Nimue and Arthur

Percy's POV

Approaching the village I can't help but feel shivers cross my skin, the cold wind signifying the coming of night. A peaceful daybreak slowly fading away as the sky fades to darker shades. "You'll guys are gonna love it here!" Nimue cheers, picking up Arthur in her arms and hurrying her pace.

"How come?"

"Our village holds...history you could say? Nonetheless we're all welcoming to anyone and everyone!" She again speeds up, her feet nearly bouncing off the dirt floor as we come up to the village gates

Letting her put some distance between us, allowing for Adam to speak more freely, "This is our last chance to back out, are you sure you want to do this?" He holds me against him, I open my mouth to respond but nothing comes out.

"What's wrong?" Adam picks up my chin to examine my face closer, "You look like you're about to cry Percy" He looks down slightly as if in pain.

"I-I'm not...I just didn't exactly enjoy our last experience with a Human village" My words making Yasmine and Thomas agree with a nod but they place their hands on my back to encourage me

"And this time won't be the same, we can be sure of that" She states, peering behind us briefly to acknowledge Aeon lurking between the shadows of the trees

"What are you all talking about without me!?" Nimue calls from the distance, holding her chest to act out a painful motion for being left out

"Nothing, we're coming!" I reply, pulling Adam's hand along and following her into her homeland.

-

"This!" She skips towards a giant statue, one familiar to the one in the tomb except this one was a female. The statue's broad figure showcasing her muscles with long stone carved hair wrapped around her shoulder. An oddly familiar face but, the most interesting part to me however wasn't the green gemstones placed in her eye sockets. It was the wolf-like figure circling her feet, the animal's eyes embedded with golden gemstones placed within them.

The appearance causing us all to take it in silently, questioning what exactly we're going to say next. "Why the green eyes?" Yasmine blurts out between our painful silence.

"Well after the beast left this village torn apart and broken, it's said that a woman with an unparalleled ferocity came in place of our hero. Her green eyes acting like a sign that she was sent from nature, a rare eye colour that was only ever seen with our daring Hero and our Elder!. I beg to wonder their connections...a story of a Hero to races, A beast to humanity and the woman who protected my ancestors." Nimue goes on, seemingly getting distracted the more in depth she gets with the explanation

"So what about this?" Yasmine walks up to the poorly depicted Lycan, rubbing the yellow jewels in awe of its shining figure.

"Oh that? My grandfather mentions something with gleaming yellow eyes, much like the beast before it."

"Didn't the statue in the tomb have something similar?" Yasmine near enough hints to the girl

"That it did! Are you sure this is your first time here? Most people barely even see the other animalistic figure in the dark!" She laughs which causes us to forcibly laugh in an act of survival.

"Ah" She places her hand on the front of the statue, sliding her finger through the engraved letters as she slowly calls them out. "A.T.L.A.N.T.A"

A small spark in my head pinging to me, "I've...heard that before". I whisper, Adam turning to me to cover me from Nimue so he can speak to me

"Percy what do you mean?"

"Look at the statue again Adam, the face and the hair" He squints his eyes and stares hard enough to pop a vein, his face obviously lacking the patience to find the answer for himself. Placing my hand on his back to soothe him a little, turning back to me and frowning.

"Stop grinning" He places his hand on my face to cover his view of me

"I'm not grinning, am I? I guess it just feels nice to not be the slow one in the relationship" I laugh, feeling his grip on my face tighten as I grab it to try and release myself

"I'm not. The slow one. You're the slow one" He squeezes my cheeks together, pinching them like an old grandma

"You can't even recognise your own sister?" I barely manage to release the breath, my question causing him to look back at the statue with wide eyes

"But that isn't-"

"Yeah it isn't, because that's Atlanta."

"And what does this have to do with us?"

"It-"

"HEY I'M GIVING A TOUR! NO CONVERSATIONS!" Nimue's previous background muttering now zoning into my ears...she was talking that entire time

"Hi!" Me and Adam stand back up after flopping to our asses from the sudden scare of her voice

"Hello!" Her mood completely flipping, stepping back to twirl and march forward to another destination. "Onto our town Elder!" She laughs, placing Arthur down and urging him to run off into a specific direction. His eyes locking onto Adam briefly before his feet patter away.

