Supreme God Chapter 4.1 - Escape From Delos Island

Artemis grew anxious.

She hurriedly packed her belongings and came over to help her little brother pack, but upon entering his room, she found him sitting deathly still on the cold ground not breathing.

She quickly fumbled through her divine power and found his soul gone. He was already dead. Gasping for breath, she sought for her mother, Leto only to find Adelos' body beginning to twitch. Soon, his soul returned back to his body.

Looking at Artemis, he saw tears running through the corner of her tender eyes. His heart moved, he reached out and wiped the tears away. "Elder Sister, I am fine. I apologize for worrying you."

Artemis held Adelos in her embrace and softly muttered to herself. "Find is good… fine is good." Then, she pinched her little brother's cheeks. "But don't do that again! You worried me… what happened to you? Your soul was gone… and it scared me… I almost called for Apollo and mother to find you in the Underworld."

After hearing her reasoning, Adelos hesitated. "I myself am unaware. Suddenly, there was only darkness in front of me. There was no light, only pure darkness. It took me a long while to recover."

He decided to keep his secrets to himself and not let others know… even if she was his sister.

Artemis big eyes looked at him once more. She searched his body and found no strange thing. So she sighed, her heart feeling temporarily at ease and helping Adelos pack up.

The process was quick. Adelos held nothing of importance, only common items in his space domain. Soon as they finished, a thundering scream echoed from the outside followed by a strong tyrannical stench. Thereafter, Delos Island began to shake.

Artemis quickly held Adelos arms and ran out, discovering Leto and Apollo's presence just outside with their eyes bulged wide open.

Out in the coast of the Delos Island, a colossal python continually struck the outer edge of the island. The colossal python was covered in horrible cryptic patterns of purple and black. It had a long open mouth and it's salient fangs emitted a sharp and cold sword-like aura.

The python continued to wreak havoc upon the island. The two pillars Poseidon erected to support the island from floating broke in two.

Over the past few years, Leto had placed traps around the island so as to prevent enemies from harming her and her children, but now… the traps used to defend against the enemy was deemed useless. It was completely destroyed.

Leto looked at the colossal python. She and the python had long formed a deep-seated enmity. It was this colossal python which continuously sought her fresh blood in the past. She'd almost had a miscarriage because of this damned python.

She looked at her children. "My children, remember that when you are of age and have the strength to defend yourself, you must kill your enemy. Peel off their flesh and remove their bones. You must not give mercy."

Next to her, Apollo gazed at the colossal python with an indifferent look. He clenched his fist and said, "Mother, rest assured. No matter who it is who wish to bring harm to our family, they have no choice but to die."

On the other side, Artemis looked at Adelos then at Leto. "Mother, what do we do now?"

Leto pulled out a golden conch the size of a fist from her pouch and handed it to Artemis. "Artemis… my dear child… you and Adelos take this. Hurry and head to the boat situated on the other side and go to the place where the mermaids haunts mortal men. Play this conch and someone will pick you up."

"Mother, what of you and Elder Brother?" Adelos asked, a sense of great urgency could be felt. "You won't go with us?"

Leto whispered in Adelos' ear. "My love, the python's targets are me and Apollo. If we lead it away, you'll be safe. Go now. Keep watch over each other."

She knew fairly well the python's intent. It's clear Hera wants her dead. Here in this island stands Hera's rival in love and Apollo, the eldest son of Zeus. So long as she and Apollo leave, the python will skip over Adelos and Artemis with intent to chase after her and Apollo.

After listening to her words, Artemis took a short glance at Leto and Apollo. Her eyes reddened as she picked up her little brother. "Mother, Apollo… I'll be leaving now… be careful…"

"Rest assured. Your Aunt Asteria will be with us. It won't be easy for that ugly thing to kill us."

Asteria was the younger sister of Leto and Delos Island is of her creation.

"Artemis, you must pay great attention to your safety." Apollo whispered. "Take good care of our dear little brother. In the future, once I've killed the python, I will come and find you. Until then, you need to stay safe and alive."

As the words seeped out of his mouth, the python broke free from the traps set out by Leto. It quickly rushed over to where Leto stood.

At this time, the voice of a goddess rang in the air. "Do not talk too much. Everyone will leave this place alive. Artemis, you and Adelos will close your eyes. I will send you out this island."

Though Adelos had never seen her, he knew this voice. It was the goddess of falling stars, Asteria and his aunt. Though he'd never met her, Adelos knew of her. As a babe, she'd gone to play with them albeit for a short while. Moreover, the three siblings admired her and were truly grateful to the aunt who was an incarnate of this island and who safeguarded Leto from Hera's wrath during her pregnancy.

When Adelos closed his eyes, he felt like a feather in the wind. By the time his eyes fluttered open, he'd already reached the outer edge of the island on the other side.

A small boat a few feet away was moored on the shore.

Adelos quickly set foot on the boat with Artemis.

Chapter end