Chapter 76: The Convoluted Legacy of Alexander (1/2)

”Don't mention it, child,” Nyx told him.

She continued, ”Shouldn't it be time for you to go back?”

Alex nodded and once again thanked her. He then incarnated into Hermes and swiftly flew away.

Nyx waited for Alex to be far enough and then, she spoke to the sky, ”Erebus, let us go back.”

Suddenly, a dark mist surrounded her and when it was gone, Nyx was no longer there.

Meanwhile, Alex flew towards the city of Ctesiphon with the ruby in his hand and complicated thoughts in his brain.

Before this trip with Hermes, Alex was always under the impression that Olympus was invincible.

But, even as they only crossed a portion of the distance before they reached the realm of the Jade Emperor, Alex already realized he needed to humble himself and his status in this world.

He thought that as a deity, he was lofty and exalted, but tonight, he came to the conclusion that even gods weren't invulnerable and even the demoness, who wasn't a true goddess, threatened to severely harm him.

'I know I'm immortal, but would my immortality really have saved me from this horrifying ruby?' Alex pondered as he looked at the bright red gem in his hand.

It was gorgeous, but it contained sin and atrocity, and even the system went so far as to label it 'A ruby that contains all of the evils in the world.'

By now, Alex had entered the city and looked around attentively to find the house of Behrouz and Esfir.

After a while of searching around the dim metropolis, he found it and entered through the open windows.

It was still quite dark, and Alex made sure there weren't any paranormal creatures before closing the damn*ed window for good.

He lurked quietly and went down the staircase to the hall where everyone else was sleeping.

Hermes was fully asleep. Alex carefully approached the couch and laid down.

However, Hermes slightly opened his eyes and whispered, ”Alexei-boy? Where were you?”

Suddenly, a lot of thoughts streamed around Alex's head, but Hermes interrupted his thinking.

”You totally didn't fight off paranormal creatures and then encounter one that way too strong for you only to be saved by someone else and now you wouldn't want to tell me because you don't me to be worried, right, Alexei-boy?”

'What amazing intuition.' Alex gulped at the precise guess.

”Of course not, Hermes, I was just hungry.” Alex shook his head and waved in dismissal.

”Alright, there's still a lot of time before sunrise, go back to sleep.” Hermes closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

*Grumble*

As it turned out, Alex was actually hungry, but he calmed his stomach's protests and fell under the sleep of Hypnos too.

__________________________

The first rays of the sun awoke Alex and he proceeded to wake up Hermes.

They went to the kitchen and found Behrouz and Esfir already awake.

Behrouz was preparing tea whereas Esfir was opening up a pomegranate and separating the edible seeds from the firm membrane.

When they saw them, they greeted, ”Good morning, did you sleep well?”

Alex fervently answered, ”Totally, I slept like a baby. Really, really well.”

'Totally false.' Alex rubbed his head.

Behrouz smiled and said, ”Glad to hear that you felt comfortable.”

Esfir, on the other hand, commented with her hand on her chin, ”However, it felt a bit chilly at night, like all of the windows were open, even though I closed everything.”

Alex replied anxiously, ”Oh, it must be the wind, you know how strong the winds can get at night.”

Hermes told him in Koine Greek, ”No, Alexei-boy, you don't know, you've never been here...”

”Hehehe”

After that, the three merchants also woke up and everyone cooperated on preparing breakfast.

It was a simple meal, consisting of flatbread, cottage cheese, honey, tea, and pomegranate seeds.

Alex couldn't help but remember his experience with pomegranates in the Underworld and wasn't able to take a single bite of those.