When finally defeated by the son of Thanatos Mors, the son of Anubis Inpu, and the son of Aphrodite Bryan, Zeratino was finally freed from the grasp of Hera's deal and could rest in peace. But just when he could finally rest, he finds that he is no...
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Kat POV:
Drannus left and hasn't come back. I was pacing back and forth panicking while Xo stood to the side. "Oh gods what if he doesn't come back? W-What if something happened? Oh no. W-What do we do? Zeratino's having trouble taking a handle over the curse, the Atlantis ball is tomorrow, the Book of the Dead is hanging around, and Xiphos is being possessed. And now Drannus. Now Drannus is gone. Oh fuuuckk. Not good, not good, not good." As I was panic-pacing, I looked over and realized Xo hadn't said a single word after Drannus left. "Xo, how are you not panicking?" She shrugged and said, "I don't panic often. When I do panic, it's during an argument or a fight. Though I normally let out my panic and emotions in battle, I don't feel it often." I thought about what she said, and it explained a lot about how Xo acted in specific situations. "So what, you bottle it up and let out all your emotions in one go? You do know that's not healthy, right?" Xo shrugged again. "How do you think I make good pranks and stay calm in specific situations?" I was about to say something, but then I stopped and thought for a moment. (Is that? ............ At least she has some way to let out her emotions.) Just before I spoke again, the door opened and Xiphos walked in. He grabbed a cup and poured some orange juice into it. Then he sat down and held it, and just like me, Xiphos didn't look like he got a good night's sleep. "Big Guy? You sleep well?" Asked Xo. Xiphos didn't answer, it was like he was in a trance as he stared off into space. I walked over and stroked his left wing. Stroking someone's wing always seemed to work, it works with Xiphos, Bryan, Zeratino, and even Drannus and Xo at times. But this time it didn't, Xiphos just ignored me. "Xiphos, hey. It's Kat, can you hear me?" A silhouette of chains appeared around Xiphos's wrists. He stared down at the chains and his eyes glowed blue, making them disappear. Xo sat down across from Xiphos. She let her fingertips touch his. She said, "Xiphos, how alright are you?" This time, we had an answer. But it was quiet and ragged, "I don't know. It's so loud." His voice sounded sore and that didn't help our worry. Xo mumbled something loud enough for me to hear, "I hope this helps." She closed her eyes and a gold aura surrounded her. That same aura began surrounding Xiphos before it changed to dark blood-red, and the chains appeared again. Then the aura appeared around Xo's eyes, it was like it was trying to burn her. Xo yelped and opened her eyes while jerking her arm back. Her eyes were glowing a white faded into red and a burned rim was surrounding them. Xo then pulled the cloth off from around her wrist and covered her eyes. She pressed the cloth against her eyes and breathed heavily. Xo was hurt, really hurt. Xiphos and I were stunned, I rubbed circles on Xo's back to keep her calm and hopefully distract her from the pain. While Xiphos looked back and forth from his hands to Xo, confusion and fear filled his expression. He asked, "What did I just do?" Still pressing the cloth against her eyes, Xo said, "That wasn't you. And you aren't like Magnus, maybe you'll believe us." Xiphos then asked another question, "Believe what? What's going on?" I looked at Xo and she had a look of hesitance. She then said, "Kat, could you tie this? I wanna keep the blindfold on, but I don't want to hold it." I grabbed the ends of the cloth and stood behind Xo as I tied it. Xo tapped her pointer finger on her right hand constantly against the table. Xiphos waited patiently for me to finish and for Xo to answer his questions. Once I was done, I sat between the two and after taking a shaky breath, Xo said, "Xiphos, do you know what happened the day you got 'sick'?" Xo made quotation marks with her hands before placing them back on the table. Xiphos stared at the glass of orange juice before he looked up and said, "I thought I felt something in the area. It was after Zeratino got back from the ritual. We were all talking and I felt a breeze. But I just thought it was the wind, even though it was strangely cold. Later, I was taking care of Kat, and I started coughing. But I just thought I caught something. Though I started hearing something yesterday. It was why I about got Zeratino with my sword" Silence fell over the room, (Well that explains why Xiphos was tense.) Xiphos looked over at me and said, "Kat, I know I slept last night, even though it wasn't that good of one. But did you get any sleep?" I faced the ground and shook my head, "No, I didn't. I was honestly making sure I didn't die while taking a nap." Confused, Xiphos asked, "Why? The only person there was me. What exactly were you worried about?" I clicked my tongue, now things were going to start getting awkward. "ᛏᚺᛖ ευλογημένη κόρη ᚹᚨᛋ ᚹᛟᚱᚱᛁᛖᛞ ᚨᛒᛟᚢᛏ ᛏᚺᛖ ᚾᛟᚱᛋᛖ ᛒᛟᛟᚴ ᛟᚠ ᛞᛖᚨᛞ." I glanced at Xo, the daffodil in her hair was glowing brighter than the rose and rosadil. Xiphos and I both realized Elphis was in control. "I'm sorry, but Elphis. What did you just say? And is Xo okay?" I asked. The language switching back and forth caught me off, guard. She looked at me and said, "Sorry. It's sometimes easier for me to speak in old languages than in new ones. But Xo is fine. Just needs rest. The auras and magiks caught her off guard." Elphis seemed quite calm about the situation. I was still confused, "Elphis, what you said in the other languages is what we want to know." She perked up and smiled. "Oh, I'm surprised you couldn't tell. But I said the blessed daughter was worried about the Norse Book of Dead. I thought you both could understand