CH.2 COMMON GROUND

Exios stood in front of them motionless. His pupils still dilated. His appearance stunned Athena and Maxwell. Visible metallic gray colored veins were spread across his body. After a moment Exios blinked several times, his pupils and veins returning to normal. "What happened to me?" He said, his vision coming back into focus. He looked down at his blood drenched hands. Confused, he raised them to show Athena.

"Umm, let's get you inside before somebody sees you," said maxwell. He pushed Exios through the broken doorway. "Did you really have to destroy the door?" He quickly grabbed a curtain, hanging it over the doorway. "Ok take your clothes off, we gotta get you cleaned up."

Exios still in a daze, took his shirt off, waded it up and threw it aside.

"Wow!" Maxwell said looking him up and down. "You must have trained nonstop to get a body like that."

Exios smirked, catching Athena staring to.

She quickly diverted her eyes, her face tingling with embarrassment.

"How did you get that scar?" She asked still avoiding looking at him.

Exios placed his hand over the big scar he had on his chest, inbetween his collarbone and shoulder. "I got it from one of the toughest fights I've ever had. It's the only wound to have ever left a scar on my body."

"What happened?" Athena asked, now more intrigued.

"Focus!" Maxwell said interjecting. he pulled up a stool next to the fire and set a large bucket of water with a rag next to it. "Clean yourself up," he instructed.

Exios sat down and picked up the rag. "We need to talk," he said as he began scrubbing the blood from his hands. "Firstly. I dont know how or what happened back there, but i am not your puppet." He dunked the rag back into the bucket. "If you think I'm just some tool to be used at your discretion, the voltreus kingdom won't be the only enemy you have to worry about. Do you understand?" He finished wiping off his hands and tossed the rag back into the bucket.

Maxwell stared hard at Athena. "Yes, I understand." She said lowering her head. "Im sorry, I just kinda panicked."

Exios leaned in resting his elbows on his knees. "Good, im glad we have an understanding. Now, If we're gonna be on the same team, I need you to tell me everything."

Maxwell and Athena whispered back and forth for second.

"Very well," said Maxwell. "Lets catch you up to date then. In short, after Amora and Marcus banished you, they gained alot of reputation for taking down the king of monsters. Several powerful households pledged allegiance to them. At the same time they enlisted a powerful monster named Barbatos."

"Shortly after that, the Voltreus kingdom was founded. With you being gone, they quickly forced the other kingdoms into submission and brought fourth the fifth empire. Marcus was crowned emperor, and Barbatos became the next king of monsters. The empire portrayed you as evil and tyrannical, they forced everyone to believe they're the heroes who ended the oppression of the previous empire."

Exios sat silent for a moment, trying to process his emotions on it all. "Barbatos huh. Figured if anyone replaced me, it'd be him."

"You know him?" Asked Maxwell.

"I can't forget the man who gave me this." Exios said pointing to the scar on his chest.

Athenas eyes widened, "Are you saying he's more powerful than you?"

"Well, the last time we fought, I won. But I'm sure he's only gotten stronger with time."

"Soo. . . What now? Do you just go back to being the king of the monsters again?" Athena asked inquisetively.

Maxwell and Exios looked at eachother and chuckled.

"This isn't funny." Athena said snapping at them out of frustration. "This is serious, Its our lives we're talking about here."

Stern fierceness overtook Exios. "Trust me girl. No one is taking this more serious than me. I was trapped in darkness for twenty eight years, by someone I thought loved me. Then I was freed, only to be used as a weapon by some woman I've never met before."

Athenas eyes and shoulders dropped. Realization swept through her mind. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "I never considered how you felt. I never considered the things youve been through; and thats horrible of me, and im, Im just sorry. Especially after what you did for Amanda and Adeline."

Exios sighed. "Nevermind that stuff." He said waving it off. "Anyways, I wanted to ask about these necklaces." He ran his fingers over the indivual carved stones of the necklace. "I can feel it tethered to my energy, like it's a part of me."

"That is correct." Athena said, clearing her throat after almost bursting into tears. "The necklace is bound to you and cannot be removed by any means. Also, you were right about the commands. I can only force you to do very simple ones like sit, walk, stop, stay, exc. In order to execute a more complicated command, it requires a key." She rubbed her fingers on the broken tooth of the necklace.

