Untouched
All Rights Reserved
© 2014 Luna Black
~*~
Warning: Important author’s note at the end.
“Ah,” she giggled, clapping her hands delightfully, “look!” She pointed to the flower and almost felt herself exploding with excitement. “It didn’t die!”
Hecate laughed, nodding her head as she walked around the young woman to look at their experiment. For weeks they had been practising Hecate’s theory of Ariel’s ‘curse.’ She was the goddess of magic; after all, it was her forte.
The Goddess believed that she could control the power that emanated from her fingertips if she merely concentrated her emotions on enjoyment. If she felt anything other than positive emotions, the curse would overpower her will and she’d destroy the life source at hand.
“You have, child! I knew you could do it.”
Ariel caressed the soft petals of the white peony in her hands and squealed once more. “I never thought I’d be able to do this! They’re so soft!”
Adrianne entered the room with refreshments and snacks for her to consume and smiled, “What’s got you in such high spirits?”
“I did it!” Ariel ran towards her, about to wrap her arms around her friend, but Adrianne stepped back with wide horrified eyes. She shook her head and smiled reassuringly, “No; it’s okay! I am learning to control them.”
“You have improved immensely, Ariel, but do not get too comfortable; we are still running on risky waters. We need to take it one step at a time, alright?” She pouted her lips in disappointment and nodded. “Now, our lesson for the day is complete. I believe I will be seeing you two beautiful ladies in the ball tonight, correct?”
Ariel grinned, sliding on her gloves and nodded, “Yeah! We’re waiting for Athena and Aphrodite to get here so we can get ready.”
“Remember to wear Hephaestus gift,” Hecate nodded, patting down her golden blonde hair and winked before disappearing into a light blue mist. She turned around to look at Adrianne and squealed in excitement. “It’s going to be such a fun night! I haven’t been to a party in so long!”
“Well get ready!” Adrianne winked, with a devious smile growing on her lips, “The Gods throw one heck of a party!” She giggled louder, slapping herself on the knee and sighed, “Ah get it? Heck and we’re in hell? No…? No? Okay.”
~*~
“Hades is going to die when he sees you,” Aphrodite laughed, “and he’s the god of death, so imagine how that’ll play out.”
Ariel laughed, shaking her head as she stared at herself in the mirror and admired Athena’s masterpiece. The Goddess never ceased to amaze her.
The dress that hung to her body was short, revealing her beautiful toned long legs and accentuated her curves. It was red with diamond studs [courtesy of Hades, of course] and showed no cleavage. She looked beautiful, sexy and elegant wrapped up in one package.
Blood red stilettoes adorned her feet and her hair was curled neatly to the side. Her bangs were pinned away from her forehead, opening up her face and beautiful mystical makeup decorated her appearance.
Her eyes were accentuated by light gold eye shadow and Egyptian styled eyeliner. To finish off her look, her lips were coloured deep ruby red, brightening her already gorgeous smile and adding a seductive aspect to her look.
“If this doesn’t knock Hades’ off his feet,” Athena began, “then I don’t know what will! You look stunning, Ariel!”
She blushed, feeling more admired than she had ever felt in her life. “You guys did it all so you should be patting your backs.”
“I think I will do just that,” Adrianne laughed, spinning in front of her to show off her lovely green cocktail dress. “How do I look?”
“You know,” Aphrodite began thoughtfully, “when Hermes told me that he was interested in you, I thought it was because he’s interested with anything that has a beating heart and legs,” Adrianne blushed darkly, “but I must say; you are pretty gorgeous! You must be one of my descendants.”
The four women laughed, joking on about how stunning they all looked. Even Athena, who was mostly modest and not searching for a counterpart, looked beautiful in a black V-neck dress with a revealing slit down her left thigh.
Aphrodite managed to make a curtain with cat hairballs look fashionable; she wore a golden chic mermaid dress that hugged her curves tightly, but not in an inappropriate look. She managed to add an almost elegant look to it, looking like the true goddess she was.
“When Hephaestus sets his eyes on you, he’s going to have a heart attack!” Athena laughed, shaking her head in disbelief.
