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"Hemitheos" ...." Hemitheos wake up" shouted Pericles as he whipped open the tattered curtains and headed for the door. Rustling awake Hemitheos slowly opened his eyes and rolled over to sit on the edge of the bed. Pausing briefly for a moment to observe the breeze flowing through the room and letting it fill his lungs. Sucking in the sweet morning air and listening to the orchestra of morning birds singing the same song routinely sung after a delicate night of rain. There it was, one beautiful smell that was carried on the air between wind and song, "Ah...breakfast" mumbled Hemitheos.
Dressing quickly and pulling on his sandals, he brushed past the table grabbing his delicate bit of burnt toast and a savory strip of bacon he scurried out the door tracing Pericles's footsteps to start the day. The sun was warmer today than yesterday he thought to himself as he quickened his pace leaving their cozy dusty home further behind him. As he caught sight of Pericles his pace slowed to realize the agenda for the day was an exciting one as always. "So Father, shall we tend to the fluffy flock in the east side of the meadow today or the west"? Keeping his focus on the meadow Pericles' simply chuckled, "Ha, ha it's good to see that your sense of humor decided to accompany you today. There's great humility in being a shepherd and all men should know humility." All jokes aside for now, Hemitheos knew this to be true as he had only heard this about a thousand times since he was a boy. "Wisdom and humility with a steady hand will always triumph over hasty precarious actions", he could remember verbatim as if it were a motto or a sales pitch by the local politicians.
After scanning the meadow, Hemitheos began to shuffle off towards the western side with a smile. "I'll take the west side today, the wildflowers are in bloom after the rain so at least the shit won't smell as bad." "Very well the east side it is for me, thanks" snorted Pericles as they began to go their separate ways. Walking through the field of fluffy white sheep Hemitheos began to take inventory as he recalled them each by the names, he had given them. Sally, Becky, Harold, and so on. "And that makes you Barry number twenty, good to see none of you ran away during the storm." It's weird how the summer Solstice always brought on some of the longest thunderstorms of the season. Like clockwork every year it was the same ever since he could remember. "I wonder what tomorrow's weather will bring", he said to Becky staring dolefully at him.
The rest of the day proceeded just as any other. The sheep grazed the meadow picking from the bounds of grass before making their way down to the small creek that ran along the basin. Washing down the long day's meal they returned to the center of the meadow to run and play in the warm sun until it would begin to fade over the treetops. "Well guys today's adventure was a blast, can't wait to see you tomorrow", and with that Hemitheos started making his way towards the east side where his father should be finishing up his blissful duties for the day. Walking forward as he crested the top of the hill; he could see his father leaning on his shepherd's crook. The closer he got the outline of a second figure became clearer. Slumping his shoulders slightly, "What is it today I wonder" Hemitheos mumbled continuing towards the two men in the distance. It was always something from day to day. If it wasn't the town steward ranting about demons, it was the Archon coming to complain about the "apocalyptic" sheep grazing the valley into oblivion.
As he came closer to his surprise it was neither. It was an elderly man standing a full head shorter than Pericles who was the same in height compared to Hemitheos. With the sun completely slipping from the sky, Hemitheos approached through the darkness making his presence known, "Father, the fluffy cotton balls are all tucked into bed." His father and the stranger turned towards him so that he could now clearly see them both in the starlight. The man looked to be as old as time itself. Wrinkles washed down his face like tides rolling out to sea. His hair was dirty and tattered circling the outside of his scalp with almost a perfect circle of baldness atop the middle of his head. That man looked broken in body and spirit as life had taken its toll on him. He was cloaked in a dirty brown rag for a tunic and hobbled heavily to one side leaning on a cane. With his gaze lowering to finish analyzing this beaten figure he noticed his ankle had an unusual twist to it. "Sir, are you all right?" "Not quite dear boy, I was run off the road a little way back by a cart and fell into the ditch." "Hemitheos help me get him to our house so we can bind his ankle. If we leave him here, there's no telling what may happen to this old geezer." "Thank you for your kindness, my name is Elius." "Good to meet you, let's take this nice and slow." With that Hemitheos leaned down and slowly lifted the man up and over his shoulders as he would one of his wounded "cotton balls" and followed Pericles down the path to their house.
