Eternal Night (Skeleton Key)

by Marian Tee

  “Aunt, it’s not---”

  “It’s exactly what you think,” Hades cut her off with a drawl. Tightening his arms around Ever, he bent his head down and licked the trail of tears on her face.

  Ever’s body quivered, and she said weakly, “Hades.” She knew she should try to move away, but she couldn’t.

  Arisa let out a bellow of outrage. “I am going to call---”

  Hades’ lips moved to the corner of her mouth. “Your tears taste beautiful. I think I should make you cry more.”

  “What?” But even at his sadistic threat, all she could do was stare up at him with eyes that were ready to spill more tears any moment. “Are you really here, Hades?” she whispered.

  “Yes, my queen.”

  She stiffened.

  “And yes, you did hear me say that twice. You are my queen.”

  She slowly shook her head. “Please.” Her voice was paper-thin. “Let’s not---”

  “The lord would fall because of her, and I did, did I not?”

  Ever shook her head. “No, you---”

  As if he didn’t hear her speaking, the god of the Underworld continued, “The lady would disappear because of him.”

  Oh.

  “And you did, did you not?”

  Her fingers clutched his shirt. “Hades.” Ever’s head started to reel, and her heart slammed hard against her chest. She had disappeared through the door – and by doing so, she had fulfilled the second condition of the prophecy without planning it.

  “Tell me what the next line is,” Hades said softly.

  Swallowing, she said unevenly, “And when these two came to be---”

  And it had.

  “The Underworld would have made its choice.”

  As she spoke, Hades’ hands began to move in the air, and her heart started beating faster and faster as she recognized what he was doing.

  Oh, please, God.

  “When I realized you were gone, I tried using this same method to find you and bring you back, but it didn’t work. I don’t know if it’s because I didn’t have a skeleton key to find you or if it was the work of fate, but it simply didn’t work.”

  His hands paused mid-air.

  “Just thinking of you trapped in this world, knowing that anything could happen to you---” His lips twisted. “I can do a lot of things with my powers, but one thing I can’t ever do is bring someone back from the dead.” His jaw clenched. “The thought made me frantic. Desperate. I knew I had to do everything I could to bring you back---”

  Hades drew a deep breath. “And that was when it hit me. Prophecies aren’t about fate making a choice for us. Prophecies are meant for us to make a choice for ourselves---”

  Letting her go, he faced the wall and his hands ripped the air.

  The Underworld appeared before them, gloriously and beautifully dark.

  Hades’ hands moved again, and it was like a camera panning and zooming, and suddenly she was seeing the throne room---

  Oh.

  And she started to cry again.

  All of his people were on their knees, and upon seeing her, the male Olympians bowed to her in greeting while the female Olympians curtsied.

  Hades said quietly, “This is how I am able to come to you. This is why I’m able to find you. It’s because I choose you, Ever, to be my queen, and so do my people and my family.”

  “Hades.” She wished she could say more, but all she could do was cry harder and harder, a part of her still unable to believe that what she had already tried to forget and thought impossible was now real and more beautiful than ever.

  Through the blur of her tears, she saw the god of the Underworld offer his hand to her. “Will you be my queen, milady?”

  She sobbed out, “Yes,” and placed her trembling hand in his.

  He started to draw her towards the Underworld, and she was halfway to him when she realized something.

  Why was her aunt so uncharacteristically silent?

  She turned to look at Arisa over her shoulder, and a strangled gasp escaped her.

  Arisa had no mouth, and it was the ghastliest sight she had ever seen.

  Ever turned to the god in horror. “You took away her mouth!”

  “Do you wish for me to take anything else?” he asked seriously.

  “What? No!” And then she realized that this was eerily like déjà vu as well, and a choked laugh escaped her. “Oh Hades.” Life was really going to be strange and fun with the god of the Underworld.

  He tugged her to him, saying impatiently, “I want you crowned now so I can marry you.”

