#Muse | Melinoe

[luxmaeastra]

Maybe it was an alcohol thing. He realized he didn't care. He could deal with not being who she wanted if she let this keep happening.

He pressed her back agaisnt the wall, dragging his lips from her mouth to her neck. He leashed the Valg side of him demanding he bite her, claim her. She was not his, nor would she ever be.

He had never understood why other agreed to be mated ones. It's not like they'd ever choose their lover over their mate. But he got it now, he'd do whatever it took to keep this going. Even if it cost him whatever respect his family he'd for him. He pulled his lips back, his breathing fast. He kissed her again, hand curling in her hair and another pressing at her waist.

Gods he wanted to taste her, wanted to never let her go.

This was going to ruin him and he didn't care.

Why did she let this keep happening? What did she melt into his arms when they were left to their own devices? Her heart screamed at her, her mind wanted her to see sense, yet something more was telling her that it was right.

A soft growl of need came from her when he pressed her against the wall, her head tilted back as she exposed her neck to him. Her eyes closed as she whimpered his name.

She was damning herself, she was damning herself entirely and she didn't know why she didn't want it to stop. Was it because he respected her? He understood her and treated her as an equal. Even if they argued over something on their work, there never seemed to be any hard feelings.

Melinoe's nails clawed at his back as she pressed her body against his own, melting once more as he reclaimed her lips.

[blood-starved-beast]

Something that isn't talked enough about (granted it's been less than a week) is how much of Hades himself is in Mel.

Yeah she's meticulous, overtly serious, and a hardworker. Contrast that with her brother and all that. But what gets me a lot is how much she sounds like Hades too. She uses swears - things like "get out of my blasted way" or "Silence!" to end conversations she doesn't like. She can be and often is hostile when she's in the middle of her work, which she prioritizes over everything else. She gets called a bore for it. She is a hard ass and is very self-righteous. I love that a lot about her. It's fun when you see people inherit aspects of personality traits from their parents even when they've never learned it directly from them.

[magnusbae]

WHO ARE YOU???? 🎶 👁 w 👁 🎶

[alivebaguette]

Probably gonna get hadesII today…

[matchingbatbites]

Part 1

Steve visits Eddie often. He loves being around the other man, loves how kind Eddie is, how funny he is for someone who rules the dead. He seems to love making Steve laugh and is always cracking jokes that send the goddess into giggles.

Honestly, Steve spends more time than he should in the Underworld, but Eddie has so many duties to tend to, it makes more sense for Steve to come to him than the other way around.

It’s nearly a year since he met Eddie that his joy is brought to an end. Steve is summoned to Olympus, is told that his visits are sending the world into chaos.

He didn’t know that traveling to the Underworld would cut the human world off from his magic, that the plants that bloomed with his presence would die off when the connection is severed.

Zeus bans him from visiting Hades, and Steve ignores the smug look on Ares’ face, the pitying looks from Hera and Aphrodite. Not all of the gods are here to witness his humiliation, but there are enough to make him flush with shame, to have him leaving as soon as he's able to.

Aphrodite catches him before he gets too far, her hair and robes both immaculate even as tears stream down her face. “Ares told them where you were going. I tried to stop him, but he’s… bitter. Jealous.”

She takes his hand, holds it between her own. “I can tell that your feelings are true, and that Hades feels the same for you. I wish I could help you, Persephone. You both deserve happiness.”

And like a stroke of lightning, Steve knows what must be done.

He thanks her and leaves Olympus, finds the nearest gate and descends into the Underworld. Cerberus is given three loving pets as Steve passes by, heading to the garden behind Eddie’s home.

The plants have been thriving thanks to Steve’s frequent visits, the flowers are in full bloom and the plants that can fruit are full and heavy with produce. He plucks a pomegranate from its branch, and stares at it as he remembers.

The goddess had found Eddie eating one on his third or fourth visit, and the older had stopped him when he’d gone to grab a few of the seeds for himself.

“You can’t eat anything grown in this realm. You’ll be stuck here if you do.”

Eddie had looked almost sad as he’d said it, and Steve had tipped his head to the side.

“Are you saying you don’t want me around?”

“No! I mean, I would-” Eddie stopped himself, took a breath. “You don’t belong down here. This place is far too dark, too bleak. It doesn’t deserve you.”

And Steve could read between the lines, could hear what Eddie wasn’t saying. He had ignored it at the time, let Eddie be right, but now? Now Steve knows that Eddie is the only one who deserves him.

Call him selfish, but no one has ever treated Steve the way Eddie does, has cared for him so, and he wants nothing more than to spend the rest of his days in the Underworld, side by side with the man he loves.

