by RM Virtues
Zeus shouts again as they haul him out of the room, but Hades tunes it out. He turns to look out the window at the green slopes that lead down to the sea. The city cannot be seen from here, not the way it can be seen from Hades’ penthouse in Asphodel. He’s always been in charge of seeing the big picture, he supposes. He wonders if perspective could have helped his brother in the beginning. He knows it’s too late to speculate on such things though. Now, he must turn towards the future. He holds it in his hands, and he must do so with great care. Many are counting on him. It’s what he had always feared, being the one that good people looked to. It still terrifies him, but today has taught him that there are worse things worth his fear. He’ll do anything to keep them from happening again.
* * *
When he arrives back at the hospital alone, he finds only Hermes and the two guards he’d stationed here in the waiting room. The younger man stands as he sees his uncle approaching, slipping his phone into his back pocket. Hades embraces him the moment he’s close enough, and Hermes instantly releases a shuddering breath. When they part, some of the tension hanging off of both of them seems to have disintegrated.
“He’s been awake about an hour,” Hermes explains softly, his eyes moving over to the swinging doors beside the nurses’ station. “He needed a lot of blood. Asklepios wanted to put him back to sleep to manage the strain on his heart, but he wanted to see you first.”
Hades nods, squeezing his shoulder. “Go home and get some rest. I’ll see you tomorrow, and - any help you need with the district, you just call. We will handle it together.”
“I know, Uncle.” He chews his lip a moment before offering a half smile. “So you’re the leader now, huh?”
“Not just yet, but by tomorrow afternoon, I will be.”
“And - Zeus?”
“I assure you that he will never step foot in Khaos Falls again.”
Hermes nods his head, and Hades leaves him with a small smile before heading through the doors into the patient hallway. A nurse meets him on the other side, and she leads him through the corridors until they get to Dio’s room. Hades hears him before he sees him, his laugh weak and his voice thin. But he’s still laughing. Hades focuses on that.
Athena is sitting beside him to no surprise, and they both look up when Hades appears. Dio grins wide, reaching for his uncle and pulling him into a light hug.
“Careful now, son, let’s not overexert ourselves,” Hades warns.
“Don’t worry, I saved up for that one.”
“Of course you did.”
“Is it done?”
Athena’s voice is steel. Hades finds her features stern and unwavering even as Dio reaches for her hand and begins to play with her fingers. He knows she is struggling with this for more than a few reasons, but he also knows that the answers are the only way to appease her when she’s like this. Athena likes results, and she likes logical paths to acquire them. Her pragmatism is unfailing, but he acknowledges that it comes from a good place.
“It is,” Hades assures her. “He is gone from the city for good, and tomorrow, I’ll make the announcements.”
Athena tilts her chin down in a curt nod before she stands. “I should go. My new job starts tonight, and I have to make sure we don’t let the dust linger too long. I told Ares I would meet him at the house.”
She leans over to kiss Dio’s forehead before walking around to hug Hades. There is so much he wants to say to her, but she’s there and gone before he can blink, and then it’s just him and Dio. Dio offers him an apologetic smile as he sits down beside him on the bed.
“She’s not taking it very well,” he admits, playing with his own fingers. “I think she feels guilty. She doesn’t say it, but that’s her guilty face. She’ll be okay once she sees me good as new, I think.”
“I think so too.”
“So - you ready for tomorrow, Uncle?” His eyes still hold all that boyish excitement even now. “It’s a big day for all of us. Asklepios said I probably can’t be there though.”
“It’s a simple announcement, Dio. There won’t be a parade or anything, and - I need you here resting. I need you to get better.”
“I will.”
They’re quiet for a time, Hades staring down at his shoes as he tries to rifle through the many emotions he’s endured today amidst all of the others he’d forced himself to ignore. There is guilt there. There is also anger, sadness, fury, grief, fear, and so much in between. He feels like he’s been failing Dio forever, and it’s worse because Dio is the only one who never complains, who never asks for better, who never asks Hades to do something.
It’s as if he reads Hades' mind.
“You know this isn’t your fault either, right, Uncle?”
Hades raises his head. “I still can’t help feeling like it was though, Dio.”
“I’m sure both of us could make a great case, but the bottom line is that you didn’t pull the trigger, and I don’t blame you. I think I have a say in it.”
“Yeah, I think you do, son.”
“When I would get sad that Zeus wanted nothing to do with me, you always told me that it wasn’t about me, it was about him, and I should never think of myself as unworthy. Now, I’m telling you. That’s why I wanted you to come back. I didn’t want you to go to bed thinking it was your fault.” Hades digs the heels of his hands into his eyes as they begin to water. “I - I know I never say anything about it, but Uncle, you’re way too hard on yourself, and you shouldn’t be. I wouldn’t - I wouldn’t be here without you in the first place. I never would’ve made it this long. Hermes either, and probably not Heph. Ares and Athena might’ve killed each other without you too, so - whenever you think you failed, I just want you to remember that that is impossible. Because you’ve never failed me. I don’t think you can.”
