CHAPTER 24: THE PLORI ANEMOI WIELDER
1109 Words
Zane and Aera stopped in front of the old apartment complex. She blinked her eyes to make sure she was not hallucinating.
"This is where you live?" She was shocked knowing he lived in that old apartment complex right beside where she rents. "I-I live right next to it."
"Don't worry, it looks out from the outside but it is sturdy and well-maintained. Come." He walked. First, Aera followed her even if she was sceptical about the building.
"Hello, Zane!" Brandon greeted him. "You're early." He glanced at Aera.
"Hi, Brandon. My class ends at three." He also glanced at her, and Zane got worried about her reputation. "She's a good old friend, Aera."
"Hello," Aera simply greeted him.
"We're heading now." He waved his hand to Brandon and walked towards the stairs. Aera followed him.
Aera scanned the interior of the apartment complex. "You are probably right. The walls seem sturdy. It is well-maintained, too."
"That's why I chose this apartment complex. It's only a hundred bucks a month." He opened the door and showed his unit to Aera
"Come in."
"Wow! It's only one hundred bucks a month?" She entered and scanned the whole place. "It's huge and clean. It is newly painted, too."
"You may sit down," he pointed to the couch. "I will leave the door open for ventilation." He also does not want to scare Aera.
"Are you coping up living alone?" she asked.
"I missed my family, of course. That's why I will go home weekly. It was just a three-hour ride back home."
"How did you learn archery?"
"I enrolled in an archery club, a good friend also taught me so well since I was ten." He opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of soda. He handed it to Aera.
"Thank you." Aera gripped the soda. After going back to Olympus, they started feeding her ambrosia. Though they said she could still eat or drink human food sometimes. She opened it and drank it. "Ah! it's refreshing! I missed this!"
"You haven't drank soda for how long?"
"Since I was ten." She grinned.
"That's a long time ago! Are you on a diet or something?" He sat on the other couch across from Aera.
She shrugged her shoulders. "Sort of. The food and drinks where I live are limited."
"You said you were going to tell me something."
"Oh, right." She scratched her neck. She was not sure if it was the right time to tell him her secret.
"Is there any problem?" Zane gave her a puzzled look. "You can trust me with anything. I promise you that."
She sighed. "Look... do you believe in Greek gods and goddesses?"
"I do. Why?"
"You do? N-nothing." She decided not to tell him her secret yet. "It is not yet the right time," she said to herself.
"Can I come with you when you go back home? I-I just want to see our old house. My father said it was already sold a long time ago, but then he said my mother is already married to someone else."
"Sure. I always passed by your house before but it looks like no one lives there anymore." He paused for a while, then suddenly thought of a good idea. "We can try searching your mother's whereabouts."
"Thank you, Zane! You're a big help! Everything changes here. I don't know how to get around the town."
"You're welcome, Aera." He smiled sincerely. He was happy to see her, and now he will spend more time with her while searching for her mother. Good things have been happening to him since he arrived in the city.
Aera went home early to rest, and Zane was still on cloud nine. He could not believe he saw her again. He is dreaming of being with her on weekends. He took a bath while singing in the shower. He could not contain his happiness. He stayed there for at least an hour to fully clean his body.
It was already seven o'clock in the evening and he needed to go out to eat something. He was not able to cook anything for dinner because of daydreaming.
Zane saw a convenience store a few meters away from him. He decided to just buy snacks and cup noodles there. The street was almost and the lights were almost dim. Suddenly, he saw two strange men walking towards his direction.
He could never be wrong. Those two are the same monsters he saw when he was a kid, and they are after him.
He was tempted to call Plori Anemoi, but Eurus said not to use it until he said so. He panicked. They are walking fast towards him.
He stepped back and decided to run, but he thought about other people they were going to victimize. He cleared his thoughts and planned to use his hidden power to protect himself, then Eurus suddenly appeared beside him.
"What are you doing and just standing there? Use the bow I gave you. Move!" he said.
Zane quickly did what Eurus told him. "Plori Anemoi!" The bow appeared on his hand. He aimed it at one of the monsters and pulled the string. An arrow made of sharp wind appeared. He released the string and the arrow hit one of the monsters. He released another arrow and it hit the second one. Both of them disappeared into thin air.
"Good job!" He clapped. "But were you planning to die? You were just standing here before I appeared. I did not teach you my knowledge just to die here." He put his hands on his waist. "Fight if you need to fight. Don't just stand and do nothing."
"I-I remember you said before. Do not use it until you say so." He scratched the back of his head. "I just followed your instructions."
"I told you that before because you were too young back then. You don't even know how to hold the bow properly. I trained you for years using an ordinary bow. You are old enough now, and you already know how to use it well, of course, you can use it to protect yourself and other people. Just do it discreetly. You wouldn't want to be the headline on newspapers and television, shooting wind arrows to the kakodaimons. We are avoiding that kind of mess. Humans should not be aware of immortals' existence."
"I'm sorry." Zane scratched the back of his head again. "How long have you been here?" He remembered asking him.
"Since I saw you with my daughter earlier." He crossed his arms. "We need to have a serious talk."
- Writer
