Chapter 6: He Started It

Dark found herself with nothing to do while the men deliberated. Maybe she should have realized sooner it would be a group vote. Swaying Cronus was one thing, but the vote still had to favor her and all she'd done was insult most of them. If anything, Dark was now convinced that people weren't her strong point. She'd always suspected Angel was the easier sell between the two of them, but after only a handful of hours in a body, Dark had probably made half the council hate her.

And she'd scared the youth from earlier. And Hyperion looked at her like he might burst into flames at any minute. So, things…were going great.

At least she'd stormed out with flair, just as she'd intended to but now, she did not know what else to do. Already having tried and failed to portal out multiple times, she resigned herself to the fact that whatever magic they'd used on her cuffs was potent. So Dark stared out into the courtyard area, now devoid of the rows of armored men. Perhaps that had been for her benefit or to intimidate her. The men hadn't dispersed completely, a chunk of the force seemed to converge in a corner near weapons. Some were milling about, talking. And now that she was closer, she could see the sky was a strange mix of particles. Just as she was about to step into the courtyard and inspect, a voice came from nowhere.

"There the hell you are," the familiar accent growled behind her. The hairs raised across her skin and Dark smirked, wondering who would draw the short end of the stick to come to find her. Of course, it would be him.

"As if I have nothing better to do, I'm babysitting you until they decide," she could tell he scowled even though she refused to face him. "Come on."

"You might not have noticed, but I'm not a child…And consider yourself lucky I haven't caused any trouble yet. The men look like they haven't seen a woman in ages…I could probably stage a coup if I play my cards right." She wasn't serious, but again, that button of his seemed so easy to push she couldn't resist.

Hyperion stiffened as he stepped around to face her. His jaw tight enough to show Dark she'd probably said something foolish. The flash of hurt in his eyes was unexpected, but it was gone as soon as it came. He turned away, dismissing her, then walked forward and she had to quicken her pace to keep up as they crossed the courtyard in sweeping strides. She looked ahead to the area they headed toward, which had padded squares on the ground and several shirtless men throwing each other around. The sparring area had the largest crowd of gawking armored men. Dark would bet money herself they were wagering on winners. Some were already stripping down for their own turn in the fight.

Grunting, shirtless men sounded like as good a time as any and the smart part of her realized watching them fight would be a good assessment of their strengths and weaknesses. Slowing until she was a handful of steps behind Hyperion, Dark finally had time to study the sky above them. But it couldn't have been a sky at all. She'd known it looked odd from the walkway, but now, standing directly under it, the thing above them looked more like white noise than anything. It was a fuzzy, grayish-white that moved in flurried motions as if composed of tiny particles that never settled. She instinctively reached up toward it, even though it was far overhead. Her fingers flexed as she pulled her hand back.

"Ashes…" Hyperion snapped her attention. She hadn't even heard him stop to stare at her. He nodded to the sky, "Up there, it's ash."

"Ash? But nothing's burning," Dark wondered aloud, realizing it had mesmerized her in the glittering rise and fall of the particles. A dance. But now that he'd mentioned it, the swirling mass could have been ash, "And ash doesn't behave this way. It settles, eventually. This just seems…restless?" It wasn't the right word, but it felt true.

Hyperion regarded her slowly as if assessing how much he should say, "That's…a good word for it, Dark." He turned back to the sky, "It's suspended up there permanently, in magic."

"What is this place? I don't understand the white walls…and nothing has a scent. It's all so…wrong." She hated how frustrated she felt when she couldn't accurately describe the unnaturalness of it all.

"If the vote goes in your favor, maybe I'll tell you," he paused as if to say more but said, "But the odds are against you even if you convinced my brother. Anyway, come on, I have things to do, Dark, with or without you."

That was an odd reaction, she thought, deciding to circle back to the ashes later. The way he'd said her name brought those pesky little sex thoughts right back to the forefront of her mind. Who knew watching her other half with her gods would have left Dark feeling utterly unsatisfied and definitely curious?

"I have to check on the training," he called over his shoulder, motioning her to follow, "just stay out of the way and don't cause any trouble. None of them like you." Dark raised her palms in surrender, jingling her handcuffs for dramatic effect. His eyes narrowed, and she smirked like the smartass she was. The looks she'd got in the council gave credence to them not liking her…but not all the looks had been hatred.

