She could hear voices and loud footsteps approaching fast as Xanthippeia still lay with her body in a comatose state. She was scared, she was scared because now that she had time, she could piece together what had happened.
Those four men attacked and kidnapped her and she was scared of what they would do to her, what her family and friends must be feeling knowing she's disappeared. She wished she could only open her eyes, if these men were going to do unspeakable things to her she wanted to at least look them in the eyes. It was the only act of bravery she could think of since everything about her situation seemed hopeless.
Just as the thought entered her sleepy mind she felt a presence near her. Was it one of them or maybe even all four? For what seemed like hours, maybe even days she had wished to be awake and aware and now at the moment of truth she was terrified to be brought out of this state because she didn't know what would await her.
It was silent in the room when she felt skin, possibly a hand come in contact with her temples. Xanthippeia thought he would put her completely under once more but she felt her eyes awakening. They blinked slowly and repetitively until her vision started to clear and the first thing she could register was red, blood-red eyes staring down into her grey ones. She once again wanted to scream. Not of frustration like before but of pure freight.
What kind of person has blood red eyes!?
The question hung in her mind as her mouth and vocal cords were still not responding. But she could read his lips as he starting to speak to her.
"Good you can see, that is just splendid little one." The man seemed to say but as soon as he did she felt another pair of eyes on her, not that she could physically turn her head to see him.
"I think it might be time to free her now, no?" the red-eyed stranger said once more looking over to her head speaking to someone else. Xanthippeia tried to look and stretch but her body was uncooperative.
"Leo is not even here yet, we should wait for him." The new voice sighed. It sounded the slightest bit higher than the first one but still with a deep tone. Perhaps this one was younger than the other.
"Who knows how long that could take Arcus? I say we wake her, she has been under for long enough."
"Very well brother but I am gathering the others in case she tries anything."
"You worry far too much, it will take her an entire day for her body to fully recover once she's out."
"I would not risk it, if she manages to escape Leo will have our hinds." The one named Arcus now walked out of the room and once more Xanthippeia was left with Mr Red Eyes. A thought occurred to her that these guys must be brothers given what Arcus said and how they seem to interact with each other and a second thought she had was that this Leo person must've wanted her if he went to all these extreme measures to kidnap and sedate her.
Xanthippeia tried with all her might to think about these two names she had heard. She couldn't recall ever encountering anyone with these names in her life but the terrifying thought that perhaps these men had something to do with her life before she was adopted. She had read stories of kids getting kidnapped by biological parents, it was sick and deranged and if that is what was happening here she was terrified.
She had once been curious about her origins at some point a few years but that quickly faded because in truth she didn't feel the need to dig up the history of a mother and father that threw her away. She had a family and an amazing one at that and that was more than enough for her. She didn't want anything to do with her past so she just hoped she would get the chance to explain that and return home where she belonged. Though there was still the issue of actually getting up.
Mr Red Eyes held her head again and looked in her eyes as he started to speak.
"My name is Zargreus little one. I understand how confusing and frustrating this whole ordeal must be for you but worry not, everything will be clear soon enough." He said as if he were talking to a child and it irritated Xan to no end. She hated being patronized and spoken to in a condescending tone.
"Now I am going to lift the spell I placed on your body, blink twice if you understand me." He instructed and even though she was annoyed she obliged. He nodded once and placed his slightly colder hands back on her temples just how he had previously restored her vision.
She mentally prepared herself to make a mad dash for it seeing as the door had been left open, there was only him and he was about to free her.
"This will feel painful for a few minutes little one and I'd advise you to abandon any notion of attempting to flee because your body will be incredibly stiff considering you've been out for days. You are weak and I could just easily put you back to sleep until Leo arrives but I wish to offer you the courtesy of being conscious through everything. So please no sudden movements or this will be excruciating for you." Zargreus began to explain as his rich eyes took on a tiny glimmer to indicate he was already in her mind-reading her thoughts of escaping.
Xanthippeia would've gasped in disbelieve if she could because even though his tone was even and dead, he had implied that lingering threat at the end. She had to survive and the concept of finally being able to feel herself again was a selling point that she should head his warning. Before she had assumed that they had used a really strong sedative to knock her out but now it was clear that whatever this Zargreus did was paranormal and there was no reason to fight against something you don't understand. She had bid her time, play this smart and hopefully, she would get her chance to escape.
