Ancient Monsters (Chasing Titania #3)

The Great and Glorious Ezra II: Divine Intervention

Something was remis when I entered the room I shared with Argus. I had managed to beat him in here, but there was a stabbing pain that dulled against my back.

"Darling," Argus stepped in behind me. "Oh, hell, what is that?"

"Magic," I pressed further in. "I've felt this before."

"I have not," Argus frowned.

Argus began to disclothe, but I continued my investigation. There was nothing hidden in either of our closets nor under the bureau.

"Ezra," Argus stopped before our bed.

I approached. No wonder it was a feeling I knew. It embraced me at the end. It graced me nearly every night for years.

"Levi?" Argus asked.

"No," I knelt before him. The patch over his eye told me. "It's Arn."

"What is he doing in our bed?" Argus hissed.

He was sound asleep. A scar grazed the side of his face. These were battle wounds. His hair had grown to the length of his father's, and he kept it in the same style. I could understand Argus' mistake. However, this was an entirely different demon.

"Something must be terribly wrong," I said. "He's reverting to childhood cures for his issues."

"You recall that we haven't heard from Arn in cycles, Ez. Orpheus is here without him because they fought."

"Arn isn't physically here. That's the pinpricks. It's his magic. He's come to me for help again."

"Well, why doesn't he pray like everyone else?"

"Arn is much more timid than that. We should rouse him."

Argus pulled my hands away. I attempted to wrestle from his grasp, but Argus was much stronger than I had ever been.

"He chose to ignore Orpheus. He hasn't reached out to any of us in a long time. I'm not going to help someone who hasn't bothered to ask."

"Argus!" I pulled from him, staring. How could he have said such a thing?

"Why should I? He hasn't given us an explanation. I'm siding with Orpheus on this one."

"I can't believe you. We practically raised this boy."

"He's not our responsibility, Ez. He is an adult now. It's about time he began acting like one."

"Rich coming from you!"

"I could say practically the same!"

Arn faded away. Like he used to in his sleep, he had been merely dreamwalking. I pressed my fingers to my temples. The magical pinpricks faded from my scalp. We had lost our only lead on Arn's whereabouts.

"I'm sorry," Argus sat on the bed. "After all we've been through, I feel I owe Orpheus a greater debt than Arn-"

"We shouldn't let their quarrels become ours."

Argus was quiet for a moment. He would never understand the sort of love I held for Arn. He chose to be a pest for the younger god boys. I wanted to punch him in the face for letting Arn go. He never knew that Arn visited me so frequently this way, down in Mother Gaia's cavern. I had touched this boy's heart by accident. However, it grew into a beautiful friendship. I wanted to protect this boy, even if that meant I had to protect him from himself.

"I know you care so much about him," Argus tightened his hand into a fist. "He's not our child, though. We shouldn't meddle where we don't belong."

I bit my tongue for a moment. I wanted to argue every word Argus had said. I did care, and he was practically my child. He only came to me when he was distraught, like when he thought the gods would hate him. Arn sought me out because he knew I would do anything in my power to help him in any way he needed.

"I apologize as well," I leaned back against the bedside table. "I'm not one for waiting. I know everything will be fine, but I want it to be so now."

"They'll work it out in time, my love. Now, let's get our rest."

"Of course," I stood.

But I wasn't even listening. I knew what I had to do. I was going to reach out to Arn myself.

No, Arn wasn't my child. He was there when I died. I took care of him growing up. I watched him bloom into adulthood, into godhood, with grace. I loved him. He said he cared about me like he did a father, and I couldn't live that down. I felt as if he were my son, too. He needed to know that everything was okay.

Even his own parents had abandoned him. When Orpheus returned to Newartic, he told us what had happened. The two had spats previously over Arn being unable to express himself and not considering others. This was the largest display of it. His parents decided it was best that we let them work it out on their own and that we refrain from interfering with Arn and Orpheus.

But this was three cycles of silence. Far too many days that Orpheus stopping by for dinner didn't feel tense anymore. That Arn being absent was no longer hindering. Things were too quiet.

My magic had failed me in this sense, too. I tried everything to find a trace of him left in the universe to no avail. He was hiding all too well. I'm not sure what he had adapted that brought him to me but hid him from all of us.

I was worried that not even his parents could find him. Cali and Levi tried their damnedest to find their son. They were amplifying their powers together and using his belongings to yield some answer. I considered maybe Arn had died, but even the Hall of Dead Gods proved useless.

He was injured. Perhaps that is what was consuming all of Arn's magic at the moment. Maybe that's why we couldn't find him.

Arn trusted me. Who better than to tell him that everything was all right?

I crawled into bed with Argus. When I heard him finally drift off, I closed my eyes. I focused my powers on my mind. I followed the traces of magic Arn had left behind to find him finally. He was on Zannikar. When had he left Medowlark? 

I dream walked into Arn's head. I had to be the one to tell him what was going on.