"The tea tasted like mint- so did his tongue..."

Unforgiving Scarlet

The nightmares were back- doubly long and freighting.

I was lucky enough to avoid them the previous night- the night I spent in Thanatos arms and the night that shall henceforth never again be mentioned- for some unknown reason. Probably because Thanatos repels even the scariest of entities.

Swell guy...

But I wasn't as lucky after my horrible dinner date. It seems my nightmares had gotten angrier by my disappearance- or rather, it seemed like the strange woman was getting impatient.

She was there again- under that same tall tree, among the endless rows of lavender. Her bright green eyes caught me off guard at first; she seemed angry. I walked towards her, passing the large mirror which, for some reason, still didn't show my reflection. It sent a shiver up my spine.

"Why..."

At first I thought the wind had spoken, but then noticed that her lips had moved. Her voice was soft and airy- and so inhuman.

"Why what?"

"Why could I not reach you?"

I paused in front of her thin form. She was seated in front of the tree, her legs crossed and her eyes lifted up to meet mine. A scowl ran across her pretty face.

"I'm not sure, but... " I paused. Perhaps upsetting this ghost-like entity was a bad idea, but then again- if I could survive pissing off Death, I could probably stand up to her as well.

"Look..." I said as I sat down in front of her, my hands grazing the soft long grass; "These nightmares- they need to stop. I can't sleep at night and right now I need all the energy I can get."

She only stared.

I sighed and looked down to the grass; my mind searching for the right words.

"Who are you? Why are you here? What is all of this?" I gestured to the endless field behind me, but she only stared at me with vacant eyes.

"You're not sure..."

I pursed my lips as she ignored my words. She only stared at me from under her lashes. I moved closer.

"No, I don't know why, but I'm glad you couldn't reach me. These dreams- they scare me... You need to understand that I'm-"

"I need not understand anything!" With a sudden jolt, the woman sprang up from the grass and towered over me; her nostrils blazing.

She was oddly intimidating- her cat-like eyes full of calculation.

"You are only here because of me!"

"Where is 'here'?" I stood up and screamed back at her; my patience equally low. I'm not sure if it was the lack of sleep or food, or the fact that I wasn't one for being pushed around, but I took a step closer to her, showing her that I had no fear; "The last time we spoke you told me to be careful for someone close to me- did you mean you? Because these dreams are a plague! And I want them to stop!"

"I cannot stop them! And you would be wise not to anger your only real help."

"Help? Is this what you call 'help'?"

She only stared as I scoffed and swung my arms behind my head in defeat.

"I am so tired of all this secrecy."

"Perhaps you are not yet ready..."

I shook my head at her solemn expression; a frustrated tear threatening to fall.

"Ready for what?"

"I will try again later."

"Wait, what?"

She was gone. She disappeared before my eyes, the patch of grass where she'd stood still flattened. I cried out in anger and the loud noise echoed down the planes towards the horizon. Nothing made sense anymore!

I gripped my head between my hands and began to tug at my hair; "Wake up! Wake up, wake up..."

I walked around the empty field, tugging at flower heads, while I kept chanting the same thing over and over, and eventually my prayers were answered.

I woke up in an empty, cold bed.

The sky outside was a dark grey, and Alexus didn't wasn't too happy that I'd slept through the ringing of my alarm clock.

"How was dinner, my lady?"

Opis asked as he brought in a trolley of assorted foods for breakfast. I'd gotten dressed in a white, simple dress laid out the night before, and Alexus stood by the balcony staring down into the courtyard. She was being particularly quiet this morning.

"Short."

I quickly devoured a fresh croissant and grabbed another; my stomach was aching from hunger.

Opis smirked. "Yes..." He drawled, "The master did seem a tad morose this morning."

I scoffed; nearly chocking on a piece of bacon. "Hmph."

Opis bowed shortly and left the room noiselessly. Alexus waited until he was gone before she turned to me; her words momentarily stilled as she saw me engulf a plate of scrambled eggs.

"You didn't enjoy dinner then?"

"I didn't even get to eat anything..."

Her eyes widened. I could see the apprehension flash across her face. I rolled my eyes in response before getting up from the table so I could reach for another croissant.

"Relax, I didn't sleep with him."

Her shoulders relaxed and she slowly nodded her head. Alexus sigh was one of relieve; "Oh..."

"You don't need to worry- I'm not infected. I told you I'm not like the others."

She walked over, grabbing a chair and a cup of hot coffee, before she sat down next to me. "What happened?"

I shrugged and popped a piece of the newly buttered croissant into my mouth; "Nothing much. We argued, he asked me to leave and I left."

"That's all? He didn't even try to seduce you?"

"He probably wanted to, but I think I annoyed him too much. My anger got the better of me."

"Well, if you ask me, he deserves it. He's a scoundrel."

"Hmm..." I mumbled with a full mouth of delicious food, "Amen to that..."

