Chereads / Affliction / Chapter 15 - Chapter Fifteen

Chapter 15 - Chapter Fifteen

In the fiery chasms of the active volcano Leodocus was tired, so very tired that his vision was beginning to blur. He hid behind a large boulder trying to come up with a way to defeat this humongous flame demon hunting him down.

So far he had defeated the ice beast with a few calculated lighting bolts making the monster melt immediately. He had defeated the gigantic twin boulders that attacked him when he made it to the earth realm. They were tough and the reason he was so badly beaten and bruised.

Missions like this were so much easier to have his brothers with him because at least he had people to watch his back. But he knew he had to do this alone in the nick of time. He grabbed the miniature hourglass and it turned out he had about two hours left. His muscles were tensed but that didn't stop him from making a mad dash for the top of the hill. The flame demon was in hot pursuit and throwing fireballs and lava at him which he ducked. It would sure be so helpful right now if his brothers were here.

He stopped and with the dusty gravel created a tornado at the monster and teleported to the hill. That could buy him some time to run to the border of the realm. He didn't have much time and the closer he got to the border the less of his powers he could use. The borders of Pythia's realm were like buffers, no powers or abilities worked so he had to get out of here before this thing scorched him alive. He couldn't let his brothers down, this was his opportunity to fix things for them and he was determined to do it.

The truth is he wanted to be back home in Olympus as well. He had so much more to do and so much more to learn from his father and all the other gods. He wanted to be a hero, loved by mortals and feared by his enemies. In a word, he wanted to be like his father, without the cruelty of course.

This was his chance.

"You creeps need to back the fuck up!" Xanthippeia said out loud as the brothers were slowly approaching her. Slowly because they didn't want to trigger any sudden movements with her. 

"I said stay back!" She stood with her hands out in front of her to ward them back. She cursed at the fact that the street was now deserted. But they were approaching so she did the only thing she knew how. 

Run.

She crossed the street into a full sprint and when she looked back they were right behind her.

"Wait!"

"We mean you no harm."

"We just want your soul!" Arcus shouted.

My soul, what the fuck? Xanthippeia thought as she ran.

"Halt please!" Zargreus shouted but she kept running but she tripped on a rock and was about to fall headfirst until she put her hands in front of her and some kind of invisible gravity shield caught her from hitting the gravel face first. What?

"No no no this is not happening." She seemed to be panicking hard as she frantically shook her hands out as if that could remove whatever force just caught her off the ground.

"Look she's doing it, she is using her powers!" she heard them yell as they rounded in on her. She stumbled back with her hands, but they were standing a few feet around her by the time she was ready to get up.

"What, so you're going to just gang up on a girl? One against four, that's real fair." She scoffed.

"She seems angry brother."

"Not angry more frustrated."

"Scared I think, she is terrified of—"

"I'm not scared of you! I took self-defence classes and I can whip any one of your butts!" she yelled at no one in particular.

"What is a 'butt' Zar?" the small one asked the tallest one.

"I'm sure it means the posterior of human anatomy."

"Disgusting."

"She has quite the foul mouth doesn't she?" The smirking pale one said.

"Leave me alone! You pervert." She said trying to back up.

Athenios was losing his patience and hushed the rest up and knelt in front of her.

"Hear me carefully little mortal, my brothers and I do not wish to hurt you but you will need to cooperate with us."

"Cooperate with what?" she said in a shaky voice.

"We require something of you."

"What do you want?"

"Your soul for a short period of time" he offered her a smile.

Her eyes widened at his words. Why would they want her soul? How would they take her soul? What was going on? All these questions burned in her mind.

"What mental asylum did you all escape from? You can't have my soul, that's like not even possible."

"It is."

"You can take a soul? Look I don't know what satanic club you and your brothers are in but I'm not about to just roll over and let you kidnap me." Xan was not about to just accept this.

"We did not think this at first too but our brother is quite confident this can work so all we require is for you to come with us—" the calm one with the long braids said.

"No! I'm not going anywhere with you." Xanthippeia was starting to sweat with nerves.

"Let us not make this difficult shall we little mortal."

"Stop calling me that like you're not human too!"

"We are not." 

That is when the panic really set in for her. Her pale grey eyes blinked in fear as she fully took in her surroundings. For being late in the afternoon the streets of her city were awfully quiet. In fact, the only human activity she could see was a couple walking across the road with a baby stroller and a few nuns sitting reading on the park bench nearby and one other person at the carwash. None of them would help her but maybe all hope was not lost because when she looked up at a streetlight she spotted a camera. In that, she took comfort that if she were to be abducted people would know where she was last seen and who her captors were.

However, that did not stop her heart from racing hard in her chest it felt as if it would break through her lungs and ribcage. After all, these were four men, four very tall and powerful albeit strange-looking men and she was a tiny thing. 

Xanthippeia, from a young age, was often teased and taunted by her peers because it seemed there came a period where everyone was growing around her yet she remained the same 4'11 girl. She imagined sometimes that she got the physical trait from her biological parents because as it was, Stella and Mateo were average if not slightly taller and so was almost every member of her extended family. Not much in her life made her feel misplaced or not belonging in her adoptive family but her petite frame was definitely one of them.

Still with the odds stacked heavily against her in essence Xanthippeia was never one to sit in despair for long, she was a fighter and now she had to either fight for her life or flee from these strangers.

The four brothers stood sturdy in front of the small girl all watching with curiosity as she obviously wracked her brain but it was hopeless. What could one little mortal do to slip from the grasp of four of the almighty Zeus' sons? Athenios stepped forward, taking charge as per usual.

"Come peacefully little one, this will all be over soon." He reached a hand out to her. 

Steeling her hard expression Xanthippeia closed her eyes, she concentrated all her energy on the faces of her mother, her father, her little sister and her friends. Their smiles and every good memory she held in her heart enriched a power that until this moment she thought to be a delusion.

Every cell in her blood sizzled like it was bacon cooking on a high stove. The anger and frustration and the sheer willingness of fighting to make it home to her loved ones unlocked something fierce in Xanthippeia and when she opened her eyes the elder brother's smirk was wiped off this face as he looking into the glowing purple eyes of this mortal and before he could think to turn his head and warn his brothers he was blinded by the bright like that shot out of her core levelling the ground they all stood on…