26. Call Me Narcissus
Chapter twenty-six
Call Me Narcissus
Nicodemus
Odysseus rolled his sleeves up and set his sword on a raised cloud beside the gates before cracking his knuckles and rotating his neck.
His bronze skin illuminated against the golden gates, a tantalizing sight that was sucking me in the longer I stared at him.
His long fingers moved through his dense hair to pull his ponytail tighter, and once he was situated, he held a hand out to Avalon.
“Alright. I have exactly five hundred doorways created, so we should be able to run through these souls quickly.”
“What can I do to help?” I asked, hopeful he would find me useful.
He looked over his shoulder and cracked that sexy side-smile I dreamt about. “You get to stand there and look pretty, which shouldn’t be very hard for you.”
A raging blush crawled up my cheeks, bright enough that Avalon and Magnus snickered when they saw it. “I can help a little?” I peeped sheepishly.
“I got this covered, love. Just enjoy the view.” He flexed his right arm and planted a kiss to his bicep. “I’ve been working up a sweat all day to show off for you.”
“Gods, get a room!” Avalon laughed, shoving Odysseus before handing him his first soul. Magnus marked it on his clipboard, nodded once, then stepped back so Odysseus could begin his song and dance.
And sure enough, he was right; watching him work was breathtaking.
The first door rolled up and opened, revealing a blank landscape inside.
It was a simple white on white void, yearning for someone to bless it with its true destiny.
Odysseus cupped the soul and brought it to his ear, listening to her wishes for her forever.
Once she told him, he brought his left hand up and went from a fist to an open palm, and when it opened, a flash of brilliant golden light exploded from the center.
The light flooded the blank canvas, forming, at first, outlines of buildings, trees, and other shapes.
These shapes began to morph into a beautiful farm, with multiple buildings stretching across acres upon acres.
The soul squealed in excitement as she watched her forever form, and once Odysseus was finished with it, he curled his hands around the soul.
“Time for you to go off to your forever,” he crooned before blowing on the soul.
His breath brought the soul from a white blob to a ghostly version of the young girl I had spoken to earlier.
She was short, around 5’2, with shaggy brown hair and wide eyes.
They were black, now that she was dead, but her rosy cheeks and pink lips were beautiful against her pale skin.
“Have fun! We’ll come check on you soon! ” Odysseus cheered with a wave.
Anne-Marie blew him a kiss. “Send all the pets you can to me!”
“I most certainly will,” he chuckled, closing the door. The last thing I saw was the girl racing in circles through the fields as her laughs perfumed the clear skies.
“How beautiful is that?” Avalon cooed.
“It never gets old,” Magnus agreed.
Odysseus flicked his finger, which made the next door appear, and simultaneously went into the bag to retrieve another soul.
“Number twenty-six!” he called over his shoulder before repeating the same routine he had with the prior soul.
Once he was in his rhythm, he was going so fast that I could barely keep up.
Each doorway would be crafted into magnificent worlds for these souls, and he would breathe enough life into them that their souls would become beings once again, and they could enjoy their new homes.
Watching him made me incredibly jealous.
His element had so much love, light… life, while mine was destruction, wrath, and…
death. He gave beings new hope, happiness beyond their demise, and all I did was solidify their existence coming to an end.
I was nothing more than the middleman who forced them to move on whether they were ready or not.
I cut their lives short, split their families apart, and took them from Earth to a place where they had to wait in despair and darkness until I had time to ‘deal’ with them.
Odysseus opened his arms to every soul, to every being, and had the same loving touch for every creature he crossed. He was their new hope, their blessing for behaving while on Earth, and I their cruel punishment.
Yes, my job was harder. I had to deal with the emotional part of the journey. I had to listen to their agony, their suffering, their pain. I had to decide whether they deserved this shining beacon or the pits of evil, while all he had to do was accept them and make their dreams come true.
I realized at that moment how unfair our balance actually was.
Odysseus was the good guy no matter the circumstance.
He only had to deal with the ‘well-behaved’ souls, the ones who had already been flagged for their good behavior, and he was the one to reward them for it.
