Chapter Seven

I was summoned back to Theo's chambers again after Rara and I arrived at the palace.

I spent another two hours with Epimetheus, each time I pounded into the body that did not belong to him, I cursed his very name. If I had my god powers, it would be more than just swearing and threats. I really could curse him. As a god of vengeance, I had a lot more power behind my words than most would think.

If only I had my god powers.

And the more I thought about it, the more I was inclined to leave Styx and go to Duat, but something was holding me back. I couldn't be quite sure what it was. And what would Epimetheus do if he learned that I had gone to Duat? What could he know about me from picking at Theo's soul? Did Theo even save any information about me inside him?

That bothered me. I couldn't tell what was worse. Having Theo remember me in the pitiful state that he found me in, or having him forget me completely as if I were nothing, but another servant. Then it bothered me that it even bothered me.

Get ahold of yourself, Sept. I scolded myself. This wasn't the time for self pity or wallowing in love like a helpless romantic. I had no time to play around.

Theo's life was in dangerous and every second of every hour was becoming more and more precious.

Epimetheus finally let me go back to my chambers where I fell on the black and red silks of my bed with a heavy muffled thump, relieved to feel the sheets carassing my skin and aching muscles. I could barely move as I laid there and for a moment, I thought about fighting sleep to leave, but by the time the thought crossed my mind, my eyelids felt heavy and slowly slid shut.

As soon as they did, I was standing in the throne room of Theo's palace, the way it had been when Aria had been in charge of it. In fact, she was sitting in Theo's throne, stroking the arm rests with a faint smile across her wicked red lips. The smile shattered, though, when a terrifying sound thundered through the palace, like a pair of doors banging open.

A second later, the doors to the throne room were thrown open so hard they cracked the onyx walls and sent the drapes tumbling to the floor. In the doorway stood a sixteen-year-old version of Theo, with his blood red hair just a bit long past his shoulders, his bangs swept across his face. He wore a pair of black slacks, matching boots and a loose longsleeve shirt to match the cloak that fell around his shoulders. And his red eyes were blazing hot.

A godly power rippled from him, one that I was all too familiar with. I savored the way it filled the air with a crackling electricity, making the hairs on my arms stand on end. He curled his lip in revulsion as Aria shot to her feet from the throne, looking flabbergasted and angry.

"Theo! What the hell do you think you're--"

"Get out." Theo ordered. Aria blinked, stunned as she took a step forward, her blood red gown pooling at her feet, leading all the way up her long legs to a matching corset, her bare feet silent on the marble floor.

"What're you talking about?" She managed, looking pale. Theo narrowed his eyes and thrust his hand out toward the short hallway that led to the lobby, revealing that the main doors were being held open by a couple of servants. Even I could see the townspeople who had gathered at the base of the hill, watching and whispering excitedly.

"You heard me," Theo said past clenched teeth, eyes glowing, "Get. Out. Of. My. Home." Aria looked hesitant at first before she let her temper flare up and she glared at him, clenching her fists and stalking toward him. I almost expected him to flinch or back down, but instead, he held his head up high and glared at her. That seemed to make her slow down until she was standing a couple feet in front of her son, trying to continue her bravado.

"This is our home." She stated. Theo's expression darkened. He said nothing. He merely reached out and caught her by the throat. Aria's eyes widened as she gasped, reaching up to grab at Theo's hand, but not even her red nails sinking into his flesh made him flinch. He lifted her right off her feet and swung his arm around, throwing her right down the hallway so she slammed into the marble floor and rolled for a second until she was on the platform outside the doors.

My eyes widened and I followed Theo as he stalked down the hallway, his cloak billowing and hair billowing at the force of his god powers. God powers that seemed to be just bestowed, which meant Theo had come back from a visit with his father.

Theo stood at the doors, watching as his mother pushed herself up on her hands and knees, breathing hard before she spat blood out onto the platform. She slowly stood up to face Theo, her eyes snapping fire that no longer made Theo shrink back. In fact, he watched her with a gaze so murderous that made all the ones she'd given him nothing, but glances.

