The Lost Child

You'll Be Safe With Me

All three of us are sitting in the living room at this point. My mother and I are sitting on a white sofa while Hades is situated in the matching armchair.

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions, my dear." My mother makes that assessment.

I do have questions. Many of them. There is only one I'm really concerned with though. It's the reason I came in the first place. To find out if Hades' story is true.

"Yes," I start, "but there is only one that I really want to know."

"What happened." My mother is quick to catch that. "I think it would be better if I show you."

"You can do that?" If she can, it would answer everything.

"I can, just lean towards me."

I do as my mother asks, once I do, she places her hands on each side of my head. I feel a buzzing in my head, everything is starting to become a blur. Than an image starts to form, it looks like a very small, miniscule, town. I glance around, it is dark but I can still make out different things and even read a few things. One sign helped me figure out what this place was. It wasn't a town, it was where the entire Lightning family lived. The sign read, "Where there's thunder, there's lightning"

Soon I hear someone screaming, a woman. I look around and see a group of people being chased by another group of people, a man is leading the attacking group. I recognize him. He has black, long, straight hair. Not too long, but just enough for it to fall behind him while he is running. They are coming towards me.

I'm about to turn and run but I can't move any part of my body except for my head. The chase advances in my direction, they get closer, and closer. I recognize two faces, one of them is being chased. The other....is in pursuit. Once they are close enough, I recognize him plain as day. It's Astraeus.

This scene flashes and now I am in a home. I look over and I see my mother holding a little girl behind her. I turn my head again at the sound of the door crashing down. Astraeus and Pallas are the ones who are now here.

"Hades should have kept a better eye on his little pride and joy of this family." Astraeus laughs. I don't even recognize him. He looks the same, but his personality is so....dark. Evil.

"He will come for you insolent...." my mother starts but Pallas interrupts her.

"He can not, Olympus' defense's are overwhelmed, you have mere moments left."

My mother clings to the little girl.

"Cereza...." she whispers, "I love you.

As Pallas is about to strike us both down, Astraeus says something.

"Brother," he starts, "what if we took the little one? She would make a deadly assassin."

Pallas thinks for a moment. After a little thought he comes to a conclusion.

"Well, Astraeus, it seems you have finally had a good idea. Take her with us."

Astraeus bends down to little me.

"Come now, Cereza."

I look like I'm about to refuse but my mother pushed me to them. We now appear outside, Astraeus is leaning down.

"Don't worry, little one, you're safe with me...."

"NO!" I scream back into reality.

"Cereza!?" I hear Hades' voice. I never thought I would be so happy to hear him.

Without a single thought in my mind I turned to him and wrapped my arms around him. I can tell he is stunned because he tenses all of the sudden. Soon, however, he relaxes and puts his arms around me. I feel bad because there are tears flowing through my eyes and onto his suit.

"Thank you...." I say, "for showing me the truth."

***

We share small talk for another few hours before Hades' says it's time for us to go. I wish I could stay forever but this is the place for the afterlife. Even though my mother some how managed to become Madama Butterfly. I always thought Madama Butterfly looked like me, but I could never imagine that it was actually my mother.

I wondered why they couldn't find me if she was one of my most common summons but she explained that she goes into a sort of trance when she is summoned by me. She knows she helps me but doesn't exactly know what is going on, I'm like her seeing eye dog when I summon her.

After we part from my mother, we make it back to the portal much faster than we did getting from there to my mother's. Once we are on the other side of it, I think we are going to part ways. Hades, however, has another idea.