Chapter Twenty-Three

We teleported from Ares's strange little castle island back to Tartarus.

I wasn't comfortable being back in the darkest pit of Hades that looked like some kind of futuristic style prison and smelled heavily of smoke and rubbing alcohol. It was sterile and cold. However, I think that was the point; to make it one of the least liked places in the world.

We reappeared back outside Menoetius's cell and Ares summoned the keypad from the wall to untint the window. This time, Menoetius was inside curled up in another corner, his eyelids hanging half-shut like he wanted to sleep, but he didn't dare let himself. As soon as I approached the window, his eyes flashed wide open and he jerked his head up before whimpering and covering his head, curling up tighter.

"Please, stop," He begged pitifully, "Please..." I sighed, glancing at Ares, who looked at me innocently.

"Guess he got another therapy session recently... What? How was I supposed to know? I don't follow Hades's schedule. I feel like I'd be extremely disturbed by his hobbies." He added under his breath, rubbing at the back of his neck. I looked back through the window at Menoetius, who sniffed helplessly.

He looked nothing like the brother I remembered. Ares was right; he was completely broken. Shattered to pieces. And now Iapetus was no longer breathing down our necks to manipulate Menoetius into acting the way he wanted him to. This was Menoetius, clean and uncensored.

I wasn't sure if that was good or bad.

I got down slowly in front of the window, watching Menoetius try to cram himself further into the corner.

"We need to talk." I said. Menoetius hesitated and looked up, peering through his hands that he put over his face. He swallowed audibly and looked around nervously. He twitched every so often, flinching away from something I couldn't see. He reminded me of an untreated mental patient from the movies. I just hope he didn't start screaming or trying to hit me through the window. The window didn't look strong enough, but then again, it was probably laced with something that would back fire on Menoetius if he tried to attack me.

"Did you really ask Iapetus if you could... Did you really not hate me?" I decided to ask instead. Menoetius stared at me, his gaze haunted before he sucking in a shuddering breath and he put his arms around himself tightly, eyes lowering to the ground.

"I tried to. I really did," He added quickly, looking up at me, panicked, "I tried to like Atlas's stupid ideas, Iapetus treating you like garbage. But I couldn't and everyone knew it... They all knew." His voice dropped to a whisper and I had to lean in closer to try and hear as he reached his hands up through his hair, clenching his fists in it as he covered his ears and choked on a dry sob.

"Even my mother stopped loving me because of it. She wouldn't even look at me anymore. Oh, she pretended to for Iapetus, for other people, but she hated me... She caught me watching you, just like Prometheus did, and she beat me for it and all I could think the entire time was... please don't hurt, Hannibal. Please don't hurt him for what I did... But that was stupid," He stopped to laugh bitterly, lowering his arms to his sides, "I don't know why I bothered thinking that. She went and she hit you for it anyway and you had no idea what was going on. You kept asking what you did and mother never told you why. She just called you a demon... And for the longest time, that's what I tried to talk myself into. That Iapetus was right."

"You're a demon here to corrupt the family," Menoetius said, suddenly laughing out loud and waving his hands dramatically before he choked on another sob and covered his eyes in distress, "But it was stupid to blame someone else for our problems. So fucking stupid. I did everything I could to try and hate you as much as they did, but I couldn't. Even after... even after I attacked you and hurt you, that scar... I hated myself. God, I spent hours cutting to make up for it, but no matter how many times I did it, I didn't feel like it was enough for what I did." I hesitated.

"You cut yourself?" I asked. Menoetius blinked, then looked down at his arms before slowly rolling up his sleeves, and sure enough, there were old scars criss-crossing their way up his arms to the crooks of his elbows, making me grimace. It reminded me of my own self-harm.

"I couldn't show Iapetus," He murmured, voice hollow, "He'd kill me. He was so happy when I attacked you. There was... There was this relief in his eyes. Like he was happy that I had done it, like it was proof that I didn't give a shit, but I did... I still did. Every time he told me to chain you up, I would apologize and you would just stare at me like you had no idea what was going on. I hoped... I don't know what I hoped. Maybe you could hear me, maybe you would feel me, something, anything."

