Mae POV
The dirt floor was surprisingly comfortable. Rubbing my scalp against Kate's and Jacin's was not. We were all dressed in Toga's. Apparently the descent to Elysium required specific attire. An ensemble of Greek origin to be precise. For some reason, Kate had three gender specific togas in our size saved in her closet. I didn't even ask why.
After the required ingredients were acquired and I was scared for life by seeing Taylor mouth assault Roan, we were all set. We were positioned on the floor in a human shaped peace sign. Our heads created the intersecting point and our body pointed out in opposite directions. I have not said a word to Jacin. He tried, so I gave him that. It was hard for me to want to talk to someone who so "gallantly" put himself in harm's way for no reason. If I was to die in Elysium, there was nothing he could do to stop it. All it did was give me another factor to worry about.
Taylor knelt down near my left side to light another candle, "We should be all set," she concluded as she stood up.
She did not ask if we were all set. She stated that we were. She knew asking would not matter. In this situation, no one would be ready. We just had to suck it up and hope for the best. Roan was nowhere to be seen. I knew he was in the adobe, but with my line of sight staring directly at the ceiling, there was no way to tell where he was. Besides the occasional shuffle.
"According to the grimoire," Taylor started as she flipped through the book, "I am to chant words, and your soul is to be brought to Elysium. Before granted entry, you will be placed in a trial of sorts. It does not go into too much specifics, besides 'to discover the morality of men.' And as only one out of three of you is a man, it is going to be interesting for sure. If you pass the trial, you will be deposited in the fields."
"Wheat of pure gold," I whispered.
A moment of silence followed. No one knew what to say. I was nervous. A feeling of being part devil did not erase. After a few seconds, Taylor began the chant. To me, it was english. With my strange new translational abilities, I knew a 1,000 year old book was not written in English.
" Rhadamanthus allow these to discover their potential in life. For heroes of legends, discover if these have the potential to be great." She spued out. It was those two sentences that she kept repeating. After the third time through, my vision became hazy. At the fourth time, my fingers tingled. By the fifth time, everything went black.
_______________
Black. All black. Black and cold to be specific. It was not freezing, but accompanied with the breeze, it made my teeth chatter. I could feel a stone wall against my back. Based on the ridges, my guess was some sort of masonry. It only furthered the bite of the bitter cold.
It was a jail cell. Or a creepy kidnapper's cellar. How did I get to that conclusion? Well my hands were unnaturally cuffed above my head and bolted against the brick wall. I think my shoulder was dislocated. I also think it must have been for awhile because it was not a sharp pain, but something dull and constant. Even though I just woke up, my body must have been going through this torment for a while as my brain tried its best to numb the torture.
My feet were not shackled. My knees were bent, and I was able to drag my feet back and forth against the dirt ground. Small specks of dirt moved with my feet created a rustling sound.
"Be quiet, she will hear you," A man whispered across our cell. He sounded familiar, but I could not place it. He was scared. The quivering in his voice said enough. The roughness said that he was beyond dehydrated.
Like all stupid horror girls, instead of staying quiet I decided to speak, "Who will hear us? What is going on? Where are we?" I tried using my new found strength to pull my wrists out of the chains. No luck. Either the chains are extremely strong or I lost the power I just received.
"Be quiet!" He yelled back. He was angry. Angry because I called unnecessary attention to us, and he was worried "she" would hear. Who was she?
Clang Clang Clang
I guess I was about to find out soon enough. The sound of high heels banged in the distance slowly getting closer and closer. The sound echoed, making me believe whatever cellar we were in was large. The man started to breathe heavily across from me. Fear started to pick at my stomach. Like a little ember in the middle of a forest, it started to grow. Every step "she" took, the more trees caught on fire. Even though I did not remember her, my body did. Images of burning, giant nail pliers, whips, and hammers flashed in my head. Broken knee caps, pulled nails, screaming. All the memories that started to come back to me. Except the screaming was not mine.
The lock clicked on the other side of the door. Like a medieval door, the click was more like a thud. The door swung open. The first speck of light hit my eyes. It was a warm color, emitted from a flame. A small man with blue skin walked in. The fire did not expose any more of his features. He lifted the torch up to the wall and started lighting wicks, creating more and more light in our cellar.
First thing I noticed was that we are in a four by four cellar. On the side of the cellar with the door also stationed a stainless steel table with tools upon tools used for torture. I could barely even describe what I saw, but with the blood dried on each and everyone of them, I knew they had been embedded in my flesh. The blue man, who I could see clearly now, started to exit the cell. He did not have a nose or eyes.
