Chapter 18
"You are not coming with us!" Erebus snarled, barely restraining himself.
We had gotten in an argument as soon as he had returned and I wanted to know when we were going to leave. At first he didn't want to tell me but soon enough he gave in and explained to me why I couldn't come. It was too dangerous, he couldn't guarantee my safety and while these were perfectly reasonable arguments while I shouldn't be going, they applied to him as well. So I told him that we'd either both go or neither of us.
"I am!" I insisted, trying to keep my voice down.
"No, you are so not!" He argued back, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
"Then you are not going either!" I snapped, tearing up.
I was losing the argument and I knew that. I just wanted to keep him safe and going out there was achieving the opposite. If I went with him I'd at least be able to look out for him and take the hit that was meant for him. This was the same argument we had before when he left me at home and I wasn't going to let him do this to me again where he'd just make me stay behind and this time Thanatos wasn't going to help me again.
"You can't tell me what to do!" He growled, making me huff frustrated.
"Maybe. But you yourself said you weren't going to leave me and this very much feels like you are leaving me." I said, choking on a sob.
He looked pained at the state of despair I was in and opened his arms to me but I violently shook my head to convince him and me to stay away from me. While I desperately wanted to hug him and to feel his body pressed against mine, I knew that it was just going to destract me from the goal I had in mind and I couldn't allow myself that temporary relief if it meant I'd forget.
"I don't want your hugs and kisses right now." I snuffled. "I don't want you to make me feel better."
"I'd never leave you." He assured me while he sounded like he was suffering along with me.
"Then why are you forcing me to stay behind?" I demanded to know.
He didn't say anything for a while and just ran his fingers through his hair, disheveling it and and messing up his otherwise neat appearance. He had put on his suit and the corresponding body armor, hair neatly parted and made to look suitable for meeting with Hell's leader. His bags were packed and waiting for him to stop arguing with me so he could leave. Mine were packed as well, waiting for him to allow me to come with him.
"I already explained the dangers to you. I just want to keep you safe." He gave me the same spiel again and I was getting fed up with it.
"You are a hypocrite and you know it." I snapped, marching up to him to stick my finger into his chest. "How dare you make me sit and wait while you are putting yourself in a situation you deem too dangerous for me.
"I can't stay here and do nothing." He tried to defend himself but we both knew it was a lousy defense.
"I know that. That's why I want you to take me with you. I can carry your things. I promise, I will stay out of trouble, just take me. Please!" I begged, grabbing his shirt.
His breath hitched as I accidentally pinched a piece of skin but he didn't give in and just stared at me, trying to keep his composure as I started crying. I just wanted to go home. He wasn't going to take me with him, the least he could do was bring me back home where I wasn't surrounded by angry gods and goddesses who just wanted to punish me. I could stay with Nolan for a while, bawl my eyes out and let him do my hair.
"Take me home. Now!" I demanded, not looking at him.
"Caleb. Calm down." He said lowly as he tried to reach for me but I smacked his hands away.
"I don't want to calm down. I also don't want to talk to you right now. Take me home or get your son to take me home." I hissed as tears run down my face.
He wrapped his arms around me anyway, making me struggle against him until my body just gave up and I weeped bitterly, tears spilling onto this stupid armor that put this distance between us. He just held me while I sobbed, breathing hard and rubbing my back to soothe me but it didn't work. While I had finally gotten an emotional response out of him, I was still going to be forced to sit alone at home, waiting for him to come back to me.
"Take me with you." I repeated, more to convince myself that I had done everything I could to keep him here.
He cupped my face, kissing the tears away and continued to plaster kisses all over my face. I let out a breathless laugh, snuffling and just letting him do as he pleased. I had to admit defeat and I hated it. He planted a final kiss in my forehead before he touched mine against his, just staying like this for a few seconds.
"Please stop crying." He whispered. " It breaks my heart to see you like this. I want you to be happy. I want to see you smile. I'm sorry I made you cry again."
"How am I supposed to be happy if you are endangering yourself?" I whimpered, making him sigh.
He frowned as he was considering his options and looking distressed as he made his decision. I looked up at him to see what he had decided on but he pulled away from me yet still held me tight as Hypnos teleported in, looking uncomfortable at having interrupted our moment.
"Did you say goodbye?" He asked as Erebus rubbed my back.
