Gods and Mortals

#26: Broken Bonds

Klaus opened his eyes.

For a few seconds, he couldn't tell if it was reality or a dream that he was in, as his grasp on his presence felt completely off. It didn't feel normal.

He took a moment to gather himself, sitting up from his lying position, wondering why he felt like his body wasn't his.

Then, it hit him.

He was naked.

"What?" he whispered slowly, turning to the side of his bed, bewildered by why he was on the edge.

As he turned, and his eyes fell upon what, or rather who was there, memories of the previous night flooded back.

"Rose," Klaus muttered, identifying the person as Rose, who was fast asleep and also seemed to be naked under the sheet.

Everything hit him like a truck all at once, emotions ranging from confusion to surprise to rage.

"Wake the hell up!" Klaus shouted as Rose immediately awoke from her slumber in confusion.

By this point, Klaus had already stood up from the bed and put on the pants he wore the night before, searching for his shirt.

"K-Klaus?" Rose mumbled in confusion until her eyes widened, remembering what had happened the night before.

"What did you do to me?" Klaus demanded angrily as Rose sat up, using the sheets to cover her chest while looking at him.

A few seconds of silence passed as Rose knew she couldn't answer. Klaus, however, was in no mood to be patient.

"Answer me!" he continued, his voice raised to a level Rose had never heard from him before. He was angrier than she'd ever seen.

"I'm sorry," Rose said, her voice trembling. "I don't even remember everything that happened."

"Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't truly remember," Klaus insisted, fully aware that she was lying.

Tears welled up in Rose's eyes, and she began sobbing openly, her shame and regret evident.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry."

Klaus realized the situation had escalated too far and that further confrontation could attract unnecessary attention. He took a deep breath, trying to quell his anger, and put on his shirt before heading toward the tent's entrance.

Before leaving, he turned to Rose, who was still crying uncontrollably.

"You know, I genuinely thought you were everything I said yesterday. But I was wrong about one thing. I never should've trusted you."

With that, he walked out of his own tent, leaving behind the shattered remnants of their friendship.

As Klaus sat by the campfire, the simulated sky gradually shifted to mimic a sunrise. An alarm sounded, rousing all the demigods still asleep. An announcement followed, signaling their return to the lobby arena. Within minutes, every demigod was transported back to the arena.

As all the demigods arrived at the arena, they were met by XVII, who awaited their return.

"I hope you all enjoyed your break?" he said, and the general crowd seemed to agree that it had been quite enjoyable.

But for Klaus, everything felt like a static flatline. He didn't feel like himself at all. The events of the previous day had taken a toll on him, and it was clear that it hadn't been his day.

However, as he finally snapped back to reality, XVII proceeded to announce the commencement of the second game mode.

"As explained by Sol hours ago, the next game mode is called Breach. This is a team vs. team style game with one team identified as defenders and the other as attackers. The defending team is expected to prevent the attacking team from breaching the location and hitting the alarm located at the back of the room within ten minutes. When the timer expires, the defending team will automatically win the game, so the attacking team is expected to work on time management as well as strategy. The same general rules apply, with the lifeline and the absence of killing, fatal wounding, or torturing."