Ch. 98: Yeah, Kinda Like A Sleepover
The hot water of the shower streamed over my body, washing away the remnants of the day’s turmoil. The light in the bathroom was brighter than the dim glow of the main room, creating a stark contrast that felt almost surreal. I sighed, letting the warmth envelop me like a comforting cocoon. Had I really been in here for an hour? The thought brought a fleeting sense of guilt, but it was quickly washed away as I relished the moment.
After a while, I reached out and turned off the shower, the sudden silence allowing me to collect my thoughts. I grabbed the towel and began drying off, noticing the oversized white shirt and dark shorts she had left out for me at the corner of the room. “Hmph. I wonder whose these are,” I muttered to myself. At least I found her, and she did still remembered me.
Stepping out of the bathroom, I found her hunched over her work table, fingers tapping away at her laptop relentlessly. I ran the towel through my damp hair, still adjusting to the refreshing sensation. “Do you ever stop working?” I asked, my voice light yet probing.
She didn’t even look up at first, her fingers flying over the keys, but then she paused, hands freezing in place as she replied, “After I woke up, I tried to find out everything I could about the circle and Mr. Anonymous much earlier, but I have not come up with anything useful.”
I stood in silence, studying her.
Finally, she raised her head, her gaze piercing. “Why did you come here today?”
There was a weight to her question, an undercurrent of emotion that made me hesitate. Talos was a logical person, and I could feel the careful construction of her thoughts as she sought something deeper in my response. With each passing moment, it became increasingly clear that her feelings were in flux, complicating the straightforward dynamics we once shared.
“I wanted to see if you were okay,” I said simply, my voice steady and sincere.
I could hear her breathing grow heavy as she processed my words. “Is that so? You’re not one for such sympathies. I guess you’ve changed.”
I stepped closer, observing the subtle tremor in her hands just inches from the laptop. It was clear she was still shaken from the events of that day. “Like I said, I wanted to see if you were fine. It appears you still have a heavy mind.”
A silence stretched between us, thick with unspoken words. Talos was hiding her face for a reason, and it tugged at my instinct to draw her out.
She began to speak in a questioning tone. “How was your first day back? You’ve always been good at hiding your true emotions, so I can’t tell if you had it bad or worse than I did.” There was a hint of sympathy in her voice, yet it felt tinged with something else—was it vulnerability?
“Look into my eyes; they don’t lie,” I replied, holding her gaze.
She laughed softly, but it was stiff, almost forced. “Your eyes never tell the truth either. All this new information, these new emotions… it’s something even my genius has failed to comprehend. I wonder if it will hinder my judgment in future.”
“It will,” I said boldly, and the weight of my statement hung in the air between us.
“Yeah, I figured.” She climbed out of her seat, her movements shaky as she approached me, her weak frame struggling against the emotional burden. “I usually solve a number of mysteries without feeling a thing, but now… my head is heavy. I think I’m going to lie down now.”
I watched her walk past me, aiming for the bed. She seemed drained, as if the weight of the world rested on her shoulders. It stung to think that I couldn’t alleviate her pain, but I was determined to be there for her.
“It hurts not just in my head,” she said, collapsing onto the bed with a soft thud. She crawled under the blanket, her head sinking into the pillow, as if she could disappear into its softness.
What was I to do now? Talos was a person who didn’t want to be ignored when she felt at her lowest. My presence here was to keep her company, even if she didn’t acknowledge the comfort.
But then I noticed the laptop still glowing, a soft beacon in the dim light of the room. My curiosity piqued, I moved to the table and leaned over the screen. My eyes widened as I read through the file she had left open on Prometheus and humanity. Why was she researching this on her first day back?
“Could it be possible that she…?” I whispered to myself, contemplating the implications. What could learning about Prometheus provide her? It didn’t take long to connect the dots— Talos must have been trying to uncover answers about the origin of humanity, possibly aiming to prevent the catastrophic events surrounding Zeus’s upcoming birthday.
I shook my head, trying to fathom her thought process. There was no way she would leave this file open without reason; she intended for me to know she was still working. “Ahh.” I sighed, closing the laptop and walking over to her. I heaved a deep sigh as I sat on the floor, my kneed up and my back against the bed frame.
The rain hammered against the window, and the distant rumble of thunder added a foreboding rhythm to the stillness of the room. The air was thick with unexpressed feelings, a palpable tension that seemed to weave around us.
“Talos, it’s okay to take a break once in a while,” I said, trying to maintain an easy tone. “Though it’s unlike you, you’ve just lost your father. For someone feeling pain for the first time, it must hurt. It wouldn’t be a shame if you rested. Take some time to recover.”
Silence enveloped us for a long moment before she finally spoke. “And I lost my friend too.”
Hermes? My heart sank at the thought. “Yeah, him too.” The weight of grief lingered in the air, thick and suffocating. I could not help but feel like I was at fault here.
“Hades, this is sort of like a sleepover, right?” She muttered from beneath the blanket, her voice muffled but oddly lighthearted.
I raised my head and exhaled a soft laugh. “Yeah, kinda like a sleepover.”
I could feel her turning on the bed, though her breathing suggested she wasn’t facing me. “The golden apple was inspired to throw humanity and the gods into chaos. I suspect that perhaps someone harbors ill intentions toward the human race and Prometheus to orchestrate such.”
She was slipping back into her analytical mode, her mind racing with possibilities. “You mean Poseidon?” I asked.
“Far from it.”
Her response suggested she didn’t view him as the main suspect. I already knew the answer; Poseidon had once originally to save humanity from Zeus, so it couldn’t be him. But the fact remained that he did try to implicate me with the golden apple.
“Talos, go to sleep, please. You need the rest,” I urged, frustration leaking into my voice.
To my surprise, she muttered, “Okay.”
As I settled into the silence, I could feel the tension between us; it crackled like the storm outside. I was all too aware of the space between us, yet it felt charged with potential— a sense of intimacy born from shared loss and unspoken understanding.
In the quiet, I heard her voice again, this time softer. “Hades, you don’t have to stay if you don’t want to.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I replied, my voice firm. “You’re not alone in this.”
I am not alone in this, I thought.
The rain continued to pelt the window, a constant reminder of the world outside— a world filled with chaos, just waiting to intrude on our fragile moment of peace. I wanted to reach out, to assure her that we would face whatever storm was brewing together, but for now, silence enveloped us, a blanket of understanding as we drifted in and out of our thoughts.
The night stretched on, and I could sense the weight of her gaze on me now, even through the darkness and the distance. There was something significant about this moment, something that hinted at the battles yet to come. We were at a crossroads, caught between the past and an uncertain future, and neither of us knew how to navigate the path ahead.
But as I listened to the rain and felt the warmth of her presence, I realized that perhaps we didn’t have to have all the answers just yet. Maybe for now, simply being together was enough.
If I revive a magic castle I will mass release 10 chapters