"I couldn't remember anything," I answered quietly, making him wince, "I was higher than hell every time you did it... Did you ever do anything else, aside from... aside from kissing me?" Menoetius's eyes flashed angrily.

"Never," He snarled, then winced and clawed at his arms in distress, "I thought about it. Gods knew I had plenty of chances to do it. I had countless dreams where somehow I got you away from Iapetus and I could take you somewhere else and make you completely mine... But every time the thought crossed my mind and I had you in my grasp to do it, I couldn't do it. I didn't want Iapetus to come after us and I didn't want to dirty you anymore than I already had. Kissing you alone made me feel disgusting, because you weren't in your right mind and you had no idea what was going on." I was relieved to hear that, but at the same time, it made me horribly uncomfortable to think about and I looked away, grimacing.

"Iapetus came to me and told he was going to giving you to Zeus," He murmured, voice trembling as I looked back at him as he sniffled, "He said he needed to protect the family and that he needed to get rid of you, so why not kill two birds with one stone? He was already setting up a meeting and I couldn't take it anymore... I was finally going to do it. Finally going to take you somewhere else where you'd be safe..." His voice trailed as he half-laughed, half-sobbed, raking a hand through his hair.

"Oh yeah, I was... I was going to kick the shit out of Zeus, take you... to the place in my dreams. It was always a beach. How fucking cheesy can you get, right? Always... always that same fucking beach... And then what happened? I got my ass handed to me, literally, and Zeus shoved his lightning bolt right into my mouth and the last thing I saw was his face and all I could think was," Menoetius stopped to sob and curl up again, "All I could think was no. No, no, no, no. Iapetus was going to send you to that-that stupid asshole. I couldn't let him do to you what he did to me, but I couldn't move. Every part of me was in pain and I couldn't go anywhere. And then those videos..." Menoetius broke down and I clenched my teeth, trying to find something to say in response, but I couldn't. So I just watched Menoetius sob helplessly.

"I could've taken anything else. I deserved everything else Hades did to me, everything Zeus did to me, but not that. Anything, but that. I fought so hard to make sure you were going to be freed and then... then the videos... and those people," Menoetius screamed in agony and covered his ears, "Fucking bastards! Dead! I hope they're all fucking dead! I hope they're rotting in Tartarus! If I ever get out of here, I'll rip them to pieces! How dare they touch you! You-You...! They don't deserve to touch you!" I remained silent. His words gave me a bitter taste in my mouth. I didn't like to be reminded of what happened in Styx, and not even Akin brought it up.

Whenever I had a nightmare about that time in the club, Akin would just hold me and coax me back to sleep, comfort me until I could relax again. He never talked about what happened there. All he did was cry and I hated seeing him cry.

And having Menoetius cry over it... Menoetius seemed to think that I was... almost worthy. As if I was too good to be touched by them and that was a strange thing to hear. It gave me goose bumps.

"I need to know something else," I said, making Menoetius look at me tearfully, "Why did you ask me to say your name?" Menoetius's lip quivered and he looked down miserably.

"I wanted to hear you say my name. You've said it before, I know, but you always... said it with disdain. You always spat it and I just wanted to hear you say it like you give a damn. Like," Menoetius stopped to sob helplessly, "I don't know, Hannibal, I wanted to hear you say it because I wanted to pretend that you loved me too." His words cut me, but not as much as my hearing my name come out of his mouth. How many times had I wanted to hear him say my name? To treat me like a normal person instead of an unwanted dog?

But, now, I knew why he didn't. Why he treated me the way he did. The pieces fell together so perfectly, and even though something inside me still burned for his blood, I knew it was just the monster fighting my decision.

I was tired of letting that beast make the decisions for us, though. I was tired of ruining everything and tired of hating everything. For once, I wanted to do something that not only would make Akin proud, but something that would make me personally proud.

