Divine Intervention

The Charmed Demigods: Mixed Heritages

Chapter 11:

Divine Intervention

Paul Halliwell

The blast of fire was just about to hit me when a sudden gust of wind blew it towards Corus. He couldn't move out of the way in time and collapsed onto the floor when it hit him, charring his clothes.

"Corus, no!" I heard Anchiale scream. I noticed that the air around Corus was shimmering slightly. She looked exactly at the place that was shimmering and said "You meddling, old fool! How dare you! You should've just let your son die!"

Before anyone could do anything else, a sudden whistling sound - as if somebody was blowing - erupted from the place over Corus, and a moment later he had been engulfed in a block of ice. Anchiale growled in frustration just as the figures of two men appeared in the shimmering air. One of them was sturdily built, and wore a suit that appeared to be made of snow. His hair and beard were as white as ice; I almost suspected that's what they actually were. When he turned away from me to face Anchiale, I noticed the small purple wings on his back. The other man appeared younger; he had no facial hair and his hair was auburn. His suit appeared to be made of autumn leaves that had just fallen off of their trees. He turned like his companion and I saw that his wings - for I assumed he would have a pair too - were orange.

"Anchiale," the older one said sternly; as if he were scolding her. This startled me, because the man doesn't seem to radiate the same sort of power Anchiale does; he seems weaker, tamer. "How dare you call me a fool? Did you expect me to leave my son here to die at your hands?"

I turned to look at Dennis, who was sitting on the floor a few meters away from me, before I remembered that he was a son of Athena. And as I was the only other boy...That's when it hit me; the man was talking about me. He was my father.

"Yes Boreas, actually I did," Anchiale said curtly. "I didn't expect you to be stupid enough to show up here, fully knowing that there is no chance I will let you leave alive."

"Oh, that is why I brought my brother," the man - Boreas - said, and gestured at his auburn-haired friend. "Surely the powers of Eurus and I combined should be enough to occupy you; at least, until the children have escaped."

Eve, who had been watching silently, decided to speak up.

"We can defend ourselves."

"Oh be quiet you insolent girl," Anchiale said irritably, and used her hand to make a fire start around us, forming a complete circle, almost like an inescapable prison; I couldn't even orb away. "No chance of escape now," she added happily to Boreas.

"Oh, what a pity," he replied, and he actually seemed disappointed. "I was hoping we could get through this quickly. Very will, if it's a battle you crave, I will gladly oblige."

"This should be fun; goddess of fire and heat against the gods of wind-"

"And winter and autumn," Eurus interrupted. His voice was deeper than I expected, and calming somehow. "Let us begin."

Boreas smiled falsely and blew Anchiale a kiss that swept her off her feet; literally. The amount of wind packed into it sent her flying, and she landed in a pile of leaves that weren't there a minute ago.

The leaves weren't ordinary leaves though; the moment Anchiale landed in them they appeared to start to grow around her, and before she could react, she was in a sort of leaf cocoon.

"Let me out of here!" She screamed, her voice muffled greatly.

"Not a chance," Boreas replied, with a real smile now. "That did end up being a quick visit didn't it Eurus?"

Eurus nodded, and the two of them turned to face us, still surrounded by the fire prison. Not for long though, because Boreas blew it out, literally.

"Lord Boreas, thank you so much! It is an honou-" Dennis started, but was stopped by Boreas.

"You're welcome. Now I am sorry, but I would like to speak to my son."

He brushed past Dennis and stood right in front of me. Eve and Poppy were standing a little while away, and I knew that they were straining their ears to hear something.

"Hello Paul," Boreas said quietly. "I am sorry that these are the conditions of our first meeting; I was rather hoping it would be for dinner at a nice restaurant."

At this, I snapped.

"Do you think I cared?" I spat at him angrily. "Do you think I cared whether I met you in a restaurant or in an alleyway? Because I didn't. I just wanted to know that you were alive. That you cared. That you-" I stopped myself, not wanting to say the words 'loved me'. "I just wanted to meet you."

"I know, son," Boreas began, not unkindly. "But I couldn't see you. According to the Fates, 'the timing was never right'. Quite frankly, I'm glad this whole ordeal happened. If the timing wasn't right by your eighteenth birthday I was thinking of going to pay you a visit anyway."

"You mean the Fates told you that you couldn't see me?" I asked curiously. "But why?"

"They would never tell me. I'm not even supposed to see you now, you know; right before I left they paid me a visit telling me tha whatever I saw or heard the timing still 'wasn't right'. But like I said to Anchiale, I couldn't very well leave you to die. I do care Paul. However, now isn't the time for us to speak. I must go, the Fates surely know what I have done. Staying here will only make matters worse. Just know, Paul, that on your eighteenth birthday, I will send you a gift; something that will help you find my palace. I expect you to be there at eight o'clock sharp, for dinner, and we can talk for however long you want. For now, however, I bid you a farewell."

After a short - and awkward - embrace, he turned and walked to Eurus, who had apparently been talking to Eve and Poppy. They smiled at me before disappearing, the air around where they stood shimmering.

"What did he tell you?" Poppy asked me, but as I started to tell her, Eve stopped me.

"We'll talk about that later."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because according to Eurus, Prometheus should be here any minute now."