Forgotten; Worshipped (Imported from Ao3)

42

They exited the realm of gods with ease, travelling downwards into the mortals' realm. Dawn was approaching the world as Thomas led the sun slowly into the sky to watch upon the world below. James nervously gripped onto Aaron's cloak, an attempt to ground himself and it made him feel better. It helped, Aaron and Hercules' presence was grounding. He could not believe his luck, having the trust and friendship of these two. Half a smile came to his lips at the thought, though his mood was soured once more at his own cowardice. A sigh escaped his lips and with his other hand, he brushed over the silky soft material of the eyepatch. He felt the light of the sun, though soft before, immediately become a harsh glare the moment the light touched him. He knew Thomas saw him. He also knew Thomas would not attempt anything, but he felt, distinctly he felt, what Thomas wanted to do, which made a shudder run down his spine. The pain in his eye flared up with an unbridled vengeance and his breathing became heavier, through his nose, and he kept the whimpers low that wanted to crawl through his throat. The pain subsided a bit as his feet hit the ground.

"Where is this temple, Aaron?" he asked, cautiously and Aaron glared up at the sun.

"It's where the sun does never shine, above the ground, a shrine of darkness upon the path of misery, on the edge of desperation," Aaron smiled at him and James' brows furrowed in confusion. Aaron laughed, "I have a feeling I know where that is." He said and turned around to look up at a mountain.

"But the sun shines on mountains especially," James said with a confused frown.

"Yes, but a mountain is excellent at keeping the light of the sun away on the other side, especially if it isn't really a mountain, but a very special crater!" Aaron grinned.

"How do you know this crater, love?" Hercules asked and Aaron sighed.

"We came by this crater when I was to be brought to the palace. We had to let the horses take a break and I tried to run away. Ran all the way up to the edge of the crater before I was dragged back to the carriage. I had asked Alexander about this place at some point and he told me it's the one place above ground that the sun has never shone upon, during its entire existence. Just recently I found out why. While I took breaks making your eyepatch, James, I read a bit of the diary of the goddess of life. The sun was made by the god of fire, and the god of light, Philip and George, respectively, and they made it to shine on every place on this world, but apparently, they forgot a spot, and the sun has never shone on that spot, ever. This, I believe, should be that spot," Aaron grinned.

"I can't wrap my head around this... fire and light, I've never heard of those gods..." James mumbled to himself, but Aaron heard.

"Well, yeah, they're dead. I'm still trying to figure out what happened to them. Because something like that must have happened to Alexander, too, I just know it. And he didn't disappear upon 'dying', like those gods did. And he has a temple like them... A temple unlike any I've seen before. Old, no doubt. Centuries, millennia perhaps. But he's like them, connected to them, in a way. I hope I can find out just how their deaths relate to his. Why he survived it... how I can help him regain his status..." Aaron said, a frown playing on his lips with a sigh.

"I'm sure we can... How about we head on up there, hm?" Hercules tried to cheer Aaron up. Aaron smiled up at him sadly, a pang of guilt stabbed through James' heart and he kept his head low and walked behind Aaron and Hercules as they began to climb up the crater. It was tall and at the top, James knew, it would be impossible to simply walk, which made him wonder how Aaron had once managed to run up to the edge of the crater. Desperation, he supposed, could make a mortal be driven to the impossible.

As they reached the edge of the crater they looked to the dark pit below them. They could not see a thing, no light hit the bottom or the edges of the crater, and it made it appear like a black hole that would suck them in and never let them return into the realm they knew. Aaron shrugged his shoulders and began descending downwards, Hercules, quite startled at this nonchalantness, behind him and James quickly following.