Chapter Eight

I returned to my house, relieved to find Dorean still there waiting for me. I relayed everything that had happened to him and I had watched his eyes get big before he chewed his bottom lip uncertainly.

"There's going to be war either way, isn't there?" He asked. I grimaced, raking a hand through my hair before draping my arm across the back of our sofa.

"I don't think we can avoid it at this rate, Dorean. If we try to keep talking peace, Xanius and Atlan will try and launch war anyway and the Greeks will suffer a severe blow if they're not prepared. I'm going to have to head back to Hades and tell him the news. Although, I'm hesitant to alert Zeus. I might actually have to see Callias again and have him tell the gods on Olympus." I explained grimly. Dorean winced, then sat down on the sofa beside me and took my hand in his.

"I'm sorry this family reunion didn't turn out the way you had hoped." He told me softly. I squeezed his hand, looking at him.

"It's all right... I should've expected it given the way things were left when they were imprisoned." I muttered. Dorean leaned in to rest his head on my shoulder and we sat in silence for a while. I drew a small comfort from Dorean's very soft purring and his tail slowly flipping back and forth, much like a cat's would. I swallowed at the lump of grief in my throat.

The desdios should have never awakened the Atlanteans. They had no idea what they had unleashed. The Atlanteans would kill them off if they got in the way or disobeyed. It was probably why the desdios who attacked me had been so desperate to kill me, and when he failed, had killed himself. Had he gone back to his mistress empty-handed, she would have tortured him for it.

Part of me wanted to seek out that cult that had brought the Atlanteans back, but right now, they weren't my main concern. My main concern was warning the Greeks about the war... and figuring out what that secret weapon was that the Atlanteans spoke of.

It couldn't be a nuke. They had no idea what those were or how to even make them. I gave Atlan knowledge of this world, but not anything too in depth, like science. And even then, my knowledge of the sciences weren't genius. No, the only scientist I could think of right off the bat was Hades, and he was Greek. Atlan would sooner cut his own balls off than ask him for help.

It must be something worse. And considering my father created my siblings and I from his own blood, and he himself had leapt from the Source, it was probably something science could never explain, something that was catastrophic.

Maybe it was that weapon that was causing the rift in the balance.

The rift that meant something deadly was rapidly approaching and could cause the deaths of thousands if not millions of people. It made my stomach churn.

"What are you going to do first?" Dorean asked me softly after a while. I leaned closer to him, seeking comfort in his presence as his question got me thinking.

"Right now, I have to play it safe. I won't hint around to my family what I know or what I could do. During the meeting, they mentioned something about a secret weapon. If I play my cards right, maybe I can convince Atlan to show me this secret weapon of his. If I can at least find out what it is and how it works, I can contact Hades and give him information. He might be able to create a counter weapon to use. In the mean time, I need to let the Greeks know to watch their backs. Even though Atlan hasn't officially stated anything, from here on out, the Atlanteans are at war with the Greeks." I explained. Dorean sighed and gave my jacket a tug, straightening it out and flattening the lapels before he looked up at me.

"I'll go let Adrian know. Is that okay? I want him to be ready." He murmured. I nodded, brushing the hair back from his face.

"Please. We may not get along, but I rather not have anything happen to him. Make sure Malachi gets the message too, and the rest of the sons of Hades. Just be careful when you visit Cain. I don't need to snap his neck because he was being a little bitch again." I muttered. Dorean smiled.

"I'm not scared of him," He assured me, making me arch a brow, "He just likes yelling a lot."

"Yeah, let's hope that's all he does. Please be careful," I said, taking his hand and sending power through our touch, making him shiver, "I'm giving you a bit more than usual in case you run into anything. If someone attacks you, come straight here. I'll keep the barrier up and only allow entrance to the both of us." Dorean nodded, then leaned forward and kiss me on the nose.

"You be careful too, kitty," He said, then rested his hand on the cut on my shoulder, making me grit my teeth as he used some of the power I gave him to heal the wound before he smiled, "Cuz if you come back bleeding again, I might have to punish you." I smirked at that. He gave me an impish grin before vanishing to alert Adrian and the sons of Hades.