"He is going to join us." He sighed.
I just wrapped my arms around him, holding on tight. I wasn't going to let go until we were at the spot we were supposed to be meeting with the other soldiers in case he decided to trick me and just teleported off without me. I didn't know if he could still pull that off with me hugging him but I was just making sure. He seemed to notice since he chuckled quietly and just pressed his lips against my forhead again.
"That's a really stupid idea." Hypnos remarked. "Eris and Nemesis are waiting for us to join them before we are teleporting to our little meetup."
Erebus took my bag to look inside. I still clung to his waist, watching him take out some of my things. He found the shiny rock I had picked up when I hung out with Hypnos that sparkled if the light hit it just right and just stuffed it back in even though I could see he found it useless and wanted to discard it. Looking at it made me happy and he seemed to know that and let me keep it.
"I assume supplies are packed?" He asked, making Hypos nod.
He just grabbed me, his bag and his son and teleported to where Eris and Nemesis were waiting for us, all decked out in the same kind of armor with the same silver bident above their hearts to signal their allyship. Both of them snapped their heads into our direction and locked their stare on me and Eris even scrunched up her nose at me and raked me with a sneer. I guess she had more in common with her mother than her appearance and they shared their hated for me.
"Why?" Nemesis simply asked.
"He didn't want to stay alone." Erebus told her, making the corner of her lip twitch.
"Tie him up in the basement and leave him there until you get back but don't bring him?" Eris scoffed, glaring at me.
I glared back, making her take a step towards me. Erebus and much to my surprise Hypnos stepped in front of me to shield me from her in case she decided to attack. She apparently hadn't reckoned with Hypnos either and just snarled at him until Nemesis put one hand one her chest, trying to calm her down. Hypnos was right, she did have a lot in common with Thanatos, they both had that inscrutable blank facial expression that was hard to read.
"We have someone to meet." She declared.
We formed a circle, touching each other's shoulder and Erebus teleported us off to where we were supposed to be. Within a blink we changed location and I looked up at a fallen angel and holy shit, Lucifer was beautiful. His eyes were entirely black, a stark contrast against his white, almost translucent skin and his snow white curls. He was sporting three pairs of white wings, scorched at the feathery tips and wearing a midnight black armor which was similar to the Greek's but looked way more elegant and sleek instead of functional.
At least I was assuming this was him since he stood proud and tall in front of them as if he was the one calling the shots. Standing next to him were three other angels, one with honey colored hair with one side shaved off while the rest fell down to his ears and six wings, similarly colored, one with straight auburn hair that fell down half of his back and was tied into a pony tail with three matching pairs of wings and one with silky black hair that fell down on his shoulders, with three black wings neatly folded onto his back. All of them had eerily white glowing skin and black eyes and it was starting to freak me out.
"These are Solas, Ornias and Belial." Lucifer introduced them, going from lightest hair to darkest.
"The Seraph Belial?" Nemesis asked, making them turn their attention towards her. "Or the Virtue?"
"The Seraph." Belial confirmed, giving her a curious look. "I thought you Greeks didn't care about anyone other than yourself. Didn't think you knew."
I was unsure whether he was trying to sound playful and was just trying to piss her off by offending her and insinuating that the Greeks only cared about themselves. Which they usually did but that was beside the point right now. He had his head cocked to the side and watched her with his creepy black eyes that didn't allow you to know where he was looking considering you couldn't differentiate between the sclera, the iris and the pupil, everything had the same weird night sky black.
"It's never wise to make generalizing assumptions." Nemesis went on, sounding as monotone as she had the entire time. "Unless of course you are being thrown in a new situation and need to adapt fast, then please go ahead."
"You are weird." Belial stated, furrowing his brows.
"Yes, my former two former boyfriends told me that." She agreed, making Eris cover her mouth before she could tell the fallen angel any more details about her life.
Nemesis shook her off but didn't say anything else. Belial had his head cocked to the side, watching her intrigued. Lucifer and Solias kept their facial expression void of any emotion and just kept standing still, waiting for them to stop talking so they could come to the point and deal with the actual problem of retrieving their people. Ornias elbowed Belial in the side, making him glare back.
"Stop staring." Ornias scolded.
"Did you have to bring a slave?" Lucifer asked disgusted, looking at me now.