Pericles went to work on his ankle while Hemitheos began throwing things into a pot to make some contraption resembling stew for dinner. "There that should do it. How does that feel?" The old man took a moment to wiggle his toes before attempting to stand for a moment. "Feels much better, thank you for your kindness. Seems rare these days with most folk stuck in their way." "Stews ready... I think." Three bowls were laid out on the table and filled with possibly the worst dinner ever concocted which everyone ate gratefully that something was provided. Eventually, once the meal was choked down Pericles lit a fire, and everyone gathered around it to gather warmth. "Seems you two are quite the shepherds", Elius said sipping down some cool water. "Yeah, Pericles and I have been shepherds as long as I can remember." "Pericles, is it? Not Father?" The old man had a puzzled look as he peered over toward Pericles. "No, I'm not his father, but he is my son. Hemitheos came to me when he was just an infant swaddled and laid at my doorstep." "And the boy's birth parents?" "His mother was the one who left him here begging for my help as she was being driven out of town by the Archon swearing, she was a raving mad woman."
Pericles took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "It's a long story Elius and it's getting late, and the ankle could use some rest." With that, Pericles got up and walked into the darkness in the direction of his bed. Hemitheos and Elius were left by the fire in silence for many moments until Elius spoke. "Hemitheos what of your father, did you know of what happened to him?" " No, he never came looking and I stopped wondering about him a long time ago." The frustration could be seen on his face as his brow furrowed and became tense. "Like he said it getting late and I'm tired from a long day fulfilling day of chasing sheep so I'm heading to bed." Mimicking the direction of Pericles, Hemitheos also disappeared into the darkness leaving Elius in a lonely silence staring into the flames. Watching the flames execute their rhythmic dance twisting and turning as if to a tune no one could hear. Shadows slowly cast around the room while Elius was lost in his thoughts. 'He's witty and sarcastic, that one. Much more like you Father than you realize.'
Hemitheos had just begun to settle into his bed with new emotions creating conflict in his head as he lay there staring out toward the stars. I have not had a bad life. I've always been surrounded by the love of a father to fill the void that all my questions would have come pouring out of. Then why are my thoughts dwelling now on those questions? Was I wanted, unwanted, or just a trinket placed in the hands of another? Hours seemed to pass in just a few moments as his gaze never lingered from the window, his gateway to the night sky. The wind was unusually calm tonight and the sky clear of clouds and rain for once which allowed the stars to shine ever brighter. Closing his eyes, he listened to the sounds of the night that enticed him to fall asleep since he was a child. The lullaby of the crickets, trees, and finally the owls all coming together in an orchestral crescendo. Searching the air slowly opening his eyes he realized that the night was cold and quiet. No trees, owls, crickets, nothing. The night seemed empty, cold, and bitter without a voice. Rising from his bed he realized the air smelled different. It was brittle, metallic, and heavy. "Damn, geezer probably didn't put the fire out, figures". Pushing past the curtain into the main room expecting to find the old man passed out by the fire, but the room was dark and empty. Scanning the small room in the darkness looking to locate where he may have gone, a glint of light was there.
The red glimmer was not coming from the room but was shining on the edges of the cloth draping down the front entrance of the hut. 'What the hell, did the old man go for a walk in the middle of the night.' "Don't tell me he fucking sleepwalks." Mumbling to himself Hemitheos made his way to the door and slowly began to slip out. Stepping into what should have been the blackness of night was filled with a blazing brightness that made him immediately raise his hand to deflect the light from his eyes. Peering through the brightness Hemitheos's mouth dropped open in complete horror at what was now his reality. Nothing could have possibly come close to the sight that his eyes now beheld. Smoke was thick in the air with the trees engulfed in flames. Burning hot and furious as it spread amongst the tree line. Screams came from numerous wild creatures as they began to pour out of the forest fleeing for their lives. Some of the sheep that had just gleefully wondered the meadow from the day before were among them. Looking closer he could see many of them running from the flames in a futile attempt to escape as the fire on their legs and back had already erupted into a bright orange and red death sentence. "What in the name of the Gods", he finally managed to speak for the first time trying to get his mind to process what his eyes were seeing.
