Chapter Fourteen

"Follow Xenon's advice," Noe said, quoting Callias's words, as we returned back to the sweltering heat of Tartarus, "How the hell are we supposed to follow his advice if we don't understand it?"

Of course, I said nothing. However, the gears were working in my mind as I tried to decipher the man's words. He told us to stop meddling with the Titans, but if we did that, they would eventually escape. They needed someone to be there to watch them. We'd had enough scares over the years and now they were getting stronger, somehow, someway. It was as if no matter how much grigora I stuffed into their meals, they still managed to elude us and the core of the problem was the spy that Xenon told us to ignore.

How could we ignore him if he was the source of the problem?

And Xenon hinted toward there being someone else behind the scenes causing mayham, but who and why?

Instinct was to immediately go out and search for the culprit, but how would I even go about starting such a task when Hades was piling work on me so fast that I barely had time to sort it out? I was running out of time and resources. Asking the Titans was useless and the more I thought about who it could be, the more I found myself running around in circles, which was useless.

"And what about Callias," Noe muttered as we made our way into the palace, escaping the thick humidity outside, "I can't believe someone like him would get that many people killed." I agreed, but then again, Callias wasn't much for sharing, even in facial expressions, which made it even more difficult to figure him out. Even after we were forced to leave by Apollo, Callias hadn't reacted when Apollo came to take him into his arms. Callias just let Apollo do what he wished, as if he truly didn't care for himself.

It was a weird situation, but none of our business, I concluded. It was between Xenon and Callias.

Right now, we had our own worries and that included the Titans.

"Are you sure we checked off everyone," Noe asked, looking up at me as we entered my office and I came to sit at the desk while Noe plopped down into a leather chair on the other side of the desk, "Maybe we missed someone. The servants?" I frowned thoughtfully, thinking back to the night Noe's first symptoms as an oracle begin. I remembered the servant who'd brought him his water that night, the small water daemon.

But could she have really done it?

No, I said as I opened up logs on the servants, scrolling down through the list. I did extensive background checks on all the servants that I had employed and none of them were related to Titans, but then again, words could lie. I typed a message out and turned my screen so that Noe could read it, his eyes scanning it before widening slightly. He shot to his feet.

"I'll call her in right now." He told me firmly. I nodded, watching him fly out of the room hurriedly before I turned back to my laptop, erasing the message as I frowned at the screen, looking at the servant's information. Her parents were listed as water daemons, both of whom were deceased. She didn't seem very suspicious, but I suppose that was the point of being a spy-- to wear the face of an innocent and harbor the soul of the devil.

I sighed warily, pinching the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger. I heard a small beep sound and looked up at my laptop to see that I had received a message from Cerberus. I frowned curiously and opened the message.

Zelios,

Yo. I know you're probably swamped with the work Hades sent you, so you're probably too busy to pay attention to this email, but I wanted to apologize again for attacking you and Noe. I really didn't want to. You know that. And something in my gut tells me things are gonna get worse from here on out, so I apologize ahead of time for any stupid shit I do. If Hades didn't have me on a tight leash, I'd tell him to shove his orders in an uncomfortable orifice.

Also, I have a prisoner log for you that you need to pick up. Sorry about that too. Don't mean to add to your list, but a couple of my soldiers were killed when Hades threw his hissy fit about the Oracle of Tartarus.

--Cerberus

P.S. If you ever find the time, drop by and we can drink together. How long has it been since you actually came over anyway? Three hundred years? Four? Come on, man, throw me a bone.

I smiled very lightly at Cerberus's message. He was quite the brute to most people, especially in public to up hold the image of Cerberus, Guardian of the Underworld, but he was actually much gentler than that. It surprised me, though, that he actually apologized. I wrote a quick note to leave for Noe, should he return while I was gone. I left it on my desk and left the palace, taking the long way out of Tartarus and stopping by to see Diodorus, who was pushing buttons on his controller rapidly as he played his zombie video game with what sounded like Abel and two other people.

I cocked my head at him questioningly. Diodorus blushed, dropping his headphones and rising to his feet to greet me.

"Uh, just some friends," He said uneasily, then paused as he cocked his head to listen to the voices on the headphones before he scowled and lifted the small microphone to his mouth, "Shut up, Alexion. I'm calling you a friend. You're grateful you're not in the same category as Abel." He paused at the sound of Abel's voice yelling over the headphones before Diodorus scowled, then looked up at me, cheeks flushing again in embarrassment.