Replacing him came in the woman. A stunning woman in a red dress. It was silk that grazed the dirty ground. If she did not have on the three inch heels, more of its priceless fabric would be contaminated with the dirt, blood, and whatever element was scattered in this room. She was slim, but not skinny. Every part of her was toned and smooth. Like she was airbrushed and all fat was replaced with muscle. She had tanned skin. As my eyes traced up higher, I finally met her face. My heart dropped.
Her perfectly black hair was pilled on top of her head. Small strands of gold were spread throughout. At first I thought it was tinsel, but quickly realized it was strands of pure gold. She had a symmetrical heart shaped face, a button nose, and red eyes. My eyes.
The woman in front of me... was me.
"Good morning, good morning, good morning!" she chirped as she shut the door behind her, "Nice to see you two sleepy heads are awake. I must say, being unconscious for three weeks was kind of a bore," She shrugged as she/me walked to the table of torture devices, "I know, I know, I probably went a little to far with the flame thrower. Sue me, I am a pyro, what can I say? Now, I know that werewolf flesh can be fully burned off in Tartarus. It just takes eons for it to grow back, right brother?" She said as her eyes turned to my cellmates.
My eyes followed. William. Or what was left of him. His arms were chained above his head, just like my own. Instead of a dislocated shoulder, he was missing fingers. Four to be exact. Two on the left and two on the right. He wore the remnants of his favorite t-shirt: Cage the Elephant. There were more holes than fabric. The holes were so large that I could see the gaping wounds on his abdomen. Small bits of movements made me squint my eyes. Inside his chunks of missing skin were little maggots. I let out an exhale of fear.
His face was another story. Just like in the Batman movies, half of it was burned off. He had no hair, only scraps of charred skin and slowly growing flesh. The socket his eye should have been in, was not there. The other eye was mostly swollen shut. He was a living corpse. How was he alive?
I think I screamed. I heard a scream but I did not recognize it as my own. But I did recognize it. It was my mothers.
"Calm down, mom, you know your screaming causes me a headache!" She/me yelled at me. Mom? I looked around the cell in search of my mom. She was nowhere to be seen. Finally my eyes reached back to Mae 2.0, "Oh my goodness, did I hit your head a little too hard again? Gods, memory loss is annoying," She stomped back to the torture table and emerged with a mirror, "Look," she said as she shoved the hand held mirror in front of my face.
Except it wasn't my face. It was my mothers. My adorable, red headed mother who never finished our kitchen, loved watching Sci-Fi movies, and was addicted to running. The mother who raised me. The mother who taught me how to drive, much to her dismay. The one who begged me to go on a hike with her in Canada, only for us to get lost in a cemetery. The goofy, loving, bubbly mom. And her face was burned too.
I let out another scream. This time I knew it came from me as I saw my mouth move in unison with the one on the mirror. Was it my mouth? How was I in my mom's body? What was going on?
"Okay, now that we have that over with, let's get on to the main event," Her/me devious eyes danced between William and myself, "Ennie, meenie, minnie, moe," She chanted as she flicked her finger between the two of us, "Oh, what am I kidding, we always start with William," She flicked him a smile, and turned back to the torture table. I heard her clinking away with whatever tools she touched.
She was going to torture William? Right in front of me? What was happening? My eyes flickered between our torturess and William, who was staring at the ceiling. Defeated. How long has this been going on?
"Why are you doing this?" I asked but my mom's voice came out. She did not turn around to meet my eyes. Instead she kept grazing her hand over the tools.
"Oh mother, this is my job. All souls in Tartarus must be tortured. You know this! You're lucky I don't let the other demons have their way with you. Call it daughter's love, but I couldn't fathom any of my servants laying a finger on you," she hummed, as if she was doing us a favor.
"Why would you torture us? What have we done to you?" I breathed. William started to shake his head, encouraging me to stop talking.
"Maybe it's because you abandoned me, or maybe it is because I really just like the way fingernails look when they are being pried from under your skin. Maybe it's just my nature. Nurture did not win on this one."
Was I looking at my future? Was this who I was to become? A full fledged demon who took pleasure in torturing her own family? There was no scenario in my head that would ever lead me to do this. Was I being forced? By the smile on my face, I doubted so. Was there some leverage over my head?
She turned back to us with a giant pair of shears in her hand, "Now, let's let the fun begin," she laughed like a little girl and made her way to William. He started to wiggle. We both knew it was pointless, but in any position of certain doom, our instincts kicked in, "It is nice to see your charred flesh is healing nicely. It always amazes me that no matter how far I take it, you won't die! The benefits of already being dead I guess," She finished as she unlocked his hands from the cuff. I wanted him to run. He couldn't. She was stronger than both of us.
