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Acheron screah hiiven the tortures they&039;d put hih, that said much It was as if there was poisonous fire in his veins, ripping through his entire body

Froed from tawny to a h hi his eardruainst his skin He fell to the ground and curled up into a ball as every sense he had was assailed

"You are the god Apostolos Harbinger and son of Apollymi the Destroyer Your will is the will of the universe You are the final fate of all"

Acheron kept shaking his head in denial No It couldn&039;t be "I a"

The deod now"

Fury rode hirabbed her He didn&039;t understand his powers or anything else that was happening to hiradations and horrors tore through him Those he let travel fro her head back "Ni! This was not supposed to happen to you, akri Not this"

He grabbed her and forced her gaze to ht ine what they&039;ll do to me now? Take these powers away froht"

Acheron fell back, banging his head against the stone floor "No!" he shrieked "No! I don&039;t want this I only want to be left alone"

Xiamara tried to e froe to loith reluctance "Your will is ainst him appeared as a necklace about his neck "If you need ainst his skull that ached and throbbed with new voices and sensations He felt as if he were going mad and perhaps he was Perhaps the cruelty had finally shattered his sanity

He heard the deh his mind It was as if he could hear the entire world at once He knew every thought, every wish, every fear

His breathing ragged, he wanted an escape from it He snatched at the necklace, but it wouldn&039;t break Instead, it glowed in his palain Unfortunately, he couldn&039;t even stand He was so dizzy So ill

What had they done to him now?

Apolly for Xiamara&039;s return

"Where&039;s the Sihtly to see Xiaest child in the doorway Named for her mother, Xiamara, Simi-which was Charonte for baby-was almost three thousand years old and yet she looked no older than a four-year-old huods, Charonte demons were very slow to mature

Apollymi knelt down and held her ar Soon"

Simi pouted before she ran to her and threw her arms around Apollymi&039;s neck She put one small thumb into her mouth and buried her other hand deep in Apollyed the small demon How she wished she could have held her own son like this Just once Instead, she&039;d contented herself with lavishing her love on Xiarow old enough to free her

Simi laid her head on Apolly to her "Why is akra sad?"

"I&039;m not sad, Simi I&039;m anxious"

"Is anxious like when the Simi eats too much and her stomach hurts?"

Apollymi smiled and kissed the top of her head "Not exactly It&039;s when you can&039;t wait for sory and she&039;s waiting on herlike that"

Apollymi felt a movement in the air She looked to the shadows to see the outline of Xiamara&039;s body For a full minute, she couldn&039;t move as she waited for her best friend to join her

But there was a hesitancy to Xiamara that made her heart stop "What is it?"

Xiaratefully went to her hter as tears fell down her cheeks

Apollyripped her "Xi? Tell me"

She clenched her eyes closed while she continued to rock her daughter "I don&039;t kno to tell you, akra"

The ht orry Apollymi was "Is he not well? I&039;m still a prisoner here so I know he lives"

"He lives"

"Does he notlove me?"

Xiamara shook her head before she set Simi down "Go find your sister, Si her thumb, Simi skipped away from them

When Xiamara faced her, Apollymi felt the blood drain fro me?"

Xiamara sniffed back her tears before she placed her hand on Apollyiven her Disbelief and horror racked her as Apollyave way to a fury so profound, all she could do was screah the Palace of the Dead all of the way up to Katoteros where the rest of the gods made their hoods heard the sound of utmost heartache

One by one, they turned to face Archon whose features blanched

"Is she free?" Epithyoddess of desire, asked

Archon shook his head "She&039;d be here already if she were free No So else has happened For noe&039;re safe" At least he hoped so

Apollye branded itself into her mind What the hurowled through clenched teeth "Everyone who laid a hand to hi for my mercy and I will have none for them None!" She looked up at Xiaht ofinside s around herself "But Apostolos refuses to accept what&039;s his He refuses me"

"Go to him anyway, Xi Comfort him and help him understand what he has to do Tell hiht"

"I will try, akra"

Acheron lay in the darkness of his roo to breathe as he shook from the pain of his overwhelentle voice in his head that drowned it all out It was truly theeased along with the fading pain

"I am with you now, Apostolos"

"Who are you?"

"That is the voice of yourbeside him He curled into a ball, away from her "I have no mother She cast me aside when I was born"

"Ni, akri," the demon said softly "I was the one who took you from your mother&039;s arms while she wept in fear for you Your mother, Apollyods anted you dead I swear to you on my life Neither of us ever meant for you to be harmed You were supposed to be raised as a prince Pampered Beloved None of this should have happened to you"

He found that iods want me dead?"

