A plete disaster. That was what it felt like from what she could sense. Earth torn apart. Grass burned away until only a dry crag earth remained behind. Trees up rooted without care. It was a disaster. A tainted mark upon the nd. Another scar they used to mar the tryside.

  It made her angry. Even though she couldn’t see, sensing it was enough. Her muscles tightened up just thinking about what they did. Everywhere they went they left behind a path of ruin. They had to be stopped. The killing wouldn’t end until then. ‘They’re savages. There’s no reasoning with such wantoh aru.’

  Athene marched deeper into the warzone. She could still feel some of the heat that scorched the earth. The wide sweepiation soaked into her mind the more her power allowed her to see. Every crumble under her foot and burnt smell poured inside her, trapped as an indelible memory. It strengthened her as she went towards the future. A future she could see clearly without the need of her eyes.

  As she started for the edge, she found something. It broke up the ft ground. Her powers only provided a rough shape of everything as her mind couldn’t handle all of the information. She k down with some curiosity. The peripheral disappeared around her. Everything focused on what was at her feet. It was still difficult for her to make out the form. The pattern was irregur.

  She picked up one of the smaller pieces. Rubbihumb over the surface revealed it to be brittle to the toubsp; The outer yer chipped off easily with a slightly hollow sound to it. It seemed strange. She thought it was a branch from a tree that miraculously survived, but it wasn’t. Her mind started to fill in more of the bnks. It wasn’t long before she uood. ‘Bones! They were ihe inferno!’ She immediately dropped it. The rest of the person was mangled remains that she felt grateful for once of not being able to see such horror. ‘Those bastards! They killed another. Their crimes only tio increase against them!’

  Searg around the burnt remains, she found a sed person. They were just out of reach from the first one she found. ‘They must have been trying to reach each other even while burning. But they ended up just out of reach dying so close.’ Atheurned her power off briefly and activated it again. Two trenches appeared in the ground. ‘Least I do is bury you together, at each other’s side. Maybe you’ll find each other in the life.’

  Athe around the area to look for any more signs of dead soldiers. She remembered Abeiron’s words. ‘Omega’s on the move. There might be others around here. Maybe evehat’s still alive.’ o the most identifiable fighting, she found nothing. Expanding her powers, Athene saw uneveru further away.

  It took some time to cover the new ground, but it was worth it. She found someoill alive, unscious yet alive. A little of her power was all she o get him awake. “You fought them, right?”

  “Huh? Right, that child knocked me out.”

  “Hey! You fought them, right?”

  Looking at Athene, he had a suspicious gnce cheg her over. After he fihe tone in his voice ged as well as his stature. “This doesn’t you.”Her hands tightened up. He cmmed up over a difference of branches. “I don’t care about what orders you have. Everyone’s involved now!”

  “Go back to whatever base you belong to woman.” The man started walking away from Athene breaking off any further discussions.

  A ripple came out from her feet. Stone ripped up from the ground on all sides blog any path out. “Now listen here!” Dark shadows fell over her eyes. Her face developed harsh features to at her emotions. “I don’t give a damn about any sort of orders you got you Omega bastard! I only want two things answered from you! Did you fight them? And if you did, how long ago was it?” She took a few heavy steps towards the man. “Now answer! Immediately, before I extract it personally!”

  Chapter 230 – Alone on the Void

  The explosion from the Omega spire caused enough pani the Capital to make travel difficult. However, enough back alleys existed to make it easier. After a few mihe smaller less used roads ended up almost pletely empty, the citizens already fled the area. It gave him enough to make it back.

  Ourias leaned up against the er of a house. He stared into the distah his sight focused on a house. It smashed up against the rest in the neighborhood. Everything fell apart with little signs of repair or mainteo keep it from colpsing the rest of the way. Yet, the dition of the homes didn’t seem to affect the mood. Children ran around pying with nard. Adults worked out of what they could to keep life tinuing.

  He watched for an hour unmoved. Every so often, he would smile at something and then force himself to hide it. Somethi him from moviher forward or backward. He wao leave, but couldn’t bring himself to do it.

  It was another hour before anything happened. One of the kids in the neighborhood chased after a ball, kicked too far by their friend. The boy ran after it. He stopped a house away from Ourias, finally catg up to the ball. Because Ourias’ attention was on something else, he didn’t notice the kid until it was too te. He slipped back behind the wall of the house, a futile attempt.

  The boy turned around and ran back to his friend. “There’s a Whitie here! Whitie!”

  As though an arm sounded ireet, everyone ran off in different dires. It only took three seds for them all to vanish from sight. Silence fell upoire area. An eerie quiet, everyone knew.

  Ourias poked his head back out. He sighed to himself. It was a sight he was familiar with, yet oed for different reasons. He started walking into the street. A few curtains still not shut quickly closed upon his appearance.

  The suddeion of the street made the walk feel lohan it actually was to the house. It only took a minute, when it seemed more like an hour. Each step ainful. The roles reversed. He was the ohat sparked fear in others by his mere presenbsp; Nothing o be said. The sight was more than enough for ao flee.

  Worse for him, he couldn’t disguise himself. Every one of them knew him too well. He tried it before, but it only made the situation even worse. The images of his children g in the er the moment they saw him as though he had tricked with a horror-fueled nightmare. They burhe images into the back of his eyes et. He could fool some, but not everyone. Not the ohat mattered to him.

  For his mistakes, he had to live with the walk. For his misfortune of such a destiny, he had tle to hold on to the important things.