"You ungrateful little wretch," She managed, her voice trembling, "I gave you everything. I gave you to your father. I gave you a home. I gave you food, clothes, toys. I gave you the red hair that everyone loves so much."

"I am only going to repeat this one more time," Theo got right in her face, eyes hot with hate, "Get. The. Fuck. Out." Aria blinked and looked nervously at the servants, who stood by the door and gazed at her without an ounce of pity. She gritted her teeth, then whipped around to see that the townspeople had gathered. She froze.

Theo curled his lip and lifted his knee, jamming it hard into her back. Aria yelped and fell head first down the first set of stairs, landing hard on the next platform so there was a sharp crack and a gasp. Aria pushed herself up again, struggling this time and her arm was bent at an angle that meant it was broken. She snapped her head to glare at Theo, but he was already turning his back to the woman and ordering that she be beaten by the townspeople, who waited below, all looking eager at the excitement.

As soon as the doors closed, Theo went straight into the throne room and pulled up short to see the throne sitting there in silence, the human skulls staring at him with empty sockets. He slowly came forward, approaching the throne. He reached out, paused a moment, clenching his fist, before reaching out again and placing a hand on one of the skulls in the armrest. He shivered, closing his eyes before he ran his hand along the skulls, walking around the throne as if just touching it was giving him the ultimate pleasure.

He walked back around to stand in front of the seat before he narrowed his eyes and turned sharply to see that a many of the servants had entered the hall. Theo scanned them, then stepped back and sat down firmly in the throne. A sharp fissure of power coursed through the room and the servants squirmed as Theo curled his lip at them.

"Don't think I've forgotten about the rest of you," He started menacingly, making them all step back sharply as he rose to his feet again, taking a few steps toward them, "I want all of you out. Leave, and take nothing. If I find anything missing, I'll have you killed, do you understand me?" The servants nodded, trembling amongst themselves before taking off. Theo watched them leave, still seething with so much hate that it gave the regular warm temperature of the palace a fernace like heat.

He sat back down on the throne stiffly, resting his arm on the armrests, clenching his fists over the skulls there.

"Cowards," He spat after them, watching them flee down the hill; the last one slamming the door shut so loudly that it echoed through the empty palace, "All of them... Especially her." His eyes flickered suddenly.

He sat there in silence for a while, staring straight ahead. He suddenly closed his eyes and slumped back in the throne, expelling a deep sigh. He was quiet once more when he made a strange sound that caught me off guard. I approached him slowly, frowning as I watched tears well up past his eyelids and trickle down steadily over his cheeks. He gritted his teeth hard, then slammed his fist down on the arm rest before leaning forward, wrapping his arms around himself and tucking his head between his knees.

He trembled, sniffling and choking on tears.

My heart shattered. I came forward and tried to touch him, but my hand passed through him. I winced and tried again, but nothing happened. Theo continued to sob, hugging himself tightly.

"Lord Theo?" I whispered. Theo curled in tighter to himself, covering his ears. I blinked and knelt down in front of him, tilting my head.

"Lord Theo, can you hear me?" I asked sternly. Theo shook his head vigorously and I felt my eyes widen. He heard me. I couldn't touch him, but he could hear me just as I heard him.

"Lord Theo, open your eyes. Look at me." I requested gently. Theo gritted his teeth and screwed his eyes shut tighter, digging his nails into his ears in attempt to block me out. I frowned and opened my mouth to speak to him again when he slowly began to change. It was like he was aging backwards, I realized as I watched him grow smaller and smaller until his little legs were hanging on the edge of the throne, his little hands covering his ears, his hair falling over them and his forehead, his red eyes shut tightly as he whimpered.

His clothes had become too big for him, the shirt sliding off his shoulders and the cloak falling off his tiny shoulders to pool in the throne that practically dwarfed him.

I found myself looking at the first Theo I had met. The small, innocent child that only wanted his mother to hold him, who only wanted to see his father, who only wanted a friend.

