Forgotten; Worshipped (Imported from Ao3)

35

Thomas glared at James from afar, unnoticed by both Hercules and Aaron, though James was distinctly aware of his presence and a shudder ripped down his spine in a violent hurry. He ignored Thomas' glare from afar, knowing that Thomas would not dare approach him in Aaron's company.

Aaron was careful as he exited through the gates of the gods' realm into the mortals' realm, vaguely aware that there was something awaiting him in the future, though he wasn't sure if it was the near future or a distant one, yet he was keenly aware something was coming. Something would come for him. He shook off the feeling and focused on the task at hand. The next temple. The water temple, he believed. He wondered, for a moment, if this would be the last temple, and it made sense for it to be the last one as it completed the 'elements of nature' theme the temples had going on. But it felt almost incomplete a thought, and he grew curious about it. He turned to James once they entered the mortals' realm and asked him where the washed away fisher town had been. James flinched, startled at Aaron so suddenly turning to him and it took him a second to process what Aaron had asked him. When he finally did he nodded his head.

"It's in that direction. Half a mile from here. I can see the mountain it was built near," he said, disoriented as he could only see on his right eye, and Aaron nodded quietly, then his expression turned thoughtful. With a decisive nod, he grabbed both Hercules and James' hands and rushed forwards with his winged feet, propelling the group forwards faster and faster, arriving at the mountain in about five seconds. James had to hold his hat over his eye tightly as to not let it fall off and reveal to the others what had happened to him. He wasn't sure exactly why he was hiding it from them, but he just figured they didn't need to worry about him.

They arrived at the mountain and Aaron let go of their hands, but Hercules kept clinging to him, paler than he was before. Aaron turned to him with an apologetic smile and kissed his head.

"I should have warned you before I did that, my heart. Sorry," he apologized but Hercules shook his head with a slight smile, though he still looked like he might become sick or throw up any second. James pulled at his hat, positioning it over his eye properly so it would not fall off no matter what. He gave a quick look around and flinched when he saw a storm, bigger than any storm he had ever seen in his life, approach them at increasing and rapid speeds.

He had no time to warn Aaron or Hercules before the storm had caught them with such intense force that it threw them all to the ground. Hercules couldn't react in time, but Aaron took hold of him and pulled him to himself, making sure he was the one to first hit the ground. James was nowhere in sight, but Aaron was a bit distracted keeping Hercules close to his chest as they hit the ground. Just before they did, Aaron's cloak began glowing as Nae put its protective spell around the pair, shielding them from the impact of being thrown into the ground with such incredible force. Aaron whimpered as the impact was only dulled for him and it still hurt him considerably, and he was glad he was able to shield Hercules from the impact with his body. The storm stayed in its place above them, the rain hitting them so had it felt like knives to their skin and the lightning bolts hit closer and closer to them with each strike, and the wind kept them pinned to the ground, pushing against them painfully and Aaron yelped as the force of the wind increased. Hercules was realising, to some degree, what was happening and, with all his power, he lifted himself up and shielded Aaron's body from the harsh wind. He didn't know why, but he felt suddenly so much weaker. Suddenly, lightning struck Hercules' back and a burning pain screeched through his body but the scream he let out was drowned out by the storm. Aaron's eyes widened, blinded for a moment from the harsh light and he cried out as Hercules collapsed on top of him. The wind increased in strength upon him and Hercules and Aaron felt himself growing weaker and weaker as the force of the wind stopped him from breathing, and with the last shred of his strength, he grabbed the tornado staff strapped on his back and pulled it out decisively. He pointed it at the storm above him and gave it a quick swing with a flick of his wrist and spoke the spell of 'wielding winds' out loud. The staff began glowing with the extra power granted to it by the spoken spell and Aaron felt the winds of the storm trying to fight against it, but they were pulled into the staff until the winds around them were completely gone, then, with sudden force, the collected winds were expelled from the staff and blew away the storm clouds above them, clearing the sky.