#she tried to fight me on who stayed in the underworld | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

senseichaos · 1 year ago

Note

Hey, same anon asking about yandere stuff. I'm so glad to hear!! Of course if you want to, may I please request yandere Vox with the reader? Like how they try to run from him? Perfectly fine with it being a female reader as I am one. And I don't mind how you write it. Do whatever you please! I love seeing others' interpretation of the characters 🖤 No rush!

YOU CAN'T RUN. HELL, YOU CAN'T HIDE EITHER.

thank you lovely anon! I love the concept of Yandere Vox! Hope this is good :) let me know your thoughts in another ask if you'd like! Lots of love!

Summary: Vox doesn't often fall in love often, no. Well that was until you came around- and you wanted a job with Valentino of all people? No. That would never fly with him. He'd make you work with him instead, like an intern or something? Hell, anything to make you stay near him. Anything to get him as close to you as possible.

Genres: Angst with a small amount of sexuality

NOT PROOF READ (yet)

Warnings/Tags: Yandere Vox, Insecurity, Reader is naive, manipulation, mind control, exploitation, creepy behavior, masking, contractual agreements, reader lacks hell experience, Vox is violent, Vox lacks empathy, angst, swearing, overall kinda depressing (LET ME KNOW IF MISSING ANY)

Pt 2

_______

You can't believe your eyes when you step into that tower, the pink glass adorning the outsides making your eyes shimmer. You have a job interview with Valentino today, after waiting for (probably too long) to get a job somewhere.

You see, hell worked slightly differently to earth. Where things in earth worked in a more of a 'work and make work' sort of way, Hell is more 'work, make work, and fight'

You'd managed for the past months to live in a small apartment that happened to be owned by someone who got killed in an extermination. It wasn't your plan to impersonate a sinner and squat in their home, but you have to get by somehow, right?

Well- it also wasn't your plan to be a porn star. But no where else seemed to want to take you. You're small, too weak to be taken by anyone else. People on the street told you that you were made for the screen, that your body was perfect. Some even tried to pay you copious amounts of cash just for you to suck them off. And you hate it.

At least the elevator of the building is cozy.

Vox on the other hand was having the best day of his life: or in his definition, a day where Valentino doesn't have a stupid breakdown that Vox doesn't have to solve.

He loves to watch his people as they indulge in his technology, he loves to watch everyone become obsessed with him and his media, he loves to be in control of all of these people. He'll watch every screen around him with focus, taking in their reactions as he bottle feeds them content.

Could he be with his boyfriend, Val? Yes. Does he want to? Hell no. He doesn't love Val. Plain and simple in his eyes. He has Valentino to get his business along. To make him more powerful. He'll do what he has to to be the most powerful he can be. Even if it means toying with people around him.

Val doesn't think he's capable of falling in love with anyone in this horrible underworld he inhabits. Everyone here is fucked. he is fucked. Plus, he doesn't know anyone here who he'd connect with anyway.

Or well that's what he did think until right now. There is a girl in the central elevator that looks awfully out of place, causing Vox to turn the entirety of his attention onto her. She looks like a regular old sinner, yes- but still she stands it like a sore thumb against the few people also in the central elevator. Where everyone's boring physique was her own enticing one stands. Where everyone else's two tone personalities stand her own colorful and bright one shimmer in his 2-D irises.

And then comes that odd feeling in his chest, this weird bubbling feeling of emotions that causes his eyes to tear up ever so slightly. This feeling, it's addicting. He wants to grind her up into a smoothie and drink her up, making the feeling sit there forever.

Something is wrong with him: he thinks.

With bated breath vox looked at the floor the elevator was approaching, figuring out where the girl is exactly going. There are only few reasons a sinner shows up at V tower anyway: to get a job with Valentino, or to turn yourself in if you'd wronged them. The elevator number reads '10'. She's going up to the business floor where Valentino currently is.

A sudden twist finds its way into his stomach, a horrible twist that makes his head burn with anger. Who does Val think he is? Having a girl such as her working for him. He. Couldn't let this happen, no no no no no no no. Why would he even want to exploit such a girl? She's supposed to be loves and cherished for everything she is.

The only reason she'd want to work with Val is because she has no other thing to do. He needs to offer her a job- or something to keep her from giving herself away to Valentino. Something to keep her as close to him as possible- like an intern or an assistant or anything.

Anything: Vox thinks.

Not often is Vox so reckless, not often at all. He likes to think he's decorum and well-adjusted. Likes to think he's a figure of this time. Of his time.