I had to be the bad guy, the mean parent, the one who made them own up to their mistakes.
Of course being a Life Elemental seemed fun; what real darkness did they have to face when Death took care of the dirty work for them?
Odysseus finished faster than I thought.
He caught me off in my own world, my mind racing a thousand miles a minute, and frowned at the way I stared off into the distance.
He closed the bag and took it from Avalon back to me, where he tugged on my sleeve to gain my attention.
“Hey, you. You did such a great job organizing these guys. They were perfectly ready to go for me,” he praised as he fixed the bag back to my belt.
“Thanks,” I blandly retorted.
“You’ll have a scythe again soon. Griffin said he was dedicating the whole day to making one for you, so hopefully, you can ditch the bag!” he tried to cheerfully say.
“I suppose so.” I did not echo his enthusiasm, and this made him frown harder.
“You two did marvelous today. Why don’t you take a break for a little bit while we wait for Seraphine to bring us her batch of souls?” Avalon suggested, sensing the awkward air around me.
“Sounds like a grand idea. I have something to show Nick anyway.” Odysseus held his hand out to me eagerly, nervous I wouldn’t take it, but I did regardless of my pessimistic thoughts.
He huffed in relief at that and tugged me back towards the palace.
His energy was so sporadic that I could tell he was very anxious, so I told myself to behave for his sake if anything.
“What did you want to show me?” I asked, lifting my tone higher.
He saw right through me but decided not to say anything. “I’ve been playing around in the lab and thought you could test some things for me.”
“I don’t know if I’m in a testing mood…” I grumbled.
His mouth pulled upright. “I bet I can change your mind?”
“Oh, really?” I taunted, my heartbeat quickening with curiosity. He took up through the palace until we were at the door of Lux Domus, which welcomed me with a familiarity I desperately needed.
The room had been transformed quite a bit since our last visit.
What once held the chaise we bled ourselves dry on was now a lavish bedroom.
A large bed with golden canopies and silk sheets was placed on the far back wall, with fluffy white rugs and comfortable chairs deliberately styled around the space.
The chaise itself had its own corner and now held fuzzy blankets and plush pillows to give it more life.
The desk had an assortment of liquids and notes scattered across it, which Odysseus gravitated towards.
“My, this place has changed quite a bit. Did Ashlynn officially move you in?” I questioned as I fingered the golden canopies surrounding the bed.
“Yes. She wanted me to have my own space when I came here, and the Lux is my favorite spot. I felt bad taking the bedroom from her, but she insisted.” He plucked a vial of gold liquid from his organizer and spun it around. “Drink this.”
“What the heck is it?” I scoffed, peering through the glass at the odd substance.
“One of my quirks as Erasmus’s Successor is that I can pull pure Life energy from my blood and make some badass healing serums. I hate the extraction part, but it was worth it to know it will help you heal up.
” He took my chin to prop my mouth open and tilt my head back.
“Be a good boy and drink it all,” he whispered in my ear, biting it softly to drive the point across.
“You’re a fucking pervert,” I blurted in a high-pitched voice, as his comment had certainly flustered me.
“Get used to it.” He poured the liquid into my mouth, which I begrudgingly swallowed.
As soon as it hit my stomach a warming feeling traveled through my veins and into my chest, where I could feel the deep pain I had been combating melt away.
I let out a purely relieved sigh as my body finally began to bounce back and licked my lips to finish up the last drops. “Feel better?” he asked hopefully.
“A million times. Who knew your bodily fluids tasted so good,” I laughed.
That stupid side-smile lifted on his cheeks again. “You would know, actually.”
“Odysseus Levasseur, you better cut the crap!” I giggled out, pushing him away playfully.
Instead of letting me push him, he grabbed my hand and spun me in a circle so he could hug me from behind.
I felt incredibly safe in his arms and nestled into his chest, laying my cheek on his exposed neck.
“Thank you for doing that for me. It helped tremendously.”
“Think you feel good enough to try something else for me?”
“Depends on what it is.”