Aphrodite winked in return and flipped back her luscious long hair. “When doesn’t he? I mean, I am the goddess of beauty!”
“Yeah,” her sister laughed, “but not the goddess of conceitedness, so stop being so damn full of yourself.”
“I can’t,” she whined, “the mirror likes looking at me.”
Ariel laughed along with Adrianne who was adding the finishing touches to her lips. Aphrodite turned to Adrianne and grinned, “I don’t know why you’re laughing so much; Hermes won’t take his hands off you for the entire night.”
Athena laughed, cleaning up the materials they used to create the dresses. “Ah, it’s alright! She finally gave him the time of day!”
“What?!” Aphrodite gasped, “How come I didn’t know of this?! I’m the damn goddess of love! I should know this!”
“It’s not love,” Adrianne mumbled shyly, “we’re just friends.”
“That used to be Zeus’ excuse,” Athena scoffed, making them go into a fit of laughter, until tears were sliding down their cheeks.
A soft knock on the door startled them out of their laughter and they quickly sobered up. “God,” Eros groaned from the other side of the door, “entering a room filled with women is like eating figgy pudding.”
Ariel giggled, rolling her eyes as she grabbed her clutch and said, “What’s up, hot-pink-stuff?”
He rolled his eyes in reply, clicking his tongue in distaste and said, “The party already started about an hour ago. Hermes is sitting by himself waiting for Ms. Hard to Get. Hephaestus is playing with some metals and Hades looks like he’s going to start killing people; you ladies need to grace those desperate men with your presence.”
Before they walked out the door, Ariel turned around and ran to her bright neon green gloves. Aphrodite stared at them in pure horror and looked like she was about ready to bust a fuse.
“What. Is. That?!” She pointed at them with shaking fingers.
Ariel rolled her eyes, sliding the gloves on, much to the goddess dismay and said, “Your husband made these for me. They turn invisible when I put them on,” she wiggled her no-longer-green-covered-gloved hand and said, “see? It’s neon green so I don’t lose them.”
“Oh,” the goddess sighed in relief, “okay; ladies, we may proceed!”
Loud upbeat music boomed throughout the castle’s courtyard, making the ground shake slightly. Hundreds of gods danced along, grinding their bodies into each other and others almost sucked their mouths out of their faces.
Most of them, Ariel didn’t recognize, but she paid no attention to it, for the man that had engrossed her was smiling brightly at her. Hades was dressed in a dressy black suit; he could’ve been wearing a trash bag and he’d still look as edible as he did then.
She breathed in sharply, turning to her friends for support but found that she was alone and the god of death was making his way to her. She surprisingly panicked, searching for the nearest way out, but her feet seemed glued to the ground and her eyes were captured by his.
“Wow,” he breathed, lightly caressing her cheek, “you look absolutely stunning, milady.”
Ariel giggled, feeling like a schoolgirl as he kissed her knuckles and took her hand in his. “You clean up well too, Mr. Death.”
Hades snorted, rolling his eyes as he led her through a crowd of cheering gods [Dionysus was having a chugging contest] and said, “I always look handsome, human; otherwise you wouldn’t look at me with those wide eyes all the time.”
“Puh-lease!” She scoffed, “I like looking at ugly things too!” He laughed, handing her a glass of punch and waited for her to take a sip. “This ambrosia thing, you guys drink, is so freaking delicious!”
“Yeah,” he placed the cup she had just taken back on the table, “but strong and if you drink too much, not even Dionysus will beat you in drunkard of the year.”
Ariel rolled her eyes, feeling her cheeks go warm as he took her hand in his and stood in front of her; just looking at her, with his hypnotizing blue eyes.
“Would you like to dance?”
She nodded, breathing out in relief as he looked away from her, but was surprised when he cupped her cheeks and kissed her lightly. Butterflies began to flutter in her stomach as a nervous giggle blurted past her lips and he winked down at her.
“Since I’m dancing with you,” she whispered shyly, “can I take my gloves off? I like touching you.”