But right now, all he wants is this beautiful fucking girl to look at him in his eyes. Is it selfish? To want something so bad you feel like you could to horrible things to get it? Probably. But this is hell. And as an overlord of hell he can take what he wants. For once he doesn't care.

--- 666 ---

You take a step from the elevator, looking around the rather nauseating long and rounded hallway with squinted eyes. You can barely remember where you're supposed to be going anymore. You're supposed to meet Val inside one of these many, many studios. But soon enough as you start to venture through the halls on light, unsure steps you find yourself unable to read the words and numbers on each door.

Something is wrong, and you're unable to focus. There's this buzzing sound in your ears, a very faint but obvious buzzing that's causing your brain to go fuzzy. You can't feel your body anymore, it's just walking down the hallway in painful circles.

Suddenly that tether in your brain snaps with a loud crack, and your face to face with a television. You're still standing, in this long hallway, but now you're looking into the dark eyes of a TV screen. Wait- Eyes?

"Oh, Hello there sinner, are you looking for Valentino?" He asks, voice weirdly distant yet close all at the same time. His smile is large, almost devilish looking as he stares down at you.

You feel on edge, and your head still has a very faint buzzing lining itself.

"Oh, erm, Yeah.. I can't seem to recall what room-" You flinch as he hooks an arm around your neck walking you down the hallway once again with a smirk. There's a weird edge to him that you can't pin down, this whole interaction almost seems.. forced? Oh, there you go again, putting labels on things. Stop overthinking!

"Don't worry your pretty head about it! I'll take you to him," he says, unhooking his arm from your shoulder; only for him to rather sensually drag his hand across your shoulder blades until it's claws barely rest against your shoulder.

"But you know," Vox begins, swinging himself around so he stands in front of you, hands resting on either of your shoulders. You have to stop yourself from bumping into his chest. "You don't have to work for him." He says, his voice turning slightly more TV like and distant as he speaks.

"What do you mean..?" You ask, pushing his hand off of your shoulder with a painful twist of butterflies. A type of butterflies that you can't understand.

"Well, you seem like the type of gal to enjoy.." he looks you up and down, moving his hands from your shoulders as he grins. "Taking orders," you tilt your head at his words, confused. He shakes his head to himself, looking away for a moment with a slight frown before staring back, smiling brightly.

"No, I mean that you could be my assistant! You can.." He thinks for a moment, tapping the bottom of his screen as if it were his chin. He shrugs, smiling awkwardly with furrowed brows. "Bring me drinks and such! C'mon.."

He leans down to your level again, looking into your eyes. You suddenly feel that wave of disorientation go through you again, the only thing seeming to make sense to you being.. Vox.

"You don't want to be exploited by him, do you?" He says, and you feel his screen radiating heat on your skin. The buzzing becomes more loud as he goes on, all you seem to be able to hear being his words as they drip from his vile tongue. "C'mon dear, He'll break you."

"And you don't want to be broken, Right?"

He is right. You don't want to be broken by Valentino. You don't want to be exploited. But you don't have any other choice-

Until now, that is. You have an opportunity.

You should take it, right?

The headache and buzzing dissipate, taking a chunk of your psyche along with it. You feel your feet begin to give out beneath you from the exertion, lacking balance as you wobble softly. Not wanting to faceplant into the carpet, you reach out to something, anything to hold you. It just so happens to be Vox's chest, grasping onto the fabric of his coat as you begin to slip down to the floor.

"Hey, Hey, it's okay, What's got you out of sorts?" He asks, grasping you by your waist as he lifts you back to your feet. You blink, looking around for a moment with a nervous breath. Those butterflies, again. You hate them.

"I- uh.. I dunno.." You say stutter, pushing yourself away and scratching that back of your neck.

"You're feeling better?" Vox says, dipping his lids as he tilts his head rather attractively.

You nod, looking down at the ground with a nervousness inside of you.

"Good, good.." he turns away, looking at the ground and pacing for a short amount of time "good.." he says softly to himself, turning back around and clasping his hands together as he grins.

"Now how about you follow me and we can get you set up, yeah?" He says, pressing his hand against the space between your shoulder blades as he turns back to the elevator. You look up at him, and for a moment he seems to be in his own world. At least he is until you speak.

"So what's your name, Mister?" You ask, fiddling your fingers against each other nervously. He grins, lids upturning with the smile as well. He leans down again, poking a blue claw on your cheek as buzzing blurs your brain.

"It's Vox, my dear," He says, and your brain goes soft and mushy with an emotion you cannot describe. It feels as though he's making you melt.

