'At this point, all I knew was that when he looked at me I feel alive, and when he's away, I can feel my soul ache...'

Thoughts as deep as the Aegean

In only two days, my life was going to spiral further down into this rabbit-hole.

The banquet.

My mind was racing with possibilities and problems that would probably never even actualise, but knowing me, and being the over-thinker that I was, I'd prepare for every eventuality. Twice.

A few days went by- I studied my notes, pestered Alexus on more dinner and social etiquette and tried on about fifteen different types of dresses; none of which made me feel like a goddess-to-be.

Alexus was being very supportive in her own way; keeping me focus on my astronomical magic and being more gentle with me during class, as my mind had the tendency to wander to which god drank what and disliked who.

Conrad kept me doubly busy with Earth magic and his reassurance that the plan, concerning my virginity, was still well underway and sure to work carried me through the long nights of insomnia. I could only smile and hope for the best...

Thanatos kept his distance like we'd agreed.

I hated it.

It was... painful. Much to my surprise.

It was awful; seeing him walk past me and only smirk and wink- like I was one of his girls. Of course, I knew it was only part of the act, but still...

I wanted more.

Some nights, as I lay in the cold, large bed, I hoped he'd sneak in and climb under the sheets with me, but for once he kept his promise. He didn't attempt anything that might raise suspicion. Why did he have to start listening to me now?

I hope he was suffering as much I was- I hope more...

I spoke to my parents more often now, whether due to a jolt of fear at the prospect of something horrible happening at the feast, or because all of this made me miss the comfort of home, I'm not entirely sure. But it was good to speak to them and to hear normality again.

Trita and Sonya had some time off from class and had decided to phone me during mine. Alexus could tell I was nervous about tomorrow, so she let me take the call to calm my nerves and to distract me from the vicious cycle of dread breeding inside my head.

We'd been talking for almost an hour now as Alexus continued her research for Hades by the big desk in the corner. Samaria was at the hospital today for a check-up so Alexus had agreed to help her out with some administrative things until she returned.

"No! But I'm serious! There are definitely more guys here than girls!" Trita's excited voice rang through the phone. I laughed at her giddiness with Sonya's giggling clear in the background.

"So what you're telling me is that I should drop out of this university and join the two of you in Ash-bridge University, because there's a higher chance of meeting Mr. Right?"

Alexus' eyes widened at my words. I shot her a look and rolled my eyes at the telephone. She smiled.

"Well, maybe not Mr. Right, but definitely Mr. Right Now?"

I snickered as Trita tried to explain to me how you need to 'sample first before you buy'.  Sonya spoke up over the loud speaker; "Well, I've found Mr. Right!"

"Yes, but you're just lucky in general..." Trita replied to her in a sour voice. Ever since Sonya had started her classes, she'd caught the eye of a young Medical student by the name of Baron. They had their first date about a week ago, where he took her out on a boat trip around the marina. She was completely smitten.

"So Sonya's on the way to a suburban house, an SUV and picking up the kids at hockey practice- what are you doing about Mr. Right, Rita?"

I waited for her reply as Sonya giggled at my words. She was definitely blushing at the thought of having a life with Baron. I wish I was there to make fun of her in person and to share her joy, rather than here, so far away from my two best friends...

Finally Trita spoke up; "I told you, I'm sampling. And making progress to boot! I now know I don't like hippies, hipsters or vegetarians."

"Vegetarians?" I laughed loudly, causing Alexus to jump slightly in her chair. I waved in apology.

"What? I like my meat."

"That sounded far more dirty than it had to be..." I nodded in approval. We'd probably be high-fiving if I were there.

"What about you?" Trita asked; her voice sly.

I pouted my lips and hummed; "Hmm... Nope, nothing going on here."

"You're joking right? You're in one of the most romantic counties in the world, and you're telling me Aurora Venerelli hasn't had any action?"

I swallowed softly. I wanted nothing more than to gush to them about- what? The god of death? Gods. Even in my own thoughts it sounded bizarre.

"I'm focused on my studies, there's nothing wrong with that." I tried to not sound as depressed as I felt. Gods, I was nineteen. I needed to life more. Go out, party and meet people who can't shoot fire from their hands...