He laughed, winking down at her. “Of course you do; go ahead, I don’t mind. Just don’t touch anyone.”
She nodded and placed the gloves in her clutch.
Hades placed his hand on her lower back, spinning her around in circles to the beat of the music. Ariel squealed as she recognized the song as Classic by MKTO and left Hades surprised as she began dancing freely. She moved her hips lively, laughing as she sang along and dazzled him with his beauty.
“I’mma pick you up in a Cadillac, like a gentleman, bringing glamour back. Keep it real to real in the way I feel, I could walk you down the aisle.”
The God rolled his eyes, spinning her back into his chest and brushed his lips past her earlobe as he whispered, “That’s being a gentleman? I’d pick you up in my chariot.”
She laughed; loving the feel of his muscular arms wrapped around her waist and threw her head back as they continued dancing the night away.
“You know,” he mumbled into her hair after the hundredth song they had danced to had ended, “I was really against having this celebration thing after the threat they sent us, but I’m glad I did. It was fun.”
Ariel grinned, wrapping her arms tightly around his shoulders and kissed his chest, “I had a lot of fun too and I’m glad you decided to-” She frowned, pulling up away from him and said, “Hades, what’s wrong?”
His eyes were wide, shining a bright blue and he tensed up against her so rigidly, he felt like a statue. “Something’s wrong.”
“What?” She looked around, trying to see what he meant. “Everything looks fine-”
“No,” he repeated, “something is wrong. Cerberus saw something that didn’t belong in my realm coming this way.” He unwrapped his arms from around her waist and just as he opened his mouth to send her into the castle, a loud booming noise exploded, creating a chaos amongst the gods.
“You got to go!” Hades growled, searching for someone to protect her, “Go into the castle and lock yourself in a room. Hit anyone you don’t know and don let anyone in. I’m going to keep you safe, okay, love?”
“Hades-” she began, panic bubbling up her chest.
Adrianne ran towards them, grabbing her hand and said, “Come on, milady! I know the perfect place to hide.”
Ariel nodded, turning back to look at Hades and dropped her jaw open as he transformed into something so godly, she couldn’t believe her thoughts. She wanted to bed him! He wore traditional Greek armour that made Brad Pitt in Troy, a laughing stock compared to him.
“Pretty sexy, right?” Adrianne winked, laughing as she pulled her through frenzied gods. “That’s what I thought when Hermes did the same thing. My goodness, can they rock those armours! I was tempted to go into battle just to see him!”
She grinned in return, snapping her thoughts back to the panicked and screaming gods and said, “What’s happening?”
“Watch out!” Adrianne pushed her out of the way, gasping in pain as an arrow pierced her skin and pushed her on the floor. Ariel widened her eyes in fear as Adrianne forced her to lock the castle doors behind them and suddenly collapsed on the floor.
“Adrianne!” She gasped in horror, “You-”
“Can you take it out?” She groaned in pain, whimpering as she touched the blood darkening her beautiful dress. “Athena’s going to kill me for this.”
Ariel rolled her eyes, searching for her gloves and felt her heart dropping to the pit of her stomach. “I can’t!” She cried out, frantically searching for her gloves. She couldn’t locate them and she swore she had her clutch in her hand that entire time. “Dammit, where is it?!”
“A-Ariel,” Adrianne coughed, the thick red blood oozing down her jaw simply terrified the young woman further, “it’s okay. You have to pull the arrow out…I can’t breathe…”
She shook her head, warm tears sliding down her cheeks as she knelt beside her friend. “I can’t pull it out! I can’t find my gloves and I don’t know where everyone else is at. Please you have to fight for me.”
“It’s poisoned,” She smiled, so angelic and comfortingly, that it tore her further apart. How could she look so happy when the arrow that was slowly killing her was poisoned?! Her heart was shattering, feeling a type of sentiment that she hadn’t felt in a long while; hurt. “Can you at least put pressure? It’ll lessen the pain.”
Ariel sniffled, wiping the back of her hand against her nose. Her hands shook nervously as they hovered over her friend’s body and she sobbed loudly. The chaos erupting behind the obsidian doors that protected her became louder and louder each second and Ariel feared the worst.
