TAMING APOLLO | completed

39. la la land

39. la la land

G A Y L E

"UHM, KAKO? What exactly is an Epiales? And how do we kill it?" I ask as black mist begins to surround Kako and I.

Kako holds out her giant sword, swinging it around to blow the mist away.

"Epiales is the spirit, or personification of nightmares – CLOSE YOUR EYES, DON'T LOOK!" I immediately shut my eyes at her orders, but the black mist gets thicker and soon enough I can feel it engulfing me.

"Epiales is a son of Nyx, the primordial goddess of the moon. I personally haven't seen him in centuries, but I guess he's back. Whatever you do, do not open your eyes."

"If you look directly into the eyes of Epiales, you will see your worst nightmare. The fear paralyses you and you could die on the spot." She explains besides me, while simultaneously panting as she tries to waft the dense, black mist away.

"Luckily, he's not a god himself, just a demon and he can be slain by this sword – if only I could... if I could see him!" She cries, as something hurls her into the air. She screams, landing on the ground somewhere far away.

All around me is darkness. I can't see or move, the black mist is so dense that it has nailed me into the ground. "Kako?" I call, making sure to keep my eyes screwed shut. "Kako?! Where are you?" My question is met by silence. She must have passed out.

My heart hammers against my chest as the mist around me begins to hiss. Yes, hiss.

"Melas Oneiros is here. Melas Oneiros is here. Open your eyes. Melas Oneiros is here. Open your eyes..." the voices murmur as if they are right there around me, whispering in my ears.

A part of me wants to open my eyes to see what all the fuss is about, but a bigger part of me wants to live to see Cyrene, to save her.

My body turns to a block of ice when I feel fingers creep upon my shoulders, and slowly begin to tap. "Open your eyes..." I feel tears on the insides of my closed eyes when the fingers wrap around my neck, a burning sensation filling me up. My heart hammers in my chest and my ears ring.

"Open your eyes, mortal. Meet your demise!" The voice screeches inside my ears as I let out a scream, trying my hardest to stay sane. I can feel a body pressed close to mine.

I'm guessing it isn't Kako.

Before I know it, I'm trembling with fear, and this overwhelming desire to open my eyes, even though my head is feeling lighter, the fingers around my neck are getting tighter, I never relent.

I've come too far to die.

I don't want to die.

I refuse to die.

Suddenly, there's something weighing on my hands, between my fingers. It's heavy, but I refuse to betray any hints that anything has changed, and I remain completely still.

It finally dawns on me what I've got in my hand, heart beating more rapidly at the thought of what I'll have to do.

Bellator.

I realise that it's the sword Apollo gave me not too long ago, I can feel the gleaming deicidium steel of the katana I had in my hands a mere few days ago.

But how..?

I push the questioning thoughts away, and focus on the task at hand, on the constricting of my throat. A sudden boost of courage and adrenaline flood my bloodstream.

The voice is still murmuring for me to open my eyes, so Epiales is probably still unaware that I've got an ancient Japanese sword in my hand.

Point, Gayle.

Can deicidium even kill an ancient evil spirit?

Guess there's only one way to find out...

Slowly, with my other hand, I reach up, and exaggerate my choking noises, my fingers graze his shoulder. He's quite tall, so already my brain tries to measure where exactly his heart may be.

"Enough of thisss!" Epiales hisses, putting his filthy fingers on my face, reaching for my eyes to pry them open.

Now or never.

In one swift motion, I reach up with my other hand, and with all the might I can possibly muster, plunge Bellator into Epiales' chest.

He screeches like a bat into my ear that the impact, as I pull Bellator out. Suddenly the mist around me weakens, and I can finally move my body.

The screeching still goes on, but he grabs the sword before I can make another move. "No!" I scream, pulling Bellator back but to no avail, he sweeps me onto the ground.

"Take that, you ugly sack!" Kako's voice floods my auditory senses as the sound of metal into flesh echoes through the air. She does a warrior cry as something, or rather, someone, collapses onto the ground.

"You can open your eyes now." The sound of Kako's voice hangs in the air for a moment before I can fully digest what she's really saying.

My eyes flutter open slowly to the glorious figure of my bodyguard with blood splashed on her face. Beneath her foot, a disappearing puddle of blood the same colour as on her sword.

Confused, I furrow my brows. "What happened?" I ask, wondering why there's no dead body beneath her foot.

"He's a dream demon. They don't have corpses, so his body dissolved into this puddle of blood. Don't be fooled, mortal, monsters seldom remain dead in this realm. Don't be surprised if you cross paths with him again in the distant future." I sigh at the prophet of doom ahead of me, heart sinking at the thought that I may one day have to face off against Epiales again.

Kako's electric blue eyes zero in on the bloody katana in my hand and for the first time in the past five minutes, I realise I've been holding it all along. "Woah, where'd that kick-ass sword come from?" She asks, curiosity flaring in her eyes like a dangerous flame.

I hold the sword up to eye-level, examining the weapon curiously, slowly as memories of training sessions with Apollo flood my brain, a devious little smirk etches itself into my face.

"Kako, I'm just as curious as you are."