"Theres only three keys," said maxwell. "The way my wife put it, there was no way to fully seal your power. So each key acts as an individual seal, each locking away a third of it. She said for her plan with the lamb necklace to work. She needed to keep you from accessing your full power. She really never explained why though. She only ever mentioned something about it once. she said 'that if his other side is fully awakened, there will be no hope.' Not to clear on what that's supposed to mean.

Exios exhaled, slightly blushing. "Wow! I don't know if I should be mad or flattered that she thought so highly of me. Either way I'm impressed," he squeezed his hand into a fist. "I had thought something felt off. At first I thought I was just readjusting after being restrained for so long. Turns out it's actually because I've been reduced to only using a fraction of my power." Exios lifted one eyebrow toward Athena. "I don't suppose I could get you to use the last two keys right now, could I?"

"Ummmm, that's really how it works." Athena said looking to her grandfather for guidance.

Exios let out a frustrated sigh throwing up his hands. "Fine! I get it. Its really your only bargaining chip and we just met. Worth a shot though. Just know this. My only goal is destroying Marcus and Amora. The way I see it, we have a mutual enemy. I don't mind working together, but be warned. Do not to get in the way of my revenge. Are we clear?" Athena and Maxwell unanimously agreed. Exios leaned back. "Also, stop pulling me around like a dog, its humiliating." Athena covered her mouth trying not to laugh.

"Now that the brass tax is settled," said Maxwell slapping his knees. "Let's get down to business. We only have a couple days before the kingdom notices the soldiers didn't return and suspects foul play."

"Youre right," Exios said caressing his chin. "They'll most likely send someone from the diamond class to investigate."

"Correct, and that's very bad news. You think you're up to fight a diamond already?"

"Hold on a second," said Athena throwing her hand up. "Whats a diamond class?"

"They're high ranking and dangerous military personnel," said maxwell. "When i was a soldier, I fought under a few different diamonds. They're strength alone is worth as much as an army."

Athena nervously bit the side of her lower lip. She looked back and forth between her grandfather and Exios wondering how they were remaining so calm. "So. . . What do we do?"

Exios smiled at her. "Relax, even in my current state im sure i could take a diamond." Athena let out a shaky breath. "That being said though, if they target the village. . . People will die."

Athena stood up and started pacing back and forth. "So what are we going to do then?" She said pulling her hair back into a ponytail trying not to panic. Things were escalating faster then she had imagined.

"I have an idea," said Exios. "I use to have a friend named Remy from the Broxa kingdom. He was a prince, he might be able to help."

Athena and Maxwell stared at him wide eyed. "Do you mean Remadaus Broxa?" Asked Athena.

"Yeah, that's him."

"Well," said Maxwell. "Hes no longer a prince, hes the current king of Broxa."

Exios' face filled with delight. "Perfect, If we get everyone there I'm sure he'd take us in."

"Or," said Athena dragging out the word. "he will turn us into the Empire."

"No!" Exios said snapping in protest. "I know Remy, he would never do that. Plus, what other choice do we have?"

"I agree with Exios." Maxwell said standing up. "I think going to Broxa is our best option. Either way we can't stay here. I will go inform the others that we need to prepare to leave. Why don't you two go to the river and catch us some fish for dinner." Maxwell walked to the curtain door. "Just keep in mind, it's been twenty eight years. People change." He walked out leaving Athena and Exios alone.

Athena decided to do as her grandfather asked and walked to the corner of the room. She opened a small closet pulling out two fishing poles and a bucket. "Lets go," she said offering a pole to Exios.

He smiled, got up and followed her out. They walked past several shack houses. People were hand washing clothes in buckets, weaving blankets, or sitting around talking. everyone they passed, stopped what they were doing and watched them as they passed by.

"I get the feeling I'm not really welcome here," Exios said picking up on the tension he was causing.

"Not everyone was on board with me and my grandfather's plan, the empire portrays you and the previous empire as cruel, brutal, dictators. Some think you're just going to bring trouble to our lives."