Shattering through the sound of the animalistic screams he heard a shard crack carry through the wind as if the wind itself had struck him in the back. Turning to determine the source he slowly turned until his gaze centered on a being with the appearance of a man. Standing seven feet tall smoke billowed out of his very existence, covered in black armor polished brightly enough to reflect the star's light into the night sky. Slowly he began to turn towards him as if to acknowledge other entities in existence within his vicinity. As he turned runic symbols inscribed all over the armor were visible as they burned with the same intensity as the forest around them. A ram's head of horns worn as a helm covering his entire face except for his burning ember eyes. As he finally conducted his full body turn, Hemitheos finally found the old man as he was being held off the ground by his neck tightly in the grasp of this elusive being.
"Runboy", choked out Elius, limply hanging there slowly excepting his fate. The fire seemed to burn outwards from the eyes of this demon when it finally spoke. His voice was demonic and sliced right through the air and the flames with disgust. "What's this a bastard? This is where you choose to be buried and forgotten, in a burning field next to your bastard demi-godson." Gripping his neck even tighter in his grasp the old man began to wince and twist in pain. "You've come so far Hermes, why come all this way to continue to lie to his face within this outer shell of a mortal."Hemitheos looked into the old man's eyes and saw a single tear begin to form. Before it could crest his cheek, the winds began to pick up and create a vortex around the two. Pericles bolted out of the hut and grabbed onto Hemitheos snatching him away from the fray towards the direction of the meadow."Come on we must run! That is Deimos, God of Fear and Panic and he will not hesitate to kill you." "What is happening!" demanding an answer barely keeping his feet underneath him following Pericles in his footsteps.
Just before they could reach the road the fire spread directly into their path cutting them off and entrapping them in with the God as if it had a will of its own. "Bare witness mortals, for the Titan Games have begun." With that, the vortex of wind that had spiraled out of control around the two exploded. Deimos was sent hurling through the air smashing through the wall of the hut and creating a pile of rubble where the home once stood. Looking back to where Elius should have been, there was no longer a frail old man but another very tall young muscular man with two very large beautiful white wings attached to his back. Looking down he also had another pair attached to the ankles of his bare feet. "By the Gods, that's Hermes" shouted out Pericles as he could not remove the panicked expression from his face.
"Deimos, Zeus will have your head for this! Not even your father Ares can save you from his fury for breaking his laws." Pushing out through the rumble Deimos looked at Hermes with a sly grin, glaring at him through the slit in his helmet. "I have broken no laws here today hypocrite. Had you gone before Zeus when he summoned you along with the rest of us you would have known." "Know what, that you're still living in Ares's shadow, or was this summoning for the newest account on how many people have run through your mother Aphrodite." Hermes with a smirk leaped towards Deimos finally drawing what appeared to be a short sword, but this sword wasn't made of steel. It had a blue and emerald glow to it. Thrusting it towards Deimos and slashes that seemed to be so fast that they could barely be seen hoping one would land a killing blow. Deimos simply ducked and slid from side to side, rolling his shoulders and slipping between the attacks. Over and over he dodged each attack without a single hitting its mark until suddenly Deimos hurled a punch to Hermes's stomach that had an impact that would have split a mountain in half. Hermes dropped to a knee trying to make it back to his feet anticipating another follow-on attack, but it didn't come. Instead, he looked up from the ground to see that Deimos had backed up and was pacing back and forth as if to taunt him.
