MORDRED

If you kill one of them, Hermes said calmly. ‘’You can slow down your curse for a while. Maybe a month?’’

Mordred did not reply to his suggestion. They did not want it. Not anymore. They wanted to push everyone away to face their end alone. But Hermes did not agree with that. His hands clenched deeper on his shoulders, looking at them, eager.

''What is going on? Tell me.'' He whispered.

Mordred did not speak. How could they speak?

‘’Promise me ‘’Hermes then clenched his hand to their arm. ‘’I lost too many people that I care about because of Akhet’’His fingers were tight and his voice was shaking.

‘’I don’t want to lose you too’’

He had done so much for them. He had cared for them from the beginning. They could not hurt him. After everything, they could not.

In the end, Mordred made his final promise to him before he vanished away from them. And now, they had to kill one or more of them, no matter what.

Their eyes were looking at the night sky with dark clouds getting in the way of the moon. Only glass was separating them from the cold air and stars. There were more than ten levers next to the driving seat as well as buttons and there was a strange steering wheel right in front of it as well as a dead frozen body on the ground and two familiar faces panicking.

‘’Why did you kill the pilot?’’ Ukko shouted at Mara.

‘’It was just an accident,'' Mara smirked and sat right in the seat, pulling a red lever. ''He was screaming way too much.''

Suddenly, everything felt like it was getting lower and to the side of the seat.

Mordred’s chest let another hit of pain, making them scream and get a notice from Ukko.

Their mask is on the ground, exposing every inch of their broken face.

‘’What are you doing here?’’ Ukko asked them and walked slowly to their side, fixing his balance. He did not even mention the scars. Mordred thought that he was either far scared to ask or that he did not give a damn about it.

Mara looked back shocked as she could see Mordred’s wounded face.

Ukko raised his thick brow confused. Mordred looked away with blood falling from their nostrils.

‘’Where is Lucifer? Hephaestus?’’ Ukko asked them, panicked. ‘’Orion, Talus?’’

Mordred bit their lower lip and kept silent.

I wouldn’t have a choice.

‘’I…’’

‘’What happened?’’ Ukko grabbed them by their collar and pushed them against the wall.

‘’They are alive...alive'' Mordred groaned.

‘’They are lying’’ Mara said breathlessly.

‘’I am not.''Mordred stopped and looked away from Ukko's raging eyes.

‘’Orion and Talus did not make it’’

‘’Lucifer?’’

‘’She is fighting Janus, he works with’’ A chill hit their spine, making their body even weaker as their back was now slowly even more painful.

‘’He worked with Ma’at’’They said after. ‘’He gave me the dagger and..’’

‘’What about Hephaestus?’’ Ukko asked them and noticed their frail body.

‘’What happened?’’ He yelled broken, keeping his gaze on theirs

Please stop. Mordred thought, feeling his entire body trembling with the shivers his sharp intimidation was giving them.

They tried to take a deep breath and let themselves speak.‘’ It’s nothing.''

‘’Why was Janus there? How'' Ukko asked more questions.

And then Mara snapped.

‘’They are cursed alright?’’ She shouted at both of them.

‘’And if we are still alive, they will die, ’’ She stood at her height, admitting facts that she knew all along.

Mordred found Ukko’s eyes now getting dilated from fear as he took a step away from him.

The door started knocking loudly with the sounds of soldiers and marching boots outside. There were far too many.

‘’So, what? You will kill us?’’ His gaze fell on Mara, furious. ‘’And you knew?’’

She did not speak for a while, looking with no sign of guilt.

‘’Well,’’ she rolled her eyes. ‘’You knew that Ma’at could not die and you kept it a secret.’’

Both Ukko and Mordred stared at her, impressed, yet frightened.

‘’I do not sleep,'' Mara sighed. ‘’When people are talking loudly like you.'' She empathized after.

‘’Why haven’t you done it yet?’’ Ukko turned to Mordred furious.

Mordred fell to the floor with his legs being dragged slowly down once more. Every second, a step closer to Death.

‘’You had every chance to kill us and you still’’ Ukko’s voice was loud and dangerous.

Mordred found a breath to take to heal themselves, to find a way to restore the wounds around their organs.

But it was getting worse and worse. Ukko laughed and lifted his hands, giving up.

