With Blood shall come Desire (MxM)

☽ Chapter Forty Three ☾

𝕿his day Death swallowed 17 souls of gods. They merged with sorrow and guilt in his stomach and tasted like bitter chocolate. Aristaeus and Silthos hid disappeared for three days, and only revealed themselfs again when all gods gathered to see their new king and discuss the details of the war.

Aristaeus had enough time to recover from all the wounds he gained throughout the battle. And most importantly, to recover from losing Silthos. He had not once left his side since then and only found relief when he was with him. Compared to human weapons, those of the gods left quite the scars, which were now decorating his whole body.

After those three days he found himself in the great hall once more, seated on his usual place. This is where it all had started. He looked at the empty throne at the far end of the table, where once Aurelius had sat. Since this morning he hadn't seen Silthos. It had taken him some willpower to separate with the other man but he had made it. Now he sat in his chair, arms folded over his chest and watched how everyone around him took their seats. It was emptier now, many seats were left without a god and not many words were spoken. Even though many had fought on different sides, on this day they were united again.

The golden door was opened and Silthos walked through, dressed in a dark red skirt with some golden chains covering but more decorating his exposed upper body. All gods followed his steps until he sat down at their table. "Thank you for joining our forces and now being present at this table to mourn all gods fallen in the Second Blood War." Silthos glanced at each god gathered around the table. "No matter which side they were on... they were our blood, family, friends or lovers. The traitor Aurelius, my grandfather, fell... and now I'm the last god with Xyliath's blood flowing in my veins." Silthos' voice cut sharp through the silence and no other god dared to interrupt. "Nevertheless... I would like an election for our new king or queen of the gods..."

Aristaeus looked at the confused gods and suppressed a chuckle. It was the first time a god suggested an election for such matters. Something that was currently on the rise in the human world. All those years bloodlines had held the most power in these realms. The whispers got louder and Aristaeus concentrated on Silthos again. Suddenly he raised his hand and silenced the hall. "I want the new ruler to be someone selfless. Someone that learned from the current events and acts in favour of humanity. I vote for Silthos."
A god next to him made a very confused sound and made Aristaeus roll his eyes. "Shouldn't someone like you be excluded from the voting process?" Aristaeus turned his head and looked at the god nonchalantly. "Someone like me?" "Someone that hasn't done many good things for humanity."

Silthos raised an eyebrow at the god and shortly flames danced over his shoulders. With the soul that breathed new life into him the power of Aurelius was now growing in his body. And he still had to find ways to control it better. "Every gods power has positive and negative impacts. Love can be beautiful, but it can also lead to bloodshed. Money can buy happiness and lead to a war. Nature is wonderful in every way but brutal on the other. If we discuss topics like this there will be endless discussions." Silthos had grown in all those weeks with Aristaeus. And all of the other gods could feel and see it. The redhead raised his arm. "I vote for Aristaeus. And not because I'm in love with this man, but because in all those weeks I've never seen someone as rightful and honest as him. Of course not an insult to you, Omes, no one is more rightful than you." He nodded to the god of judgement in an apologising way and continued his explanation. "And his powers and experiences with humanity make him the perfect leader."

Aristaeus looked back at Silthos and smiled softly. He felt like a king already, only because he had Silthos by his side. Soon more and more gods started to realise the real purpose of each person's powers and the voting ended in a tie with Silthos and Aristaeus at the top. Aristaeus had no intentions to fight with Silthos over a throne and would rather rule alongside him. What do you say, my dear, he spoke through their connection while simply looking at Silthos with a lopsided smile. With time it had become easier to use it and somehow became a common thing between the two. Want to be my king and I yours?

Silthos reciprocate the smile. Be my king and I will be yours. The redhead stood up and looked over all the other gods. "If no god speaks against it - Aristaeus and I would share the throne. If there are no further objections, enjoy this day of peace."

The gods slowly left the hall, satisfied and smiling. It had been a good meeting and a new era of gods would begin. When everyone left the room, Aristaeus' shoulders relaxed. Without further do he stood up from his place and walked towards Silthos, scooping him up in his arms. "I missed you.", he murmured in his shoulder and held the god tightly in his arms. The last days had been hard on him. Over and over he saw Silthos on the grass with lifeless eyes. It had made him even more clingy than before.

"It has been five hours... but I missed you too..." He softly pressed his lips onto his temple. "I... prepared the funeral of my sister... and I would like you to be part of it." The words left him painfuly and he played with Aristaeus hair to calm himself. "Please accompany me, my king..."

"Of course..." Aristaeus knew how hard it was on Silthos. His sister had sacrificed her life for the sake of humankind. Silently he took Silthos's hand in his and let the other man guide him towards the funeral. The day was cloudy and it seemed that it would rain soon. Even mother nature mourned the loss of her child with the deep growling in the sky.

Silthos couldn't bring himself to burn what was left of her like the tradition for his bloodline wanted to. So he had decided to bury her like humans would do. They were deep in a forest on Earth and gently Silthos laid her head into a pit. "I'm sorry... I know you have forseen it... but... I'm sorry..." The rain broke through the clouds and ran horribly harsh down on them. His mother, nature, was overfilling with sorrow. With trembling hands, he covered his sister's head with earth until it was completely covered.Then he just stood before it in silence, eyes closed and tears forming. Silthos couldn't see the small tree that began to grow at this spot.

They both were drenched from the rain, but none of the bothered to get cover. Aristaeus smiled softly when he saw the tree forming. It was a sign of new life. Because no matter if the body was gone, the soul would be around forever, sprouting and growing into something beautigul.

"Silthos, my love... Look.", he whispered gently, his voice almost drowning from the rain. Even after her death Destiny tried to be by her brothers side.

Silthos carefully opened his eyes and they widened as he saw the tree. A glow sparkled in them and he pulled Aristaeus closer. "Mother...", he whispered and then a little smile appeared on his lips. "She wont be lonely... mother will be here for her."

Aristaeus smiled gently and put an arm around him. "Of course she will. They are both still with you.", he whispered, softly caressing his back.

Silthos smiled back at him gently. "We should head... home and get a hot bath don't you think?

Aristaeus chuckled and nodded at him. "I do think so, yes. Can't have you catching a cold now, do we?"

The chest of Silthos felt even warmer from this words. The words that led to all of this. There was a bright future before them. But most importantly, a bright and endless future together. Two lovers, gods, who couldn't have been more different than the moon and sun. It seems to be Destiny that they have met. And the tree waved happily in the wind.

𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕰𝖓𝖉