"Keep that in your head for me, will you princess?" He asks softly, pulling his claw up the side of your face with a manic grin.

With a sudden movement he pulls away, shrugging his hands.

"Now darling, let's get back to it, shall we?"

Something is off, and part of you wants more of it.

--- 666 ---

Mister Vox's office is large in size, walls lined with screens displaying different things across the entirety of the pride ring. You wonder what Vox may do here all day, seeing the singular seat between it all that doesn't even seem that cozy.

You assume he watches, broadcasts, does meeting, and.. does what he's doing right now, perhaps?

"What do you do all day, Mister Vox?" You ask, looking wide-eyed at the television lined walls of the area. He flinches, grinning awkwardly before bringing back his confident demeanor.

"Me? Oh, you know.. this and that- I go to meetings.. I sign paperwork, I go to meetings.." He laughs to himself, shaking his hand dismissively as he sits in his seat, spreading his legs in a man spread. You turn away from the screens, looking over at Vox as he scans the monitors with narrowed eyes. You wonder if he was doing something important before he found you.

"Uh, Mister Vox, what do I do now..?" You ask, taking a small step towards him. He tilts his head towards you, smiling as he swings his chair to face you completely.

"oh, you? You can just sit there and look pretty.." Vox looks you up and down with narrowed eyes, face blank for a long moment before bringing a small smirk onto his face. He leans back in his chair, clicking his fingers as a bundle of clothing finds it's way into your hands.

"Perhaps prettier, change into that for me will you dearest?" He says, leaning his head on his fist as his voice becomes slightly more distant. You look at him, confused as you clutch the blue and red clothing to your chest.

"Okay.. Where do I change, Mister Vox?" You say, fiddling with the collar of your shirt as your body feels hot. Vox rolls his eyes playfully, pointing a clawed finger to the floor as he shifts his chair back to the screen. "Just change here my dear, no one will see you," He says, looking at you with a side glance. It's almost condescending, in a way.

"right here? But-"

"Here is fine, dear. Hell, here is more safe to change than anywhere else in this building," He laughs. You get this off feeling like you should trust him. I mean, he's one of the people owning this building anyway, right? He would be the one knowing a lot about it rather than anyone else. you should trust him.

"Okay Mister Vox."

You can't see his grin.

Every piece of clothing you peek off feels like this weird symbolism for losing yourself. Off comes your shirt: a piece is lost. Off comes your shorts: a piece of you is lost. And then more clothes come onto you, building something new. On comes a skirt: a piece of you is molded. On comes a blouse: a piece of you is molded.

And then there's this watch, a mobile one with 'Vox Tech' plastered across the side. With a shrug you put it on, struggling with getting it to tightness but ultimately managing to win the battle with the finicky strap.

"Good, good, how great you look!" He says, outstretching his hands with a grin.

You feel yourself blush, one half of you from his compliment and the other half from the fact he's looking completely in your direction. Does that mean he was watching you the whole time?

"Actually my dear, do you think you can grab me a coffee?" He asks, clicking his hands as a streak of blue energy shoots inside of the watch; this causes a mao to appear on the screen, showing where you are currently. "That map should tell you where to go, the assistant there should give you the coffee the way I like it,"

You shouldn't ask it, but you feel your bones ache too.

"How do you like it?"

He grins, tilting his head.

"Sweet with a strong flavour," He states, waving you off.

--- 666 ---

The first week as Vox's Assistant goes by smoothly, or as smoothly as it could working with an Overlord of hell. A rather odd seeming one at that.

Everything feels on edge with Vox, you feel like at any moment he could do something drastic. You've no idea what said drastic thing could be either, which makes it a whole lot more anxiety inducing. Hell, Vox is attractive. That's probably why you're on edge. That's what you keep telling yourself anyway. You're probably in love with him or something.

Vox had even given you housing as close to the building as possible, insisting he pay the rent. Not that you complain, no; less walking for you it seems. The Vox Tech watch he gave you tells you pretty much everything that you need to do. When you wake up in the morning it goes off, alerting you like an alarm, it has a to do list that blares when you're in the office, it maps out the whole space, it even acts as Vox's messaging system towards you.

You do wonder how he controls it, even in the comfort of your own home. Well, he is an overlord, right? He's capable of things even outside of your grasp. You cannot even fathom what he could do with that power.

And that's just the way Vox likes it.

Actually, you haven't seen Valentino around the building the whole week either. Even in a meeting you accompanied Vox to. You'd expect to see him more often with all the prowling in and out of the building you do.

It's as if he's vanished.

