Chapter Eight

I wasn't completely abandoned.

Apollo sent Denarius down with my meals, but Denarius was only allowed to stay for five minutes before Apollo would come storming after him, shooing him out and wiping his memory of where I was located. His paranoia was reaching levels of insanity. The softer part of me knew that he was only doing this because he was scared. His slip-up on calling me Hyacinth was enough to prove that.

However, the god in me was furious. I was not going to be bound and trapped forever. I would find a way out, whether by free will or by that of Atlan's, I was going to get out of here.

For now, I was only allowed to pace the room as far as my chains would let me, and they wouldn't let me far. I was nowhere near the door, therefore jumping someone and forcing them to release me was out of the question.

When I asked Denarius about Arikos and Menoetius, he'd informed me that Menoetius had vanished for nearly six hours before returning and Arikos was furious and had called Hannibal to come help him talk Apollo out of keeping me caged, but I knew that there was no amount of talking to Apollo. Once his trigger was switched, nothing could snap him out of it. Apollo's fear was never a slight one, never a mild phobia, but a full on Salem Witch Trial hysteria.

Thankfully, I was allowed to speak again as Apollo came in to fuck me for an hour before the meeting in the grand hell.

"I should've never been gentle around him," I muttered angrily as I clenched my fist around a fork, taking a bite of pasta, "I should've fought him from the beginning." Denarius, who sat across from me with his own small cup of fruit, frowned.

"I don't think it would've mattered. Lord Apollo allowed himself to get too close to you and now he's paying for it." He said quietly, taking a bite of fruit. I sighed in frustration, glaring down at the fork in my hand, wishing I could use it to gouge out the sun god's eyes.

"How did the meeting go this morning at the temple? What does Zeus think about Apollo locking me up like some kind of caveman?" I asked dryly, stirring up my pasta, playing with the idea that it was Apollo's innards. Denarius seemed to pick up on my violent wavelengths and cleared his throat, snagging my attention to his handsome face.

"The meeting was tense. Zeus was pissed about Apollo locking you up, but he didn't tell him to let you out." He said quietly. I grimaced. Of course he wouldn't. If we were right about Zeus wanting to capture the Khalian, this was all the better for him in case I tried to escape or get kidnapped.

"And Arikos?" I asked. Denarius gave a half-laugh, like he was impressed and in disbelief.

"He's... pretty crazy right now. He really has no respect for a god, and it's kind of funny. He threatened to blow up Apollo's palace if he had to. I overheard him talking to Menoetius earlier. They're going to get Hannibal up here. They've also got backing from Ares and Athena. They're furious about the new arrangements. We'll see what we can do, Callias. You won't stay in here for long, I promise." He said gently, getting up to gather what was left of the meal. I nodded, finishing off my pasta with a bite. He gave me a nod and left the room, closing the door and locking it.

I sighed, slumping back against the wall and wiping a hand down my face in frustration.

It did seem like I wasn't going to be here for long, but the others highly underestimated Apollo's paranoia. They may be able to free me from this hole in the ground, but Apollo would probably chain me to his bed next, and then no one would be able to do much. No one cared if a slave was chained to his master's bed. The only reason people cared now was because I had information about Atlan they could use and because I was "bait".

I lowered myself onto my side, wrapping the thin knit blanket Denarius had brought me, around my body as I closed my eyes and tried to coax myself to sleep for the first time since Apollo threw me in here.

And unfortunately, it was once again that same terrifying nightmare where I was trapped in some dark cold, clammy tunnel and I could feel that shadow moving around me in the dark, could feel their icy cold breath on my face. But I was so angry at Apollo, so infuriated that I couldn't find it in me to be afraid of the shadow and when I felt them reaching for me, I snarled and sent a blast of power that lit the entire tunnel up, lighting a pair of torches on fire.

I froze as I realized where I was standing. The cold dark tunnel... it was the catacombs of Xandria. The walls embedded with a thousand skulls pressed together tightly, a thousand black empty eye sockets staring at me, a cold draft traveling through the air and prickling goose bumps onto my skin. I searched for my attacker, but saw no sign of him.

