Alessia storms over to Zagreus, her eyes blazing with anger.
"Why did you do that?! I thought I made it very clear that I wanted to handle this myself!"
A smirk spreads across Zagreus' face.
"Little human, you took too long after watching your little show. I realized two things: you didn't force Mania to give you her powers. Two, you are far weaker than I originally thought. When we first met, you seemed to master the powers, but now you are just winging it."
Trying to hide her anger, Alessia didn't want him to get the best of her. He has no idea how hard it was to learn as much as she has! She didn't want this power, and one thing is for sure. Zagreus was right about one thing: Alessia should have ignored everything she saw and lived a peaceful life as much as she could.
"If you aren't happy about how I do things, you can go to hell. I was doing just fine before you showed up in my life. Now, I have to go to talk to Jamie." Alessia pushes past him, her blood oozing with adrenaline and anger.
So what if she took too long? What if she was slow at how she handles exorcism? Most of all, so freaking, what if she isn't like Mania. Screw Zagreus!!
As she makes her way back upstairs, Alessia slams open the basement door and hears a small scream from the living room.
"D*mn it." Muttering under her breath. She scared Jamie.
"Sorry, Jamie, it's just me!"
Alessia rounds the corner and finds Jamie covering her face with her hands, shaking like a deer caught in a car's headlight.
Jamie peaks through her fingers, and her mouth drops open.
Feeling the presence of a certain someone, Alessia ignores Zagreus. He must have transformed back to his human form. How annoying.
"Jamie, the ghost is gone. I'm unsure if you can tell, but the air in the house is much lighter. I would visit your mom or give a call to the hospital. You might find her awake from the coma." Alessia walks over to the girl and places a hand on her shoulder.
Tears well up in her eyes as she looks up at Alessia.
"Thank you so much!" Jamie jumps to her feet and hugs Alessia.
Hiding her smile and the warmth growing in her heart, Alessia gives a small hug back and pulls away.
"I should get going. Please call me if you need anything."
Jamie nods her head and wipes a tear away from her eyes.
"Who is that man, by the way." Jamie sniffles and looks behind Alessia.
"I am Marcus. I was the one who got rid of the soul residing in your basement." Zagreus's voice brings goosebumps up Alessia's arm, along with her eye twitching.
"Well, thank you!" Jamie squeals and runs past Alessia.
Alessia turns to see Jamie hug Zagreus, and a smile spreads up her face. He looks uncomfortable with the physical touch of a human. Maybe he won't show his face in front of clients next time.
* * *
They leave Jamie's house and walk down the road they came from. Alessia needs a home or place to return to after she finishes her job. Instead, she finds another cheap hotel until she finds another case or demon outbreak.
"Human."
Alessia stops and takes a deep breath in.
"Zagreus, can you please call me Alessia." She glances over her shoulder and meets his gaze.
"Alessia."
As her name slips out of his mouth, she can feel a weird desire spreading through her veins.
"What?" She stops walking and turns to face him.
"I can teach you to control the powers you hold." Zagreus was back into his other form.
"Why would you do that? I thought you hated the idea of me evening having such powers." Alessia crosses her arms and squints with distrust.
"Because your soul is pure. I was blinded with rage when we first met. But after seeing you handle that human back there. I realize that I was mistaken. As the prince and God of the underworld, we protect pure souls as they are the only light in our world." Zagreus's words are sincere.
Zagreus watched this little, petite human try to fight a soul she wasn't capable of touching all for one human child. At first, meeting her wasn't something he was ready to face. The hate he was filling up with was because his love, his flower, his Mania was missing. Finding a human holding her power angered him.
Now that his anger is subsiding and he is observing her, Zagreus finally notices the pure soul that she has and understands why Mania chose her to hold her power.
The question remains of why she did it and what made her run away. For Zagreus to find the answer to that question, he must make this human stronger than she realizes she can be.
Zagreus walks closer to Alessia and wraps a hand around her tiny waist.
"We will return to my realm."
Within seconds, Alessia was back in the underworld before she could react to anything he said.
"What the f*ck!" Alessia yells, smacking him in the chest.
Zagreus grins at her, she is mouthy, and somehow, it brings him delight when she gets angry.
"I'm going to train you to be strong. I needed to bring you back here to do so."
Alessia's head fills like it's spinning, and her life keeps getting out of control.
"Why?!" She runs her hands through her hair.
"As I said, your soul is pure, and you have great potential. I need you to be stronger."
Alessia looks at him with a questionable look. Just a few hours ago, he was throwing a fit about being around her, and now he wants to be her teacher. He doesn't make any sense! But if he can teach her and help her with her skills. Then it won't be a bad trade-off.
She needs to keep her friends close but her enemies closer.