In the mean time, I had to figure out what that weapon was and I knew one person who'd be happily willing to tell me what it was.

I teleported from my home over to my aunt Lea's bungalow. By now, the rain had stopped, but the sand was still wet and hard-packed. Rain had filled the drainage around the bungalow and drizzled down into a small trench it'd made in the sand. I could smell spicy foods flowing from inside the house, indicating my aunt was home.

I took a deep breath and came inside, moving toward the steps that led up to her loft. She was working over a hot stove, frying fish with lemon, spices, and sliced fruits. Her long hair was coiled up into a loose sloppy bun, and she wore an Aztec patterned dress with a brown belt around the waist.

"Xenon," She said without having to look up as she turned down the heat, "I didn't know you were gonna stop by." She turned to smile at me until she saw my expression and her smile wilted.

"What's wrong, baby?" She asked, concerned. I swallowed.

"Aunt Lea, I trust you with everything I have. If there was anyone I could talk to, it would be you." I told her right off the bat. Her eyes widened slightly and she shut the stove off completely, coming over to stand in front of me, taking my face in her hands as she studied my eyes.

"Xenon, what's wrong? You're scaring me." She added sternly. I clenched my teeth, reaching up to place my hands over hers.

"Aunt Lea, Atlan is going to start a war with the Greeks. But there's something else going on, I know there is. I just came from Atlan's temple. I was almost killed on the way over by one of Xanius's desdios. I wanted to let him know that she was acting rogue again, but when I got there... Aunt Lea, I think Atlan's being manipulated to do something dangerous." I confessed. Lea's eyes flashed menacingly.

"If that bitch lays one hand on you, Xenon, I swear to god. Tell me everything right now." She commanded. I nodded and spilled what little I knew. When I mentioned the secret weapon, her eyes darkened and I grimaced.

"Please tell me you know what they're talking about." I said. Lea stepped back, her expression guarded as she folded her arms over her chest.

"I know there's a secret weapon, but Atlan never told me what it was," She said through clenched teeth, "At that time, I was dealing with something... personal. It was after that battle against Iapetus and his soldiers." My stomach shrank at that. During one of the battles, Hannibal had been fighting Lea without knowing it until her helmet had come off. Lea had spiraled into a dark depression during that time. She even attacked Atlan over it, who had no idea what was going on. Suffice it to say, Lea had stepped out of battle for a few days, only to return with a bloodthirsty vengeance. She plotted to kill Iapetus and take her son back, but she'd been imprisoned before she could even put her plan into action.

"So you don't know what it is?" I asked, depressed by the news. Lea frowned.

"Not yet," She said, then paused to put a fist on her hip, rubbing at her chin thoughtfully, "But I can find out. I was given access to where the weapon is being held, in case I needed it. Atlan didn't trust me going after Iapetus on my own again and he wanted to make sure I had insurance. Which leads me to believe that only an Atlantean can control this weapon, whatever it is." I nodded.

"Perfect, just don't let on that you know something." I said. Lea smirked, but it was an angry smirk.

"Oh, trust me, child, hiding things from my brother is one of my talents. I hid my baby from him for four years before he figured him out." She said, her voice laced with ice. I hesitated at that.

"Aunt Lea, I know you don't want to talk about it, but I've been curious about this for centuries... How did your child end up with the Greeks?" I asked. Lea's expression clouded and her eyes misted. She looked away uncomfortably, reaching up to tuck a lock of loose hair behind her ear.

"I don't want you to think Atlan is evil," She said, but even though she said it, her voice was cold, "He just thought he was doing what was right, even though it obviously wasn't... He took my child in the dead of night and told me the child must have been kidnapped by Greeks, but shortly after, I found out the truth." I stared at her.

"So you never wanted to give up your child." I said. Lea's eyes flashed angrily.

