All that could be heard on the mountain was the gruff sound of Athenios' groaning as his brother healed him. The brother had been back at their exiled home now for an hour nursing their wounds…well most of them anyway.
The fight between Athenios and Leodocus had been brutal but nothing short of what was expected when the two sons of Zeus clashed in anger. They fought with their fists and powers. It had been an unspoken rule among the five brothers that if they quarrelled, which admittedly happened a lot that they would not use lightning bolts on each other. Striking each other with a bolt crossed the imaginary line that it was the most fatal weapon they have to use against each other. One bolt struck to the heart would mean a son lost to the Allfather.
However, in his blinding rage, Leodocus had forgotten about that as he summoned a powerful bolt and grazed his elder brother on the side of his abdomen. Athenios being the strongest of the brothers had a very high pain threshold but when that bolt hit him it sent him falling out of the sky.
The rest of the brothers knew not to get involved when they began fighting because that was their way of life but when Leodocus fought dirty all bets were off and they all took to the sky. Methios and Zargreus charged at their little brother while Arcus defended him. All the while Leodocus was too shaken up by what he had done to fight anymore. The scuffle ended quickly as the peacekeeper Zargreus reminded them they were brothers first before anything else.
All the anger dissipated quickly as they now focused on making sure Athenios was going to be okay.
From birth, Leodocus and Methios had been bestrode the power of fast self-healing while Zargreus had the power to heal others so he was busy repairing his brothers' wound while the two goofy brothers sat by the fire talking. The only one missing was Leodocus.
After the bolt expelled out of him and saw his brother fall he was in utter shock. Their fight in the sky had taken them above a ravine and that's where Athenios made his descent. Nearly 50 feet in the air and he crashed making a massive crater in the ground. It had been hard to watch and harder to listen to his brother's screams as he healed so he bailed and took off into the mountains.
Since being exiled to this admittedly beautiful but dreadful dimension and maybe even before, Leodocus had always found comfort in being high up in the mountains. It was the only place he could truly be alone with his thoughts. Right now all that racked him was guilt, he knew it was a low blow for him to do that to Athenios but he felt backed into a corner. In actuality, his brother was besting him and his hand was forced.
Athenios has always been the strongest and fiercest among them but Leodocus has always been the smartest and his powers were unmatched by the others. To him, knowledge was power and as long as he had that and his abilities nothing was too great for him. All except one thing, his temper.
Even as a babe he had quite nearly a few times burnt the palace in Mount Olympus down during his tantrums. He's never been good at controlling that side of himself when it is loose and as a result, he lashed out in the most severe ways that almost always left him with ashes and turmoil in his heart.
But that was just one side to the prince. All the other qualities that he had endeared him to people. Most of the gods, especially his mother Hera had thought he had been made for a position of power in the Pantheon. He was charismatic, intuitive, calculated and had power that was unimagined. And most importantly he was a good soul that always tried to see the good in things like all the brothers were actually. This quality however did not sit right with the Allfather. Zeus as beloved and powerful as he was seriously lacked compassion. He wanted his offspring to be powerful and bring the world to its knees and that cruelty was just not something his children possessed. His children were good in nature and it always baffled Zeus and the other gods and it was not something they had wanted to accept.
"Brother?"
"I wish to be left in my solace brother, I beg you." He answered Zargreus.
"Too bad, you need to hear this." He said taking a seat next to his sulking brother.
"How is he?"
"Resting and his anger has dissipated luckily for you."
"That figures, he could never stay angry at me." Leodocus chuckled bitterly.
"Do not think too highly of yourself, he could never stay angry at anyone. But you on the other hand tend to let your angry fester and it is not healthy brother." Zargreus advised.
"I hurt him, Zar," Leo said, suddenly sullen.
"Brothers squabble. I would know, I have nursed plenty of all your wounds. One minute we are all together having a ball and the next the room is on fire." He chuckled.
"And you are always there to patch everyone up." They nudged shoulders.
"I know I should go offer my apologies to him," Leo said and his brother nodded.
"Well come on then brother, enough with the wallowing."
"Thank you."
The brothers hugged and made their way down the hill talking and laughing but Leodocus still could not lighten his heart from being heavy with guilt and anger. Walking into the home, they were greeted with laughter and a warm fire. His three brothers were sitting around but they turned their heads once the two brothers walked in.
"Ah, I see the almighty son of Zeus has finally graced us with his presence!" Athenios announced dramatically.
"Are you alright big brother?" Leo asked as he hugged his older brother.
"I heal well but if you are asking about how I feel about what you did then I'd have to say…I am impressed, little brother." Athenios said smiling.
"I attacked you with a bolt and you're impressed?" Leodocus was confused.
"Of course, you didn't think I would hold a grudge on my own little brother did you?" Athenios laughed taking a seat on the couch.