In the distance, I heard howling and wailing... souls. Whimpering and moans, something skittering past, probably a rat. I shuddered and moved down the hallway, breathing hard, causing small clouds to form in front of me as I walked.

"Hello?" I called. My voice echoed down the tunnel and I grimaced.

Since when did I resort to a cheap horror movie method? I shook my head and continued down the tunnel, trying to figure out where I was going, but honestly I had no clue. I had never made it a habit to visit the catacombs, even when I had lived on Atlantis. I had always been frightened of the dark and I wasn't sure why. There was just an eerie cold feeling about whatever was lurking within its cloak.of shadows.

You never knew when someone was walking with you, or coming at you.

I hated being caught off guard, and the darkness was the perfect place to do that. Even with the torches now lit, they only cast eerie dancing shadows across the skull decorated walls, making it even more dangerous. Now I sympathized with Apollo's paranoia as I listened to the distant screams, something dripping, a rat scuttling followed a short time after by more scuttles that faded into the distance.

I rounded a corner and froze as a strange blast of cold air hit me in the face.

There was a loud crash and I jumped, startled as someone flew out of one of the rooms. The person was misty, transparent... and as he stood up, I realized I was staring at Hannibal. My mouth opened, but no sound came out.

Except he didn't look like he did now. He looked injured, frantic, terrified out of his mind. He was pressed against the wall, and two more images of people appeared on either side of him... Vinion and Zelus. And a third person came out of the room after him.

Drak.

Was this a vision of the past?

I couldn't hear their voices, but their expressions were mocking and amused. They were getting a sick thrill out of cornering Hannibal, but he didn't back down. He attacked them and forced them back and ran down the hallway in my direction and right when I thought he was going to run me over, he vanished into a puff of smoke in front of me and I gasped, stepping back.

I looked around uneasily, but the images of my siblings and Hannibal had vanished. I turned back in the direction Hannibal had been running in and followed the hallway back to where it veered off into two separate hallways, the one I had been in and the other one across from it. Assuming Hannibal wouldn't go in the dead end hall I'd come from, I turned down the other one, then froze when another image of Hannibal flashed further down the hallway in front of me, there and gone in a second.

I cursed and picked up the pace to keep up with him.

I tried to call out to him, but he didn't hear me. I couldn't even hear myself anymore. Just the sound of my heart pounding in my ears, the sound of my breath whooshing through my lungs and past my lips. I swore I'd been running for hours when suddenly something came through a door on the right, snatched me in and threw me across the room.

Tired of being tossed around, I turned to snarl at my attacker, then went still, feeling the blood drain from my face.

"D-Dexius?" I choked. He was pressed against the wall near the door, waving his hand over it. He was standing beside another man, one I recognized as one of the desdios that had gone into the catacombs with us to rescue Zetnos from Atlan, the one who'd been killed by the griffin.

I took in the sight of Dexius, feeling tears choke me. His long golden blonde hair fell over one muscular shoulder, tiny braids near his temple falling over his face that was stern and smooth like a soldier's. His flashing blue eyes were locked on the door before looking up in my direction. I started to reach out to grab him, but suddenly everything went black and a scream of anguish tore my throat.

"No!" I shot up and nearly clocked Arikos with my head, if he hadn't of drawn his head back from mine abruptly with a yelp. I blinked rapidly, looking around as I panted for breath, trying to find Dexius in the tiny room, but he wasn't there.

Instead, I was in the room with Arikos, Menoetius, and Hannibal. I stared at Hannibal, pausing to realize how much space in the room he took up, especially standing beside Menoetius.

Hannibal was definitely the most intimidating person I'd ever met, but having seen him with Akin, I realized it was just the front he needed to protect himself. He was incredibly tall, bordering seven feet tall, with long black hair that he currently wore in a ponytail over his shoulder, his mismatched blue and white eyes watching me blankly. If anyone had an excellent poker face, it was Hannibal.

"Anexius, are you alright?" Arikos asked, looking at me in surprise. I blinked and realized the chains had been taken off and I looked at them, confused.