Exios stopped to watch some kids that were playing kickball. "They're not wrong you know. I will only bring you and these people more problems." One kid scored a point, his teammates ran to pat him on the back and congradulate him. "If you release me, they'll have no reason to pursue you. You and these innocent people dont need to get wrapped up in the violence that is sure to ensue."

Athena grabbed her necklace thiinking on her answer. "No, we will see this through together. I think that's what my grandmother would've wanted. I believe She left me this necklace for a reason."

Athena faintly smiled at Exios, then turned and started walking.

Exios massaged his temples. He had never really been good at arguing, he much rather preferred fighting to solve debates.

"Come on, we got some fish to catch" she said urging him to follow. He shook his head in defeat and followed after her. They walked alongside a beaten path that followed a seemingly endless wooden cattle gate. On the other side, cows, goats and horses mulled around plucking at tufts of grass.

Exios eyes watered, his heightened sense of smell also amplified the bad smells. "yeah twenty eight years wasn't long enough to miss the smell of a farm."

Athena laughed, "were almost there, you big baby." Exios noticed that her tone had changed. It was soft and warm, her laugh sweet and uplifting. They walked past a couple trees, down a small bank of rubble and emerged through some brush to a slow flowing river.

"Here we are" said Athena setting her bucket down on a huge flat rock that sat partly in the river. She handed Exios the fishing poles, and walked to the base of a big tree whose branches hung over the river providing shade to the whole area. She knelt down and started gently digging at the soil with her fingertips, the soil around the base of tree was loose from constantly being dug up. She walked back to Exios with two worms wriggling around in her fingers. She placed them on the hooks and took one of the poles. She got a running start then jumped on top of the large flat rock. "Lets fish," she said casting her line in the river.

Exios effortlessly jumped on the rock. He looked at her fishing pole, then looked at his examining it like a puzzle. He tried to imitate what Athena did, but ended up casting the line behind him and throwing the worm off the hook. Athena laughed, "you've never fished before have you?"

"So what if I haven't," he said sitting down frustrated.

She rolled her eyes and handed her pole to him. she jumped down to grab another worm.

"What if I just blow the river up? I could catch us like a hundred fish instantly."

"Dont you dare," Athena said jumping back up snatching the pole from him. "We dont need to be reckless or impatient, I'll show you how." she motioned for him to come closer but he hesitated. He hadn't had any kind of interaction with anyone for twenty eight years it was foreign to him now.

"Come on," Athena said pulling him by his hand. "King of monsters, scariest man alive, scared of girls." Athena burst out laughing at herself.

"Real funny, real funny, you done?" Exios said trying to hide the fact his heart was pounding.

"Killjoy" she said letting out one more laugh before stepping in to guide his hands. "You see fishing is gentle and peaceful. There's a reason people do this for relaxation." Together they successfully cast his line into the river.

Exios watched it plop into the water. A big child like smile spread across his face. Athena couldn't help but to be filled with joy watching his genuine smile over something so simple. At that same time though, she also felt sadness. She imagined what kind of harsh life he must've had. She looked at him and remembered the stories. If even a small part of them were true, then his whole life has been nothing but bloodshed.

Exios sat down gently holding his pole diligently watching the water. "What do we do now?"

Athena snapped out of her daze. "Now, we wait." she said plopping down beside him.

A small frown crept across his face. "How boring".

"Well," Athena said teetering her head. "How about you tell me something about yourself. Everything I know is empire propaganda and old heresay stories."

"What do you wanna know?"

"Just start from the beginning."

"Thats a long...long story."

Athena gestured to their surrounding. "We got time, fishing is patience remember."

Exios squinted at her and sucked his teeth. "Very well. But in return, i want you to show me some more cool stuff like this fishing. Deal?" Athena inmedietly agreed and turned toward him eager for him to start. She very rarely got to hear true stories from outside her village.

Exios sat upright and cleared his throat. "Well to start nobody knows where I'm from."

"What do you mean?" Athena said immedietly thrown off.

