by Dani Hoots
I didn’t know where he was going to go with this, nor even how to respond. Do I say thanks? Do I say anything?
Before I could respond, he held out his hand. A bunch of daffodils appeared. “Give these to her, but don’t tell her you got them from me. I don’t think she wants anything to do with me for a bit.”
I took the bunch from his hands. “What’s the catch?”
Hades shook his head. “There’s no catch. However...” He grabbed my wrist and leaned in closely. “If you make my daughter cry, I will make you suffer for eternity. And that’s not an empty threat.”
I nodded in haste. “Oh I know, sir. Don’t worry.”
Letting go of my wrist, he headed down the hallway, towards Persephone I presumed. I wondered how that was going to end. They fought a lot, sure, but I had heard things outside their bedroom that have caused me to always go the long way around when she was home. I shuddered at the thought of their vicious arguments.
I knocked lightly on Chrys’ door. She opened it slowly. Her eyes were puffy now and I slowly raised the flowers with a smile, kind of using them like a shield. “Mind if I come in?”
She looked at the flowers, seeming a bit puzzled by them. “Where did you get those?”
I simply shrugged. “Found them. Thought they might cheer you up.”
The one good thing about being a trouble maker was that it caused Chrys never to ask questions. If I were just some nice guy, she would have known that I had gotten them from her father, as he could do weird magic stuff like that to help in situations like this. But since she thought I always stole things, which I did, she figured I stole these too.
Not sure if that really was a good thing, but I told myself it was.
She opened the door fully and took the flowers. With a snap of her fingers, a vase with water appeared on her desk and she placed the daffodils on them. She took in a deep breath.
“They have such a sweet smell and are so beautiful.” A smile appeared faintly on her lips. Her father was right, that did cheer her up. “Rarely see them when mother is home, however. Everything dies when mother is home.”
Well I tried to get her mind off of it. I rocked on my heels as I peered around her room. Yeah, she had completely destroyed her room. Shards of the broken lamp were all over the floor, a big dent marked the wall where she probably nearly hit her father. Some of the pictures she had on her desk were on the floor, the glass broken.
“Gonna take a while to clean all this up, huh?” I asked.
Chrys snapped her fingers and all of it suddenly disappeared and her room looked exactly how it did before the fight. I always forgot she could do that.
“Right. Wish I could have done that growing up. Would have saved me so much time.”
Chrys collapsed on the bean bag chair and sighed. I sat next to her and wrapped my arm around her.
“What were your parents like? Did you get along?” she asked.
I laughed. “Hardly. They hated me, thought I was good for nothing. Threw me out of the house just before…” I stopped. I didn’t want to tell her how I had died, I couldn’t bring myself to admit how stupid I was. I had let so much get under my skin when I should have just ran for my life. “Anyway, I know how you feel about your parents. It’s only natural. As for your dad, he’s really a nice guy. He cares about you more than anything.”
“Yeah, I know.” She leaned her head on my shoulder. “We get along all the time, except when she’s home. Then we always fight about her.”
“Just know that he would never kick you out.”
She laughed. “He doesn’t really have anywhere to kick me to.”
“True, but either way he wouldn’t. That’s something to always think on.” I sucked at this consoling thing, but knew I couldn’t just leave her feeling so sad. “Besides, most people fight when they are around each other for long periods of time.”
“We don’t fight,” she commented. “At least, I don’t remember us ever having a fight. Why’s that?”
She got me there. There wasn’t a person on Earth that I met that I didn’t get in a fight with. Chrys was the only exception, but then again she wasn’t on Earth.
Could I feel more for her than I realized?
“Uh, not sure. Guess we just have personalities that go well together.”
She bit her lip as she looked at me. She was full of emotions, confused, everything swirling in her mind. That had to be the reason she looked as if she wanted to kiss me, but wasn’t sure she wanted to. I debated moving away, not letting her make a mistake out of anger, but at the same time I wanted to kiss her so badly. She leaned in a little closer.
“Heard the yelling, what’s going on?” A.J. appeared in the doorway at the worst time. Chrys stood up and wiped away some of the tears that were still on her face.
Fuck, I couldn’t get a break.
“Why are you here?” I glared at him.
A.J. stepped to Chrys, wiping away the last tear. “I heard things break and yelling, wanted to make sure Chrys was okay. Figured she got in a fight with Hades about Persephone again.”
“I’m fine,” she sighed. “Just the normal fight we always have. I just can’t stand that woman. I hate it when she’s here.”
“You know Persephone has been cursed to come here. It’s not your fault she hates it. She’s the daughter of the goddess of harvest and fertility. I don’t know if you have noticed, but this place is the complete opposite,” A.J. commented. He gave her a little smile. “But she doesn’t see how special you are. She doesn’t see what the rest of us do. That this place is worth it to be with you.”