After a few hours, it was business as usual for the five brothers as they sat ate and when it came closer to the end of the night they gathered by the fire to discuss the next step in their plan to find the descendant.
"I think we should go back to Earth, to that city by the coast." Athenios expressed to the group.
"Why there, brother?" Arcus asked.
"I feel something in my gut that is telling me to go back there." He explained. The group nodded because over the past years whenever Athenios has had a gut feeling he was usually right. Leo was quiet thinking of how he would tell his brothers he knew how to find the descendant now until he took a deep breath and looked up at his brothers.
"Athenios is right; we will find the descendant in that city."
"Well if both of you are sure then that's what we will do but if I may ask brother, why are you so sure?" Zargreus asked what the rest of the boys were thinking as they all looked at Leodocus with questioning expressions. This was it; he had to tell them now.
"I am certain we will find the descendant there because I have seen her," Leo said and the room turned to a chilly silence.
"WHAT! You have seen it, how?" Methios stood up in shock to this revelation.
"I saw her in a vision." He made sure to emphasise that it was a girl.
"When was this?"
"At dawn, when I couldn't sleep."
"So you know what it looks like?" Arcus asked.
"Yes, and it is a she."
"That is brilliant brother then we must go now." Athenios stood up.
"What not now, surely we can wait?"
"Wait for what exactly Leodocus, our titles are not going to restore themselves. I say we go now because the sooner this is done and over with then the sooner the Allfather will let us back in Mount Olympus."
"You mean the sooner we bring a lamb for the Allfather to slaughter!" Arcus snapped at his brothers and left in a huff.
"What is the matter with him? He knew what would happen when we found the descendant. It's the only way for absolution." Athenios said
"Leave him be, he is having a hard time with the fact that this sacrifice must be made."
"We all have to make sacrifices Leo, the descendant is no different," Methios added.
"Not when she's an innocent in some ancient prophecy," Leodocus mumbled.
"Innocent or not, she will die. End of discussion. We leave in three days." Athenios said with finality as he and Methios stormed off to their chambers.
In the common room, Leo and Zargreus sat feeling the effects of the discussion that was had and decided to give Arcus the space he needed to process as he stormed off outside.
"Why did you not tell us sooner brother?" Zargreus asked.
"What does it matter? You all know now." Leo responded trying to suppress his emotion by looking away from his brother. But Zargreus knew his brother like the back of his hand, all of them in fact. There could never be anything they could hide from him because just one look in his eyes and anyone would tell the truth to Zargreus. It was one of his gifts that came in handy especially with his sometimes guarded brothers.
"Do not make me hold you down brother, now tell me why you kept this from us."
Leodocus knew this was beyond anything he could do now and gave in.
"I did not tell you to protect her." He finally admitted.
"What do you mean?"
"She is like nothing I have ever seen before brother."
"I am to presume the descendant is beautiful then?"
"She--- There are no words to describe her."
Since he had that vision Leodocus was enchanted by the descendant, he didn't know her name or how she sounded or what her likes and dislikes were but he knew her unparalleled beauty and he could feel her power. A power that she most likely doesn't even know she possessed but a great power nonetheless.
The moment he had the vision he witnessed her using her power was intense. Her power was uncontrollable and warm and strong. What was strange is that he felt some kind of pull or connection with her when she used her power. He felt it within himself and he wanted nothing more than to tell his brothers but it worried him that they would not understand this. Hardly anyone he had come in contact with him had ever understood him. Leodocus grew up with brothers and subjects but he always felt a little alone. There was no one he could truly relate to him inside and out.
This is what made him want to know more about the descendant. What was she and why did she feel so powerful?
"Brother you know this needs to be done."
"I know but perhaps we could wait."
"We can't prolong the inevitable brother, the more the descendant is living then the longer our exile is."
"Do we have to kill her?"
"What else can we do with it?"
"It? She is a real person, not a thing Zar."
"I apologize then but she has to die, simple as that. You need to stay focused brother." Zargreus said and left the room.
Zargreus was at odds himself because it seemed his brothers were reaching an impasse on what to do. Since they were children Athenios had taken the role of the leader in the group. He was always the one that initiated everything, if there was a mission Athenios took control and the rest followed. Zargreus never resented that about him though, none of them did because it meant less responsibility would fall on them and they were content with that.
However, there had always been some resistance to the leadership role Athenios took with his little brother Leodocus. The two brothers were more at odds than the rest of them and no one ever understood why at times Leodocus rebelled against his brothers' leadership for reasons unknown. Tonight was an example of challenging that leadership because usually Athenios makes the crucial decisions and that goes without saying because he is the eldest. He expected as much from Leo but not from the youngest brother Arcus as well.
What was happening in their dynamic? Was this the descendants' doing, trying to separate them before they could make it home? Zargreus was the glue to the band of brothers and there was no way he would let that happened. He decided to listen to his own advice and stay focused on the task at hand and that was to put an end to the descendant before she ended them.