New resolve

CHAPTER 7: New Resolve

Arei's body shook as it remained unmoving on the ground still holding Pel's limp, cold body. He had sustained a particularly bad wound when he'd first started competing against other warriors at Triton's training center. It had taken a little over a week to heal even after the administration of water magic, but it hadn't hurt nearly as much as the strange pain coursing through his chest now. His heart throbbed with each rapid beat. Each shallow breath burned his throat. He could feel the cold pelting of large raindrops against his back, but the noise of the raging storm overhead was only a dull roar against the pounding inside his ears. The darkening of the skies and gasps of those around him was lost on him as tears streamed from his eyes. He couldn't look away from her once rosy lips now turned a sickening shade of blue.

A shadow fell over Pel's gaunt face as long, thin fingers reached out to caress her cheek. "It is time young one... I am here to collect her..." The large, ethereal man whispered in a low, hoarse voice as if it were the first words he'd said in a long time.

Arei's eyes flickered with confusion and several other emotions as they met the man's odd white eyes as he lowered to a crouch beside him, extending his arms out for Pellas. Arei pulled her tighter against his trembling body protectively. "No! Don't touch her!" He could feel the shadows closing in around him as the man's ghostly features bleared in and out of the heavy mist surrounding him. "W...who are you?"

The man tilted his head studying Arei, obviously unaccustomed to having to explain to anyone who he was.

Poseidon swallowed hard as he stepped cautiously toward his son. He cleared his throat, his eyes moving cautiously from the shadowed figures clinging to each of Arei's shoulders then back to the ghostly man knelt in front of them. "Son... This is... He is Thanatos." He nodded toward the lifeless body in his son's arms. "Hand her over, son. It is his job to carry her soul to the underworld." He turned his attention to Thanatos as he lifted his hands in surrender. "Please take what you have come for and leave with your siblings... please. We have done nothing to garner such... attentions." His eyes shifted back to the dark, misty figures clinging to his son and to the ones circling around them all from above."

Thanatos' gaze met Poseidon briefly before moving to his siblings, then to Zeus and the others before coming back to Poseidon. "Do you think not? You have all called for us... each and every one of you to at least one of us, have you not?"

Poseidon swallowed hard again as an icy finger trailed across his cheek. He could hear the many converged laughs, including that of children, and sardonic whispers of encouragement echo through thick mist filling the now empty arena. A chill crept up his spine a Nemesis clung to the shuddering shoulders of Athena who was still crumpled at Pel's feet. His eyes widened as another face materialized within the fog. "Moros..." He whispered. His eyes sharpened and turned to Zeus who had silently joined the small group. The children he'd heard were now dancing around them merrily. Poseidon's eyes shook as he followed their movements, watching as they faded in and out of the mist their eyes and horrifying smiles all visible at times. His eyes jerked away from them and moved to the other faces standing around gawking. It would take more than one person's emotions and actions to conjure the family of second-generation gods that encircling them now. He watched as Oizys crafted her way between both Arei and Athena; but Oizys wasn't the goddess he was most concerned with. His eyes continued darting between the thick mist and his family huddled around unable to help any of them.

Zeus crouched beside his favorite daughter. His hand trembled slightly as he reached out to touch her quaking shoulder. "Athena…" But she shoved his hand away.

Sorrow quickly shifted as her rage-filled eyes glared hatefully at him. She screamed as loud as she could. "Get away! This is all your doing! You did this so what?! So, I could win, so I could be best? No, so you could be the best!"

Zeus tried to reach out to her again. "Don't be like this daughter. I did not intend for the girl to die… only to be distracted enough to lose… I only did what I did because I love you and wanted to see you succeed-"

"NO!" She screamed, cutting off his words. "I am no daughter of yours! You are no father of mine! You never have been and never will be!" She pointed toward Pel. "And now you have taken away the only family I've ever had?! I HATE YOU!"

The color drained from his face as the singing of the children grew louder and two other faces materialized from the dark fog. He lost balance and fell to the ground as two beautiful, ghostly pale women emerged from the darkness. Each embraced Athena warmly as they sent wicked grins to Zeus. Their hushed whispers fueling Athena's rage.

Poseidon clasped Triton's wrist. "Get her out of here while you can!" He whispered with a nod to the young girl clinging to his knee."

With a nod, Triton scooped up Triteia and turned to made haste away from the center of the arena causing some of the storm to dissipate. He grabbed hold of Ry's wrist and pulled him along behind him. When Ry stumbled, still staring in stunned disbelief at the frightening sight, Triton tugged harder. "This is no place for a boy. Come…"

Ry's wide eyes never left his twin. "But…"

Triton tugged harder. "But nothing… There's no stopping the children of Nyx once they have someone in their grasps… They have ignored you which is good. It means you can protect Triteia and Adella. I can trust you to do this, yes?" He held Ry's gaze until the boy nodded. Triton glanced over his shoulder to Athena, a pain shotting through his chest at seeing her. With his brows knitting and his features hardening he handed the terrified child over to Ry. "Take her inside…" He waited only long enough to see Ry nod and hurry toward the main complex before turning and running toward Athena. He pushed Zeus to the ground as the god tried pointlessly to console his daughter.

Zeus blazed with anger as his brushed dirt from his robes once again. "How dare you! I'11-"

"Thank me when I save your beloved daughter from the clutches of those two…" He murmured, his eyes locked with Athena's.