I rolled my eyes. That’s what I was going to say, but at least I really meant it. This guy, I don’t know. Something made me feel like he was planning something. That he was using her for something. But what that was, I had no idea. It wasn’t like he made any advances on her or anything, especially since it had been thousands of years that they knew one another, so it wasn’t her specifically that he was after. But what it was, I had no idea…
“You don’t have a choice. You and Huntley are stuck here,” Chrys sighed.
“Well, either way. I wouldn’t try to leave this place if given the opportunity.”
Chrys smiled at his comment. I about gagged. I hated it when he acted all sweet to her. He was just like all those dicks I knew in my mortal life, using people for their own devices. But they had known each other for four thousand years, what did I know?
Oh right, I knew a douche when I saw one.
I stood up. “I wish you were able to vacation away from this place, visit Earth. But honestly, it isn’t that great. Bunch of idiots and selfish people.”
“Yeah, well,” Chrys said. “Not much different down here.” She bit her lip, as if thinking. “If I did want to leave, if I wanted to get away for a couple of days, would you two go with me?” she whispered.
I stared at her. Was she really thinking about sneaking off to Earth? I couldn’t believe it if that were the case. Before I came, she never got into trouble. She never disobeyed her father. Yes, they fought just like they had been fighting, but her imagining running away, that wasn’t like her at all.
Or maybe she was just more open about it. That happened, you know, when emotions and thoughts were suppressed for so long and they were finally able to be set free.
“I don’t know, Chrys, if you got caught by Zeus, wouldn’t you be destroyed? Isn’t that why your father doesn’t want you to leave?” I asked. Surprised? Yeah I was a bit too. But it wasn’t like this was just getting into a bit of trouble. If something went wrong, it would mean she would be done for. She would experience eternal torment in Tartarus, or at least that’s what I gathered from all that Hades hinted about. And Hades wouldn’t be able to do anything about it, as Zeus was the god of gods. He could do whatever he wanted.
“I would follow you,” A.J. answered. “I know you wouldn’t go about it carelessly. Just for a couple of days, I doubt we would even get caught.”
; I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I turned to him. “Are you nuts? She can’t leave this place. And what do you mean not get caught? Can’t Zeus see everything on Earth? He would see that she’s a goddess, look at her.”
“A goddess can mask what she is. I doubt he would notice; the world is a big place. Besides, Hades is a pessimist. I really doubt anything bad would happen.”
I looked back at Chrys. “But you aren’t serious right? I mean, I would do whatever I could to help but even I can see it’s a bad idea and that’s saying a lot.”
She bit her lip. “Yeah, you’re right. It’s not a good idea. I’m just pissed, that’s all. I wouldn’t do something so reckless. But I am tired. If you two wouldn’t mind, I would like to retire for the night.”
We both nodded and went to leave her room.
“Good night, Chrys,” I said.
She smiled as she shut the door slowly behind us. “Look forward to tutoring tomorrow. Good night.”
The door closed, leaving just A.J. and me standing there awkwardly. I turned to A.J. “What the hell was that?”
“What are you talking about?” he asked as he started to turn to leave.
I grabbed him and pushed him against the wall. “What do you mean? You know exactly what I am talking about.”
A.J. glanced at where my hand was touching. “Please remove your hand before I permanently remove it.”
I let go of him. If he were human, I would have accepted his challenge. But he was a demigod, he had a bit of an advantage.
“Seriously, dude, what are you thinking?” I whispered.
He let out a breath, as if dealing with me was a chore. “Look, I’ve known about gods longer than you can even comprehend. If we were on Earth for just a couple of days, there is no chance that anyone would find out. Hades just worries a lot because he’s overprotective of her, which I can understand knowing Zeus and my father.”
“Oh,” I whispered. It was hard to keep track, I admitted, of all the gods and goddesses and how this world of the immortals worked. But he had a lot of time to learn these things, many mortal lifetimes. I tried to understand this, but there was a lot of complexity contained in the idea of multiple lifetimes.
“So, if she wants to leave, let her. Between the two of us she would be safe, right?”
I nodded slowly. I still felt uneasy about all of this, but he knew more about this world than I did. If he said it was safe, then maybe it was.
“Well, there you have it. Now stop arguing with me.” He turned and left.
I watched as he left. He never complimented me like that ever. There had to be something else going on.
I got over being mad at Hades. Eventually.
A couple of weeks passed since the fight happened. I had been trying my best to ignore Persephone, not even be seen by her. If she came to my room, I tried my best to hide, to disappear, or make the excuse that I was busy studying with Huntley. It had worked, as she hadn’t reached out for a few days.
Father and I had been spending more time together, alone. He never brought up the fight and I didn’t particularly want to remind him. He seemed understanding, as the fate of the gods were a complicated one. We could hold grudges like none other, though, seeing as how we had an eternity to sort it all out.