He tears open the pomegranate as a voice comes from the house.

“Steve? I didn’t realize you were here.”

Steve turns to face him, and Eddie’s eyes drop to Steve’s hands, dripping with red as he holds the fruit in his hands. His face pales and his eyes jump back to Steve’s.

“What are you doing?” he asks, taking a cautious step forward.

“Do you love me?” Steve asks in return. Just seeing Eddie has firmed his decision, and he stands, unwavering as he watches the other man pause at the question.

“I do. More than anything.” Eddie seems nervous, but his voice is steady, and Steve knows he's telling the truth.

“If I asked it, would you let me stay? Let me stand by your side for the rest of time itself?”

Eddie steps closer, now in arms reach. “I would. I would not turn you away, even if it meant my life.”

Steve’s eyes don’t waver from Eddie’s as he scrapes a handful of seeds from the fruit and shoves them in his mouth.

The juice is tart at first, but is followed by a delicious sweetness, something that reminds Steve of Eddie himself, and as he swallows, Steve can feel the shift within him.

Hands grab his face and the fruit falls to the ground as Steve grabs Eddie in return, both meeting in a desperate kiss. Magic flows between them, invisible threads tying them together in a bond so concrete, even the Fates themselves could not cut them.

They pull back after a moment, and Steve’s eyes drop to the red smear across Eddie’s mouth, something that is surely mirrored across his own.

“My wonderful little goddess,” Eddie mutters, awestruck as he places another kiss to Steve’s lips, more tender than the last.

“You're stuck with me now,” the goddess responds, sending them both into giggles, and yeah. It feels good to be selfish.

(Later, Steve will cut a deal with the rest of the gods. He will come back for half a year at a time and tend to his duties, leaving his beloved twin Demeter in charge while he’s gone, in exchange for Zeus’ blessing to have children. Zeus will have no choice but to agree.)

-

Tagging @stardustonpages because they respectfully asked for more <3

[melinoelabs]

"Oh we're just insects to-"

"Just" insects? Just insects?

Have some self respect!

No single clade of animal has killed more humans than insects!

So the next time some 'higher being' goes about its 'mysterious ways' around you, remember your place in the universe.

Jab your insignificant proboscis through it's ineffable dermis, gorge yourself on the delicious taste that only comes from buzzing beneath the notice of the transcendent, and leave it with the only thank-you note it'll notice, that exquisite itch that says:

'Thanks for the meal and enjoy the malaria.'

[artavarel]

the muses compelled me to draw a hades family poster

[luxmaeastra]

Maybe deal with was the wrong word, it made it sounds so clinical and as if she was seeking more than just help in navigating a relationship. It felt wrong to be at odds with her sisters, yet there just seemed to be something keeping her from doing something...anything...

"I talk to you because you are honest, because you are my favourite Uncle and I feel you understand me better. Father isn't the best at these conversations, when I have tried in the past I get two different reactions. He either gives me the hurt look he tries to hide, the one which tells me he knows what I am asking and it is causing him...some inner struggle? The other is as if he is trying to brush it under the rug, not intentionally but he always says give it time, it will get better."

Melinoe sighed, sitting back in her seat as she stared up at the ceiling. "I love my sisters, but I feel as if I am a shadow to them. Like I am being left behind."

“How do you deal with your siblings?” It was an innocent question that she felt her uncle could answer. One of the few people who understood where she was coming from, the one who also shared a similar familial dynamic. Had it been why she had distanced herself as she had? Was it why she found Winter as freeing as she did?

Yet why did she always find herself drawn back home in some shape or form, was that why she had come to Hewn to meet her uncle Keir? Melinoe sat back in her chair, fiddling with the pendant from her necklace. She needed to hear his advice; she needed his insight.

Keir stilled looking over at her. He taped his fingers on his desk.

"Admittedly not very well. But I - what exactly do you mean deal with? Are you sure you rather not be asking your father? Some would say I'm too abrasive for these types conversations."

[starchascr]

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭

"and above that, perched in a frozen mountainous spread of darkness and stars, the sprawling, massive territory of the night court."

[ichoric]

jar bb

[luxmaeastra]

The wine was making his head spin. They'd finally been able to distill the belladonna poison. With added hints of Gloriella it would be hard pressed to be stopped or detected by anyone.

He stared at her, at the way she was telling him something. He should really listen to whatever she -

"You're staring! Why? What do I have something on -"

"Can I do something?"

He straightened moving toward her. He shouldn't, it was a very very bad idea. He still had Leuke's blood under his nails. His magic still hissed for him to finish him off.

