Half of What I Could Be

Chapter 38

Mae Pov

I guess this is Hell. Well, the cusp between Hell and Elysium. Honestly, the ground was not that uncomfortable. Hard, yes. Lumpy, yes. But it had a certain smooth texture to it. I could have easily fallen asleep. I needed it after whatever I just went through. My brain was so overworked that I couldn't even comprehend who I was, what I saw, and what could be coming.

I lifted my eyelids to see red. A sunset reddish-orange to be exact. The sky, forever stuck in this hue. People on earth traveled far and wide to see the sky transform into this pigment as the sun descended. Here, this was forever. I did not know what I expected. Maybe a pit in the crevice of rocks and fire. I never expected to see a whole sky, with clouds and even two little birds in the horizon. Were they birds? There even was a sun. A red sun, but a ball of fire none-the-less. It was beautiful.

That seemed to be the track record: beautiful but deadly. Gorgeous but lethal. If someone asked me months ago what I would think a part demon part wolf looked like, it wouldn't be some beautiful god look woman that I saw in the cellar. Hades was even breath-taking. I should not have expected the Underworld to be any different.

I was not sure if I layed dazed on the ground for seconds, minutes, or hours. But, when the ground started to shake, I knew that was my cure to get up. I pushed my hands underneath me to lift myself up. Instead of feeling the ground, I felt flesh. The touch instinctively made my heart accelerate. I jumped.

"Good morning to you too, Sunshine," Jacin said as he now lifted himself to his elbows. Now standing, I looked at where my body laid, more specifically, who it laid on. I was never laying on the ground, I was laying on Jacin. Jacin did not seem phased at all. The smug little smirk he wore said the contrary.

Ignoring his comment, "Were you just going to let me lay on you like a perv?"

He smiled, "I wouldn't say you laid on me like a perv, more like a heavy dead body, but I guess we all have our opinions."

I scowled, "You know what I mean! How did I get on you anyway?"

Jacin brushed his hands on his toga, to get rid of whatever dirt remnants remained. His biceps contracted, leading my eyes to linger longer than they should. I shook my head to break out of my gaze. He made no motion to stand up. Instead he quirked his head to the side and placed his hands on his knees. He analyzed me.

"What did you see in your trial?" he asked in a serious tone.

Me torturing my parents while I somehow inhabited my mothers body, "None of your business," I quipped.

"Must have been bad, because you're pale as snow," he was right, my tan skin now took on a much bluer tone.

"I don't think the trials are supposed to be unicorns and rainbows," I responded. Seeing my brother's face half burned off was going to stay with me forever. No amount of therapy was going to fix that. Guess I won't be watching Batman anytime soon.

"That's true," he said. Jacin looked normal. Well, besides wearing a toga in the middle of the Underworld. His body was intact. Not even a blonde hair was out of place. The only thing that stood out to me were his eyes. They were erratic. They danced from my face to my body to the environment around us. They never stayed in the same place for long. Fear. He went through something bad too.

The thought of him going through something sent anger through my body. Anger at me, anger at Hades, anger at this stupid spell. That was my initial response. Then came annoyance. Annoyed at him for being here in the first place. No one wanted him to come, but his stupid "savior" complex made him. He put this on himself, and I said as much.

"You know, you did not need to come," I hissed at him. Was this the time and place to bicker? No. These crazy demon emotions did not seem to care.

"I know, you've told me that at least twelve times," He said as he finally made a move to stand up. Of course his biceps had to look amazing while he did it. Of course his toga had to scrunch up at his waist line just enough for me to see the upper portion of his legs. And of course, my brain had to wonder what was dangling between those legs.