Son of Hades (Redo)

Remembering Anna

I hated the bath house.

It was a four-mirrored room where your reflection stared back at you everywhere you went. There were no showers. The tubs were so large you could swim in them. Drown in them. For god sakes, you could drown in two inches of water. The tubs were separated by a walkway that didn't look very safe to me.

There was another adjacent mirrored room in the bath-house. It held seven sinks, and seven bathroom stalls. Ladies started calling dibs.

I roll my eyes.

There was a silver bench that ran the length of the room; one area of it held a clean stack of white towels, and another area held all types of soaps, shampoos and various other lotions; even make up.

A large and empty laundry basket is in one corner of the room.

See, I didn't mind sharing a bathroom with six other girls. I had a roomie back... Don't think about home. Thinking about my roomie now sent a pang of sadness through me. She'll be so worried when I don't come home tonight. She'll be the last to know.

I imagine her cuddling up to Chester, my black cat whom she deemed 'unlucky' upon the two first crossing paths. Daphne and I met in college (she dropped out; I stayed).

"Permission to speak?" Xavier asks.

"Of course."

He looks from me to the large tubs. "It may not be any of my business, but it looks like something is bothering you."

I twiddle my thumbs as we leave the bath-house. Xavier begins to guide us towards my room. "I'm just wondering what everyone is going to think now that I'm gone." I didn't leave behind that many people, but those I did leave behind would be devastated. "Just thinking about everyone I've left behind. The life that was stolen from me."

For some odd reason, Xavier flinches like he's been shot. "They'll mourn for you. You'll mourn the life you could have had. Everyone here does. And what happened to you was wrong. You died too young."

"Well, if I ever find out the sorry sucker who did it, I'll make them pay for it." I narrow my eyes. Then change the subject. "How old were you?"

Xavier bit his lip. He seemed focused on not meeting my gaze. "I was twenty-five."

"Were you - " I began.

"No." He snaps suddenly. "I apologize Miss Caverly." Obviously the subject made Xavier uneasy. It made me uneasy, too. I shouldn't have asked, but if I didn't talk to someone about it, I'm sure that I'll go certifiably insane here. Xavier seems like a good candidate. "We don't speak about our deaths here. It's an uncomfortable subject."

I didn't say much else. "Could you tell me what the Prince is like?"

Saying the words slowly, Xavier couldn't meet my gaze. "The Prince is the man you've always dreamed of. He's the Prince who wishes to rescue a damsel. He's your Prince Charming." He didn't sound convincing. It sounded much too scripted.

"That doesn't sound like a Prince of Hell. Tell me what he's really like. What do you think about him?"

Xavier smiles. His smile is a bit crooked. "Clever, you are." He begins. "Sadly, I cannot tell you my opinion. Saying so would be blasphemy against the gods."

"I can keep a secret." Pride. I have many of my own I've got to keep. What's one more?

Xavier's cheeks went red a little. "Not many here care to know the opinion of such a lowly servant." I didn't like how he talked about himself like that.