I didn’t have to help judge and sit at the throne with Hades, as mother was home now. She was the Queen of the Underworld, at least for three months of the year. She was to help judge now and when she left, I could once again help my father and learn how his reign works. Yes, I had been here for a long while, but he really didn’t seem to care until recently. I didn’t know why that was, I figured he probably just wanted to take a vacation or something.
Instead, the two of us spent some time after his work, playing games, conversing over tea, and watching some movies. I loved being able to hang out like this, like what I imagined humans did for their leisure. Huntley had said that he didn’t know any human that had a bond like Hades and I did, but liked to think that’s what it was like out there. I hadn’t known many families, at least ones that were alive. I had only heard stories of the gods, of how they defeated the Titans. I guess I was lucky to have such a great dad compared to my father’s. And my mother was alright I guess, as long as I didn’t have to see her or deal with her melodramatic crap.
Today we were playing poker, Texas Holdem to be exact. A.J. and Huntley had joined us, as two-player Texas Holdem wasn’t nearly as fun. We sat at a small table, each with green visors and popcorn, like in the movies. Huntley seemed reluctant about the visors, but in the end he didn’t care.
Hades shuffled the cards in one hand, as he had a lot of time to practice, while Huntley tapped his fingers on the table.
“So what’s the chips get us in the end? Is this for actual money or chores or something?” Huntley asked. He seemed to be enjoying himself, since he couldn’t sit still.
My father stared at him as he kept shuffling. “They aren’t for anything. We already don’t do chores and money is worthless down here.”
“Well that’s no fun. You know on Earth sometimes they play betting with their clo— “
I kicked him in the shin before he could finish that innuendo. I didn’t know what my father would say to that, or do to Huntley for even suggesting it.
“Well, this isn’t Earth,” A.J. commented. He always seemed fast to remind Huntley of that.
“It was just a suggestion,” Huntley replied. “I’m just trying to lighten the mood.”
“No you are just opening your mouth when it should remain shut,” A.J. snapped back.
I clapped my hands together. I was trying to get away from arguing and people wanted to wring each other’s necks. They weren’t really as bad as Mother and Father though, mainly Mother. “Okay, how about you deal so we can start this game, Father.”
He gave Huntley a mutinous look then proceeded with a wave of his hand to pass out the first two cards. I received an 8 of diamonds and a 10 of spades. Unless a 9 or something like that was going to show up, this was complete crap.
“Flower, you start.”
I knocked on the table to pass. There was no way I was going to bid on this, unless I just wanted to bluff. Not a good idea this early in the game. I learned that over the years of playing against my Father.
Mother never liked to play games, at least not with us. She probably played all sorts of games with her men. Great Cronus, I didn’t want to think about that. I needed to get my head back in the game.
Everyone else passed and Father turned over the flop. It was a 4 of spades, 2 of hearts, and a 4 of clubs. Even more crap for my hand. I should fold, but I didn’t want to give up this early in the game.
I glanced over at Huntley as I munched on some popcorn. He appeared as bummed as I did. A.J., on the other hand, looked intense. He probably had something. He was so easy to read.
Betting a white chip, the lowest price, I watched as Huntley reluctantly placed one as well, A.J. appearing to be thinking about raising it but decided not to, and Hades matched. Father turned over another card. 4 of diamonds.
I checked because, let’s be honest, I had nothing good in my hand. Huntley did the same.
“I bet 5.” A.J. placed a red chip on the table.
“Fold,” I said. Both Huntley and Hades did the same.
A.J. took the four white chips and his red chip. “Sweet, first round is mine.”
Huntley said, either irritated that he lost or that A.J. had won. “What kind of dealing was that, Hades? Do you know how to shuffle?”
Huntley never knew when to shut up, but at least we were all having fun so anything he said Father wouldn’t hold against him, at least not for that long. Father glared at him and a chip from Huntley’s pile went flying and hit him in the middle of his forehead.
“What the— “ Huntley rubbed his forehead. “That was uncalled for. Also, I’m keeping that chip.”
“Just shut up, will you?” A.J. turned to me. “Your turn to deal, Chrys.”
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I bit my lip as I grabbed the cards. I had the power to make it so I could win, but that wasn’t fun. I liked winning because of luck and skill. I shuffled the cards with one hand, just as Father had done, raising my eyebrow at Huntley.
“Yeah, yeah. Showoff.”
I laughed as I dealt the first two cards. A 5 of hearts and 9 of hearts. Not bad, at least they were of the same suit. I hoped that the flop would be better than last time. It was really nice to have a day like this where I could just relax and not think about my mother. I wished she would go back to Earth so we could relax and enjoy ourselves. But no, three more months. Three. More. Months.