Chapter 35: Chapter 35

S A V A N N A H

I ANGRILY WIPED my sleeve across my face as I continued stalking down the street. But the tears would not stop.

I was fuming —but it felt like there was a gaping wound in my chest. My heart had been ripped out, and I could not bear to think, speak —or have the will to remain conscious. I wanted it all to end. To stop.

Maybe I really was a Grim Reaper now. Even my thoughts were more morbid. Or maybe I was simply angry. I could not grasp the fact that my parents had tried to treat what was fundamentally half of my existence like a bad memory that they could ignore and pretend had never happened.

And what was worse was that it had actually worked.

I then shivered and hugged my jacket closer against me.

It was not necessarily because it was cold —it just gave me a weak sense of comfort. I did not know what I was feeling more; rage or utter betrayal.

Then abruptly more than anything, I began to feel that strange tingling heat in my veins I had felt in Søren’s computer room again. I frowned, and uncoiled from my self-hug, before coming to a halt altogether. It started small, but then the temperature slowly rose. I winced. It was getting hot —uncomfortably hot. I hastily took off my jacket and looked down at my arms.

I then started in alarm and dropped my jacket as I saw a faint white glowing illuminating and pulsing through my veins; as though I were a freaky Science Fiction alien entity.

“…Savannah!”

I jumped at the sound of Søren’s far away holler. I glanced back, meeting his gaze. We gave each other the same look of regret. I saw him sigh heavily and shake his head. Then he broke into a run. I panicked, dithering as I thought about what to do. I knew that I could not outrun him.

But I bent down and took my jacket, then started walking away, and faster this time. I was not giving myself time to think. I was feeling frustrated, and now I was beginning to panic about my luminescent arms.

“Savannah. Stop —you need to stop!”

I winced and shook my head, picking up the pace again. I stomped around the corner before a searing pain shot up both of my arms and I consequently stopped walking and screamed. Søren’s footsteps instantly quickened —and I started when I turned around as he finally caught up with me.

He gasped at my teary face and then at my arms.

“Oh my gods,” he hissed. “Savannah…what happened?”

“I…I don’t know,” I cried. I bared my arms to him and trembled. “It just started. Help me, Søren —I don’t know how to make it stop. It hurts!”

“Okay, okay,” he said, reaching out to grab hold of my shoulders. “Ow!” he suddenly shrieked, holding his hands to his chest defensively. “Holy shit, it’s like you’re made of fire.”

“Do something,” I whined.

“Okay, calm down for a second,” he suggested. “Maybe Hades will be able to do something.”

“Screw Hades,” I went on, screwing up my face to match. “I don’t want to talk to him!”

“So, you want to find out what your arms are going to do?” Søren deadpanned. “What if you combust?”

My eyes widened as I stared at him with my mouth hanging open in shock.

“…Okay, I shouldn’t have said that,” Søren realised. “I’m sorry. You probably won’t combust —it’s just…well I don’t know why you’re heating up. What else could happen?”

“Do you want me to explode?” I whimpered.

“No!”

I flinched. He then looked downwards and sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “…I don’t want you to explode. You…you mean too much for me to just leave you here,” he explained disjointedly. “…Please, just come back with me. It’s because I don’t want you to explode that I’m asking you to come back with me.”

I softened at his speech and glanced downwards as well, feeling guilty. I was tempted to smile too, at the fact that I meant too much for him to just leave me. He really was just trying to save me. I should stop being so stubborn.

“Oh. Søren, I —!”

I was cut off by my own scream.

The pain in my arms cranked up tenfold and my knees turned weak for a moment, causing me to stumble into a wall.

“Savannah!”

I stiffened and clenched my fists to see if it would lessen the pain. But it did nothing. I then gasped repeatedly, beginning to hyperventilate.

“What’s happening to me? Help —!”

I screamed again, and this time my knees buckled entirely. I dropped onto the ground, folding my legs underneath me as I tried to keep my arms from touching anything. Søren crouched down in front of me and dithered for a second, unsure of what to do. Then he frowned.

“…What?” I rasped.

“I am not leaving you,” he murmured, reaching for my jacket.

He then suddenly hooked his arms underneath my knees and around my shoulders before lifting me up off of the pavement.

He inhaled sharply at the contact of my arms, but he did not let go.

“Søren!” I cried, noticing the steam starting to rise from his skin. “Put me down. Look —you’ll burn!”

He managed a soft chuckle and looked down at me. “I’ll live.”

He then turned and started running back, hissing every time my skin touched his as I tried to hang on. I wanted him to drop me. I could already see the reddening on his skin, and I did not want to see what third degree burns looked like. Contrary to what Søren had told me, this was not worth it.

I was not worth it.

But I could not think about that any longer, because I then screamed again. I had never been inside of a burning oven, but I imagined that it felt like this.

“We are…almost there,” Søren panted. I nodded, unable to bring myself to give a verbal response.

The least I could do for him was to do as little as possible.

I heard Phoebe’s voice first as we approached the house; hysterical and demanding to know what had happened to me.

