Inflexible | Fated Four: Book 1

Chapter Eleven

*Arrow*

I stood on the beach and closed my eyes as I breathed in the crisp salty sea air. A refreshing change, even though I still preferred the lake. I was trying to get a grip on my emotions. The pent up pain that I had suffered for centuries was threatening to consume me. I felt the air around me change and knew that I wasn't alone anymore.

"Hello, Father," I greeted him. I opened my eyes and found him standing next to me. Erebus, the God of Darkness in all his glory. Dark hair and navy blue eyes. "What brings you here, Father?" I asked.

"Your stubbornness, Arrow," Father told me.

I sighed.

"You're putting yourself through an incredible amount of pain, Arrow," Father told me. I dropped to my knees as I started to feel it.

"I can handle it," I assured him as I tried to get a grip, "I've been handling it for centuries now."

"Really?" Father asked, "This is what you call handling it?"

I let out a cry of pain as I felt a soul pass through me and into the plane of ghosts.

"Arrow you need Clarissa," Father told me.

"No!" I growled, "She can't see me like this! I will not subject her to this! She can't handle my pain!"

"And how do you know that?" Father asked.

"Because my pain is too much," I choked out.

"Which is exactly why you need Clarissa," Father reasoned, "Even just being around her will ease your pain. She won't truly share your burden until you bond. Please Arrow, she was born to be yours."

That sent shock coursing through my veins. What did my Father mean by that?

"What?" I asked.

"Clarissa was born to be your soulmate," Father told me. He snapped his fingers and the darkness around us began to whisper:

Daughters of Melinoe, Hecate, Hermes, and Acheron will be born
And they will rise up in the middle of a strife filled storm.
Born from the blood of the Underworld, they will grow.
And eventually they will set the Four Fates' hearts aglow.
Their sole purpose is to ease the pain of the Four Fates.
They must do this before it's too late.

Eris will only be defeated
When the wounds of the Four Fates have been treated.
Beware the Fated Four, oh Goddess of Strife
For they alone are the keys to ending your eternal life.
Together with the Four Fates they will stand
And then they will defeat you hand in hand.

"Clarissa is the daughter of Melinoe," Father told me, "She's one of the Fated Four. She was born to be yours, Arrow."

"How am I supposed to let her see all this, Father?" I asked, "I spent centuries thinking she didn't exist!"

"You don't have to show her this part yourself right away, Arrow," Father assured me, "Take things as slow as you need to, but know that Clarissa is your soulmate and nothing and no one in the world can change that. She is the other half of your whole, you need her."

"I love her," I admitted.

"Do you?" Father asked.

"I've loved her for weeks now, I just didn't realize it until I saw her at the party," I admitted, "I love her and that's why I can't subject her to my pain."