Chapter 21: Chapter 21

Chapter 20

RUBIN

I blinked, once, twice, squinting my eyes, trying to see past the fog that is so thick, it clouds my vision; clinging to my skin as though it were made of very thin satin. My jumper and jeans were replaced with the ones I am wearing right before I was sent down on earth. I shivered of the unfamiliar surroundings, trying to find my way through as I continue to walk.

An hour or two might have passed; I might have been walking around in circles without really knowing it. I just continued on, without apparent reason, pushing the fog and imagining it as though it were a thin veil; that behind it, Caelum would be waiting for me. My legs give out and I stumbled, plummeting down on the cold hard surface and I am stunned to see a cloaked figure standing a meter away from me.

“Who are you?” My voice floated across. The cloaked figure offered me a hand but I refused, eyeing it wearily as I asked once again, “Who are you?”

The cloaked figure motionsd his hand and offered it once again but I refused, pushing myself up the floor and brushing crumbs of silver from my robes. What is this thing?

“Hmm. I see you refuse my aid once again,” The cloaked figure said in a deep baritone voice, amused of what I have done. I can now assume that it was a man, at least. The cloaked man waves his hand and, in an instant, the fog clears out, revealing high pillars of alabaster stone; two chairs and a crackling fire situated across the room, waiting to accommodate us.

I scowled.

“Refusing my help, after all this time, that is so you.” The cloaked figure shakes his head as he pulls his hood off, revealing wisps of blue luminous hair, turning at me. His face is menacingly handsome; the appropriate face for that eyes of molten gray that holds me as though it were a hand. He was smiling with a bit of a sneer and his hair – oh! was it on fire or was it a fire?

“Of course! All of you notice my hair first rather than my handsome face which is why I chose to appear with my hood on as to not distract the souls I am reaping.” He sarcastically pointed out, brushing his long fingers on his fiery locks. “All creatures alike when it comes to the level of stupidity.” He rolls his eyes and I gasped as one of them turns horribly white, “Whoopsie daisy.”

He hits the side of his head and his gray iris swirls back like a ball. He waves his hand and, in an instant, I found myself standing next to the fire with him next to me. “You might be wondering why you are here, cupid.”

The way he drawled about ‘cupid’ flickered a memory from inside my brain. I looked at the side of his cloak, expecting to see the luminous blue sword that he has threatened me with driving me out of Caelum’s flat.

Oh, Caelum!

“You finally remembered him, huh? I thought you won’t. Hmm, curious.” I watched as he throws back his head and laughed at me. He catches my gaze, having the decency to clear his throat before saying, “What? You're not gonna talk? Did you forget how to speak?” He scratched his head and snatched a paper from thin air, an eyebrow raised at me. “It was unlikely though not entirely possible considering your situation but if you forget how to speak, I can only-” he focuses his gaze at me, eyes unblinking as I said.

“I didn’t forget it.”

My memory drifted back to the day I was chased out of Caelum’s living quarters, my heart about to burst out, “I didn’t forget anything at all.”

He smirked.

“You remember and you can speak, fascinating!” He claps his hands, making his hair flicker. I huffed, following his example as he sits down.

“Why am I exactly here?” I popped the question that’s been running inside my head for the past ten minutes. “Why did you take me here?”

“Oh, I didn’t really take you here. This is not even a place, as a matter of fact.” I looked around the room and up to the high pillar before raising an eyebrow at him, “Stop playing games with me, sir-”

“Just call me Hades since that is my name. Sir is a bit, erm, so human?” He rolled his eyes before waving his hand, revealing an arrow – the golden arrow I had used to pierce myself.

“Wait! How did you get that? It was-” I touched my chest, focusing on the arrow he is holding in his hand, remembering the pain in brought me. How come it was in his possession? I have watched it all, how the arrow vanishes with the haze, fading into darkness as I slowly lose my consciousness.

“This arrow is enchanted. Once used, it will return to me until I give it to someone and wait for it to zoom back.” I sat, breathless. I couldn’t take my eyes off the arrow. The part where I pierced my chest smarted, as though I had just pierced it on my chest. “When Cupid, the original cupid – Eros as I call him – had once roamed the earth and fell in love with a human named Psyche, I was shocked; I did not expect that, all the other gods did not. They are so in love but Aphrodite despised her. I was there when this arrow pierced her heart, her soul floated across the room and soared on my hand. This arrow claimed his life, too, you know? That cupid who became a Dieuoubliè after he pierced his own heart.”