"Well to sum it up. My first memory is waking up as a child in the woodlands surrounded by a group of mercenaries. They tried speaking with me but I didn't even understand the common tongue. For being mercenaries though, they were kind. They fed me, clothed me, and taught me the common tongue. I quickly grew fond of them, they called themselves the Dauntless. They never told me they were in hiding from the empire, not that I would've understood. So you could imagine my horror when an entire regiment of the Empires elite guard decended upon us and slaughtered them all in front of me." Athena covered her mouth in horror. Exios' face stiffened. "That was the first time I transformed."

"What do you mean by transform? Is it something like how you were earlier?" Athena asked inquisetively.

Exios shook his head. "I don't think I currently have the power to transform, at least not fully."

"So, do you become like some huge beast with sharp teeth and claws?" She said giggling.

"Yeah, and I feast on the flesh on the innocent." He said playing into her jest. They both shared a laugh. "No, it's nothing like that. I dont think my physical appearance changes that much. I mean my skin and hair turn grey and hard like metal, but that's about it." He said stroking his chin thinking about it. "The real transformation takes place in my mind, so to speak. When I change. It, it feels primal. My mind becomes dull to reason and empathy. And uh- I don't know, it's hard to explain." He said feeling unable to fully put it into words.

"So, you were saying back when you were a kid. The first time you transformed. What happened next?"

Athena thought she glanced a hint of sadness in his eyes as he turned and tossed some pebbles into the river.

"That was the first time I killed someone...I was consumed by rage lunging at every soldier in sight. I was suprised how easily i tore through their armor, flesh, and bone. Felt no more difficult than tearing through wet parchment. When I calmed and regained my senses, not one of them remained. Their mangled severed body parts littered the field. I was horrified, but more than that. I was furious. The empire had just crushed my world. So, I decided I would crush theirs. I slaughtered every empire soldier I came across. Justifying every kill to my conscious, saying it was for the fallen Dauntless and their cause, but deep down I knew that wasn't the truth."

"Then why?" said Athena, completely invested in his story.

"Well..." He paused, feeling slightly ashamed. "Because I could."

Athena went to ask something else but the twitching of Exios's pole interrupted her. They both stared at it briefly. "Quick! reel it in!" Athena shouted jumping to her feet. Exios leapt up like someone lit a fire under him. Panic and uncertainty flooded his mind, he was sure the line would break or he would lose focus and break the pole. He gently reeled it closer and closer until splashing from the fish was right beneath them.

"Now pull it out" Athena said holding out a bucket. Exios licked his lips nervously then pulled up. A decent size salmon burst from river, Athena quickly grabbed the line securing the fish in the bucket.

"Congratulations," she said punching him in the shoulder and setting the bucket aside. Exios had a huge smile and sense of pride plastered across his face. "I never knew something so simple could be so thrilling" he said full of energy.

"See!" She said. "Doesn't this beat, just blasting them out of the water?"

Exios stroked his chin. "Fair enough. I will heed your advice on these matters more sincerely from here on."

Athena mokingly curtsied at his gesture. She quickly fetched another worm and handed it to him. He held the worm in his palm staring at it with a sour expression. "Come on, I showed you how to do it. She said urging him to bait his own hook.

"Can you umm, can you show me one more time?" He said handing it back.

Athena scoffed, "some killer you are." She snatched the worm from his hand swiftly baiting his hook. "Last time, your on your own now" she declared.

"I'll remember that next time we get in a fight with someone," he said under his breath.

"Whats that?" Athena said cupping her ear.

"I said thank you."

"uh huh, sure" she said rolling her eyes. "Anyways, where were we. You were saying you picked a fight with the empire. What happened next?"

"Well, okay so things kind of took a turn, a weird one at that. What do you know of the sages council?"

"I've heard my grandfather mention them under his breath a few times, other than that not much."

"Well let me fill you in, they're the ones who decide who is appointed to monster class."

"Ooohhhhh." Athena said pretending to understand what he was talking about.

"Doesn't matter," Exios said continuing. "All you need to know is they're very scary."

"Thats all you needed to say."