"Menoetius." I said quietly. Menoetius froze, staring at the floor before looking up to stare at me. He managed a gasp, like he couldn't believe what was happening.

"Menoetius." I repeated. Menoetius choked on a sob and shut his eyes, tilting his head back against the wall.

"Hannibal, I'm so sorry. I'm so, so, so sorry. I'm so sorry." He wept in agony. I averted my eyes for a moment, catching sight of Ares, who watched us in stoic silence. He met my eyes and raised an eyebrow, as if to silently ask me how I was going to respond. I looked back at Menoetius sitting in his cell, then took a deep breath and pressed my hand against the glass.

"I... Menoetius, I forgive you." I murmured. Menoetius wailed and covered his face with his hands.

"Hannibal!" He sobbed. Something inside me... broke. It was so strange to see him act like this, so painful to suddenly realize that Menoetius had suffered so much and I had been to busy hating him to even realize that there was more to it than what I thought. My throat hurt watching Menoetius cry and break down all over again. My chest tightened and I looked at Ares.

"Do we have to leave him here?" I asked. Ares frowned.

"You may have forgiven him, but that doesn't mean it can change his punishment." He responded. Frustrated, I looked back inside at Menoetius as he sobbed, repeating my name over and over again like some kind of chant. For once in my life, Menoetius was saying my name. I just wished it didn't sound so painful.

I stood up slowly as Ares approached me.

"That was hard," He told me honestly, making me frown at him, "Facing your fears and forgiving is never easy... and the rest of your training isn't going to be any easier. Are you ready for the rest of it?" I hesitated, looking back at Menoetius, who continued to weep. Even though part of me was stung by this, by the fact that I couldn't do anything for Menoetius, I felt an odd... pressure lift off me. For the first time in my entire life, the monster inside me was hesitant, puzzled. It wasn't sure why I forgave Menoetius, why I was doing this.

But I know why I forgave Menoetius, and it wasn't just because this was part of the training. It was the training that kicked me in the ass and woke me up. I gave Menoetius because he had tried so hard to be normal, tried so hard to make things right, and even though he suffered in the end, he still didn't blame me for any of it, not really. I understood him a lot more than I thought I did, and forgiving him was a huge weight off my shoulders, and apparently Menoetius's, because he thought he was still sobbing, he looked so relieved.

It was hard, but somehow, it was worth it if I could feel this good afterwards.

"Now what?" I asked. Ares nodded.

"Now we visit the twins." He answered, making me grimace. We teleported from outside Menoetius's cell to a new sector of Tartarus. It was the same dark wide hallways and sterile white flooring and cells that were small, cramped, with little comfort. This time, Ares went to a keypad on the wall and typed a few things in. This time, two windows a ways down untinted and Ares led me to them.

Sure enough, Prometheus and Epimetheus were there. Prometheus sat stiffly on his cot, knees drawn to his chest, his eyes staring straight ahead, his dark hair swept back from his face with what appeared to be sweat that dripped down the sides of his face. In the cell beside him, Epimetheus was chewing on his cuticles, peeling them off and flicking them in the sink, his hair cut much shorter than when I last saw him. Unlike Menoetius, who wore the white uniform, these two were wearing the brightest shade of orange I'd ever seen. It almost hurt to look at them.

The moment I came into view of Epimetheus's cell, he jerked his head up and screamed in outrage.

"You fucking traitor!" He snarled, lunging to his feet and slamming into the window, like he hadn't even noticed it was there and I stepped back. Epimetheus yelped, then bared his fangs and slammed his fist against the window.

"Get over here, coward," He shouted, "I'll rip your throat open and bathe in your blood!"

"Shut up," Prometheus yelled suddenly, making Epimetheus yelp and retreat into the cell and I glanced at Prometheus, who pinned me with a menacing glare, "What do you want, hybrid?" I frowned.

"I just came back from visiting Menoetius." I replied. Epimetheus made a noise of disgust and Prometheus narrowed his eyes, studying me for the longest time before looking away.

