"Xerxes!" a familiar voice calls out as Harry, Trina and Indigo meet up with me pulling me into a huge embrace. It was great to be with them again. I had missed them so much.
When they released me from the cage hug they started barraging me with questions not giving me enough time to answer them.
"Are you okay?" Indigo asked with concern in her eyes.
"I'm..."
"Hope you don't have any broken bones or anything," Trina touched my ribs as I shuddered away from her.
"No..."
"Any low..."
"Guys!" I erupted interrupting Harry. "I'm fine."
"Oh thank the gods. We really thought you were gone for real," Indigo hugged me again, tighter this time.
"I'm back. Sorry I didn't bring you anything, it got destroyed during the battle..."
"Are you kidding me? We're happy to have you alive with us. Besides I'm pretty sure that psycho lady must have attacked you before attacking us."
"What do you mean she attacked you?" I asked folding my arms.
"Well we saw a dragon coming towards us and Oceania hit the lady with lightning," Harry chipped in. "We fought with her in a valley before we lost and you came in to save us with your glowy eyes and glowy skin and..."
Indigo released me from her embrace putting a finger on Harry's lips, "That's enough Harry. Zip it."
Putting a hand on my temple I sighed heavily, "That was me and Kenzie on that dragon. You guys blasted me. I had to push her off the dragon to avoid getting her injured."
"Oh, sorry about that we didn't mean..."
"It's fine Trina. Where's Olly?"
The trio pointed to a forest with Harry giving directions, "Keep going till you meet the river. He's there, brooding as usual."
I smiled, hugging them individually before jogging towards the river.
"Stop running, you might injure yourself," Indigo started in concern as I gave her a thumbs up sign.
I had forgotten to ask about Petra. Promised myself to do so after I was done with Olly. He needed to explain his actions on the ship.
***
Walking into a damaged clearing, I found him sitting on the ground, propped up before a rock with his swords pierced into the ground. His eyes closed as his hands were latched behind his head supporting it in an exotic way, he looked vulnerable in that position and I could kill him within a blink of an eye if I wanted to.
I was getting the hang of my powers the more I used it. When I first got it, I thought I would have problems dealing with control and mastery of them but it turned out that all I needed was to use them in battle. It was like the more I fought, the more I got experienced in the art of battle.
From the dark forest to the snowy white mountains, down to my fight against Oceania, the vampire, the sentry and marked Kenzie I had grown so much stronger than I was at the beginning.
He opened his eyes, staring at me with fear and disbelief. He was scared, that I understood, after all he did try to kill the dark god's son. That could have him dead within seconds.
"I'm not here to kill you or anything. I just want to talk," I noted, my palms showing in submission.
He nodded before pointing to a broken rock before him.
"This is a nice place or it used to be," I remarked taking in the sight of the fallen trees and dried up river bed. The damage in the clearing was still fresh with smoke rising from the burnt trees around. Had my attacks gone this far or had there been another battle different from the one I had faced?
"Hey I'm sorry for what I d..."
"I just wanna know why you did it Olly," I snapped unexpectedly making him recoil in his position, but I wasn't done. "Just tell me why. I know we've been in unfavorable situations and you hate me for Queens death and all but..."
"I don't hate you for her death..."
"Then why do what you did on the ship Olly. You of all people know that I would never do what you did to me."
"But you survived," he smiled nervously irritating me at that moment.
I looked away from him staring far into the hole made in a mountain, "What if I had not survived, did you think about that?"
He opened his mouth to say something but decided against it. Something was wrong, I could sense it.
"Is there anything you'd want to say to me?" I asked in concern.
He stared at me for a moment and proceeded to talk until his eyeballs shifted to something else behind me. Turning to look at what he was stuck on, I didn't see anything but more fallen trees in the distance.
"I need to go," he hastily said picking up his swords ready to leave.
"Olly Sit."
He picked up a bag from the ground, "I'm sorry but..."
"Sit down, we're not done yet."
"I can't stay Xerxes, I need to..."
"SIT DOWN!" I growled letting Callipso take control for a bit, my eyes and body glowing with the wind around us getting harsher with each step I took.
"Please don't hurt me, I didn't mean for any of it to happen..."
"ALL I WANT TO KNOW IS WHY YOU WOULD DO SUCH A THING," I levitated into the air while the human fell onto his knees with his hands on his face pleading.
"Xerxes stop!" Petra who had come into the clearing with the rest of the team screamed out.
The Xaj was alive and well. Her pale skin was no longer visible as the healthy color of her dark skin had returned.
"Just breathe Xerxes, don't do anything you'd regret later."
She was beginning to get on my nerves, "AND WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I WOULD REGRET IT."
She smiled stretching her arms out, "Because I know you Xerxes and you are not a villain. You are here because you care and you want to be better and change things. You wouldn't want to throw that all away now would you?"
