Ginrius" father was waiting for him when he returned home. He didn"t have the usual kindly, paternal face, and he looked like he knew what would follow. He seemed more guilty than morose as he took the initiative, toning his voice to sound its most casual yet—the man had a talent for it. "When do you leave?""In a few," Ginrius answered him, almost too forcefully. But as much as he wanted to strike while the iron was hot, for some reason the traction just wasn"t there.
"I gather you didn"t come for your belongings?"
"No, just the goodbyes…"
The pause that followed was reserved for the mutual heartbreak. Ginrius seethed at the notion that he was like Zacleus after all, despite his adamant stand against everything he embodied. He resented the old man for keeping this one crucial truth, allowing him, in essence, to live a lie.
But on the other hand, he admired the willpower it took to still raise them both as his own: the b.a.s.t.a.r.d children born of his wife"s abuse—by the very G.o.ds he revered. How did he not have this courage back then, when it mattered most? To have fought for the woman he loved at the cost of his being.
Now this smoothie of emotions left Ginrius indecisive, at best, when he should have never existed to begin with. Hopeless romantics and love-hate relationships were oil and water on a proverbial scale. "They came to you first?" he continued, trying to ground the man"s unshakable calm. The more confrontational he got, the better. "What am I suppose to call you now? Just old, plain Cletus?"
"If you don"t mind, I still prefer father," Cletus told him, still unfazed. "Whatever it is that you learned tonight, it doesn"t change the fact that I raised you. I"m your father and no divine intervention will ever change that."
Learning this straight from Hades" mouth—enforced by the steel of his half-brother—was a tragedy in itself, but nothing beats the affirmation from the father he knew all his life. If his heart was p.r.i.c.ked before, it was now impaled by a white-hot poker. Kynaes, his mother actually caught the eyes of Hades first, and then Zeus", both unions giving form to him and the abominable Zacleus. It felt really twisted in summation, even in Greek mythos standards. It became more regrettable how rage fueled his strides back home, only to lose steam now, where it"s due; a cathartic farewell could have been a good way to end ties with a lying, cowardly stranger.
In the end, Ginrius chose to let the past die and gave the man a hug, before booking it across the street towards Minea"s place. He didn"t give Cletus another look, knowing he would fall apart at the seams if he even so much as glanced.
***
Minea opened almost instantly, as though expecting him to be back after what happened earlier. But her shining façade broke down as soon as he saw Ginrius. She knew that something was wrong, and that it was beyond the extent of demiG.o.ds and bullies. She also knew that she had no remedy for what was about go down. "What"s wrong, Ginrius?" she asked with readied harrow.
Ginrius stood motionless for a few, reluctant of the next step. Then he charged in to embrace her, tighter and more meaningful that what he gave his father. A bittersweet stream of tears ensued.
When they parted, Ginrius finally told her what happened, and that he was leaving town for it.
She then forced a smile and lifted his head. "You"re coming back though, right? Because that"s all that matters," she told him. "And when you do, you"ll give Zacleus a beating he won"t soon forget."
"Yes, of course…" he hesitated and recovered just as quick. "On that note, can I ask you to wait for me? Please continue ignoring my stupid brother"s advances."
The remainder of Minea"s sadness then broke, making way for those glittered eyes Ginrius loved so much. "Only if you swear on it," she replied, raising her pinky.
Ginrius got it right away, but was embarra.s.sed enough to look about, checking for clearance. He thought he saw both Hades and Thanatos from a nearby throng of shadows, before squinting to find no-one there. "I swear then," he finally said, sealing pinkies with the girl of his dreams.
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Minea proceeded to draw her face closer. His reaction was of course to shut his eyes and pucker his lips, only to receive an anticlimactic peck on the cheek. He opened his eyes back and looked at her with disappointment. "That"s it? I"ll be gone for a while you know."
"Don"t get c.o.c.ky. Keep your promise first—then I"ll think about it. I expect you to come in no less than a golden chariot or a bolt of lightning." She switched to a playful smile, topped it with a meaningful look, and then closed the door on him.
As soon as the light disappeared from Minea"s doorway, the motif forms of Hades and Thanatos reappeared behind Ginrius. "Are your affairs concluded?" the former asked.
Even before Ginrius could answer, the trio melted back into the shadows, handing the streets back to its curfew.
On Minea"s side of the door, the girl sat reclined and silently weeping. "Hurry back," she whispered as she picked herself back up.
***
Atop Mount Olympus, Ginrius couldn"t help but look back down and think how impossible it would have been to climb on his own. The summit existed in an alternate plane, safeguarding the realm from your regular hiking society. In its heart stood the palace of the G.o.ds, majestic beyond reasoning, fitting of its otherworldly reputation and residents. Power hummed thick in the air, penetrating all his senses, putting even the severity of Zacleus" punishment to shame.
Even in the company of G.o.ds, he felt out of place amidst ivory walls and golden everything. In that regard, his legitimate father and brother looked just as awkward in their dark ensemble—it almost felt like they were trespa.s.sing, and were no less hostile towards the property as the t.i.tans were in their heyday.
"You must feel tense, child, but don"t be," reminded Hades as they sallied up the cloudy stairs. "Zeus expects only courage and strength from his own."
Even Thanatos, the very avatar of death and demise managed to gift him a rea.s.suring, barely broken smile—a proper brotherly gesture if anything.
Ginrius appreciated the familial support, but in aftertaste, it only helped to make him feel even more unnerved. A few moments ago he was a mortal squatter, and then afterwards, just barely a demiG.o.d, before coming all the way up there to claim full G.o.dhood. Things were happening so fast, he didn"t have the mental capacity to keep up.
But before he knew it, Thanatos pushed open the gates to the Olympian court, and the G.o.ds that were out to pa.s.s judgment on him.