"So you finally found out." He stated. I nodded. Epimetheus scowled.

"Found out about what?" He asked. I looked at Prometheus.

"He has no idea?" I asked. Prometheus gave me a bitter stare, tightening his grip around his knees.

"He's the god of afterthought and stupidity."

"Shut up!" Epimetheus protested. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. Whatever. It didn't matter if he knew or not. It wasn't my place to tell them about Menoetius. I felt a strange... peace with Menoetius, and I didn't want to betray that by gossiping about him with his idiot brothers. I wasn't here to chat with them; I was here to accept the fact that for years they scared me shitless and I denied it by covering it up with anger and hatred. And while it felt better than being scared and hurt, it fed the monster inside me exactly what it wanted. It wanted me to hate everyone, to be angry with everyone, so it could feed and grow.

But I was tired of it. If putting the monster into submission meant accepting the fact that my brothers were bullies, then so be it.

"Last time we spoke," I said, making Prometheus frown at me, "You and Epimetheus tricked me into working for you against the sons of Hades, into summoning the Khalian, Xenon and Anexius, and causing them more grief. But you know what? Maybe I'm a little grateful for that considering I found out more about my mother, and found the truth behind why I couldn't die all those years I slit my wrists, cut my throat, and goaded people into trying to kill me. And here you knew this entire time." Prometheus curled his lip.

"Why do you think I wanted you on my side? An immortal god of blood lust and chaos? If I had you under my thumb, I'd be more powerful than Zeus and I could make him pay for chaining me to that rock. I tried to be decent," He sneered, raking me with a repugnant snarl, "I gave humans what they needed to survive. Fuck, I helped create the Greeks, and what did Zeus do to repay me for it? He chained me to a fucking rock and sent a fucking oversized pigeon in to rip my innards out, only to have them grow back over night."

"Yeah, boo hoo," I deadpanned, "And I've had my skull cracked open so many times I have a scar down the back of my neck. I know what it's like to die and wake up the next morning, wondering when it'll stop." Prometheus shot to his feet angrily.

"But I didn't deserve it! I was doing good for the people of Greece! I was the one who told Zeus not to trust the Titans! The rest of those sniveling little cockroaches deserved to go to Tartarus for what they'd done, and so did you! But not me! Not me! I was a hero! Even today humans speak about my glory!" He shouted furiously. I narrowed my eyes, folding my arms over my chest.

"I learned that being good isn't asking for something in return or asking for glory. It's being good for the sake of being good." I answered, remembering something, oddly enough, that Dorean enjoyed to preach about. How strange that the little imp's speeches could stick so snugly in my memories.

"As if you'd know," Prometheus spat in disgust, moving away to pace the cell, "You were never good, and you never will be. You're a monster to the core. I've seen you take down entire armies with your bare hands. The only thing that brought you down were those herbs I harvested from Atlantis when father sent me there to spy on the gods." I frowned.

"Atlantean herbs?" I asked. I had never really thought about the drugs they'd given me. They were just crushed up leaves in water at the time. And at that time, there were no filters like some drugs had nowadays. It was straight from the root and extremely potent. It only took seconds to work, and about an hour for me to completely pass out.

"Yes," Prometheus seethed, "Iapetus used the same herbs to drug Lea when he attacked her." I glared at him.

"You're lying."

"I'm not," Prometheus said mockingly, approaching the window, "Iapetus saw Lea bathing alone in a pool and he burned the herbs nearby, blowing the smoke in her direction. It made her weak enough for him to--"

"Shut up!" I snarled. Prometheus smirked now.

"Oh what? Now you're defending your mother? What a quick change that was from the times you used to spit at her very name. Now you're back to suckling her teat?"

"Hannibal, calm down," Ares said from beside me, making me tense, "He's trying to make you angry. He's the god of craftiness. He's trying to goad you into unleashing the monster." I was still furious and wanted to punch my fist through the glass and wring Prometheus's neck out. Though, he did have a point; it was strange how mentioning Lea in the past would've triggered my animosity and now having Prometheus badmouth her infuriated me.