Anger quickly vanished from her face but was quickly replaced with a range of emotions. First was joy, love, and admiration; but that quickly faded as she her mind returned to Pellas and what she'd taken from the man standing before her. Despair and misery overtook her. She covered her face and sank back to the ground, her hands covering her face as she sobbed.

Triton lowered slowly beside her placing a hand on her trembling shoulder. When she didn't refuse the touch, he slid closer and pulled her into his arms. She shifted in his arms, burying face against his chest and clinged to his robes. "Shhh…" He whispered as he pressed his lips against the top of her head. Tears flowed freely down his face onto her hair.

"What have I done?! Pel… Oh Pel…" She clung tighter to him as her sobbed words broke more with stronger emotion. "You must hate me now."

He clutched her tighter against his body, wrapping one arm firmly around her back and the other gripping her head against his pounding heart. It broke for his daughter's death and for the pain it would cause this girl who was just as much a daughter to him. "No, never. I could never hate you, Athena." He released his hold on her head and tugged her away slightly. "Look at me." He tilted her chin upward forcing her to meet his eyes. "I could never hate you, even if this accident was within your control… which it wasn't. You are not to blame."

More tears flooded her eyes as she gripped his forearms tightly. She squeezed them as some of the heavy weight in her heart lifted. "Thank you… thank you so much for your words… I couldn't have borne it if… if you had hated me… though I hate myself right now…"

He forced a weak smile as he pulled her closer, this time pressing a kiss onto her forehead. His soft, whispered words caused her heart to jump. "I love you, Athena, remember that regardless of what you decide to do next." His gaze shifted meaningfully to the glowing eyes still staring out from the heavy mist. "You will always be a loved and treasured daughter to me." He whispered against her hair as he tucked her head under his chin and held her protectively against him as two sets of glowing red narrowed, and gnarled claws reached for Athena from the fog.

A new pain settled within Athena's chest. The word 'daughter' echoed through her brain on repeat mixing with the other painful thought currently on replay there. Her brows knitted as she resigned herself to the only things she could think of… the only thing she had left… She pressed her palms against his chest and held his gaze with determined eyes. "I will make you proud. I will dedicate my life to Pellas. I will take on her name and have temples built in her honor."

He cupped her cheeks, ignoring the sounds of blatant disapproval coming from where Zeus stood close by. "There is no reason for you to go through such things. You are not the one who should make amends for her death. Live your life in a way that would make Pel smile. Do all the things the two of you had talked about for all these years, all the things she shall never do."

A frown settled over her as her bottom lip puckered slightly and trembled. "But I want to make you proud as well…"

He studied her as he brushed her hair back from her face. "You already have… in so many ways… My heart has swollen with pride just as many times for you as it has Pel. Just continue being you, my dear."

Athena through her arms around his neck. "I… I don't know what to say…"

He patted her back as he watched the equally emotional and teary-eyed Arei finally hand over Pel's lifeless body to the god of death. He held Athena away gently. "Let us start by saying our final goodbyes to our beloved Pellas. What do you say?"

Athena nodded as she took his hands and let him lead her to Thanatos, who waited patently for them. More tears steamed down her face as she reached out and brushed a strand of hair away from Pel's face, the cold skin sending a shiver down her spine. Triton must have noticed. He released her other hand and wrapped his arm around her. She watched as he lowered and placed a kiss first to Pel's forehead, then her cheek, then lifted the hand that hand been dangling and pressed a kiss to her knuckles.

"I will always love you, my dear daughter. You will always live in a special place in my heart." He released Pel's cold hand and nodded to Thanatos.

Athena couldn't help the burst of sobs as Arei shot from the ground and flung himself toward Pel one last time, but it was too late. Thanatos had disappeared just as quickly as he had appeared. The dark mist faded along with the many occupants of it, leaving only the steady rumble of thunder and pelting of rain. She turned into Triton's embrace unable to face the hurt radiating from Arei as he pummeled his fists against the muddy ground and screamed in rage-fueled agony.

Poseidon tried to comfort the boy, but there was no use. Arei shove him away several times before finally causing his wings to shoot out and push away anyone close by. His clothes turned to shreds and pieces scattered into the wind as his body morphed into the black stallion. A screamed cry came from the horse as it bucked onto hits hind legs and kicked at the air angerly.

"Please, son. Calm down. Let's deal with this rationally." Poseidon tried to reason with Arei but it was no use. The horse kicked out toward him, barely missing.

"Back away! You're no father of mine! I'm only a prized possession to you!" The horse bit out before shooting into the sky.

Poseidon clenched his fist into the material of his robe over his heart. He fell to his knees in the mud as he stared up at the sky Arei had disappeared into.

Triton and Athena, both approached him, each clasping a shoulder. "He will come back once he's properly grieved."

Poseidon shook his head. "No… he is right… I have only seen him and Orion as objects… I… I've only ever treated them as a means to get what I want… what Charybdis needed…" He hung his head, his gaze settled on the mud-stained robes he wore. "I'm no better than Zeus…"

Athena frowned, glancing over her shoulder at her own father who still watched them from the same spot. "No, you are nothing like him. You realize your mistakes and will work to right them… Father will never see any of his actions as wrong…" When Poseidon met her gaze and sent her a weak smile, she squeezed his shoulder. "I will find him and bring him back… Until then I will live for Pellas… He and I both will until the day we are both healed enough to return to this place."

Poseidon cupped his hand over hers and gave it a squeeze. "You really are an amazing woman, Athena." He tugged her hand away from his shoulder and brought it to his lips for a kiss. "Thank you, dear." His gaze moved back to the skies above. "May you both find the peace you need to move on."