Black Blood
POV: Alexandra
Jheelis helped me out of the study since I was dizzy and Dana helped him to take me up the stairs. They placed me in my bed. Dana said she should have my mother call a doctor to come see. They both left my room and I sighed, “Why does this stuff always have to happen to me?” Aphrodite appeared before me, “Because with all the advantages you have in life, the universe has a way to balance your life.” I looked up at her as she appeared, “Is that why you are here? To answer that question?” She shook her head, “Not exactly, I came because of the conundrum with Lucien. It is partially my fault he is in the mess but with your current predicament, I can say that a doctor will not be able to explain it. Oh, sure they can do their little water magic diagnosis.” I shuddered at the thought, “Oof, don’t remind me of that. It feels like I’m drowning every time. I don’t know if I will ever get used to that.” She sighed, “As I was saying, they won’t be able to diagnose you properly. What you have is not physical, it is…I guess you would say more spiritual. You went through something in purgatory, I’m not yet sure what but something was done to you there. Something was implanted in your memory and once you remembered that…your body was triggered. It will take some investigation though.” I looked up at her, “Is there anything to be done about this ‘bleeding’ in the meantime?” She shrugged, “Not that I know of. Perhaps medicine is your remedy for that but it won’t find the root cause. It’ll show up as a tumor or something like it.” I nodded, “And what about Lucien? Is he able to be cured of his particular ailment?” She nodded, “Yes, I think so. It would be infinitely difficult but better than just leaving him to have to abdicate. All Mighty would rather he remain on the throne than the alternative.”
A knock sounded at the door and my mother rushed in before I could answer her, “Jheelis said you were bleeding black stuff. Whatever is that anyhow?” Aphrodite answered, “It is demon blood.” My mother gasped, “Demon blood! Do you mean to tell me that she is a demon now?” Aphrodite shook her head, “She came close when she was in purgatory. We were able to pull her out in time.” She looked up at Aphrodite, “Then how did she get demon blood in her?” Aphrodite sighed, “Typically when she becomes a God she will bleed golden ichor. Unless she comes to the underworld as Hades’ demons then she would bleed black like she is now. Because she was in purgatory speaking with one of his demons she might have been infected with the blood. Since she came close to becoming one of them, she might have picked up some…rather undesirable things while there. I will have to convince Hades to come up here and have a look at her. He won’t be pleased. I will have to find a way to entice him. This will take careful strategy so, of course, I will discuss this with Apollo. He can find a way to get him here to have a look.” My mother remarked that she should do so in a hurry so they could figure out if this was a bigger problem than what she believed. The two women then had a long discussion about how they might go about getting Hades to come see me. I asked why he hated me so much. Aphrodite shook her head, “He doesn’t hate you per se, it is what you represent.” I shrugged, “And what is it that I am meant to represent?” She walked up to my bed and patted my hand, “You represent love, he’s never known it. He doesn’t understand it. He doesn’t really like me either.” I furrowed my brow, “I thought he had Lady Persephone.” She shook her head, “A human myth to make him seem more human. He has not known love.” I sighed, “So you’re saying he’s lonely…that’s…sad.” She shook her head, “How can you be lonely if you don’t know what love is? No, he’s not lonely…he’s ignorant.”
Dana knocked on the door and came in, “Your Grace, Doc has come from the Citadel to check on Her Grace.” My mother rose from the bed, “Send him in then.” She disappeared from the room for a while and Doc came in not long after. He did an examination along with that dreadful water diagnosis test that I hated so much. He sighed upon reading the results, “Inconclusive. It says you might have a tumor but it is inconclusive. Do you still have a headache?” I shook my head, “Surprisingly, no.” He nodded and asked, “Dizzy still?” I shook my head and he smiled, “Well, I don’t think we have anything physical that we need to worry about but I imagine your soul mother is here for a reason?” Aphrodite stepped forward and explained the whole situation. Doc nodded, “That explains the weird diagnosis. I think this is more along the lines of the spiritual nature, Your Grace. I believe your daughter is the picture of health. I think I should be going now.” My mother nodded, “Thank you for coming out here to check on my daughter, Doc. It is most appreciated.” He shook his head, “Always my honor to assist the young lady. She was of great assistance when we were in the Glades.” My mother escorted him out along with Dana which left Aphrodite alone with me again.
