Chapter 4 Voices in the Shadow #2
The story of our appearance as an Olympian House had always filled me with a bitter sense of irony.
We’d been the first Olympians created by the gods, through the heirs of Orpheus and Eurydice.
But as the old tales explained, the other deities had grown jealous, and granted their own subjects secondary blessings.
And Zeus, of course, had been the first to act on that envy.
To this day, the difference between our origins never failed to haunt us.
“I’ll try to look into the matter more for you, Damon,” my father promised. “I don’t like this at all.”
The cold crept up my arm as he spoke. The longer I maintained contact, the harder it became to resist the pull. Every extra second required payment, life force, heat, warmth. But I ignored it and focused on my father. “I’m not too happy about it either, Father, but I won’t let that stop me.”
“Of course not,” my father told me. “We’re House Hades. Nothing can stop us, least of all those lightning-mad upstarts.”
Victor’s figure solidified as I pushed my hand deeper into the boundary. His features sharpened, the high cheekbones and strong jaw I'd inherited standing out in the gloom. A pool of pure black spread beneath his feet, rippling outward toward me.
I touched my fingertips to its surface. It was dangerous, and if Elara had seen me, she’d have skinned me alive. But the connection strengthened, anyway. My father met my stare, his own completely black now. No whites, no pupils. Only the absolute void.
His right arm no longer resembled anything human, instead tapering into writhing wisps of shade. The right side of his face occasionally melted away, revealing the emptiness beneath.
The pool between us rippled with whispered conversations, words and thoughts from others trapped there. If any of it bothered my father, he didn’t show it.
“I can tell you have doubts, son.” The chamber echoed with the depth of his command. “But House Hades never gives up. We’ve never lost an Omega in a thousand years, and we won’t start now.”
The pitch black pool churned violently before settling into something quieter, almost peaceful. “Whatever Alexander’s planning, you can’t let him get to you. I don’t want you to join me here. Not ever.”
My breath caught at the unusual warning.
To this day, I didn’t know why my father had lost control.
I had a feeling it had something to do with House Zeus, but he’d never confirmed it.
He never spoke of the circumstances that had destroyed him.
And yet, here he was, bringing it up without me asking anything.
“Now you sound like Elara,” I said, trying to lighten the mood.
Victor’s mouth twisted into what might have been a smile. “Your cousin’s always been very smart. But even Elara’s wits can only get you so far.”
The air grew heavy, the deep cold intensifying, sinking into my bones. A vortex started swirling around him. The void grew louder and insistent, dragging me an inch deeper into the nothingness.
“You’re losing focus, Damon,” Victor’s voice sharpened, cutting through the whispers.
“Something about this Omega is affecting you more than you’re letting on.
I can feel it. The Realm can feel it.” A dark tendril, thin and sharp as a razor, sliced across my cheek.
Blood trickled down my face, a shocking line of warmth against my chilled skin.
I didn’t dare to lie to him, not like I had to Elara. “I know. But this was always going to happen, no matter what Omega I chose.”
My father’s body blazed with vicious energy, the corruption more evident than ever. “Son, it’s not so simple. Things are changing. This girl... she is the catalyst. The silent war between the Houses is about to turn, and she is at the center of it.”
His right side had merged completely with the realm, no longer even attempting to maintain a human shape. The vortex twisted around him, his form both more solid and more corrupted at its core. He was fighting to hold himself together just to deliver this warning.
“Then I will protect her,” I swore, my own power rising to meet the strain.
“Protecting her is not enough!” he roared, and the vortex expanded violently. The realm latched onto me, furious shadows wrapping around my arm up to the shoulder. “You need to claim her. It has to be soon. She is not yours yet, Damon, but she must be!”
The connection between us stuttered, his figure wavering as the realm fought to reclaim him. The boundary thinned, and I felt my own consciousness begin to slip, the cold seeping into my thoughts.
“Father—” I started, trying to anchor him, trying to ask more.
But it was too late. He was gone, consumed by the realm that kept him captive.
The void’s power still clung to me, its bestial grip trying to drag me forward. The pull became overwhelming, but I refused to let anyone and anything defeat me. Not House Hades, and definitely not my own legacy.
I wrenched myself backward, fighting the shades’ grip, my father’s warning still loud and vicious in my ears. My muscles burned with the effort, but with a final surge of strength, I tore myself free. I stumbled backward, collapsing against the chamber wall.
The shadows writhed, reaching for me one last time before retreating into the chasm they’d come from.
I pressed a hand to the bleeding cut on my cheek, the sharp pain a welcome anchor to reality. My skin felt frozen, my legs unsteady. The chamber pulsed around me, ominous shapes shifting across the walls in patterns that hurt to look at.
I backed away from the center where the boundary was thinnest, each step making it easier to breathe. But I couldn’t escape his final warning, echoing in the frozen silence of my mind.
She is not yours yet, Damon, but she must be.