Remnant Of The Gods

Chapter 25

Taking in my surroundings I started to notice the changes of the house I used to call home. I had only been gone for what felt like one or two weeks, but there were small differences that led me to believe that I had been gone for a lot longer. Dust had settled on the covered furniture that made the place look like an abandoned house of horror rather than the comforting reminder of home.

I shook off one of the covers on the display cabinet, only to erupt into a fit of sneezes, racing quickly out of the room, when a thick fog of dust covered the area where I had shaken it. Cracking open the front door in the hope of letting out the dust I was met with the largest stack of magazines to ever sit on the porch. With rising suspicion I raced out towards the letter box in the light drizzle of rain that had set it, grabbing the first letter I saw.

It was addressed to Mary Whitesmith and with a small clench in my stomach I flipped over the letter and ripped it open, searching for the date. Alarm bells were going off in my mind as I read a date that was months ahead of what it should be. Throwing the letter to the floor I reached for the next one and the one after, each giving me a date that seemed impossible.

By the time Demetrious returned I had gone through the entire stack of letters that had cluttered the letter box and most of the magazines.

You seem distressed. Demetrious sat next to me while I hyperventilated, trying to calm myself and my rising hysteria.

"It's impossible," I said faintly and held up the latest catalogue. "Months? It's been months! How could I have just lost six months?"

You did not lose them. His knowing tone causing my head to snap in his direction. There is no measure of time when you are between planes. When we travel, what seems like only a few moments can be much longer on this plane, and vice versa.

"Oh," I suppose it made sense, and yet didn't. "If I was gone for six months how am I still alive? I haven't eaten..." I tugged at my hair for confirmation, "And my hair hasn't even grown."

Demetrious cocked an eyebrow. Perceptive. Though you have not noticed that you have eaten only a few meals since we have started out together. You are a being, beyond human constraints and you need to stop the mind-set that you are not capable of living without food or rest, though when wounded, rest will always quicken the healing process.

I staggered inside the house, glancing at the kitchen as I made my way into the living room. The strange thing was that I was neither hungry, nor thirsty. How did I not need to eat? Each new snippet of information from Demetrious caused me to re-think every aspect of myself and my life and to be honest, I was just angry.

"Is there anything else I need to know?" I snapped. "If I'm not eating or drinking, than how am I still alive? Do I have some kind of superpower that I don't know about too?"

Long-life is both a blessing and a curse. He paused, considering me as I rounded on him. Does it not make sense that you would have this? You still need rest to heal, and sustenance will aid the process also. Any of the advantages or disadvantages you have will either come to you in time or will become known to you upon the discovery of your past.

How would I just suddenly have long life?

This has been a part of you since you were born. You simply have not testing the limits of your abilities.

Okay, long life, I can tackle that new information later as well. Would I be able to die? If I did would that mean that I would go to the meadows that he had mentioned before?

"So if I'm meant to have some kind of superpower of long life then why can't I just go to Hades to get the answers I need?" It seemed simple enough to me.

Just because you can live longer does not mean you cannot be killed. I frowned down at him as that piece of information stopped me in my tracks. There are many reasons to not venture into Hades, why do you think there is such fear for what you now call hell?

I slumped into the nearby couch, still feeling like the journey for me may not be as bad as what Demetrious thinks. "But you go there all the time, surely you know your way around!" Springing up in my chair with the sudden hope, he could be like a guide.

No.

"No what?" I growled out at him, "No you won't take me or no you don't know your way?"

I will neither take you nor guide you. There are perilous dangers in Hades. As soon as you enter Hades, they will be drawn to you, without any other thought than killing you. We barely skimmed between the planes as we travelled and still they sought you out. You saw the fallen as they climbed to reach you. I cannot help you in this.

It was only then that my attention drew to fresh indents in his neck, his back, his hind legs -my eyes widened and I raced over to him to look more closely at them. Tony had once been bitten by a dog that showed the same pattern as these but no-where near the size of the holes in Demetrious' body.

"What happened?!" It had to be something massive to inflict such an injury.

I did not show respect to my superiors in my rush to return. He bowed his head. He would have done much worse if he had known the reason.

"What, what is 'he' who is 'he'? I pressured

With his head still bowed low, Demetrious curled up beneath me on the floor, positioning himself between myself and the door as his features changed, making him almost look like a normal dog... Almost.

We have company.