Dead of Night

Chapter Four

In my brother's eyes, I find a strange sort of reassurance.

In his arms, he holds his dying love, knowing without a doubt that he, too, will die, but knows with certainty that they will meet their end together. One will not have to go on without the other. This is the greatest gift they could be given, for to walk this world alone, is a fate worse than death.

"Do you remember," Hades asks softly with a small smile on his lips, though I know he feels the same, agonizing pain as his wife, "when we first met?"

Persephone laughs through her next bloody cough. "Yes, of course." She coughs again, and wipes a drop of sweat from her brow. "I was afraid of you, but you said, 'it's alright, I won't hurt you.' "

Hades smiles too, brushing a lock of hair from her face and says, "what I really wanted to say was 'I love you, so nothing can hurt you.' "

She rests the tips of her fingers on his bottom lip affectionately and says, "I know. I saw it in your eyes."

The moment is so tender that I look away, feeling like an intruder on this touching exchange of words. I step away and walk until they're out of sight and earshot. I slump against the cold stone wall of the castle with an audible exhale. I thump my head back against the wall and squeeze my eyes shut hard until I see stars behind my lids.

My brother is dying.

My brother is dying.

My brother, the immortal god the the Underworld, is about to die because Bel poisoned the woman he was sworn to protect. I'm going to live because I managed to get Bel's blood -the only cure- on my skin but my brother and his wife are going to die. How can this be happening? How can I be losing my big brother when the facts of being an immortal god say there should be no loss?

My hands begin to shake at my sides.

I'm going to be all alone. 

Thanatos won't speak to me because I screwed everything up. My brother and his wife are dying yards from where I'm standing. In a few moments, I'll have no family left. I'll be left to spend eternity in the desert that was once my home; the desert that is now my hell.

I press my forehead into the rough stone wall, pounding my fists into the stone above my head. The pain is sharp and stinging, but it's nothing compared to the agony of knowing I'm about to lose my brother. 

Once my fists are bruised and bleeding, I stay still, leaning into the castle wall as if it might take pity one me. If only it would swallow me up and take all this pain away.

A gentle hand rests on my shoulder, soft, slender and comforting. I turn from the wall and wrap my arms around her, burying my face into her shoulder. I hold onto her as tightly as my strength will allow, not bothering to hide the tears that escape from my closed eyes.

"Shh," Thanatos whispers, running her delicate fingers through my hair. "Shh, love. I'm here."

"How did you know?" I breathe through my immense sadness. I press my face into her hair and inhale roses and moonlight. I can't find the will to let go, so I hold her tighter, trying to re-memorize the feel of her body against mine.

"If felt it, your pain," she tells me quietly, as if I will fall apart if she speaks any louder. There's a sadness in her voice that echoes the emotion in my own heart. "I just knew you needed me."

I take some solace in the notion that she can still feel me like she used to; we're still in tune with each other, no matter the distance. At least that hasn't changed, though everything else has.

Reluctantly, I let go of my goddess and then capture her hand in mine, not ready to completely lose her touch after being apart from her for so long. With my free hand, I tuck a stray lock of her beautiful midnight hair behind her ear.