•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Apollo was the son of Zeus.

His mother was Leta.

His twin sister, Artemis.

His little brother, Hermes.

And he loved them all, except maybe Ares.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Zion made pretty long strides. With every step he took, I had to catch up with two. Eventually, I gave up but tried maintaining about five steps behind.

He strode down the hallway and entered an empty guest room. Zion walked across the apartment, stepping through the glass door and unto a balcony.

His hand reached for the railings but stopped the moment his ring tone chimed through the air. He furrowed his eyebrows and grabbed the phone instead.

His eyes widened the moment he noticed the Caller ID. Swiping the screen, he pulled it closer. "What happened?"

"Good morning. Thanks for asking about my wellbeing you son of a cretin."

I stepped through the glass door, joining Zion on the balcony. With the phone's speaker loud and clear, I knew who was talking.

Dimitri.

My hands closed around the railing as I peered down towards the club. The deserted place was illuminated by the morning sunrise.

My thought shifted to our previous visit to the beach. Zion had asked Dimitri to watch over Hunter and look out for anything weird.

"Has something happened?" Zion asked in a gruff voice, his eyebrows slightly rose with a hint of anxiousness. A stifled emotion.

"So no greetings? I trained you better than that, Zee." Dimitri chided.

"This isn't a time for jokes," Zion warned in annoyance.

Dimitri didn't seem to notice his waning patience. "Well, if you're not gonna ask about my health then..."

With one comforting look at Zion, I intervened. "Good morning, Dimitri."

"Penny! Good morning! And that's why I'll always favor girls over boys."

A frustrated noise escaped from Zion's throat. "Can we just skip this! Is Hunter okay?"

"Yes. He is. But there's one problem; Hunter has been sleeping a lot lately." Dimitri's voice shifted to absolute concern.

Zion and I hesitated for a moment, sharing questioning looks. "What do you mean?" He said.

A deep sigh came from the other end. "Look. I'm not stupid, alright? It's pretty normal to sleep but for Hunter, it's more frequent. I don't know. Should I be worried?"

Zion sighed and shook his head. "You're asking me? How should I know? You're the one with him. Does he show any weird personalities?"

"Nope. He's still quiet around people. Unless we're hanging out and playing video games. Anyway, he keeps sleeping for long periods. We just woke up like three hours ago and he's already tired. I mean...it's morning!"

Zion's lips pressed into a thin line before resting his elbows on the banister. His eyes were distant; like he was already scaling justifiable reasons for Hunter's behavior.

I stepped beside him and hesitantly touched his arm. Has Hades gained consciousness or could it be something else?

"So Hunter is going to sleep?" Zion asked, his tone neutral.

"Yeah. Hey, Hunter! Come and say 'hi' to your brother!"

A faint voice responded from the other end. "Zion?"

"Yes. And Penny!"

Silence.

"Oh yeah!? Well, screw you too!" Dimitri's tone hitched down a note when he spoke back to us. "I'm sorry, but Hunter is being a jerk right now. Permission to beat him up?"

Zion frowned. "No."

I bit my lip and glanced away. Hunter was being a jerk because of me. He might call Zion privately to continue with the chat but I wasn't really bothered.

Up till now, I'm still clueless about his source of hatred. Could I have done something in the past and not known about it?

That might be impossible. He had hated me ever since we met.

"Has his eyes changed color in any way?" Zion continued.

"I don't think so." Dimitri mused in thought. "But I'll look out for that."

"Thank you," Zion said. "I'll see you later."

"Whoa, man. You can't say a 'good morning' but you can say a farewell?" Dimitri tutted. "That's just rude."

"We'll settle this in school."

"Wait. One more thing. Hunter has been staying at my house these past few days. I need to know if your parents are home or something..."

"They are not." Zion's response was oddly stiff. "Aunt Callida has also traveled for a while."

"When are your parents arriving?"

"I don't know. But it's pretty obvious they won't be coming anytime soon."

Dimitri fell silent, probably not knowing how to respond.

I peeked at Zion and noticed his stony look. His parents' constant absence had made Zion a substitute guardian for his brothers. Could it be one of the reasons behind his personality?

"Blaze's friends are back." Zion continued. "They nearly got Pedro so I need you to be vigilant with Hunter."

I recalled Wyatt saying he couldn't harm Zion's third brother because he's always with Dimitri.

But why?

It answers why Zion trusts Dimitri so much. What if he isn't the bubbly person he portrays to be?

"You can count on me, Zee," Dimitri said. I can almost imagine him giving a sharp salute. "I'll call you again if anything happens."

Even with a phone call, Zion nodded. "You do that."

After the conversation ended, we heard Dimitri calling Hunter from the room.

Hunter's distant voice was automatic. "Leave me alone."

Right before the call cut.

Zion sighed and slumped forward, his expression worried. He looked over the interior design of the nightclub and ran a hand through his hair. "Our time is ticking."

I turned to him. "What?"

"The gods will ascend soon and I'm clueless about how to stop it. I don't want Zeus controlling me."

I observed his delicate profile. "But Zeus hasn't gained consciousness in a while."

"That's because I'm always fighting for control. He gets stronger every day." Zion released a deep breath. "The moment we save Gwen's dad, we'll focus more on saving ourselves. And possibly pay Wyatt back for what he did to Pedro."

I fidgeted with my fingers. "Listen. You said you wanted to talk, and I get that you're mad because I couldn't help Pedro--"

His head turned sharply to me, his gaze puzzled. "I'm not mad because of what happened last night."

My eyes widened. "You're not?"

He straightened to his full height and stepped closer, I had to tilt my head a bit to catch his face.

He pursed his lips. "I'm mad about this."

He reached forward and grabbed my wrist, turning it to reveal my Greek tattoo.

I couldn't hide my surprise. "How did you know?"

"I saw it while you were unconscious." His eyes stared intently without shifting. "You had another Greek mark and you never bothered to tell me."

I looked away. "I didn't want to burden you with my problems. You're looking out for your brothers -- which is exhausting. I don't want to make it worse."

He faced over the balcony. "I'm looking out for you too."

I shook my head. "You don't have to do anything because of my dad."

"It has nothing to do with your dad. You're family, Penny. Just like Pedro. Your wellbeing is also my priority."

I bit my lip, not finding any words to say.

He bent down, leveling his gaze with mine. "I don't want you hiding things from me. If anything is bothering you, say it."

I nervously rubbed my arm.

There was a lot.

And the lists keep growing every minute. My dad's health, the strange demon, my bargain with Hypnos, the weird shape I saw while I spoke to Eros in his office -- I could go on forever.

But there was one...

"The Shackles."

Zion rose an eyebrow. "What about it?"

I shifted on my feet, wondering how I could release the bad news. "Wyatt took it from Pedro when he attacked. He has it."

Surprise etched Zion's face before stifling it down to a blank expression.

He folded his arms, his jaw clenched from an emotion. "Then it's over. Gwen's dad is a complete goner. Henry only kidnapped him to lure you out. For all we know, the guy is already dead. Why waste time if we could be saving ourselves? I'll settle Gwen's expenses and send my deepest condolences. Life is tough. She'll get over it."

"Wait. What are you saying?"

His tone was cold when he spoke. "I'm no more saving her precious dad."

Hope you enjoyed the characters. How's Hunter and Dimitri?

What do you think about Hunter's hatred towards Penny? I'm open to your ideas.

Any thoughts about Zion?

Until next time, stay safe.

Please don't forget to vote, comment, and share💜.