She pulled his hand forward, and gazed at his remaining fingers, "I really thought they would have grown back by now. Last time, it only took six months. It has been nearly four, and I haven't seen any progress. Maybe not the best to cut anymore off, but you still have both of your ears," she quirked. Six months? How long have we been down here?
She lifted her shears to William's charred left ear. She was going to cut it off! He stopped struggling, instead he readied himself for unearthly pain.
I couldn't let him go through it. I just couldn't, "Stop!" I yelled at her, making her pause for a second, "Torture me! I am the one who abandoned you, not him!"
She laughed, "I am torturing you," she said.
Clip
William let out a scream. His ear fell off. I closed my eyes. I couldn't bring myself to look at what she was doing to him. His screams were enough. I wanted to hurt her. I wanted her to bleed like how she made him. I wanted myself to die. I kept my eyes closed until the screaming stopped. I kept them closed as she walked toward me. I kept them closed while she placed her cold palm on my mother's freckled arm.
"Open your eyes, Mae," she said. At the sound of my name, I did as she commanded.
She was right in front of me. Somehow my arms returned to my sides and my shoulder no longer hurt. Her red eyes bore into mine, "There is no point in denying who you are Mae. You are me. You relish in others' pain. You might not think so, but in a few more decades, you live for this. This is who you are."
I looked down at my outfit to see I was now dressed in the red silk dress. I no longer had my mother's freckles skin, but my creamy one. My nails were manicured black. I lifted my eyes to my own. She smiled back at me, "No, I am not like you. Nothing could make me like you!" I spit at her.
"Stupid girl," she grinned, "I am you! I am what you become! A few hundred years ruling Hell changes you, forges you. You've only known life for eighteen years. That is a spec on our immortal timeline. This," She said as she stood up to motion to my seemingly lifeless brother, "is what you enjoy. Hurting those who deserve it! They hate you. They pitied you. You think they are okay with you being the spawn of the devil? Who would be okay with that?"
Was she right? Did William and my parents hate me? Would they hate me? The past few days the life I became accustomed to shattered. My fake imaginary life. It was normal, but that is what I missed the most. William and I played Mario Party until 2am. My dad played with me as a kid in the pool. Those were real.
"Does it matter?" I spit back at her. I placed my palm on the floor and shoved my way up. Luckily I wasn't wearing her three inch heels, "They can hate me. It doesn't change the love we have had in the past. They can pity me, that is nothing new to me. But I would never lower myself this much to hurt those who I cared for the most. Worst of all, enjoy it. I am not you. I am not the devil."
"Then come home," William said from behind She/Me. I took a step to the side to reveal him. No longer was he burned. No longer was he dressed in shambles of rags. He wore his newly formed Cage the Elephant shirt and black jeans. His tousled brown curls framed his face. He was smiling. A wave of relief spread through me. My heart skipped a beat taking in the two figures who stood beside him: Mom and Dad. Completely intact with mirroring smiles on their face.
"Come home Mae, let's go back to how things were," Dad said.
"We miss you," Mom said as well.
I wanted to go home. I wanted to bundle up in my blankets and binge watch TV with my Mom until the early hours of the morning. Or annoy Dad by drinking all his tea. I wanted to go back to normal and pretend that none of this happened. That I wasn't adopted and born to Hades. That I wasn't the deciding factor to the world ending. But I couldn't pretend that. This was who I was. I was Hades Daughter. But I was also Diane and Henry's.
I walked over to my mom. Tears escaped my eyes with every step. I grabbed her hand, "I can't mom, I am sorry."
Her smile disappeared, instead an expression of fear came over her face, "Don't leave us, you are not a monster!"
"Yes you are," said multiple voices behind me in unison. I turned around. Instead of just one Mae, I saw multiple. They all stood there in a red dress staring at me. The cellar door swung open, and Jacin walked in.
"Come home with us," He said as he walked to my fathers side, "Stay with us."
"You were forged from the flames. You belong here," a masculine voice said to my left side, I turned to reveal Hades. He smiled his devious smile at me, "You are meant for so much more than being a Beta's Mate and a Beta's Daughter. You were never supposed to be second.
"You are not second to me," Jacin said in response, "You will always be my number one. You will help us lead this pack."
"How can you help lead by being his wife?" Mae number 3 said.
The cellar door opened again. Jacin's, Mae's, Henry's, William's, Diane's, and more all started walking in.
"Come home with us!"
"You need to rule Hell!"
"I love you."
"You are a queen!"
I placed my hands over my eyes and cried out. What is going on? The chanting became louder and louder. I could feel them all around me. They wanted me to make a choice, but there was no choice to make. I didn't want either option. I didn't want to go back to being plain old Mae, but I also didn't want to be a psychopathic demon.
"Leave me alone!"
It all went black.