“Don’t touch her,” Søren warned as he gently lowered me down onto the lawn. “Her skin is searing hot!”

I laid back and spread my limbs, palms facing up. I screwed my eyes shut, trying to contain the agony.

“What is going on?” I heard Hades demand.

“She said that her veins just started glowing like this,” Søren answered. “Can you do something about it?”

“…Yes I can. On the other hand, you should really get those burns looked at,” Hades answered.

Someone then knelt down next to me.

I opened my eyes to see the god of the Underworld looming above. He reached down and hovered his hand over my forehead. I stiffened —then he made contact and let out a hiss. But his touch was somehow cooling. The cold began to spread slowly, allowing me to relax slightly. It felt heavenly. I slowly sat up, and breathed out deeply, bringing Hades’ hand up with me to rest on my shoulder.

“How…are you doing that?” I rasped, confused. I glanced down at my arm and blinked at the sight of something thin and light blue coating my skin.

“Frost,” Hades said. “It should cool you down.”

“You can…make frost…from your hands?”

“Yes.”

“I didn’t know…that you could do that.”

He winked. “There is a lot you do not know that I can do.”

“Excuse me, can you tell me what the hell is happening to my daughter?” my mother then cried.

Hades looked up at her. “Right,” he murmured. “Do not be alarmed. She’s going to be perfectly fine —as long as her veins can withstand the intensity of

the fire —”

“Withstand the what?” I spluttered.

“The reason why it is burning is because your threshold of pain is being tested,” Hades said a little more firmly. “If you are going to be able to manipulate fire, then you are going to need durable vitals. But judging by how quickly you seemed to be deteriorating, I do not think you will gain much power from it.”

There was a pause.

“…Manipulate fire?” I repeated.

“Yes,” Hades confirmed. “It appears that your first godly ability is ready to be harnessed.”

“It’s…not really the first.”

“What do you mean by that?” Phoebe asked suspiciously, looking from me to Hades and back again. “What does she mean by that, Solomon?” she then demanded from Søren.

He gave her a look of offence as I snorted in amusement. “…Søren,” he corrected her bitterly, nursing his arms.

“I already have another ability,” I answered my mother.

“Really?” Hades was pleasantly surprised. “What is it?”

“Light projection.”

Hades’ expression then wilted. “Oh. Light projection is all right, but I would not go bragging about it.”

Interesting. Thanatos had reiterated the same thing.

“But that doesn’t seem too dangerous,” Phoebe said. “This fire thing though, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“It is never something you choose, Phoebe,” Hades sneered. “Abilities reflect the god as well as the half-blood. They choose you.”

“So, what is the fire trying to say about Savannah?” my mother snapped. “That she is dangerous. That she’s a hazard. That she is…dare I say, destructive?” she suggested. “It doesn’t make any sense. Because I do not understand why she couldn’t have ended up with something cold, like you. I don’t think I like all of this mythological business.”

“Well, she is not like me, now is she?” Hades pointed out. “There is a reason why I can manipulate ice. It reflects my nature —my essence. It has got nothing to do with irony. If you ask me, Savannah reflects the Underworld better than I do.”

“Are you implying that it’s somehow my fault our daughter is going to be a fire manipulator?” my mother clipped in a low voice, taken aback.

“No,” Hades sighed in exasperation. “I am saying, that she obviously has more…passion, than perhaps I do.”

“And what exactly does that imply?”

“It is a good thing, Phoebe,” Hades assured her. “Passion means she feels things intensely —with vigour and purpose. She is driven.”

My mother sucked on her teeth and shook her head. “…Then it is no wonder that you got ice.”

I raised my eyebrows at the insult and then glanced at Hades. I expected him to look vulnerably wounded —but he was glaring back at her as his jasper eyes shimmered like a thousand suns. I inhaled sharply as his grip on my shoulder suddenly hardened and the cold intensified, so steam billowed from where our skin touched. “Ow,” I winced as a short burst of burning cold then emitted from Hades’ hand.

“Oh my gosh, Savannah!” Phoebe gasped.

“Dear gods…” Søren added.

Hades instantly let go of my shoulder. I looked down at it and started at the sight of an arrangement of sharp pointed ice spindles protruding from the surface of my skin around a handprint.

“Savannah, I am so sorry,” Hades murmured, standing up and moving away from me. “I did not mean to —”

“Look what you’ve done now,” my mother accused as she rushed over to me. “Do you really have that little self-control that you would unintentionally freeze your own daughter?”

“I wasn’t trying to freeze her,” Hades protested. “I just got very upset. It happens when you insult someone —did that ever occur to you?” he retorted in a snarky tone.

“Whatever,” Phoebe growled at him. Then she turned to me. “Savannah, are you okay?”

I clicked my tongue and held my hand in front of her when she tried to touch me. “Don’t,” I quipped, moving to get up. Søren stumbled to my side to help me. He gripped my arms with covered hands, but from the way he hissed I knew it still burned.

“…Right —you’re still burning,” Phoebe murmured sadly, withdrawing.

“Well, yes,” I confirmed, straightening up. “But I also don’t want your help. Or for you to be near me right now.”

