Chapter 74

Elika sat down in the wooden chair, the one that reminded her of an ancient mortal torture device, because regardless of her feelings, she had to do what Darkous told her to. Because even if she doesn’t have the courage to fight back just yet, she will one day, she just hopes that day comes sooner rather than later. She doesn’t know how much more of this she can handle.

“What are you going to do?” She asks Hades, her eyes wide as he strapped her wrists to the wooden arms of the chair. “Is it going to hurt me?”

Elika didn’t want it to hurt, she didn’t want to be experimented on either, but as always, her choice was taken away from her.

Darkous would never allow her to defy him or Hades, or anyone else he deemed to be above her. But she just didn’t understand the need for all of this.

They already know what she could do, what difference does it make to poke her with needles?

It was a stupid, crazy idea, and if her uncles were anything, they were definitely a little crazy.

Hades doesn’t respond to her, he turns his back on her and begins typing on a computer, and no matter how much she strained to look, she couldn’t see exactly what he was doing.

Elika turns to Darkous, her eyes wide with fear, “don’t let him hurt me.” She says softly, “I’ll do as you command, I promise.”

“Hades can help you enhance your power and make you stronger.” Darkous tells her, “and pain is a part of that, it is a price you must pay for results.”

“But I don’t want to be stronger.” Argues the girl, “I am strong enough to end the war, you said so yourself.”

“Enough.” Hades snaps, turning back around with a needle in his hand, his blackened eyes lit with rage.

“What’s that?” She asks, eyeing the needle as she tries to break free from the straps binding her to the chair.

The room begins to rumble and quake, the ground beneath them trembling as the girl gasped and panted for breath, her fear getting the better of her. She could argue all she wanted, they were never going to listen to her, if she wanted to get out of this, she’d have to do it herself.

She called upon the darkness, grasping it tightly within herself, but before she could bring it forward, she felt a sharp pain in the side of her neck, her body going utterly limp.

The power reversed and the quaking stopped so suddenly that some of the containers of strange liquids slipped from their shelves and crashed into the ground.

Elika cried as her eyes blurred, “what have you done to me?” She asks in a frantic tone.

“It was only something to help you relax.” Hades chuckled, “you truly believe that I am the monster all the stories say I am, don’t you?”

“You haven’t shown me that you aren’t.” The princess shrugs, though the movement was harder than she expected.

Her entire body felt heavy and sore, and though she didn’t feel as frantic anymore, now all she wanted to do was sleep for a long, long time.

“I’m so tired.” She says to no one and yet everyone at the same time.

“Just go to sleep.” Hades says gently, “you’ll feel better when you next wake up.”

Hades strokes the hair from her face, softly telling her that it was all going to be ok, and that soon, she’d have everything she wanted in life. They just had to defeat her father first.

Darkous chuckled when her eyes rolled into the back of her head, the princess slipping away into a dreamless sleep.

“I’ve never seen you talk so softly to anyone you’ve wanted to experiment on before.” Darkous says, stepping forward to examine the girls sleeping form.

He felt protective over her, but he knows that whatever Hades had planned for her would be useful in the future. He didn’t do anything without reason.

“I’m impressed that you found her at all.” Hades says, tapping away on his computer. “I thought for certain that she was lost to us.”

“She was hiding out as a high school student, and she was living in a mortal orphanage.” Darkous shakes his head as he leans against one of the counters. “It amazes me that she’d want that sort of life, why go to school when every single person there would die before her?” He runs a hand through his knotted hair, “a long time before her if I have a say in it.”

Hades stops typing and turns towards his brother, deep in thought. “she’s never known any semblance of a normal childhood, perhaps that is why she chose to go to school, she wanted a taste of what she was never allowed to have.” He looks at the sleeping girl, “or maybe she thought it was a good place to hide, we won’t know unless we ask her, I guess.”

Darkous nods, agreeing with his brother, “So tell me, what is it you are going to do and how long will it take?” He moves to sit on one of the stools, “I have to get her trained if we are ever going to actually win the war.”

Hades walks past his brother without uttering a single word, instead completely focused on his task, and not on the lord of hell. It angered Darkous, but he knew better than to interrupt his brother when he was busy in the lab. It was as good as a death sentence.

After several minutes of silence and watching Hades rummage through the endless shelves of vials, Darkous decides it would be better if he left, he didn’t have to stay and watch, and he isn’t entirely sure that he wants to.

He’d much rather go and see Michael, Or Darren or even Joey, because although each of them are equally annoying, they are the closest things that he has to friends, and he will hold onto them as long as he can.

They stood by him when no one else had the courage to fight, and he will never forget all they tried to do to save Lily. She was, and always will be, the love of his life.

But, once Elika was older, more mature, he would wed her, not because he loved her, but because they could rule the realms together as one. They just had to kill his brother first.

Elise belongs to him, right now she is his prisoner, but it doesn’t always have to be that way. They could have a decent life together, with many children.

It doesn’t have to always be a fight.

Darkous wakes at his brother as he heads for the door, not that Hades’ even notices, he is too busy preparing a syringe liquid that he plans to inject into the girl.

The lord of hell almost feels sorry for her, but sacrifices need to be made in order to win the war, and he will destroy everything and everyone around him just to win.

Atlas will never do what he intends and destroy the outer realms, Darkous will not allow it. Those people are innocent of all crimes they are accused of committing.