"Hephaestus came and took them off," Arikos answered my confused stare, "Come on, get up." He took my arm and helped me to my feet. I wobbled for a second, catching my balance on Arikos and the wall before I looked at Hannibal, who was looking at me curiously, probably wondering why I was staring at him so intensely.

If what I saw in my dream was an image of the past... then Hannibal saw Dexius.

Dexius was in Xandria.

"Hannibal," I stammered, making him cock his head, reminding me of a dog that had its name called, "In Xandria... Did you... Did you see Dexius?" Hannibal stiffened and that was all the answer I needed. My legs almost gave out again, but this time both he and Arikos righted me. Once I was sure my knees were locked, I pushed away from them and headed for the stairs.

"Anexius, wait," Hannibal's voice was so loud it startled me for a moment and I turned to stare at him as he glared at me, "You can't leave Olympus. This is exactly what Atlan wants. Once you're off Olympus, you won't be able to get the protection of the pantheon." I glared at him.

"The man I just destroyed that pantheon for is in Xandria, his soul is still in existence and I'll be damned if I let Atlan keep me from him any longer. Do whatever you need to do to stop him, but I'm going to Xandria and I'm going to see Dexius." I snapped angrily. Hannibal's eyes flashed and he opened his mouth to protest again, but I whipped around and went up the stairs, my heart pounding in my ears. It wasn't until I reached the top of the steps that let out into a small dusty room that I realized I had more obstacles in my way.

Waiting for me upstairs was Ares, Athena, Hephaestus, and Apollo, all in a semicircle near the door. Apollo looked surprisingly sheepish, his lips set in a grim frustrated line, arms folded over his chest, reminding me of a sulking child.

"Callias," Ares greeted, then paused when he saw me, and the others running up the stairs behind me, "Oh shit, damn it, Hannibal. I told you not to open your mouth. Of all the times to speak, you chose now to do it?" Hannibal, who appeared at my side so suddenly that I jumped, made a face at him.

"I didn't say anything." He responded dryly. I glared at Ares.

"You knew." I accused. It was difficult to tell his expression with those black sunglasses obscuring his eyes, but I could tell he felt guilty. There was an air around him that went heavy, and around Athena as well, making me stare at her as she swallowed.

"Callias, we couldn't let you leave- still can't let you leave. If you do, you lose the backing of the pantheon and we can no longer protect you from Atlan."

"I don't need protection," I shouted angrily, loud enough to make the door rattle and the walls shudder, making all the gods in the room tense, "How dare you make that assumption! I'm not here for protection; I'm here because I'm a slave! I'm here against my will, and my will wants me to go to Xandria to find the man I destroyed my entire pantheon for!" Athena winced and Ares sighed, rubbing his forehead, as if the situation was stressing him out.

Stressing him out? He had no idea what it was like to be forced under the thumb of a pathetic pantheon of self-centered gods, what it was like to save the world and get eternal enslavement as the reward. He had no idea what it was like to lose someone he loved because his own stupidity, his own carelessness.

"You can go," Apollo said suddenly, making me tense and stare at him in disbelief, but he was avoiding my eyes, glaring at the floor, "But you're taking bodyguards. I want the hybrids, the Titan, and myself to go." Athena gaped at him.

"Are you stupid? Absolutely not! Do you have any idea what Zeus will do to you if he finds out? He specifically demanded all the Khalian be rounded up, that includes Callias. The fact that Xenon's not here yet is also stunning." She added under her breath. I had no idea why that was stunning; Xenon on Olympus was a bad idea. Xenon, thanks to me, had a strong distaste for gods, particularly the Greeks. He probably knew he was needed on Olympus, but was trying to find ways to avoid it.

"This isn't up for discussion," Apollo snapped at Athena, who stiffened at his tone, "Keep Zeus out of this. If he asks where we are, come up with an excuse."

"Apollo, you can't be serious. You just locked him up to prevent him from roaming around Olympus to get killed. What do you think will happen to him in Xandria?"

"Nothing," I answered, making Athena frown, "Atlan isn't allowed in Xandria. The Source controls the entire network of catacombs, its power pulses through the walls."