Now that sounded difficult.

"Yeah right... I have a feeling you have someone! You just don't want us to interrogate him." Sonya spoke up; her words making my fingers fidget in guilt.

Whoops. Suppose they know me better than most people here. It's not that easy to lie to them.

Alexus suddenly caught my eye, signalling to me to end the call so we could continue the lesson. I'd already been talking to them for a hour. I felt my stomach start to churn.

I nodded. "Listen, you two, I need to go. I have class."

"Awwh!" Their groans rang out over the phone. I laughed and blew a kiss into the speaker; "We'll talk soon! Go have fun at the party. Trita don't get too drunk, and Sonya- keep your hands above the table!"

I could hear Sonya yell out; "Shut up, Venerelli!"

And Trita only laughed; "No promises, sexy. Have fun in class- Catch some hot Italian!"

What about an extremely hot Greek?

"Will do, boo. Ciao, bella!"

They both blew a kiss into the phone's speaker. I hung up, my finger lingering on the red icon on the screen. The room suddenly fell silent and my thoughts came jumbling back in landslide- now added to the list of worries was 'live a little.' Great.

"Are you ready to continue?" I looked up as Alexus made her way to the chair next to me. I smiled up at her; "Yeah, sorry that took so long. They can really talk about the silliest things non-stop."

"I understand, they're your friends." I felt like reassuring Alexus to the fact that I considered her a friend too, but I had a feeling such a display of affection would only scare her off or make her uncomfortable. The best way to show her my appreciation for all her help lately was to work hard and progress. We'd eventually get to a stage in our friendship where affection would be natural, and not a deliberate forethought.

"Thanks... Now where were we? Ice formation?"

Alexus nodded and handed me the small porcelain bowl of water we used for exercising water bending. I placed it on the table in front of me and focused my mind on the cold of the bowl. In an instant, the water crystallised, slowly at first, and then rapidly until the whole bowl was rock solid and filled with a thick, white block of ice.

Alexus ran a finger over the ice; "Well done. Perfect form and it's dense, so no chance of it being brittle."

"At least I have this going for me." I muttered. Alexus only chuckled.

"You've almost mastered water and fire, and that in only less than two weeks! I'd say your progress is astounding. We'll be done with Astronomical magic in a few weeks. How's Earth magic coming along?"

I ran a hand over the bowl's surface and watched as the ice cracked and melted swiftly until water seeped out.

"Good. I've learnt most of the potions and spells in the time before I had my magic, because that was obviously more about brewing and crafting than anything else. Now we're busy with some basic earth bending, but Conrad said you'd teach me the tricky stuff, since Astronomical magic is all about the four elements."

"Five."

I looked sideways at her, my gaze questioning.

"There are five elements actually, but I won't be teaching you the fifth. It's too difficult for mortals."

"Well, who will? And what is it?" I racked my brain to think of what it could be. I knew the four, basic elements- fire, water, earth and air, but what was the fifth one?

Alexus shook her head once and just shrugged; "Energy."

She didn't seem too happy about something. My curiosity got the better of me; "And the teacher?"

"Let's focus on this right now, and we'll talk about that later."

I raised a brow at her sudden annoyance. This was exactly how she reacted when I brought up Blood magic. She hated talking about it- so much that she even walked out of the classroom one day.

Could Blood magic and the element of energy be connected? I had a feeling they were.

"You said energy is too difficult for mortal, but yet you're not mortal, right?" I know I was pushing the bill, but I needed to know. Alexus was so closed off, and I knew nothing about her previous life before she became Hades' head mage.

"No, I am. My DNA is mortal; I just have magical abilities, as do all students here at Donata."

"Yet here you are- probably a thousand years old, but you look like you're in your mid-twenties."

Alexus sighed and leaned back in her chair; "Are we really doing this now?"

I shot her a look; "I've been nothing but honest and open with you about my past and my family and friends- I just thought that after everything we've been through in the last two months you'd at least trust me enough to tell me your age."