Because I knew what it felt like to be drugged and attacked with no way to defend yourself, to be held down and used...

I wasn't scared of Prometheus, not anymore. He was just a coward. He was so desperate for a little spotlight that he'd do anything to get it, including insulting my mother to rile me up and give him a chance to escape. It was almost pathetic.

"Jesus," I muttered, making Prometheus curl his lip, "I can't believe I'd ever be scared of someone like you." Prometheus's eyes blazed hot with fury as he slammed his fist hard against the glass, but it didn't even echo through the material. Prometheus roared angrily and slammed his fist into it again.

"Just you wait, hybrid! One day you're going to be alone in this world and you're going to wish you had me!"

"Oh, I think I'd rather have an angry bee hive for company than you." I assured. Prometheus bared his fangs again, but I ignored him as I looked at Epimetheus, who watched me with an angry scowl. I studied him from head to toe, and for a moment, a cold image flashed across my mind of the last time I saw Epimetheus-- when he plunged a dagger into Akin's heart and would've killed him if Lucifer hadn't saved him. My temper almost snapped as I remembered the first time I had felt tears in my eyes, a strange lump lodging in my throat.

It was at that moment that I realized, though, that I really did love Akin. He was the first person who didn't look at me and see a monster, a freak. Jesus Christ, he was about to leave the bar and he only stayed because he met me... and he didn't laugh at me because I couldn't dance. He even took me back to his apartment and instead of being disgusted by my scars, he kissed each and every one of them, stroked them as if they were unspeakably precious.

And now that I thought about it, Akin was the first person I ever had real sex with. He was incredibly gentle and sweet. He took his time making me feel good first. He cared about my pleasure too. He made it one of the best nights of my entire life, and in the morning when I thought it was all going to come to a crashing halt, he asked me to be his.

My breath left me in a long gasp and I looked at Epimetheus, who glared at me.

"I may want to kill you for what you did to Akin," I said, making him curl his lip and eye me suspiciously, "But you also did me a favor... That situation made me realize that for the first time in my entire life, someone actually gave a shit about me; and I gave a shit about him too. I realized in that moment when Akin woke up again and smiled at me that I loved him and I would be nothing without him. Yeah, I may nasty, but Akin makes me a damn good man and I'm not going to forget that... So thanks, Epimetheus. I think." Epimetheus twitched and fumed.

"Y-You...! I'll fucking kill you, do you hear me! Dead! I'll kill you dead!"

"There's no other kind, idiot," I muttered, then turned to Ares, who appeared amused, "So I finished with these two. They're about as scary as wet kittens." Ares nodded.

"Exactly. We have one more visit down here. I think you can guess who." He said. I grimaced, but said nothing as we teleported from the section and to an entirely different part of Tartarus that I didn't recognize. It was a large dark room with a domed ceiling, and the entire room was made of black jagged rocks, and we appeared just inside a door that led to a long gleaming white walkway to a platform at the center of the room that was completely surrounded by glass. Inside was the usual toilet, sink, and a cot as well as a small crate turned upside down with a couple of old newspapers on it.

But what distracted me was the man sitting strapped down to a metal chair nailed to the floor.

I remembered a time when that man had been bulging with muscles from centuries of training and battle, black hair that had several streaks of white from stress, and piercing cold blue eyes that were nearly silver they were so pale. He wore a bright orange jumpsuit, white metal straps holding his hands and feet down and his head held back, a strap going around his throat to hold it up so he was forced to watch us walk down the walkway.

"Well, well," Iapetus sneered, curling his lip in repugnance, "Look who finally decided to use his visiting hours." I tensed at the sound of his voice. A deep gravelly growl, threatening and cruel. Just hearing it again grated on my nerves, sent goose bumps across my skin. It was strange that I had no trouble fighting him during the Titan war. I managed to put the past behind me long enough to subdue him, and yet now standing in front of him with several inches of glass between us, and nothing, but a couple of slitted vents in said glass allowing us to communicate.

