I Scored Myself A Mate

The metal in Allias' hand felt cold but he held it steadily. Theseus had teleported there while Mark and Asmodeus had flown. It was still very weird to the king, seeing his best friend so easily adapted to Asmodeus'....demonic nature. They had set a meeting point, just outside the entrance of the ruins, the beginning of the old Avgee capital. Theseus and Allias were the ones that arrived first, their eyes wary of their surroundings from the moment they landed, their legs hidden up to the knee from the tall grass. 

Allias took a deep breath. He couldn't get used to being there yet. A tremor in his heart and the images of the brutal war were too intense sometimes, especially if his green eyes gazed at the broken marbles, the shuttered glass and the skeletons of once a great nation's glory. He felt Theseus' hand wrap around his wrist since they couldn't entwine their fingers. He looked down at the pale hand surrounding his tanned skin and a smile formed on his frowned face.

"Thank you." Allias whispered. "For everything." 

"I haven't really done anything." Theseus answered with a smile and the king rolled his eyes. He always chose the most peculiar times to be humble. 

"You and I both know that this is utter bullshit." He said and Theseus gasped dramatically, his hand landing on his chest, gripping his shirt. 

"Did you just....oh gods" he cried, his hand moving from his chest to his forehead in a very theatrical act and Allias laughed. Soon the sound of wings flapping was heard and above their head a wind gathered. The morning sun was hidden for a moment as Asmodeus landed on the ground, his huge feathers casting a big shade over them.

"We're here." Mark said and Allias nodded. He shook his head, his eyes scanning the area in search of Ea but he couldn't see him. He was supposed to teleport there so he should be there by now. 

"Where is Ea?" Allias asked. 

"Well, the last time I saw him he was getting his weapons ready. He had those cute little daggers and was wrapping them around his thigh. Very Lara croft of him" Mark said and Theseus looked at his lover with a question mark forming on his face.

"Lara..." He mumbled and Allias chuckled.

"It's a movie. She is a character from a movie." He explained. Theseus' lips formed a silent oh and nodded, not needing any further explanation. "I don't like this, where is Ea." Allias said as he started to get anxious. "He should be here" he repeated.

"Calm down, something must have happened at the palace. I am sure he will ..." Theseus began saying when a burning note appeared right in front of him. It was a magical letter. The general looked at him confused and once the fire settled and it started falling to the ground he grabbed it and unraveled it. As he read the few lines his eyes widened in shock.

"What is it?" Allias asked as he heard Theseus groan. He shriveled the paper and threw it to the ground, clicking annoyed his tongue. "What?" 

"The letter is from Ea. It says I will be settling this. Amelia gave me the exact location" he said. 

"No, no. He can't be doing this. We need to find him" Allias said. "Why would he do this?"

"He probably wants to be the one to take revenge. Maybe he is scared you will get hurt too." Asmodeus suggested and Allias' sigh was so heavy his whole chest moved up and down in a very depressing motion.

"The stupidy of this group really amazes me sometimes." Mark mumbled "So what do we do now?" 

"We search and find him. Before it is too late." Theseus said.

....

Ea didn't want to be found. That's why he waited a bit to be far away from them before he sent them the letter to let them know. He knew that if he survived this he would get a scolding from every single person in the palace but at the moment he didn't care. With every step he was getting closer and closer to Ares and that was what mattered. 

Amelia had let him only know where Vines was exactly after he begged her. She was hesitant at first but the pleading in the warm eyes of his made her do everything the small elf asked. 

She was the reason why Ea had found himself on the entrance of the Avgee palace, his foot barely inside. He looked around, the ruined columns, the vines growing around the remaining walls and his memeory completed the picture perfectly. He hadn't been there many times but like everyone who had the image of such greatness was too hard to forget. There was still some golden details shining underneath the sunlight of the chilly morning. Allias had been raised here, he used to run through those walls dressed all in white and gold like the rest of his people, his feet bare while his laughter echoed in the tall corridors. 

He was almost scared to step in, as if he was steppoing inside a sacred place. He felt like he would violate it in a way but in the end he pressured himself to do so. He had to get to Ares. Save him. 

Ea, even though he hated confrontation and fighting, after the war had been trained by Theseus. Not as a simple warrior though. Elves we're usually really tall and strong while he not only lacked in height but also in physical strength. When he was younger he had considered this his doom as he hated standing out from the rest kids at his age. Later on, after Theseus decided to make him his pupil he realized those drawback could turn into his biggest advantages. 

He wasn't strong but he was fast, incredibly so and agile. He could appear and disappear like smoke, his footsteps silent like a cat. That was the reason why Ea had been one of the few assassins of the elf nation. Killing silently in the dark wasn't exactly how they used to do things but Theseus had found a way to make him useful. He couldn't wield magic that well like Allias and Theseus and he definitely could hold huge weapons like the king's enormous spear. Once he had tried to put it to the side to clean it up but he could move it an inch. After he had managed to do it he couldn't keep holding it and it landed on his toes, breaking all of them. That was the reason why Ea used daggers. Theseus had them especially made for him and now, as he climbed through the viney walls, attempting to reach the remains of the last tower he had one between his teeth, ready to throw it at any second. His daggers were poisoned. Holy water was a bit cliche but the truth was that it definitely worked, especially in Christian based demons. 

He heard voices, the closer he managed to get to the top the words were getting clearer. He focused wanting to guess how many people were there. Vines' voice was clear, he recognized it immediately while the other was the voice of the woman he had heard in his dream. He stood still for a second, silent to see if anyone else would talk.

"You need to fix him" Vines screamed at her. His eyes widened, fix him? What had they down to him?

"I don't know how! I believed his soul was gone but his body actually is shit down. He doesn't want to wake up. His soul is trapped somewhere in there but his body is simply almost like dead" the woman said. Ea could feel his heart begin to race. He couldn't let his worry distract him. He had to fight for him, get him back, he reminded himself as he hopped finally leaving the wall. He landed perfectly at the remaining floor of the tower. It was open from the top, no ceiling while it shape was a circle. The floors used to be white but now they were muddy with bugs running around while the golden frames of the windows were still standing.

Vines didn't seem supposed to see him. It was only the witch that gasped. Scared she disappeared, leaving them immediately on their own and Ea looked at him, his eyes filled with hatred. 

"Well, you found us earlier than I expected." He told him and took a step to the side, revealinf Ares. He was seated on the floor, his back resting on a small piece of the wall that had remained and his eyes were closed shut.

"Ares!" He shouted and tried to rush towards him when Vines cut his way. He grabbed him from the neck and pinned him down. A grin was growing on his face.

"Pitty, he can't hear you."

"Let him go!"

"No. Can you defeat me and get him back?" Vines asked him. 

"I can and I will." He said and disappeared, getting away from his tight grip and landing right behind him, a dagger in his hand.