She felt helpless and useless. The only way she could help her friend was with gloves and she couldn’t find those. As for controlling her emotions, she felt like a hurricane was rummaging them all, disabling her control over the curse.
Adrianne was the closest person she had to a friend; she couldn’t lose her when everything was becoming so chaotic in her life. She needed the support a friend could bring and Adrianne was extremely good at lending a shoulder to cry on.
“P-please,” Ariel sobbed, holding unto herself for support, “please, Adrianne, don’t do this to me. Don’t leave.”
Hot tears slid down her cheeks as she watched Ariel’s heart breaking. A tremendous fire was erupting deep within her stomach, were the poisoned arrow was immovable. Her brown eyes widened as she felt more blood crawling up her throat, leaving a gross iron taste behind.
“It hurts,” she whimpered, “I just want it to end now.”
Ariel ripped a large piece off her dress, wrapping it around her hands as best as she could and frantically fought against time to save her best friend’s life. “No, don’t say that. Hermes and Hades need you...I need you…”
“Don’t make this any harder, Ariel,” she whispered, blinking away her salty tears, “I died with honour; I saved your life. Master Hades hired me for that; it was my destiny to do that.”
“Fuck destiny!” She roared, wrapping her other hand, “You’re not going to believe all that shit they try to feed you about fate! You control that, not some ugly witches that share one eye.”
Adrianne gave out a coughed laugh, wanting to hug her friend tightly. “Those aren’t the Fates.”
“Well whatever, you’re not going to die today. Not by some stupid poisoned arrow, not if I can help it.”
“Ariel,” she sighed, gritting her teeth as the fire began to grow throughout her body. She felt as if though a thousand needles were pricking her back and tearing her apart from the inside out. As her heart quickened its pace to pump much needed blood, she felt herself going lightheaded, but the pain simply augmented. “Please end it?”
She sat up; using the last bits of strength she had left in her as a massive spasm exploded in her back. Adrianne gritted her teeth, clenching her fists as more blood gathered in her mouth, making her feel as if though she was drowning. “You’re just making me die a slow p-painful death.”
Ariel’s bottom lip trembled and she felt herself shattering, losing the battle to despair. “This is why I don’t let people in; I hurt them.”
“You didn’t hurt me, I saved you. Please, just repay me that favour with a small one,” Adrianne reached for her head, but she recoiled almost instantly. “Ariel,” she sat back on the floor, holding unto her wounded stomach with shaking fingers, “tell Hermes that in my next life, I’ll be waiting for him.”
“No,” she shook her head; the tears that were running down her face began ruining her make-up, making her look like a red raccoon, “you won’t have to do that.” She choked on her tears, wanting to do so much, but not finding the strength to be able to, “You’re going to be okay,” she took a deep breath and wiped her tears away.
Ariel took a deep breath, forcing out a smile and grabbed the smooth wooden arrow. “I’m going to pull it out, okay? That way, you’re going to be able to tell him that he won’t have to wait. You’re going to love him and…and,” she sobbed, placing her hand on her stomach and stared at the weakening girl before pulling on it.
Through the small opening of the dress that the arrow had ripped through, Ariel’s fingers lightly brushed on her skin, making the dying girl drop her mouth open as the pain she felt, almost tore her apart.
Ariel didn’t notice.
Adrianne gasped, her last breath of life wasted on a thankful goodbye.
As the realisation that she had sped her friend’s death, Ariel cried out. The sound was so raw and pure; it released a beast that she had buried years before. It trembled throughout the castle walls, silencing any chaos that could possibly be occurring outside and startled the frightened gods.
“No!” She gasped, almost choking on her tears as she brought her bloodied hands up to caress Adrianne’s pale cheeks. “No, I didn’t…I didn’t touch you. Please, don’t…Adrianne!”
Her shoulders trembled brokenly as she sobbed, denial running through her mind. Her hair fell around her face, sticking to her salty face and she cried like never before. Not even for her boyfriend’s death had she cried so hard.