  “What?”

  His eyes bored through her. “I’m fairly certain,” Hades drawled, “you heard that part of my conversation, too.”

  “What? No!” But since she could already feel her cheeks turning red even before she finished speaking, she knew she was pretty much busted.

  “Shall I propose to you now?”

  “What?”

  “Never mind, we can talk about it later.” As Hades began to drag her towards the portal he created, they heard someone knock on the door.

  Hades stilled. “Are you expecting someone?”

  Her eyes widened.

  A moment later, they heard the door open, and the pastor’s blustery voice boomed out, “I’m coming in.”

  That man was certainly doing as he pleased, Hades thought even as he waved his hand negligently in the air. The scene revealing the Underworld returned to its original state, and by the time the unexpected guest came to join them, there was only a plain wall behind Hades.

  The newcomer was a heavyset man in his fifties, with receding grey hair and beady eyes, and his eyes nearly bulged out of its sockets when he saw Ever’s aunt in the corner, eyes wild with terror and her hands desperately covering her mouth.

  “What has happened to you, Arisa?” The pastor rushed to Arisa’s side. “Are you alright?” He scowled. “Has that man hurt you?”

  Arisa nodded vehemently, thinking that the pastor could save her from the demon beside her niece. Oh, she knew it! She had it right from the start! Ever was indeed possessed, and the demon responsible for it was right beside her niece.

  The pastor glared belligerently at the stranger. “Leave this house, sir, before I call for the police.” He turned to Ever. “Come here, child,” he commanded. “Attend to your aunt.”

  Ever shook her head and inched closer to Hades.

  “Ever,” the pastor warned, “do not disobey---”

  Hades would have been content to leave the man alone, if only out of pity for the fact that the man reeked of human sickness. In a few years’ time, Hades knew that the man was certain to die if not of chronic heart failure, then of lung cancer.

  But then he heard the man dare command and threaten his prophesied queen---

  Hades glanced at Ever. “Is this man good to you, milady?”

  “Err…” She didn’t want to lie, but she didn’t think it was right to state the truth either.

  “How dare you ask such a question?” The pastor’s voice shook with fury. “I am a man of the cloth---”

  Ignoring the other man, Hades kept his gaze trained on Ever. “Well?”

  Slowly, she shook her head.

  His gaze narrowed. “Has he done something to you?”

  “He hasn’t a chance to,” she said uncomfortably.

  Hades turned to the pastor again, just in time to catch the man in the process of staring at Ever with a crazy mix of lust and possessiveness.

  Ah.

  Ever gasped when Hades’ hand started to rise. “Hades?”

  Hades’ fingers snapped.

  The pastor fell to his knees with a cry of excruciating torment.

  The sight made Arisa break down in tears, and she pressed her hands even more tightly to her mouthless face, realizing that she had been defeated.

  “What did you do to him?” Ever stammered.

  “Cut off his cock,” Hades answered dispassionately. “About the same thing that h
appened to your aunt, only for this man it was not painless.”

  Ever’s face drained of color. “You…what?”

  Hades ripped a sheet off the air, and the Underworld came into view once more. “Let’s go, milady. We have wasted enough time here.”

  “B-but---” She looked at her aunt and the pastor, torn between wanting to run into the Underworld with Hades and wanting to make sure that Hades hadn’t permanently harmed the other two.

  Hades sighed. “You truly have an inordinate ability to worry.” He glanced at the two other mortals, murmuring, “These two have hurt so many people I think it is more than fair if we leave them as they are.”

  “Hades!” She looked at him pleadingly. “Please.”

  Her large blue eyes enslaved him, and Hades said resignedly, “You win, milady. As always. I will make sure what they’ve lost will be restored. Now, may we leave?”

  She threw herself at him. “Thank you!”

  Not wanting to waste time, Hades tightened his arms around her waist and carried her back to the Underworld in the next second.