Greek at least." Xiphos sighed and shook his head, "I can understand old Greek. New is a different story. I've taught Kat how to read old Greek. It's harder for us to understand when we hear it though. I haven't heard it in centuries. Plus neither of us even knows old Nordic" Elphis seemed to ignore what Xiphos said about understanding the two languages and continued speaking. "Xiphos, I don't think there's a better way to say this than bluntly, but." Elphis paused before sighing. "You've been marked. If that's even the word for it." Xiphos's eyes widened and I could tell he put two and two together. He calmly got up, walked to one of the pillars in the room, and punched it. Chips of wood went flying as there was now a hole in the pillar. "DAMN IT!" Xiphos yelled. He was beyond angry. Elphis walked up to the pillar and reversed the damage. It was as good as new now. Xiphos then walked over to a wall and leaned against it. He slid down and sat there silently. He had an emotionless expression on his face as he stared into nothingness. I sat down and leaned against him. Xiphos rested his head on mine and whispered, "So that's what's wrong. Dark Norse magik?" Elphis nodded. Xiphos's eyes were filled with grief and pain. He sighed and spoke again, "Now I know why Zeratino could barely look at me. I can't go to the ball. If I go, who knows what would happen." "You're willing to stay behind?" "WHY THE HELL WOULD I GO KNOWING THIS IS HAPPENING?!" Xiphos exclaimed and raised his arms into the air. Elphis nervously smiled. But that nervousness faded when she now spoke in a sarcastic tone. "I'm sorry, but it's not my fault the last time the book had marked someone. They didn't believe the warnings and thought they were fine." Xiphos pinched his nose and said in irritation, "I know, but that doesn't mean you go on and not try." The two were now silent which gave me the chance to finally ask a question that had been nagging me since Elphis mentioned it. "Elphis?" She hummed curiously. I took a deep breath before I asked, "What exactly did you mean by 'Blessed daughter'? You called me that earlier." Elphis snapped her fingers and said, "Ah, yes. I don't know if anyone's noticed other than me and Moros. But Kat has an Earth blessing." "Meaning," Xiphos said while emphasizing the 'ing'. She smiled and happily said, "Nothing is allowed to kill or hurt Kat unless it's a being of the earth. And if it's a being of the earth, it must be clear of mind and be doing it of its own will. Why do you think Zeratino never killed you even though he constantly threatened to? Also, it can only be given to full-blood mortals. It's meant for the ones who find out these things as Kat did." Both mine and Xiphos's eyes widened and we looked at each other. We both said in unison, "Last year before entering camp." We both smiled with joy, happy that someone could be okay at least. Especially since I'm the someone that's the most vulnerable. Suddenly, an idea popped into my head, "Wait, because if Xiphos gets under the control of the book, I could stop him. Would that work?" Elphis thought for a moment. After a few seconds, she said, "Perhaps. It could work. But it depends on how long it'll take for Inpu or Xylo, maybe both to remove the book." Xiphos sighed in relief, "So we hopefully won't have mass damage." Elphis smiled and said, "Hopefully. And that's coming from me." I snapped my finger as another idea popped into my head. "Even though it probably means neither of us can go to the ball again. It does mean I can babysit you while we wait for both Inpu and Xylo." "And play uno" Retorted Xiphos jokingly. I laughed, "And play uno." That game always seems to be the only pastime that exists these days. Elphis smiled and asked, "Should I update the Anubis/Aphrodite family with this?" I nodded, "Yeah, having one less person to worry about is a good thing. Also...Check to see how far Inpu's gotten on how the Norse Book possesses someone without the book being in them and how to undo it." Elphis grinned and walked outside. As soon as she left, Xiphos spoke. But his tone was dark and demonic. "You know, I was wondering when she'd leave." Xiphos's eyes were pure white, and his face and arms were covered in those runes again. I stared at him in pure silence and shock, but it subsided quickly as I only glared at it in annoyance. In an intrigued tone, the book asked, "Why aren't you afraid?" I looked away and said, "I don't have a reason to. You won't hurt me, you can't hurt me either. And YOU know that, don't you?" Now it seemed irritated. I could tell I hit a nerve. "I think I could still hurt you mentally if I needed to. It's worked better than violence before, who says it can't hurt now?" I smiled, now I could use a talent I had. Bluffing. "You know, you could probably hurt me mentally. But here's the thing, I'm not afraid of you, yourself. Not really. Cause, in reality, you're just a book. And books make really good kindling. So do Xiphos and me a favor, and leave." I knew I hit the right nerve now. That book was fuming. It growled in anger, but before leaving, it said, "When I figure out how you are the first person I'm going to kill." I laughed, "Ha, then that means you're going to wait longer to kill everyone else if you wait on me." It growled again before Xiphos's pupils returned and his expression changed from angry to shocked confusion. He rested his right hand on the side of his head and said, "So that's what's going on?" I tilted my head to the right and asked, "You remember what happened?" Xiphos nodded. I sighed, "I can't tell if that's a good thing whether or not you're becoming aware when this happens." Xiphos looked at his hand before squeezing it into a fist and looking back up at me as he said, "Probably not. But it does mean that if I'm aware of what's going on, maybe I can fight back." I looked out a window and said, "Maybe." (Maybe.)