She cleared her throat, “As I was saying before your mother came in, with Lucien’s issue, timing is everything. We always are slaves to the lunar calendar with these things. In Vellum, in two days, there is going to be a bright purple moon. They call it the Lover’s Moon. We will have to meet with Lucien then. We will need your blood so you will have to be a willing participant.” I gave her a knowing smirk, “No, I won’t do it. You can’t make me…of course, I’m willing.” She laughed, “Yes, what was I thinking….oh…hmm.” I sat up, “What is it? Is there something wrong?” She nodded, “Well, you see….your blood…it is…hmm…how do I put this?” I sighed in frustration, “You can just spit it out, Aphrodite. You don’t need to feel like you have to be delicate for me.” She looked down, “Your blood is tainted, it won’t help Lucien until we can find a way for us to fix it. He’ll be stuck until we can fix your blood and the Lover’s Moon comes back.” I hated to ask how often the moon that we needed to come around, came around but we had to get to the root of the matter and it seemed like Aphrodite was not willingly giving up information today without a little prodding. This led me to believe this moon didn’t come around very often. I closed my eyes and asked the dreaded question, “And how often does that moon come around?” She sighed, “Every twenty-five years.” My eyes shot open wide, “Twenty-five years?! We need to come up with a solution to my issue fast then. Otherwise, Vellum might be doomed to have Melody as Queen.” She nodded, “That’s not ideal for anyone.” She tapped the foot of my bed, “Well since we are in such a time crunch, I guess I should go strategize with Apollo.” She disappeared without so much as a goodbye. You could tell that the whole conversation was uncomfortable for her.
I sighed, “It really is too bad that I cannot summon Hades myself.” The room answered back with silence for a short time. A voice answered back unexpectedly, “And why can’t you?” I gasped to hear Hades’ voice in my room without one of my soul parents forcing him to come to me. He materialized in my room at the foot of my bed, “You need only ask, child.” I sat up and looked at him, “I thought you hated me.” He chuckled a little, “And what makes you think that?” I sighed, “The general distaste you have shown me up to this point.” He sauntered over to the chair sitting at the side of my bed where my mother had once sat. He sat down and shook his head, “Distaste? No. You’re a nuisance to my work sometimes. I don’t understand your powers either. So, what is it that you need from me, child?” I looked at him, “I was in purgatory not long ago.” He hummed, “Yes, I had heard one of my demons had come in contact with you. It is quite why I’m willing to help you out. You helped me to understand that he was trying to undermine me by crowning you the Queen of Purgatory. That is still my domain, you see. It would be quite inconvenient if there was an uprising there. Your encounter there exposed the fact that there are forces plotting behind my back. So what can I do for you?” I reached over and found the handkerchief that Jheelis had used to show me the demon blood that was oozing out of my nose. I handed it to him and he nodded, “Infected?” I nodded, “Yes, it seems as though the demon I encountered messed with my blood. I need to figure out how to fix my blood by tomorrow night.” He hummed again, “And why do you have to figure it out by tomorrow night? Is there something special?” I proceeded to explain to him the significance of the timing. He sighed, “Well, this would be inconvenient for my work. Brigit informs me that if Melody Maigny becomes Queen then my work gets infinitely harder. I would imagine if she has him wrapped around her finger, she would have total power here in Vellum. Her racism is a problem too. She would likely try to conquer the other realms in the pursuit of pyrio supremacy and reversion to their primitive ways. I thank you for bringing this to my attention.” I hopped up from the chair, “You will have to excuse me, I need to go back to the Underworld for a time. Expect to hear back from me soon. I will have you fixed up soon.”
He disappeared without saying goodbye as well. I sighed and rolled over in bed. I closed my eyes and fell asleep. I heard knocking a time later and someone calling out my name. I rolled back over and opened my eyes. I stared up at the person calling out to me, it was Hades. He smirked down at me, “You seem rather peaceful lying there but I do need you to wake up so we can take care of the business of fixing you. I really don’t want the consequences of you going unfixed. I spoke with Brigit and it isn’t a pleasant future.” I sat up and rubbed my eyes, “It’s bright in here.” He nodded, “It is morning, I believe you probably slept through the night.” My stomach decided to place a poorly timed and loud grumble out there. I wrapped my arms around my stomach, “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t have dinner because I passed out so early.” He chuckled, “Oh well…that is understandable. You semi-mortals need to eat to survive after all. You’re not as fragile as humans but hunger can still kill you nonetheless. Shall I come back until after you have had breakfast?” I shook my head vigorously, “Oh no, I don’t think that would have any bearing on why you are here. Right?” He nodded, “Yes, you are right.” He reached into the breast pocket of his black and white pinstripe coat. He handed me a very small vial of black liquid. I took it and sighed and he chuckled, “Don’t worry, it isn’t tainted like the last one you received from a God. I made this one myself. I think we can now call ourselves friends since you assisted me with a couple of issues.” I nodded, “I’m glad you understand it isn’t personal that I am skeptical of any vial of liquid handed to me.” I took the vial to my lips and downed it, it tasted a bit like apple pie. I furrowed my brow at him and he smirked, “I made it to taste like a human food that I understand you very much enjoy.” I corked the vial and handed it back to him, “That was awfully thoughtful.” He tucked it back in his pocket, “I must warn you that the medication will expel the rest of the tainted bits in your blood. You will have a lot more nose bleeds today. You’ll be done by nighttime as promised.”