"Princess, grab me a coffee will you? Maybe even grab one for yourself while you're at it, on the house," Vox asks, swiveling on his chair to face your own, which sits just off to the side of his own with a small desk in front of it. You'd been doing some paperwork for him for the past hour, mostly reading through stuff, asking him questions, and singing them for him.

"Yeah, sure.. um, I was just wondering.." You utter softly, causing Vox to raise a brow as he leans back on his chair with a confident grin. He tilts his head in question, saying: "What's on your mind, (N/N)?"

"I haven't seen Valentino around the building, I was just wondering if something's up with him?" You ask, looking down at the ground as you begin to regret yourself even questioning. Vox laughs, flapping his hand in dismissal.

"Oh, just that? Don't worry about it! He's just.." Vox pauses for a moment, shrugging his shoulders. "Doing his own thing," He finishes, smiling rather oddly as he begins moving his chair back to face his computers. You intercept.

"His own thing..?"

Vox turns back to you, grinning widely with a manic look in his 2-D eyes. Once again, the buzzing fills your brain. And you fall to your knees against the ground with a painful 'thump'. Vox harshly grips your chin, pulling you closer to him until all you can see is that blaring red eye of his as he speaks.

"As i said,"

You feel yourself wanting to let go.

"Don't worry about it."

He lets you go of your trance, leaving you teary eyed as he smiles softly, brows furrowing in a sort of mocking empathetic way. His eyes drip with affection you find.

"Now, grab that coffee, okay?" He finishes, placing a cold kiss against your forehead before letting go of your chin, leaving yourself to gather your bearings.

It's not often you feel the want to defy someone. But as you stand from the floor, dusting off your skirt and walking to the elevator; you feel that need to be defiant. You'd figure out where Valentino is. He has to be somewhere in the building, right? You just have to find.. him..

In these hundreds and hundreds of doors. You would have to find him. And you can't take so long, otherwise Vox may suspect something.

You'd find someone to tell you where he is, you'd find him, and you'd stop worrying if Vox is going to do something drastic because he hasn't lied to you. Simple as that, simple as that. Right?

As it just so happens, as you begin walking through the studio halls you find yourself bumping into a spider individual, of whom you remember being a popular porn star.

So with an anxious breath you asked him. He explained that Valentino was in studio B-40, but he doesn't recommend finding him. And once again you go against someone's wishes. Plus, you were just going to stick your head in the door. It's nothing to worry about.

So what are you so anxious when you find yourself getting closer to the door? Why does your throat feel so tight? Why do you want to run in the other direction? Why does every step feel so heavy?

Taking another small step to the door, you wonder if you should listen to your conscious. It's supposed to do you good , right?

No, that's baby talk.

You aren't weak. You aren't letting the people in hell get you down! You are going to open the door!

You push yourhand towards the door handle and-

"Ouch! Fuck-" You yelp, an electric shock going through your body, causing you to fall backwards onto the hard floor below. Your whole body is on fire, you can't feel your tongue. You can't feel your brain.

A hum accompanies Vox's words.

"You're not going in there." He says, leaning over you as you push yourself to your knees, pressing yourself to the wall. Your head is throbbing.

"I'll beat him to a pulp if he sees you, you know?" Vox laughs, that sickening pseudo-empathetic look covering his flat features. You feel your stomach twist, this time in an awful way, it's like he's draining you of your soul. You want to disappear.

"I don't want to be aggressive," Vox begins as he grips your face harshly, causing tears to well into your eyes. "But your fucking mine, you got that?"

"And I won't let that sleazy prick get his greedy eyes anywhere near you!"

"W-what?" You whimper, pushing his hands from his face and backing away meekly. Vox laughs to himself, red dripping from his two dimensional mouth. He humors you with that gaze of his, eating alive any part of your confidence that may still linger.

"Oh, don't you get it, my dear? You sighed the paperwork," Vox leans down so his eyes can bore into your own, his gums showing in that prideful smile of his. "You belong to me now."

You choke on air, standing to your wobbly feet.

"W-what? I don't un-"

The paperwork. The paperwork you signed to get the job. You didn't read it! You idiot. You fucking idiot! You've ruined your own life. You belong to him..

To Vox.

"You- Shit-!" You turn around on your heels, almost slipping as you speed off into the hallway. You hear his voice echo in your ears.

"You can't run. Hell, you can't hide either!"

This was a mistake, this whole thing was a mistake. You want to die. You want to disappear. You want to get as far away from him as possible. You don't even take the elevator down, you run down every single flight of stairs jumping down a couple to save time.