Alexus stifled a chuckled; I could feel her brooding eyes on the side of my face as she sipped at her cup.

"You know, Aurora, I had the wrong impression of you." Alexus gave me a small smile and her eyes looked at me with amusement; "I figured because you're so beautiful, and clearly important to the gods, that you were going to be difficult to work with, but I suppose I was wrong."

I smiled at her; my cheeks round from chewing.

So damn sophisticated...

She laughed. "Not a lot of people dare talk to me the way you did yesterday. Most of these girls won't even glance in my direction. You've got some nerve..."

"Well, I don't consider myself a pushover." I poured myself some mint-scented tea, "Which is probably the reason Thanatos and I don't get along that well. I bet he wishes I was a little more submissive."

Alexus chuckled and sipped at her coffee; "Hmm...He's probably giving some poor soul on Earth a rough time. Opis mentioned to me earlier that he was up all night mumbling cusses and throwing books around."

I paused, the teacup stopped right before my lips could touch it. Alexus continued to chuckle, Thanatos' dismay clearly greatly entertaining; "He's like a child when he doesn't get what he wants..."

I smiled at her from the side, pretending that the fact that he was clearly upset didn't affect me in the slightest.

Why was he so upset? After all, didn't he just consider me another toy?

'Aurora, you're different...' He'd said that to me last night; his eyes were so... sincere. 

I shook my head and tried to think of something else. The tea tasted like mint- so did his tongue.

Right-put the cup down.

"Tea not good?"

"Ah, no... It's too hot."

"Well, you should be off in any case. Conrad doesn't like to be kept waiting."

"Oh, and how much does he like it when students don't finish preparation?" I glanced at the books on the desk. A thick, brown book lay open on the side, but that's about all I got to. With everything going on I hadn't even thought about going to class today. This wasn't the kind of impression I wanted to give Conrad on the first day as his student. 

Alexus smirked and stood up from her seat. "I'm sure he'll go easy on you. It's the first day after all..."

I sighed and walked over to the desk to gather my things. I'd forgotten how heavy this pile was. A sexy Greek god could really come in handy right about now.

Alexus waited for me on the other side of the room, by the balcony. With a wave of her hand, a loud crackling noise rung through the room and before my eyes a small, lilac-coloured spiral started to appear- it grew bigger and wider until it was about the same size as the glass door behind it.

A portal.

I took a deep breath.

"This will be your travelling mode every morning until you develop your own in time."

A sliver of excitement ran up my arms. I can't imagine anything like this coming from me? It was more beautiful every time I saw it...

"Will it take long to learn how to make this?"

"For regular mages, it's nearly impossible, but for a descendant of Hecate- well, I'm sure you'll figure it out soon enough."

No pressure.

"Probably a silly question, but why is your portal purple? Conrad's is grey and Thanatos' is black with speckled stars. Is it just by chance?"

"Each mage or god has an aura, and the colour of your aura translates into your magic. My aura is a light purple, Conrad's is grey and Thanatos, well, he's a god, so it will appear slightly more elaborate."

"That's really...cool..." For the lack of a better word.

I smiled brightly and stared in wonder as the light purple flecks of dust and glitter floated slowly around, creating a cosmic spiral. I wanted to touch it, but I had a feeling that would only send me into the portal and out the other side.

"I wonder what my colour is..."

Alexus held her hand out to the portal, a knowing smile on her cherry-coloured lips; "Why don't you find out?"

"Aurora, dear! How did you sleep? Is the palace satisfactory?" Conrad asked as he greeted me with open arms; a pair of white spectacles sitting comfortably on the bridge of his nose. He smiled at me in the same manner my grandfather always did.

I gathered my footing after the swift landing from the portal. Luckily none of the books got lost in there; I tried to hug them as close to my chest as possible.

"Good, thank you, and the palace is breath-taking! I've never seen anything like it..."

"Hmmm... It is rather ostentatious, but glorious nonetheless; then again- that's Thanatos for you."

I nodded in agreement. That's one way to describe Thanatos- 'ostentatious'. (No, not glorious. Okay, maybe in some regard...)

"I see you brought back the books?'

"Oh, wasn't I supposed to?"

"Oh, no, no... They're for you to study at home." The old man turned his back to me and my eyes drooped down into a slant.

Some clearer instructions would've been helpful...

I sighed softly and dropped the heavy pile onto the nearby desk with a thud. My mentor's study looked just as disorganised as the first day I saw it. I relaxed my shoulders as I glanced to the window. I was back in the real world- it felt strangely less colourful. The air was different too- heavier.

Conrad quickly turned around to hand me a feather.

He placed it in my hand. I stared at it, and then at him.

"Uh-"

"This is a feather."

"Yes, I suppose it is, isn't it..."

He smiled excitedly. "Well..."

I blinked at him.