  When Ever opened her eyes, she was at the very center of the throne room, and the eleven Olympians stood before her in a semi-circle.

  Oh.

  My.

  Goooooooood-----

  The Olympians burst into laughter as the future queen of the Underworld started jumping up and down.

  “Athena is right,” Zeus, the god of thunder, murmured in their ancient tongue. “She is indeed a living trampoline.”

  Hades was watching his future queen with a mixture of love and exasperation. “Do you think you can stop jumping long enough for us to crown you?”

  She grinned at him. “Probably! Not!”

  And there it was again, Hades thought.

  Those stars in her eyes that no other being in the world had.

  It was strange, magical, and sexy as hell.

  His cock twitched to life, and he yanked her to him. As she fell against him with a cry of surprise, he said swiftly, “I now pronounce you queen of the Underworld.”

  Although caught off guard by how the hour-long ceremony was suddenly reduced to ten seconds, Thanatos had the presence of mind to fly to his king’s side to give him the queen’s crown.

  The next thing Ever knew, an intricately carved silver and black crown was placed on top of her head.

  Hades took hold of her hand and as they faced the crowd, he declared with quiet pride, “The Queen of the Underworld.”

  Everyone in the throne room cheered and roared their approval.

  The god of the Underworld turned to her. “Now that that’s over…”

  “What---mph!” In front of everyone, Hades pulled her to him and slanted his mouth over hers in a deep, hard kiss.

  Whaaaaaaat---

  Before she could even try to struggle, Hades had already transported them to her chamber, and she fell against the bed with a gasp that remained trapped in Hades’ kiss.

  She felt him run his hand over the side of her body, and her clothes disappeared.

  Oh!

  Hades moved on top of her, and now he, too, was naked.

  Oh!

  His cock began to rub against her belly, and with a moan of surrender, she kissed him back even as her legs parted wide open. His cock thrust into her, and she shuddered, her eyes stinging anew because oh, she thought this, too, had been lost to her forever.

  Cutting the kiss only when he knew she had to breathe, Hades captured her gaze with his as he sought to increase the pace and pound into her harder and faster.

  “I love you, Ever.”

  “I love you, Hades.”

  And no other words needed to be said.

  Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, the three sisters making up the Fates, released a mutual sigh of relief as the life threads of the king and queen of the Underworld bound itself to each other for eternity.

  “I wish we could have gone to their wedding,” the youngest of the Fates said wistfully.

  “It cannot be helped.” Clotho deliberately kept her voice gruff, not wanting her other sisters to know that, she, too, had truly wanted to attend the wedding of Hades and Ever.

  “Don’t feel bad,” Lachesis murmured absently. “We can always watch the replays.”

  “But it’s not the same when you’re really there.” Atropos sighed. “I wanted to see how high she would jump once she realized who we are.”

  At her words, the Fates could not help imagining the scene Atropos described, and they all grinned a moment later.

  “That would be fun, wouldn’t it?” Clotho murmured. “Perhaps we should invite her to meet with us.”

  Lachesis’ eyes widened. “Do you truly mean that?” Clotho had always been strict about their interactions with other people, mortal and immortal alike.

  The eldest of the Fates slowly nodded. “I think it would be safe to meet with them. If they accept our invitation, we can reward them by letting Hades and Ever know about our little trick.”

  A most terrifying sight appeared as the Fates shared an evil grin. Right this very moment, Persephone was in the throes of a nightmare in which she and Ever had changed places against her will, and she was forced to suffer all the misfortunes that Ever had survived.

  At this very moment, Arisa was threatening to send Persephone to an asylum if she didn’t stop describing herself as a goddess cursed to live a mortal’s existence.

  As their little trick had been designed to last forever or until Persephone learned the lesson of humility, Atropos asked curiously, “Do you think she’ll manage to stop the nightmares?”

  “I hope not,” Lachesis murmured, and her tone was once again vague as she began to focus on the threads before her. “It’s so very fun to see her suffer.”

