THE DRAWING

(ONE-SHOT)

Humming a lullaby, Bethany looked down to her one-year-old son falling asleep in her lap. It wasn't because he was her son, but Beth couldn't imagine another baby more beautiful than Ari.

Gently, she brushed a lock of his hair away from his brow. Beth's lips curved into a soft smile as she admired Ari's resemblance to his father. With his eyes closed there was no soul in the universe that could deny they were father and son. Their only differences were the eyes and hair color. Ari had inherited Beth's hazel-golden eyes and midnight hair in contrast to Styxx's Aegean blue eyes and wavy blond hair.

Beth knew that the similarities between father and son didn't end in their features. She was certain that in the future Ari would be as brave and gallant as Styxx was. A true champion for humanity. She naturally would be very proud of her baby boy, as much as she was of her older son, Galen.

"No Galen, Urian!" mentally she reminded herself. "Urian, Urian, Urian." Beth was still having hard time getting used to call him that. Her heart broke, and tears flooded her eyes, every time she thought in all those centuries that Urian had spent not knowing who his true parents were. Also for them not seeing him growing up. The same amount of time that Styxx had mourned them both, thinking Beth and Urian were long gone dead.

But now all that was in the past. They were together and happy as a family. Even so, she wasn't naive to think that things couldn't change for worse again. She could feel it deep inside her. Evil was coming on their way.

Because of their experience with their firstborn, much as Bethany as Styxx were extremely overprotective of Ari. But Beth knew they wouldn't be able to protect him forever. It didn't matter she was a goddess and Styxx a Chthonian. Sooner or later, Ari would be old enough to fight his own battles. She prayed for him to be victorious always.

Leaning down, she kissed him on the top of the head. "Sleep well, my sweet."

He was sound asleep as he always did. Not even the end of the world could wake him. Carefully and humming still, she got up and placed him in his crib. After spend a few more minutes watching Ari's peaceful sleep, Bethany walked away and got out of the nursery, wondering where her husband was.

She found him in their room. Oblivious to her presence, Styxx was in his favorite spot, delighting himself with one of his favorite pastime. Sitting on an armchair by the window, Styxx was holding a sketchbook on his right hand. He was drawing something that Beth couldn't discern from afar.

When she got closer, she noticed how intensely focused Styxx was. A deep frown twisted his beautiful face. Taking a step further, Bethany discovered another thing that disturbed her even more than his somber scowl.

"Akribos, what's wrong? Are you okay?" she asked him, squatting down next to the chair. Only when she touched his arm, Styxx turned his head to look at her. His eyes were murky. "Yes, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Then, why are you crying?"

"I'm crying?" he only believed it when his fingers reached his face and felt the tears. He was even more dumbfounded than Beth was. He hadn't realized his tearful state until she mentioned it.

"Did you see anything?"

After Styxx got his chthonian powers, there had been a few occasions when he had caught a glimpse to the past or the future. His ability wasn't nearly as powerful and precise as Savitar's or Acheron's. In fact, that particular power wasn't common among Chthonians. When it manifested the first time, Savitar said he wasn't sure where it came from. It could be from the powers Styxx got after his rebirth or perhaps of the uncanny union that happened in uterus, when Apollymi hid Acheron in Styxx's mother womb, coming to life now.

Ultimately, it didn't matter where it came from, only that Styxx always had it when he was drawing. He didn't have a flash of whatever the vision was about in his mind, rather he couldn't stop painting whichever that the powers to be wanted him to see. He fell in a kind of trance, just like the one he had seconds before.

"What were you drawing? Let me see," Bethany got on her feet, took the sketchbook and sat in Styxx's lap. He welcomed her, putting protective arms around her. She looked at the pencil drawing, meanwhile Styxx buried his head in the hollow of her neck. By the way he was holding her tight, Beth knew he was more upset than Styxx wanted to admit.

"Who are they?" she asked. It was a really sad scene, where pain and desperation over a loss was written all over it.

