Ch.8 THE KING EMERGES

Exios remained silent, his eyes dilated and his face remained exspressionless. Gray bulging veins spread across his body. Alexander continued to watch completely puzzled as Exios skin and hair transformed into the same metallic gray color. his golden eyes appeared to glow as the whites of his eyes turned black. Alexander's face went slack. "What are you?" He asked. "Make it painful, but bring him to me before you kill him." Athena said coldly. Alexander scoffed. "Who do you think-" his words died in his throat, as Exios appeared in front of him. They locked eyes for a split second before Exios latched his hand onto Alexander's upper right arm. He immedielty tried pulling free, but couldn't budge. Panic began to set in as he repeatedly struck Exios with his free hand, but it did nothing. Balladaus stared in shock. He had never seen anyone other than Barbatos physically overwhelm Alexander before. He looked to Athena puzzled as he recounted her incantation. "What is happening," he whispered to himself. Exios raised his right hand and softly shoved Alexander; Emitting a small Shockwave that sent Alexander flying several hundreds of feet slamming into a brick slab. Alexander screamed as he grabbed his right shoulder. Blood gushed from where his right arm use to be. Exios tossed the severed arm before dashing to Alexander, who was still struggling to comprehend his now missing arm. Alexander immedietly tried to escape, but Exios pinned him down by his throat. Alexander tried speaking his voice gargled as Exios began crushing his throat. Exios grabbed Alexander's left arm and slowly began to pull. Balladaus walked to Athena. Tears still streamed down her face, but he could tell she was now consumed by rage. She watched as Exios slowly ripped off Alexander's remaining arm without so much as wincing. Balladaus knelt down and picked up the broken tooth Athena discarded. "what did you do?" He asked in a soft tone. Athena briefly looked down to him, then resumed watching Exios; as he delivered a blow to Alexander's stomach shattering his diaphragm. Blood surged from Alexanders mouth along with his breath. Exios grabbed Alexander by the foot and dragged him back to Athena, leaving a bloody trail in their wake. Exios grabbed a fistful of Alexander's hair and lifted him to face Athena. "please, spare me." Alexander murmured fading in and out of conscioisness. Athena grabbed him by the face forcing him to look her in the eyes. "Now, why would you ever care about asking for my forgiveness." She let go of his face and stepped back. Exios gripped Alexander's head between his hands and began to squeeze. A loud cracking sound could be heard as Alexander screamed and flailed. "wait," Balladaus said interjecting. "we could use him. Get some information out of him." Exios paused, Athenas eyes didn't wander from Alexander for even a second. "Theres only one thing I want from this piece of trash." She said. Alexander's head exploded as Exios squeezed his hands together. Exios stood up straight with a blank stare. Belladaus rushed to Exios. "Are you alright?" He asked while staring down at the twitching, headless body of Alexander. Exios remained motionless and silent like a metal statue. Belladaus snapped his fingers in front of Exios. "hello! anyone in there" Exios remained the same. Belladaus dropped his hand. "So, it was you the whole time." He said turning to face Athena. "You're the reason behind the powerful foreign magic inside him. You're controlling him." He said slowly walking toward Athena. "careful," Athena said pointing to Exios. Belladaus turned around. Exios' eyes had went from staring into nothingness to being fixated on him. A wave of sheer terror caused him to almost lose his form completely. "Come!" Athena commanded. Belladaus moved out of the way as Exios walked past him to her. "Were not done yet," she said wiping a smudge of blood from the cheek of Exios. "Lets go finish the other two." Exios picked her up cradling her in his arms. "Athena," Belladaus called out. "You know you're going to have to answer for this, don't you." Athena briefly glanced at him. "Theres only one thing, I care about at the moment." The ground burst beneath Exios' feet as they launched into the sky. A moment later, they hovered over the ongoing battle that was closing in on the capital. The forces of Broxa battled against waves upon waves of rock golems. Some were human size, others the size of three story buildings. Belladaus, Levi, Mims and Mokey were going blow for blow against two men. Several other wounded Grandmasters and Broxa soldiers laid scattered around the battlefield. They were all wrapped in vines that were healing them. Between that, and all the clones Balladaus had scattered to fight back the golems; he was nearly at his limit. "Lets break this up" said Athena. Exios pulled Athena in close covering her head, then he fell from the sky. They landed right in the middle of the action. An enormous shock wave exploded from their impact. The terrain, golems and hundreds of Broxa soldiers were instantly leveled. Alexander's brothers paused their fight as they felt the Shockwave wash over them. "Whats this?" One said with his foot on Mims throat. "Its a new