  Clotho glanced at Persephone’s thread thoughtfully. “Do you think we are being too cruel? We have already changed the color of her thread, after all. Maybe she’s changed and it’s time to put an end to her suffering.”

  The Fates took a closer look at the thread.

  Persephone showed up in their visions, but instead of her old face and figure, they saw a creature chained to one of the pillars of an abandoned temple. She had scraggly hair all over her body, bulging eyes, and a gaping jaw that endlessly salivated because its uneven canines prevented the creature from closing its mouth completely.

  The Fates moved an inch closer, and they began to hear the banshee’s thoughts.

  Fools. Every one of them was a fool, to choose a mortal over a goddess like her as queen!

  The Fates straightened, and it was silently decided that no, Persephone had not suffered enough.

  “The goddess, blinded by her defeat and hurt pride, rushed towards the rightful queen with her arm raised in the air, a dagger in her hands. She would take the mortal girl’s life, and with that she would once again be the queen.”

  The three-year-old twins, Happy and After, let out gasps of shock.

  “What happened after, Father?” Happy demanded as she jumped to her feet and began to bounce in excitement, just like her mother.

  After only looked at his father patiently.

  Hades smiled down at the twins. “Anger began to twist the goddess’ features, and her fingers started to turn into claws. Just as she was about to throw herself at the queen, the goddess realized she was no longer able to move the way she wanted to. Her back had curved and her feet had turned into sharp, rough talons. Horrified at what she saw, she spun away from the queen and tore out of the castle, running as fast as her strange feet could carry her, until she reached a small lake. Its shiny, clear surface gave her a reflection, and the goddess started to scream and scream.”

  “Like this, Father?” Happy took a deep breath. After, not to be outdone, inhaled deeply, too. A second later, and both children let out piercing screams.

  Hades winced. “Err, yes, just like that, but a demonstration wasn’t needed.”

  “A demon station?” Happy was confused. “What’s that, Father?”<
br />
  After shook his head. “Father, what? The monster action?”

  “Never mind,” Hades said. “Let’s continue with the story.”

  The twins nodded eagerly.

  “Hearing the sound of the goddess’ screams, the queen and her people rushed out to help her, but it was too late. The moment they saw her, they realized that the heavens had punished the woman. She was no longer a goddess. She had turned into a creature that we now know as the banshee.” He paused before adding under his breath, “Also known as people so damn stuck up they don’t even know there’s a foot shoved up in their---”

  Having heard the last few lines of Hades’ bedtime story as Ever entered the nursery, she cried out, “Hades!”

  Hades changed tack, saying, “And so that’s how the banshee came to be, wailing happily ever after.”

  “Yay!” After and Happy cheered.

  When the twins were tucked into bed and they were back in their chamber, Ever shook her head at Hades, saying exasperatedly, “Stop telling them such bloodthirsty stories.”

  “They are the children of the king and queen of the Underworld, milady. It’s best to train them early on about these things.” He swept her up in his arms.

  “Hades---”

  “We can talk about the little brats tomorrow,” he dismissed. “Right now, you should be concentrating on your husband.” As he laid her on the bed, he asked, “Did you get to meet Achilles?”

  The stars in her eyes glowed.

  He chuckled. “I guess I don’t need to ask how it went.”

  “Thank you for giving me the chance to meet him,” she breathed.

  “Anything for you, my soul.” A wicked smile curved on his lips. “But of course, that doesn’t mean I won’t claim any reward.”

  The god of the Underworld turned her on her back as he spoke, and although she didn’t protest, she couldn’t help asking in a bemused tone, “What are you doing?”

  Instead of answering her, he ran a hand over her side---

  Oh no.

  And then she was naked.

  “H-Hades?” She felt him press against her, and of course he was naked as well.

  He started playing with her breasts from behind while rubbing his cock against her bottom, and just like that, she felt herself slowly getting wet.