“Ariel!” Hades ran in the room with other gods running in behind him. He widened his eyes in fear at the sight before him and tentatively stepped towards her.
The broken young girl cradled her deceased friend in her arms, rocking her gently as she continued spilling hopeless tears. “For me,” she whispered as Hades placed his hands on her shoulders, “she died for me and I repaid her by killing her.”
“Hades, what’s going-” Hermes stopped mid-sentence, feeling his heart skip a beat as the familiar long black locks of his beloved came to view. “Adrianne?” He whispered, walking towards them and in a fit of rage, pushed Ariel away. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!”
Tears quickly began to fill his eyes, preventing his vision from seeing clearly and he held her tightly, wanting to desperately save her of her fate. “You bloody murderer, you killed her! You killed Adrianne…my Adrianne...”
Hades growled menacingly, wrapping his arms securely around Ariel and pulled her away. He placed his warm hand against her cheek, trying to take her attention away from Hermes’ accusations and whispered, “Ariel?”
“He’s right,” she whispered back, in a monotone voice, tears still sliding down her cheeks as the God desperately tried to comfort her, “I killed her; I’m a murderer.”
He hugged her tightly and closed his eyes, wishing to take her pain and remorse away. “You are not, Ariel.”
She sniffled, staring down at her bloodied hands. “That arrow was meant for me…and she got in the way; they should’ve killed me. Hermes is right, I’m a monster.”
Hades growled again, tightening his hold around her and forcefully said, “Do not listen to my nephew! You are not a monster!”
Ariel placed her hands on her lap, leaning into Hades’ chest for support as her body began numbing and closed her eyes, welcoming the cold darkness that welcomed her to their realm. Slowly she came into the realization that the thorns of a rose could rip its petals apart; and in the end, the rosette would just wither.
~*~
In the previous chapter, Ariel and Ares are training, a lot of you guys began questioning how he wasn’t dead and I guess I should’ve made it clear, but when Ares asked her how he’d train her, she replied with gloves? I thought it was just going to stick that she would wear those when she was training with him. So yeh.
Also I’m getting really irritated with some people. In the beginning of the story, Ariel is 17 she’s naïve for Pete’s sake! She is throwing away everything for a man that she didn’t know just wanted her for the money. I am writing this in 3rd pov so I know that you as the reader know his intentions, but she doesn’t know them. Please stop calling her stupid for crying over him. She loved him, jeesh. AND she also thinks something along the lines of “weren’t rich people supposed to get a bit more than what Derick was giving her?” and a bunch of you started calling her a whore. First of all, she’s only slept with him so I am completely and utterly confused as to why this makes her a whore. She’s simply wondering why he’s placing his needs before hers. She sees that all these rich people in the news and whatnot get all they want; all she wants is for her boyfriend to put her first for once. Excuse me for thinking like this, so I guess this makes me “worse than Kim Kardashian” and a “whore.” Before you start insulting the rest of my character’s decisions, let me tell you this; they come from a bit of me. Each and all of these characters come from my imagination, making them a part of me; so in the end, all those hurtful things you’re saying are about me. I’m not a mean person, but honestly this has got to stop. It’s taking away my want to write and post here; I WON’T do that tho! I’m just letting you know how this makes me feel.
Sorry to those of you who just enjoy the story and don’t make me feel like an idiot for trying to make Ariel a bit more relatable. As a result of this ‘lovely’ feedback I’ve been getting, I’m going to see if I have to take a break. I am not going to exhaust myself emotionally because of this. It’s my hobby and I love doing it, but wow. I just. I am left speechless at the audacity some of you guys have. It’s a book that I want to share with you, please just remember that I am human and have these horrible things called ‘feelings.’
Now unto this chapter; I feel so bad. Like I was literally shaking and had to blink multiple times whilst writing that final scene. Many of you got into arguments about Ariel not being able to kill Adrianne because she was dead. Um, no. In previous chapters, I mentioned that Adrianne was reincarnated multiple times, thus she was alive. Just because she was in the Underworld didn’t mean she was dead. I killed Admes so quickly :/ poor Hermes.
Have a lovely day/night.