Thief Of Truth's Heart

Chapter 3

Sea cannot be restrained.

This fact was known by everybody who had fought alongside the second son of Rhea during Titanomachy. After hearing it for more number of times than they could digest, the other two brothers have developed the annoying habit of completing the sentence whenever Poseidon was about to speak it.

It was found to be an exceptionally true fact when Poseidon had overslept on the day that the battle commenced, and joined the battle frenzy two days later with a cheeky smile, much to the exasperation of his siblings.

But nobody forgot the importance of the said God, seeing that the man had laughed in the face of the odds and turned the tides in their favour, and managed to bring down six of the twelve original Titans down on his own, and helped in the downfall of another with only half control over his domain. As a result, of course the God of the Seas got away with it.

So it came as a surprise to no one that his daughter had the domains of tides, victory and swordsmanship among other things. As Atlanta's father, he had to have some form of influence over his little princess' domains.

Unfortunately, Apollo was not well versed in the strange conversation skills of the Sea, and refused to accept the fact that his best friend's excuse of getting herself in trouble all the time is actually a very logical one, and decided to continue to fuss over her after washing her wound thoroughly and cleaning it while ignoring her pouts and little protests.

"Phoebus, I am telling you, it's normal. The Sea cannot be restrained!!"

"This is not a good excuse for getting injured so badly, Lana!! What connection does this horrifying incident have with the Sea's inability to be restrained?"

"It's firstly not a horrifying incident, just a cut. And secondly, the Sea is unpredictable, and so is my luck."

"Just a cut? Just a cut?! Lana, your 'cut' was bleeding profusely at a level where I had to keep on putting pressure for your ichor to not just flow out!! It's very serious!!"

"Is not."

"It is!!"

"Is not. It's fine, really. Do I look too worse for wear?"

Apollo stepped back from applying the gel of the first crushed leaves of aloe vera on his best friend's wound to examine her overall condition. Unfortunately, she was right, and she looked fine other than the wound on the underside of her foot itself.

So Apollo gave the obvious answer.

"No you are not. You are a patient who needs rest and the healing properties of Aloe Vera needs time to start working. I am the healer here, and I am not done with you yet."

"Why?", Atlanta whined and threw her head back on her pillow, while Apollo crushed the next batch of Aloe Vera leaves in a bowl. "It is taking so much time. Surely it's alright by now?"

Without turning back once, Apollo replied within an instant. "No. You have to stay on a bed rest for two days more before you can even think about walking around."

"Two days.....", Atlanta trailed off with a despairing sigh. "I can't stay in a single place for more than five minutes, and you actually expect me to stay in bed for two days?! This is pure torture!!! Do you not love me anymore, Phoebus?!"

Apollo turned his head slightly to look at his best friend for a few intense seconds, which he broke with a single soft spoken sentence that Atlanta almost failed to hear.

"I love you more than you will ever know."

Turning back to his current task, Apollo finished it with no more distracting comments from his best friend. Bringing the bowl along with him, Apollo sat on the bed space next to her, and took immediate notice of her stunned expression.