos' stern voice was interrupted by a high pitched scream. Trita's scream. But before he could grab his other dagger and run off to find her, a pair of shaking arms wrapped around his waist. Trita ran right into Hypnos and buried her face into his back; "Thank the gods! I lost Aurora and then Apollo and then I heard voices! Oh my gosh! I think I'm allergic to smoke. Is this smoke? What is this?"
"Where the hell have you been?" Hypnos asked her with a fatherly voice, his eyes huge and his face covered with worry. He wrapped her up in his arms and stroked her head like a child.
She muffled something against his chest like; "Where have I been? Where have you been, mister?"
"Did you say Apollo?" I asked with raised eyebrows while I helped Aurora up from the ground. I tucked her into my chest; the feeling of having her in my arms brought so much ease.
"He and Hemera were right next to us, but then we got lost and cut off from each other. I have no idea where they are now." Aurora sighed heavily and patted down her hair with her hands. I pushed a few stray strands from her eyes and she kissed my palms.
Moros awkwardly stood in between the two couples, just waiting to be introduced. Eventually though, he took it upon himself. "Uh... Hi, I'm Moros."
Aurora untangled my hands from her waist and leaned over to my brother, grabbing his hand; "I am so relieved you're here and safe."
"Same, dude." Trita patted his shoulder with her hand and straightened her dirty dress. They looked like they'd just fallen into a muddy flower garden. "We're all happy, believe me."
"Uh, thanks?" He eyed the two women as they struggled to pluck flower petals from their hair. He had no idea who they were, but I suspect right now he didn't care all that much. We were safe for now, or as safe as we could be, but we needed to find Apollo and Hemera.
"Where did you see them last?" Hypnos asked impatiently and Aurora and Trita gave him a funny look. He rolled his eyes; "Hemera and Apollo!"
"Geez, calm it!" Aurora snapped at him, causing Hypnos and Moros to back off a bit- startled by her ferocity. "Sorry." She cleared her throat and straightened her posture a bit, calming herself in the process. "Trita and I had some difficulty traversing the... area. Look, I don't know. I don't even know where we are right now. We lost them about ten minutes ago. They could be anywhere."
"Hang on." I sighed and put my hands on my hips. Everyone turned to me with expectation, but I simply cleared my throat and loudly yelled over the thick fog- "Apollo is a shit king!"
Everyone covered their ears to block out my sudden deafening bellow.
"HEY!" A distant voice boomed over the shadows; like an echo ringing through a dark canyon. It sounded angry; "Who said that?"
I lifted my hand to where the voice had projected from and slanted my eyes with a knowing look, "Found him."
"Oh, great..." Moros said sarcastically and crossed his arms over his chest. "Now find our sister."
"No need!" Hemera's feminine voice shouted over the mess of fog and abruptly, a pale hand gripped Hypnos' shoulder. He jumped slightly at the sight of the ethereal hand, but calmed himself just as quickly when Hemera jumped out of the fog, Apollo in hand. "Finally! Where the hell have you been?"
"Looking for you!" I growled, but then something caught my eye; the sight of their interlocked hands. I narrowed my stare with bewilderment. Perhaps it was merely an instinctive reaction they'd had? There was danger all around us and it was only natural to want to keep your allies close in this confusing curtain of smoke. I... guess?
Hemera and Apollo noticed me staring and swiftly dropped their hands to their sides like the other's touch was on fire. I pursed my lips and tried not to think too much about it. It was nothing. Nothing. Definitely nothing.
"Hem..." Moros' eyes slanted with guilt as he stared at his older sister with sorrow. She gasped, having not had noticed him before he spoke up again, and grabbed him close, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Mo!"
"I'm so sorry-"
"Don't be!" Hemera shushed him and gave him a stern look as she pulled back; "I'm just so happy you're here; with us." Moros nodded in agreement and Hemera squeezed his arms with conviction.
"Okay, there's no one we're missing, right?" Hypnos asked while he looked in everyone's direction. We all nodded in agreement.
"What is this?" Trita asked as she waved a hand through the fog; her hand created a broad path in the air, but it was quickly closed up again. It was like it had a mind of its own and it was just biding its time; waiting to suffocate us.
"It's Nyx." Moros said softly and did the same thing, but this time the fog closed up the gap quicker, as if annoyed by our attempts to evade it.
The girls shook their heads and Aurora whispered; "How is she doing this?"
"She's darkness and the night." I examined the particles up close. It was hard to pinpoint any form of matter, because it all mashed together, but as I narrowed my eyes, it became clearer. Thick, dark smoke. "This is... her. I don't really know how?"
We knew my mother was a powerful mage and extremely adept at magic, but this- being able to create a thick fog like this, that seemingly breathed on its own and could stop our own magic from taking any effect, was beyond what we ever imagined her capable of.
Nyx was an ancient, but I'd always assumed my father was far more skilled in the art of witchcraft.
This was unbelievable.
Apollo coughed a bit; "Um..." He looked around and met my eyes quickly. A crease formed between my eyebrows. "Are you okay?"
"N-no-" He coughed harder and the sound travelled. Hemera leaned in, her eyes wide and filled with fear. "Apollo? Are you okay? What's going on?"
He kept coughing, but instead of his throat being eased by the action, it only became worse.
My eyes shot to his throat and I realised what was happening. "She's suffocating him. Shit." I jumped toward Apollo and smacked his back a couple of times, keeping my other hand on his chest. He coughed more vigorously and slowly, his sun-kissed complexion turned a frightening shade of pale blue.
"Apollo!" Aurora joined to help me while the rest hovered around us, confused as to what was happening and even more puzzled at what could possibly help our king. Hemera covered her hands with her mouth and shook her head. I spotted tears forming in her eyes while we watched Apollo's knees buckle and his body grow heavy.
He was almost out of oxygen. He would die soon if he didn't receive any oxygen. Of course he'd wake up again, eventually, but Apollo had died before- and I'd rather spare us all the theatrics...
But suddenly, like a shot of lighting, a black claw reached out from deep within the fog and pulled Hemera back. I tried to grab her hands as they flew out to catch mine, but I was far too slow.
The black entity snarled and a puff of thick smog swayed and danced where my sister had stood just a split-second ago.