"No," She exclaimed forcefully, choking back tears, "I loved my son. I did everything I could for him without trying to alert Atlan to his presence, but he must have found out somehow, one of my desdios must have given him a toy on the altar and Atlan saw it. Xenon, I don't care how the child was conceived or who the damned sperm donor was. He was my son. You have no idea the kind of grief I still go through every morning when I wake up and remember that he's gone."

"But he's not dead." I offered helpfully. Lea stared at me.

"No," She said slowly, "But I'm scared of what might have become of him." I wanted to tell her. It was burning on the tip of my tongue to tell her that her son was safe and sound and happy, at least now. But to tell her that would be a partial lie. Hannibal had suffered the worst terrors in his past. I couldn't even read his mind to figure out what he was thinking because it was just too dark and cold in there. There was a deep suicidal misery that followed him, even today. Akin was his salvation and he savored Akin's presence, his very name alone made Hannibal relax.

His was a complicated existence full of darkness. If Lea found out what happened to her son, she would not only turn on Atlan with a vengeance, but she'd probably make her way to Tartarus to make Iapetus pay.

Not that he already wasn't. After Hannibal had severely crippled him, Iapetus had been tossed into Tartarus and put under a sleeping spell where he was routinely tormented by nightmare gods. Should he manage to awaken, he would be beaten severely by armored guards.

"I hope we can find him some day." I said at last. Lea smiled sadly.

"Me too, Xenon," She replied, taking my hand to give it a squeeze before she met my eyes, "For now, do what you can. Make sure the Greeks are prepared, and try to sway your siblings to side with you, Xenon. I'll do my part and figure out what this so-called secret weapon is and get to you as soon as possible. And be safe, Xenon. You are like a second son to me and I refuse to let Atlan or Xanius's selfishness cause you harm." I nodded and leaned in, hugging her to me tightly before I stepped back and teleported from her home to the Greek underworld of Hades.

I appeared outside the stone bridge that led to Hades's palace. I walked right past the guards, who just stood as still as statues.

I headed to the throne room and, no sooner did I enter, did Hades appear in the room, looking less than pleased to see me.

"Could've sworn I got rid of you earlier." He muttered, rubbing the back of his head. I frowned, taking in his lazy appearance. It looked like he'd just dragged himself out of bed with rumpled clothing and his hair sticking up in some places. I scowled at that, and a second later, Lucifer appeared beside him. One look at Lucifer's equally disheveled state told me exactly what these two had been doing and I grimaced.

Mind soap, I noted. I'd have to buy mind soap.

"What're you doing? I told you to stay in the room." Hades snapped. Lucifer ignored him and looked at me.

"What's wrong, Xenon? Something feels out of place." He added. I frowned.

"Yes. I came to tell Hades to watch his back. The Atlanteans are preparing to battle." I announced. Lucifer paled and Hades cursed under his breath, raking a hand through his hair and casting me a glare.

"And what are you? The messenger? Shouldn't I kill you to make an example to them?" He asked mockingly, taking a step toward me. Lucifer took his hand and gave him a tug coupled with a stern glare that made Hades wrinkle his nose in a boyish pout. I gave Hades an irritated stare.

"Without me, you guys are fucked, so I'd be nice if I were you," I warned him, making him scowl, "The Atlanteans have a weapon, I mentioned that before. I got my aunt Lea after it to see what it is so I can relay that information back to you so you can come up with a counter weapon." Hades's eyes literally glowed for a second.

"Oh?" He asked. Lucifer grimaced.

"Why did you do that? Now he's going to spend decades locked in that lab of his." He said to me.

"No offense, but your butt play is less important than the fate of two pantheons," I told him, making him shrug and I shook my head at him before looking at Hades, "We don't know what the weapon is just yet. Once Lea figures it out, she'll come back to me and I can let you know. You need to come up with something that can destroy whatever it is, not destroy everything around it-- just the weapon." Hades appeared disgruntled at the specification, then shrugged.