"What if-"

"There are no what ifs," I said angrily, "I'm going, whether you approve or not." Athena made a noise of distress and looked at Ares, who shrugged, obviously of no help to her. She looked at Hephaestus, who studied me for the longest time before looking down at Athena.

"We should go," He said in a rough gravelly voice, "We saw nothing." Athena clenched her teeth, watching Hephaestus limp to the door and Ares vanished on the spot. She approached me, swallowing hard and tilting her head up to stare into my face.

"Anexius, please, be careful. It's not the fact that you're a Khalian or that you're ideal to this war that's got me frightened for you. I consider you a dear friend and I would be devastated if Atlan hurt you." She said in a quiet voice. I frowned. I had no idea she thought of me as anything more than a confidant. We spoke on occasion and when we did, Athena seemed to enjoy my company, making her one of my favorite gods because she was one of the few who didn't treat me like a slave or like I was helpless. Her concern warmed a distant part of me.

"I'll be okay." I promised her. She swallowed hard again, then gave me a nod and backed up, clearing her throat as heat crept into her cheeks at Apollo's tense stare.

"What the hell are you looking at? If you're going to Xandria, you need to move fast," She snapped, making Apollo scowl, and Athena turned back to the rest of us, "Zeus hasn't put down a full barrier on the mountain yet, but he's working on it. If you don't leave soon, you'll never be able to leave." Everyone nodded, watching as she vanished.

"Wait," Arikos said with a scowl, "If the barrier comes down, will we be able to get back in?" Apollo nodded.

"The barrier is meant to keep us contained, not to keep people out. Not yet anyway. Zeus is trying to lure Atlan in with what he has. And right now, there are gods still out there prowling for Khalian. And, sorry to say this, hybrid," He paused when both Hannibal and Arikos stared at him and he rolled his eyes, "The other one, the prophet. You won't be able to leave Olympus once you get here. Zeus will be planning to use you to lure Atlan in as well. A whole pot of gold to lure the guy in." Hannibal's face screwed up at that, and Arikos grimaced, then smacked Hannibal on the back, making him grunt.

"Sucks to be you! Good luck on that whole prophet thing, cuz." He said with a smile now. Hannibal shot him a glare, then looked over at Apollo.

"Zeus never brought that up to Lucifer and Hades."

"Zeus doesn't give a shit about either of them. You'll be as much a prisoner here as the rest of us."

"Oh joy." Hannibal said with enough sarcasm to drown everyone in the room. Apollo rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, grab your gear and we'll meet in my receiving room," He paused, then glared at me, "You. Come with me." The pull of the curse didn't allow me to refuse and I resisted the urge to seethe aloud as I followed him, and the others left the room and split off to plan.

I followed Apollo down the hallway, but he was extremely silent. Part of me still wanted to attack him for daring to lock me up, to make him pay for what he did, but I couldn't shake the feeling I got when Apollo had looked at me with eyes wild with fear as he called me Hyacinth. He was terrified. People were completely irrational when they were terrified. I should know- I'd been scared plenty of times in my life and made stupid moves because of it.

We entered Apollo's room and he shut the door behind me. I waited to hear the lock click shut, but it never came. Before I could turn around, Apollo was behind me, wrapping his arms around me tightly, pressing his face against my shoulder. I froze at the gesture, listening to his sharp breaths as he struggled to calm down.

"I don't want you to do this," He said, his voice so small and quiet that I almost wondered if this was even the same god who'd blown up and locked me up, "I don't want you to go there, and I don't want you to get hurt. If I could, I would keep you locked up forever, but I know I can't and I hate it. I hate that you just won't fucking sit still... I hate how much you're like Hyacinth." I hesitated, looking down at his arms around me, then sighed and rested my hands over his.

"Apollo," I said softly, pausing when he gave a sharp intake of breath before going silent, "If the situation were reversed, and you could go see Hyacinth, you would. I know you would... And as much as I hate to remind you, I am not Hyacinth." Apollo made a strangled noise of pain and squeezed me tighter. After a moment, I felt warmth spread across the back of my shoulder, his tears soaking my shirt.

