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"So, I take it that you guys eventually broke it off with each other?" I asked as we reached the bottom of the stairs and headed to the direction of the kitchen.
"We did." Apollyon nodded. "But I will say that the experience led to something good between us. I didn't have feelings for her in a romantic way, but after all that, I do feel a sense of family and protection towards her. She says she considers me her brother, and to me, that sounded accurate. We've been siblings since then."
"You only see her as a sister now?"
“Correct. In the same way I feel connected to my legion, I feel that way towards Solara, even though she belongs to a different legion than mine."
That made me feel a lot better knowing that they were able to come to a mutual agreement and managed to form a different connection in the end. I could tell that while he struggled to express himself, Apollyon wasn't a bad guy. He had a caring side to him and a sense of loyalty and family bonds with those he holds close.
That had me wondering about me and him. Did he feel a connection to me or was I pushing him to have a conversation with someone whom he didn't feel mentally drawn to? He protected me and made sure I was uninjured during the confrontation with Orpheus, and he held me close to him when we discussed that Orpheus may be coming for me again at some point, but was that out of a sense of duty, or did he feel connected to me?
We entered the kitchen which was crawling with more hobgoblins and a number of other demons and hellhounds crowding the place, either to get food or to help prepare it. I spotted a large ceramic bowl with some fruit in it, so I quickly grabbed two apples from the top, tossing one of them to Apollyon who grabbed it with lightning reflexes.
Taking a bite and relishing the fresh juice of the apple flowing down my throat, then looked around noticing a distinct lack of recognizable faces among the crowd.
"Apollyon, do you know where the guys are?" I asked inquisitively.
He took a bite of his own apple before answering. "They're probably out in the courtyard training."
I vaguely remember the courtyard from when I followed Abaddon out of the Court of Wrath to find Xaphan. That felt like a lifetime ago. At least I could give Xaphan some good news about his and Deimos' relationship. He and I weren't necessarily close right now, but he tolerates me a bit better than before. Maybe once he heard that Deimos wants to share us equally, he may feel differently towards me. That he would finally get that confirmation that I wouldn't be stealing Deimos from him.
"Shall we go see them?" I asked.
"Sure. Come on." Apollyon caught me off guard by resting his hand on the small of my back as he ushered me out the kitchen. I caught a few demons checking us out with curious looks, but Apollyon seemed unbothered by them. I couldn't say that I didn't like the gesture, but I wondered what it meant to him.
We headed to the back of the castle where the doors leading to the courtyard were open and guarded by two stone-like creatures with bat wings that I deduced were gargoyles. Apollyon tilted his head in acknowledgment to them both and we passed by them with no problems. The harsh rays of the crimson morning air were impossibly bright and made me have to shield my eyes until they adjusted. As expected, the courtyard had several hellhound legions grouped together, sparring, cheering, and taunting either in their human or hellhound skin.
I stuck close to Apollyon as we surveyed the area in search of his legion. It took a moment, but I finally spotted the first of my guys, Abaddon. He was off to my right, his back turned to me as he was watching two large hellhounds going at it. Looking at the beasts in question, I saw they were roughly the same size, but one had a violet glow to them rather than the usual red. The red one I had to assume was Helios. I'd seen Xaphan's hellhound in the dark forest, and his had more of a burnt orange shade to him.
Speaking of which, where was Xaphan? Was he with Helios?"
"Looks like Helios is taking part in a sparring match. Do you want to watch?" Apollyon asked loudly enough for me to hear him over the roar of the crowd.
I nodded, and we walked over to where Abaddon stood, pushing our way through the growing crowd until I could reach my hand out and touch him. He quickly turned around, his face brightening when he saw that it was me.
"Well, there's my little witch! How are you doing, gorgeous?" Abaddon shouted, grabbing my outstretched hand and pulling me to him, our bodies colliding with me coughing out anoomph. Abaddon had his arms tightly wrapped around me and pulled me in for a kiss. People seemed to have seen it from all the whistling and cat-calling that followed.
"Yeah, yeah, fuck off!" Abaddon addressed the crowd, his hand running up and down in my general vicinity. "This hot young woman is ours! Be jealous!"
"Stooop," I whined through gritted teeth, trying to hide my face into his chest because of how shy I felt.
The rest of the crowd was too enraptured by the fight that was going on to pay us any mind. With both Abaddon's and Apollyon's hands resting on my back, we faced the two hellhounds that were currently trying to take a bite out of each other. I looked on in awe and slight concern as I noticed the violet hellhound had its jaw around the back of Helios' neck and was trying to push him to the ground.
Helios rumbled as he held on, then got the momentum when he rolled, taking his opponent with him until the violet hellhound's back was on the ground. Helios had a paw to his opponent's throat while his jaw bit down on the opponent's leg. With his mouthful, Helios let out a roar that had his body glowing with red hellfire erupting. The violet hellhound seemed to have had enough, giving off a whimper that told Helios that he won.
Helios released his hold on his opponent as the crowd cheered, a voice announcing Helios as the winner.
I cheered, bouncing on my feet with excitement. Helios shifted back and smiled wide at my general excitement. His skin was steaming and glistening with sweat, but I didn't care. When he walked over to us, I reached out and hugged him tightly.
"Helios, that was amazing! Congratulations!" I exclaimed.
"Thanks, Antonia. I wasn't expecting to see you out here." Helios' arms held me close to his body, his scent reminding me of a campfire mixed with pine hitting my nose.
"She wanted to come out and join you guys," Apollyon explained.
Helios shrugged. "We don't mind. If anything, it makes you feel more like one of us."
"Agreed." Abaddon nodded.