"Guess I can't win it all, can I? Then hurry it up. I've needed something to tinker with." He said with an indignant sniff. Lucifer gave him a look of false pain.

"Am I not enough to tinker with?"

"You know all my tricks. It's no fun."

"Oh, trust me, you'll be singing a different tune shortly." Lucifer assured. Hades glared at him and I cleared my throat awkwardly.

"And on that note, I'm gonna go check on my imp." I declared, earning an innocent stare from both of them. I vanished from Hades's throne room and teleported back home, but Dorean hadn't come home yet. Part of me wanted to go out and find him to make sure he was all right, but I'd only done that a handful of times before and Dorean had been angry with me. He was confident in his ability to protect himself, so my always checking on him was bruising his ego.

So despite the niggling feeling that I should go out, I forced myself to stay home. Or at least, in the Atlantean realm because I couldn't stand being locked up at home alone without anything to do, not that that was necessarily true.

I had a lot to do.

Just when I was preparing to once again visit my Aunt Lea, a cold chill crept up my spine, signalling another summon. I sighed in frustration, brushing my hair back before I summoned a pair of black wraparound shades. I teleported from my home to the source of the summoning.

A moment later, I found myself in a beautifully designed office of some kind. Everything was decorated in dark shades, a large empire fireplace taking up one wall with numerous black leather sofas that matched the armchairs placed before a large black cherry wood desk. And sitting on that desk, right out in the open, was the cube key that had released my pantheon from its prison.

My eyes widened and I took a step toward it, only to find that I couldn't move. I cursed, looking around in bewilderment before jerking my head up to stare at the ceiling where an odd marking had been carved into the wood. A large circle... with a phoenix in the center of it and Atlantean spells written along the inside of the circle.

"A protection spell," A man's voice said, making me turn around, "It can also be used to hold an Atlantean god in place, not that you could go anywhere anyway without hearing my bargain out... Xenon." The man, or rather demon, that stood before me was Desiderius, the desdios in charge of the Atlantean cult that had revived my pantheon.

Desiderius was as handsome as he had been during his servitude to my father. His dark hair swept back from his face so it curled becomingly around his face, a face partially covered in a few days growth of beard. He wore an expensive silk suit, his hands in the pockets of his pants.

I curled my lip at him.

"You released my pantheon." I accused. Desiderius's eyes sharpened.

"I did, my lord," He replied sternly, "I had searched for centuries of the key that could supposedly free my pantheon. I gave up my entire life to bring them back to you. You should be grateful to me. I even gave up the one person I loved most in this world." I glared at him.

"Nobody asked you to do that," I sneered, "They were imprisoned for a reason. Now that they're loose, they're going to start a war with the Greeks."

"That was never my intention," Desiderius snapped, making me narrow my eyes as he came to walk around me to his desk so he could pick up the cube and stare at it with hatred, "My intention was to restore our once great pantheon, to find our place in the world once again, to give myself and the remaining desdios their purpose in life again. After the pantheon vanished, we were forced to live in Greece, with Greeks. We'd been reduced from the revered servants of the gods to mere Greek slaves. You have no idea what kind of existence that is."

"I kind of do," I said dryly, gesturing to the space around me, "I'm cursed to bargain with whomever summons me by my coin. Although, I find it odd that you would summon me now after all these years. Surely you would have kept one of our pantheon's sacred coins on you." Desiderius cleared his throat, placing the cube back on the desk. I noticed he paused to brush his finger over a picture frame of a professional modeling photo of a feminine looking man. And the flash of tenderness in Desiderius's gaze told me this was the person Desiderius had sacrificed in order to bring my pantheon back.

The pain on his face was tangible. I ground my teeth together, watching him step away and turn to glare at me.

"If I had summoned you, I wouldn't be able to handle it," He said, making me frown as I saw his expression soften momentarily, "I loved your father, and I loved you, and your brother, Anexius. I served you until the day the pantheon vanished. I would have done anything for the three of you. If I had been forced to face you, I would have broken and I cannot afford to do that."