"Do you want me to step out for this?" Ares asked me. I was hesitant, but I glanced back at Iapetus, who lifted a brow questioningly. I nodded and Ares inclined his head before heading back down the walkway and using the only door in the room to leave.

Once he was gone, I turned to face Iapetus.

"Iapetus." I greeted quietly. Iapetus narrowed his eyes.

"Hybrid." He responded. I gritted my teeth. Even after all these centuries, he still refused to call me by my name. Even worse, it still bothered me. This person didn't even get to know who I was when he found me on his doorstep. He held an instant hatred for me and I still wasn't entirely sure why. I'd tried to ask him a couple of times and he beat me for it. I tried to come up with my own explanations.

He hated that I reminded him of Lea. He hated Lea, therefore, hated me. He hated having to take care of me. He hated knowing there was a beast inside me. I had even toyed with the idea that he hated that I reminded him of what he had done to Lea, but there was no way this person could feel things like that.

And yet, he loved his sons. He loved Atlas, and Prometheus and Epimetheus, and maybe even Menoetius there for a time. Had he ever even loved Clymene?

I suppose this was a good place to start.

"You know," I said, making his eyes darken, "I spent all these years trying to figure out why you hated me, but I couldn't find an exact reason. The day I showed up on your doorstep, all you did was open the door, stare at me for two whole minutes, then snatched me inside and slammed the door shut, only to open it back up a few minutes later to kick me outside. You left me outside for a whole week before you finally decided to do something about me, and that something was to bash my skull open on the marble floor of your house. We both thought I was dead, until I woke up the next morning and you beat me for staining your floor with blood. And that entire time, you didn't say anything to me. You didn't even ask me if I had a name or if I was even who you thought I was. You just... attacked me. I was five-years-old. What was I going to do? Ask for a juice box?"

Iapetus curled his lip.

"You'll know one day when you sire your own bastard." He answered coldly.

"No," I replied flatly, "Because I have a husband and I'd sooner kill myself than ever betray him... Which means you probably never loved Clymene if you were willing to sleep with another woman."

"Oh, please," Iapetus snorted, "You've latched onto this modern world so pathetically it makes me sick... In my time, we had concubines aplenty, bastards aplenty."

"But you never loved any of them," I said with a frown, "You didn't treat them well... You raped my mother. An Atlantean goddess. Why?" Iapetus pinned me with a withering glare.

"Exactly," He responded, practically hissing the answer, "An Atlantean goddess who dared to stand against me. Lea and I fought on the battle field just days before I stumbled across her in the mortal realm. She humiliated me and slaughtered my men without remorse. Even Clymene gossiped of my failure to the other gods... So I took my revenge and she got the message. Or at least, she was supposed to until she sent her bastard to me."

"Lea never sent me to you," I replied, making him scowl, "Atropos, the Moirai who cut the thread of life. Except she made sure no one could cut my thread. She disguised herself and dumped me on your step because, according to a prophecy she and her sisters gave, I was supposed to kill Atlan and take over the Atlantean pantheon, but if I didn't, I would be the weapon Atlan used to take over the other pantheons. And apparently my life wasn't hard enough with that prophecy, no, she had to send me to you of all people." Iapetus glared at me.

"You lie."

"No, you lie," I responded heatedly, "You led me to believe for years that my mother hated me, when she wanted nothing, but to have me back. You even flaunted me in front of her during one of our battles when I nearly killed her without realizing it." Iapetus scoffed.

"Because I wanted to show her what I had done with her by-blow," He said smugly, scraping his nails against the chair's arms as if the subject excited him, "I managed to take control of that nifty little curse you carried and I used you to lay waste to the Atlanteans and it would've worked with the Olympians too if you hadn't corrupted my son." I glared at him.

"I didn't corrupt Menoetius."

