Dying Ichor

FIFTY-TWO

Elias didn't notice Chloris sinking her nails into his wrist as she drags him and Callidora up the cracked steps of the temple.

What he does notice is the mass destruction that came over Delos. Nearly all the buildings have been destroyed and left nothing but rubbles and dust, and there wasn't anyone else left in this place other than them and the two gods who followed. Elias swallowed harshly, forcing himself to look away from the view of the sea that he had visited not too long ago. When he first met Poseidon and Amphitrite.

"Chloris, slow down," Elias called after her as she stumbled over her feet.

Even though Aphrodite had healed them, Chloris didn't sit still for very long and interrupted the goddess' work just so she could arrive to Delos faster. To see Sappheire.

But with the state Delos was in right now, Chloris' fears worsened. She didn't listen to Elias and tried to run despite her limp.

And when the five of them busted the doors open to the main room of the temple, Elias saw Chloris scream and turn around, covering her face with her hands as Callidora stopped dead in her tracks. Callidora looked away, panting heavily with defeat in her eyes. Elias slowly turned his attention to the middle, noticing two figures laying on the ground.

In the midst of the ruined temple with fallen columns and weapons, Amphitrite kept a tight grip on Sappheire's lifeless body, sobbing and shrieking out her name. The queen of the seas refused to lift her head up from Sappheire's chest even though her mermaids grabbed onto her pitifully, calling out her name and telling her to let the human go. Amphitrite shoved their hands away, cradling the dead priestess tighter, almost curling up into a ball.

Her crown had been casted at the side, broken. Her long gown was in tatters, Amphitrite was covered in injuries, and there was about a dozen mermaids laying lifelessly as well. Yet, she didn't even seem to notice them. All Amphitrite was focused on was the dead mortal, who she gave all her love and affection to for the past decade.

Amphitrite raised a shaky hand on Sapphire's chest, coating her hand with blood. She couldn't feel her heartbeat anymore.

"The last temple is gone..." Amphitrite rasped out through her sobs. She rose her head up a little, looking behind her to see the group that has arrived. Her lips were trembling. "Sorry... you're all too late. D-Delos has completely fallen..."

Elias felt his tongue go numb. There were many questions swarming through his mind, but he didn't have the heart to ask. Instead, Aphrodite and Ares walked over to the queen, crouching down and startling Amphitrite.

Aphrodite gave her a forlorn look. "Your Majesty... this place-"

"I don't know what happened," Amphitrite interrupted with a dead look in her eyes. "If you... want to know, I can't say."

Ares glanced at the fallen priestess. He didn't even grimace at her broken body and how there was a gaping hole in her chest.

"Where were you?" He asked instead. "You loved her more than the seas itself, and you knew what was happening up on the surface, so it would have been easy for you to save Delos while Poseidon's up in Olympus."

"... Easy, huh? It's true. It wouldn't have been hard for me... but Poseidon's palace was under attack. There were so many sea monsters that I had to stay behind and help fight." Amphitrite laid her head back down on Sappheire's chest, coating her brilliant blue curls with blood. The queen mourned, "Half of my mermaids died. Some of them escaped to help protect Delos, but it wasn't enough. By the time I got up here, the girls I sent were dead. Sappheire..."

She grew quiet. Amphitrite refused to say anymore and turned her head away from them, still crying relentlessly as she held onto Sappheire.

This woman didn't even know her. It made Amphitrite all the more bitter and aggrieved.