She stared up at him from where she sat at her table. Her cheeks flushed from the wine or maybe sitting too close to the hearth?

"Depends on what you want to do Erebus."

He moved cupping her cheek tilting her head back to look at him. His other hand clenched at his side she didn't pull away simply watching him.

He kissed her, sliding a hand into her hair. He deepened the kiss wanting to taste every inch of her.

Why. It was one word that filled her mind, a word that seemed to so easily disappear the moment he moved towards her. The scent of blood filled her senses, blood that she knew but having him before her all she could focus on was the sudden lightness.

Was it the drink? It wasn't often she partook, so maybe she had drunk too much. Maybe-

His palm against her cheek, her lips parted slightly. She should say no, she should end this before it started, but she didn't want to. Something yearned for more, yearned for him.

Her eyes closed when his lips touched her own, his lips that seemed to deepen with a need. Did he need to possess her? Had he really wanted her? Her heart raced, her mind swam but she didn't stop it. She didn't pull away as she returned his kiss, her hand reached up to rest over the back of his own.

[blood-starved-beast]

It's interesting how in Hades the First Zagreus hung around the less "problematic" kids of Nyx and dated Megaera the Fury, who isn't as unhinged as her sisters.

Then in Hades II, Melinoe is surrounded by Nyx's more chaotic brood. Nemesis, Eris, even Moros (though he is a sweetie, he has admitted to messing with people's Fates alongside his sisters just for the fun of it). Hypnos is there too but he's asleep and exists to have Mel have a parasocial relationship with.

[lcstinthewoods]

muse: melinoe, daughter of hades and persephone. open to: anyone.

"ooh, that was harsh." clearly no offense was taken by the sparkle of mischief in her eyes. "and that's coming from me. i liked it."

[nebulous-apocrypha]

hey does anyone know of that one tweet that calls zagreus from hades the game a davekat fanchild because i saw it around the time the sequel was announced and thought nothing of it at the time but now that i've started playing hades i can't get it out of my head.

like come on

[quillheel]

❝ you do, don’t you? you take me for a fool. ❞ makaria to zagreus, maybe?

His body was a shaking reed against the cool-hot wind of a heavenly place and his own resurrection, as the fields of Elysium burned at his coal-like heels and the mocking soil ran a rivet where the head of his spear would drag; the spear that was not his, but he was intended to wield. the way violence finds violence, the way blood finds blood, the way fools find fools.

is that what we are? — the unspoken question under the weight of a prison he will always seek to crawl out of, battered, but breathing. only for now. ( the fight he didn't get before boiled down into him now ; he will never give up )

— another in his way? always another ( he doesn't know you yet, never told, never so simple. unaware of his own life in these suffocating, chiselled walls. o goddess of blessed death, o sister, will you be kind to him? ; he finds himself doubting it. )

" Oh no, not at all! I don't think we've met before, but you seem plenty sharp. " Zagreus' answer is careless, but sweet in sincerity as he shifts to better stand, head held high despite his own garnet blood running down his legs from wounds of the fights prior as if to give the Goddess her proper respect. Equals, aren't they? Father always taught him to respect and be respected. Ah, it wasn't like he listened much to the latter, anyhow…

" But, ah, very sorry if you're going to try to stop me, miss. I've got places to go, you know? Not your fault. " He shifts the spear to his other hand, rolls his shoulders — a terrible crack echoing from them where the bones had been broken, mended, and broken again — and shifts his feet. Warlike, in his precision, already ready to fight for his life. His gleaming footing remains casual, regardless, conversational until it is deemed otherwise, where blood is to break out on the soft grass ; warlike, human. Zagreus would fight, but he always found better odds in the conversation, regardless of his pride. o prince of hades, how far to go, again & again.

A small part of him wonders where he's seen her before, something in his stomach like a seed that turns itself into a boulder so often cut out of him, but no less advocates familiarity. He can't remember. Must not be important.

[galaxythixf]

@sangreprince said: ❛ here, let me help you. ❜ (melinoë) Just send me memes idk what this is from || Accepting

"Oh, alright." Without any resistance she lets her brother assist in handling her fishing rod while she stood with awkward posture and something akin to admiration for his persistence. She isn't sure how many times she's let herself get caught up in the little details only to feel the burden of her efforts weigh heavier whenever they slipped through the cracks. Fishing was something she wanted to improve in, but couldn't seem to grasp the technique in. "Was fishing something that you did often? Do often, I guess? You get what I mean." There's a significant gap in time since last he's probably had the luxury to enjoy little activities such as these but speaking in past tense felt strange to do for a brother that was still very much alive and in front of her.