The Gates of Tartarus | I ✓

38. Two Bros, Chilling In An Urn, Five Feet Apart 'Cause They're Not Gay

Okay, so I know I said that I was going to spam-update like a couple weeks back, but then I hit a serious writers block and just. Couldn't. Write. After I finally got ideas again, I decided not to publish until I finished the entire book. And right now, I'm working on the last chapter, but I decided that you guys have waited long enough for this update, so I'm posting all the chapters but the last one, and that will be posted... maybe around later today or tomorrow?

Yeah, let's just get on with the chapter.

Edit: Definitely one of my longest chapters towards the end! I honestly love Eden and Apollo's banter so much and writing it is fun but also very rarely does it drive the plot so sometimes it must be set aside and never be used.

Unfortunately.

When I opened my eyes, Apollo was hovering over me with a panicked look. As soon as he noticed I was awake, though, he relaxed.

"Sorry," he said, "but you were starting to disintegrate again."

I looked at my arms. The hair had almost been singed off.

Fun.

"Hemera and Gaia," I said to his unasked question. "They wanted to tell me... immortals make mistakes? Desperation is the most important driver in motivation? Something is waking the primordials—they don't know what, or who."

He was frowning, but he didn't push it. "Well, we can go when you're feeling better."

"I'm feeling better," I said quickly. "I just kind of need to wrap my mind around that conversation. Oh, and Hemera backed up your Ouranos story, by the way. And she says hi. And she also said that destroying realms is illegal, so I guess we're safe in that."

"Yeah," Apollo muttered, "unless they meant that desperation is driving primordials into considering destroying them."

There was a pause, and Apollo seemed to realize he spoke out loud.

"But no, it'd be stupid," he hastily said. "The retaliation from all the other primordials would be insane. If Hemera said it's against the primordials' laws, they'd follow it. Besides, that's four primordials that now seem interested in you. Don't you find that strange? I suppose I can somewhat understand Hemera, but the primordials just... they don't interact with humans. I wonder why they wanted to speak with you so badly..."

"No idea," was my very helpful contribution. "Also, Gaia said something weird, I just remembered: she said you guys had lies and secrets even you don't know about, and something about... forgiving you? Well, the gods, not you you, but whatever it is, I totally don't forgive you."

"Ha ha," he said sarcastically, though he still looked troubled. "I wonder what she meant..."

"She also said... um... something about how I wasn't supposed to live again. And she was warning me about some sort of destruction that's going to happen to Olympus... and she mentioned your soul."

He stiffened. "What about it?"

"That Zeus was willing to sacrifice it." His face went blank, and I faltered. "Um... how do you even sacrifice the soul of a god?"

Apollo didn't answer. He was staring straight ahead, his face pale, his eyes glassy; and then his eyes flared gold as a murderous expression settled onto his countenance, his fists clenching at his sides, the air becoming almost unbearably hot for a second.

"He wouldn't," he seethed, though it was clear he wasn't talking to me. "I thought the Sphinx—ten thousand years—he took—how could he—"

And then he was ranting angrily in that language of his that I didn't understand, but his tone told me enough about what he was probably saying. I had never seen him so angry before, but he was literally steaming, his eyes burning lava, his honey-colored aura almost dangerous for the first time. I wondered if I should've hightailed it out of there or not before he started blasting things to bits.