The God and His Moon

11 ~ How To Hurt

When Io opened his eyes, the moon was above him, bright, round.

He gasped, as if air had not filled his lungs in centuries. His chest heaved and his body tensed. The air rushing into his lungs made them sting and ache.

The smoke must have gotten to him.

All Io knew was that he felt extremely weak. His legs hurt something awful, and his arms felt raw. He felt if he tried to lift a limb, it would take all of his power, and exert him.

Something that stung like fire touched his left arm. He winced and sucked in a breath, squeezing his eyes shut. His body began to shake with pain.

"Shhhh... calm down." A soothing female voice said. Io could feel that she was close, but he wasn't sure how close. "It's alright, Io... just breathe."

"Where is he..." Io wheezed. "My Amory... where is he..."

He started to open his eyes a little again, once again seeing the moon above him, stronger than ever. The pine needles seemed cruel, stabbing skyward. Their black outlines were no longer comforting, but painful.

He saw a woman by his side. She was small, thin, and her hair was long, braided over her shoulder. It was silver, just like his. But her skin was tan, dark. Fading into the night. There was a faint glow about her. She was rubbing something over his side, now. It was damp, and it sent tingles over his skin. It smelled strong. Perhaps it was aloe, for burns.

Pan stood a few yards from Io's feet, facing out into the forest, arms crossed over his chest. He too was tense. He seemed angry.

The girl blinked down at Io, sympathetically.

"One of our own betrayed us." She sighed. "Chase. He was working for the Host all along. He told Sumi where Amory was... and now they have Amory."

Io remembered the note. Remembered the little fragment of hate that has shattered his heart.

His eyebrows drew.

"We have to save Amory. They can have me... but not Amory."

She shook her head.

"They won't kill him, Io. And we can't let them have you. We have to find some other way to get Amory back. We can't let them pull our leg like this."

"Who are you?" Io's snapped weakly. "Why do you think I care if you want me to go or not? I will save my lover."

The girl stared indignantly at him. "I'm the stars. And I'm not letting my brother go and get himself killed when there could be a better wa-"

"Shut it." Pan snapped. "Both of you. We're stuck, alright? Because of your bullshit, Io, we've been stalemated. And we're gonna have to come up with a way out of it. But we can't do that before you've been trained. So no more getting hurt, no more running around blindly. You're going to train, and that's that. Angela will help you, but you're gonna have to learn to think clearly first. Understand?" He turned and fixed Io with an angry glare.

Io swallowed hard.

If he trained, maybe he could protect Amory. Maybe he could find him and save him.

Amory had protected him all these years... now it was Io's turn. If they hurt his lover...

That shard of hate grew stronger.

"Teach me how to hurt." Io whispered, laying his head back down. "No more helpless."

"Good." Pan smirked. "We'll start as soon as Angela heals your wounds."