chew toy." The other said holding mokey suspended in air by his throat. The two brothers looked very similar to Alexander; except one was shorter and pudgier. The other was taller, skinnier and wielded a great sword that was just as tall as him. "Drop them," Athena demanded walking out from the cover of a dust cloud. The two brothers looked at each other and laughed. They both tossed Mims and Mokey aside. "Was that you just now little girl?" the pudgy one asked snarling. Athena crossed her arms and remained silent. The tall one rushed Athena swinging his great sword aiming to cut her in half. Athena smirked as Exios appeared, catching the sword with his hand mid swing. Exios squeezed sending a Shockwave through the blade, shattering it to the hilt. "Who are you," he growled staring at his broken sword. "Hes the man, who tore your brother to pieces." Athena said boldly. The brothers noticed the blood stained hands of Exios. "Can you smell that brother?" the pudgy one said. "yeah, that's definitely Alexander's blood." The tall one said tossing the hilt. "He was a coward, and so are you." Said Athena. "Only cowards would sneak attack innocent helpless people. And all for what? What did you gain from this? other than the assurance of your own deaths." Levi stood up and limped his way to Balladaus. He had several gashes from the tall ones sword and a shattered knee. "Is that really Exios?" asked Balladaus. Levi set his hand on his shoulder, using him like a crutch. "Its terrifying isn't it?" Balladaus nodded. Levi found a small nearby Boulder and sat down. "But, now that he's here. This fight is as good as over." he straightened out his leg, trying to make it as comfortable as possible. The two brothers snarled, then looked at eachother and nodded in agreement. The tall brother jumped back as the pudgy brother summoned several golems to surround Exios. "Kill them," Athena said calmly. The two brothers began sinking Into the ground trying to escape. Exios instantly blasted through numerous golems. His hand pierced the tall brothers chest. "Brother!!" The pudgy one cried out. "Get out of here!" The tall one gurgled, blood pouring from his mouth. Exios ripped his heart from his chest and crushed it. Exios went to attack the last remaining brother before he dissapeared into the ground, but stopped dead in his tracks. Several golems closed in on Athena. Exios quickly rushed to her and dispatched the golems. The last remaining brother dissapeared. The battle left thousands injured and thousands more dead. hundreds of buildings and houses laid demolished. Balladaus used everything he had to spread his vines, healing as many people as possible. Levi hobled over to Exios who had resumed his statue like pose. He could immedietly tell something was off. "Whats wrong with him?" He asked Athena. "I think it's about time you give us some answers." Belladaus said walking up behind them. "I need to make sure my people are safe first" she replied. "I already had my vines save as many as I could. unfortunately, some had died instantly in the explosion." Athena had already become numb with grief. "What would you like to know then" she said. "we should discuss this before my father and the council." said Balladaus. Athena was escorted back to the castle to the infirmary where some of her people were being treated. She saw Adeline talking to her mom who was laying on a bed due to some broken ribs and a broken ankle. Adeline noticed her and Exios. Her big blue eyes lit up as she ran over and hugged Exios' leg. "Are you hurt?" She asked noticing he was covered in blood. Athena pulled Adeline into a hug. "Are you! okay?" She said brushing Adelines hair aside to examine the bandage wrapped around her head. Her eye was bruised shut and she had a swollen lip. "ill be okay" she said half heartedly. Athena thought Adeline would be more shook up. She thought everyone would be in a panic. Then then she remembered what her people have been through up until this point. The things they've seen and been exposed to, this wasn't hardly any different. Exios stood their like a statue, but Athena could feel the rage he was Emitting after seeing Adeline. She stared at him pondering if perhaps the rage he was feeling was intended for her. A moment later Athena was summoned to the throne room. Remadaus glared down at her from his throne. Belladaus stood on one side of him and Levi stood with the help of a cane on the other. All the council members whispered amongst themselves at the sight of Exios. Remadaus stood up. "What has she done to you my friend?" Exios remained silent. "He only answers to me" Athena said in a hollow voice. Remadaus sat down his glare intensifying. "Explain yourself," he demanded. Athena gathered her thoughts for a second, then she told them everything. She told them how they freed Exios, how the necklaces work, everything that had happened up to that point. She didn't realize at first, but at some point tears began to roll down her cheeks. The council continued to whisper amongst themselves. "Why hasn't he changed back?" Levi pointed out. "Because the original command I gave him was to kill Alexander and his brothers, but one of them escaped. So he hasn't fulfilled the command." "Can