The slip beneath your feet almost makes you topple over as you clutch onto the railing, swinging yourself onto the next flight of stairs. You have to be close to the bottom, right. Right? Yeah. This is fine.

And you were, right, surprisingly. You can almost see the entrance outside. You just have to make it out of this lobby. You just have to make it out of this huge fucking stupid ass lobby! You have to.

All of the sinner's eyes bore at you as you run at top speed to the door. You can't be here. You need to leave immediately. He can't find you If you're far away, right? Just go somewhere without a camera.. it'll be fine.. everything will be fine.

You're so close! Just a few more steps, a few more heavy, headache inducing steps.

You can make it. You just have to believe in yourself, and it'll all work out. Everything will be fine. It just has to be. Hell can't be this cruel, can it?

You're so close to the door you can smell the outside world, hear the cars as they pass, hear the charter hear the-

You choke and fall.onto the ground, a heaviness around your neck and wrists. It buzzes against your skin, making you go light headed. You can barely see it, but it's there. There are handcuffs around your wrists. And a collar around your neck. All of which glowing and buzzing with that electric blue of Vox.

He is right.

You can't run, you can't hide, you can't do anything.

He owns you, he has you. You can't do anything.

You made a mistake.

Maybe hell really is this cruel.

Keeping you forever tethered to this man.

Who knew one mistake would ruin the rest of your eternity.

Serves you right for being so naive.

"Alright now, are we done with our tantrum?" Vox asks.

"Yes mister Vox." You say.

#proship #senseichaos #antishippers dni #senseichaosdrabbles #proship fanfiction #Vox x reader #vox x reader #vox hazbin hotel #hazbin vox #vox yandere #yandere vox #yandere hazbin hotel #ask #sensei chaos requests #senseichaosanons #lovely anon

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randomciabatta724 · 6 months ago

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Some Polites headcanons because they're good for the soul.

Note: these are a mix of details from the musical I wanted to expand on, stuff I've read from other posts, and things I randomly came up with.

He was in the frontlines (or at least near them) during the Trojan war. Not because he wanted to fight, he just thought "if I have to join the battle, I'll at least shield those behind me". I took this from Survive, because he had to be pretty close to Polyphemus to be the first one hit by the club.

Self sacrificial. Very self sacrificial. Would die for the crew, especially for Odysseus and Eurylochus.

Loves dates. Either on their own or with honey. I don't know why, he just gives me the vibe.

Had night terrors both during and after the war. Either nightmares about the people he killed (let's face it, you don't come out of a 10 year war without getting blood on your hands) or his friends dying in battle. Never explicitly told anyone, but he would stay with his friends a little longer the morning after. Also picked a lot more night watch turns as a result, just to get his mind off of things.

Bruises/gets injured extremely easily, and doesn't notice/care. Especially if someone else is hurt too. "Are you alright?" asks Polites to another soldier while coughing up blood.

Also very durable, somehow. That's why Polyphemus had to hit him twice/j.

Myopic king. The glasses are a gift from Athena, because she was like "I think you're a soft-hearted fool, but I'll be damned if you embarrass my Warrior of the Mind because you can't see beyond the bridge of your nose".

The type of person to keep eating horrible/possibly poisoned food just to not offend the person who prepared it. Odysseus had to smack the lotus out of his hand because he would have still taken a bite to not make the lotus eaters upset (he brought some with him anyway, that's where Odysseus got the lotuses to put in the wine).

Many have already said this, he's the therapist friend before therapy was invented.

Gives the best hugs.

Taller than Odysseus but shorter than Eurylochus (Odysseus reaches Polites' chest, Polites reaches Eurylochus' nose).

Apologises when he bumps into furniture. It's a reflex, he doesn't notice he does it. It's a remnant of his pre-glasses days, when he couldn't distinguish a person from a vase.

The ancient Greek equivalent of a Godfather to Telemachus.

Extremely trusting, sometimes a little too much (fun fact: in the Odyssey he's like the first one to enter Circe's palace).

Very forgiving. He gives second, third, even fourth chances like it's nothing, no matter how badly someone hurts him. You have to be pretty forgiving to still think about greeting the world with open arms after being clubbed to death. (Note: this does not apply to his friends getting hurt).

When he takes off his bandana, his curls reach his shoulders and cover his left eye, and it gives him a whole different vibe. He still radiates warmth, but it's not the same. Kinda like the sun at noon and the sun at dusk. The second is still warm and welcoming, but dimmer, softer, maybe a little darker. People have mistaken him for someone else because of this.

