The Angel of Death

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty

I came to upside down, which was not the weirdest way I had ever woken up, but was definitely one of the most disorienting. Something was still wrapped around my ankle, and my foot had gone numb. My head was pounding and my hands and arms tingled from the excess blood pooling in them. My wings were still out, and the joints had gone sore from having the appendages hang down limply in a way that was not very comfortable. I couldn't feel any wounds, and as far as I could tell, I wasn't wearing any cuffs or anything. I was just upside down.

I was back in that weird, spacey place- I could feel my wing tips grazing the wet-not-wet ground, and the swirls of stars and planets glinted. I twisted my head, trying to see if I could spot what was holding me up, but it was too dark to see anything. Last I remembered, I had finally gotten rid of Minos for good, and then that stupid doorway I had forgotten about dragged me here, I guess. It was a lot darker than it had been in my dream. And the nightmare-inducing screams of my father were missing, and I didn't know if I felt relieved or horrified by that fact.

It was very quiet, and when I started squirming to get down, the rustle of my feathers and clothes was deafening. Not just to me, either, because a second later, I was dropped harshly and hit the ground head-first, having to roll awkwardly to avoid crushing my poor wings. As the tingling feeling of blood rushing back to where it was supposed to be levelled out, I realised I couldn't feel my powers- something or someone was blocking them, and I felt naked without their use.

I slowly climbed to my feet, wishing I had managed to hold on to my sword. I wasn't used to fighting with only my wings, and although the feathers were razor-sharp, they still felt a little bulky and weird as I hadn't really gotten used to them yet. "Hello?" I called out, my voice sounding oddly muted and muffled in the endless space. It was still too dark to see anything, and my senses were all messed up.

A gold glow started to my left and I instinctively pulled a wing around to shield my face. It was reminiscent of when the Gods shifted to their True forms, and I didn't want to risk losing my mind or being incinerated or something. The glow got brighter until it seemed like the being was only a few feet away from me. I kept my wing blocking their figure, and my eyes fixed on the fog that had begun to swirl around my feet.

"Niccolo di Angelo, son of Hades of the Underworld. Ghost King and wielder of Deathbringer." The voice, in contrast to mine, echoed loudly. I couldn't tell if it was male or female, but it held a weight to it that not even Zeus had. Whoever they were, they were powerful. "Hero of the demigods, and traitor."

I grit my teeth. "I'm not a traitor. What did you do to my father?"

The voice was quiet for a moment. "He is out of your reach. But you are not out of mine, and you would do well to remember whom you speak such disdain towards."

"Who I-?! I don't know who you are, only that you kidnapped my father, and are the cause of another huge war! But you should know that we've defeated Kronos and Gaea, and whoever you are, we'll defeat you too!"

Their laugh was an odd sound, more like wind sliding through a tree. "Yes, Gaea was weak from her slumber, and Kronos has always been too ambitious for his own good. Tell me, little traitor, you've seen Tartarus, haven't you?"

I froze, (not that I was exactly dancing around before) momentarily forgetting how to breathe as I remembered the horrors I had lived through. "How did you know?" I whispered.

They laughed again. "He had nothing on me, little traitor. He was weak and it landed him his role as a prison for the filthiest sorts of creatures this universe has ever known."

The realisation that this being was saying they were more powerful than Tartarus, who I still could hardly think about without breaking down, terrified me. But there was also the possibility that they were lying. Kronos had probably told us dozens of times that he was the most powerful being ever or something along those lines, and it turns out he was defeated by a bunch of teenagers. Same with Gaea.