Both Heaven and Hell had outlawed slavery for decades now while Hades and Olymp didn't even bother to put restrictions on it. Once the mark was on your skin you lost every right you may have had at some point and just like that you were property, belonging to another person. Erebus may fight slave trade but for every gang they took down and to court, a new one popped up, ready to snatch people off the streets. No one except for Hades could take the mark off my skin and Erebus had asked him several times and he just didn't want to.
"He isn't a slave." Erebus tried to argue but Lucifer just scoffed.
"Don't lie to me. I can feel it." He huffed, wings fluttering behind him with a whisper.
"I'm not. He may have a mark but he is as free to do things he wants to do as you and I are." Erebus insisted, taking my hand. "I wouldn't force him to do anything."
I could tell that Lucifer wasn't believing anything he said and while I appreciated him sticking up for me, I knew how things were going between us and that Erebus would never force me to do anything. Except for maybe trying to get me to stay behind on my own and I was so going to pay him back for this. I didn't know how yet but I would be able to find a way. Maybe an unusually high salt concentration in his food or something. Hypnos would surely help me piss him off.
"I don't condone this." Lucifer said, gesturing towards us. "You will not be touching him as long as you are with us. It disgusts me."
"It's fine." I tried but Eris glared at me for daring to speak, making me shut up.
Erebus just sighed and let go off my hand, making me frown. I wanted to hold his hand, it made me feel like I had an anchor point that kept me from drifing aimlessly through the world. Lucifer seemed to be content with him and I keeping a certain distance between us but I wasn't and I just took his hand into my small hands, resting my cheek against his arm as I leaned against him.
"You said he isn't supposed to touch me. You didn't mention the other way around." I smiled, seeing him scowl. "And I will have you know that I am very much enjoying holding his hand out of my free will."
Lucifer made a noise of distress while the other fallen angels rolled their eyes and Hypnos snickered, giving me a pat on the back. I flinched at the impact and growled at him, uncomfortable with him getting way too close and up in my personal space. I knew he wasn't going to do anything with his dad taking me under his wing but still. I wanted him to stop touching me.
"How would we know it's your free will and he hasn't instructed you to say these things?" Ornias asked, making me scowl frustrated.
"You don't." I snapped. "Leave us alone."
"I'm not letting him continue this." Lucifer insisted, making me want to kick him in the shin.
"It's none of your business who my boyfriend is!" I hissed at him.
Eris curled her lip at me, unbelieving that I would dare to refer to her father as my boyfriend and he wasn't instantly beating the shit out of me for daring to sully him like that. Erebus just gave her a chiding stare, making her scoff but she didn't dare speak up against her dad. Hypnos sneaked in the look little children give their siblings if one of them got in trouble and the other now got the full positive attention of their parents.
"Cute." Belial remarked dryly.
"Fine." Lucifer said before changing the topic. "They snatched three of our people. One has been confirmed dead by two of my men. The other two are being held hostage somewhere outside the camp."
"Any idea where?" Erebus asked.
"Yes, since this is level country and one could be spotted easily, we assume they left the sphere. Premised Hades is guarded enough to keep them out." Lucifer continued, making all the Greek soldiers scoff. "Each soldier is equipped with a chip that should enable us to locate them once we get close enough. They would be detected within minutes if they entered Hell and they surely wouldn't bring them into Heaven. That would just disturb the peace and they are very keen on keeping it."
"Abandoned spheres then." Nemesis remarked, playing with the chest piece of her armor. "Unless they partner up with another pantheon."
"Heaven doesn't partner up with what they call heathens. They want to keep the bloodline pure." Belial huffed, making her look at him and he blushed a little. "No offense."
Nemesis just ignored him and I was starting to think Belial had taken a liking to her while she was either completely oblivious to it or didn't care. Eris had picked up on it as well and stared at the angel as if she was debating whether to skin him alive or to slowly filet him until he bled out on his own. The other angels seemed to notice and awkwardly looked at her as if they were unsure whether she was going to attack but Erebus just put a hand on her shoulder, giving it a warning squeeze.
"There are only a handful of them that are still habitable, so it shouldn't be too hard to find your lost soldiers and retrieve them." He mused, making the others nod in agreement.
"We could use Thaney. He is pretty good at finding things." Hypnos chimed in, making Eris growl.