"Anyways, several years later, in my teens. one night I was camping alone in the woods, suddenly I woke up surrounded by four hooded figures. Long flowing robes covered every inch of them. Something about them, about their aura, screamed danger. Before I could even decide to either attack or run, they all lifted an arm in perfect unison, golden chains shot from their sleeves binding me in place. These chains were no ordinary chains either, they drained me, preventing me from transforming. I thought it was over for me, but then they spoke. They told me that they were appointing me as a monster. They released me from the chains and dropped a huge leather-bound book at my feet. The book had their symbol of an encircled eye on the front. They said everything that I need to know and follow, I can find in there. Then just as quickly as they arrived, before I could say anything, they were gone.

"So what was in this book?" Athena said so invested she completely forgot they were fishing.

"It explained everything it means to be deemed a monster class, it was created to balance the power out in the world. It explained all the rules and regulations of being a monster, and the consequences of breaking the rules. It opened my eyes to how the structure of civilization worked, and ultimately, how I could break it. Word got out that I was the new monster and before long many smaller kingdoms and provinces were begging for my representation. After much painstaking deliberation I settled on a small territory led by the Ladros family. They seemed nice and backed my cause. A few years later all the pieces were finely set in place. In less than the span of a month, I completely crushed the third empire. The Ladros kingdom became the fourth empire and i became the new king of monsters."

"I see," Athena said pausing. "So. . . How did it make you feel? After finally finishing what you set out to do."

Exios sighed, "you know Remy asked me the same question back then and I'll tell you what I told him." He looked at Athena his expression sinking. "I felt empty. I had spilt so much blood, taken so many lives, whether the cause was just or not, all of it was on my hands. I also felt I no longer had a purpose, I had no idea what to do next. I was beginning to feel lost in an abyss long before I was imprisoned there, but that all changed when I met Amora. She helped me through my despair. I experienced what I believed was love, suddenly I had purpose again. Just like that, life was beautiful and amazing and I was happy." He let out a sigh. "But we all know how that ended." Athena saw his lip quiver before his expression hardened. "I should've known better, love wasn't meant for me."

"You really believe that?" Athena said her heart breaking for him.

"I do. The way I see it, people are born and raised to do many things. Farming, woodworking, blacksmithing, building, leading, even being a parent. The list goes on and on, the point is. I was born with the ability to do one thing and one thing only." He picked up a nearby melon sized rock. "I destroy things." He tapped the rock with his finger sending a ripple of energy through it reducing it to sand. his eyes softened as he watched the sand pour through his fingers.

Athenas eyes moistened, her heart ached in sadness for him. She believed everyone deserved a chance to love, and be loved. She couldn't help herself, she threw her arms around him squeezing as hard as she could. As confused as he was, he quickly realized he needed that more than he thought. He rested his face on her shoulder, in her thick but soft hair. He breathed in her unique scent and found it very calming. He could've stayed like that for hours, but he noticed her fishing pole jerking back and forth.

"Look!" He said breaking away pointing at it. Athena looked over and immedietly jumped into action grabbing her pole and reeling it in as hard as she could. After several minutes of fighting trying not to break the line and tiring the fish out she managed to pull it out. Exios helped her get it into the bucket then gave her a round of applause to which she responded with a small curtsie. Athena resetup her pole and they both sat back down next to their poles. Now that all the excitement has died down they both felt the slight sting of awkwardness from the moment they shared before.

Exios rubbed his neck nervously. "So, you and your grandpa came up with this whole plan yourselves huh?

"Well," she said happy to move on to another subject avoiding the awkwardness. "My grandpa didn't tell me about it until I was eighteen, and I wasnt really on board with it at first. I was upset that he spent basically everything we had on finding and buying all the ingredients necessary for the ritual. We never had anything, all we ever ate were beans, bread and whatever the village was kind enough to give us."

"I am sorry you had to go through that," he said softly. "and I'm sorry for what happened to your family," his gaze fixated on the flowing of the river.

"No, what happened to my parents and grandmother was not your fault."

"isn't it though. If I had simply disappeared long ago then Marcus and Amora would've had no reason to seek out your grandmother, or involve your parents. I should've just dissapeared."

Athena stared at him realizing the guilt he carried, that he wasn't some heartless beast like the propaganda the empire spewed had everyone believe. "Look at me," she said grabbing his shoulder. She stared into his bright golden eyes. "I don't blame you for any of my family's deaths. That blame falls solely on Marcus and Amora."