As they neared, Dark watched the strong choreography of movements the men made, trying to subdue one another. They were clearly practicing ground and submission techniques, designed to defeat anyone who was stronger or more armed. It was a way to level the playing field in hand-to-hand combat. Not only were they giant, but they were fast too. Dark's stomach twisted. She would have been embarrassed if she tried to outmaneuver Hyperion. The men who stood around watching were at least a few feet shorter than the men who currently fought, so she knew they could alter their size.

Drawing closer, she watched one man kick the feet out from the other and ram his elbow down into his sternum. At that, the fight was over, and the winner knelt down to help the loser up. Loser or not, the man hadn't gotten his ass kicked. The fight had been pretty even until the leg swipe. They laughed with each other as they moved off the mats. Then, believable or not, they shrank. She blinked twice to clear her vision, but yea, they'd definitely shrunk.

Two more people began fighting while she stared after the men heading towards the water basin. The sound of grunting brought her back to the mats as she watched the two dodge and stay just out of reach of each other. Dark remembered Asteria constantly praising her for that particular skill during their years in hell. They trained so aggressively, Dark understood they weren't simply doing skill maintenance, they were actively preparing for something. Apparently, that something had been defeating the Titans. Yet here she was…

Dark stood at the outskirts of the group, leaning against the far wall as Hyperion walked into the center of the fighting area, placing his hands behind his back as he studied their form. All the men seemed to react to his presence. Those who weren't fighting stood straighter, and the two who sparred seemed to fight harder. What was he some kind of leader? It would make sense, she supposed, how else would he have had the authority to take her from the involution?

His muscles pulled tight as he studied the fighters. It must have taken a lot for him to stand by and watch. Several times he verbally corrected errors the fighters were making, but mostly, he seemed pleased with their progress. When the winner landed a jaw-breaking punch, those two left the mats and two more took their place. Dark watched the distinctive red hair of the boy she scared earlier, flopping around as he tussled with a much larger male. That must mean the size adjustments probably had something to do with age. He was clearly outmatched, but he wasn't backing down, taking the hits in stride.

The kid was scrappy enough to take a hit and skilled enough to hold his own against a larger opponent. She had to give him credit.

Hyperion tapped the left shoulder of the two fighters, "Clear the field," he yelled and everyone except the two he'd tapped stepped a few paces back, forming a ring. Dark had to move so she could see better. Hyperion outstretched his hand for them to continue. The more Dark watched, the more she felt herself growing annoyed. The boy was clearly trying his best, repeating the moves exactly as they were supposed to be executed, but his opponent was cheating. He'd throw a punch right before a submission. Or purposely kick him in the gut as he went to pin him. What the hell was this guy's problem?

Were actual fights fair? No, of course not, but this was unnecessarily petty considering all he was doing was embarrassing the kid.

She watched Hyperion's face for any sign that he was going to intervene, but it was stoic. She clicked her tongue. Get involved or mind her business? Who was she kidding? She wasn't minding her business now that she was in the real world.

The cluster of shirtless men seemed agitated, stealing sharp glances at her, and nudging each other. Dark fiddled with the cuffs she wore, weighing her options. The magic was probably a simple variation of something Asteria had already taught her, she just needed to find the right one. Careful not to draw too much additional attention to herself, she stood straight and pushed forward.

"Guard your right kid!" she yelled from the rear, "No, with your elbow, tuck harder." Her eyes trained solely on the fight, she continued walking. Titans immediately cleared a path for her as if her skin were acid. The wide birth she had as she walked told her one thing above all, Hyperion had been right, they despised her. And she assumed, based on the manipulative things Asteria wanted her to believe, she'd done things in a past iteration that deserved their hatred. But she wasn't that person now and she couldn't apologize for things she didn't remember, so she shrugged them off.

This impasse would have to change if she were to wrangle them into joining forces, as she still hoped to do. She ignored the disgruntled voices as they grew louder around her and crouched near the fight, cocking her head to the side as she watched. Dark wasn't conscious of anything going on around her, she merely wanted to even the odds for the boy.

