Thief Of Truth's Heart

Chapter 18

The day was bright, birds were chirping merrily, the Sun was shining, and the aura of the island was calm and beautiful.

Apollo tripped on a rock.

Grumbling, the God of the Sun got back up, before continuing to speedily walk towards his and Lana's hut in worry.

There was a big reason for his worry as well. When they had descended from Olympus, Apollo had been informed that only Lana and himself could step on the island, and any other immortal God would be instructed to not disturb them without their prior permission. Titans are out of question and Chiron was an exception, seeing that he was immortal but not a God.

But a few minutes earlier, Apollo had sensed a Godly presence on the island which he had not been expecting at all. Then the aura of the God had moved directly to their hut, which wouldn't have been so worrisome if his Lana wasn't there as well.

And while he knew that she could definitely tackle any threat expertly on her own, he couldn't help but worry that something bad might happen to his beloved Lana in his absence if he didn't reach the hut fast enough.

Determined to confront the enemy who wished harm upon his best friend, Apollo increased his walking pace and moved steadily in the direction of the hut.

•

•

•

"Oh. It's you."

"Yeah. It's me. Were you expecting someone else?"

"No. It's just that I was caught off-guard for a moment there."

"Let's pretend what you said was true and you didn't enter like you were expecting the fight of your life. Haven't seen you this fierce even while fighting the Python. Nice."

"Why are you here though?"

"Ouch. Here I thought you would be happy to see me, and then there's you asking why I am here. Can't I just visit because I care about you, brother?"

"Arty, I could have used some warning in advance about your arrival.", Apollo exasperatedly told his twin. "But why are you really here though? Not that I am not immensely glad to see you, but I know for a fact that you should be busy with the recruitment of your hunters at present. You wouldn't leave that without an emergency coming up or father sending a message. So what did father say?"

Atlanta spoke up from where she was seated on their childhood bed next to her sister-in-law. "Arty came here to warn us that we have to go back to Olympus in the next three months. Apparently Uncle Zoos has something relating to the mortals to talk to us about, and he didn't want to wait for an eternity for our return because we forgot that we had to return in the first place. So he sent Arty to ensure that we returned on time."

Artemis nodded in agreement. "Indeed. I have a suspicion that it is to talk about how Atlanta could separate humans into two equal halves. He wants to know more about it. Father is definitely curious about this power of hers."

Apollo groaned. "Can't we stay here for another decade or two?"

Seeing his sister's glare, Apollo quickly corrected himself. "Of course not, just joking. I know we have our duties to return to. Unfortunately.", he mumbled the last part to himself.

Artemis threw a glare at her brother before smiling in amusement. "I  still can't believe that you two raised a centaur together alongside a koala, not counting the two Gods who you both left behind on Olympus."

"Regardless of the fact that you think me to be a brainless bunny, I actually have some goodness in my heart too.", Apollo answered with a pout.

"Pfft yeah.", Artemis mockingly agreed. "I still can't believe that you mistook playing dead for playing dad. I mean, how can you confuse this one? Now that's one of your talents right there."