There was two figures in the sketch, both soldiers in armor. The first, a young woman, was leaning down toward the man with her hand on his cheek. The woman had covered her features almost completely by a helmet and she was badly injured. The nasty-looking tear in her torso was hard to miss. Anyone who had been in battle, like the one they obviously had been, would know that an injury like could be fatal. At least for her seemed to be hope. The male soldier was beyond help; he had a deathly wound over his heart.

"I don't know," Styxx lift his head and looked at the image Bethany was holding. "Feels like I know them, but no idea from where."

"Maybe you haven't met them yet."

"Maybe. But, what if-?"

"Don't worry about it, Styxx," Beth put her soft and soothing hand on his jaw. "There's not much you can do right now."

"Why I get these visions when I don't know what to do with the very much rubbish information I get from them?" Styxx huffed. "Besides, more likely I won't do anything regardless."

His life had been screwed over too many times for others trying to arrange an unwanted future, only to make it worse. He had absolutely no intention to do precisely that to somebody else. He knew better than to mess with fate.

"I don't know, baby. Surely, there's a reason. In due time, you'll know what it is."

Styxx was very skeptical about that. Nevertheless, he kept the comment to himself. He was wise enough to not argue with his wife. That only would get him into the dog house... and Skylos didn't like to share his bed.

"Ari is sleeping?" he asked, changing to a safer topic.

"Yes. He's not like you. You know how he likes to sleep." Styxx curved up the corner of his lips. He was aware of the eagerness of his younger son to sleep. He was thankful to the gods he hated for it. Styxx prayed for Ari never to have, not even remotely, the same reasons he had for light and short rest.

In the past months since Beth had returned to his life, Styxx's nightmares of his cruel past were slightly less frequent as before, but more often than he'd like, horrible memories about what he had gone through in the last eleven thousand years plagued his dreams. If it wasn't that, then he'd wake up in terror, afraid that Bethany, Urian or Aricles were gone.

With that in mind, Styxx looked at what he had sketched. The fear of losing his family seized him again.

Bethany watched as Styxx loose his smile looking at the sketchbook. "Give it a rest, akribos. Don't think about it."

"I can't help it, Beth. What if it's something to warn me... us about something?"

"Then, sooner or later we'll figure it out."

"What if it's too late?"

"You're not going to let it go, are you?"

"Beth!" he breathed frustrated.

"Styxx!" she mocked him, getting back a peeved glare from him. She knew him too well. If she let him be obsessed by the drawing, he wouldn't sleep. Much less than the little he did anyway. She turned until they were face to face. She put her arms around his neck and played with his golden curls; she loved playing with them.

Reaching out, Beth brushed Styxx's lips with hers. The light kiss draw a moan from him.

"What are you thinking now?" she asked, whispering in his ear.

"That you're trying to distract me," he said breathlessly. She was leaving a scorching trail of kisses along his jaw.

"Is it working?"

Styxx wanted to be annoyed at her. He really did, but that was impossible. One touch or kiss from her on him, mingled with her eucalyptus and lilies scent, was enough to ignite his body and make him to lose his head. In that state he'd do anything she ask him to do. He couldn't suppress the smile on his lips at the thought of how willing he was to please her. "What do you think?"

Looking at the intense hunger for her in his eyes, Bethany smiled. "Definitely working..." she stole him one last kiss, before standing up. Styxx tried to hold her close to him, but Beth didn't let him.

In front of him, she offered him a hand. "Come to bed, my love. If I get my way with you, soon you won't remember anything, not even your own name," she walked away backwards, beckoning him with her finger.

The enticing swing of her hips got him hypnotized like a snake charmer does to a cobra. He got no other option than follow her, leaving the sketchbook forgotten.

They couldn't possibly know that on the white page with pencil strokes tossed on the floor was a peek to the far distant future and in which was the image of the people fighting to save the world from the Malachai... the worst evil of all.

And they were their son and daughter.