“What?”

I sighed and looked at her seriously. “Goddamn it, Mom, I am not a kid anymore. And I’m not alive either. I…I don’t belong here. I belong in the divine world now, and you have to realise that you won’t be around to ‘mom’ me anymore. I am tougher than you think I am.”

I concentrated the heat towards there, and the ice began to drip away.

“And please stop being so childish with Dad,” I went on, looking back at Hades. “I understand that you don’t want to get along. I know you didn’t expect to see him, and I know that you don’t want to see him either —but for my sake, at least don’t be so harsh about it.”

She blinked up at me. Turning sheepish, she glanced downwards at her lap and stiffened. I felt no remorse. I was still rather pissed off at her for her earlier confession about my childhood.

“Be civil,” I then clarified. “Accept the fact he’s here and work it out without getting me caught in the middle. Especially not this literally.”

I pointed at my shoulder.

My mother pressed her lips into a line and stood up. “You’re right, Savannah. I suppose memories bring out the worst in me. I’m…sorry.”

“Good,” I said.

I was surprised by her swift surrender. My mind then started ticking with a follow up idea. “…So now, why don’t you two to talk it out here? You seem to have a lot to say. And I don’t think you should come inside until you are both okay with being in the same room together.”

“Wait, what?” blurted Hades.

“Exactly —what?” Phoebe added.

“I don’t think you realise just how hostile you can be,” I put carefully. “Whether you like it or not, you two are my parents. I need you both. And I would prefer it if you are not constantly at each other’s throats.”

Somewhat of a truce formed between them, even though they both scowled. It was a moment later when they started mumbling and grumbling subtle apologies. Deciding to give them privacy, I then gestured for my Trainer to follow me and we made our way back to the house.

“Are you sure that it’s wise to leave those two out there?” Søren asked nervously, glancing at the window. “It feels like a bad idea.”

“It’ll be fine. They’re not children —contrary to popular observation,” I quipped. “I think that they really need this closure.”

He simply shrugged. “All right.”

I sighed as I then sat down gingerly on the sofa, careful to step over the smashed dish on the floor, before Ron Weasley II came running.

“Oh no, Weasley don’t!” I gasped, moving to get up.

But he rubbed against my legs without a problem, purring longingly. I smiled and kneeled down, reaching out to pet him. Then I remembered the fire in my veins. Only…it was no longer burning with that same intensity.

“That’s weird,” I said, narrowing my eyes.

“What’s weird?” Søren asked, flopping down on the sofa beside me.

“My veins are still white, but the pain has lessened,” I explained. I touched my skin experimentally. It was a bearable heat.

“But you’re still hot, right?” Søren chuckled lazily. “It would be a shame for that to go away.”

“Shut up,” I scoffed as I ran my hand down Ron’s back.

I then turned to face him completely, which caused Ron to jump down from my lap. “How badly are you burnt?” I demanded.

“Hm?” he murmured. He then took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves. I winced at the patches of dark red.

He had really been burned.

“Søren,” I breathed, looking at him. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“They don’t hurt,” he said. “They’re just pulsing, and warm.”

“You idiot,” I whispered, glancing downwards. “You shouldn’t have carried me. Besides, it turns out it was nothing anyway.”

“That’s not true,” he retorted. “And you were in pain. Serious pain. I would never let anyone experience that, especially not alone.”

I blinked. “…Really?”

“Of course. Look, I don’t regret doing what I did. I would do it again if I had to. You are that important.”

I softened and smiled weakly. “You are too sweet, Søren. I really didn’t deserve all of that.”

He did not respond. He glanced away and pressed his lips into a line. Perhaps my compliment had been too much for him.

“…How hot is your skin? Can I touch it now?” he then asked. “I think that you could use a hug.”

I paused. “I think that it’s fine now,” I whispered.

He then turned back to face me and hesitantly reached out with one hand. I shivered as his hand then made contact with my arm, causing him to flinch. But he then put his other hand on my other arm. I stiffened, suddenly very self-conscious about the tank top I was wearing. Then he hugged me, like letting go might cause me to disappear.

“Savannah,” Søren whispered, making me look up into his eyes as he withdrew. “I was…scared. I thought that something truly awful would happen to you. You know I don’t have that many friends. I didn’t want to experience what it would be like to lose one.”

I had been that lost friend to someone already. I could not bear to think of putting someone else through that again.

I nodded slowly in understanding. “You don’t have to be afraid,” I told him. “Like I said. I am tougher than you think.”

“I…I know,” he sighed, glancing down.

I smiled softly and put a hand on his spindly arm. He looked back up in surprise. “Thanks for caring about me though.”

He smiled at that.

“…Hey, I hate to be a cockblock, but we have got a situation.”

“Dad?” I frowned, turning and craning my neck to see to the entrance.

“Yes,” Hades sighed, walking in. “Your mother is kind of…frozen?”

“Frozen?”

“Solid.”

I growled and got up, before pushing past him to stomp out the front door. “Jesus Christ, Hades, it hasn’t even been five minutes!”