FicWad

It wasn't just raining, it was /pouring/. Even so, he ran staright out into it. Straight into the inky black, straight through the puddles, straight on into the night until his body couldn't take it anymore. He collapsed to his hands and knees under a flickering street light, his body shaking hard from the sobbing and running.

He couldn't stop crying. It was like a dam had broken inside of him, letting every single bad feeling out to drown him. The coldness of the rain and air seemed nothing compared to the icy chill residing in his chest. It felt unbearable... until he felt her fingertips brush his hair.

"Why--"

"Hush." She didn't bend down to his level -- he knew she never would -- but she did kneel down far enough to look him nearly eye-to-eye. "I know," she murmured in that almost-infuriatingly calm voice. "I know."

"My mother's gone," he said anyway, clutching at her skirt and sobbing again. He didn't care if it disgusted her, the tears and mucus running down his face, or the mud staining nearly every inch of his clothes. He didn't care about anything anymore. "My father did, too. I can't find my sister, I--!"

"Hush," she commanded, and he obeyed. He couldn't help it. "Why did your mother leave?"

"Because... Dad cheated on her. Again. But it was with..." He looked away. He knew the truth, and so did she. It was pointless to say it out loud.

And she did know. "And your father pursued?"

"Yes."

"And your sister is gone."

Again, he choked back a sob. "She left me. They all did. Dad, Mom, Lynn..."

She smirked because she knew he couldn't see her. "Who else left you, [child]? Who else isn't here with you, in a time of such desperate need?"

A clap of thunder, so loud it seemed to encompass the whole world, didn't even make him jump. "Ari," he finally shouted over the wind, shocked at the harsh crack in his his voice. "Ari left me. I loved him so, so much. I wanted to rip my heart out, that's how much I loved him. But he's gone..."

"And?" she pressed, eager for more.

"Why isn't Hermes here?" he yelled, voice cracking with despair. With every word that came out his mouth, he felt the dam repairing inside him... but it was refilling not with calm but rage. "He said he cared about me. That I could always count on him. But he isn't here now, is he?!"

"No, none of them are." Her words were like poisoned sugar, filling him with sweetness every bit as much as it was killing him inside. "But I am."

He looked up to her hopefully, the whites around his eyes showing like moons. "You'll stay with me?" he asked, the fear of her leaving making his voice rise with terror. "Please?"

"I will," she sighed. He felt her breath and wanted to die in it. "For a price."

"What for?" he murmured, clutching the fabric tighter like a child. "What for?!"

"Loyalty." The tone of her voice changed again, as different from before as spring from winter. "If I stay with you, then you have to stay with /me/. My companion, my student... my tool, to use as I please."

"What do I get back?" He knew what she wanted, and pressed on, "Will you leave my mother alone, if I stay with you? I'll do whatever you want, if you'll just do that much!"

She raised one elegant eyebrow, finally sinking down to his level, if only to pull him up to his feet as easily as picking up a feather. Her hands were on his cheeks, though they were as icy as the rain seeping through his clothes and skin. "You'll be my tool, to use as I please, no qualms given?"

He didn't even hesitate.

"I swear."

Her smile curled, ever so reminiscent of a cat's as she pulled him to her chest and wrapped his arms around his head in something that may have been meant as a hug. Maybe. "Don't worry, my dear," she whispered into his ear. "I will love you twice as much to make up for their love."

"Forever?"

The sky seemed to explode with lightning.

"Forever."