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‘’Great’’His eyes looked at Mordred with hatred and despair.

‘’Lucifer is going to die, Hephaestus too…we will probably die because of you..''

‘’Shut up'' Mordred interrupted his loud whining with a painful scream. The Guard instantly let no more words escape his mouth, looking down, shocked. And he was not the only one to be surprised as the Hybrid looked at both of them speechless.

‘’ I don’t know what else to do’’ Mordred kept raising his screeched voice, feeling that at any moment, his heart would explode. ‘’Is that what you want me to say? Fine’’

Every voice was screaming inside their head, telling them what to do and what not. Every voice except his.

Mara walked away from the seat and touched both Ukko and Mordred with her hands.

‘’Get out, both of you'' she shouted.

Both of them faced her surprised as she kept pushing them far away.

‘’If you want to die, be my guest’’She said and pushed Ukko to the door and she opened it with a simple pull so every soldier of the horde would attack him.

‘’I am not burying cowards’’ She said, looking at Mordred with a worried frown.

‘’Are you sure about that..''

‘’Go’’ She pointed at the soldiers whom Ukko was fighting nonstop.

Mordred clenched their jaw and took a deep breath before they walked out.

‘’Now leave me alone’’She said and closed the door fast.

Mordred started shooting and hitting people with their elbows or their fists. But it was not enough. There were more than thirty of them with swords and pistols. They finally found Ukko’s presence who was moving close to them.

‘’I am…’’Mordred tried to speak again, falling back on their knees.

When their eyes moved up, they found Ukko aiming at them looking deeply at their presence. They shook their head and looked at their own two pistols. Then faced their wrists with their painted rose tattoos.

Promise me.

I promise.

They had to see him again. And they would. But that did not mean that they would be alive after that meeting.

They had observed how many times he had visited a dark room filled with rotten bodies underneath white blankets. His fingers were caressing their bone hands as his lips were letting out a prayer, hoping that their souls could pass to the other side.

A few other times, he was voting on a floor filled with flowers and plants as if it were a living forest inside. And in the center was a black clothing woman. She did not speak or react around Hermes, how many times he was talking.

When he found them sneaking he got on his knees and whispered to them softly.

None has to know about my visit.

Mordred never spoke about it after that.

But now, they were wondering, if a Made One was existing, could those painful souls even pass by the judgment of Spirits?

Could they even pass after they die too? Or will it be darkness? an endless pit for the sinner one?

‘’I like red Nektar'' Ukko finally spoke and pulled the trigger three times, shooting three soldiers.

‘’I am expecting five bottles of it after we get out of here’’

Mordred exhaled with an end and tried to grin by taking Ukko’s offering, his nails clenching against the fabric.

‘’And you will drink with me’’He said with a smile.

Mordred scoffed. ‘’You want me dead don’t you?’’

They were now back, looking at the enemy around them.

‘’It is better than dying by a stupid curse isn’t it?’’

Mordred let an agreeable humming tone and their pistols started blowing hot steam. The steam was quickly replaced by smoke, and Mordred laughed as the room filled with the smells of gunpowder and blood. Everyone's gaze was upon them, making the healer's heart race faster. The blood, the violence, the satisfaction made his lips curl into a grin that anyone would consider sadistic as he kept shooting his enemies with a cold rush running from his fingers to his eyes. Ukko’s fists were hitting soldiers to their faces with fists or even just his bare pistols. The soldiers were taken by surprise, but soon enough they regrouped and fought back. Mordred and Ukko fought with courage and strength, but it wasn't enough. The soldiers eventually overwhelmed them and they had to retreat.

A few minutes later the machine traveled back to the steady palace, as for the soldiers there were only five remaining but no bullets. Mordred passed back to the ground with the sweat of pain showering on their face.

Ukkothen raised both of his hands toward the soldiers.

Mordred looked up at him, shocked.‘’Wait what about..’’

‘’ I never listen’’Ukko said and with a deep breath, his hands started breaking with electricity getting around his wrists like incarnated bracelets.

Mordred’s eyes opened wide as they felt warmth and cold at the same time. The bolt looked like multiple threads altogether, creating a necklace of death. But when he pushed it to the soldiers, it did not seem big or dangerous. Just beautiful.

