Rona.
His hands encircled the small of my back. I trembled.
His touch shouldn't feel this good, but it fucking did. I felt my insides tremble as his hands slid a little lower than is should've.
"Now, little one. There are things you have to be aware of, gods are volatile, especially on days like this one when the urge to find one's mate reaches its peak." He paused, his grip on my waist tightening.
"What about you?" I asked before he could continue, "You seem pretty normal to me."
"I existed millennia before them. A mate, no mate– doesn't make much of a difference to me."
"Sooo….." I drawled, "you don't want a mate?"
"Everyone wants a mate." He whispered, his voice low and tinged with unspoken longing.
"Sometimes I do."
He guided me through while his hands remained fixed on my waist.
It made my stomach churn– his touch and I fear it wasn't in a 'He scares me' kind way.
I stared at him from the corner of my eyes, his silhouette, his tall, steady temperament and that ethereal expression that rested on his face with a little smirk every now and then.
Somewhere along the line, this man, this god, no longer scared me.
Could he hurt me at any time? Yes. But I felt safer with him than I ever had in the past few years.
He made my stomach churn, tingle, with something more, something I wasn't quite ready to name yet.
"If you'd stop staring–"
I averted my eyes at the speed of light.
Shit! This is so embarrassing
(*﹏*;)
"It's not something to be ashamed of, mortals do say I'm quite irresistible."
Somebody hang me (Q _Q)
I shrunk my head, heat steadily rising through my skin.
His low chuckle, reverberated through the halls and his hand on my waist jostled.
"Little one, there are things you don't do around gods. Don't stare. Don't speak unless spoken to." His voice dropped, darkening with each syllable, "And absolutely avoid the gods dressed in white or gold."
"Why?"
"They're the most promiscuous type, and if you want to be nth mother of their numerous children, you're welcome to be my guest."
A chill racked through my spine, numerous?
The Greek retellings weren't far off, these gods really did whore around.
"Just know their wives won't be happy, and destroying a human soul is an infant level exercise."
Holy Hera.
"Technically, I'm not alive so they can't," my voice lowered as we made it past the grand doors, "Fuck me."
"If you think they don't have tricks up their sleeves, you're sorely mistaken. They're gods." He enunciated each word, clearly outlining the power disparity. "And you, little one, exist in a soul state, you're as alive down here as you were up there while your body is in a state of comatose."
There was a silence that neither of us were willing to break until he finally spoke up.
"Just stay by my side, no harm will come to you."
"What if we're separated and I can't find you, what happens then?" An event like this would be swarming with immortals.
"Then you call for me." He retracted his hand that rested squarely on my waist and he took with it, his warmth.
His finger elongated, like a claw, and he pierced through the barriers of his skin.
Golden droplets squeezed out of his wound, floating around each other.
The tear on his exoderm closed faster than I could blink, without a single trace left behind.
I stared at the droplets in fascination as they moved in concentric circles. Suddenly, they approached each other, colliding with themselves.
They coagulated, morphing into something different and they shot towards me at an alarming speed. I didn't even have enough time to scream.
Warmth exploded in my veins, engulfing me as faint golden lines creeped along my skin.
"Now they'll all know that you're mine."
I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest, "But I don't even know your name, how am I supposed to call for you.?"
His hands snaked around my waist pulling me flush against him.
"Tell them I'm the god who'll kill them if they touch so much as a strand of your hair." His voice echoed authority, a threat that he would most likely fulfill.
" I want to know your real name." I whispered, my voice came out huskier than I intended.
He raised his fingers and flicked me on my forehead.
"Ow!"
"Mortals can never know a god's true name, except–" he trailed off, his eyes wandering into the distance.
"Try me."
He stared at me, a flicker of disbelief and amusement flashed through his eyes.
"Kethan." He paused, his attention solely focused on me, "Call me Kethan little one."
"Kethan." The taste of his name lingered on my lips, "Lord Kethan."
"Just Kethan."
I didn't see it then, the loneliness that hid within his orbs as I whispered his name into the night's air.
The air around us rippled and the garden morphed into a path, hidden by the tree's canopy with glowing petals illuminating the earth.
"Where are we?" I reached out to pick a golden flower.
"This is as far as the Convergence's rules allow immortals to travel, from here we go by foot."
I snickered, "Whoever created these rules is a genius."
Kethan's glower shut me up.
It felt refreshing to call him something other than his title, The Progenitor.
He walked off, his robes trailing on the ground behind him and I lifted my skirt, ambling towards him.
Behind the tree's borders, I could faintly spot animals, unlike anything I've ever seen.
Deer-like creatures, smooth and furless, their skin with a pale whitish hue, and antlers large enough for birds to hang on.
Their gazes lingered on me but they fled every time I stared too long.
I nearly stumbled, the progenitor's harsh voice cut through the air.
"Focus on the path."
A slab, huge and platinum, elevated five feet from the ground with markings and runes engraved on it.
Did Newton's law of gravity not exist here?
The Progenitor, Kethan leaped gracefully onto th
e platform.
I gulped, staring at the slab of earth hovering a tiny bit above me.
He stared at me, his hands crossed behind him.