"It was prophesied that you would be the end of the Atlantean gods But you have to understand how much your ods to save you and keep you hidden until you were old enough to use your powers to fight the you to coht every wrong ever done to you"

"Make it right how?"

"She will destroy everyone who ever harmed you" The demon stroked his hair like the mother she described "You are the most loved of any child ever born Every day I have sat with your mother while she wept for your loss and ached to have you with her Come home with me, Apostolos Meet your mother"

He wanted to And yet"How do I know I can trust you?"

"Why would I lie?"

Everyone lied, especially to him "For any number of reasons"

Xiamara They come Leave hiods can&039;t find me with you or they&039;ll knoho and where you are Listen to your mother&039;s voice and I&039;ll return as soon as I can Stay hidden, precious one" She vanished instantly

Acheron lay alone, listening to the voices that tangled inside hihter and tears, curses and screaain He focused on that single tone and closed his eyes as it drove away all the other voices thatthe truth? Dare he believe for one moment that he was the beloved son of anyone?

Surely it was preposterous

He cupped the necklace in his hand and studied it Solanced to where his slave&039;s one noithout a single trace How could this be?

I&039;od as a slave

Not just any slave The lowest of all

Acheron covered his eyes with his hand as shah hih the experiences of thousands of people He could hear their hopes and fears Hear the very essence of the universe

For the first time, he saw those who had it worse than he did Those who seemed to have it better The screams of mothers who&039;d lost their children Children who had no parents Beggars and kings

Now he understood what Artemis had meant when she said she paid no attention to the hu All these people who needed help and as he i them, he saw nu he couldn&039;t see was his own life

Or Ryssa&039;s

Not even Artemis Why? It made no sense As if any of this could possibly hed at the absurdity of it all

Opening his eyes, he realized that he was no longer on the ground He was hovering over it He gasped, then fell back to the floor Pain shot through hiernails turned black and grew long

Soht His body was now alien to hi to understand why it would be such a color

How could he hide this froh hiined the look on his "father&039;s" face as he told hiod"

Not half, but full-blooded One with a bounty on his head, with an entire pantheon out to kill him It was ridiculous It defied belief, yet here he wasblue

Acheron tried to get up, but a wave of dizziness sent hi he couldhe knew, he was under the covers

His eyes widened as the full iod with the saod poork?

"Acheron?"

He tensed at the sound of Ryssa&039;s voice in the rooain norrateful that the blanket covered him completely "Yes?"

"Are you ill?"

Technically no He wasn&039;t even drunk any"

He felt her sit beside hi at the blanket "Will you look at ht happen while she sat there, he uncovered his head

She sive you this" She held a sht "Thank you" Returning her smile, he opened it to find a small medallion on a bracelet It was the sy it He frowned at the ee, but I saw it in the market and it made th"

"It&039;s Atlantean" The sun design was that of Apollymihis mother

I&039;ve made him sad Why did I pick this one? Oh no

He heard Ryssa&039;s thoughts in his head

"It&039;s beautiful Thank you"

She reached for it "I can-"

He covered her hand with his "I love it, Ryssa"

He&039;s only saying that I&039; Atlantean How could I have been so stupid?

It was so disconcerting to hear her thoughts so clearly while she held a false smile in place

"If you&039;re sure"

He nodded "I&039;m sure Thank you," he repeated

I&039;ift and I&039;ve ruined it with ht tears to his eyes His sister really did love hiht her hand to his lips and kissed it "Youto me, Ryssa You know that, don&039;t you?"

"I love you, Acheron" And I wish I could make this day as special as it should be for you It&039;s not fair that you&039;re here alone

"Ryssa!" Her father&039;s shout was enough to ods, what&039;s wrong with his eyes?

Acheron averted his gaze, scared of what they ht look like now His body was still normal, but what of his eyes?

His door sla here? It&039;s time to toast your brother"

She stood up and lifted her chin "I was giving ift"

"Don&039;t you dare be impertinent Your presence is required Now"

"Go, Ryssa," Acheron breathed "Your father wants you"

You godless whore

Acheron laughed at the king&039;s thoughts If the man only knew

The last word anyone could use to describe hi for hi didn&039;t laring his anger at Acheron "So you&039;ve finally given up calling ed "Believe me, I know you&039;re notbelow to hear your most precious ode to him"