Fate: Chapter 03

Chapter 3
















Ethan was laying on his back staring up at the ceiling when he felt Sabina stir next to him. He turned to watch her as she shifted in her sleep, on the verge of waking up. He’d found it strange when he woke to the room being completely dark, the strange part was he could see even though he was still aware of how dark it was. Sabina mumbled as she slowly rose to consciousness and turned her face towards him unconsciously seeking him even in her sleep. The dim shadows danced across her face, caressing her sun kissed skin in inky satin darkness. Ethan fought down a surge of desire as he watched her and tried to acclimate himself to the weird double vision of seeing the darkness and seeing through it as the same time. It was if the darkness was a filmy screen that with a thought from him would fade away to translucency and reveal the world it hid from everyone else. He smiled at her when her eyes fluttered open, even though he knew she wouldn’t be able to see him.

“Morning,” he said and she smiled.

“Morning little brother,” she replied.

“Ready for your first day of school,” he asked and she groaned and buried her face back into the pillow.

“Come on, it is seven now if we go bathe now there shouldn’t be anyone in there,” he said and she perked up at the word ‘bathe’ but groaned again when she remembered where it was. He cajoled her out the door and woke their mother and they all headed to the bath house together. The street was dimly lit and deserted as they walked to the corner and entered the big square stone building. Like every other building they been inside in this subterranean city the inside and the outside were vastly different. On the outside it was just a large stone square nestled against the neighboring buildings, but on the inside it was beautiful. The inside appeared to be made of white marble and decorative columns lined the walls giving it the look of an ancient Greek temple. Inside the door were rows of lockers with keys that they left their stuff in after stripping down to bathing suits. Ethan wouldn’t have minded going nude for bathing but he knew that neither his mother nor his sister would be comfortable with that so he kept his bathing suit on so they wouldn’t be the only ones. Just past the lockers was what looked like a giant pool but it was only two feet deep, the water was steaming hot and smelled faintly of kiwi. Ethan grabbed a wash cloth and a bar of soap from the stack near the end of the lockers and led the way to the bath. He sighed as he slipped into the steaming water and it immediately began to relax his muscles and sooth aches he hadn’t even realized he had until they were gone. The bath house was as empty as Ethan had predicted and they had school in lessen then an hour so he began washing himself. After he was finished he washed Sabina’s body as she washed his and her own hair. He kept the washing simply platonic since they were in a hurry but his cock was rock hard by the time he finished washing Sabina’s hair and moved to repeat the process on his mother.

“It’s okay honey. You two need to go or you’ll be late for school,” Lily said giving him a warm smile and taking the cloth from him.

“You’ll be okay alone,” he asked unsure. She gave him a peck on the cheek and pushed him toward the side of the bath firmly. He grudgingly agreed and left her there, to go get dried off and dressed. He and Sabina walked to the corner and turned to head out onto the field where the school buildings were, but slowed when they saw Aphrodite standing at the edge of the field waiting for them. She smiled at them as they approached and her gaze focused on Sabina with an intent expression.

“How do you feel about snakes,” she asked when they came to a stop in front of her.

“Uhhh I like snake,” Sabina said confusedly. Aphrodite smiled beatifically at her answer and motioned her to come closer and to hold out her hand. Sabina cautiously stepped forward and held out her hand palm up and Aphrodite placed an oblong egg that Ethan assumed was a snake egg in her palm. Only this egg was bigger than any snake egg he ever heard of, it was probably as thick around as a football only longer. Sabina’s arm trembled as she struggled to keep the egg motionless. Aphrodite pulled a knife from thin air and cut a small gash into her finger and rubbed the brilliantly ruby liquid of her blood on the egg, her wound closed instantly. Then she grabbed Sabina’s free hand and repeated the process, Sabina’s wound also healed immediately.

“By power and blood I bind you,” Aphrodite said. The egg flared an incandescent white and fade back to normal but in the silence after the light show there was a loud crack. It sounded like two giant rocks slamming together but Ethan had no doubt it was the egg because accompanying the sound a fissure ran across the surface of the egg. The more times the was a deafening crack of and three more large fissures in the shell and all three of them watched in rapt attention as the shell split into two halves. It fell both sides disintegrating into a silvery dust before they could hit the street leaving behind a small snake curled in Sabina’s palm. The snake that came out of that massive shell was curled into a tight coil and could have fit inside a shot glass. It was the white of pure untouched snow but as it twitched and began to uncoil its color began rapidly change to every color imaginable. It also began to grow rapidly and in less than a minute it was roughly the size of Sabina’s are and she was once again struggling to hold her arm immobile. The snake slithered up her arm and wrapped itself around her shoulders.

“This is Nasha, daughter of Menasha the snake goddess, she will be your guard,” Aphrodite and the snake moved its head around to look into Sabina’s face. Its tongue flicked out touching Sabina’s nose and she giggled and wiggled his nose at the sensation.

“She is my guard? How am I going to go out in public if I have a giant snake on my shoulder,” Sabina asked. Before Aphrodite could answer Nasha slithered back towards Sabina’s palm and started to shrink. When she was only as long as wrist to elbow on Sabina’s arm she wrapped around it placing her head on the back of Sabina’s hand and began to sink into her skin. Sabina stared in open mouthed awe as in seconds the serpent became nothing more than a tattoo twisting around her arm and glittering metallically in the weak light of dawn.

“That would be how,” Aphrodite said and vanished. Sabina gently stroke the glittering figure in her skin and the snake tattoo’s tail twitched as if in response and Sabina grinned at it. She could still feel it wrapped around her arm but the sense of weight was gone and she could easily move her arm.

“How does she feel,” Ethan asked her as she flexed her arm making the tattoo shimmer in the light.

“I can still feel her wrapped around my arm but she’s is as light as a real tattoo now. I like her,” Sabina answered and the snake gave her arm a light squeeze. He grinned at her and they resumed walking onto the field heading for the building they were taken to yesterday. As they neared the building the door opened and kids of various ages along with several adults began pouring from the building and heading off across the field in different directions. They waited patiently as the others exited the building, receiving several curious looks and causing whispers to start. Ethan stepped forward when Brand led the group of teens that they had been partially introduced to yesterday out of the building. Brand looked at him sternly and nodded and continued walking past, his smile from the previous day no longer present.

I don’t think he likes you anymore,” Sabina observed as they fell in following behind the rest of the group. Ethan let out a bark of laughter and wrapped an arm around her waist drawing her into his side. Sabina smiled and slid her arm under his and around his waist and he shifted his to her shoulders. She sighed contentedly and ignored the whispers from the people in front of them and the furtive looks over shoulders towards them. A few minutes later they were standing in the large open space that the group had been stretching in yesterday. Brand stopped and faced Ethan then crossed his arms over his chest; the posed would have been intimidating to any normal person due to Brand’s massive arms. However Ethan had already been nearly killed by a harpy, found out he was a demigod, and also been told he was at the top of the hit list of every single male god in existence.