4 Chapter Four

I snatched my hand away and stumbled back some as the man began to sit up, never taking his eyes off me. He was even taller than me sitting down so I didn't want to think about if we were standing side by side. He moved to reach his hand out to me and my mind told me to move but something kept me from moving. It was like the closer his hand got the harder my heart pounded against my chest.

When his hand connected with the side of my face it was like a thousand tingles rippled through my body and I knew he felt them too because he shivered. I watched as a smile spread across his face and his eyes seemed to brighten with fascination.

"Ares." His voice was smooth, deep, raspy, and had the hint of an accent I couldn't place.

I grabbed his hand and removed it from my face, "You seem to make a habit out of calling my name."

His smile widened, flashing his teeth, "Your name is beautiful, very much like you."

I dropped his hand and moved back some, feeling uncomfortable. I watched his smile drop and he frowned at me, making me feel bad for creating the distance. There was something that told me to move back closer towards him but I ignored it because I didn't like it. Being near him made my body feel weird and my thoughts would scramble.

I cleared my throat, "T-Thanks....What is your name?"

"Nikkos." His voice was firm.

I nodded, "Nikkos, oka-"

"I like the way my name sounds on your lips." His smile graced his face again.

I felt butterflies in my stomach but ignored the feeling as there were more important things to focus on.

"Mind explaining why you were laying in the middle of nowhere naked and unconscious?" I gestured to his body, feeling heat rise up my neck.

"The Origin does not create clothes for our bodies." He said as if I should have known that.

"I mean, why are you here? Why were you unconscious surrounded by a shield and why have I been dreaming of you? Where are you from? Where's your family? They should be the ones dreaming of you and having the urge to find you!" I snapped in frustration at everything that's been happening. I just wanted clear answers.

It was silent for a few minutes with both of us staring at each other before he spoke up.

"I do not have any family as I was only gifted a body a few days ago. I don't know why I was laid here but The Origin put me here and I choose not to question it. I believe the shield was for my protection as I sense many dangerous things in this place. I am here for you, to protect you, to never leave your side. Your dreams are my dreams, my dreams are your dreams. We are connected. I feel it and you should too." Nikkos eyes didn't waver from mine.

He gave me answers and now I had more questions.

"Are you saying you're only a few days old? You're a child?" I didn't want to be attracted to a child; that was punishable by death in every world.

He glared at me, "I am far from a child! I have been alive for centuries just without a body. I am far older than you or any other being in this universe."

Okay, clearly, I offended him but at least he's not a kid.

"Sorry, didn't mean to upset you. I'm just trying to clarify everything. I had questions before and now I have even more." I explained, watching the glare melt off his face as I spoke.

"It is fine but I sense danger coming so I think it'd be best to leave first before getting more acquainted with each other," Nikkos said as his eyes began to scan the trees and that's when I noticed all the owls surrounding us on branches, watching.

I grabbed my bag, "Here are some pants, you can't wander around with- just here!"

He took the clothes I shoved against his chest and I stood up and turned around to give him privacy. I heard him chuckle and ignored the heat that was surely covering my face as he got ready. I jumped when he tapped me on the shoulder and turned around to come eye to eye with his shoulders. He was indeed taller than me when standing and far better looking.

"Shall we get going?" I looked up at him and saw him staring at me with a raised eyebrow.

I shook my head and stepped back, "Yeah, I should be able to teleport us back to my place."

As I held my hand out for him to grab the ground rumbled and the barrier began to shiver before shattering. An extremely strong gust of wind blew, making me stumble and I would have fallen if Nikkos didn't pull me into his arms, shielding me from the wind. When it eased up I pulled away from him and looked in the direction he was glaring.

The owls were still in the branches staring but standing a few meters from us by the trees were three figures. Their bodies were normal for the most part aside from the way they wavered and black smoke seemed to surround them. Their eyes were pitched black and two of them held murderous expressions on their face while the one in the middle simply smiled at us.

"Teleporting, now." I grabbed Nikkos's hand, attempting to teleport but nothing happened and I watched as the middle figure laughed. Nikkos hand tightened in mines and I heard a low growl coming from him but something told me not to take my eyes off the three in front of us.

"Thanks to this little thing here your powers are useless." The guy in the middle said as he held a stick that seemed to have carvings over it and glowing.

"This would have been a lot easier if you had allowed us to kill him in his sleep, but I guess the Origin always has to make things a challenge, or else it wouldn't be fun." The female to his right sighed as she grinned with an evil gleam in her eyes.

I thought about how I had been cold, unable to get warm, and had seen the shadow figures but since waking up with the burn mark on my arm that hadn't happened. It made sense that Nikkos had stopped me from being hurt seeing as he says he's meant to protect me. I would just like to know why I'm suddenly so important.

"I'll kill anyone who harms him." Nikkos grip on my hand dropped and I looked back to see his features changing.

His eyes seemed to burn bright red as his ink-black hair seemed to have sparks of electricity coming from it. I watched as red veins surrounded his eyes and his teeth sharpened to look beyond deadly. His fingers seemed to change from nails to claws as fire wrapped around his hand and up to his arms. His tattoos seemed to glow a burning red as he moved to step in front of me.

Great, he turns into an overprotective monster too! I let my sword materialize in my hand and was grateful that every god had a weapon attached to them so magic wasn't needed to create one or I would have been completely useless.

The owls started hooting and the wind picked up a bit as they charged but it was more like they flew. Their body half materializing into black smoke. I focused on the one that was clearly aiming for me, coming from the left of the main guy. The other two tag-teamed Nikkos but instead of focusing on him I moved out of the way of the guy after me. I was sure Nikkos could handle himself.

The guy swung out a blade and I used my sword to block the strike, twisting to the side and swinging my sword to aim for his torso but he quickly flew away. I turned just in time to duck down before turning around and my sword clashing against his blade again. I sent my fist striking into his cheek at the same time our weapons met, throwing him off guard and making his body stumble back.

He let out a growl of rage and threw his blade at me and if I wasn't fast enough it would have connected with my chest. I moved to the right just in time but was met with a fist slamming into my face, making me fall but I rolled over to the left just in time to dodge his next attack, jumping up and sending a spin kick towards his left rib. The sound of his ribs cracking entered my ears and made up for the pain coming from my bleeding nose.

I really hope it's not broke because it'd be a bitch to heal.

I heard the snapping of the stick before I felt my powers rush through my body. I used my powers to jump over the guy as he tried to tackle me and I turned and sent a blast from my hand, sending him flying back into a tree, breaking it before slamming against the tree behind him and slumping down unconscious.

"Now!" I felt Nikkos arm wrap around my waist and I wasted no time teleporting from Berber back to Olyumps, making us land roughly on my living room floor.

"What the fuck!?" Adrian's voice rang out.

I looked to see him standing in the living room entrance with a look of horror on his face and I flashed him a weak smile.

"I'm back earlier than expected."

Adrian frowned, "It's been 30 hours, Ares."

I stared at him before letting my body lay down on my floor, relaxing as pain throbbed in my body.

"I'm Nikkos."