DEMI-GOD: The Lost

Chapter 16

"You said Verace was a minor god right?" Oran asks quietly. The man in question glances over at Oran and sighs deeply. "Isn't your mother human?"

"Yes. My mother is Ariadne, princess of Cretin." Then he is a demi-god. But how can he be a demi-god and a minor god at the same time?

"There's multiple ways to become a minor god." Felix says with a matter of fact tone. Kayea elbows him in the side and shoots him a stern look. "Ow. Gods, I get that you're a demi-god and all but come on. There's the Minor God Battles."

"It's a chance for Demi-gods to prove their strength, and if they win then they earn the title of Minor God. Felix and I won it too. Our mother's are both humans." Aelius finishes.

The group falls into a silence as they make their way down into the temple. Does that mean Kayea could be a minor god too someday? No, she's going back home after this. She has to, especially after what Zeus said. No way would anyone here accept her, she's already disliked as a demi-god, let alone a whatever he called it.

. . . . .

"What? When did that happen?" Esta shouts with his mouth agape. They had entered the chambers at the base of the temple and low and behold they found the king of gods himself, Zeus.

"Last night." Zeus holds up a black bunny that has electric blue marks all across its fur. The fact that the god himself is here means it's serious.

A few grumbles go around, their distaste for the situation being very clear. Felix's eyes darted to Kayea almost instantly, a look of realization filling the soft pink white in his eyes. "If you found it then that means we're all safe right?" Oran mutters, his head down with nerves.

"Yes. Everything is fine now. The next phase of the challenge will begin as soon as the time runs out. You have four hours remaining. If you're not in this room by the fourth hour you'll be killed." Zeus doesn't leave any room to argue.

"Aeo and Carver are still out there." Este mutters under her breath. Kayea looks up at her father at the mention of Carver. Zeus meets her gaze but shows no response to the minor gods' earlier actions or words.

"I'll go out and look for him," Everyone looks over at Blake. Kayea's mouth falls open from shock. Hold on- Did Blake just volunteer to help Aeo? Aelius sets Verace down on a stone slab and walks over to the group.

"I'll go with you. You lost to Carver once already, I'm not taking the risk of a second time." Blake gives a brief nod.

"I'll go too-" Zeus places a firm hand on her shoulder and shakes his head.

"Kayea. Stay." She freezes, Aelius and Blake looking back at her and Zeus suspiciously.

"You're awfully close with the old man." Felix crosses his arms. Kayea rubs the back of her head nervously and avoids eye contact with Cupids' son.

"Yeah..father-daughter bonding am I right?" She makes a small nervous laugh. Felix stares at her for a moment longer before following Blake and Aelius to the upper levels of the temple.

With just one glance to the twins, they quickly bolt up the stairs after the boys. Kayea lets out a tired sigh and turns to face her father.

"Did you tell them?" Zeus grabs the black bunny by the tail and zaps it with a bolt of lightning.

"No. Although I'm pretty sure they're suspicious." Kayea looks at the bunny. "What's so bad about it? It looks like a normal bunny." He tosses the furball towards Kayea. The bunny's fur is staticy and slightly scorched but all together unharmed.

"Nothing's bad about the bunny." She looks up at him. The small creature moves in her arms, the little pink nose wiggling.

"Why then?" Zeus lightly pets the bunny's ears. The soft look from before returning to his lost gaze.

"Because of the old war. There's a long history." The red eyes of the bunny look terrifying but really they're gentle and harmless. "Tartarus wasn't always a prison. Before the great war it was a beautiful kingdom. The name was Tartania. The kingdom of the Titans."

The titans ruled before the gods. The Great Titan War was the battle between Titans and Gods. In the end, Hades, Posideon, and Zeus had slain their father, Cronus, and ended the war by caging every titan deep in Tartarus.

"What happened to Tartania?" The bunny starts kicking and leaps out of her arms.

"It was destroyed. The prison you know IS Tartania. The once beautiful planet filled with life was reduced to ash after the war. Any living creatures were put into cages and those who escaped left to wander the barron planet."

The bunny hops around by their feet, "Why punish the planet? Why not just the titans?" Kayea whispers, watching it move closer to the large spiral post in the center of the room. It has images carved into the stone, letters and words she couldn't even begin to understand the meanings of.

"The creatures born on Tartania never die. Just like the titans. Even the smallest creature could have lived through the war. They aren't fools, every creature from there has the intelligence capable of matching humans." Kayea looks at him in shock.

"Humans?" He nods.

"We tried to be merciful to the creatures. But they remembered the war and adapted. Even this bunny could think of a plan to break the Titans out given enough time." Zeus grabs the bunny and holds it by the ears.

"It looks harmless but this creature nearly caused the second great war." He sends a large bolt through the bunny, the fur getting scorched more.

"They cannot die. The only thing we could do is lock them up with the titans, leaving Tartarus barren." Kayea kicks at the dirt below her.

"I don't get it. How can a bunny be as smart as a human? They don't even talk." Zeus shakes his head.

"We said the same thing, Kayea. It nearly cost us everything." She looks at the bunny hanging in his hands. The beady red eyes still looking around and the nose wiggling as if it's hungry.

"What if they're just angry? Or afraid? Why is eternal prison the only option? Of course they're angry you destroyed their-" Zeus places a hand on her shoulder. A soft look being replaced by a stern one.

"There is no alternative. Tartania was lost forever. Their people will stay that way forever too. Lost."