"Yeah, let's commit a war crime. Idiot." She snapped. "You may be all buddy buddy with him but I'm not. I will never forgive him!"
Hypnos went to say something in return but found his dad's glance who slowly shook his head, telling him not to engage with her. He just made a rude noise and glared at her but didn't talk back which made Eris smirk triumphantly as if she had won the argument. The angels seemed to get irritated by their fighting and by the group not making any progress and Erebus noticed, clearing his throat.
"Why don't we start with Thanatos' sphere? He won't be very happy if we interrupt his new life but the sooner we clear that one, the we can leave him alone again." He suggested before he added with a smile. "And I get to see my grandkid."
"I don't see why not." Lucifer agreed.
"I see why not. He will kill us the first chance he lays eyes on us." Eris hissed, putting her arms on her hips.
"He won't." Erebus assured Lucifer who looked concerned.
"He will." Eris growled.
"I don't like this." Nemesis suddenly declared, turning her back and walking a few meters away from us.
She sat down on the ground, wrapping her arms around her knees and Eris instantly gave up fighting and followed her, sitting down next to her and talking to her. Their dad watched them for a few seconds to make sure they were doing okay before he concentrated his attention back on Lucifer who appeared annoyed and as if he regretted teaming up with us.
"Thanatos wouldn't harm anyone." Erebus tried again but it didn't convince the angels.
"If you say so." Belial replied curtly.
"Why don't we go ahead? They will join us later." Erebus sighed.
The others just nodded and took each other's hand and we teleported off to Thanatos' sphere. Instead of knocking on the door, we reappeared in his living room, startling Zoe who was browsing through a children's book and started crying as soon as she saw us. Erebus kneeled down to comfort her and to get her to stop crying just as a rift opened and Thanatos was standing there, staring at us.
"You better have a good explanation as to why you are infiltrating my sphere and making her cry." He huffed.
The child instantly stopped crying and held her arms out for him to pick her up. He bend down and lifted her up, making her giggle and grab at his black curls. He poked her in the nose before glaring at us and waiting for an answer. Instead of giving him one, Erebus went over to them and held his hand out to Zoe, wiggling his fingers and making her squeal happily as Nemesis and Eris teleported in.
"Great." Eris scoffed as she laid her eyes on him and the child but she didn't furter provoke him.
Zoe wiggled herself out of Thanatos' arms and waddled over to them, alarming Thanatos who tried to go after her but Eris snarled as he came closer. He took a step back at her bared fangs but the wish to protect his daughter beat the fear his sister was evoking in him as he growled back at her but before he could pull Zoe away she had already managed to walk over to Nemesis and tugged at her vambrace.
"Hello." Nemesis said, making Zoe beam at her.
"Pretty." Zoe cooed, hopping up and down next to her.
Thanatos watched them closely but seemed to relax a little as no one made an attempt to hurt her. She gave up on getting Nemesis' attention and completely ignored Eris as she toddled over to Erebus, inspecting him before she laid her eyes on Belial, squeaking excited and bolting over to him to tug at his wings but Thantos jumped after her, pulling her back before she could reach him and picking her up again.
"That's enough." He said, making her pout.
"Where's Alexios?" Erebus asked.
"Grocery shopping." He explained. "You still haven't told me why you are here and what your intentions are."
"We kindly request to search the sphere." Nemesis said, making him look at her.
He just shrugged as if he couldn't be bothered and carried the child out of the room while she leaned over his shoulder, waving goodbye and trying to get one last grab on Lucifer's wings, who swatted at her as if she was an annoying fly.
"So, was that a yes?" Ornias asked, looking after them.
"Hell yeah, haven't seen him this enthusiastic about something since he introduced me to his weird pet plants." Hypnos smirked. "How many of these location devices do you have?"
"Four." Ornias replied. "One for each one of us."
"Sweet. Fams grab an angel and get searching. Caleb stays here." He ordered before he noticed my frown. "We won't leave without you, promise. We'd never leave you alone with grumpy pants over there."
"I heard that ." Thanatos yelled from the other room.
They formed their groups and left to search the sphere while Erebus took the liberty to give me a quick peck on the lips, making Lucifer scoff. They teleported away, leaving me with Thanatos and pretty clueless on how to spend the day on my own. I didn't know whether Thanatos would be fine with me staying and I didn't want to bother him since Alexios had returned so I just asked if I could use his kitchen and started with cooking dinner for when the soldiers returned.