"So why summon me now?" I demanded. Desiderius's expression grew dark.

"I made a mistake in returning the Atlanteans."

"Ya think?"

"Don't give me your lip," Desiderius told me sternly, making me grimace at the tone of voice he'd used with Anexius and I as children, "I brought them because the pain was too much. I was created for the mere purpose of serving the gods. Without them, I am nothing, and their loss was too great. I had to return them. But I had mistakenly thought they would at least be grateful to be free of their prison."

"Surprise," I muttered, "We're about to go to war."

"We are at war," Desiderius said grimly, "I hadn't counted on Xanius making a violent move, at least, not so suddenly. When I had discovered she'd corrupted one of my members, tricking him into making an assassination attempt on you, I knew I had made my mistake."

"Well, it's too late to send them back now," I snapped, "The Source isn't kind enough to make the same stupid bargain twice. There has to be a way to keep the peace." I started to move, only to have the mark on the ceiling hold me back. I cursed, glaring at it, then at Desiderius.

"This really isn't necessary." I told him. Desiderius gave me a droll stare.

"You would have left the moment you saw it was I. Or at least, tried to. This way, I can speak to you without having you take a swing at me. Don't think I've forgotten your temper, Xenon. It may not be as frequent as those of your siblings, but I remember how powerful it is. When you get angry, you become destruction." He explained. I held my breath, glaring at him. His constant jabs at knowing me so well, at reminding me that he was practically family, were making it harder and harder to get angry with him.

"It's your fault the Atlanteans are back," I accused, watching Desiderius glare at me, his eyes snapping fire, "You're the one who brought them out of the bargain. Why do you think i happened in the first place?" Desiderius tilted his chin up, glaring at me down his nose.

"And I accept responsibility. This wasn't supposed to happen, but it has. There is no point in dwelling in the past. Right now, we must make sure that this war doesn't take place."

"Gee, I'd love to if I wasn't trapped in the middle of your office." I said sarcastically. Desiderius rolled his eyes, lifting his hand to snap his fingers. The instant the mark vanished off the ceiling, I lunged and caught Desiderius by the throat, bringing him around and slamming him down on the desk, knocking everything over. Desiderius cursed as the picture frame fell to the floor and shattered. He glared at me hatefully.

"Get off me, Xenon," He seethed, "This is not between us. It is between the Atlanteans and the Greeks. I want to help."

"How can I trust you? I didn't even know you were still alive," I snarled, squeezing his throat and watching him grit his teeth in a grimace, "I thought you had died with our pantheon!"

"Would you really have been able to handle knowing that I was one of the few who survived, as opposed to your father? Lady Lea?" He demanded. I said nothing for the longest time, then roughly released him and stepped back. Desiderius rolled off the desk and knelt down on the floor, gingerly lifting the picture frame off the floor so he could stroke the face behind the broken glass. I frowned, watching his out of character gesture.

From what I remembered, Desiderius was not a gentle desdios, or caretaker. He'd been particularly harsh and punished my siblings and I according to Xanius's wishes, even though he'd been my father's head desdios.

"His name was Jamie," Desiderius breathed, clenching his grip on the picture frame so the shards of glass cut into his palms, but he didn't even seem to notice it, "We were together two years. A blink in time to an immortal, you'd think, but it's more like a stain. A bloody stain that was my fault. I sacrificed the love of my life to bring back an ungrateful, hateful pantheon. And now I can't even get him back because he lives in the Fields of Asphodel where he is out of my reach."

"You should've thought of that before you brought them back." I said through clenched teeth. Desiderius stood up, clutching the picture frame to him tightly before casting me a deadly glare.

"Yes," He said tightly, "I suppose so. But I do not wish to discuss it. Right now, I need to know how it is you plan to stop this war."

"And why should I tell you?" I asked dryly, stepping back and putting my hands in my coat pockets, pretending to look laid-back. I didn't trust Desiderius, no matter what he said, so I kept my guard up and just gave him the appearance of reluctant acceptance.

