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He must be drunk "You&039;re to stay here"

"Don&039;t worry I have no intention of fucking up your party" YetOf course had his original plan worked out, the king would be ht now

I should have the bastard beaten, except it would cast a pall on Styxx&039;s party That s withdrew and closed his door

Acheron shook his head, trying to clear it of the king&039;s thoughts He picked up Ryssa&039;s gift to study it How ironic that she would give hiuided her to it

"Apostolos?"

He froze at the hesitant feht hie you But we must be careful Xiamara will return and show you how to use your powers Leave them alone for now so that Archon can&039;t find you Stay hidden and when the others have ceased their machinations, she will lead you to ain I swear it on ainst his cheeklike a s his teeth, he felt the pain overwhelm him His mother loved himHis real mother

He wanted to see her desperately To know, just once, what it felt like to have a parent look on hi looked at Styxx or Ryssa With pride With love

I&039;er have to be ashaoddess to be with a whore, there was nothing shaod

She could love hi Ryssa&039;s bracelet to his chest, he s Artemis what had happened to him Surely she&039;d be thrilled

How could she not?

Yet he still had a strange sense of foreboding that warned hi

June 24, 9527 BC

Acheron paced the floor, desperate for Artemis to appear so that he could surprise her with his newfound role The s about hiht Like Artemis, he could teleport outside and back in Granted his mother had told him not to use these powers, but honestly he couldn&039;t help it They were much more in control of him than the other way around

And still he heard the voices from the people around him and even off in far lands Sometile thought The entire world was laid bare at his feet

The only peace he had was around Apollodorus whose desires were simple Eat, sleep and be held and loved There was sohis nephew that it eased all the other voices screaround himself

"Acheron?"

He turned around as Ryssa exploded into his room in a flurry with Apollodorus in her ar his plaything or food He thinks I have no purpose but to coo for a little bit Could you please watch Apollodorus? His nurse can&039;t get hiht now" His father is a selfish pig who thinks I&039;m his trained bitch "I hope you don&039;t mind"

Acheron shook his head in an effort to determine what he heard with his ears versus his"I don&039;t mind" He took Apollodorus frorip on his nephew "I have him Don&039;t worry"

"Thank you" I don&039;t knohat I&039;d do without you, akribos You&039;re the only one I can depend on The rest of them are worthless "I&039;ll be back as soon as I can" She placed a quick kiss on Apollodorus&039;s head, then ran out of the roo Apollo with every step

He looked at his nepheas watching hie"

Apollodorus laughed as if he understood Theo play with me?

"Absolutely" Acheron knelt on the floor and put him on his feet so that Apollodorus could hold onto him and walk

Appie love theo

Acheron smiled at the boy&039;s nickname for himself Appie loves his uncle He treasured those words Closing his eyes, he tried to see the row into, but as with Ryssa, he saw nothing It was so odd Everyone who came near him, he saw their future with utmost clarity

Why not those closest to him?

Apollodorus fell back on his rump to suck his thumb

"So what shall the two of us do while your ht" He obliged and Apollodorus squealed in delight He rolled onto his back and kicked his legs while he held Acheron&039;s hand to his stomach

The pure simplicity of his nephew&039;s joy and love touched him so deep inside that he wanted to hold the child for the rest of eternity and keep hi he lovedHe prayed it would always be like this between them That no hurtful words or actions would drive therew older and Styxx and his father told him what Acheron had been? Would it ainst Acheron&039;s will? That he would never have done it had there been any choice?

Or worse, would he be like Maia

His gut tightened with the thought Picking up the boy, Acheron held hi him "Please don&039;t ever hate me, Appie I couldn&039;t take that from you"

Appie loves theo

Acheron cherished every syllable

"How touching"

He opened his eyes to find Arte in front of theed "Not really Apollo has bastards aplenty But he is cute enough I suppose for a shts But unlike the humans, it wasn&039;t easy He had to strain for it and then he could only get pieces of them

Put the child down I wanted to be with you "Where&039;s its hed "Doesn&039;t that thing have a keeper?"

"Yes and at the moment, the keeper would be me"

She put her hands on her hips

"Sit down, Artie and meet your nephew His bites don&039;t hurt" Unlike hers

Her entire deitation as she sat down beside them "Is it wet?"

"He&039;s not wet"

Apollodorus held one hand in his ht, theo

Acheron laughed at the thought

Arte," he said, wondering why she couldn&039;t hear the boy&039;s thoughts too It ods differed fros he could do that she couldn&039;t"As a god, do you ever hear what other people are thinking?"

