Spiral of Ants

Touch Tone Telephone

This isn't really going to be a solid story, not yet at least. A lot of it is going to be one-shot style as I sorta start to piece together my lore. If you stumble across this, I hope you enjoy it!

Apollo was quite possibly the most elusive freak Ezra had ever tried to track down. Which was reason enough for Ezra to become almost obsessed with getting him into the labs and seeing what made him tick. It didn't help that the more he learned about Apollo, the more fascinated he became with the thing's abilities.

Ezra was no stranger to what was often considered the supernatural. Maybe that was part of the problem. Everything had become boring . Another freakish animal hybrid, another vampire, another inanimate object that had somehow gained sentience. It was all the same. Apollo though, Apollo was different. Simply in the fact that Ezra had zero clue what he was.

The scientist didn't really believe in magic. He firmly believed everything a normal person chalked up to magic was just a science they couldn't wrap their feeble minds around. Apollo was the first thing to make Ezra hesitate for a moment, and wonder if he was wrong.

He was obsessed with the freak. The idiot's microphone that seemed capable of bending reality with no limits. The runes that looked like nothing more than a bad life decision and an awful taste in tattoos. His ditzy appearance that hid cosmic abilities he had never seen before.

Either the pink freak was a genius or the luckiest moron to ever exist. Either way, Ezra would get his hands on him and rip him apart. He would find every answer, if it was the last thing he did.

—

The hunters weren't any closer than they were a few years ago. One of their better ones, Timor had recently gotten close. So naturally Ezra demanded Timor come report to him, and give him every detail of the encounter.

Timor was a dime a dozen when it came to his oddity. A werewolf who was easily controlled with a bit of training and an emotion blocker. However, his combat and tracking skills were where he made himself valuable. Which made it all the more frustrating that even Timor seemed incapable of bringing in Apollo.

The werewolf came into Ezra's lab, at 11:30 on the dot. "You asked to speak with me, sir?" He asked. The werewolves face was always flat, as was his tone. Emotion blocker wasn't always the most effective tool, but there was no denying it worked wonders with Timor.

"Yes, I did" Ezra said, getting up from his desk "I wanted to ask for the details of your most recent failed mission."

Timor said nothing. He just watched Ezra, seeming to wait for a more specific question or order. So Ezra continued, "Your report said you found him in the middle of a forest. In..." He picked up some papers and flipped through them "Sweden, yes?"

The werewolf nodded "Yes sir"

"And you reported him exploring some ruins. Can you elaborate? Our sources couldn't find any recorded ruins where your tracker was at the time"

"I'm not too surprised, sir. It looked like a worn-down temple of sorts, it wasn't very large. The target was digging through some of the rubble as if he were looking for something. As I was approaching, he pulled out a stone tablet that had markings on it, that matched the ones on his forehead and arms. He looked confused for a moment, before simply disappearing. The ruins disappeared with him, leaving just a clearing. I knew the site was something the organization would be interested in, so I scoured the area for anything I could bring back. I found one singular broken piece of stone with a rune on it. I brought it back and turned it in."

Ezra thought for a moment before getting out a piece of paper and a pen, and handing it to the werewolf "Draw the stone tablet you saw him grab"

Timor nodded and quickly sketched it out. As he had described, it was the eye on Apollo's forehead, and the tentacles on his arms. The tentacles seemed to twist in a wreath-like pattern around the eye. Ezra took the paper "You're dismissed, Timor" He said.

The werewolf nodded and left. Ezra quickly got started on submitting his request to study the rock Timor had brought back.

Apollo's origins had always been one of the most confusing things about the freak. He was more than hopeful that this recent information was the key to finally figuring it out.

—

The rabbit hole went deeper the Ezra could have ever hoped. He wanted something new and fascinating, and he certainly got it.

The rocks rune consisted of an eye in the center, with tentacles spiraling out, accompanied by some geometric patterns that were standard for runes.

As the scientist began to dig into other areas this rune presented itself, he was surprised to see it could be seen as far back as humankind itself. Carved into caves walls, hidden in between symbols in temples, hiding in the details of statues and illustrations. And somehow it had all been overlooked.

It all meant something about Apollo, the scientist knew it. Somewhere in the symbol lay the answer to Apollo's origins... and maybe, just maybe, Apollo's weakness.

—

Ezra had a theory. And every piece of evidence he found only solidified his standing.

Apollo was a god. Or at least he used to be. Ezra was convinced even the freak himself didn't know it, but it explained everything . How the organization had been tracking him down since it was founded, and how the freak didn't seem to age somehow. How they were able to track a few sightings of him to a couple hundred years ago at least. How he bent reality itself with a few words. How these symbols hid in the cracks of ancient civilizations.

However, if Apollo was a god, he was a lost one. He seemed woefully unaware of anything around him or even the extent of his own abilities. Every proven encounter with the man consisted of him having the memory of a goldfish and sanity that seemed paper thin.

Ezra looked over his corkboard, covered in photos, red strings, notes and reports. He had no doubt Apollo was much more than they initially thought.

The thought made Ezra almost giddy. Before, he was obsessed with catching Apollo for the sole reason of something new and exciting.

But now? Now, he couldn't wait to rip apart a god.