I watched as Hades ran his hand on the pointy end of the arrow and smirked at me. I couldn’t believe what he just said. “He pierced himself? Caelum pierced himself?”

“Yes, just like you did a while ago.” He twirls the arrow on his hand and asked, “Did it hurt? I saw your uncle swinging that sword on you, atrocious and deeply unacceptable by my standards but I should not intervene. You are free of your responsibilities, now.”

I held my wrist; the wound is fresh and pink yet it has stopped bleeding. I covered them from his gaze, muttering, “It did, but it doesn’t matter now. You keep on distracting me with useless information. I want to know – What am I doing here, exactly?”

“Impatient, are we?” Hades smirks, earning a glare from me. “Well this arrow should really be stuck on Eros – or should I say - Caelum’s chest. I am giving you another chance to live but with the mission of putting this on his chest, as it originally should.” Hades shrugs his shoulders as though he did not asked for me to kill another being.

“Oh! He won’t die.”

I gritted my teeth as I snapped at him, “Stop prying inside my head!”

“Your thoughts are so loud I can hear them without effort.” Hades rolled his eyes, letting go of the arrow. I was quite mesmerize by it as it steadily floats. “This arrow is just like the arrows you use to shoot. It dissolves and makes the victim fall in love with the one they see after they opened their eyes, however, if you shoot this at Caelum now, it won’t affect him.” I frowned, edging on my seat as I try to retort.

He held out a hand and said, “I need you to make him fall in love. In this case, you will be the human that will make the Cupid fall – just like it has always been – for a thousand of years, his fate remains the same – a god that falls in love with a human.”

“But how am I supposed to do that? A Dieuoubliè can’t fall in love! He is the opposite of love. How am I supposed to make him fall?” I stand from my seat and started pacing away from him. Hades acknowledged me with a weary gaze, his one eye stuck on white again. Angrily, he taps the side of his face and blew a sigh, “That’s for me to know and for you to find out.”

He snatched the arrow from me and stood from his seat, “Here, feel it, I’ll show you.”

The curls on the sides of the arrow ruffled as though it is heaving a sigh. I blinked and was surprised when it morphed into symbols - the old tongue. “I do not know how to read this, sorry.” I passed the arrow back to Hades and he rolled his eyes. I am quite surprise that his eyes did not get stuck.

Clearing his throat, he reads the inscription, “For he who fell on earth because of love will suffer the same fate once again, an endless life only to be ended by the wielder of the arrow-”

“I already know that prophecy, I read it from the scroll.”

“Oh, have you?” He fakes a gasp, stating in a bored tone, “What you read was incomplete. I assume that you saw the ripped portion at the end of the scroll?” I nodded and his lips quirk up, his eyebrows arched as he continues with the next part, “Cupid must pay a hefty price for the greatest love his heart desires. He will roam this earth with hopeless front, as envy and loneliness rules his perished heart.” Hades paused before giving me a look, inquiring as to why I did not show any signs of being surprise. “What? You’ve heard of this too?”

“Read it from Caelum’s magical cupboard.”

“Magical cupboard? You mean his safe box?” I frowned at his weird term, nodding with reluctance as I let Hades continue.

“Yet Cupid must remember the heaven knows and honor him with a ginger lass-” Hades stops to smile at me, giving me a knowing look. I scratched my head, urging him to get on with it. “Who will knock at his heart and be welcomed, follow him around until he fell in love.” His lips were pulled upon the sides as he finished. The arrow floats behind him as he comfortably stretched, making his way at the far side of the room where a tall window emerged as though it was being pushed in. I remain standing, trying to comprehend the last part of the scroll – Is it true? Will it be true?

I scowled back at Hades whose back is turned at me. Is he joking?

“I’m not.” I gritted my teeth and tried to close off my mind from this nosy man, my fist shaking. “There’s no point trying to stop me from hearing or reading your thoughts. It’s so hard not to listen when you are practically screaming the words inside your head.” My lips thinned out as I traced the remaining distance to him. I took the arrow that is floating next to him and asked, “Was it me – the one they sent to be with him and make him fall?” Hades nodded, his pale grey iris glistening as the fire crackled, our only source of light in this almost darkened room.

