"I am invincible, as long as I am alive."
- John Mayer
Ophelia awoke feeling confused, she was in a room that she didn't at first recognize from the grogginess of the infectious scratch, she quickly realized she had been there once before, it was Damien's living room and she was laying on the couch. Ophelia had no memory of coming here on her own accord, the last thing she remembered was curling up into the fetal position in the grass back at her University.
She yawned and stretched as her fingers ran over the fabric of the blanket that lay upon her body. If he chose to save her, she wondered why she felt a bit sick still. She knew about his mystical healing properties but didn't feel new again like she had the first time. As grateful as Ophelia was for being saved, she knew Damien wasn't what he seemed.
An argument erupted from a nearby room with Damien's voice being the most dominant and loud, Ophelia struggled to get up off the couch, her body feeling stiff, her arm still burning, made her way way to the source of the fight, the basement. The door to the basement was engraved with beautiful carvings done by a carpenter hundreds of years ago, it was the kind of the door that screamed "keep out", Ophelia persisted and went downstairs, the hallway dimly lit by candles. The stone wall carried cobwebs and dust, the smell of stale air filled her nose. The basement was like unlike anything she had ever seen before, it was full of things no mortal had ever seen before. Jars of various ingredients lined the shelves on the wall with things like, werewolf hair, vampire's fang, and chimera saliva. Ancient books with gold lettering laid about, some open, some closed covered with dust. A glowing green pendant hung from an iron hook on the wall.
Damien and Ajax argued over something that Ophelia could only compare to a witches cauldron, they hadn't yet realized she was listening to them.
"Give it more time and she'll be dead and we can go back to our regular lives, I've been on Earth for too long, Damianos," Ajax was in his true demon form which Ophelia wasn't yet accustomed too. Ajax feared that if he spent too much time on Earth, he would form a soul as he was a demon and his home was in the Underworld.
"I don't expect you to understand, I expect you to try to accept her for what she is, as I do," Damien shrugged off the complaints.
Ophelia cleared her throat revealing herself from behind the curtain that blocked the doorway, her hand on her hip, her eyes narrowed at Ajax.
Ajax growled under his breath, storming off back upstairs, he had no desire to be around Ophelia, or Damien when he was under her influence, although Ophelia had no idea how much she influenced Damien.
"What the hell is his problem with me?" Ophelia asked as Ajax slammed the door at the top of the stairs. Generally, she was well-liked, by her peers, her family, her friends, even animals took to Ophelia.
"He's a demon, his job is to torture mortals, they have a distaste for all creatures with souls, especially those with souls like yours," Damien poured the mysterious steaming pink liquid into a metal cup offering it to Ophelia.
"What's this?" She favored her arm with the vampire scratch on it.
"It'll take the infection away, you won't die, I've heard it doesn't taste the best," Damien organized the otherworldly potion ingredients.
Ophelia inspected the cup of mystery liquid, she thought it would be best not to ask what was in it, she brought the cup to her lips, the smell instantly burning her nostrils clearing her sinuses. The taste was bitter and harsh, the warm drink burnt like alcohol going down her throat but it was much better than death.
"What's wrong with my soul?" The question caused Damien to stop in his tracks, he sat beside Ophelia and made intense eye contact with her.
"I can see the soul of any living being, I've never seen one like yours, it's so light, bright, divine, mortals never have souls like this, neither do God's," The corner's of Damien's lips turned up into a slight smirk when he saw he had caused Ophelia to blush.
She didn't reply, she thought about what he said and finished the bitter tasting remedy, she wondered if that was something he said to every woman or if he really thought her soul was something special.
"I thought you were scared of me," Damien filled the silence.
"Maybe at first," Ophelia observed the tattoos that covered Damien's bare arms.
"I wasn't scared of you, just what you can become," She explained.
This tore into Damien's emotional wounds as he felt he was a monster, constantly hiding a portion himself from everybody.
"You should be scared of me when I become that, I won't be able to control myself, I'm not myself in that state, if Ajax hadn't pushed me, I can assure you never would have seen it," His tone morbid, full of guilt and regret, his eyes shined with a glimmer of hope because somehow she wasn't disturbed by him as even some of the other God's avoided his presence.
"You want me to be scared of you, I'm not, see," Ophelia touched his fingers with hers, he opened his palm letting hers resting on top of his.
"It was a vampire, wasn't it?" She inquired, the scratch had faded away with the taste of the foul potion, but the message to give to Damien remained in her mind.