Alexus sighed and looked down. Her hazel eyes were cloudy and she looked tired. "Fine." She turned to me in her chair; "You're right."

I smiled softly; "So tell me where you're actually from- and don't lie like last time." I snickered remembering a while ago she'd lied about being Cleopatra's handmaiden in order to distract me during a chess match. She won the game, but I won a promise from her that she'd tell me her real story later.

It was definitely later.

Alexus tapped a long nail against the wooden surface of the desk; "Have you ever heard of the Würzburg Witch trials?"

I paused. Alexus expression was stiff and unemotional.

"No..."

"I was born in 1602, in a city called Würzburg in Germany."

"Germany?" I asked softly. I quickly realised that I was staring at Alexus' hands for too long. I blushed and quickly added; "No offense and I don't mean to be ignorant, but... Well, you don't look German?"

I'd asked Alexus before if her real hair colour was blonde, but she laughed and said she changed the colour every few decades just to keep things fresh. Her natural hair colour was a dark brown. I couldn't imagine her with anything other than the light honey she had now.

Alexus nodded; "My father was German, but my mother was a slave brought in from Africa. She was taken to Europe from her home when she was only fourteen. She was... a brave woman."

I took her hand in mine; "History was cruel and ignorant. I'm sorry she had to go through that."

Alexus smiled; the glint reaching her eyes. I squeezed her hand harder and waited for her to continue.

"In any case, I was born with the ability to do magic- like most mages. I kept it a secret for a long time. I was a hostess at a local inn; which belonged to my father at the time. I had a good friend by the name of Erika who also happened to be a mage- we met in school one day when she accidently almost burnt down the archives."

Alexus smiled, as if the face of her old friend had appeared before her. My heart ached at her words. I held onto her hand.

This was strange- hearing her speak so... candidly. Unrestrained.

"One day, all hell broke lose. A witch hunt was established all around Germany. The persecutions were orchestrated by Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn, Prince Bishop of Würzburg. He was a cruel man. He went on a brutal rampage for many years, burning and beheading innocent people whom he thought were participating in witchcraft. Some of who were mages, but most were blameless victims of his mad delusions."

I inhaled slowly and tried to focus my breathing. Alexus opened her mouth, but struggled to speak. "I've- I've never really told anyone all of this."

I scooted closer and smiled; "Take your time."

"Conrad knows and Hades and Persephone know. I had told a girl who lived in the palace quite a number of years ago, but Thanatos had thrown her out. Since then, I'd never really seen the point in getting close to anyone. He'd just get rid of them when they became boring or annoying."

My hand itched to slap Thanatos. I knew he might've changed, but he really was a nasty piece of work a few months ago. Sure, the girls wanted to be with him, so it wasn't like he was forcing anyone to do anything, but to just discard people like that- it wasn't right.

That might be partially the reason why I haven't asked him why he hasn't gotten rid of all of them yet- where would they all go? I didn't want their blood on my hands...

And who's to say he'd do that for me? He's been use to this kind of lifestyle for the past 1000 years ever since he helped Hades acquire Persephone- or at least that's what Alexus had told me.

No, I could walk in here and expect everything to just change with the snap of my fingers.

Besides, what were we? We weren't a couple. We weren't together. What did we except to result from us being together? Did he want me for sex and nothing more? Did I want a relationship?

At this point, all I knew was that when he looked at me I feel alive, and when he's away, I can feel my soul ache. What that meant, I wasn't entirely sure...

"You can get close to me. I'm here to stay. I promise."

I had no way of guaranteeing any of that, but I felt like I'd do anything in my power to realise it. Alexus deserved a friend she could open up to. Perhaps that's why she was always so cold, because she knew nothing else.

"Thank you, Aurora." She caressed my hand with hers. She looked down to gather her thoughts and courage to speak; "In 1626, I had just turned 24 and was about to get married. In those days that was rather late for a woman, but I was stubborn and I didn't love him, so I kept postponing it. Erika and I went away to a neighbouring village for a few days to prepare me for the wedding. She was already married and was trying hard to have children with her husband, Ulf. It wasn't such a bad time in our lives; it's a shame we didn't appreciate it..."

