Page 13 of Hades

“You wanted to talk, so talk,” I say as I take a seat, tired of this game of power he seems to be trying to play. Perhaps he doesn’t remember exactly who I am, or why there is no power struggle between us. To me, he is still Aradia’s little brother, seven years her junior, making him a child in my eyes.

He sits opposite me without a word. As Alastor leans forward, I can see the distress on his face that I hadn’t noticed before.

“About a year ago, I woke up one morning remembering I had a sister.”

I do my best to keep my composure at his confession, but it’s a shock to hear anyone say they remember Aradia.

“Yet, no one I spoke with had the same recollection. People I’ve known for thousands of years have never even heard of her name.” With his hand balled into a fist, he slams it down on the leather arm of the chair. It’s easy to see his emotions play out before me. They are the same ones I have every time I see Aradia and know that we were robbed of our future and our past.

“Go on,” I encourage while holding back my emotions until I know what he knows or how he came to know it. I won’t lethopeinto my heart. Hope is nothing but a false god that will let you down time after time.

I’m riveted listening to him, although I can’t help my mind from wandering back to the day everything changed for Aradia and me. It had never occurred to me in all this time that the family she once had could one day miss her as I do.

After all, how can you miss something you never even knew you had?

It always seemed like such an impossibility, yet here is her brother… remembering.

Like me, so many times when I start to think about what could have been, Alastor stands and begins to pace the room. I’ve been in his spot before. It’s a rollercoaster of emotions that you are not prepared for.

“Over the past year, there has been one other whose memory of a relationship with Aradia has become crystal clear to me. And that’s you. I’ve had associates of mine looking for you ever since. So, tell me, doyouremember her?”

I let out a small chuckle. “I never forgot her,” I admit. “At least now I know where the dog came from. I couldn’t figure out how she would happen to come across a Hellhound at the local shelter. Now I know.”

“She needs to be protected,” he snaps.

I let out another chuckle because he has no idea. He’s remembering his sister being a goddess, not human. “Protection from what? Currently, two people in all the universes remember the name Aradia, and we’re sitting in the same room. Presumably, on the same side,” I add, not knowing if his memory is part of Themis’ plan or a happy coincidence.

“At first, I thoughtfromyou. Then maybe Themis, but I’m not so sure. I just didn’t want her to be alone without someone who would die to protect her. The Hellhound was the best I could do.”

“You know she named him Hades, don’t you?” I ask as he sits back down. “So tell me, what do you know?”

“Only that one day I had a sister, and the next I had no memory that she ever existed. So, I have to say I know shit about what the hell is going on. But the moment my contact said you were here, and so was Aradia, I knew it wasn’t a coincidence.”

I take a deep breath and do my best to control the myriad of emotions coursing through me. “First, you need to know that I love Aradia. I’ve always loved her and never meant to hurt her,” I implore with every ounce of truth I have in me.

“There’s clearly abutin that sentence, so why don’t you get to the point,” Alastor snaps, and for a moment, I want to remind him who he’s dealing with.

I take a second to gather my thoughts. I’ve learned over the years that Themis has betrayed all the Arcs on whom she cast judgment, twisting and plotting for her gain. But this… this is a betrayal of her flesh and blood. Alastor and Aradia are her children, and anyone who could so easily cast out their own should never be trusted.

With a deep inhale, I start from the beginning, “Your sister and I had been having a relationship for years. Neither of us thought that we needed to keep it secret. But because of the rift between your mother and my family, we didn’t flaunt it. No one besides us thought our relationship was as serious as it was.” I gaze up to see if Alastor is paying attention, and he’s riveted to the story, so I continue, “Like I said, I love her, but it’s more than that. She is my soul in its entirety. Without her, I’m a fraction of the man I could ever even hope to be.” My voice cracks, and for a moment, I don’t think I can go on.

The emotion coursing through me is so intense that I have to stop to compose myself. Alastor sits across from me, nodding his head in agreement, or perhaps he is also lost in a memory.

“I remember. I would cover for the two of you when you would go off together. Aradia would beg me to keep her secret and tell our mother she was with a friend. My mother hated you, and I never understood why.”

“Hate would be the understatement of the millennium. Themis never thought very highly of me. I was never going to be suitable for her only daughter. I don’t fucking know… maybe she was right all along. Maybe I’m not good enough for Aradia,” I admit, and it sounds ridiculous, but every time we’re together, Aradia pays the price, and I’m stuck with another memory, so maybe we are better off.

“I still don’t understand why no one knows who she is. I didn’t remember having a sister until a year ago.”

I let out a long sigh. “Themis caught us together. I don’t know how, but she did. She cursed Aradia to eternal human existence, and when she did that, she wiped everyone’s memory clean of her only daughter. Everyone except me.” My voice falters, remembering that day and watching Aradia disappear into nothingness. “I’ve watched her live thousands of lives. I’ve watched her love and been there as she’s taken her last breath, only to be reborn repeatedly. It’s been fifty years since I’ve stepped foot on this side.”

Alastor’s brow furrows, and I know I’ve lost him again. There is so much to this curse that knowing where to begin is impossible. I’ve lived with it for so long that it’s just who I am now.

“So why are you here now?” he asks.

Isn’t that the million-dollar question?

“Fucking Reaver,”I grumble to myself. I wouldn’t have opened Pandora’s box if he hadn’t needed to see Kennedy. But I felt bad for the guy, and that’ll teach me to be nice to anyone but myself ever again.

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