Fathers of Athena Konstantinos (Completed)

Prologue

A ring broke Hades’ focus off the contract in his hands. He checked the time. 4:30.

Everyone knew not to call the Konstantinos brothers this late at night unless they had a death wish or it's an emergency.

He finally picked up the phone and saw the caller ID. It was an unknown number.

What took his interest was the fact that the call was addressed to his emergency cell number. The one only the selected few were given.

The call could be anything from an attack on one of their most important facilities or a murder of anyone of their trusted higher ups.

“Red alert.”

He didn't have to say that because his brothers already had their attention on the call. It was just as weird for them as it was for him.

Zyphre placed his book neatly on the coffee table along with his whiskey while Ares smashed his cigarette on the glass ashtray before they stood next to their brother.

“Speak.” Hades picked up the call and put it on speaker.

“I- we’re- Grandpa asked me to call you, he’s bleeding. We’re at-”

A confusion sets in the trio as they hear the panicked voice of a girl.

“Who's your grandpa?” Hades cuts her off.

“Morpheus Kostas.”

The triplets were stunned into silence. They didn't know what to say. The name seemed to echo in the room like a dark presence.

They looked at each other and the same thought ran through their heads. The realization of who the girl was proved to be enough to baffle the men.

“Where is he? What happened?” Zyphre was the first to gain back his composure.

“I- I don't know wh- what happened. He- he passed out when we reached the safehouse.”

The girl was breathing heavily with her voice breaking off from time to time as she sobbed.

“How bad is the injury?”

“His- his shoulder. He got shot- he’s lost a lot of blood, do something!”

She was having a meltdown and the brothers were smart enough to understand that. But none of them provided any words of consolation. They just stood while she choked on her cries.

“Which safehouse are you in?” Ares kept his tone neutral even if the sickening thought of the man dying crossed his mind repeatedly.

“It- It's a cabin. Somewhere around Mount Penteli… I don't know where exactly it is, we drove like 25 kilometers from Piraeus- he said you’d know the location…”

They did and they were already in their car by the time she uttered the last words. They didn't need to always communicate through words; the trio understood each other well and acted fast.

They all needed to be there. They couldn't let the man die. He was the only family left to them beside themselves. They needed to save him.

They needed to save their father.

“Did you try to stop the bleeding?”

“As much as I could. There's not much here… Please come fast.” She begged.

Zyphre pressed on the gas hard while Hades called for backup in case the attacker had followed Morpheus to the cabin.

“Keep the phone with you. We'll be there in fifteen minutes.” Ares was about to cut the call when Hades spoke.

“Are you hurt?”

His brothers hadn't realized till now that there was a possibility that she might be injured too. And Hades asking the question was weird to them, even Hades himself.

“No. I wasn't there when it happened.”

Ares didn't bother replying before he dropped the call and started tracking down the phone just in case the girl couldn't provide the right address.

The brothers had told their father of different safehouses around his location in case of emergencies. And tonight was just that.

The thought of an enemy knowing who their father was unsettled them. They had promised him that their life won't ever get to him but it has and they hate it. 

They've always been careful. From only meeting him in years to not keeping any contact —other than the monthly payments trio sent for Morpheus and his granddaughter— to even setting up hideouts and emergency numbers.

They hadn't expected their father, let alone his granddaughter to ever call them.

It has been years since they last saw the man they grew looking up to. All because of a girl, the one they just talked to. The one who instantly became more important to him than the sons he raised his whole life.

The one for whom he abandoned the trio. The one they could never accept. The one they didn't want in their life. The one who changed the course of their life.

The one that is one of their daughter.

The mistake that destroyed their family.

“How many years has it been?” Zyphre didn't specify because he knew his brothers were thinking the same thing.

Hades was about to answer thirteen when Ares replied. “Seventeen.”

“So she must be sixteen now.” It was barely a whisper from the youngest brother; Hades but they all heard it.

“Do you think she knows about us?” Ares didn't meet his brother's gaze and opted to look out the window.

“I don't know.”

All of them didn't want to meet the girl they didn't bother knowing the name of. But they knew they had to. Their love for their father was beyond whatever negative feelings they had for her.

They all stayed silent, knowing well what the other might be thinking. It was inevitable. They finally have to face the consequences of their actions.

Something they thought they'll never have to.

But they won't stay for long.

They just need to make sure their father was well and find out who dared to attack him.