It was already the middle of the night when they eventually returned and they had to reheat the food but at least they didn't yell at me for messing it up. It was just vegetable stew with a piece of bread and everyone I had worked for beside Erebus yelled at me when I prepared simple dishes. They always wanted something more elaborate.
I stepped outside to go for a walk along the cliff that bordered the black sea after I cleaned up and most of them had already gone to sleep, camping in Thanatos' living room. I hesitated, staring at Nemesis who was lying on the ground, looking almost at peace as she was staring into the night sky above. I didn't know if I was supposed to say something or if I should just ignore her but I doubted she would appreciate me watching her.
"What is it, nymph?" She asked without looking at me.
"Uhm... My name is Caleb actually. In case you want to adress me by my name. You don't have to." I mumbled, more to myself than to her. "Would be nice, though."
She didn't say anything and just pat the ground next to her. I didn't know if this was an invitation or an order but I highly doubted that she was being nice to me, considering how Eris was treating me and I hurried to lie down next to her. We kept quiet for a while and she just kept gazing at the stars while I wondered if I should just open up my mouth to say something or if she was going to beat me for it.
We hadn't encoutered each other in the past except for birthday parties I had been taken to but we never spoke to each other directly. I had too little information for me to be able to tell if she was more like Erebus or more like Nyx but I really hoped she was more like him. Eris already hated me with all her might and that made me feel very unsafe around her, making me watch my back every second she spent around me.
"I can feel your need to say something." She murmured after a while. "Spit it out."
"Doesn't Eris' behavior bother you?" I carefully asked, watching her closely in case she decided to attack. "She has a tendency to infantilize you."
"She means well." She mumbled before she sounded like she was somewhere else mentally. "They all mean well."
I didn't know what to say to that and just forced myself to relax next to her, blades of black grass tickling my cheek. I wondered how it could grow in a place like this that didn't even have a sun, a moon or stars that would enable it to live. The only thing that glowed were the trees in the distance but that surely wouldn't be enough. I wouldn't be able to live here, I loved the sun and here there wasn't even a difference between day and night, everything was just grey.
"If you break my dad's heart, I will break your neck." She stated after a while, turning her head to look at me.
"I wouldn't." I assured her and she stared at me for a few seconds before nodding satisfied.
"Good." She said before she turned her attention back to the sky. "I don't easily form grudges but if I do, I hold onto them."
"Like Thanatos?" I asked bluntly before I could stop the words from coming out of my mouth.
I got ready to roll out of the way before she would bash my head in but she just folded her arms behind her head and sighed heavily. She appeared distraught for a second before her facial expression turned back to blank. I wondered if she would make an effort in the future to reconcile with her brother but I doubted that she'd be able to get onto that if Eris was involed in the process.
"I don't know whom to believe anymore." She admitted, making me snap my head at her. "Everything just seems wrong. The line between right and wrong gets blurred, I'm not able to distinguish between good and evil anymore."
I kept quiet because I didn't want to interrupt her and she sounded like she really needed to get this off her chest. I really wished I knew what to say to help her but I was just me, a tiny, uneducated nymph that happened to cross her path. I didn't know how the world worked, I just knew things about being a servant. What advice could I possibly offer to a goddess who was millenia older than me?
"I'm the distributor of fortune." She elaborated, sounding sad. "Or at least what I was supposed to be in the beginning. I was supposed to bring people what they deserved but my purpose got twisted and tainted by my own family until I became the resentment associated with a disturbance that cannot be left unpunished. That's not who I am or who I want to be."
"I'm sorry. I don't know how to help you." I whispered, making her smile sadly.
We didn't say anything for a while and she continued to watch the sky and while I found it interesting to watch her, I couldn't see what she was seeing in the grey mess above the sphere that she found so interesting. I was growing more and more tired and decided to get up and go back inside the house. I just waved at her awkwardly and turned around to walk back to the house.
"Good night, Caleb." She hummed as I left.
I went back inside, dragging my bedroll over to Erebus since I didn't want to sleep anywhere near the other guys before I snuggled in and closed my eyes, ready to fall asleep to the silence inside the house and the waves thundering against the cliff outside.