"What? No, you've been outside too long. You're crazy. You've… you're… you're wrong. You have to be," I was beginning to sound desperate, but I couldn't handle this craziness right now. There was only one dumb simple question I could ask, "How?"

"You know the myths. The gods, and goddess, come down to earth, find a mortal that they… like, and have children. Then they have to go back to Olympus to "work". You are a daughter of Apollo."

"No! No, you're wrong. We'll go ask Anatolius right now. He'll prove…"

"No, he won't. He'll be gone already. He'll know I told you. And no one will remember who he is or that he even existed," he looked sadly at me like he felt sorry for me, "He probably came to make sure I was doing my job and keeping my promise, and you were safe, or as safe as possible. It's really kind of him, actually, because most gods don't even take the time to know their children."

"Know me? Really kind? Doing your job? How has he taken the time to know me, I've never met him? He left us! Abandoned us and now you're saying he's really kind! What's your job? And why is he making sure you're doing it? And… and…"

"Calm down," he cooed, "It's okay. We'll take this slowly. Yes, he has taken the time to know you because he watches you and he was here keeping an eye on you and defends you from the other gods. Many gods ignore their mortal children so yes, he is being very kind and many would never challenge the other gods when it comes to their mortal child's defense. He also made a promise to always protect you."

"And your job?"

He sighed like he didn't want to tell me so I started to argue, but he held up his hand, "I was sent to protect you, and your mother. I failed at that part. So now I'm working overtime to protect you so I'm not a complete failure, but still I doubt he'll forgive me for losing your mother."

"You were sent? Why? By who? And you didn't lose my mother, she was taken," the second I said that I understood, "My father sent you, didn't he? Apollo. To protect me, right? So who are you?"

"What?"

"If I'm the daughter of Apollo and you're here and you know then you must be special, too."

"Oh, yeah. Um… That's not important right now…"

"I think it is. We need to stop keeping secrets from each other."

"It's not a secret it's just not important right now, but…" he most have seen my glare because he began to explain any way, "Well, your father is Apollo and um… my father is…"

"Wait; do not tell me you really are my brother!"

"No, no I'm not your brother. My father was Asclepius, the god of healing. He was a son of Apollo."

"Was?"

"Yeah," he kind of smirked, "Zeus shot him down and killed him with a lightning bolt."

"Oh, I'm sorry," but I couldn't stay very sorry for long, "Do you have any siblings?"

"Yeah. All of them are older than me though. I barely even know them."

I almost asked him why, but I stopped myself, feeling bad I asked about them instead, "What are their names?"

"Well, there's my sisters; Acesis who is remedy, Iaso who is cure, Hygeia who is health, Janiscus and Panacea who are all-healing, and Aegle who is radiance. Then there are my brother, Machaon and Podalirius, who are more known for their overall healing powers. They're not great fighters either."

"Who is, or was, your mother?"

"She is Epione, the daughter of Merops, king of the island of Cos."

"Wow. That's…" before I could find the right word Alexios offered up his own opinion of his family.

"Crazy? Big? Demeaning?"

"Demeaning?"

"You don't have a family full of famous healers living their oh-so happy lives while you were dropped in some unknown city and stuck protecting someone you didn't even know!"

I probably looked really dumb standing there staring at him, but that really hurt. I thought we were friends, no, more than friends and he just threw that all away, "Okay, if that's how you really feel. I'll just…" I couldn't even finish what I was going to say.

"No. I won't ever leave you so don't you ever leave me. Ever," he reached out to me and gently pulled me in his arms toward the hearth. At first I tried to fight him off but as soon as I realized what he was doing I gave in. We huddled by the hearth in each other's arms comforting each other like we did when we were young, and innocent, and life was less complicated…

I hope you enjoyed chapter 3 of my story, Promises. Please review if you have any suggestions or concerns. Thank you.