"Menoetius was perfect," Iapetus sneered, "He was born to be a god. When Zeus deemed him the god of violence, of rage, I thought finally... someone I could use, someone who wasn't fucking worthless like my other sons. The gods of forethought and afterthought? The god of astronomy? What use were those cum-stains to me? Finally I had Menoetius and I was going to raise the perfect son until he dared to look at you with desire. It was disgusting. I would've been less revolted if he'd at least held eyes for his own mother, but you? No, that was the last straw. I wasn't going to let you lure Menoetius away from his destiny. And yet the stupid little shit went to face Zeus on his own after he had a bitch-fit about my plans for you."

"Oh, you're just pissed Menoetius had a heart," I spat in disgust, "Menoetius was the only one of your sons who did." And so much for loving his sons. Iapetus loved no one. He was cold and heartless.

"Heart," Iapetus sneered the word like a curse word, "There is no room for that in war, no room for it in reality. Menoetius could've done great things if he wasn't a boy-lover... No, a hybrid-lover. He dared to look at you with anything other than hatred. He was to be a god of violence and hatred, not fucking love."

"We're seldom matched for our realm of rule." I said dryly. Iapetus raked me with a disgusted sneer.

"You are not worthy of mortality and curses."

"No," I replied angrily, "Because those were my chosen realms. I was cursed to blood lust and chaos. I didn't want them. I still don't." Iapetus laughed.

"Then you're stupider than I thought," He scoffed, scanning me from head to toe, unimpressed, "The curse of a god of blood lust and chaos is truly the most powerful of realms. A curse so powerful that any god who holds it could become king of his own pantheon... And you have that chance, to become ruler of the Atlanteans, and yet here you are, trying to have a heart-to-heart." I glared at him, frustrated.

"Kind of hard to have a heart-to-heart with someone who doesn't have one," I said, looking at him in repugnance and he bared his fangs, "And I don't want a stupid throne. Power is one thing I really don't want anymore of. The only reason I'm here is to understand why you hate me so much, why you're so fucking cold." I had to get over the fact that all those years I was terrified of him. I wasn't even sure why; he couldn't kill me. His beatings had become hardly more than a mosquito bite after a while. In fact, I had expected them so often that even after Iapetus was gone, I expected everyone else to hit me too, even Akin.

The first time Akin spanked me, I remembered feeling sweaty and clammy because I was expecting to get beaten the way Iapetus had. Instead, Akin had just put me over his knee and I remembered being shocked that it didn't hurt... if anything, it felt great.

But that wasn't the point; the point was that I was terrified of Iapetus and I had to overcome it... And yet I was still eyeing Iapetus warily, expecting him to get up and come after me, even when it was obvious he couldn't even move his head.

"You were a god send after a while," Iapetus said, drawing me back to see him glaring at me intently, "When all my other sons failed me, it just happened to be the pathetic hybrid that was the son I was waiting for; the one who would reinstate my name amongst the other gods as powerful. I was no longer mocked and laughed at. Even Clymene had shut her whore mouth. And yet while I basked in that glory, nothing made me more ill than having to come back home and see you sitting there waiting for my orders, as if you were expecting me to give you something in return."

"Yeah, a little thanks might've been nice." I answered bitterly. Iapetus's eyes flashed menacingly and he tensed so hard in his seat that the metal clasps dug into his skin.

"I have not, nor will I ever owe you anything," Iapetus snarled, "Like my other pathetic sons, you, too, became weak and miserable. The war against the Olympians was failing and with Prometheus's defect and Menoetius's betrayal and Clymene constantly bitching and bitching to do something, I had to give you up to Zeus and that piece of shit turned on us the moment you were in his custody."

"Yeah, Karma's a bitch. A bitch I owe a lot to." I responded coldly. Iapetus's face twisted in an angry snarl.

"You think just because I'm here and you're there that you're safe? Trust me, when Atlan gets his greedy paws on you and realizes he doesn't have the power to control you, and you realize that no one else can control you, but me, you'll be begging to let me out of here." He sneered. I glared at him.