"Yes, his name is Abraham, he's a pet of my father's," He explained to her a little about the creatures that lived within the Underworld.
"He wanted me to tell you something, it's time to come home, what does that mean?" Ophelia questioned the vagueness.
"I told you I was on vacation, Hades wants to take a break for a few thousand years, I'm the only God with gifts like his, with the mentality, I have to go back eventually, he's just getting a little impatient now, this time is a little bit different, I'm here looking for something," His tone was flat, he was discussing something that filled him with resentment for what he would eventually have to do to Ophelia.
"For what?" Her curious mind exploring the possibilities of what an all powerful God could be looking for on Earth.
Damien wasn't ready to explain to her something so fragile and devastating. How could he, a stranger to her, tell her her reason to existence was to make him happy, be what he needed, what he desired. How could he tell her her goals and plans for the future did not matter and she had no choice but to live her life that was currently full of potential, in the fiery pits of the Underworld by his sinful side?
"Have you ever looked through a telescope?" He changed the subject swiftly, Ophelia shook her head slowly. She was becoming more in awe with Damien, but not in the way the other humans were, she wanted to see the parts of him that he was so clearly hiding.
Damien led Ophelia up to the roof of his home, a telescope perched on the edge pointed up at the night sky.
"Does anyone else know that you're...?" Ophelia referenced his immortality, the way people believed he only existed in mythology, his powers. She stared at his fingertips remembering the first time she saw flames shoot out of them.
"No," Damien adjusted the telescope.
"Not even Madison?" She didn't want to bring up Brianna, or the interaction she had walking through campus, she didn't want to seem jealous. Damien didn't even seem to perk his ears up to sound of her name, he was focused on setting up the telescope.
"Who's Madison?" Damien asked half interested.
"The girl from the Halloween party?" Ophelia raised her eyebrow at him, she remembered why she put walls up with Damien, he didn't even remember the name of somebody he was with a few days prior.
"Which one? I only remember you," Ophelia rolled her eyes as she thought this was some sort of cheesy pickup line, however Damien was sincere, he hadn't thought about another since his golden eyes caught Ophelia's aquamarine pools.
"The generic cat girl? No, not her, no human entity that walks this Earth, besides you," Damien looked through the telescope. Ophelia noticed that at times Damien talked like he wasn't from this time, or perhaps even this world, that he was different and saw the world in red.
"Look at that, this is Venus," Damien placed his hands on the small of Ophelia's back guiding her.
She peered through the lens, finding herself immersed in the beauty of the planet that was invisible to the naked eye.
"She's beautiful," Ophelia thought more than the planets were beautiful as Damien went into detail about the Gods that ruled over each one.
Night fell suddenly, the suns light faded away now replaced by the bright full moon and the twinkly stars, they reflected in Damien's widened eyes. He began talking about the constellations, and his general love for astronomy.
The two laid on the roof covered by a thin blanket, a small space between them, losing track of the time talking for hours. Damien wondered if Ophelia knew he had spent more time looking at her than the stars, he found her most beautiful when she was just existing as herself.
The cool fall wind blew sending a chill down Ophelia's spine leaving goosebumps on her arms. Damien took the opportunity to open his arms to her inviting her into his chest,
"You don't get cold?" She asked hesitant to make physical contact with him.
"I don't get sick, I don't get cold, I'll never die, and I don't feel pain, " Damien ran his finger slowly up Ophelia's arm teasing her.
"Ever?" She whispered in awe that a being like him could ever exist.
"Never," Damien gave in to her fantasies, he enjoyed her fascination.
She rested her head on his shoulder and he tightened his arms around her and began to tell her about the constellations above them.
As interested as she was, she wasn't immortal, she grew tired as it was nearing midnight, she fell asleep against his chest to his ranting.
Ajax crawled up the exterior walls of the house, "she's not sleeping here, is she?"
"Doubtful, what do you want? You clearly slithered up here for a reason, I don't wish to be disturbed," Damien dismissed Ajax.
"I've made contact with the Underworld, she is no longer safe, time is running out, Hades is done playing games," His words dampened Damien's mood. He wouldn't allow his father to harm Ophelia. To Hades this was all a game, he did not care who got hurt while playing it as long as he won. However to prevent further harm, Damien knew he would now need to start making haste with his plan, getting Ophelia to love him back before time runs out.