"I do not want this war anymore than you do," Desiderius snapped, "One too many people have died already. How many more before the universe is soaked in blood? I'd already lost a handful of my desdios followers to your worthless Greek dogs when those bastard Titans attacked us. I refuse to lose more because our own gods refuse to lay down arms and speak of peace." I would've called him a liar, but there was a strong conviction to his voice that told me he was serious about this.

"Atlantis has a secret weapon," I said after a moment, watching Desiderius's eyes darken, "I don't know what it is, but if I can find out what it is, I can relay that information back to Hades and see if he can create a way to counter that. If the Atlanteans see how much the Greeks have improved, then they might consider peace. Right now, the Atlanteans are not at full power. They have to rely on the weapon until their powers come to their full strength. It's time to act now before they decide they're the stronger opponent." Desiderius frowned.

"That is a good basis for a plan, but do you have a back up plan?"

"No, after that we're paddling up shit creek sans a paddle."

"Xenon, you were taught better than this," Desiderius scolded, making me roll my eyes as I watched him rearrange his desk again, using his power to repair the damaged picture frame, "There must be a back up plan in case your first one fails."

"It shouldn't," I muttered, "And if it does, Callias has his own plan."

"Callias?" Desiderius asked with a frown. I hesitated, rubbing at the back of my neck awkwardly.

"Uh, Anexius," I explained slowly, watching Desiderius frown further, "His curse. Whomever names him becomes his master. His current master is the Greek god Apollo." Desiderius spat on the floor at the mention of the god's name.

"I won't stand for that," He snarled, clenching his fist, "Anexius is a good god. He was much better than any of your siblings. The fact that he didn't go insane over what they've done to him just proves it." I said nothing to that. I wasn't sure why. Maybe a small part of me still saw Desiderius as my caretaker and I didn't want to hurt him by telling him that it had been Anexius who'd destroyed the pantheon in the first place, because of the insanity caused by the death of his lover.

"We can deal with that later," I told him, watching his eyes glow menacingly, "We can't fight against the Source, the natural way of the world. Right now, let's focus on what we can do, and that's keep a war from happening. You're right. Nobody else needs to die over this. I have my plan and I'm going to speak to my aunt about the matter as well. As a goddess of war strategy, she'll know what to do." Desiderius eyed me warily.

"See to it that you do, and report back to me." He said. I glared at him.

"Is that your bargain then?" I asked dryly. He frowned.

"Beg pardon?"

"You summoned me to make a bargain. I can't actually leave until you've struck a bargain with me." I deadpanned. Desiderius rolled his eyes, then scanned the room before picking up the cube off his desk and tossing it to me. I caught it, staring at it before looking up at him as he narrowed his eyes on me.

"Save the world, and you can keep that." He stated. I frowned, but it sounded good enough to me. So I nodded and teleported from the area, appearing back at my home.

The smell of cooking rice reassured me that Dorean had returned home. I slipped by the kitchen so as not to disturb him while he worked and went to my bedroom. I crouched down near my dresser, waving my hand and using my powers to move it over to reveal a loose tile. I lifted it to reveal the door to a floor safe embedded within. I touched my fingers to the keypad and it scanned my fingertips before the light blinked green and I pulled the door open.

Within was the dagger that had received the nickname Snow White due to its effect. Alongside that were all the coins that had been used to summon me these past few centuries, all lined up and piled neatly in the deeper part of the safe, as there were quite a few. A rolled up baby blanket with a phoenix printed across the front, a phoenix feather, a hydra claw, the starball that belonged to a long dead kitsune, and several other oddities that had been given to me over the centuries for bargains.

I placed the cube inside beneath the baby blanket and closed the safe, locking it up and hiding it again just seconds before I heard a knock at the front door. I quickly moved the dresser back and came out into the foyer right when Dorean did, watching him arch a brow.

"You didn't tell me you were home." He said. He had that tone of voice that told me I'd be in trouble if I did it again. I offered him a smile and he just wagged his finger at me before going to the kitchen. I shook my head before coming to the door, opening it up to see my father on the other side.