Hades looks up at him, reaching over to cup the side of his neck with a watery smile. “It’s because of you I learned to love at all. You will always be a part of me, Dionysos, and I will always protect you. Always.”
“I know, Uncle.” He grips Hades’ forearm. “You’re gonna be an amazing leader, and I know that because you already are. And you’re worth ten of Zeus, which is why you don’t have to do this alone. We’ve got your back.”
Their foreheads come together as Hades soaks it in, allowing himself to accept the fact that this is real and Dio is still here breathing. That is more than worth everything that comes next. Because Dio is right. He doesn’t have to do this alone. As much as he mourns losing a brother, he knows he has gained so much more. It is worth leaving the shadows for.
Tomorrow, he would announce himself as the leader of Khaos Falls.
Tonight, maybe he can finally get some sleep.
32
Persephone
Upon arriving home, Persephone had attempted to calm her nerves with a hot shower. She’d known there was nothing else to do but wait for Hades to return, but that hadn’t put her any less on edge.
She’s sitting on the bed in her robe when she hears the elevator doors open. She’s on her feet in a second, rushing through the living room, and before she takes another breath, she’s in his arms. They stand there holding one another for a lifetime, saying nothing at all. The sound of their hearts falling into sync is the only thing Persephone can hear apart from his breathing. She savors both sounds, allowing them to soothe her worries for as long as she can before she breaks the silence out of necessity.
“How did it go?” She presents the question tentatively, her face buried in his chest.
He doesn’t answer immediately, but she feels his heart kick up. She runs her hands down his back, allowing him to settle.
“As well as I could hope for,” he replies in time, resting his cheek against the top of her head. “But it’s done, so.”
“I’m proud of you.”
She knows this is difficult for him for a host of different reasons. She also knows he carries a lot of guilt over the timing and all that led up to it, but she doesn’t
blame him. She can admit that she’s still processing the fact that it could have been her, that it should have been her, lying up in that hospital, but she’s here now. She won’t let him burden himself with something that didn’t happen no matter how close it was to doing so. Dionysos wouldn’t blame his uncle either. That, she knew.
She pulls back, slipping her hands over his neck and looking into his eyes. She finds his fatigue there, right alongside his worry for what happens next. Tomorrow will be nearly as difficult as today. He can handle it though. He is the only one who can.
“I’m—” he begins, but she shakes her head.
“Don’t,” she whispers. “Don’t you dare.”
“Seph—”
“I won’t have it, Hades. I refuse. What happened happened. It’s done now, and we have to move on, move forward. You did the right thing, and now you have to continue to do so, everyday for the rest of our lives.”
He stares at her for a moment, his fingers curled into her sides before he nods in acquiescence. Then he smiles.
“You’re going to make a good leader,” he relents.
She smirks. “I definitely won’t debate that.”
Shaking his head, he sweeps her up off of her feet, winding his arms around her. “I mean it. I want - I need you beside me. And - I don’t mean I want you to give up your dream. I want to make sure you can still perform, but I don’t want to do this without you.”
“Nor will you have to.” She leans up, pressing her forehead to his. “I am by your side always. No matter what.”
“But I want to know you’re choosing this and not—”
“I’m not choosing this, Hades. I’m choosing you. This is just a benefit. I was only ever against taking over for my mother because she had ulterior motives and strings attached to her legacy. I know I don’t have those here. I know you’ll look out for me just as I’ll look out for you and every person who does the same.”
“I will. I just - I don’t want to hold you back.”
She chuckles. “You give yourself too much credit. You can’t hold me back. Only I can hold me back, and that is the last thing I am doing here. I am completely in love with you, Hades, and I will choose you for me every single day, but I will never choose you over me. Not you, and not anyone else.”
His lips curl upward further. “You love me?”
She rolls her eyes before gripping his tie. “Don’t try to be slick right now.”
His laughter is a salve for her soul. “I love you too.”
“Mm, yeah?”
He nods. “Mhm.”
“Prove it.”
He perches her on the counter with a sly smile. “And how would you prefer I do that?”
She only smirks, placing a hand atop his head and guiding him to his knees. He doesn’t resist, sinking down as her legs part before him. She undoes the tie of her silk robe, leaving herself exposed to him, and he does not take it for granted. His lips touch down upon her inner thigh, coasting upward toward her core. She blinks, and he’s pressing his tongue against her clit, massaging it with a thoroughness that makes her buzz where she sits.
“Hades - oh—”
She leans back on her hands, struggling to remain present in the moment as he pushes her towards nirvana. Her head rolls back, eyes fluttering shut as his hands slip beneath her thighs. He handles her like he hasn’t eaten in days, sucking her clit into his mouth until she’s a mess of continuous moans and rogue rutting against his lips. She pleads with him, although she has no clue for what, only yearning to be closer. Reaching a hand out, she places it on the back of his head just as he plunges his tongue inside of her. Her body reacts accordingly, shaking and jolting around him. He burrows as deep as he can, face rapidly moving from side to side and igniting every inch of her. His chin, his cheeks, his nose; each of them stimulate her, and she has no hope of holding out.