The boy was pinned in a sleeper hold on the ground, carefully trying to work his way out, but the boulder of a man holding him kept throwing sneaky knees into his ribs. Those damn ribs the boy seemed to never guard. She tried to wait patiently for him to find his way out of the hold, but he couldn't. The kid tapped the ground softly at first, then harder as if he were desperate and yet still the man holding him did not budge.

"Stop!" she yelled, and both stilled, startled by the force of her voice. The man released the teen into a heap on the floor amid the flurry of gasps and coughs. She could clearly see the cracks forming around his neck.

"My bad Cree," the man grumbled, brushing himself off. Dark wanted to split his head in two. Hyperion gave her an angry stare. He had the nerve to be mad at HER? When that brute of a man was unfairly beating the boy up? That made two heads she wanted to split.

"Come here, kid," she waved him over, "What, Cree, is it? Come on, I don't bite."

He hesitantly stepped to her, his cracked neck already healed, and he showed no signs of being injured, "Who's the asshole?"

"That's my brother, Coeus," he threw a dismissive hand in his direction, his accent softer than the others. "Don't worry, he's always like that. I can handle myself." Dark watched him puff his chest out and laughed. She was surprised at how musical her laugh actually sounded from outside of her own head.

"Some brother, he is. More like an enemy if you ask me…"

"Really, I had it under control! I'm not as young as I look. He's just…he takes it really seriously where I'm concerned."

"Well, that's great to hear cause from where I'm sitting you look just shy of sixteen," she smirked at his scowl, then amended, "Maybe a young twenty." She wondered what the dynamic was between all of them. Hyperion had mentioned a brother. Cree too. But surely all these men weren't related.

"I'm only a few millennia younger than my brothers, thank you very much! We just age slowly." That steamrolled the shit out of her mind. They were…old old. Unfathomably old. Like dawn-of-the-earth old. Or just shy of it. Fuck.

"Oh really, well excuse me, maybe you don't need my help after all?" she joked, trying to play off her panic, then leaned in towards his ear. Dark explained Coeus' weaknesses and how to exploit them, "And for gods’ sake please tuck your fucking elbow, okay? I can see all your ribs from across the room," she smiled and instead of running like last time, he smiled back, nodding his head as he returned to the field.

Why did that make her head lighten? The kid—correction grown-ass, ancient-ass man—had to at least trust her a little. That was progress, right? She resumed her position, watching as Hyperion snapped his fingers for the fight to resume. In three moves, Cree had won. And she didn't miss the cheap shots he'd hit his brother with. That had her grinning.

Coeus rolled onto his feet and glared, "So you're her, huh?" His accent was subtle. Not in the way Cree's was. More like he didn't want Dark to know anything about him. He modulated his voice and his mannerisms. She doubted she would ever see the real man beneath the mask.

"I'm her," Dark sneered. She didn't like him. Not his aura. Not his face. Not his anything.

"Never seen a monster this close before…"

"Really? And here I was thinking you'd met Asteria before…" The gasps were so subtle, she almost thought she didn't hear them. But the field became a murmur of voices, unsure, distressing voices. Dark saw his face wash over in a strained expression for a moment before he put an angry mask over it. She knew that look. That was the look of someone who was about to fight.

Shit. Dark mentally started working on the cuffs, trying out the incantations like keys to a lock, hoping one would fit.

"Brother…calm down…she doesn’t know," Hyperion started moving toward Coeus's back. They were brothers too? Gods have mercy, maybe they were actually all related.

Hyperion's bow came from nowhere, suddenly snapping at his side. The audible mumbles around them grew louder. Dark sped up her attempts at the incantation for her cuffs, blazing through all the ones she could remember.

"I'm going to do what you didn't have the balls to do," Coeus grunted, his face twisting into an angry snarl, "This is at least one monster I can do something about!"

"You can't! She hasn't been judged yet," Hyperion reached out, "The vote has yet to be passed." he yelled something in their language and Dark felt the hit coming before it arrived.

Hyperion never reached his brother. Instead, Coeus moved like lightning, throwing Dark clear across the courtyard with a force that rivaled Asteria's own. And as she flew, she couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness. What a dickhead. What kind of man would hit a woman bound in chains? He'd started it and somehow, she was being forced into her place? He was telling her exactly what she was to them. No damn way would she let this go.

"Fucking pussy!" Dark yelled just before hitting the ground.