I tried to control myself after hearing her but I couldn't. I was angry at Olly and I wanted so badly to end his life. I wanted him to pay for trying to kill me
"I KNOW HOW YOU FEEL, BUT SHE'S RIGHT," Callipso sighed. "DON'T THROW IT ALL AWAY FOR A MOMENT OF ANGER. YOU'D BE JUST LIKE THE GODS IF YOU USED MY POWER IN THAT WAY. ALL THEY DID WAS USE ME FOR DESTRUCTION AND PAIN. BUT YOU'RE DIFFERENT. DON'T FOLLOW THE WRONG PATH."
"I can't control my emotions," I said to him. "Something is wrong."
"BREATHE, YOU'LL BE FINE. I PUSHED YOUR BODY TO THE EXTREME DURING THE BATTLE WITH KENZIE SO YOU'RE GOING THROUGH AN INTENSE EMOTIONAL PHASE. YOU'LL BE FINE IN A DAY OR TWO."
"Xerxes?" Trina called to me, her voice mixed with a tinge of fear.
Looking at the five of them below, the expression on their faces were that of shock mixed with horror. My eyes traced a lightning bolt from my hand to Olly's body, I had created a giant hand with it, crushing the human with the element. He spurted out blood as I came to, releasing my grip around his body.
"Thank you," Petra said with a smile, rushing to the Vladian to heal him.
I levitated to the ground, dropping in an ominous manner. Clenching my fists, I took in deep breaths to keep myself from attacking the human.
The world around me seemed to move in a circular motion as I started to feel drowsy. My feet wobbling before giving way.
"Xerxes!" Harry exclaimed with Trina who rushed to help me up.
Everything played out in slow motion - the way they ran, the birds taking to the skies in chaos - everything. I could no longer handle the stress of the bright light so I closed my eyes with the hairs on my skin standing on edge. I wanted it all to end. The pain I had felt when Kenzie tried to rip away my soul returned. I wanted to feel free again, free from the pain, free from the trauma.
"YOU DID A GOOD JOB HOLDING BACK," his voice echoed close to me.
Opening my eyes, I found him sitting on his throne a few feet from where I stood.
"Tell me the rest of your story and how Kenzie is connected," I glared at him unfazed.
"YOU COULD COME BACK LATER..."
"Tell me what I need to know Callipso," my voice shook with emotion. "No half truths this time. I need to know everything."
We had a staring match for what seemed like eternity before he created a dust wind which he bellowed in my face. It blinded my line of sight, but the image started to clear up as I found myself back in the field where the gods had created Callipso.
"Why are we back here?" I demanded angrily.
"WE DIDN'T FINISH THIS STORY. YOUR ANSWERS WOULD BE REVEALED IN DUE TIME."
The six gods stood their ground staring at a glowing Callipso in their midst. This time he wasn't violent but seemed to want to hear what they had to say.
"SO YOU WANT ME TO FIGHT AGAINST THE ELDER GODS?" Callipso observed.
"Yes," Uranus answered blandly.
Callipso bawled out in laughter, "ARE YOU BEING SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?"
The gods stared at each other in confusion before Zemeta walked up to him, "Our fathers and mothers created the entire world because they had the power to do so. Now they want to destroy everything with the humans they created because they want to start afresh wiping out millions of humans on the planet."
"SO LET THEM DO IT," Callipso heaved in exhaustion. "THEY CREATED THE HUMANS, THEY HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO TAKE BACK WHAT THEY MADE."
Mephistopheles pointed at the creature, "And yet you fight with us when we try to take away your life. How hypocritical can you be?"
"HMMM, GOOD POINT," he answered. "FINE, WHAT'S THE BATTLE PLAN AND HOW DO WE GO ABOUT IT?"
Mephistopheles created a portal which took them to a dragon temple filled with creatures from all over the world.
"The plan is to win with numbers," Uranus smiled evilly.
"THAT IS A VERY STUPID PLAN," Callipso laughed. "HOW DO YOU WIN AGAINST GODS WHO CREATED EVERYTHING? THEY HAVE ARMIES TOO."
"No they don't," Gagontae noted. "The seven old gods want to destroy the entire world and recreate it in another form. We are all nothing but experiments to them. When we found out about their plan, we joined forces with every formidable creature along the earth. From we the new gods to the giant leaders of Volak moving on to the first Alpha vampires Luke, Exodus, Reya, Umbra and Ramul to the green dragon leader of the dragons Golem, down to the demigods Gorge and Friel. We all have one goal and that is to stop the destruction of life itself."
"IF YOU HAVE IT ALL FIGURED OUT, WHY DO YOU NEED ME?"
"The seven elder gods created a being of pure destruction, Zenok. We tried to destroy it but we stood no chance against it. When we found out how it was created we did the same to you, bringing you to life," Uranus narrated.
"YOU STILL HAVEN'T ANSWERED MY QUESTION."
"What my siblings are trying to say is that while each one of us takes on the gods in battle, you will take on Zenok. That way with our numbers and sheer powers and strengths we would overwhelm them, destroying their chances at taking victory," Mephistopheles explained in a clearer way.
"WHEN DO WE FIGHT?" Callipso smiled stretching his arms with the armies around him cheering loudly.