Bandages and Salt (PJO X BSD AU)

Chapter fourteen

A/N: typically I'll only put pictures in every ten chapter... but I really like this part of the arc so bonus pic I guess. 

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"What... What did you say...?" I whispered so quietly that no one else seemed to hear me, or if they did they just didn't care.

I stumbled back, surprised for the first time in over a year. I felt like I was drowning in my own thoughts as I stared at the boy in front of me. All the light seemed to disappear from the world, all sound was ruled irrelevant.

A god... I've been...

I ran away from that world. I left it so far behind that those at camp probably thought that I was ashes by now. I changed my name and my looks, everything about me. There's no reason for me to be near a god right now.

Chuuya... he can't be...

But it made sense. This boy's ability is stronger than any others that I've seen. He's beautiful, annoyingly so, and strong even without the use of his abilities. Even his presence felt like that of a minor god's. I just didn't want to believe that he was one, because this boy... he doesn't seem cruel or manipulative like the gods I've met, only showing that side to those that would try to harm the people he cares for. He seemed like someone who wants to protect people, not use them, and while I haven't had any of it directed at me, he seemed like someone who could be kind.

Was it all just an act?

Chuuya's voice was calm in every respect. It wasn't forced like that of a lier's, it only offered the truth as he knew it to be.

"I had a feeling it would be you," Randou said happily, a smile gracing his lips.

"I only remember one part of my life," the supposed god confessed quietly. "Unlike you, I didn't lose my memory from a cute bump on the head. My life began that day eight years ago. Everything before that was just... darkness. Somewhere in that darkness, I was floating aimlessly. Eventually a hand pulled me out into this world. It was you, wasn't it, Randou?"

The man only laughed, his smile spreading wider.

"Arahabaki isn't a god," Chuuya said, his words washing over me like a cool river stream.

He's not a god then...

I couldn't fight the wave of relief that washed over me when Chuuya said this, nor did I want to.

"It can't resurrect the dead, either. I don't know why I as a person existed, so I followed the rumors and went searching for answers. Looks like we finally meet again, now tell me everything that you know."

But the man didn't respond. Not right away anyways. His body was taken over by the laughter tumbling out of it. For once he wasn't shivering because he was cold.

"Of course. Of course I'll tell you... of anyone you have the right to be told." The man raised his hand, a small yellow orb forming above it. I started to move, not liking the look of what the skill user was doing. Randou is a sub executive for a reason, his skill is dangerous, but before I could take a step, the orb shot itself at Chuuya, knocking the boy in the just and shooting him back. All I could see was Chuuya's faint red glow as he flew through the air.

"Why didn't his gravity powers work?" I asked Randou, not taking my eyes off of the darkness that the Sheep king disappeared into.

"Unlike a bullet, the subspace I control doesn't abide by the laws of physics." I turned back to the man when i heard a familiar sound coming from him. Above his palm, there was a small yellow cube floating delicately. "It is of another world entirely, closed off from this one. And I alone hold the key."