Super heavy sleeper. One time when they were younger, Odysseus and Eurylochus decided to try and wake him up by making the most noise possible. They did not succeed.

His first kiss was Eurylochus while Odysseus was away in Sparta to court Penelope.

One time, someone tried to rob him. The guy was like "Give me your money!" and Polites was like "Oh dear, look at you, of course I'll give you my money, you look like you really need it. Also, why don't you come to my house so I can give you some food and clean clothes?". The thief was so ashamed of himself he ran away.

He befriended Charon in the Underworld.

You know the plague that Apollo sent during the Iliad? He may or may not have gotten it, I haven't decided yet.

Considering that in epic the sirens have the ability to shapeshift into loved ones, there was definitely a siren Polites somewhere during Suffering/Different Beast.

He's generally a very calm person, the only thing that really gets him angry is when his friends get hurt. And when he's angry, he's not someone to mess with. He can and will kick ass. And the thing that rubs salt in the wound is that if you get beat up by Polites, it's almost certainly your fault, because Polites isn't the kind of person that goes around randomly beating people up. And very few people wish to carry the title "The person who got beat up by Polites".

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

The last headcanon is something I've also based a scenario on. Basically, after Odysseus kills the suitors, they go to the Underworld. Most of them are still shaken up by the whole thing, which is understandable, getting shot by an enemy you can't see while unarmed in the dark is not fun, but not Antinous. Antinous is pissed. And so he rallies up the other suitors, he gives a whole speech where he basically says they can get revenge on Odysseus once he joins them there and also reveals all the shit they did while he was gone. And Polites is like, talking to Eurylochus or something, when he overhears. And so he goes to give Antinous the beating of his life because you do **not** disrespect his best friend and his family like that. And the suitors+Eurylochus are watching from a corner, with the suitors getting even more scared.

That's it. Nothing more :)

I know Eurylochus is married to Ctimene but I SHIP HIM AND POLITES SO BAD AAAAAAAAHHHHHH

#epic the musical #polites #odysseus #eurylochus #can you tell I love Polites #he's my fav #Polites x Eurylochus #I don't know when I started shipping them but it grew on me

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skay-ali · 3 months ago

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the witch's revenge

I have a reader draft with a demon possessing her, the idea is that she basically made a deal to continue living, where she would help the demon with his evil plans in exchange for staying alive. Maybe get revenge on his family, showing them that he was better now. Jennifer's body

You had everything figured out.

Every little step.

You had many resources, not only monetary resources from your followers and your sponsor, but also the necessary influence.

Many people from the underworld supporting you.

It was assumed that with your ritual, Halloween, when a red moon would appear, would be your great opportunity.

At last you would have what your heart longed for most, the same wish that you asked the shooting stars, the one that you recited when you made incantations and spells since you were a small and inexperienced witch.

The day you gathered enough evil from the lowest places, you turned many cities guarded by heroes upside down.

At midnight when everything went dark, and the evil of each person floated towards your new scepter.

The song that you recited, oh the great song that you strove to memorize.

Everything was fine in a moment, the portal would have opened and soon you could make a pact, to save your mother.

Until it wasn't anymore, some supers appeared, not even the barrier of villains that surrounded you could contain them.

It was unfair, you weren't hurting anyone, you were saving them from their evils in exchange for benefiting you.

Thanks to you, many popular villains calmed down, your spells made them more docile.

Why didn't they let you have what you always wanted?

You were angry, upset, you wanted them to leave right then and there.

Your pain worsened when balls of purple energy were directed towards where you were, and a woman with her glowing fists also tried to hit you.

They wanted to keep you, they wanted to destroy your only source of happiness.

Maybe it was the evil that you were handling that took over you, or all the anger that you contained, but now... now you would let him govern you.

You let your scepter expel a great shadow so that the heroes would be lost.

A lot of lightning bolts followed, in all directions.

That would keep them a little busy, while they try to avoid them.

But that was not enough, you built with your magic and the things that surrounded you into monsters that would attack them.

"OH I'm sorry but you're not invited to the party" you mock them when you were able to hold them back.

You watched as the entire sky took on a red color.

"If he opens the portal he will endanger the world, you shouldn't play with demonic forces!"

"I'm sorry I don't think I heard you demon girl, I'm trying to make one of yours my pet" you ignored the caped girl laughing at her.

You feel more and more the adrenaline of hating your body. Right on cue, more heroes appeared but this time they looked like young adults.

With them the other heroes were able to control your warriors, and also attack you. Some dates tried to get through you but nothing you couldn't avoid.

"Damn, I think they have me" you raised both your hands in surrender.