She rolled her eyes "I doEither they&039;re sche People are insects"

Her rabid hostility caught hih some of the people he&039;d known in his life were so low, he wouldn&039;t insult an insect by linking the h his hair "No You&039;re quiet towith you"

He found it disconcerting that he couldn&039;t hear what she was thinking

Still, as a god, shouldn&039;t she knohen she was sitting next to another one? How could she not knohat had happened to hi different abouta smelly boy, no" She dropped her hand "I know you humans put a lot of stock in the anniversaries of your birth, but really all it marks is one year closer to death Who&039;d want to celebrate that?"

Acheron snorted at her answer So she couldn&039;t sense his unlocked godhood Fascinating "I wasn&039;t talking about e"

"Then what? You haven&039;t cut your hair and I can tell by the way the s that you haven&039;t been beaten What else has happened?"

The fact that she could be so cavalier about his beatings set his anger off The bitch should have to suffer through the pain and hu to be taken so lightly "Nothing"

She waved his hostile ansay dismissively "You&039;re such an odd man"

Apollodorus crawled over to Artemis They stared at each other for a full minute before he s" She wiped it away

Acheron held his arms out and Apollodorus returned to him

"How do you stand that?" Arteave him a wet kiss on his cheek

"I love hi about him"

She shivered even harder as if it were the ine "You want your own child, don&039;t you?" Her accusatory tone aht hi like that

Acheron held his nephew close as he considered a question that had never crossed his ht about it really"

"But if you could?"

He looked at his nephew and s so precious "I can think of no greater gift than to have my own child look at me the way Appie does"

"Then we should find a baby for you"

He scoffed at the thought before he changed the subject to one that really , Artie If I were a god, would you acknowledge our friendship to other people?"

She ust in the back of her throat "You&039;re not a god, Acheron"

"But if I were"

"Why do you ponder such ridiculous thoughts?"

"Why do you avoid answering od I told you, your eyes are a deforod be so blind as not to see another of its kind? Or was his ed to shield hiods? "And you&039;ve never known a god to have eyes like odhoodmaybe it was because they were frood?"

Exasperated, she flicked her hands at hi sound "Why are you so inquisitive today?"

"Why are you getting angry over such simple questions?"

"Because I want to spend ti attached to you Could we put hihast "Artemis!"

"What? He&039;d be safe there"

"He&039;d cry and be scared"

"Fine" She pushed herself to her feet and glared at them "I&039;ll come back when you&039;re free of him" She vanished instantly

Apollodorus stared up at him curiously Acheron patted the boy on the back as he shook his head

"Well Appie, that was your Aunt Artelory"

Art-ee-miss

He smiled at the boy&039;s atteh Not that it reallyto be around much for you"

Ackee be with Appie

His smile widened at the way Apollodorus pronounced his na, Apollodorus curled up in his lap and laid his head down Acheron stroked his small back and before he knew it, the baby was asleep

He picked hiainst his shoulder where the sound of the baby&039;s soft snore kept the rest of the world away froht now and wondered if his mother would have held hiht that she ht At least his real mother

Apolly her "That Greek goddess keeps seeing my son Do you think we could use her to protect him?"

Xiamara hesitated Perhaps she shouldn&039;t have kept everything from her friend, but if Apollymi knew the full extent of Apostolos&039;s huht do "I don&039;t know, akra The Greeks aren&039;t like us and Artemis isn&039;t all that powerful within their pantheon She would be afraid I think to protect hirowled in frustration "We have to do so him here, but the moment I do, Archon and the others will descend on us and attack"

"I have no fear Once I&039;m free, I can defeat them, plus we have your army But with Apostolosthey would attack hiht kill him while we&039;re occupied with others"

That had been the only reason Apollynant Fear for the baby had kept her fro One stray strike and it could have ended her son&039;s life It was a risk she&039;d never take

"Should I summon a Chthonian?"

Apollyh the Chthonians were usually huods and functioned as a sort of police unit for the various pantheons They kept order and prevented all-out war between the gods Even so, they had their own agendas which weren&039;t always in the best interest of the universe and definitely not in her best interest "I don&039;t trust them They&039;re as likely to kill Apostolos to keep peace as save him I won&039;t take that chance" Frustration welled inside her So long as Apostolos was in huht nowHow could she get her son to her without jeopardizing his life?

Jaden

She turned to look at Xia tone "You&039;re not thinking what I think you&039;re thinking, are you?"

"Jaden could be bartered with to bring Apostolos here But I would need a de look

Jaden was a broker who made deals between demons and the primary source of the universe His power equaled if not excelled that of a god If ever there was a being who could protect and return her son to her, he was it

"You know there is nothing I wouldn&039;t do for you, Apollyain, we&039;d have to offer hi supreive anything for her son "What would he take in exchange for his services?"

"There&039;s no telling"