She comes in a rush of strangled cries and helpless rolls of her hips, but he doesn’t stop. He laps up every drop that she offers him, his nails digging into her skin. At last, she finds the strength —or the desperation— to drag him up, claiming his mouth with the same hunger he’d shown her as she tears open his shirt and yanks the knot of his tie free. Once the fabric falls from his shoulders, he wraps his arms around her, grinding his erection into her sensitive folds and tearing sound after wanton sound from her lips. Fates, the things he does to her. She could drown in him if allowed. And he could damn sure drown in her.
She reaches down between them, unbuckling his belt and shoving down his pants as his lips scale her neck. Once she frees it, she takes a firm hold of his shaft and delivers a series of eager strokes. His mouth instantly finds hers again. She revels in the song she catches on her tongue until he bats her hand away with a growl. It is the only warning she gets before he enters her, every single inch buried inside her drenched pussy. She lets out a muffled shriek before sinking her teeth into his lip, but that only spurs him on. Suddenly, he’s plunging into her with ruthless thrusts, and all she can do is claw at his back and shoulders in search of an anchor. She releases his lip if only to cry out into the open air. It isn’t long before she draws blood.
He doesn’t seem to notice.
Tall enough to bend her to his will, he holds her by the waist and all but folds her in half atop the counter even as she remains upright. His arms are beneath her knees, leaving her immobile and unable to do anything but take it. And oh, does she take it, gladly. The sensations are both overwhelming and all-consuming, and she is a glutton for each and every one of them, her nails digging into him wherever they can reach. Eventually, all she can do is hold onto his biceps, her eyes rolling back and her moans stalled by breathlessness. That’s when he picks her up, slamming her down on his cock again and again, her clit glancing off of him every single fucking time. He hits her with four or five quick strokes before sound manages to rip out of her throat, a tattered scream that hangs in the air around them. If this is him fucking all of his frustration out, she will gladly invite him to do so more often. She wraps her arms around his neck, and she is completely at his mercy, the clap of their bodies colliding loud and lewd.
“Hades! Fuck!”
He growls in response, a vibration that hits her neck and shoots straight down into the pit of her belly. She isn’t at all prepared, and white light eclipses her vision as another orgasm crashes through her. She cries out, and he seems to chase it, his thrust skipping a beat and going rogue before she feels him throb and jerk, coming inside of her in thick waves. Then his mouth is on hers once more, and she melts into him, holding him close as he’s overtaken by euphoria. She can feel his orgasm ravaging his frame, and it affects her in the most damning ways imaginable. She cannot get enough.
He sets her back on the counter, their foreheads resting together and their heavy breaths entangled between them. She looks up into his eyes once her body allows it and drowns inside that gaze, in absolute awe of his divinity. He is beautiful. He is hers.
He picks her up off of the counter, and she immediately winds her legs around his waist despite their trembling. Then he carries her towards the bedroom, their bedroom.
“How the fuck are you walking right now?” she groans.
“Adrenaline.” He shrugs, still out of breath. “Now my turn.”
“Your turn to what?”
“Ask you a question.” She rolls her eyes as he deposits her on the bed and collapses beside her. “Would you mind if I - took the day off from the casino tomorrow?”
“Mm, you gonna do me like this all day?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Then I don’t mind at all.” She smiles, licking her lips. “But only after you make your announcement, leader of Khaos Falls.”
He smiles too. “Deal.”
She looks at him with nothing less than admiration in her eyes. She loves him. There is no denying it any longer. There is no need to. Every breath she takes is laced with it, and it reverberates in her chest at all hours of the day and every min
ute encased in them. This man who was once only a chapter in Khaos Falls’ folklore has broken her wide open, taking her heart in his gentle hands and laying his lips wherever he thinks might have hurt before him. She loves him, and there is nothing left to debate, no regret left to cling to. All they have now is the future, and not a soul alive can take that away from them. She knows he’ll make sure of it, and she will too.
“Thank you,” she says softly, her eyes fluttering.
“For what?”
“Giving me a soft place to land when I need it.”
“Trust me. The pleasure was all mine. As long as you drag me up to where you are every once in a while.”
She kisses his temple. “Deal.”
Acknowledgments
As I write this, my mind is still trying to catch up with the reality that I am actually at this stage in my very long writing career. Despite the longevity of the dream, writing nearly every day for the past two decades, this is the first manuscript I've actually completed. I was always so immersed in the worldbuilding and character creation that I never made it past that, but being that I've been in my house 24/7 for the past year, it makes sense that I was finally able to hunker down and Get. It. Done.
I'm thankful for the friends I've made through this journey, and I hope to nurture those relationships in the future. As an introvert who struggles to initiate conversations as it is much less sustain them, it's been difficult being isolated for as long as we have been, but I've found good community across all social media platforms. Thank you to everyone who has welcomed me into the writing community and showed genuine interest in this little project of mine. It kept me going on days when I just wanted to quit and be done with it, and now I'm here actually publishing something? This is a gift I will cherish no matter what happens next.