  He cursed it all.

  He knocked on the door.

  Child’s voices leaked through the weak walls of the house. “He’s here! It’s the Whitie!”

  “Whitie’s here!”

  “Don’t ahe door!”

  “He’ll go away.”

  Ourias pursed his lips into a thin line. He lowered his brow a little, hardening himself.

  Another knock.

  He was not leaving. He was itted.

  Scrambli faded into the distanbsp; They tried to get further away from him. However, he persisted. The third knock brought the echo of a differe of steps. They reached closed until pulling the wood door open.

  A young woman, just barely hittihirties, appeared at the threshold. Even before she appeared, a hard lined scowl carved deeply into her fabsp; “What do you want?”

  “I wao see you. Did I need more of a reason?” He gnced around over her shoulder in searbsp; The way she stood in the doorway made it clear she didn’t invite him inside.

  His response only made her scowl worse. “Don’t you have some mission or some other pce to be ruining someone’s life?”

  A twitch flickered in his eye for a moment as he tried to refrain from showing aion. “I’m not on a missiht now. As a Titan I choose what I do.”

  “Must be so nice for you.” She wasn’t even trying to hold back her venom. The longer he talked the worse it seemed to grow.

  Ourias wao reply immediately, but he felt himself getting dragged along at her pabsp; He had fotten how many times they fought like this. Each time pushed the dagger in a little further. “I became a Titan so I could be with you again. I’m doing this for you.”

  “I don’t need your help. I didn’t for the five years you were go of our life without so much as a letter! I sure as hell don’t need you ing baow! I’ve already told you the fifty other times you’ve e crawling back here, yet you keep showing up.”

  “I live here too. They’re my children as well. I want to be their father.”

  “They don’t need a father that never shows up! And when he does it only terrifies them!”

  He had a response, but he k ointless. It was a mistake he made not realizing the sequences. Every time he tried it only came out as ay excuse. It was just more fuel to the fire. “I’m still their father, even if I’m different. My heart hasn’t ged.”

  “No, you’re one of them. You’re just the p dog to the King and his whims. You only cause fear and bring tragedy.”

  “I’m the same man that loved you before all of this. Please let me in.”

  “You’re not wele here.” She began to close the door. “I don’t care if you show up every day for the rest of your life, nothing will ge the differences between us.” The door closed immediately after. It was the final word.

  Ourias sighed. ‘That went about as expected. It’s not like one more visit is going to ge her so easily, not after I’ve left her alone for so long.’ He pulled out the accessory he bought from the woman earlier. Walking over to the closed window, he pced the item on the ledge. ‘You’re wrong. I’ll keep trying and prove to you I’m the same man you fell in love with.’

  He still had hope. It was the only thing he had left.

  Gng around the neighborhood, it felt less weling than before, which was difficult to achieve sidering how it started. He knew when to leave. Ourias stepped away from his home. Unlike before, the walk away was over too fast. He tilted his head to look bae st time.

  He disappeared.

  A few hours passed quickly for him. Eventually, he made it baega. The flow of agents went more out than expected. They tio recall more to throw into the defense of the Capital. Only a wide searet could find them.

  Ourias walked up the wall, notig Rheia still stood alone unmoved. The height she had gave a good view of the Capital and Atntis. He leaned against the wall with only the air to support his feet. “Still challenging?”

  “Of course,” she answered immediately, “The invitation is always open.”

  “I see.” He expected such a typical response from her. Their time together was short, but she seemed the easiest to figure out of the Titans.

  “Another failed visit with the wife.”

  His eyes slid over to g her briefly. She never even made eye tact with him. ‘It’s a little uling how much you know.’

  “You keep trying anyway, even though you know how it’ll end up every time.” Rheia stopped staring at the entranbsp; Her head tilted back to look at the city. Slowly, she began to move higher up with no a. Ourias matched her pabsp; The higher they went the better the view of the tryside became. They could see the sun painting the mountains and trees in a soft white glow and green as far as could be seen. “That’s why I picked you.”

  “Oh? I thought it was because I defeated the twelfth seat,” he joked.

  “I could see it in your eyes when I saw you walk through those gates down there. The eyes are very important. They tell you everything.”

  He was getting more out of her than he expected. Small talk wasn’t something he pnned from her. A ge of sery was all he wanted. “You pick everyone ians that way don’t you.”

  “Naturally. When I see their eyes I know.” A strange smile seemed to e across her fa a rare moment not fueled by aggression. “Of course, you still have to prove your strength.”

  Ourias had some curiosity listening to her. “What did you see in mine?”

  “Infiermination. Nothing was going to stop you. You would achieve exactly what you wanted no matter how dirty you had to get to reach it. It’s your power. You have zero ambition, even more so than someone like Teris. You only wahe seat oans to see your wife again. That’s why you lost your sed fight even though I know you could go much higher.”

  “Is that so,” Ourias said, keeping a poker face through her surprising insight.

  “But even for that bition, I know you’ll fight when they e.”

  Her ent made him even more curious. She didn’t have the same view as the others any longer. “You believe they’ll reach the Capital?”

  “It’s the eyes. I could see it in that boy the General’s cimed. Nothing’s stopping him.” Rheia seemed finished and started walking down the wall. “So prepare yourself for the fight. They’ll be here soon.”

  A gnce down at the back of Rheia told him enough. Ourias stared back out at the horizon. ‘You’re out there. And you’re ing. Rebellion or destru. None of it matters to me. Whatever you’re pnning I will stop you. I will protect them!’