You saw how they let their guard down for a moment.

"Well that would be like that, if they defeated my true warriors" you smiled evilly.

At that moment, many other villains noticed that they owed you some favors and wanted to compensate them by fighting for you. With them watching your back, you focused on your last steps to see your mother again.

You took out all the souls of the witches you killed, they were offerings to the demon that had your mother.

You knew that they could, in a good mood, take revenge on the witches who mocked him and got away with it, having them as his servants would brighten his day.

Like an angry dog receiving a treat to have it on your side.

But other annoying bugs had to appear just when you put the souls inside the portal.

This was already the height of your patience, your sanity could no longer continue as before, all your madness came out.

You began to attack with your scepter directly at each person who approached you. mercilessly, you had previously been lenient about the idea of harming someone.

But you couldn't afford that luxury anymore, not when your plan was in danger of being destroyed.

You reached your turning point. Your body is starting to get tired, time was running out.

With everything you had you continued with your ritual.

Even if blood began to slide down your nose and red tears that burned in your eyes spilled.

But a big blow knocked you out, making you lose your concentration and sending you to the floor, sending your scepter flying away.

As soon as you opened your face you saw that the blood moon began to disappear.

You crawled, gathering all your strength, even if your body hurt, even if the impact of the blow was still present in your body, you continued.

Reciting weak spells to defend yourself. When you reached your precious scepter without strength, you no longer felt power within it.

"Nooo" it was over with all the fights you had and because of the ritual. When you saw the portal, you noticed that it had already disappeared, along with your sacrifice and the opportunity to have your mother back.

"NONONO BECAUSE YOU DON'T ANSWER" you shook your scepter many times desperate for it to work again, you could use a time spell, stop going back, so that the blood moon would appear again, of course that would shorten your life and you would surely be punished but no longer you cared "nooo let go of me" you struggled with the hands that held you. No matter how much you kicked, scratched, bit and screamed you couldn't keep them away. You cried... you cried very loudly, as if something was hurting you deeply, as if you had been stabbed very hard, and you screamed at the top of your lungs, until you were hoarse. You did it until your eyes became blurry, and your energy was gone, you passed out.

Your dream, your desire, seems finished... there was no longer anything that moved you, you give up, you let the world finish you once and for all... as it should always have been.

You woke up alone in an unknown room, lacking natural light, only artificial light from the spotlights that illuminated an annoying white light. everything was white and colorless, devoid of life.

Your clothes were too, you didn't wonder how you had them, you let things flow... you wouldn't worry about anything anymore... you wouldn't do anything anymore... you would just exist.

You cried a lot without stopping, not that you wanted to, but the sadness that was in your heart would not go away.

With your magic you swallowed some things, a book, a record player, some depressing music records, cherry liquor and some cigarillos. With those things you waited patiently.

Someone would appreciate it, those cameras in your room were a sign, next to the black window where you couldn't make out what was behind.

You blew smoke into your mouth, elegantly holding the cigarette in your fingers and looking at the white window trying to find something in it.

Your idea was actually to terrify or make the hair stand on end of whoever was looking at you.

You played with your hair from time to time, it's a real shame that it returned to its current color, you could use magic to change it but you didn't feel up to it.

A lot of black locks, aghh you hated the color, your aunts always said that it was your father's color and that you had many of his traits, although you couldn't change those traits much because of how annoying and complex it was, the hair was one.

Everything was boring, until a girl enters your room, she sat in one of the chairs that was at a table.

And he started to question you, you didn't answer him, you just paid attention to your cigarette.

That is until she had the audacity to get into your brain, you wouldn't let her get away with that, no one messes with your head, except you.

You let him examine whatever he wanted. a small spell when she committed a vast oversight, to make her forget what she saw and tell her other things, something terrifying and traumatizing, although you did not take pity so much and made her feel your same sadness, you were not a villain to traumatize a teenager for life .

Her tears were present, you just watched her cry with your cigarette in her lips, trying not to do the same.

But you failed, you also shed tears with the girl.

The next ones who tried the same thing were also unsuccessful.

until you felt a presence that you distinguished well.

“hello demon girl see you again” you smiled.

#yandere dc #x reader #platonic batfam #yandere batfam #yandere platonic

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yourlittlebunnyy · 4 months ago

Text

a court of shadows and darkness

main masterlist - azriel masterlist - previous

chapter six

summary: Selaene, Rhysand's sister, Azriel's mate runs away after the High Lord of Spring tries to kill her.

warnings: none

enjoy! 🖤

When the Fae's bare feet touch the ground, when her bare arms come in contact with the frigid winter air, Selaene is not worried.

