“Brother?!” Romulus stared at Derrick through angered eyes.
Trying his best to keep the portal open to Apep, Derrick stayed focus. He knew he would have to answer for his secrets, and most importantly, he knew he’d have to tell Romulus what he’d done. As if he could read his thoughts, Apep gruesome smile widened.
“Still keeping your little secret huh? *Derrick*.”
Derrick’s purple eyes glared at him. “Where are Evie and her daughter?”
Putting his finger to his lips, Apep locked eyes with Thanatos. “I believe she calls the thing Kore. Do you like that name Thanatos? I wasn’t sold on it at first, but I think it fits her face quite nicely.”
He was trying to break Thanatos, and as much as he didn’t want it to work, it was. Hearing Apep mention his daughter’s name he never knew, whose face he never seen, was tearing into him. Romulus placed his hand on his brother's shoulder, and Thanatos regained his focus.
“You’re always one to play games, name yours and I’ll play for them.”
“Hmmm…that does sound quite appealing. How about this Grim Reaper? I’ll give you two weeks, better find us in time.” With that Apep waved his hand and closed Derrick’s portal.
“NO!” Thanatos screamed, banging his fist into the ground.
As Derrick’s eyes returned to normal, he felt the heat from Romulus's body. He stormed past him, and Derrick immediately chased after.
“Romulus please-”
Romulus whipped around, and his hand collided with Derrick’s face. “I told you not to lie to me again,” he fumed.
Derrick put his head down and sighed, “I know.”
“Romulus...just-try to let him speak, please. I know that’s hypocritical of me to ask, but right now he’s our only link to Evie and my daughter.”
Not looking at Derrick, Romulus nodded. “I swear if you don’t tell my brother EVERYTHING you know, I’m going to fucking kill you Soul Tie or not.”
He nodded, “I’ll tell you both everything…starting with my real name.”
--------------------------------------------
Thanatos sat next to Romulus and they stared at Derrick waiting for him to begin.
“M-my name is Magnus.”
Romulus's eyes widened to the size of plates. He lunged at him, but Thanatos caught him just in time.
“YOU FUCKING PIECE SHIT!”
“CALM DOWN ROMULUS!” He’d never seen his brother act this way. Whipping around to face Thanatos, he pointed wildly at Derrick. “HE KILLED THE NECROMANCERS THANATOS! NOT APEP!”
Thanatos eyes immediately blackened, and Derrick threw up his hands and slinked back. “NO! I SWEAR I DIDN’T…JUST PLEASE, LET ME EXPLAIN!”
Romulus cut his eyes. “Explain how you SLAUGHTERED THOUSANDS?!” Thanatos looked at his brother confused, “Souls…souls that are to be reincarnated; they talk while they wait Derrick. They all said your name. That as the sorcerer who killed them destroyed everything,” he shouted, “THANK MAGNUS FOR THIS! Explain that, you lowly snake!”
Thanatos eyed Derrick and then remembered something. “Angelica told me it was Apep. She wouldn’t lie Romulus.”
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you both! Please…I’m begging you, just let me explain.”
Romulus seethed in the corner but remained silent. Staring down at the table, Derrick fidgeted with his hands. “You know, not everybody is lucky to have a relationship like you two…some of us…don’t get a decent sibling. We get…something different.” He sighed, “I wished so hard for a brother. Someone who wasn’t afraid of me, like everyone else. Someone who didn’t fear my powers…the way I did. When I was a kid, I did something really bad, and after that, my parents forbid me from using my powers.” Thanatos sat in silence, and Derrick knew what he was asking.
“I accidentally killed another child. I didn’t mean it…I was just afraid. They were older kids and they chased me into the woods. They threw sticks and rocks at me and called me a-” He looked at Romulus and put his head down. “A lot of names. One of them pushed me into the water and grabbed my head trying to make me drown. I panicked and the next thing I knew, the clouds blackened and moved. A bolt of lightning struck him in the chest, and he collapsed. He stopped…breathing.”
“Derrick that could have just been a freak accident.”
Derrick shook his head feverishly no. “No Thanatos…it wasn’t. That wasn’t the worse part. I erased him. I-I tried to bring him back, but I somehow grabbed onto a light…from inside of him and it went into my body…and my age went backwards."