"I'd sooner kill myself than ever rely on you again." I said angrily.

I'm tired of living under his thumb, tired of being afraid of someone who was locked up so securely that he couldn't even move. Even today, I walked around with Iapetus hanging over my head. Things like how pathetic and worthless I was, how miserable I'd be without him there to control me and the monster inside me. Without realizing it, I really had relied on Iapetus a lot more than I thought. I could've easily broken away from Iapetus when I had the chance, but I didn't. I was so afraid of falling prey to the beast inside me that I was willing to put up with Iapetus to control it.

That's all it was.

It wasn't even Iapetus that I was scared of, not really. It was losing him that scared me.

Jesus Christ. Talk about self-realization.

This whole time I was convinced Iapetus terrified me into submission, somehow, someway... when it reality, it was losing his control that terrified me. Ares was right; I was too dependent on other people to control me. It explained why I so quickly agreed to Akin's Dominant/Submissive relationship. Having someone there to keep tabs on me, someone there to tell me what to do. It was my comfort zone. I was so afraid of fucking up, so afraid of becoming a monster, that I was willing to do anything.

Granted, my relationship with Akin was completely different from the other relationships I had with people. Akin's was voluntary. I wanted to do that. I chose that. It wasn't just the control I sought from Akin either. It was having someone there to give a shit about me that I valued highly. Akin did the most tiniest of things for me, and yet they meant the world to me. From picking out my clothes to washing me in the shower, I loved it. I loved having someone who cared about me enough to do things that some people would find degrading.

And Akin made it blatantly clear that if I ever wanted to end our Dominant/Submissive relationship that I could do it. All I had to do was use the safe word and tell him it was over... But I didn't want it to be over. I didn't care about the curfew or the chores or even the punishments, not really. I like having this relationship with Akin. It was comfortable. It was close-knit.

Akin had all the power in the world to degrade me and he never once did it, not like everyone else. Akin pampered me... because he gave a shit about me.

I took a deep breath, turning away from Iapetus, who watched me suspiciously now. I wiped my hands down my face.

God, this whole thing was wearing me out. I was exhausted. Tired of being afraid and tired of being used. I wanted to take control of my own life. It was time to get rid of Iapetus. Time to live on my own without his words constantly hanging over my head.

"I'm done," I said, turning back to Iapetus, who narrowed his eyes on me, "I'm done being afraid and I'm done listening to you. I don't need someone constantly spitting in my face. Seriously, done. Enjoy your heavy dose of karma, Iapetus. I won't be back here ever again." I turned and started down the walkway when Iapetus let loose a scream so loud that it shook the room. I snapped back around to see him writhing in his seat.

"You ungrateful bastard! I did everything for you and this is how you repay me? You can't survive without a master!" He snarled. I cocked my head.

"I do have a master. Myself." I answered. Iapetus shrieked again, but he wasn't going anywhere. All he could do was kick and scream. Oh, how the mighty have fallen, I thought dryly, turning back around and heading out of the room to the small corridor where Ares was waiting, leaning back against the wall, arms folded over his chest.

"That went well." I said as I approached. Ares chuckled, pushing off the wall.

"Yeah, I heard. Sounds like Deimos when he was two," He mused, then shook his head and looked at me, "Anyway, we're finished down here. Your next assignment is... well, let's just say we're taking a day off before we go ahead with it." I frowned at that.

"Why?" I asked. Ares stared at me intently. I could see the gears turning in his head. I didn't like the idea of taking a break. I'd rather get it all over as quickly as possible. We didn't have time to sit around and play Karate Kid guru with Atlan getting closer and closer to Hades.

"Let's just say this might be your hardest test yet," Ares said after a moment of suffocating silence, and my frown deepened, "Now stop making that face and let's go out for Chinese. I'm in a mood for noodles." His attempt to lighten the mood didn't help.

Now I was anxious again.

Hardest test yet? As if confronting my family wasn't hard enough, what else did Ares have planned?