The golden arrow felt so warm and tingly, my thoughts drifting back to when I pierced my chest and how I had ended up here – the place that was never really a place.

“Did I die when I have pushed the arrow on my chest - which is why I am here, talking to you?” Hades nodded his head but now, he was looking at me with such an intensity as though he is urging me to say something, to continue with my theory. “But I am alive now, am I?” Hades lips pulled on the sides, nodding again, “Because you gave me a mission – to make him fall.”

I paused and tried to arrange my thoughts, my skin tingling as I hold the arrow tight, “Does it mean that when I finish what you are asking me to do, I will die?”

He did not answer me, instead, he looks at me for a long time, his molten grey eyes unblinking. The crackling fire from the middle of the room was suddenly extinguished as the chairs vanished with it, leaving the room except for a lone figure sprawled at the middle.

It was like my breath was caught in my lungs, an invisible hand cutting my supply of oxygen as I stand there, not believing the scene that I am witnessing. I stood beside the figure and watched him as he turned his head at me – It was Caelum, the medieval version of my Caelum.

I fell on my knees and let out a sob, letting go of the arrow as I took Caelum’s hand, “Caelum?” I called out but he appears to not hear me as his eyes stayed glued up in the sky, glazed over and unblinking, like he isn’t really here, living a lifetime away.

“Why would you do such a thing? Why not take me?” Caelum pleaded to no one in particular. I tightened my grip on his hand and reached out to wipe his tears. I couldn’t help but cry harder as I watched him close his eyes and slowly stop breathing, his chest going still before he vanishes into nothing. Knowing that all of this is a memory, I furiously wiped my tears away and glared at Hades who is watching me with curiosity.

“Why did you do that? Why show me that?”

“It is essential. I have to make you understand and also, I have to prove my theory.” Gritting my teeth, I pushed myself up the floor and stood in front of him, not caring that he is a head taller than me. I composed myself, crossing my hands over my chest before asking, “What theory?”

Hades smirks, his eyes gleaming, proving to me that he knows something that I don’t. With his hands on his back, he walks on a stride, not leaving my eyes as he whispered, “You love him. You might not notice it but I do and I am certain of that.” he chuckled, spreading out his fingers to receive the golden arrow. The arrow whizzws past my head and settled on his outstretched hand, “This is your chance – make the Cupid fall and pierce his heart with the arrow – all so simple.”

“But how should I do that?” I asked him, still confused. Hades lets the arrow float and I held it on mine. He fixes me a knowing glance, his fiery blue luminous hair dancing with excitement though his lips curved in a slight sneer. “In time.” he hinted making me stand there, gaping like a fish out of the water, “It won’t take that long for him to fall, trust me.”

Hades flicks his hand in a manner that Caelum does, making the room dissolve and morph into an open clearing full of snowdrops. With the arrow tightly clasped on my hand, I gasped, not believing my eyes as I look up in the sky. The snow dissolves on my face as it touches my skin, just like how I have imagined it to be. I let my tongue dangle outside my mouth, twirling it as I taste the flakes.

It tasted like cold water.

“I know you haven’t experienced it back at your place, but you do need to control yourself and act like your age, at least.” Hades shrugs, leaning on a nearby tree, his hood on, “What? Looking at my hair again?”

He rolled his eyes and I laughed, teasing him as I asked, “Are you afraid that your hair will be extinguished because of the snow?”

He rolled his eyes at my question, sliding down so he ended up sitting on a pile of autumn leaves, “Don’t push your luck, cupid, I am only doing this because Persephone told me so – I have to get on your good side if I wanted you to work well on my given mission.” He paused, while I tried to understand the meaning behind his words, leaning down so that I am next to the snowdrops, shivering slightly of the cold.

“My mission as a cupid, what will become of it?”

“It’s forfeited now. Everything you work for is gone. It’s the way of nature – you have to learn about your mistakes.” My hands trembled as I felt pain in my heart.

Were they really? All of those hearts...then what about Viktor and Vivian? And the girl who was about to kill herself? What happens to them now that my spell had broken?

