hekate has only ever seen her witch bruised once, but it had been enough. someone would have put it out of their head, not given it a second but the goddess wasn't that person. truth is, she could be rather obsessive when it came to the people she cared for. they had returned to a particular patch of woods, scenic and peaceful but something felt off. the thought flits through her mind as she's on her way back to their little camp. and it's not so much a sound that alerts her of their presence, but the disturbance of animals. a stray rabbit skittering on by and chaos descends.
she doesn't want to keep track of the ones who were obviously here for io. the goddess didn't know a lot about those hunting io but she knew enough that she was ready to defend io and get them out of here and somewhere else. and truly, that was her plan as she waded into the thick of it, and watch io get hit. and then she lost her mind. all the noise drowned out immediately, and a wave of her power flashed outward, reality itself flickering as several bodies fell, choking and attempting to draw oxygen in, blood pouring from their eyes and ears. a low rumbling filled the ears as she walked forward, eyes flashing from pale moonlight to gold and back and again. shadows rose behind her, neema's hellhound form pawing from the darkness, fur covered snout pulling back over rows of razor sharp teeth. ❝ ━ get rid of them. ❞
milky gaze toward the lone man and io's voice rings out, nearly stopping her. but she doesn't, the goddess gets close, meeting the other's gaze as a feral smile splits over her expression, and she's sure there's not a sane quality there. ❝ ━ for them....you live. should you cross my path again, i will floss with your bones...❞ a hand rises and she snaps her fingers, and io, her and inter mundos were in positano. her hands shake, her entirety trembling with the need to go back and finish them off, but she doesn't. instead the goddess moves toward io, crouching infront of them, gently brushing fingers over their cheek, the bruise fading away. ❝ ━ that was him, wasn't it ? ❞
❝ unprompted.
INTER MUNDOS FEEL LIKES IT’S groaning. and it makes iovita’s stomach turn. they moved fast, and the witch, before hekate, had been the only to ever use the magic that makes it move. for several long seconds, they’re quiet, eyes closed tight as they let their magic filter back into the rooms. slowly, quietly. reclaiming it. and the magic clinging to the shop’s walls nudges back. hekate’s hand is on their cheek, but they don’t register anything except for the adrenaline-fueled pounding of their heart.
it goes through their head, though, the events of the past twenty minutes.
-
the hounds tracking them down no matter where they are is nothing unusual. it happens. iovita is often well-equipped to take care of them. and if they don’t then… col wins. sometimes they think that would be the worst death for them. other times they think it would be the easiest.
this time, however, is the first time hekate has also been present.
they want to explain the loose circle of hunters around them, because they don’t want bloodshed. not because of the hounds in general, but because he is there. straight-backed and cold-faced. they know the force of hekate’s anger, and they are desperate that col does not get caught in the crossfire. but the hounds don’t make it easy. iovita thinks they recognize the one who comes forward, burn scars on her face. she’s quick as a snake, pain flashing across iovita’s cheekbone before they know what’s happening.
and that…
it’s a blur. there’s blood, they see. there’s screams, they hear. there is a hellhound, stalking among the hunters with ruthless efficiency hekate is powerful, and the force of it makes them dizzy, swaying back and then tilting forward to land on their hands and knees, jaw clenched tight. there was no warning to her might. no tremble in the earth like the shudders before a volcanic eruption. it simply is. vision tunneling, they watch the woman who had hit them die, in some sort of morbid slowness and bubbling humor. I guess not everyone gets their revenge, they think, struggling back to their feet.
it’s then that they see hekate move, and their heart drops to their stomach. “ NO! ”
to his credit, col doesn’t waver, even though hekate looms over him in all her seething fury. his gaze is unreadable, and simply flicks between hekate and iovita before his dark brows raise, as if to say oh, will you? he’s brazen, and it makes iovita want to laugh. he got that from me.
and then the world is gone, and the warm sun of positano is peering through the windows of inter mundos.
-
reaching up, iovita moves her hand away from their face, fingers tightening around her wrist. their gaze is as inscrutable as col’s was - cold steel to his icy blue. “ I heard what you said to him, ” they say, slowly. heat is starting to prickle into their fingers, warming against her skin. as much as they love her, and as much as they know that col is capable of terrible things, it doesn’t make anything sit easier within their mind. it’s more like the feeling of being pulled in two different directions, until they think they might tear right down the middle.
“ I don’t ever want to hear you threaten my son again. ” the heat in their hand is growing with their frustration. the pool of light of the floor lamp nearby is starting to slink from ceiling to wall to floor as the metal stem of it softens and droops. “ if you did anything to him… I’d… I’d… ” what? break completely? grieve, properly and finally? they let go of her hand, shoving it away as they do. it’s blatantly obvious what kind of place they’re in, confused and circling like a lion in a tiny cage, looking for anything to take their frustrations out on.
“ ... you wouldn’t even give me something to bury. ” // @solaoccasum