Melting Point

Age 13

"This had to be the stupidest idea you've ever had and you've had some whoppers over the last couple of years.".

Jay only smiled. "That's what makes it so fun." He poked me in the ribs. "You can chicken out if you want."

"Never." I refused to back down from a challenge. I picked up a sheet of metal. "Let's do this."

We'd been climbing over the roofs of the Isle for years but we learned quickly how to do it safely. We even slid down the more stable ones from time to time, but it was always controlled, we always knew exactly where we were going to land. It was usually a soft landing or a short trip.

Now we stood at the very top od Castle-Down-The-Way, the home Evie shared with her mother.

"Guys, let's just go down." Carlos spoke weakly, clinging to the top of the staircase.

"We are going down." Jay grinned as he jumped out the window with his own sheet of metal.

"Jay!" Evie ran to the window, trying to catch a glimpse of the falling thief.

Taking a deep breath, I push her out of the way and threw myself out of the window after him.

Only to pass a laughing Jay sitting just out of sight of the window.

He hadn't gone down.

And I was falling.

The edge of the first roof was approaching.

I gripped the metal so hard it dug into my palms, drawing blood.

I flew over the edge.

I screamed.

And hit the next roof.

And the next.

The sheet of metal was the only thing keeping me from rolling down the tiled levels and no doubt breaking my neck in the process.

One more level to go. One more level and I was safe. One more of level and I had survived.

I gripped the metal even tighter, no longer feeling it cutting into my palms.

I slid of the final level, letting go of the sheet I rolled as I hit the ground.

I felt something pop, probably my shoulder, then something crack, a rib, a wrist or an ankle no doubt. I was sore all over, I couldn't isolate the injuries just yet.

I rolled onto my back, taking in as much air as I could.

"That was awesome."

I wanted to hit him. I wanted to strangle him. I wanted to bloody kill him.

Once everything stopped hurting.

Evie knelt next to me. "Are you okay?"

I groaned in response.

Slipping an arm around my shoulder she tried to help me sit up.

I bit back a scream as she brushed over my dislocated shoulder. "Stop. Stop. STOP!"

Evie let go, letting me lie back down.

"Breathe," She insisted, "Just breathe."

Like I was going to do anything else.

"I'll get help." Carlos ran before I could tell him not to.

Not to my mother. Please don't get my mother. Anyone but her.

Everything hurt. I wanted to cry. But I held it in, villains didn't cry.

Dad. I wanted my dad.

"Get up, girl." I knew that voice. I almost sobbed in relief.

Dad.

"Sir." I'd never seen Jay stand so straight.

"I said 'get up, girl.' This is no place to die."

"I'm not dying, old man." Blood, I spat blood.

He pulled me up by my good arm and looked me over. "Dislocated shoulder, twisted ankle and a couple of broken ribs. You'll live." A small smile touched his lips. "You learned a painful lesson, girl." He turned to Jay, and I panicked thinking about what dad was going to do to him, it was his idea after all. "Boy, give me the offending object."

Scampering away Jay returned with the piece of metal that had been my sled.

Grabbing it of the terrified boy dad suddenly threw me over his shoulder.

"Hey!"

"I'm sure your mother will have a few things to say about this."

He was joking right? He had to be joking.

Evie and Jay went to follow but one good stare from dad and they froze. "Stay."

No one dared disobey the God of the Underworld.

Dad dumped me on my own bed. "What were you thinking?"

I couldn't move. I honestly didn't know what I had been thinking. I decided the best course of action was to stay silent.

"You could have been killed."

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry, Mal? I could have lost you. Do you know what I would do without you?"

I shook my head.

"I would be the monster everyone thinks I am. I'd go mad on this gods forsaken island. You, Mal, you keep me sane."

I couldn't respond. How could I when he'd dumped so much at my feet.

I tried to change the subject. "Don't call me girl."

"Don't call me an old man."

"You are old. You're a couple of thousand years old."

I managed to get a small smile out of him. The tension slipping away.

Sighing he sat down at the foot of my bed he carefully slid the boot of my twisted ankle. He saw me flinch. "Sorry, little dragon."

"I'm not little." I was thirteen.

"You'll always be my little dragon, my little demon, no matter how much you grow."

I dropped my head back onto my pillow as dad continued to treat my injuries. First, I studied the rock formations on the ceiling, anything to distract me from pain. When I had to roll over so that he could check that I hadn't managed to break anything in my spine, I studied the wall and the piece of metal that dad had brought home.

A constant reminder of my stupidity.

With the melted metal where I had gripped it too tight.

Present

"Wow. This place is so amaz…"

"Gross."

"I know, right? Amazingly gross." Evie corrected herself but I could see the spark in her eye. She absolutely loved it.

"I'm going to need some serious sunscreen." I closed the curtains. "That's much better."

The fire settled, denied the sun's heat.

I was used to the dark, both from the mine and constant grey sky of the Isle.

Evie sat on one of the beds before throwing herself back. "It's so soft."

I sat down on the other bed. She was right. It felt like I was sitting on a cloud.

I hated it.

Evie rolled onto her stomach. "I can't believe you gave up your mum's spell book. Do you know how useful that could have been?"

I reached into my bag, pulling out a stack of paper. "Don't worry, I copied down the important ones."

As much as I hated it, I couldn't deny that magic might be useful.

Desperate time might call for desperate measures.

Dad would laugh at the room. It certainly needed some redecorating. Both Fairy Godmother and Ben seemed to be willing to go above and beyond to make we settled in okay. Maybe some blue and black would make me like the room a little more.

"So," Evie interrupted my train of thought. "How are we going to get the wand?"

"We don't even know where it is."

"We could see what the boys found."

Nothing in the ten minutes since we left them in their own room. "Later." I wanted to put off finding the wand, and bowing to my mother's wishes, for as long as I could. "Let's them settle in first. We'll go later tonight."

Evie shrugged and rolled off the bed. The only one of us that had actually came with a proper bag, she began to unpack. Out came piles and piles of clothes, how she managed to fit it all in her bag I had no idea. There were shoes, dresses, pants and skirts, jackets, shorts and a large variety of tops.

I had the clothes I was wearing plus a spare jacket, three tops, two pairs of pants and the boots I had on.

We had the same colour scheme and size; Evie would happily lend me some of hers. Especially if it meant she could give me the make-over she'd been dying to give me for years.

She started to hang her outfits in the wardrobe. I dumped mine in a draw.

I lay down on the bed as Evie continued to unpack. I reached into my pocket, turning the Ember over in my hand.

Mali.

Mali.

It wanted to be used. It wanted to be unleashed.

Mali.

Mali.

I let go before its fire could fill my mind completely. I'd have to find a safe place later to let some steam, literally.

A/N: A short present-day chapter but some important things learned about both Mal and Hades. This is one of my favourite flashbacks