"So, what do you think?" Circe whispers travelled through Dylan's ears and broke down any resistance he was trying to build. She was once again very close to him, but unlike the other times, Dylan didn't distance himself.
He himself was aware that Circe was working some type of magic on him, but he had no way to resist.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Dylan admitted.
"You can't tell me that," Circe moved even closer to him, her lips now even touching the tip of his ear. "How do you feel?"
"I feel hot." Dylan once again answered truthfully. He felt like there was no use trying to lie. "Just stop it. I know you're working some sort of magic on me. Whatever it is you are doing to make me feel this way, I don't like it."
"Tsk."
Circe chuckled once again as she pushed herself even closer and placed her hand on his lap. "Why would you think so?" she tapped his lap a couple of times. "Perhaps, you're the one with the hypersensitive hormone."
"That's not possible!"
"Why do you say so?" Circe was really curious.
"I'm only fourteen…"
Circe waited for Dylan to say more but when he didn't, she let out a sigh.
"Just say yes, Dylan. No need to act so stubborn." Circe persuaded "it's not like there's anything to lose here."
"I'm wondering…"
"???"
"I'm thinking, why do you want me so badly? Dylan looked into Circe's eyes. "I'm just a mortal and you're supposed to be an almighty goddess. Will I even be of any use to you?"
"I think you are getting things wrong here." Circe refuted. "I;m only interested in helping you unlock your full potential. You might only be a mortal but are you aware of the tremendous power contained in this fragile body of yours?"
"...a fifth."
"What now?"
"You are the fifth person telling this to me." Dylan slowly said. "First, it was mother – Mrs. Marie, then Pa. James. Third, it was the Mistress and after her, Old Man Jin. Now you?" Dylan once again looked turned to look at Circe's face, this time the bridge of their noses slightly making contact. "Can you shed more light on this please?"
This time it was Circe that moved some inches back. "I can but first, you have to admit that you need my help…" Circe said but seeing as Dylan was unresponsive, she only sighed and continued. "Dylan, do you know who your father is?"
Dylan only shook his head. "According to mother, he was a useless drunkard, a worthless father. According to Pa. James, he was a king. The king of a very powerful kingdom far away. According to the Mistress, he is an asshole. And Old Man Jin? He didn't really know anything about my father. Tell me Mrs. Circe, what do you have to say about him?"
Circe let out a short but deep breath. She didn't really like the way things were going, but still she answered anyway.
"Everything you said about him is right. But there is more." Circe said. "Your father, Dylan is a very powerful god. One of the most powerful to ever exist and you being his son has made you one of the most powerful demigod alive."
There was still more, and Dylan knew it but he couldn't bring himself to ask.
"The main fact is that Dylan; you are a very powerful existence. You have so much power in you that need unlocking and you have to be with the right person to help you unlock it." Circe persuaded even more. "Why do you think your father has not claimed?"
All of Dylan's attention was now on Circe's lips. There were few things that could make him feel this way, this agitated; and matters concerning his father were definitely at the top of his list.
"All you need is the right guidance and you'll see, your father would be very proud of you." Circe said, her eyes not for once leaving Dylan's eyeballs.
When Dylan made eye contact with her, her eyes looked like an endless void. An empty space, yet it looked like it was reflecting everything about him.
"B…but Pa. James said the same thing." Dylan fist tensed as he remembered his hands covered in blood that day. "But he never showed up. He didn't come for me."
"That's because you haven't done the right thing."
"Show me. Tell me what I need to do to make my father proud of me!"
"Good." Circe smiled sheepishly. "Now place your hands on mine and I would show you who you really need to be."
Dylan did as he was told. Circe's palms were soft and warm, like he jumped into the embrace of a cotton cushion but then it began to get even hotter.
"Close your eyes."
Dylan shut them. For some time, all he could see was darkness but soon it changed … into a darker darkness. But even still, Dylan could see everything like it was day.
He saw people – No corpses everywhere. Mangled bodies, missing limbs, blood everywhere. All he could see was destruction.
And right in the middle of everything was someone. Dressed in completely dark robe with high collar, silver chain around his neck and a glistering emerald ring around his fingers.
Dylan didn't have to stare long before he recognized this person. Why wouldn't he recognize himself? However he seemed to recognize one of the corpses; completely mangled. But at first glance, Dylan knew who It was.
It was someone he held so highly in his heart. Although, he had barely spent a couple of months with this person, it felt like the two of them had always been together – Alexander Cruise.
Dylan broke out of his trance and took his hands away from Circe's hands. But surprisingly, Circe was right behind him.
"You have been running away from your reality, Dylan Bruce!"
"What was the meaning of that?" Dylan was drenched in cold sweat. He didn't even care that Circe was at his back. "I saw, I saw…"
"That is your true self, Dylan. The true Dylan Bruce! The true entity your father expects you to be!" Circe's words seemed to echo as if they were in a closed space. "Now until you embrace who you really are Dylan, your father would continue to see you as a bastard,"
It was only a whisper, but Circe's words travelled through the expanse space of Dylan's mind and he fell into a deep thought, or trance.
He remembered what Zrey, the soothsayer said when he read his future.
"Sacrifice, darkness and death. That's what I saw. Where ever you go, there will be destruction. With your presence comes Death."
It was the same thing the Mistress always ringed into his ears. And now Circe was telling him the same thing. Was he …
"You will not only make your father proud of you, but you will also gain enough power to pay the Mistress back for all the things she did to you." Circe's soft whispers brought him back to reality. "But first…"
Circe turned to a directing and as if on cue, Alex burst out of it, behind him. Soon after, three creatures followed.
Harry, Kate and the last one, an enormous black dragon.
Alex paused in his tracks and looked at Dylan. "Run! It's a trap."
But contrary to what Alex expected, Dylan remained motionless. And Alex could also notice a black hint in Dylan's already dark eyeballs. It looked like a pit of darkness that could sink Alex in if stared at them for too long.
Circe slowly made her way to Dylan and stopped her lips inches from his ear.
"This is the first step you have to take." She chuckled and pointed at Alex.
"Kill him!"
* * * TO BE CONTINUED* * *