"Hello, Xenon. I hope I'm not disturbing you." Atlan said in the gentlest of tones I was accustomed to. But now my heart bled at the thought that Atlan was just putting on some kind of show so as to persuade me to his side. Was he lying right now, that smile that I had always thought so honest and caring? Had I been the only one blind to what was hidden beneath that soft fatherly mask?

It didn't matter. I had to hide my suspicions or else the plan would fail and the universe would be in jeopardy. So I swallowed down my pain, like I had all these centuries, and offered him a smile.

"No, no bother at all. Come in." I said. Atlan gave me an impish grin.

"Actually, I have a gift for you. May he come inside as well?" He asked. I frowned, confused for a moment when the air prickled with a familiar heat and a second later, something red shot out of the trees and I looked up, my eyes widening as a phoenix came from the trees and sat on Atlan's shoulder, which must have been quite a feat considering phoenixes weighed about as much as a small dog.

"Kiraka," Atlan said, reaching up to rub his finger under the phoenix's beak, "Your master has returned." My heart clenched instantly and a lump of tears caught in my throat at the sight of the bird I had seen disappear with the rest of my pantheon.

"He's here." I managed, trying to come to terms with that simple fact. As if sensing my inner turmoil over his loss, Kiraka purred at me and left Atlan's shoulder to come to my own. The weight of him felt so natural and calming. Kiraka tilted his head to bump it against my own as a show of respect and love. I reached up to stroke his soft hot feathers. Phoenixes were natural body heaters. They had to be, because once they reached old age, they burned up into a pile of ash and from within those ashes, they were reborn anew.

Kiraka, like most phoenixes, was a beautiful bird with velvet soft feathers that were the brightest shade of red I'd ever seen, that faded to a bright neon orange at the tips. Long tail feathers that coiled down almost like locks of hair and large wings that were kept folded up behind him, his neck long when he stretched it over to nuzzle me. He gave friendly purring sounds and parted his black beak to nip at the red in my hair in approval.

"He's missed you." Atlan commented. I smiled at that.

"Thank you." I said, stepping aside to let him in. Atlan nodded his thanks and entered the home as I made my way to the living room, noticing Dorean must have vanished to the bathroom or something. We went to the living room and I let Kiraka fly off my shoulder to land on a nearby floor lamp.

"And Dorean?" Atlan asked as he took a seat on the leather couch. I reached toward Kiraka, conjuring a small fish to drop down his throat. Kiraka purred and shivered, enjoying his snack as I turned to my father.

"He's prepping dinner. Are you staying?" I asked. Atlan nodded, leaning back on the sofa, folding one leg over the other.

"How are you enjoying having your family back?" He asked with a smile as he watched me stroke Kiraka's neck. I almost hesitated in my petting, but forced myself to continue to avoid giving anything away.

"I keep expecting everyone to disappear on me again." I admitted. It was true, but I hadn't had much time to focus on my personal feelings about their returning. It'd been so sudden and the fact that my family didn't return with the thought of actually coming around to see me, instead to start a war, that also put a dapper on the whole thing.

"We're not going anywhere," Atlan told me, making me glance at him to see him staring at me in concern, "We're here to stay this time, Xenon. I promise you." I wanted to believe him. I wanted to believe that Atlan was the father I remembered. The god who'd stood up for me, the one who stood up for Callias, the one who protected the Atlanteans from hurricanes and tsunamis, the one who carried me in his arms when I was a child.

I looked into that same face now. The same pale eyes, same dark hair, same facial features that I saw in the mirror every morning, and the same deep voice rich with the purest of Atlantean accents that had once lulled me to sleep.

But now I wasn't sure if it was real. The Atlan I'd seen with Xanius earlier wasn't the Atlan I had grown up with... He was the Atlan beneath this one.

And it hurt.

"Are you all right?" Atlan asked. I blinked and looked away from him to continue petting Kiraka.

"Yeah," I managed, "Just fine."