Chapter Nine

After we made it back to the house I ended up warming up some food for me and Nikkos before having us eat in the living room. There was a tv set up and only had basic underworld cable so there were only shows from here on. I ended up putting on some random movie that looked interesting and Nikkos seemed to get absorbed in it while we ate.

I didn’t pay too much attention to the movie as I was busy thinking about many things. I was thinking about how the people from the Berber forest wanted me dead and how the shadow figure I saw before was there to kill me, much like the people who were dying around us. Nikkos also had made it very clear that part of the reason for him existing is to protect me, and it all made me wonder how exactly I was tied to everything.

I finished eating and sat my plate down on the floor since there was no coffee table. I turned a bit more so that I could face Nikkos over the tv and looked at him. I thought over how to start the conversation about what I wanted to ask. I also thought about how there were things I also wanted to know about him. Now if that was me just being curious about the person who's gonna be by my side for a while or because of the connection, I didn’t know and I refused to think about it.

Nikkos finally noticed me looking at him and raised an eyebrow at me as his fork stuck out his mouth. I closed my eyes and turned away as I let out a laugh that didn’t seem to want to stay inside. Once I managed to stop I looked back at Nikkos and he was setting his plate down too before looking at me with a smile.

“You are curious.” He looked at me and took on a posture of waiting.

“Why me? Why am I mixed in all of this when I’m just a simple god of war with anger issues?” I voiced.

Nikkos stared at me for a moment, “Ares, defending yourself doesn’t mean you have anger issues. Neither does not allowing people to walk all over you. It's not like you walk around exploding over little things randomly. I mean it's only been a few days and you haven’t snapped, not even at your father. You can’t consider yourself having anger issues just because you get mad at the people who push you to the point of getting mad.”

I rolled my eyes, “You only say that because you haven’t been around as long.”

“I’m older than anyone in your pantheon combined. I might not have had a body or been on the ground but I did see things. I could watch and hear, and I know I’m right when I say you don’t have anger issues. You shouldn’t take the labels others who dislike you give you because they will always be bad even if you're the picture of perfection.” He was serious.

I thought about what he said and it made pain shoot through my chest at him being right. I didn’t like the idea that I had been more mistreated than I thought and that I had managed to actually accept it and believe everything. It made my depression start to peek through and I decided to push it all to the side for another day to deal with.

“Besides all that, why am I involved?” I asked him again.

“I don’t know much about exactly why because the Origin keeps everything to itself, but I do know there is a prophecy and that it points towards you. I think the fact that I was given a body and a connection to you solidified the idea that it is you. I think you're the one who’s supposed to fix it all but not even I am too sure on how.” Nikkos had a thoughtful look on his face as he said this.

“Okay, so I'm a part of a prophecy, the people we fought in the forest are probably not the only ones, and the people dying are either from them or something else connected to it all. That doesn’t explain why all of this is happening and now of all times.” I huffed as I leaned more into the couch.

Nikkos frowned, “I would say that the Origin was testing us all but from my knowledge, the prophecy came after the shift in the Origin happened. Not before so I don’t think it was a planned test for the worlds to go through. I think something or someone else caused or started it because the shift in the Origin isn’t as big as it would be if the Origin had truly planned it.”

I nodded, “So maybe it's not that big of a problem and will be simple once we gather more information?”

“No, I sense a lot of death is gonna happen and I’m sure that Death guy does too. It’s not a big shift but it’s still a big problem because I have the feeling no matter how unplanned it is that if we mess up several or all the worlds will be destroyed.” Nikkos said it as if it was simple and nothing to stress over.

I stared at him with wide eyes, “Great, no pressure at all on me. I mean I could probably be the reason everyone dies. How am I expected to save the worlds or stop a threat to the worlds if I barely want to live? This is just so fucking great.”

Nikkos grabbed my hand, sending sparks through my body. “Hey, you’re not alone Ares. I’ll be here to make sure we don’t mess anything up. I might be new to this whole thing but I’m not useless. I have my powers, strength, and I am a good fighter.”

I didn’t pull my hand away and nodded, “That lightens the load. You never elaborated on your powers or any other things you can do.”