"Sorry." He murmured timidly. I shook my head, then nodded for him to continue playing his game before I went to the staircase, teleporting from there to Cerberus's home just outside of Hades's palace.

About four miles out in front of Hades's palace, Cerberus had made his home. His home was a very wide, two story mansion made of multple black and grey stones. The windows were tinted black, so that you couldn't see in, but the people inside could see out very clearly. The front doors were triangular and sitting on either side of them were statues of wolves with pointed ears and bared teeth, quite an unsettling display. His home was surrounded by tall black pine trees and bright green grass neatly trimmed up to the black glass walkway that looked down into a murky black moat that ran the length of Cerberus's extensive property. The moat connected to the river Acheron a ways out, meaning that should someone fall in, they would be struck by untold agony and sorrow.

I approached the front doors, hitting the doorbell that was hidden in the mouth of a wolf's head by the door. There was a mournful howl before the doors opened and Leon answered, his dreadlocks pulled back by a gold headband to match the geometric artwork on his mocha colored skin.

"Cerberus is out back." He told me, gesturing for me to enter. I nodded and came inside, relieved by the cool air.

The interior main entrance of Cerberus's manor was kept very clean. The floor was made of black and gray marble dotted with the occasional white triangle. To the right upon entering was a row of six large columns that rose into the tall ceiling, behind which were three archways that led to other areas of the house. To the left was a large archway that went into the lounge/living area, and not too far in front of that archway was an L-shaped staircase that led up to a balcony that sat straight ahead, above a pair of glass doors that led to the patio.

Leon led me through the doors to the patio. The patio was a large black platform that sat two steps above the green grassy field that stretched out to the moat. The patio was modernly designed with black iron furniture and large bat-like umbrellas that kept out a sun that was currently hidden by dark clouds. The edges of the platform were occupied by two tall black pine trees with eerie looking vines that resembled bones as they stretched out and draped almost like a canopy over the patio.

Sitting in a lounge chair, Cerberus was reclined back, just having knocked back a bloody mary martini. He wore only his black cropped jacket and a pair of snug black jeans, his left hand resting on the head of an incredibly beautiful fae.

The fae was much smaller, and younger, than Cerberus. His hair was chestnut brown and fell past his shoulder in very smooth, silky waves, his bangs trimmed neatly to fall side swept across a young, but fierce face. His eyes glowed green like emeralds. His skin was a warm shade of olive and very visible because of lack of clothing. In fact, all he wore was a pair of black leather shorts that hugged his slender figure. Except there was the familiar black tar gag wrapped over his mouth to prevent him from speaking, and smokey chains keeping his arms drawn behind his back and connected to Cerberus's seat.

"Zelios," Cerberus exclaimed as soon as he saw me, placing his empty martini glass on a nearby black end table, "I didn't really think you were gonna show up." I just stared at him blankly, glancing down at the fae that glared hatefully at Cerberus, who rose to his feet and approached me.

"Oh," Cerberus said when he saw me eyeing the obviously furious fae, "That's Blaine. Ignore him. He's being a brat today. Anyway, I have the log for you. It's kind of jam packed. Sorry." He held his hand up and manifested a thick file folder with papers peeking out the top. He handed it to me and I took it with a nod.

Movement out the corner of my eye made me snap my gaze to see the fae rising to his feet very slowly, like a cat getting up to pounce on its meal. Alarm went off inside me as I watched the fae easily chew through the gag and lunge at Cerberus, ready to bite into him, but I didn't need to even warn Cerberus. Without even looking at the fae, Cerberus caught him by the throat and threw him down hard enough into the platform that it actually cracked. The fae gasped, breathing hard as his hair spread out around him like a halo, his chest heaving up and down, his hands still tightly restrained behind him.

"Sorry about that," Cerberus drawled, "He can be as pureblooded as he wants, but he's still a little prick."

"Fuck you," Blaine snarled viciously, recovering from the blow dealt as he scrambled onto his knees and bared his teeth, "I'll rip your throat open and bath in your blood and make necklaces out of your entrails!" Cerberus raised an eyebrow, hardly offended by the threat.

"How poetic of you. Now shut up. The adults are speaking." He snapped his fingers so the gag returned to Blaine's mouth, forcefully enough to knock the fae back down, but he still squirmed and his protests were muffled. Cerberus sighed.

