Meeting Aggie

46.

In a state of frantic panic, I sprinted through the hall, my heart pounding in my chest, until I collided with an obstruction—solid and unyielding.

The impact sent a jolt of fear coursing through me as the wall seized hold of my trembling form, prompting an involuntary scream to escape my lips.

Yet, as I lifted my gaze, a glimmer of relief washed over me, for the face that met my eyes was that of Apollo, his features etched with concern. In that moment, my vision cleared, and gave way to a renewed clarity.

Apollo, with a furrowed brow, gently released his grip on me, setting me firmly back on my feet. His frown mirrored my own confusion and unease, while Erebus seemed remarkably unperturbed by the incident.

Amphid, perched on his shoulder, nervously chewed on her lower lip, the weight of uncertainty apparent in her stance. And then it struck me—we had returned to the room.

"Well, that sucked." Apollo said disapprovingly.

I pushed him back and rescued my dignity with anger. "Where the fuck did all of you guys go?"

Apollo took my hands and kissed my knuckles, but I pulled my hands away from him. I glared at him and crossed my arms while he gave me an innocent look.

Erebus rolled his eyes. "It was a mutually agreed upon test between the three of us. I'm thoroughly disappointed but not surprised you failed. Then again, you did say you didn't previously learn any shadow magic."

I blew out air and snapped at him. "What kind of messed up test was that?"

Erebus rolled his eyes again. " Clearly not the test you require. Trauma seems to be your most effective learning method, as tragic as that is. Shadow magic requires the intricate mastery of its enigmatic nature."

Remiel scoffed. "Even I was freaking terrified. Erebus is literally insane."

Erebus smoked in front of me and stared past my eyes. He seemed to be staring through me and straight at Remiel. I felt her fear.

"Ah, Remiel Virgil. How amusing to see you attempt to hide within the shadows of Agatha's mind. Know that the fear you experienced is a mere taste of the unimaginable horrors I shall unleash upon you should you ever dare to speak of me in such a disrespectful manner again."

Remiel gulped and stayed quiet. My other forms watched as Remiel expressed an emotion unfamiliar to them—embarrassment.

Erebus smoked back to his original spot in the room. He summoned a cigarette and looked over at Apollo—then gestured for him to light the end of it. Apollo rolled his eyes and lit the cigarette with his sun magic.

Amphid rushed up to me and rubbed my face with her tiny hand. "Erebus telepathically told us about the plan. I should've made the call and opted out of doing it. I'm sorry, master."

Apollo sighed. "I wanted to trust Amphid for once, but it seems I was the one who made a bad call."

He glared at Amphid, but she stuck out her tongue at him.

Erebus blew a cloud of smoke out of his mouth before he spoke. "I shall bestow the knowledge of shadow magic upon you directly. Considering you failed my test quite miserably, that's the least I can do for the supposed future queen. Practice on your own with what knowledge you learn."

Amphid rushed back to Erebus. "I highly advise against that method of teaching. It didn't work for light, so it won't work for shadow. Please help her."

Erebus shrugged, waving his hand as the cigarette disappeared. "That IS helping. I already got my entertainment from her, and I no longer have any interest in aiding her. I'm bored now, and I hate being bored."

Erebus levitated me over to him. I floated in front of him as he made eye contact. His suit morphed back to his skin, and he returned to his god form.

"I hope you're ready for this, Agatha."

Before I could answer him, he grabbed my temples and placed his forehead against mine. Receiving the knowledge from Erebus felt... peaceful. It didn't hurt. The cool void of darkness was a vast contrast to the burning pressure of the sun.

It was weird but not surprising if I thought of the physics of it, like matter-antimatter. After a while, pressure increased in my head. The more information I was given, the more the pressure grew.

"It's okay, doll. You're fine." Poppy reassured me.

Erebus grunted and paused. "Is that Poppiana?"

Poppy froze inside me as the others began to mutter.

"Yes, that's Poppiana. Why?" I said.

Poppy gasped. "Why would you go and validate that? I seriously can't stand you right now."

Perplexed, my eyebrows knit together as I observed a peculiar transformation in Erebus' countenance. In an instant, his serious demeanor shifted, morphing into an expression that resembled that of an adorable, innocent puppy.

"Poppy," I began, my voice laced with curiosity, "what crucial detail did you neglect to inform me? And why on earth is Erebus behaving in such an unexpected manner?"

Isidore giggled. "Looks like Poppy and Erebus had a thing in the past."

"Erebus and Poppy? Now we definitely need to know the details." Remiel gasped and started laughing.

Erebus released my temples and hugged me. "Poppiana, you look lovely as ever. I didn't know you resided in Agatha. I could barely detect you until you spoke."

Apollo roughly tapped Erebus' shoulder. Erebus gently set me down and as he faced Apollo, he was greeted by a punch to the face.

"That's for touching my girlfriend. Elder God or not, that's not Poppy. She's Agatha."

Erebus rubbed his cheek in pain and glared at Apollo.

"And to think I was starting to like you, son of Zeus. I would gladly fight for her."

Erebus threw off his robe, revealing a sparkly eight pack and black shorts. His massive body had muscles on top of muscles.

Amphid buzzed between the two gods, holding out her tiny hands like stop signs. "Please, don't do this. Time is running out for my master."

I groaned. "Poppy, please fix this."

Poppy sighed. "This wouldn't have happened if Amphid would've told us where we were going. Prepare yourself, Agatha, and fuse with me."

I took a deep breath.

"Ready."

I allowed Poppy to take over and fuse with me. My hair grew longer past my hips, my clothes turned into a knee-length pastel blue dress, and my shoes turned into white high heels.

Fairy wings, rare in their beauty, sprouted from my back, their iridescent hues shimmering with an enchanting blend of amethyst and sapphire. A touch of morganite peeked through, adding a gentle blush of pink to the wings.

As if in harmony with the ethereal wings, a delicate crown of flowers materialized atop my head, each bloom displaying petals of vibrant colors.

Poppy cleared our throat and spoke. "Erebus. Stop."

Erebus, Apollo, and Amphid faced us.

Apollo stared at me in awe. "You really did get stronger, Aggie. I've never seen you do something like that."

Erebus ran to us, but Poppy put our hand in front of his face to stop him.

"I'm not the same Poppy you fell in love with anymore. I may have had love for you in the past, but I share Agatha's feelings now. I love Apollo."

"What about Nyx? You were supposed to be with us." Erebus teared up.

Internally, I did a double take. Poppy, a fairy queen, was polyamorous with the primordial gods Erebus and Nyx? It helped explain why Nyx saved me when I was a baby. Perhaps she had been trusting Poppy with Eris, not necessarily me.

"I can't. I will always love and appreciate you, but my heart belongs to him now. I'm sorry."

Poppy kissed his cheek one last time and gave me back control of my body.