-

"And hereeeee he is!" She practically kicks the doors down, jumping through the double doorway and hopping to the bedside of a sleeping figure. His short grey hair sticking out through the top of the covers as he kicks Nimue off the bed.

"Nimue...get out" His sleepy groaned voice spits out in annoyance

"We have guests! Get the fuck up!" She sings like a morning bird, causing the man to remove the covers surrounding him. Showing off his mixed complexion and shining green eyes.

"You-" I go to speak, his face showing a painfully familiar resemblance to someone I know all too well now.

"Hmmm...do you recognise me, boy?" He stands up, his height as tall as Adam but his worn down body barely able to continue lifting himself.

"I-Uh...no, sorry" I stutter, looking down in embarrassment...he can't be.

"Guests, you're welcome to stay as long as you like although there's a curfew that I hope you'll stick to during your time here. For your own safety of course. You may address me as Saul."

"Thank you, but we truthfully just want to pass through" Thomas scratches his arm in worry, this catching the attention of the Elder

"If you so wish, however we I would highly recommend you stay."

"Why's that?" Adam asks in curiosity

"Because not too long ago we heard the sounds of what could only be described as a pack of monsters, their cries sounding like hordes of them all gathering at who knows what location."

"And they just passed you so simply?"

"That they did, we will not question our luck as it could of simply been the prayers we send to our protector Atlanta." He sits back down, sighing and groaning a little bit before staring back at me. "You've continued to stare me directly into my eyes since you first entered that door, boy. Is something bothering you?" His green eyes flash from the light brushing up against them, an unmistakeable image of memory suddenly comes to me.

"So that's why he won't enter..." I mumble to myself, everyone in the room now staring at me in confusion. "You know what maybe some rest will do us good, thank you!" Adam puts his arms on my shoulders, massaging it a bit before waddling off with me.

"Feel free to take the homes at the far end of the village, I'll be here if you need me" He shouts over the sound of our feet making our way down a small flight of stairs and out into the now darkened sky

-

"It was nice meeting you all but I'll be on my way, let me know if you need anything. My home is at the front gate that we passed and I'm pretty much always free!" Nimue peacefully walks away, waving behind her without looking back

"So Thomas...we're sharing a room right?" Yasmine raises her eyebrow at him, forcing a wink way too much to look natural and instead acting out more of a seizure

"You have a mate now, go hump a tree" He scoffs at her

"NOT LIKE THAT!" Yasmine yells out, catching the attention of the other human residents while stomping in the direction of what we presume to be a free home.

"Does anyone else know what she could of possibly meant by that?" He innocently asks us

"Women" Me and Adam pout in unison

"Good point, I guess I'll be going with this one then. Knock when we're leaving in the morning, and...keep one eye open. As much as I feel safe having an Alpha, Beta and...him in the forest. It's better to be safe than sorry" He salutes us in a way to show his inner child still seeping through, closing the door behind him and letting me and Adam be alone for the first time in...well since we met.

"I suppose it's time we..."

"Sleep together?"

"UH-"

"I didn't mean it like that!?" He waves his arms in a fake surprising motion, only stopping to wrap his arms around me as he lifts me towards the door of our temporary home.

"THEN WHY DOES THAT SOUND MORE LIKE A QUESTION!" He opens the door, kicking it with his foot to close it

"Listen yeah it's on the table, or it could be floor...okay I'll stop" His body presses me against the wall, tying both my arms up with one hand

"What about the bed?" I mumble between my lips, causing him to lean down and bite them as if disagreeing with my silence

"Oh yeah that, that'll work too!" His singular arm being enough to manhandle me as I'm tossed onto the bed, his body slowly approaching. Each step a piece of clothing flies off in a different direction as if fate itself is tugging on strings.