"Leon!" He called. Leon materialized beside me, standing at attention.

"Take Blaine to my room and chain him to the bed. I'll deal with him later." Cerberus told him. Leon frowned and looked a bit reluctant, but had no choice in the matter really. He stooped down and picked Blaine up by his elbow, turning his chains to ashes. The two of them vanished a moment later and I looked at Cerberus with a stern frown, hoping he got the fact that I didn't approve of his treating the fae so foully. Cerberus pretended not to see it as he averted his eyes, rubbing the back of his neck with a heavy sigh.

"And just a warning, but our next meeting is tomorrow. I got the message from Malachi a few seconds before you showed up. He said to ignore anything Cain and Abel say. Apparently they got into another fight and Malachi had to put Abel on lockdown." He added under his breath. I grimaced, but really wasn't all that surprised. While the two hated each other and got into verbal arguments, there were those times when everything snapped and they went at each other with everything they had, and unfortunately, because Abel had half his powers locked away by Hades, Cain always ended up beating Abel down until he was bloody and in agony.

"Anyway," Cerberus said, offering me a crooked smile, "Better let you get back to work before you fall behind. See ya tomorrow, bro." I nodded and flashed from his patio back to the staircase to Tartarus. I came back in, pausing to see Diodorus squirming in his seat, shouting into his microphone until he spotted me and whined, dropping his headphones. I raised an eyebrow at him as he lowered his eyes.

"Sorry." He murmured, ashamed. I shook my head, wishing I could tell him it was all right. I'd already told him that I didn't mind him playing video games on the job, but he still looked embarrassed at being caught. I just nodded to him as he unlocked the door and let me back in. I went to the palace and came into my office to find Noe leaning on my desk. He whirled around as soon as he saw me, relief flitting across his face.

"Jeez, you totally ditched me! You scared the crap out of me. Why did you go to Cerberus's?" He asked with a frown now as I came over to him. I leaned down and pecked him on the forehead, making him blush. I smiled at that, then sat down at my laptop and wrote out my response, turning the screen so Noe could read it, his eyes studying the words before he sighed and looked up at me almost bashfully.

"Well, I wanted to, ah, talk to you when I got back." He said, looking down now. I smiled at that and tilted my head, indicating that he continue. He cleared his throat, reaching up to ruffle his hair as he straightened.

"Ah, uhm, the servant is busy right now settling into her new home, but she said she can come in tomorrow morning. So, yeah." He mumbled. I nodded and made note of that before I opened up a new prisoner log to begin working when Noe put his hand on my screen so I couldn't see. He scowled, pointing at the clock in the bottom right corner of the screen.

"It's almost midnight. You have all day to work tomorrow," He stated, making me glance up at him curiously as he withdrew his hand to nibble on the end of his thumb, "Let's... go to bed." I stared at him, surprised at his offer. I wasn't sure if he meant actually sleeping or if he meant something else. Not to mention, we hadn't shared a bed since he was a child. I had grown so accustomed to sleeping in the nude that I wasn't sure if he would appreciate that or not.

He was getting nervous from the fact that I hadn't responded to him. I blinked, snapping out of my trance and typing out my response, turning it to face Noe, who read it before his cheeks pinkened.

"Kay," He said at last, "I'll go ahead then and get ready, uhm, in your room." I nodded, watching him turn and head to the door. He walked out and shut the door, only to poke his head back in to squint at me suspiciously.

"And don't get back to work. If you don't come to the room in ten minutes, I'm comin' to bother you until you go to sleep." He warned. I smiled at him and he blushed before ducking back out. I turned back to my laptop and shut it down, closing it and tucking it away in my desk before I got up to place the work for tomorrow aside in one pile, leaving the other side of my desk empty where the work I completed the next day would go. And judging from the first pile, it was going to be a very busy day tomorrow, even worse with another meeting coming up that was bound to be something awful with Cain and Abel fighting more than usual.

I sighed, rubbing my temples as I teleported from my office to my room, far too tired to bother walking. This would be the first night I'd slept in... a very long time.

I flashed into my room just as Noe was sitting back on my bed. My heart leapt, as well as another important organ of my body, at the sight of him wearing only a loose elbow-length shirt with a v-neck collar and the bottom hem just barely hiding his buttocks. The only other garment he wore was a pair of dark purple underwear, snug and comfortable. He looked startled by my appearance, his cheeks coloring even more than they had earlier.