Zargreus had entered her mind and was about to break the barrier he had installed to keep her asleep but his concentration was broken when his brothers dashed into the room.
"What is the meaning of this Zar!?" Athenios was angry and the lack of patience in his brother.
"I am waking her, do you mind?"
"I thought we agreed to wait for Leodocus to return, if things go awry we will need his—"
"Honestly brother do you doubt my abilities? She is no longer a threat right now." Zargreus tried to get his concentration back and push away their voices.
"Let him work, even if she should escape here she would have no way of returning home." Methios leaned against the wall shrugging and for once being a voice of reason. No one could say anything to contradict that statement. They were back in Dynodes and she was as much a prisoner here as they were.
Now that peace and silence returned Zargreus could focus. The process of shutting down a persons' mind and body took an immense amount of energy, against someone very powerful it was near to impossible. But he was a master at this and it was obvious that Xanthippeia did not possess the mental fortitude to protect her mind yet as they all were taught at a young age.
His eyes and hands were glowing red as he unlocked her and the air around them started to get dense. Athenios watched with vexation as Xanthippeia's fingers started twitching. She was waking up and it made everyone in this room nervous. She inhaled a deep breath as her body seemed to jumpstart back to life. Zargreus was shocked back, his chair sliding a few feet away from her, it was like nothing he had experienced in years. The only explanation was that inside she had been trying to fight against the mental restraint and the cage unlocking her had sent an aftershock through both of them.
Xanthippeia was free and looking across the room at the men standing around, she was as angry as ever. She tried to summon some kind of blast of energy to shoot at them but all she got was a minor twitch in her fingertips and nothing more.
"W-What did…you do…to me?" she gasped out when she tried to sit up. They all looked at each other until as expected Athenios took the first steps towards her on the bed she was laying on.
"What do you remember?"
"Huh?"
"What do you remember before waking up?" his gaze was intense, his striking blue eyes were calculating as they were beautiful. He was tall and very muscular with very tanned skin, long ebony mid-back length hair and a few beauty marks on his stoic but flawless face.
"Why did you take me? Why did you do this to me? What do you want?"
"It is not about what we want, but what needs to be done, little mortal." He said as he took a seat next to her. She wanted to move away and mentally recoiled at that name he just called her. She remembered him saying that exact name right before the attack and she wanted more than anything to get away from this blue-eyed devil.
"Uh, brother perhaps we should feed and clothe her no? When Leo gets here she should be ready." Arcus said from the side somewhere.
Athenios ticked his jaw because his little brother was right. There would be no point in putting the girl through a dangerous energy-draining ritual if she could die anyway. She had to be in pristine health and well being if she would survive this.
"Very well, Methios take her down to the chamber." He instructed his brother and walked out of the room frustrated.
Xanthippeia looked up at the very tall, fair-skinned man coming towards and it made her shrink back in fear. This one was on the leaner side and had a grace about him that paired with his shoulder-length blonde hair and his odd cachemirine eyes made him look like a work of art.
And how were they all brothers?
"Forgive my brother Athenios' brashness, just because he's the eldest he seems to think he has to be intimidating and rigid. I will take care of you—"
"No don't touch me!" she shrieked but he just smirked and went right ahead and picked her up in his strong arms.
"You are not in any position to refuse." He said to her as he began to walk out of the room with her in tow. Xanthippeia was as uncomfortable as can be in this smirking strangers arms. The way he was looking at her was unnerving, it was like he was waiting for her to do something and could pounce at any second.
"Are you going to kill me?" she dared to ask.
"There is a possibility of your demise yes…but try not to dwell on it." He smiled a sinister smile at her and her eyes bulged out at the daunting words coming out of his mouth.
Who the hell smiles while saying such a horrible thing to someone? Who was this Leodocus guy they were waiting for? Why were they doing this? Why her?
All these questions buzzed in her head causing a dull ache to creep in but all of it seemed to come to an abrupt stop when she took in the environment they had just stepped through. A dark hallway that lead down to some dank dungeon looking cavern made solely of some kind of reflective stone.
"What is this?" her little voice trembled.
"This is either where you will live or die little mortal…" Methios said softly into her ear and listened to her heart skip a beat.