"You see Hermes this year is different. You can't come down here playing the weak, fragile mortal avoiding and delaying the inevitable. For our King expanded the arena, our arena knows no walls, no barriers, and no confinement. You are vulnerable everywhere, for to the victor goes the spoils. This year the tournament winner can challenge to be King." Hermes finally regained enough strength to catch his breath and return to his feet, staring at Deimos with the reality of what was happening finally setting in. Reaching out his hand towards Hermes, Deimos gestured sarcastically challenging Hermes to attack him. "Show me what you got shepherd." At that moment Hermes knew that he was being baited and that Deimos was simply toying with him the whole time, but he had to try and survive. Flexing his wings in tightly grabbing the wind and using it as a springboard Hermes exploded forward for another barrage of attacks. Every muscle tensing and releasing slash after slash. Deimos spun away in an elegant dance, twisting and spinning, dodging the edge of the blade. Rolling away Deimos jumped launching himself high into the air. Suddenly a bright flash of orange split the sky as a whip of pure ember flame came crashing down severing the wings from Hermes's back.
Unleashing a blood-curdling scream Hermes slumped to the ground laying in a pool of blood forming around his now earthly-bound tainted angel wings. Reeling back in his whip, he slowly looped the flame around in circles gathering it into his hands. Looking down at Hermes spitting blood down his chest while a fountain pours down his back. A slow chuckle could be heard rumbling in Deimos's chest as he again began to pace in circles around Hermes. "You never stood a chance you know? Have you forgotten my domain you smug little prick? TERROR and PAIN that is all mine!" Deimos unleashed a sharp kick to the ribs of Hermes and the sound of shattering bones was only echoed by the crash of Hermes's body landing on the ground mere feet from where Hemitheos and Pericles were standing. "Your fear gives me a strength that you will never understand." Walking towards Hermes Deimos leaned down and retrieved the sword which was so desperately used to try and defeat him. "It makes sense now why you came all this was disguised as a mortal. You're as frail and pathetic as they are."
It all happened too fast for Hemitheos's eyes to keep up with. He heard it before he suddenly felt a splash of warmth across his face. Wiping his hand down the side of his cheek, slowly reality began to set in as he looked down to see his hand-painted red. Glancing downward, he did not feel any pain, nor did he see any signs whatsoever of any wounds. Turning slowly to check on Pericles was where his nightmares would begin. Where Pericles had been standing was a set of legs with blood spraying out of the twisted intestine and shredded fleshy like a volcano erupting. Looking further to the ground was Pericles's face frozen in time in an expression of horror, As the rest of him lay out on the ground eyes sprung open. His soul was now lifeless with the sword planted firmly in his chest.
Immediately tears could be felt running down his cheek mixing and washing the blood from his face. There he lay, the man that raised him. The one who made him laugh when sad bandaged his scrapes, made him feel truly loved, and so much more as all the memories were flooding and unraveling in a scenic journey before his eyes. Love, hate, and unbridled rage were like electricity flowing through his veins as he slumped to the ground next to what remained of Pericles. "No, no, NO!" Screaming the same word over and over again as if it would reverse time and undo the venomous deed. Why this? What had this man ever done to anyone? Nothing! He had only ever cared for me, protected me, and made me feel wanted when life had abandoned me. Blood began running down from his palms under the strain of his firmly grasped hands. Snapping him out of his blood-lustful rage, was the sound of boastful maniacal laughter disseminating out across the hot night air. Turning slightly looking over his shoulder was Deimos proud posing above his defeated wingless foe, with his boot firmly supplanted into his chest.
"Now Messenger, do be a good lad and tell Hades I said fuck you when you see him." Picking Hermes up to his knees and with a quick flail of his arm released the whip to its full length. Slowly wrapping the flaming harness around his throat scorching the flesh into blisters and squeezing what life remained from his body. "Feel your end approaching. You are no stranger to death, are you not? Are you not the farrier of souls to the afterlife, but who will be left to carry you there?" Gurgling and grasping for life Hermes could do nothing but die. His arms were pinned beneath the weight of Deimos's boot. He could feel the clinching pain inside his chest as his lungs clawed for air. Pressure swelled behind his eyes as darkness began to creep in. Grip the lanyard even tighter, cutting into the flesh of Hermes's neck causing the pressure in his skull to give way as his left eye burst out dropping and dangling from the socket. Hermes would have screamed out if not for the lack of oxygen, instead, all his screams and agony stayed locked away in his chest.