"Don't just pop in like that, you scared me!" He protested, making me smile apologetically, even though technically this was my room. I went to my wardrobe, trying to contain the excitement that was swelling to my chest. I opened the door to look for something to sleep in when Noe cleared his throat behind me, making me glance over my shoulder at him. He was rubbing his foot up and down his leg, leaning back on his hands, and the way he bit his bottom lip was seductive. My cock jumped at that, begging to be buried between his legs, that were bent outwards at the knee. Even I couldn't miss the bulge forming in his underwear.

"You don't have to wear clothes," He said shyly, lowing his eyes to the floor now as he scooted back on the bed, "I know you don't like to put clothes on." I hesitated at that, then nodded slowly as I shut the wardrobe door and snapped my fingers, causing the clothes on my body to dissolve. Noe's cheeks darkened a bit and he scooted further onto the bed, pulling the blankets up and getting underneath. He peered at me past them and I wasn't sure how to react to that.

Something about it was very cute and very... Noe.

I went to the bed, sitting down and reaching out, turning off the light and plunging the room into darkness. I laid down on the bed, relieved to feel the smooth soft material of my blankets caressing my skin as I pulled the blanket up over myself.

And then I felt Noe's arm go around my torso. I stiffened for a moment, shocked by the bold move before he squirmed next to me, removing his arm and propping himself up onto his elbows beside me as he looked down at the pillow, obviously embarrassed. My night vision was good enough to the point where I could see how nervous he looked.

"S-Sorry. I, ah, I kinda like grabbing onto things in my sleep. Er, wait, no, that came out weird. I think. I don't know. Gods, I suck." He groaned miserably, smashing his face into the pillow. I smiled at that, sitting up and shifting onto my side, propping myself up on an elbow and reaching out to ruffle his hair. He sighed heavily and turned his head to face me, his eyes studying me through the darkness.

"It sucks that Hades took your voice," He murmured sadly, "I really want to hear you talk again... I want to hear you say my name." I tilted my head to look down at him, his words tugging harshly at my heartstrings. A bit of guilt swept through me as I realized that my not having a voice effected Noe far more than it effected even myself. I never spoke much in the first place, not to anyone else anyway, but Noe was a different story. I hadn't thought twice about how it made him feel.

I ruffled his hair, hoping he could sense my apology, and much to my relief, he laughed quietly, closing his eyes and burying his cheek against the pillow.

"I can hear you apologizing. It's not your fault." He added, pained. I could just hear the words it's mine lingering at the end of his sentence, making me grimace. I ran my fingers through his hair, stroking it gently as I listened to him breath quietly. He wasn't sleeping. It was almost like he was waiting for something, and the god in me knew what he wanted, but the man in me was afraid to take it, for fear of stirring up awful memories.

The first time Noe and I had sex had been a mistake. Phoebe had possessed him and used him, hurt him. The experience had probably been awful for him. I didn't want to take him if it meant bringing back that sour memory.

Not to mention, I too didn't have very good memories of sex, considering Apollo had so rudely treated me more like a toy than a person and the thought stung. I knew Noe wouldn't do such a thing, but part of me was afraid that his touch may trigger unwanted, bitter thoughts of Apollo.

We're both so broken, I wanted to say with enough bitter sarcasm to poison the planet.

Noe shifted and I ceased stroking his hair, watching him get up onto his knees in the dark, sitting back to look at me. I studied him through the darkness, watching him stare at me before he crawled over to me. I sat up watching in surprise as he climbed into my lap and sat down, resting his hands on my chest. He leaned in very carefully, hesitantly as his lips hovered over mine.

My body ached to be closer, so I reached up, threading my fingers through his soft hair, cupping the back of his head  and drawing him in closer until our lips touched. Noe moaned, parting his lips against mine so I could taste his tongue. We kissed hungrily, deeply. Noe was a little sloppy, but nothing touched my heart more to know that he retained at least some of his innocence.

He pulled back to breath, nuzzling his nose against mine adorably. He was purring, almost like a kitten. I pulled him closer to me, running my hands up and down his slender back. I took a risk and slid my hand up his shirt, sucking in my breath at how soft his skin was. Noe continued to purr contentedly, rubbing his nose against my cheek and making his way down to my  throat where he kissed and suckled at my skin. A groan of pleasure escaped me as I tilted my head back to give him more access.