"Theo, please look at me." I said softly, reaching out slowly, expecting my hands to go through his. I froze, my hands resting on top of his, but they weren't warm anymore. They were cold as ice. He trembled violently, like a leaf in the wind, as I gently held his hands, prying them away from his ears until he looked up, opening those red eyes that held no contempt, no hate, no evil.

Just a piercing sorrow that struck me to the soul.

I was a god of vengeance, of hate and violence.

Yet, I found myself wanting to cry. For the first time since my birth, I wanted to cry as I knelt there, holding Theo's small, icy cold hands in mine.

"S-S-Sept?" He managed, his voice tiny and soft. I finally managed to breath as I found my voice after swallowing hard at the lump in my throat.

"Yes, Lord Theo. I'm here." I murmured gently, gripping his hands in mine to keep them warm. His eyes moved around as if he were trying to find a way to avoid mine, as if he were suddenly ashamed, his lips pursing and teeth clenching behind them like he was fighting another wave of tears.

"It's all right," I said as calmly as I could, "You're all right, my lord."

"I'm cold." Theo whispered, still not meeting my eyes as if he were searching the air for something terrifying. I nodded and slowly got up and Theo grabbed my hands when I started to let go. This time, he met my eyes with a pleading expression. I stared back at him reassuringly, then slowly slipped out of his grip to put my hands under his arms. I lifted him up into my arms and he clung to me, his small arms going around my neck. I cradled him to my chest and slowly turned, sitting on the throne that was just as cold as the child in my arms.

I sat down anyway and held Theo close to my chest, listening to him sniffle and cry quietly for a while. I kept a hand flat on his back, resting my head against his.

"I'm pathetic." Theo managed. I frowned, but said nothing. I don't think he needed me to say anything. He simply wanted to tell me.

"She beat me. She isolated me. She made me wish I was dead," Theo choked, tightening his arms around me, the feeling of fresh hot tears soak my neck and shoulder, "But when I had the chance to kill her, I couldn't do it... I wanted to do it. I really did. And I could feel it in my hands, all the power that I needed, that I wished for. I had all of it in the palm of my hands, but I still couldn't do it."

"She was your mother." I murmured softly.

"Then why would she do that," Theo sobbed, fisting his small hands into my shirt, making me grimace, "Why did she hate me so much? I don't understand... I don't know what I did." He started crying again and I let him cry until he was back to sniffling and hiccuping.

"I remember," Theo stammered suddenly, "I remember that one of the cooks had a child. I remember watching the cook always hug her and kiss her and be nice to her. I asked the child one time... Why does your mama act like that? The child says, isn't it obvious? My mama loves me. I remember getting angry and hitting her for it. I wasn't yelled at for it, of course. But the cook paid more attention to her child than me when it happened, even then. I tried hitting her again, but the cook finally quit and left and took her child with her... I only hit her because I didn't think it was fair."

"You were a child." I told him, but Theo shook his head against my neck, tightening his grip on me.

"I did it because it wasn't fair... How come her mama loved her so much? How come mine didn't love me? Why couldn't I have that too?" He whimpered. I said nothing again, just held onto him.

I finally found myself understanding, though. There was a reason I had been seeing all of Theo's broken memories. It was Theo trying to contact me. He was trying to reach out to the only person he could trust and that person was me. My chest tightened at that and I held Theo closer to me.

And this was more than just a memory of Theo that I was holding.

It was the sliver of innocence that still lingered.

I was holding Theo's soul.

Cold, broken, agonized.

Now I knew why Theo savored physical pain. I knew why he wanted so desperately to feel claws ripping through his skin, why he wanted to have me rip him to pieces. It was the only thing that was dulling the turmoil in his soul.

"It's all right, Theo," I murmured at last, cradling his head against my shoulder, "You're safe now. I gave you my word, remember? I would give my very soul to make sure that you are protected, that I would do anything in my power to keep you content. You do not have to worry about that woman or the cowards who turned away from you or the doll that broke so easily. I will not hurt you. I will not turn away from you. I will not break."

"How can you promise that?" Theo whispered. I pulled him away from me so we were looking at each other. I was no longer looking into the eyes of a child. I could see Theo in those red orbs.

