Between Worlds (TEMP HOLD)

Two: Meanwhile in the Underworld

CASTIEL

                 Zeus was angrier than I've ever seen him before. He had the guards hold my arms hile two others beat me an inch from death. I saw his face and heard his laughter, and I miss my father. Dad. . .

        When I think of my father, I couldn't help but think of how much of an asshole I'd been. To Ariel. To Jasmine. To Harley and the rest of the ladies. I deserved this beating. And when the lady punch was firmly delivered to my ribcage, I slipped out of the guards' grasp and collapse against the floor.

         Tears pool in my eyes, and I finally let them spill over. Everything has gradually been building in my chest: the hate, the frustration. I never wanted to get up, again. I simply wanted to wallow in my own self-pity.

        "Get up." Zeus spits.

         I shake my head, the tears blurring my eyes and I tried to sit up. My arms tremble as I do so. "I-I can't."

         Uncle Zeus glared at the guards, and they haul me to my feet. My knees feel weak, and I could hardly stand. My head feels dizzy, spins, and I feel as though I would fall again if the guards weren't holding me up. The same guards that beat the shit out of me. I'll remember each and every one of their faces. "You are an embarrassment to this Underworld, Castiel," Zeus flowers down at me. "Do you know why souls cannot leave the Underworld without permission?"

         Of course I fucking knew—it had been the reason I and my mother were trapped here. Souls had to have permission from Hades, or whoever ruled the Underworld. I hadn't had permission. Neither did my mother. So when Oscar and Jasmine left without my permission, the Underworld recognized two missing souls. You didn't find corrupt souls like theirs everyday. And those souls needed to be right back where they belonged.

         I remember when Oscar told me he hooked up with Jasmine. At first, I'd been angry. Jasmine had tried to get with me first, and I laughed and laughed and wanted Jasmine gone from the competition sooner.

         When I think of Jasmine, and how she surprise-kissed me in the library one morning, it made my stomach churn. She tasted like vanilla. Jasmine's kiss made me realize that she wasn't the one I wanted as a bride. I pretended that Jasmine was Ariel, and I had leaned into the kiss with my eyes closed and not touching her. But Ariel didn't taste like vanilla.

          She tasted faintly of mint, and smelled like Xavier's cologne. I feel stronger when I think of her. I can only hope that the demons Zeus sent after her haven't caught up to her yet. I wanted Ariel because she hadn't wanted me.

           I watched the cameras the night she was with Xavier, and replayed their kiss over and over and over again. She never kissed me like that, the way I kissed her.

         I remember the night she stayed with me in bed, her body against mine, finding me in the darkness in the late hours of the evening. I had only smiled, stroked her hair quietly. I felt her slow breaths against my neck, and shivered. It was then I knew how much I had wanted to choose her.

         And she chose me, too.

          "Take Castiel to his room. Do not let him leave. If he needs to go to the bath house, escort him there and only allow him twenty minutes. You're confined to your quarters until I can find you a suitable wife."

         Fear courses through me. My mouth felt dry. Everything in me already felt destroyed. "Wh-what?"

          "You thought you could escape this obligation, Castiel?" Uncle Zeus raises an eyebrow. "Someone needs to run this place, and it's going to be you. There's isn't any other option—"