Half of What I Could Be

Chapter 42

We are almost done with book one! So crazy to think after four years, the first leg of Mae's journey is coming to an end! Do not worry, I have big plans for Mae and her journey as the Daughter of Hades...

Mae POV

"Mom?" I whimpered. She was beautiful. Even more breathtaking than the historians made her. She was sandy blonde with her strands of hair cascading over her but. She had hazel eyes. The same eyes I used to have. Her skin was not pale like mine used to be, but tanned by the Underworld sun. She looked to be in her late twenties, early thirties. Too young to be my mother. Her young demeanor was due to her life ending too early. She had small freckles dance across her skin. She wore a toga that was now torn in an array of areas.

Her smile was welcoming. Only the bottom half of her teeth peaked through ehr full lips. Her eyes were slightly watering, just like my own. This moment was as important if not more important for her. I did not realize how much I used to look like her. The only difference was our face shape. She had a more angled face: strong cheekbones, and defined jaw. Mine was more rounded. It could be that I inherited that from Hades, or the rounded face was due to my age. She also had more of a hooked nose, while mine slightly pointed up.

"Hi honey," she whispered in return as she brought me in for a hug. I wrapped my arms around her willingly. Then the waterworks started. Tear after tear started trailing out of my eye, down my cheek, and on to her toga. She did not care. The sligh up and down movement depicted she was as emotional as I was.

"I thought I was never going to find you," I cried.

"I did not know if I was ever going to see you again. I had hope, of course. But, if you are down here something must be wrong. He found you, didn't he?" she asked. I dropped my arms to my side and took a slight step back. I did not want to separate from her, but it was time to talk.

"He did," I responded back.

She looked toward the sky as if praying and let out a gruntle sigh, "I was hoping he would never. What year is it up on Middle Earth?"

"2019," I responded back, not knowing the relevance.

A slight smile peaked at her lips, "You were safe for three hundred years then. The spell worked."

"You mean the tree?"

"Yes," she nodded, "You were linked to it to keep you ageless and masked. Hades could not track you. When the tree died, the spell broke." She reached out and grabbed my wrist. The wrist the tattoo used to be etched on, "You no longer have the bind. What happened?"

"It is a very long story," I explained. From her bulging eyes, I could tell she wanted to hear it. So for the next few minutes I went over everything that happened over the past week starting with being poisoned to going to the Underworld to find her. She never interrupted. She nodded as reassurance for me to continue. Beside subtle facial changes, she remained calm for the most part. From the wisdom in her eyes, I could tell it would take a lot to scare her.

She did not speak until after I was done, "I am so sorry, honey," she said as she pushed a strand of hair behind my ear, "I prayed for this to never happen. That you were able to live a normal, mortal life and die of old age in your sleep. I prayed for you to find love, have children, and most importantly be normal."

"It is not your fault."

"It is, I made a deal and you had to face the consequence." I looked at her with a confused look, "When I was about your age, I lost my family and my mate. My life was pointless, grief could barely describe what I felt. My purpose was gone. I decided to make a deal with Hades. He would endow me with the abilities to destroy the Lycans, and in turn I had to," she paused, not wanting to verbalize the next part, "Make a baby with him."