Valentine.

You're The One I Follow.

🎼 🖤

It has been yet another week since I've seen Hades. I've been 'under strict confinement' since the incident after the garden. In all honesty though, his uncontrollable mood switches had been wearing me out so much, that I hadn't even minded the break. I decided to stop stressing myself over his bizarre behavior, and instead shift my focus to retrieving parts of my life prior to our marriage.

As usual, nothing came up. My memory was just...blank. As if I had simply popped up and existed. As if I only existed for him.

Suddenly, my body stills as I stare at my reflection in the mirror. I feel an extraordinary, inexplicable pull beckoning me to reach out and touch the glass and when I do, a sudden and sharp headache immediately envelops me.

Shrieking in pain, I clutch onto my hair tightly, as my eyes involuntarily roll to the back of my head. Overcome by the piercing sensation, I let out another scream as I force them shut. Instead of darkness however, I am met with a chilling vision:

A pair of vibrant purple orbs staring down at me, submerges me in an overwhelming sense of nostalgia. So overwhelming that it becomes nauseating. They belong to a strong, chiseled face. A wild mess of white hair illuminated by violet-white sparks of buzzing electricity, accompanies the silhouette. There is a hint of a melancholic expression beholding the stranger as his eyes slowly fade into an icy shade of blue. As I continue to study the face in a desperate attempt to place my familiarity, the man's lips begin to move.

No noise comes from them however, prompting me to narrow my focus so that I may decipher their movements. He holds up a crumpled rose and brings a finger to his lips. In a hushing gesture.

I feel myself being slowly pulled out of my vision as the face begins to glitch. I catch the last few mouthings, before the figure completely vanishes, leaving darkness once more in its wake.

When the numbing pain subsides enough to allow me to peel my eyes open, I find myself on the floor. Releasing the tight grip of my hands over my head, I glance around in confusion.

Just then, the doors to the chambers burst open and a worried-looking Hades comes rushing in, Violetta tailing closely behind him. It takes him much less time than normal to cross the room and in seconds, he is bent down over me. He studies me closely as he takes me in his arms and gently carries me from the ground onto the bed.

"Are you okay?" he asks after cautiously surveying me for a prolonged beat. "I-I think so" I answer trembling, though it comes out like more of a question. "Well, what happened?" he interrogates more pressingly.

My brows furrow deeply as I recall the details of the extremely vivid vision. The thing, that shakes me even more than the familiarity, is the message they were trying to tell me. At first, I thought, surely it was a mistake. Surely, I had to be reading wrong. But how many coincidences were too many?

I stare up at Hades, now through a whole new set of eyes. The uncanny resemblance between him and the figure from my vision, sends my stomach into somersaults as my world seemingly crashes down around me.

Who was he?

The mysterious figure and Hades both shared similar, stoic features. I furrow my brows, as I focus on the small black, ever-moving bolt permanently etched under his right eye. That mark... the hair...the eyes. There were too many similarities yet even more contrasts.

There is no doubt in me, that the figure from my vision had certainly not been Hades. This realization troubles me. Not because of the fact that we were married; but because of what that figure had tried to tell me.

I keep turning it over and over in my head, in a desperate attempt to make sense of it...That phrase: "I will find you soon, papillon".

A message that should've been simple and clear as day yet held so many implications that threatened to slice away at my reality until there was nothing left to toss to the wolves.

Papillon....

Where had I heard this before?