"Make it float, dear girl!"

I glanced at the feather again and back up to his smiling face. He wasn't joking? The feather in my palm moved silently from the morning breeze that floated through the open window.

My eyes grew wide and I realised then that I probably should've read through those books a bit more.

Conrad laughed suddenly, his reading glasses bouncing up and down; "Don't look so frightened! Come now it's easy."

"I don't know where to begin?"

"Well, let's see... What magic have you done before? How did you start then?"

I paused, my eyes automatically falling to the floor in embarrassment and my cheeks stained red. My voice came out in a squeak; "I've never done any magic before..."

For a moment I thought Conrad might've left the room, but as I looked up he as rubbing his chin with his forefinger; a look of serious contemplation in his eyes. I tilted my head, waiting for a response to my predicament.

The feather tickled my hand.

"Interesting... Very interesting..."

I glanced around the room. I was already the worst student here and class had only just begun. Can't catch a break, can I?

"Nothing at all, you say?" He glanced own at me, his eyes calculating rather than angry or disappointed, like I'd expected them to be. "Well, except for the fact that I can read, write and speak Latin for some unknown reason- No, nothing."

"Latin, hmmm..." The old teacher turned to his books; paging through some thick glossy manual. I waited; my eyes on the feather. I tried to focus on it with all of my strength.

Come on! Lift!

You're a feather, dammit! It can't be that hard!

Maybe a more 'Thanatos-orientated' method would work better in this situation?

Do my bidding feather, or suffer the consequences!

Yeah, no... Not me.

I sighed.

"Ah! Yes, that makes sense!" Conrad exclaimed as he turned around to face me, his hands clamped together in agreement, "You see Aurora, we've never had such a case of deity-replacement before, so you must understand that everything is new and unknown, but from what I've read on nearly similar cases and from my own personal experience, some deity traits can be passed down to devoted followers, students and, in your case, descendants."

I nodded my head slowly, as Conrad began to pace.

"Let me put this in simple terms- For instance; look at me, and all other mages. We are all gifted with the ability of magic; from Hecate. You, being a direct descendent, had an involuntarily stronger bond to her than most mages, hence, you're talent to adopt different forms of magic with ease. Well, that's what we speculate in any how..."

I wiggled the feather in my palm and tried to focus on its movement- there must be some way to unlock my magic?

"So, I should have the ability, but no one is one-hundred percent sure?"

"Indeed."

"What if you're wrong? What if I don't have it?"

I'm free? I go back to normal? I don't think so... I don't think anything in my life could be normal again.

Would I even want that?

"Aurora," Conrad stopped his pacing; his wise grey eyes bore into mine; "If this Latin ability isn't proof enough, then either you have a ridiculously good photographic memory or you're accusing me of being wrong- and you do not want to do that."

I laughed as he smirked. The relieve of knowing that there was little chance of me being the wrong candidate for the job was sudden and unexpected. I tried not to think too much about it, but the nagging feeling at the pit of my stomach told me it had something to do with a certain pissed-off god. I pushed the thought to the deepest corners of my mind.

This wasn't the time or place...

"I'll tell you what; tomorrow we shall perform an 'invenio' spell. It's a rather tricky spell that's specifically used to locate magic. I will prepare everything before you arrive so we can root out the source of your problem. Perhaps something is blocking your magic?"

"Okay, thank you, Conrad. I'm sorry about this, I had no idea-"

"Hush, child. It's not your fault. Besides, you don't need magic to know the basics. At least by rehearsing the steps before you perform you have little chance of making a fool of yourself, no?"

"Wise words..." I laughed as Conrad tapped his finger against his temple, a sly smile on his lips.

This was going to be fun.

"Now, some theory on mind manipulation and barrier creation. We'll start with that today and carry on until Thursday. Any questions before we begin?"

"Yes, I've been having these strange dreams?"

"Ah, a natural side-effect of the change probably. Another reason for your apparent lack of magic could be because you haven't fully transitioned yet. Like I said- you are the first case of its kind, so we need to monitor your happenings along the way."

I opened my mouth to ask Conrad about the strange woman from my dreams, but stopped before any words could leave past my lips- she had told me to be careful of those close to me. That included Conrad. Unfortunately, no matter how much I felt I could trust this man; I had no guarantee. So I bit back my words and smiled.

The only person I could trust with that bit of information was Thanatos, since the woman had agreed that he was dangerous, but not to me. Thanatos wasn't the threat, but he definitely was angry with me, so best to keep a safe distance for now.

Conrad was busy rambling on about some or other philosopher who'd made great strides in mind matter. I steadied my mind against my doubts and uncertainties, and focused all my energy and attention on his lecture.

I wasn't going to let this get me down; heaven knows I need some good luck in my life right about now...

So let's get to work.

Hey guys! Hope you missed me ;)

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

(Margot Robbie- Woman from dreams...)