The gleaming snow appears to have lost its luster as everywhere I look seems to appear dull and lifeless. I collapsed down on the autumn leaves, hearing them crunch tenderly as I take a seat. I felt a slight brush on top of my head and shuddered, “You need not to worry about those anymore. Focus on your task,” Hades said as he stands next to me. “As for your parents, I can confirm to you that both of them are still alive.”

I couldn’t believe my ears as I hear his words. I looked up at him, asking for confirmation, “Are you certain? Uncle George-”

“Is wrong. He’s not the one who is managing the dead, my dear, I am. Are you seriously doubting my capabilities?” I shook my head no and Hades continues, “Your mother was driven crazy with your loss – she suffered greatly when you were taken. All these years she roams the earth, asking for the gods to return her precious Crimsyn,” Hades leans down and looked me in the eye, “Can you believe that? Your parents named you Crimsyn like blood because of your hair, maybe? I should ask your mom about that once we meet.”

Hades winks, pulling the ends of his cloak before crossing his arms over his chest, walking deep into the snowdrop field, appearing like the real grim reaper with his black robes billowing to nonexistent wind.

I wonder how he does that?

It made him appear as though he were flying. I looked down at the snowdrops, lightly touching them as I asked, “And my father, what become of him after I was taken?”

Hades turns, his black coat billowing, swishing the bunch of snowdrops aside as he focused his pale gray eyes at me, “Your father have forgotten all about himself – about his wife and you just how all the banished Cupid should be, unlike you. He now serves the first of the banished, just like how Venus had planned, thriving on earth for the sole purpose of pleasing the first of them all. I furrowed my brows in concentration, trying to figure out the meaning of his words.

Walking back to where I am sitting, he suddenly said, “The mission I gave you will be disguised as your last attempt to find your parents. I will not help you in achieving this though I will be willing to offer you my guidance. Meanwhile, you will try to persuade Caelum on helping you find Emily and Marcus.”

“But my mother, I do not know her last name.”

“Then you’re damned.”

“There’s plenty of Emily here on earth, how am I supposed to find her?” I asked, looking hopeless at what Hades has presented to me.

“Simple. So, listen close,” Hades gave me a sinister smile, threading my fingers on her hair as he whispered, “Red for her hair, the less sane of all, the bird that announces death, black as it would caw. The answer will come in a peculiar away when only a week you’ll be forced to stay.”

“And my father, is it, I mean, does he have the same name?”

“Same face but with a different name – as good as new as a man should do.”

“Stop answering me with riddles, Hades.” I threatened him but he merely chuckled at my attempt, brushing my comment off like the fresh layer of the snow that adorned his black cloak.

“Pathetic,” his comment rang out clearly, I gritted my teeth. He snickered, “You’ll have a month left to accomplish what I am asking you to do. Make sure to tell Caelum of what I have asked you to do but do not mention anything about the arrow and your feelings of him. Stay closed to him and capture what has gone dull.”

I scowled, his words ringing inside my head as though it was a chant. Huffing, I crossed my arms over my chest and shivered.

How am I supposed to make Caelum agree on helping me?

That would be too much to ask him and I don’t even know how I should pop the question.

And my parents, will I be able to find them at all?

These thoughts are raging inside of my head that I am frozen in place, my fingers digging into my skin as I shivered for a second time.

The glare of the setting sun made the snowdrops appear as though they were ablaze, catching fire while the snow stop falling, stuck in midair. I stopped hugging myself and instead, I focused my gaze at Hades who appears solemn, his gray eyes unrecognizable beneath his hood, “The humans you are worrying about, well - if they’re for each other then they’ll end up together. You cannot force them to be together just because you are used on seeing them together. Let them work on what you have started with, as all creatures do without cupid’s aid.”

“I thought you don’t know anything about love and your expertise is focused solely at death and bringing sorrow to the bereaved?”

Hades shakes his head and smiled, “You can’t live with Persephone without picking up a thing or two.” I snorted, trying keep a straight face to stop myself from smiling.

We stayed there gazing at the sun as though we are waiting for it to set; various birds flying up the cloudless sky, the fog settling as though it were a blanket, covering the vast snowdrop field while the blossoms dance with the nonexistent wind. The sun finally sets but we idled, waiting of something we know that would come.

As the early stars dusted the sky, Hades held out his hand again and with my hands shaking, I pulled at it – the wind knocked out of my lungs as I fell down on the ground.

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