Chapter 47- Your Lover

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Guys I'm so sorry about the awkward conversations towards the end, lol. It was late at night when I was writing, and I'm pretty sure I was high on pain pills or some shit. I might edit them later.

Tyche- goddess of luck and good fortune
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Hades

I hadn't imagined her scent.

The feel of her fingertips and lips could have been an illusion, her voice may have been the product of my insanity— but the whiffs of vanilla and coconut had been real. Her sweet fragrance lingered the corners of the void after she rescued Zeus.

She had been quite close to finding me, all she had to do was take a few more steps to the cell beside it, and she'd have seen me. I could see her memories as if they were my own, and Zeus had told her he wouldn't keep me in an obvious place. But he had. And in a way, I suppose it was part of my torture.

To know she had been so close, just out of reach-- that her loving touch was a mere few feet away-- that is torment. To be left with nothing but her scent in her wake-- although I'll take that over unbearable silence any day. It was the gentle reminder of her earnest affection, that she had in fact, yearned to find me.

I heave out a groan, ignoring the pain in my wrists as I crawl to the closing portal. When Thanatos and Samantha stepped into the void days before, they left a portal open. Through her thoughts, I can see them leave with Zeus in a second open vessel, the previous one was left unattended outside the gates.

Though the Void is a place of nothingness, its structure resembles a prison-- its cells are divided into separate torture chambers, and there are gates guarding the enclosure from prying human eyes. It is located someplace beneath the Fields of Enna, Samantha's thoughts tell me so.

Fortunately, it takes days for an abandoned vessel to disappear, and the closing portal allows me quick passage before it collapses into itself. Bright, hot sunlight suddenly assaults my vision, emphasizing the pain radiating from my abdomen to my neck. I can feel the strain I am placing on my arms and wrists, they are weak from disuse, shaking and threatening to buckle underneath my weight as I crawl on all fours.

My muscles feel atrophied, barely keeping me from falling to the grass. I don't dare stand up, my legs may have forgotten what it is to walk, they may no longer fulfill their function. With bruised arms, I drag myself to the shade of the nearest tree, ignoring the tickling sensations from brushing green blades of pasture.

I manage to reach the roots of the large Oak, using them as leverage so I may let my weight fall on them. Gingerly, I turn around and place my back against the thick bark, swallowing back a lump of pain. My throat feels scratchy and swollen from screaming, and the coldness of my prison seemed to only add to the already long list of physical discomforts.

I may have caught a cold, and I wouldn't be surprised if my wounds caught an infection from the filth existing in the void. The bugs and rodents creeping the space of the dilapidated underground jail no doubt carried disease, if ichor did not run beneath my veins, I would have died from illness alone. Or perhaps my body would have been far past the stage of decay, the torment inflicted upon it was of such harrowing measure, no mortal man would have withstood its intensity for as long as I did.

I do not know whether or not to count myself lucky.

I have lived to see the light of day— no matter how much of a nuisance I think it to be, and I have the chance to see my love again. Perhaps in that sense, I am more than fortunate.

Closing my eyes, I shield myself from the blinding sun. Maintaining them open increases the band of pressure surrounding my head, I am not used to the light. Even the incandescence of a warm sunset would have been too much to bear, the vivid blaze of Helios' rays at midday promises to kill me if Zeus failed in doing so.

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