"Thank you," he said squeezing out a small smile. "I want you to know I'm going to do everything within my power to set things right."

Athena smiled. "Good, im counting on it."

They spent the next several hours talking and catching fishing. Athena told Exios about the different people in the village, and about things that have changed since he's been gone. They got so caught up talking they didn't realize the sun fading until it was completely dark and the crickets started chirping. Athena was shivering. "Aren't you freezing?" She said rubbing her arms.

"No," he replied feeling bad for not noticing her suffering through the cold dewy breeze of the river. "I don't really think I feel, cold or hot, the same way normal people do." She thought on it for a moment coming to the conclusion that oddly enough it made sense.

"We should probably get back, my grandfather is probably wondering what's taking us so long."

They grabbed their poles, bucket of fish and started trekking back up the trail. "Ughh! I always hate the walk back, it's all up hill." Athena said rolling her eyes and dragging her feet.

"You know, I could get us back much faster," said Exios.

"How?"

Exios grabbed the poles and bucket in one hand. "Trust me," he said extending his other hand to Athena. She hesitated her cheeks turning rose red. She grabbed his hand, curiosity getting the best of her. He pulled her in close then wrapped his arm around her upper thighs and picked her up.

"Uum, what are you doing?" She asked her face burning with embarrassment.

"I would hold on if I was you," he said smirking.

A little confused and scared she wrapped her arms around his thick neck and shoulders.

Exios squatted then jumped, the ground exploded beneath them as they rapidly ascended into the sky. Athena closed her eyes and screamed. she wrapped herself around him as much as possible, squeezing him with all her strength as they launched through the air.

Exios laughed, he missed the way the air felt as it rushed by his face and flooded his nostrils. After a moment they slowed to a halt, hovering in the open night sky.

"You can fly!?!?" Athena screamed, still frantic. She made the mistake of looking down, sending her into a full blown panic and fit of tears.

"Look at me, look, at, me!" He said grabbing her attention now face to face with eachother. "I'm not going to let you fall, okay? I promise." Something about his expression and tone completely instilled her faith in what he said. After regaining her calm she looked around and instead of fear she found herself completely amazed. She noticed a small group of lights in the distance.

"Yes, thats your village" Exios said confirming what she suspected.

"Wow," was all she could muster to say. She had climbed a few small mountains in her life but she had never been in a place to see things from such a perspective before. It left her speechless, she was so mesmerized she didn't even pay any thought to the thinning air and cold from being up so high. Tall mountains to their east looked like huge looming shadows. Far off to the north she could see the lights of outposts that zigzagged toward the Capital. She wished that it was still daylight out so she could everything more clearly. They both wanted to stay lost in the freedom of the open air forever. At the same time Exios began having flash backs of when him and Amora would share similar experiences. It made his stomach churn and bitterness cloud his mind. He couldn't believe he had been such a fool before. He stared at Athena as she went on pointing to the things she could see and the places she liked to spend time. As he listened to her he vowed to himself to not make the same mistake twice.

"Hey!" Athena said slapping his shoulder. "Are you listening to me?"

"Yes, sorry, I was just you know, absorbing it all. They shared a brief laugh.

"What now?" Athena said with a coy smile, her face flashing red. All she could feel was her heart beating against her rib cage as they hovered face to face in the cold damp night sky. Exios knew by her look and the sound of her heart rate picking up that she wanted him to make a move.

"We should head back now, right?" He said not able to look her in the eyes the words more painful leaving his mouth than he had imagined.

"Right!" She said feeling embarassed, trapped and unable to run away. "We should head back now." Her voice started to crack, she didn't even understand why she was so upset and on the verge of tears.

"Athena, look." Exios said wanting to console her.

"Just fly!" She shouted cutting him off. An involuntary urge overcame Exios and he shot forward, the two of them almost losing grip of eachother in the process.

"Not cool" he shouted into the rushing wind.

They landed Like a meteor in front of the shack, scaring everyone that was gathered there.

Maxwell pushed his way through the gawking crowd. "We have a big! Problem," he said obviously distressed.