He smiled, “Well, you’ve met my belua, not like officially but when I look non-human that's it. It's more of a wild spirit that is a part of me. Then there’s the fact that I can change my appearance but it does take energy to do so. I have wings and they are big and they’re red like my eyes, so I can fly. I can hear, see, and smell better than most gods can and I’m not a god. I don’t know what I am but I am above being a god, no offense.”

I shook my head, “None taken.”

“My powers very much revolve around fire and electricity. It’s not like your father who can only control lightning. I can control it all, start it all, and make it all stop. Now that I think about it my powers are very much attack powers that are extremely amplified. I do have the power to create my own people but that takes a lot of energy too. I’d rather not do that. I have great strength even without my powers and one of my punches could probably kill someone if I wanted to. Which aids in me being naturally a good fighter.” He finished off.

“So this belua is like a beast or monster that’s attached to you?” I ask and the question made his eyes glow that bright red before dying back down.

Nikkos cleared his throat, “No. it’s a spirit that is a part of me and he doesn’t like being called a beast or a monster. He has his own thoughts but they aren’t as clear as a normal person's thoughts would come across. He can’t really speak and often uses actions or sounds to get a point across. He’s been with me since I was created and he even has his own feelings too. Although my belua is still one with me it's also not.”

When he explained it, it made sense although I was still a bit confused, I had gotten the whole picture. I also made a little note in my head to not refer to it or him as a beast or monster. I’d seen what he did to the person in the forest and I was not eager to be on the other end of that all because I didn’t address him properly.

I nodded, “Got it. So you can create your own race of people or like just create kids with your powers?”

He thought about it for a moment before answering, “Both actually.”

I asked the next question I was dying to ask, “Do you really have wings?”

He laughed, “I really do, Ares.”

I sat up with a grin on my face, “I wanna see them.”

I know I was acting childish but you didn’t see many people with wings. I mean some nymphs, fae, and of course angels had them but that’s really it. You were highly unlikely to see someone with wings just prancing around and it's not like I could go to heaven to check out some wings. Heaven was strict and you had to be invited inside and unless Eliyahu, the creator of Heaven and everything breathing there, trusted you, you were to have an angel with you no matter where you went. Plus, the angels were all stuff and snobs and looked at us gods like we were disgraces.

“Okay.” Nikkos got up, removing his hand from mine and I realized I never moved to separate us before. I fought off the embarrassment as I watched Nikkos remove his shirt and give me a full view of his upper body again.

I watched as he closed his eyes and then the next thing I knew red wings were coming out his back. Nikkos rolled his shoulders a bit and spread out his wings to full length before looking at me and laughing at my stunned face. I mean his wings were as huge as him if not hugger and they were a vibrant red. They looked so soft and seemed to make Nikkos look even more powerful than before.

“Can I touch them?” I asked as I moved the edge of the couch.

He smiled, “Of course.”

I didn’t waste any time getting up and stepping closer to Nikkos as my eyes stared at his wings. I moved to his left-wing and reached out to touch it. When my hand touched the wing they twitched before relaxing again and I found it so fascinating. They were soft and I couldn’t help running my fingers over them lightly, making Nikkos shiver and move them away from me.

“Maybe touching them isn’t a good idea.” He said as he looked at me.

I frowned, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt them or make you uncomfortable.”

“You didn’t but my wings are sensitive and having your hands on them,” He cleared his throat. “It makes it hard to control myself.”

“Oh.” I stepped away and looked anywhere but at Nikkos and had completely forgotten about the connection thing and the fact that Nikkos swore he was basically in love with me. Apart of me wanted to throw caution to the wind and continue to touch his wings and even him but that voice in my head reminded me that that wasn’t what I wanted. But the connection made the idea stick in my head and I felt the feeling of sexual need building for the first time in forever.

“Ares, may I remind you that I can feel what you feel.” Nikkos voice came out raspier and I locked eyes with him only to see them a bright red as he stared at me intensely.

“I-I think I’ll j-just go, umm, shower.” I stuttered out before quickly turning away and heading upstairs to the bathroom and closing the door behind me. I locked the door and tilted my head back against it as I ignored the half surprise in my pants.

I groaned, I’m going to kill myself.