I was still having trouble wrapping my mind around the fact that this was actually happening. I was touching Noe, and he was touching me. Granted, I wasn't able to speak, to whisper all the things I've wanted to say all these years, but I could show him. I wanted to show him how much I loved him, and how desperate I was to keep him forever.

I ran my hands down his back to cup his buttocks, watching him shiver in delight before he lifted his head back up, our eyes meeting in the darkness. He licked his lips before leaning in to kiss me again, this time a little less sloppy. Our lips fit perfectly together, like the pieces of a puzzle. He felt just right in my lap, my arms around him, hands touching him wherever I could reach.

I slipped my thumbs into the hem of his underwear and gave it a slow tug, bringing it down off his hips. He leaned back and wiggled out of them, tossing them on the floor before he was settled back into my lap. I conjured a bottle of lubrication and wet my fingers with it, sliding it in between Noe's cheeks, savoring the heat. Noe moaned, pressing his cheek against my chest as he arched his back, leaning back on my fingers as I carefully inserted them inside him.

He hissed past clenched teeth and I waited, watching him adjust and wiggle his hips impatiently after a moment. I smiled lightly, thrusting my fingers up inside him, watching him purr and squirm on top of me.

"Zelios," Noe moaned, tilting his head to nip at my chin, "I want another kiss." I dipped my head down and captured his lips, kissing him deeply, breathing in his intoxicating scent. My body ached and throbbed to be buried inside the heat that encased my fingers. I bit on my tongue to keep myself from losing control as he writhed in my lap, breathing hard. He kissed him deeply now, wrapping his arms around my neck.

"Zelios," Noe pleaded, looking at me with dewy eyes, "I want you inside me." I almost lost it at that, but managed to restrain myself by jamming my teeth into my tongue. I gave him a short nod, taking my fingers away from him and listening to him groan at that. I shifted him in my lap, growling low in my throat as he rubbed himself against me. He reached back behind him and slowly lowered himself down on top of me. A low moan escaped his throat and a gasp left my lips as he impaled himself fully on top of me.

Noe panted, leaning his forehead against mine, his eyes closed as he adjusted to my size.

"I love you," He whimpered, brushing his nose against mine tenderly, "So much. So, so much. I'm so sorry I got your voice taken away." I shook my head, reaching up to cup his face in my hands. I kissed him passionately then, lowering my hands to rest on his hips as he began to grind himself down on top of me, moaning into my mouth as I tasted his tongue against mine.

A wave of possessiveness washed over me then. It was stronger than any of the other times I had protected Noe. Now, I felt as if I would rip apart anyone who tried to take him away from me, to take this away from me. Damned be the consequences.

Noe was mine.

Truly, and forever.

Only I would be able to see him like this. Only I was allowed to touch him like this. I didn't want to even contemplate the idea of someone taking him from me and doing gods' know what. He belonged to me.

A growl erupted from my throat as I felt myself reaching my peak as Noe arched his back against me, holding my head against his chest so I could suckle at his hardened nipple. I ran my hands up and down his back, feeling the soft heat of his skin against mine, my cock buried to the hilt inside him as he reached the height of pleasure, crying out as he sank his fingernails into my hair, grasping at me desperately as euphoria shook him to the core. I couldn't contain myself anymore and gave myself over to the most powerful orgasm I'd ever felt. Everything felt numbed by a drunken pleasure.

And it faded into a moment of bliss as Noe slumped on top of me, resting his head in the crook of my neck as I leaned against the headboard of my bed, my arms wrapped around him. We lay in silence for a while, Noe running his finger around one of my nipples, his eyes staring at it before lifting to meet my gaze.

"I know you love me," He said at last, making my heart clench as he smiled, "You don't need to say it. I've lived with you long enough to know when you don't like someone." I smiled warmly at that, leaning down to kiss his forehead before I placed my finger on his chest and drew a heart there, then proceeding to rest my hand against it. Noe shivered, putting his hand over mine and snuggling closer to me.

I cradled him against me, listening to him drifting off to sleep. His sleep was silent and gentle, comfortable. I wanted it to stay that way.

And yet, despite the moment of pure bliss.

I had this nervous nagging at the back of my mind. There would be moments of comfort like this, yes, but with the Titans growing stronger every day, I wasn't sure how many more moments like this I would be able to enjoy.

The thought made me clutch Noe tighter to me as I pressed my lips to the top of his head, shutting my eyes.

Gods don't take him away from me.

Take my voice, take my job, take my powers, but don't take Noe.