Spending eternity in a matter of moments Deimos fed on the anguish which was his pleasure to inflict. Few things in this world were more intoxicating than the satisfaction of sexual pleasure, but this was his. This was what every inch of him desired. Pain, agony, terror, all the things were sweeter than any guilty pleasure that mortals would ever experience. Feeling the life fleeting out from underneath him was nothing short of unbridled pleasure. Oh, the feeling of it all. A sharp twinge from the top of his head down through his body followed by pain. Pain? Pain? Deimos's thoughts ran through his mind again as he opened his eyes. Why pain? Why is this pain that I feel? Staring forward into the night, the image of Hemitheos slowly came from his peripheral into view. Staring back at him he could see him trembling, blood flowing down from his palms. The blood was highlighted with a familiar bluish-green light that caused it to seem translucent as it dripped from his body. The image of Hemitheos was uneven in his sight. The one seemed to be two with the edges of his outline not matching up as a painting torn in two would have been. Staring ever longer at Hemitheos, his visage seemed to slide further and further out of sync tearing his vision of him further in two.
Horrified, the realization hit Deimos as hot and fatal as would Zeus's thunderbolt. It was not this boy splitting himself into two halves or some devilish trick. A bead of blood began to appear down Deimos's face weeping down his brow and into his eyes. The beads turned to drops of blood until savagely blood ripped through the cleaved skin unleashing the undeniable impossible truth as half of Deimos's skull fell to the ground. There Hemitheos stood 'God Killer', holding the blade Hermes had failed to achieve victory with. Flicking his wrist towards the ground and planting the blade firmly into the dirt, he leaned down to Hermes releasing the now extinguished bondage from his neck.
"Who the fuck are you?" screamed Hemitheos as the rain started to pour out of the sky. Tears form on Hermes's, choking out blood trying to speak, "I'm sorry boy, I'm sorry for everything." "Answer me dammit, who the fuck are you? Why did you bring this Armageddon into my life?" Holding Hermes's head closer lifting his relentlessly heavy body closer to him. "You're my son, Zeus's laws forbid Gods from revealing themselves to the mortal world, blind faith he calls it." Looking down around the ground the river of blood was now soaking into Hemitheos's pants. So much blood, how can there be so much blood, he thought as he continued to look down at this savagely beaten creature. Blood speckled his face as he continued to try and speak. "You don't understand what you've done. Why couldn't you just run away, now you are caught in Zeus's web." Blankly starting back, thoughtless ideas of what all had happened and what this could mean. "What game? I don't understand!" Reaching his hand up and placing it on his cheek time began to slowly creep to a standstill. "The sands of time will stand still and run out for us all my son, even for the gods. You must choose the divine path and embrace death and destiny as the two are the same." Punching the ground with his fist, "Stop with the damn riddles, give me answers!"
Not taking his last moments for granted, he spoke slowly knowing his next breaths would be his last. "You're my son and you've always been loved every day of your life. You must find the divine path to put an end to the game. There's a power within you 'boy'. It's always been there. The others, they'll come for you." "Let them kill me, I don't care, what else can the Gods take from me? I lost the only family, the only life I have." "No, you must go to A...". Fighting to take a deeper breath so that he may impart a final gift to his son in hopes of saving him from an inevitable death." "Arcadia...Arcadia...Family in Arcadia", Exhaling a final time, Hemitheos could feel his final heartbeat vibrate through him as he let go of Hermes's hand and let it fall to the ground. Head still spinning from all that had befallen around him, the shock had now completely set in. Walking over to the cliffside behind the ruins and rubble of what was once his home, he sat down in the grass. Slumping down to the ground and looking up to the night sky, "If Zeus is neither able nor willing to prevent evil, then why call him a God?" Fainting to the ground and letting darkness creep in and consume him. In body and soul, a survivor, but in his heart, he longed for death.410Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡljyGdXqwmx
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