Cursed: Immortal

Chapter 4: Of Love and Of Death

From ghoulies and ghosties

and long-leggedy beasties

and things that go bump in the night,

Good Lord, deliver us!

-Scottish Prayer

***

On the eve of Samhain, the High Council gathered in Morgana's throne room. This was always a rare occurrence, as the Originals had withdrawn from the mortal realms and left the governance of their offspring to their representatives. Nevertheless, it was always nice to catch up with each other, even if we had a serious matter at hand. Ian was a dangerous entity, we didn't know how powerful he was and neither did he.

I was the last to arrive, so I got a multitude of glares. "It's not my fault you're all early," I say as I stand by my chair. Hades scowls at me, but Hecate gives me a sad smile. Vladimir and Wilhelm smile, too, my father doesn't even look up.

"Now that we are all here –"my mother says, widening her arms. "We can finally begin." We all sit and wait for her to start; it is her realm, after all. "Now that we all know about Ian, we need to decide what will happen to him."

Hecate gives a start, "What do you mean 'done with him'?" Hades looks just as shocked. Amazingly, the expression just manages to make him look even more unpleasant, at least, in my opinion. Then again, he's unpleasant all the time, it makes no difference now.

"She means how we are going to keep him from hurting himself and others, "Vladimir says, looking up and down the table, his eyes resting on me for a little too long for my liking. They never really trust me anyway; I don't understand why I have to attend if they're just going to glare at me.

"We have no idea what he's capable of," agrees Wilhelm. "And we don't even know if he can control himself." Which is ironic, coming from the father of the race that are known for their inability to control themselves. However, he is relatively well-behaved, for a shifter with a wife who has a fist of iron.

"I want him to come to my realms, where he can be safe, "Hecate says. For once, she's spoken more than once, and on the same topic too. At least she cares about something now, other than her damn tree.

"He is my son, too, Mage," sneers Hades. "I want to get to know him."  So much for 'we loved each other very much, but we grew apart', I'm not even sure how they managed to have a kid together. Hecate and Hades...together...just the thought of it is making my stomach rebel.

"Well, the last son you 'got to know' tried to steal my powers and/or kill me," I hiss at him. Hades always has this effect on me, making my skin crawl and my temper flare.

"You attacked him, girl," Hades retorts, glaring at me. Right now, he reminds me of a snake, but a relatively harmless one with little venom. Or at least, he is now. Once, an entire continent feared him, worshipped him. Now, he's just a useless old man, emphasis on old.

"You lying, repulsive- "I jump up, almost ready to attack him. Fire bursts from my palms, almost incinerating my dress in the process. He just stands there, waiting for me to attack so he can claim self-defense.

"Scarlet, sit down," Marcus says, finally looking up. I do as he says, after sending another venomous glare at Hades. "We must agree what to do about Ian before he comes of age in – what was his day of birth, Hecate?"

"The first full moon of the year" Hecate says, looking down at her lap. She seems...ashamed for some reason. Oh wait, because she bore the child of a madman with the emotional range of a teaspoon. Which means she willingly slept with him.