Salvation [manxman]

Chapter 32

Chapter 32

I thought home meant our actual home, not the battle field. I was very happy once we managed to leave the cave system by blindly making walls explode until the ceiling caved in and we were able to climb out there. My intial happiness quickly subsided once we teleported off and reappeared in the middle of the camp, disappointment settling in as I realized this wasn't over yet.

Every important person on our mission, which meant everyone except for me, was called into Hades' tent which left me with nothing to do except wandering around. I didn't want to go back to the tent to be reminded of Erebus, so I decided to stroll around in hopes of finding the provisions and who was in charge of them when I saw Eros pestering a flustered servant who blushed at his words.

"You are back!" Eros squeaked excited once he laid his eyes on me. "I was worried about you."

He still sparked that dreaded feeling of wanting to be with him deep inside of me. I had a hunch it had gotten worse now that I was having trouble with my relationship and was unsure how this was going to play out in the future. Just by existing he was tempting me to throw away everything I had with Erebus and I had to work way harder than I would have wanted to, to not give in to the temptation.

"Thanks." I huffed, rubbing my arm.

"Trouble in paradise?" He asked, abandoning his prey who quickly took off. "I heard about the fusion thing."

"Everyone heard about that." I said quietly. "It's probably the most popular discussion topic currently."

He made a face at that and scratched the back of his neck while I stuffed my hands into my pockets. We hadn't even returned for more than one hour and all the gods and goddesses were already gossiping viviously about Erebus and Nyx who didn't seem to mind. I did though. They seemed to be very enthusiastic that those two were back together as if it were something to be celebrated and I didn't know how to cope with the pain inside my chest.

"That sucks." Eros murmured before he got his cheeriness back. "But that means you can give me a chance."

"No." I protested, shaking my head violently.

"Still madly in love, huh?" He hummed, smiling at me. "I can still feel it but it changed. It's not pure anymore. It got tained."

I didn't reply and judging by his face I didn't need to. I was more than aware that my feelings for him had changed. I still loved him, I terribly missed him but his mood sings, watching him die only for him to have been replaced had put a strain on it. I was fine with him getting angry at me for hanging out with Eros, I'd take his jealousy over this situation any time but I couldn't handle watching Nyx be involved with him again.

"I never wanted this to happen." I sniffled, looking at my feet. "I just wanted him to be happy."

"Of course you didn't." He murmured.

I choked on a sob I had tried to contain for a while now and he hugged me, cradeling my head to his chest as I burst into tears. He held me while I cried and wondered why I felt safe enough to let him come close to me like that and expose my emotions like this. Probably because of his function in our pantheon. It felt oddly relieving to just let it out and not hold it back anymore but I also knew I was going to be in serious trouble for tainting his shirt.

"I'm sorry." I mumbled as I pulled away, rubbing at my eyes.

"Shirts can get washed." He shrugged, smiling at me. "Feeling better?"

"A little." I sighed. "Thank you."

His gaze flickered to someone behind me and I could hear steps coming closer until they came to a halt behind me. I felt shivers of fear run down my back as I felt his body heat radiate off him and penetrate my skin. I didn't dare turn around because I didn't want to look at his face but I was very sure Erebus was standing right behind me, breathing down my neck. I could feel the tension in the air and it made me sick to my stomach.