you release him from the command?" Asked Balladaus. "I'm not sure." "Do it," demanded Remadaus. "Maybe we shouldn't sire," Morissa said interjecting. She stood up to address the council and king. "From what the reports stated, he single handedly decimated the three beasts of Barbatos." "Yes Morissa, he was the king of monsters feared across all the lands for a reason" Levi replied readjusting his cane. "Exactly!" Morissa exclaimed pointing at him like he had just scored her a point. "And as long as we have him under our control, no other kingdom would dare try to cross us. I wager many kingdoms would pledge themselves to us." The whispering grew louder and spread across the throne room. Morissa smirked, proud of herself. "Shut your damn! mouths." The king yelled jumping to his feet, his voice echoing throughout the throne room. He scanned the throne room looking for someone to disobey him. "I'm ashamed of you all! Especially you," he said pointing at Athena. "You all treat and speak of him as if he's some kind of weapon and that's all. Like he doesn't have thoughts and feelings of his own." Athena looked down, starting to slowly sobb. "Most of you were children during his time, or you only remember his strength. I on the other hand," the king said jabbing his finger into his chest. "I actually knew the man, behind the monster. I knew of his kindness and humor. I also knew his sadness and guilt. I knew that he actually felt lonely inside." The king sat down placing his hand on his head and staring at Exios. "Me and him are kindred spirits. I was a foolish young man, always getting myself in over my head, but he was always there to bail me out. What kind of king, no. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't try to do the same." The king once again rose from his throne and stepped down to face Athena. She couldn't bring herself to look him in the eyes. "I'm so sorry," she whispered while sobbing. The king knelt down before her. The throne room burst into an uproar. The council outraged at his action. "Quiet!" Levi shouted, silencing everyone. The king grabbed Athenas hand. "Please, just return my friend. I, beg of you." Athena sniffled and looked at him, her heart sinking. "Like i was trying to say before. I tried. I don't know what's going on, but he won't return to normal. No matter what I do. I tried telling him that he doesn't need to fulfill the command. I even tried commanding him to turn back. Nothing is working." Athena was starting to become hysterical. "What if he never turns back, what if he stays like this forever. It's all my fault. it's all my fault, I did this." The king jumped up and pulled her into his arms. "Shh, shh, everything is gonna be ok. You are not to blame." The king said using his thumbs to wipe away her tears. "As a matter of fact, you saved all of our lives. I could tell the moment I saw how he looked at you. He wanted to protect you and your people at all costs." "I think thats exactly it," Levi said hobbling down from the throne podium. "I think he doesn't believe you're safe, so he's still standing guard." Athena turned to face Exios. "Is this true?" She asked softly. His eyes lowered to meet hers. "Yes." He said as he started slowly scanning the throne room. "You are not safe." "Just as i thought. He sees us, as the threat." Levi said lowering his head in shame. "I see, then I have failed you my friend." The king said in a shaky voice. He walked over and placed his hand on Exios' shoulder. "Careful sire," Levi said cautiously. Remadaus smiled as he admired his friend and remembered everything theyve been through. "This i vow to you on my life, old friend. No harm shall come to her. If that's not enough and you believe i wish to harm her. Then strike me down where i stand." "Father!" Belladaus shouted as he made his way down from the podium. The council went into a panic. The king signaled his son to stand down and silenced the council. The piercing golden eyes of Exios locked onto Remadaus. The throne room went dead quiet. Everyone to scared to even breath, believing it could be the catalyst to unleashing chaos. After a moment, Exios looked back forward resuming his stoic pose. The king gave Exios a weak smile and squeezed his shoulder. He stepped back and whispered to Athena, "its up to you now." Athena nervously stepped forward. "I don't even know what I'm supposed to say. So I'm just going to say what I feel." Athena took a deep breath and stared at her feet to try and remain calm. "Here goes nothing. I feel like me and you have a special connection, more than just these necklaces. I feel like my grandma somehow knew that we would need eachother. I think that she didn't want me, or you, to be alone. So please, please! don't leave me here alone." Athena ended her rant and looked up to Exios, not knowing what to expect. Exios stared forward with the same blank expression. "Can you not even look at me," Athena cried. Exios' head and eyes shifted to her. "No! not because I'm telling you to, but because-" Athena paused, at a loss for words. She covered her face trying to hide from the fact that it felt like the world was closing in on her.

To be continued

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