Romulus's eyes widened and his lip dropped. “You absorbed someone’s source?”
Derrick shook his head. “I didn’t know what it was until all the other kids stared at me in confusion. I kept saying I didn’t mean to hurt their friend… but they didn’t know who I was talking about. I told my mother what happened, and she made me promise to never use my powers again. She said there were two parts to a person, their soul, and their source…and the soul was the essence of a being, but the source was the thing that brought them into existence.”
Romulus couldn’t comprehend what he was saying. He’d never heard of anything like this. Even Romulus who created life, couldn’t absorb someone else’s into his body. He could generate a source to bring life, send souls for reincarnation, but to absorb the source from someone, wiped away their very creation. Thanatos eyes were just as wide.
“I-I saw Evie do something like that, but it wasn’t light…it was a black mist, like mine.”
“Evie can absorb a person’s essence...their souls. She can keep them from ever having an afterlife…I can make it, so they never existed.”
A chill went up the brother's spine. “How powerful are you?”
Derrick chuckled sadly, “I…honestly don’t know…but that’s why I wanted a brother so badly and I prayed. Every night I prayed to Zeus, I asked for someone powerful like me, who can help me learn to control what was happening inside.”
Thanatos felt his anger boil. “And you ended up with Apep…”
“Yes. I was SO happy at first. He wasn’t even a baby, he was already older than me.” He smiled wryly. “I guess, I should have realized right then and there something was wrong…but I wanted a brother so badly I didn’t care. He took me away from the people who feared me, and somehow we survived. He took care of me…but then things started to go wrong. I didn’t realize it at the time, but Apep was really jealous of the fact that I was more powerful than him. He would scold and berate me, and in turn, it made me want to earn his favor more. I just KNEW if I tried hard enough…If I made him happy enough...if I stayed out of the way, he'd eventually grow to love me like I loved him." He saw a tinge of sadness if Romulus face, knowing he once felt the same about Thanatos.
"So, after his constant push to see how strong my powers were...I finally gave in. I agreed to manipulate the clouds-” He paused, “...And steal people sources.”
Romulus slammed his fist on the table and leaned in through clenched teeth, “How many people? That I created, that were created before me, did you erase *Magnus*?”
Derrick winced, “I-I’m really almost as old as Apep...who is really... older than Angelica.” Veins of light focused through Romulus forearm to his hand, and his eyes burned white. Slinging his arm, he sent the light right into Derrick. He flew from his chair to the wall and Romulus rose.
“You’re done talking.”
Thanatos grabbed Romulus, his forearm producing blackened veins, he injected a small amount of the black mist inside him. “LOOK AT ME ROMULUS! THIS ISN’T YOU!”
“It is…”
“No, it’s not. What did you tell me? I know you’re hurt, but you’re no better than him if you kill him.” Romulus stared at his brother, and slowly his body returned to normal. His eyes locked onto Derrick, and the sight of his pain tore at the sorcerer’s heart.
“I never meant to hurt you…or anyone.”
Romulus closed his eyes. “But you did.”
Leaving the room, he left Derrick and Thanatos alone. “H-He’s never going to forgive me.”
“Would you forgive you?”
Derrick sobbed silently and wiped his face. “…Never. I was so afraid of my powers…he convinced me to give them to him so he could teach me not to be afraid…but that’s not what he did with them…he used my powers to enhance his. To make him almost indestructible…to absorb sources, but it was too much for his body… he could only do certain things-"
“LIKE WHAT DERRICK?!”
He began to sob again. “Oh God…I swear I didn’t know…until it was too late.”
“You need to tell me what happened with the necromancers Derrick. What did Apep do?”
Derrick raised his head and looked at Thanatos. “H-He used my powers Thanatos! To manipulate who were soul tied...and tied himself to Angelica so he could have her powers...knowing mine would eventually pull from him...but it didn't work! She ran away and met her true tie. He was so enraged and with my powers, he started the game. A game to get back at her and still become powerful. He switched the powers of two little boys and enhanced the others of a little girl...and Thanatos...well...you know the rest."