And then, all five of the soldiers were crisp.

Ukko took a step back with Mordred looking at his shaking hands.

‘’You didn't want..’’

‘’I will do things that I hate and I love’’Ukko interrupted them.

‘’But it will be my choice, not anyone else.''He said proudly to them and looked at their side with a big brave smile.

His eyes were green hazel like the leaves of the forest. ‘’What do you want?’’

Mordred looked away, feeling his face becoming warmer by the second and they took a deep breath. They played with their bracelet and faced their silver tattoo once more. Keeping their Loyalty. Making Hermes proud.

In the end, they looked back at the door. Mara got out and jerked her head back inside the room.

Ukko helped Mordred stand by placing their arm up his body and wrapping his free hand to their waist.

''Thanks'' Mordred groaned.

‘’Five bottles’’ Ukko laughed, dragging their body inside.

Mordred’s eyes glanced when they saw what Mara wanted to show them.

An iron box similar to the one that Hephaestus found. She explained that she found it down from the driver's seat without any lock or cage.

‘’It’s a trap’’They explained to her. ‘’If you open it then..’’Mordred tried to explain.

Mara shook her head and closed her eyes. Her fingers kept touching the iron till it froze completely. She then let it fall to the floor, and the box broke with two black stones getting out as with a piece of paper inside a small box made of dark glass. When she broke the glass, the paper hadn’t frozen yet. Mara took it and gave it to Ukko. When he opened it he showed it to the others.

‘’Plans of the machine’’ Ukko explained. ‘’There is a secret floor where it has a weapon.

Mara lowered her body, took both dark stones, and held them tight. In her hand, they seemed to be the size of her thumb with her long nails.

''What are you thinking?'' Ukko was the first one to ask her the same question Mordred was thinking.

Instead of answering she remained silent, with her eyes calculating everything around her.

But time was not enough for her to think. Mordred's body broke and moved away from Ukko, trying to breathe with their closed lungs. They could still feel the pain but it was not as painful as it was before. And even then, with the energy, the strength, the pain around them, Mordred could think clearly, what they wanted.

''Hephaestus'' Mordred gasped as they suddenly felt a warmth spreading through their body as they fell on their knees.

‘’I have to find them. They looked at both of them. Ukko restrained this smile as Mara was looking at the dark stones.

‘’I am heading to find Lucifer’’ Ukko said and snatched one of the stones from Mara's hand and walked outside once more.

Mordred watched Ukko fade away to the bridge with a quick running step. They then looked back at Mara whose left wrist was now decorated with the dark stone, making her voice groan in pain.

‘’What are you doing?’’ Mordred tried to move to her side, standing up slowly.

‘’It’s either killing everyone here or getting them out’’She said painfully, facing the corpse. ''If something goes wrong it's better for the Made One to be far from here.

They are far too many, Mordred thought.

‘’If you do this you will probably lose your mind.’’

‘’Trust me, I won’t.’’ She tried to reassure them but her shaking hands gave her a lie far away.

Her hands were shaking but her voice was steady, ready to do whatever it took to get out of its nightmare. Mordred sighed and turned over, taking a few steps closer to the door. But then, the healer suddenly stopped as he turned once more to the Hybrid.

‘’How much more have you heard?’’ Mordred asked, in disbelief.’’What else have you heard?’

They had forgotten Hermes' warning about her, about her kind, and now her way of admitting that she knew what everyone was hiding. They had lost their thoughts to the Made One, to Hephaestus, to Janus. They had forgotten about her.

The Hybrid kept looking at him with a calm expression. Determined, studying each of her thoughts.

‘’What else do you know?’’ Mordred's eyes narrowed. ‘’Why are you actually here?’’ He asked once more.

‘’Everyone,’’ She interrupted then and looked back at her hands, pressing the stones deeper.’’Has something, someone, some reason to fight.’’She empathized with her words deeply.

‘’What is your reason? Priest?’’ She let out a disgusted hiss.

Mordred swallowed and turned his head to the door.

''You...'' They faced down on their feet and then at her.''You wanted...Who are you?''

No.

The Hybrid smiled and her eyes kept burning in pain.

‘’Just, don’t kill us’’They finally rasped and turned away from her, running away. Thinking about her question.