Each breath he releases across my skin sending a pulse of electricity down me, "You know..." He kisses my forehead, "I've..." He kisses my lips, "Always", He kisses my torso. "Wanted to do this" he unbuttons one by one as if purposely slowing himself down, noticing my impatience as he reaches down to me. Leaning down to my ear and running his tongue around it.

"Use me" I whisper while his arm explores the rest of my body.

"I plan to." A deep growl resonating through his chest as he lays on me, "And nobody's going to stop me, Percy."

-

Nimue's POV

Reading through my father's old books and writing my own notes, I go to finish a sentence. "A lake...an unmoveable stone withholding the swor-" My pen shakes, causing a line to cross the paper.

"Damn it!" I scrunch it up, throwing it under my bed like the rest of my errors.

"A lak-" I didn't make a mistake this time...instead I stopped myself. I hear something just outside of my door. The slight sound of falling metal just barely heard. I creep to my door, opening it and planting my feet on the cold stoned ground. Glancing back through the door and seeing Arthur's sleeping form.

"Hello?" I whisper to the darkness, hearing no response I wait a moment before attempting to re-enter my home.

"You did...as I said Atlanta" A small whimper being released at the end of his words. My body knowing the dark pathway well enough I make my way towards it almost blindly.

"You didn't...have to" He sobs once again, I quiet my pace further to not attract his attention. The voice coming from the centre of the town, the statue.

"I'm sorry I left you behind...Aeron" His giant barely clothed form stands tall against the statue, four flame lit lights that box in the statue, revealing his tanned skin and familiar mixed complexion.

"Excuse me...can I help you?" I call out to him. A brief pause as he wipes his tears away from his face.

"Goodbye" He places his hand on the statue, gently swiping it down towards the animal figure and residing there for a moment.

"Excuse me" I call out once more, making my way closer to him. The height difference making itself even more notable compared to my 5ft 7 frame.

"You shouldn't be talking to me" His voice deepens although remains gentle

"You shouldn't be here at this time! Who even are you!?" I go to extend my hand out to him, only to get grabbed his own. "Le-" I cut myself off. Looking into his eyes I notice an unmistakeable familiarity.

"They're...green." I peer from him to the statue, him to my memory of our Elder. His eyes begin to swirl, his heartbeat audibly thumping from inside his chest as his breaths get bigger and deeper. The green slowly diluting into a shade I can't recognise.

"You're him...aren't you? The man who visits this same place every 10 years...I've seen you...except it wasn't you." Elder Saul walks out from the dark, shocking me but I bite my lip to silence myself.

The man remaining silent as Saul walks up to him, "Show me them". Their two faces meet although a difference in height. The man still staying silent but no longer breathing as rapidly.

"Show me the eyes of the misunderstood beast." He calls out again, gaining the attention of the man this time. His back no longer hunching as he stands to an even greater height. A glimmer of hope being placed in his green eyes, outshining the previous darkness he held within them. "And her?" He gestures at me

"She's a child, one you can trust at that. You owe it to him, the brother you left behind." The man waits a moment, stepping away from Saul and me. His eyes becoming hazed like a dirtied pond, flushing to two colours...Gold, and Violet. His body expanding as the flesh audibly tears itself, stretching and repairing like a needle and thread to wool. The bones on his ankles exploding within the flesh and restructuring.

"Bu-" I step back, falling but being caught by his giant hand with a gentle strength. Looking at the figure of the animal...thinking back to the cave...the tomb. "You're..."

"The thing that tore you all apart many life-times ago?" His voice even deeper than before, cutting me off before I could say anything. "An ugly amalgamation of death? A beast-" cutting him off

"The man who saved us all...time and time again" I hug him, unable to reach my arms all the way around him but enough to get my point across. Tears now running down my face and into his silk textured grey fur.

"Everyone else only knew this beast, but your brother knew you. I'd say you should thank him for making this place for what it was...but he couldn't of done that all without her" Saul points towards the statue, "Now that would of been impossible, wouldn't it? Oracion"

The Elder's words making the man's previous rushing heartbeat calm down in pace, thudding to a beat more regular to mine but still notably faster by default. The sound of air flowing into him followed by the action of his maw opening

"Thank you" He speaks into the dead of night.