Half of What I Could Be

Chapter 37

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.

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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.