"I'm sorry," I murmured, stroking his fingers, "I know how hard it is, believe me, I know... I've spent several thousand years believing I would never see... never see Dexius again. And now I finally have that chance and, Apollo, I have to go to him. I have to see him."

"He's still..." Apollo's voice trailed. I swallowed a lump in my throat.

Dexius was still dead. Even if I went to see him, I couldn't just run off with him somewhere. He was a spirit, a long dead spirit. Part of me desperately wanted to find Hades and beg him to revive Dexius as he did Menoetius, but it didn't work like that. Hades would never do a favor for someone he didn't know, and certainly not someone he loathed and he had plenty of reason to hate me after having owned me for nearly a century and taking every chance he had to remind me how annoying I had been... on purpose, because I was a bitter bastard and I knew it.

Not to mention, Dexius was an Atlantean soul. Hades couldn't touch him.

And the only Atlantean god of death was now dead, and Atlan wouldn't bring back Dexius.

No, he probably would, but only to kill him slowly again in front of me and that brought a sob to my throat, but I choked it down. Only one of us, Apollo or I, could cry at once. Not together. That was too intimate and I had already gotten close enough to the god as it was. Any closer and we would both suffer.

We stood there for a moment, Apollo weeping his heart out until his tears were dried and his sobs were only soft dry gasps. We finally broke apart and I turned to take Apollo's face in my hands, relieved that he finally let me look into his face that was tear-stained and red, his eyes puffy and glimmering like he could easily heave another century of tears on me.

"Thank you." I whispered. Apollo swallowed, but said nothing as I kissed him on the lips gently and pulled away. He just shyly looked down at the floor, brushing at his cheeks.

"Is my uniform still in the closet?" I asked. He nodded silently and I went to the small closet door in the corner by the wardrobe, opening the door to see my uniform in there. A uniform given to me by Zeus, but made by Hades. It was made of black hydra skin, stitched together tightly with red stitches and made to stretch from throat all the way down to ankles and wrists. A separate pair of leather gloves and combat boots were mine, a gift from Ares, enchanted to boost my speed and strength, which was already quite monstrous.

The thing about the hydra skin, however, was slightly outdated. During the battle against the Khalian in Hell, Hannibal had been skewered straight through, meaning Hades would have to find out why it broke the supposedly impervious skin suit. In the mean time, it was all the armies had now and it was better than nothing.

"At least it's still fireproof." Ares had told me with a look of relief. I had no idea what Hannibal had gone through to find that part out, but I don't think I wanted to know.

I took the uniform out and laid it on the bed, taking off my clothes and rinsing off real quick before throwing on a spandex turtleneck and matching pants before sliding the uniform on and allowing Apollo to zip me up before he went to fetch his own uniform of similar design, except for the giant sun symbol on the back and the gold stitching.

I left him alone to prepare, heading for the receiving room while yanking my hair up into a ponytail to keep it from my face. I entered the receiving room where Arikos, Hannibal, and Menoetius were already waiting, decked out in their own uniforms with their holsters jammed with weapons. I frowned, recognizing the odd little bladeless weapon I'd taken from Menoetius's holster before.

"That must be new." I said, looking at it.

"Hades made it about a month ago," Hannibal answered monotonously, "It's an electric sword... and it's annoying."

"You don't like it because you get shocked every time you touch it." Menoetius chided, folding his arms over his chest. Hannibal shot him a dirty look.

"It's stupid and I don't want to use it."

"So what're you gonna do? Wave an iron xiphos and hope you hit something?"

"At least iron doesn't shock you."

"Yeah, but it won't be any good against a pantheon that knows how to use swords. Why do you think Hades gave you the thing in the first place? Is it really so hard to just suck it up and use the weapons you're given? You've gotten really spoiled over the years."

"Fuck you."

"Alright," Arikos said aloud, making them both glare at him, "Calm down, seriously. You can do your super cute sibling fight after we get Anexius safely into Xandria. Until then, be quiet... Besides, both of your weapons are going to be useless." Menoetius scowled.

"And why is that?" He asked. Hannibal frowned.