My Theo.

"I swear on the River of Styx, Theo, that I will never abandon you, never betray you." I vowed, then leaned forward and placed my lips firmly to his forehead before pulling back to look into his wide eyes. He reached up slowly, still looking awed as he touched my lips with his fingertips.

And suddenly, the moment was broken as Theo choked, blood bursting past his lips and dribbling down his chin into my lap. I flinched as it spattered across my face and I froze, watching the blood run from Theo's mouth as he trembled, his eyes suddenly glazing over.

"Theo?" I demanded, giving him a gentle shake. He felt like a rag doll now as alarm shot through me. What was happening? What was going on?

"Theo! Say something!" I ordered, shaking him a little more, careful not to scare him, but it didn't matter because he wasn't paying any attention. He looked like he was caught in a trance.

"Theo!" My voice echoed and I looked up to see that we were no longer in the throne room of the palace, but surrounded by darkness. For a moment, I didn't understand before I saw something moving through the darkness. A shadow of some sort that moved rather quickly, only stopping every so often to make strange animalistic growling noises, the sounds a rabid wolf might make.

I wrapped my arms around Theo tightly, gritting my teeth as the shadow moved around and around, making the air colder.

"Let him go." A voice snarled suddenly from behind me. I wanted to turn around, but something in me told me that if I did, I would regret it, so I shut my eyes tightly and held onto Theo, feeling him trembling in my arms. I opened my eyes to see him staring straight ahead, eyes wide in frozen terror at whatever was behind me, but I didn't dare turn around.

"Why do you hold onto him so tightly, Egyptian," The voice sneered, "What does he matter to you anyway? Wasn't it you who told dear Sophia that the Greeks were nothing, but troublesome ingrates?" I froze at the exact words I had used when I had spoken to that woman.

Sophia.

Even now, I could see her as she was the day she stood there and watched my father rip my god powers from me. Her narrowed dark brown eyes that had once seduced me with a mere flicker, those thick waves of black hair over her golden shoulders, her red silk gown draped over a figure so divine that it was sinful.

I gritted my teeth, didn't dare loosen my grip on Theo for fear that the beast, whatever it was, would get his hands on Theo, who still gaped at the creature, blood steadily oozing past his lips and down his chin.

"Theo is different." I seethed past clenched teeth. The voice behind me laughed, a cruel, metallic laugh that chilled me to the bones.

"Don't be stupid," It sneered, its cold breath blasting against the back of my neck, raising the hairs there as goose bumps fled across my skin, "He's just the like rest of the Greeks. Nothing, but pitiful creatures who stir up drama. Selfish and arrogant too, aren't they? They didn't even try to help you when Seth destroyed your godhood. They didn't even come to your aid after you were tossed into the mortal realm, with not even a single scrap of food or clothing. They don't care about you. Theo doesn't care about you."

"That doesn't matter," I answered forcefully, "He could hate me and I would still serve him."

"Then you are foolish." The voice sneered. I barked a laugh at that, narrowing my eyes as I tightened my grip on Theo, who seemed startled by it, but didn't dare take his eyes off whatever was behind me.

"That's rich," I smirked, "You of all people are calling me foolish... I am not foolish. I am loyal. I swore that I would protect Theo and that is what I'm doing. Theo wasn't like my family and he wasn't like the rest of his pantheon. He came for me when no one else would."

"So, what," The voice snarled, "That doesn't make him special..." The voice trailed before it laughed, making me tighten my grip on Theo so much that I'm surprised his bones didn't crack.

"So that's it," The voice snickered, "That's why you're holding onto him so desperately... You love him, don't you?"

"That's none of your concern," I said coldly, "You should be more concerned with the fact that I know who you are and what you're doing."

"Excuse me?" Epimetheus' voice snarled. I shut my eyes again, feeling a gust of air brush against my face as he moved to stand in front of me. I kept my grip on Theo and sat back, keeping my eyes closed and cradling Theo's head to my shoulder so he couldn't see Epimetheus anymore.

