Immortals | ✓

22 | art

day two of Hades' deadline

━━ αθάνατοι ━━

STRAWBERRY and vanilla. That's what the room smelled like, even in her absence. Aethera's sleep had been broken when the first ray of sun began its dance behind the thick curtains. From a small escape in the tapestry, the sun danced on her bare arms before she shifted, uneasy and annoyed at the intrusion. Before I could draw the curtains better, she had been up on her feet, trudging towards me with drooping eyes. This morning hadn't been kind to her. 

"Good morning," I said, holding her in one arm while the curtain was drawn by my other hand.

"What's good about this morning?" She grumbled, her hair a mess.

"Chance of a hearty breakfast, warm bubble bath and maybe a nice coffee?" I suggested. Nestled in my arms, her first reaction had been to let out a groan and then contemplated for a whole minute. I was hopeful, It would be tough to ignore the idea of coffee.

"You know what? Coffee followed by a warm bath sounds perfect," she whispered and was soon out of the room while I made my way back to the bed.

In between the covers again, I took a deep breath, welcoming my senses that had been keenly focused on her before.

Jace was in the room down the corridor, awake and getting ready, and somewhere in a room around his, my great grandfather woke up from his slumber. I could sense it, his heart beat picking up as he sat on the side of the bed. I wondered if his senses had tried to identify mine as well. 

I could sense more people in the house but something felt different. Maybe because once Jace allowed me, I could sense how he wasn't entirely human at all. There was an aura to him, which I now understand was easy to miss if one wasn't paying the right amount of attention. Except Jace, there were other things inside this house that felt different from Rubyn's home. For starters, an ancient Goddess rested right above my head until an hour ago. She had left her room to take a walk outside. After that it had been tough to trace her. 

This morning would change many things. I didn't have to be of Artemis's bloodline to know that a war was brewing. My senses haven't rested for awhile now, they've been true to their blood, always looking out for the hunt, always ready to protect. Even in the middle of the night, as Aethera slept relentlessly beside me, my senses did not allow me a minute of rest. For them, the war has begun long ago. 

And while I can't wait to get on with it; the fire and the need to fight inside me burns, I want to hold onto this moment too. Every moment is the last of normalcy for me and her. As I hear her pouring two cups of coffee and beginning to walk towards this room, I want time to stop. I want to hold her until it all stops around us. Until no one's behind our asses.

But that's too much to ask for, isn't it?

"Porch!" Aethera yells, before turning away from our room and closing the door to the dark wood porch behind her. Before I can follow her, she has already made a space for us near the rails, nestled in the cushions kept on the seating. If we were still human, we would be dying of the cold, but for now, the chills didn't reach our skin. 

"Here," she hands me a cup of steaming coffee and I can almost smell the atrocious amount of sugar she has thrown into it.

"I don't like sugar," I mutter.

"Now you do," she smiles as I roll my eyes at her.

"Did you sleep well?" I asked her, nudging her to scoot aside. There was no way I was sitting opposite to her, cold or not.