90. RUN #2
The space next to him rippled and a man appeared, back to the sun and a plumed helmet in his grip. Akrivi blinked, straining his blurry vision to see his face.
"Son."
No. Akrivi shut his eyes. Please, no.
"You seem to be in pain."
Akrivi refused to open his eyes. Not only was he frozen in place, but he also couldn't retrieve anything from his pocket.
"Your aether is also dangerously low."
Resigned, Akrivi opened his eyes in time to see Poseidon hunker down and peer at him with bright blue eyes starkly similar to his.
"You runner." He smiled, slow and triumphant.
"I'd advise you to cease such attempts. Or do as you please, but I promise to always find you.
And I will come for you with my horses. Drys Valon.
Hermes' Hive. Your little lodging at Corinth.
That hovel in Upper Tartarus. I will find you and trample everything for your sake."
Akrivi could only stare, strangely detached.
"How inconvenient, this meat you live in." He poked Akrivi's wound and rubbed the blood between the pads of his fingers. "You must loathe your mortality."
I do not! Emotions rushed back in, chief of all, fear.
"I understand." Poseidon patted his shoulder. "You are my blood after all. Even though they forced you to carry the blood of another."
Nobody forced me. I asked for Hades' blood. But his throat, along with the rest of his body, remained frustratingly paralysed.
For a heavy moment, Poseidon stared at his wounds with a blank expression.
Then he blinked and nodded. "It will matter little when you become one of my house. Look at the way your eyes quiver."
That triumphant smile returned. "I understand your excitement. It would be my pleasure to bring you into Ambrosia's fold. Immortality is a true gift."
Akrivi's heart shuddered in his chest. He would have pleaded if his mouth were free. Anything but immortality.
"All the years we've missed, we shall make up for."
Poseidon squeezed his shoulder, and Akrivi felt the cool flow of aether travel into his reserve. Though he felt repulsion that it came from Poseidon, his body didn't care. It immediately went to work, fixing what was damaged.
"Sometimes my horses get spirited. I apologise for your wounds," he said before withdrawing his hand. "Know that you are my son forever. I'll die before I let mortality take you from me."
After patting his head like he was one of his horses, he straightened with a look of thorough satisfaction on his face.
"As for your little helper. She'll remain in the ground for a while. At first, I planned to leave her head exposed for my horses to gnaw at, but I would not."
He flashed a pinched smile. "You see, someone advised me to sanitise my affairs. And I wish to be a good example to you. Why do your eyes widen in horror? She is immortal; burying her alive poses no danger to her life. Hermes will find her... eventually." He waved. "Up."
Akrivi's limbs obeyed as pulses of dull aches travelled across his healing body.
Poseidon took him in from head to toe, then nodded again, appearing pleased. "Perfect. You will do well to—"
"I wasn't expecting visitors."
Surprise flashed across Poseidon's face, then vanished as he turned to face the speaker.
At the sight of Hades, a spark of hope flared awake in Akrivi. Though the high god treated him with the tolerance a lazy teacher gives an eager pupil, he still cared enough to save him. Hopefully.
Akrivi tried to meet his eyes, but Hades was looking at his bloodstained clothes.
When he cocked his head, his loose black hair shifted in the breeze. "Does that belong to you?"
"This?" Poseidon brandished the helmet, his fake smile appearing strained. "It's Athena's. Being something that was originally yours, I'd understand the confusion."
Hades slid his focus from Akrivi to Poseidon; his black gaze remained dry. "I was referring to the boy."
"He is none of your business." Poseidon's trident appeared in a flash of silver light and poured dense waves of aether that stung Akrivi's eyes. "Was it not enough that you soiled my son's blood with yours?"
"I only asked because I was curious about the boy's custody," Hades replied smoothly as an obsidian bident appeared in his grip. "And I wasn't aware sharing my blood with Demeter's price for shame caused such... deep offence. I am pleased."
The veins across Poseidon's arm bulged as he gripped his trident tighter. "We are merely at the border of your domain. Do not attempt anything foolish."
"Is it because of this?" Hades pointed at his bident. "I thought we were measuring weapons, so I brought mine."
"You are not funny."
"Never claimed to be. I merely sensed a disturbance and came to check." His bident vanished. "And I'm in no mood for violence; you can relax."
Akrivi deflated as his last embers of hope fizzled to nothing.
Hades' gaze shifted from Poseidon to Akrivi once more, his expression remaining unreadable. "Now I'm curious enough to attend the Fate of Heroes." He turned and threw a casual wave. "See you then, game master."
He vanished, leaving a wisp of black smoke that soon vanished in the breeze.
For a long time, Poseidon stood frozen, glaring at the spot Hades once stood. Finally, he blinked and turned to Akrivi. "I have so much to show you, son." That lifeless smile was back in place. "Let's go."