Her words drifted off into the afternoon light and her eyes grew cold.

The room hung heavy with regret.

She shook her head slightly as if to stop the memories from seeping in.

"When we got back to our hometown there was chaos." I leaned in as she spoke; "Fifty people had already been burned at the stake for witchcraft; men, women, children, even noblemen and priests. No one was safe."

"Why? On what grounds?" I asked softly. Ignorance was a deadly thing back then...
It still is.

"Anything really. If lightning happened to strike a tree close to your house it was a sign, or if you were born with two different coloured eyes or even if you just rubbed the church the wrong way. It was mass hysteria. The Prince Bishop wanted to cleanse the land of evil."

I shook my head in disbelief. Alexus continued with an unemotional tone;
"Erika was the first one to die." My heart froze at her words. She spoke them with too much composure; "She was beheaded. Luckily, not burned alive... Ulf and I had to watch. It was..." Her voice grew faint.

I grabbed her hand and brought it to my lap. "You don't need to continue. It's okay."

"No, I want to. I need to."

I nodded and let her say her say. At least she would feel better getting it off her chest and sharing her emotions with someone rather than hiding them- like I did as well. Perhaps I should tell her how confused I was about Thanatos, but today didn't seem appropriate, not while she was reliving the painful past.

"A week passed. Still remember the day so well... It was overcast and about to rain. I had no matches left, and decided to quickly create a fire with my magic just so that I could cook food for the guests. No one was meant to be home."

Alexus smiled and shook her head as if to scold herself; "I was naive. My fiancé, Edgar saw me. He nearly killed me himself, but decided to rather turn me in so he could be awarded favour by the church. I was sentenced for death. They didn't need any proof; at that stage anyone who even walked strangely was prosecuted."

I ran a hand over my temple. How horrible such a situation must've been.

"The next day I was to burned alive for my sins. My mother wept endlessly and father only drank and drank. That night though, I got a visitor."

I waited as she shifted in her seat and ran her free hand through her blond hair.

"Thanatos."

I froze; "Thanatos? Death visited you?"

She nodded solemnly; "He came to me and offered me an escape. You see, Aurora, I was extremely talented with magic even before I became Hades' head-mage. I was just born with a natural gift for it; and the council of mages at the time had spotted it. They spoke to Thanatos to offer me a deal to work for Hades, seeing as he needed a new mage after the old one died due to a Chimera bite."

I quickly scanned my brain- a Chimera was a mythological beast, with the head of a lion, the body of a goat and a snake as a tail. As if having one monster with a snake for a tail wasn't enough! Poor Cerberus... Well at least I suspect Cerberus is far friendlier than a Chimera, seeing as Chimera's are known to be quite vicious in mythology- oh, and did I mention it breathes fire?

"I agreed. I never liked my life anyway- my best friend was dead, my fiancé was a horrid monster and my future consisted of bearing children to a man I didn't love and doing a job I couldn't change. I let Thanatos kill me quickly and painlessly, and I would choose that over being burned at the stake any day. He slashed my throat with one swift motion. And... I was dead."

Alexus closed her eyes for a few seconds. My mind raced at the thought of Thanatos killing effortlessly. It was frightening...

It's so easy to forget who and what he was when he was looking at with that charming smirk.

"It was dark at first..." Alexus whispering brought me back from my dark thoughts; "And then I stood next to the river Styx with Charon gazing down at me, waiting for his gold coins."

I knew the feeling of it all- the bewilderment and the confusion. I still felt it sometimes.

"Hades appointed me as one of his mages and over the years I've moved up in the ranks, until about a hundred years ago when I became the head-mage." Alexus looked up at me with her hazel eyes.

Her face was open and she looked at me like a child would look at a parents; "And now I'm here. That's my story..."

I didn't know what to say.

So instead of wasting words I leaned in and hugged her. I held her close to my chest and ran my fingers through her hair. I never noticed it, but she smelt of red wine.

Her silent sobs trembled through the dome as the sun bathed us in its orange hue.

NEXT UPDATE- 24th of Feb; the party (\^.^/)

Thanks for the love guys Xx
Always appreciate it...