"Xandria is the Atlantean underworld. The only god who lives down there is Zetnos, but he's been staying at the main temple with Lea lately, so he probably won't even be there... which means most of the souls are going to be wandering around and causing us some issues." He said, making Menoetius tense.

"So we're going to be fighting ghosts?" He asked to make sure. Hannibal gave him a deadpan stare.

"You were a ghost for over five thousand years. Don't tell me you're afraid of ghosts." He said. Menoetius's cheeks pinkened at that and he glared.

"I am not scared of ghosts, you prick. I'm scared of what they can do. Just because your ghosts were locked in the Source with the others doesn't mean they won't attack us. I don't know about you, but I like to see what I'm fighting and not all ghosts have a vapor form."

"A what?" Arikos asked with a scowl.

"A vapor form," I said, making him look at me, "Ghosts have different forms, and it depends on a whole variety of things. Personalities, deaths, power, mortal or non-mortal, things like that. Vapor form is the misty particles that form a sort of image, sometimes not whole, sometimes different colors. Vapor forms aren't solid, though, and you can pass through them."

"Wait, so do some ghosts have solid forms?" Arikos asked uneasily.

"Yeah," Menoetius answered grimly, "Poltergeists."

"Like the movie," Arikos said, and when we gave him curious stares, he blushed, "What? I finally got my ass out of Atlantis and I wanted to see some good movies. I heard Poltergeist was a classic... But something tells me it's not gonna some weird demonic looking thing that pulls small children into televisions."

"No," Menoetius said dryly, raising an eyebrow before shaking his head, "Poltergeists are ghosts that can take on a solid form. They're stronger than vapor forms and they're also nastier. Poltergeists are generally very angry souls, very malevolent."

"Poltergeists are the things that make mortals wet themselves and make demon movies," I offered, making Arikos stiffen, "They can manifest their powers much better, usually because of age and how powerful they were when they were alive. But to be honest, I don't think you'll have to worry too much. Last time we went down there, we didn't run into anything like that."

"Last time the souls hadn't come back from the Source," Hannibal said grimly, making me frown, realizing he was right, "The Source was still releasing everything back into its appropriate place. Now everything is back. Animals, spirits, everything. It's like Atlantis never left."

"Well, this is comforting." Arikos said shuddering. Hannibal frowned.

"You were a ghost for almost two weeks. What's got you shaking?"

"I don't remember what it was like being a ghost," Arikos said dryly, "All I remember is how cold it was. Not to mention, I couldn't get into Xandria because no one led my soul there. Ghosts can't find Xandria unless they're led there." Hannibal looked uncomfortable at that and averted his eyes, then hissed when Arikos smacked him on the back.

Apparently the little hybrid had a lot more strength, enough to make even Hannibal break character to wince.

"Oh, don't beat yourself up over it, Hanni. I'm back now. You can't get rid of me that easily. I'm like a cockroach." He added with a smile. Hannibal grimaced at him.

"More like an STD, and don't call me that."

"Aw, come on. Akin can't get all the good nicknames. What about that weird word I hear Lea using a lot? What is it... Bee? No, no. It sounds like that, though. How about Hanni-bee?"

"Please stop."

"Or Hanna-banana, because-"

"Arikos." Hannibal stated, voice strained. He looked like he was caught between wanting to hide under the nearest piece of furniture and wanting to smack Arikos's face into a wall. I felt a smile creep onto my face, oddly relieved by their relationship. Hannibal had always been so stand offish and cold. He was very protective of his reactions and his emotions, not wanting to get hurt and not wanting to hurt anyone else. It was nice to see him warming up to Arikos well.

As for Menoetius... I was still unsure. Their argument had seemed maybe borderline playful, but I could tell by the way they stood further apart than Arikos and Hannibal did that their relationship was strained. I didn't know everything about Hannibal, but something told me that his relationship with his brother was a lot worse than I thought it was.

"When you guys are done flirting, can we go?" Apollo asked, coming into the receiving room, decked out in his uniform. Hannibal's expression hardened and Arikos blushed. Menoetius just rolled his eyes.

"We're ready." I said. Apollo met my eyes.

"I hope so."