"You heard me," I answered, eyes closed and fangs bared, "I won't repeat myself. You're very stupid to think that you could attack Theo and not be discovered. You'd have better luck having attacked one of the righthands. We're not just a bunch of daemons gathered together to protect the sons of Hades. We're creatures that make daemons look like play things. We were chosen specifically because of our powers and abilities. Theo chose me because I was loyal, because I am a god, and I will kill you if you don't release Theo. Damned to the depths with Hades order to keep the Titans alive. I'm not of your pantheon. Your laws don't apply."

"You sniveling little cockroach," Epimetheus seethed, his hot, revolting breath blasting against my face as he panted heavily in rage, "You think you can stop me? Are you even looking at what's left of your master's soul? He's nothing, but a frightened child. He can't stand against me. What makes you think you can stand against me? Or even Hades? Once I've devoured Theo's soul, it'll revive my god powers and I will kill all of you and release my brothers."

"I don't think so," I replied coldly, "Obivously you have no idea what you're up against, but that is not my problem. In fact, underestimate us. It makes it much easier on us to lock you away... And I assure you that Zelios will not be so lenient with you once you return to your cell."

Epimetheus roared angrily, his voice making my ears ring and Theo clutch onto me tightly. I shut my eyes tighter when I suddenly felt myself being shaken. I fought to keep my eyes closed until I heard Rara's voice.

"Sept! Sept, wake up! This is important! Wake up!" Rara barked, making my eyes flutter open. I gasped and sat up, almost smashing our heads together before Rara managed to pull back in time. I looked around frantically on the bed for Theo, but there was no sign of him having been anywhere near me. I cursed, then shot Rara a deadly glare as she backed up from the bed, holding her hands up before she dropped them to her sides.

"The imp is dead." She stated. I blinked, feeling the blood drain from my face.

"What?" I demanded, climbing out of bed and ignoring the searing aches and pains that threatened to rip my muscles. Rara gave me a grim stare, backing away from me as I grabbed a leather cord off my nightstand, tying my hair back.

"I heard from the rumors in town. Apparently Cerberus was making his rounds and he found the imp dead outside the front gates. His tongue had been cut out and his eyes pushed back into his skull." She informed bitterly. I grimaced, fighting hard to keep the image of the innocent imp out of my mind as I went for the door that slid open as it sensed me nearing it. Rara stuck to my heels as we made our way down the hallway.

"You think Epimetheus did it?" She asked, eyes watching me.

"I'm not sure," I admitted, scanning the hallways to make sure no one was following or eavesdropping, "It depends on the timing. I was with Epimetheus for a good portion of the day. He even showed up in my dream. And, Rara, we're right. I know we are."

"What'd you mean?" Rara demanded in concern as we stood outside the doors that led to the throne room. I turned to face her, watching her eyes flicker and widen as if she already sensed my news.

"Theo's dying. The reason I've been having the dreams is because it's Theo's soul calling for me. He's been trying to get ahold of me the moment Epimetheus jumped into his body. And know he knows that we know and he'll stop at nothing to make sure we're silent. He only needs a little more time before Theo's soul is completely gone. And now with the imp dead, I don't have time to sit around and wait for Hades to get suspicious. I have to do something else." I explained firmly, then started to go before Rara caught my arm, pulling back to look at me in surprise.

"Wait, you're not thinking what I think you're thinking, right?" She demanded. I shrugged her off.

"It's the only way to save Theo, and I promised that I would. If that means returning to my pantheon and begging for my powers back, then I have no choice. I swore on the River of Styx that I would keep Theo safe. And that's what I'm going to do." I snapped.

"Then I'm going with." Rara insisted. I scowled.

"I don't think so. You need to stay here. Make sure Epimetheus doesn't do anything else stupid, unless it'll get him noticed. And also... Tell Malachi to plan a meeting before Hades."

"For what purpose?"

"Tell him it'll be a meeting to tell Hades what we have planned so far. It's only fair that we update him on what's going on."

"Yeah, and then what?"

"Then we see fireworks."