But when she allows herself to open her eyes again, eager to see that world she has waited so long for, a scream of pain tears through her lungs. She has never experienced anything like it: such pain in her eyes that she thinks they are on fire.

Her fingers apply pressure, desperate to relieve such intense burning, and the passerby who helped her lays his hands on her face in a vain attempt to get her own fingers out of her own eyes. Tears flowed freely down her reddened cheeks from the stinging air.

She has been so stupid, so greedy in wanting to savor light and freedom and colors again, that she has forgotten that her eyes are not used to it. Now she will be lucky if she is not blind.

"Take it easy... take it easy." The male offers her comforting words, but he doesn't know what to do. Maybe he should call his mate and tell her that a little girl has appeared randomly after he winnowed in the border village. But the young fae is screaming and crying and he doesn't know why, and at the moment contacting his beloved on the other side of his Court is out of the question.

He is so focused on removing her hands from her eyes, which press so hard that she seems to want to gouge them out herself, that he doesn't notices she is dressed only in an old nightgown. Bloodstained and torn. The male sighs and takes off his coat, offering it to her.

He helps her up, puts the head around her shoulders and uses the hood to cover her eyes. Selaene on the other hand does nothing to go along with the movements, but she does not object either.

The stabbing pain has reduced to occasional twinges, and she realizes only later that she is now standing and her body no longer shakes from the cold, her teeth having stopped chattering.

Whoever the male is, he is kind, she thinks. He could have left her there, or worse. Instead he is helping her, even giving her his hood to cover her eyes.

Kallias, the High Lord of the Winter Court lets out a big sigh and defeated, takes the female's arm. Even today he will not be able to visit the village, it is as if fate did it on purpose.

One moment they are at the borders, the next they are in a noisy place, and even though she doesn't see them, she hears a lot of people circling around them offering help.

Selaene wants to yell at whoever he is, to say they had to stay there, in the exact spot he passed and get her sister, but she keeps quiet.

She lets the Fae's arm guide her to a room that smells of rosemary and sage. Only now, little by little, is her body getting used to the world again. Except for her eyes, which she keeps tightly shut in fear of opening them and seeing... nothing. She is afraid that she has gone blind.

"Tyna, can you call Vivi?" The male's voice is authoritative. She wants to explain that there is no need for them to do anything, that she would just like them to call her brother and mate.

A twinge in her heart makes her gasp. Azriel. She searches inside her, retraces that bond that has become dry and dead, and reaches the end of her companion, only to find... a wall. She can't reach out to him, to make that wonderful thing that connects them flourish again, because now... it is Azriel who is not there.The man must have noticed the change in the Fae's mood, because he turns to her.

"Who are you? How did you end up with me?"

"I was-I was stuck in the UnderWorld."Selaene does not even try to put up a fight. All this time she has never thought about the possibility that Azriel was...

"What?" He asks and does not mask surprise, but the female does not answer.

"Are you part of the Night Court?" The fae nods in assent from under her hood. "Are you injured?"

"No."

A female suddenly enters the room. "Kal. What happened?"

"She appeared totally at random when I winnoweed, says she got stuck in the UnderWorld and now--her eyes, I don't know, Viv."

There is a long pause between the two, and Selaene has to suppress the urge to peek. She focuses on how she feels, rather. Besides the smell of spices, she can sense the two Fae and suspects they are companions. "All right. I'll go get Mor, then."

Selaene has no idea who the mentioned female is, but she does not open her mouth. She hears light footsteps moving away until they disappear. The male remains in the room with her. "Okay. I leave you in the hands of Tyna, our healer. And my mate has gone to call for help in your Court. Can you tell me your name?"

Selaene hesitates. "I am Selaene."

The male emits a sound of surprise that leaves the Fae quite puzzled, seeming to hurry away without so much as a word. After a couple of minutes, light pattering can be heard in the room on the floor.

"Hi. I'm Tyna and I'll help you see. How long were you in the absence of light?" A soft, warm voice envelops her, and she feels cuddled by the female who is taking care of her.

"I ... I don't know. More than four centuries."

"And as soon as you came back, did you open your eyes?" Selaene nods. "You stupid, stupid girl. " She says and her face appears under the hood, she feels her warm breath against his.

"Come on, try to open one eye, slowly. Don't hold them tight, or you'll hurt yourself." Selaene follows her instructions, and when she finally opens one eye she meets the face of a female with chubby cheeks and ice-colored eyes.

"There you are." She says softly, "now close it and open the other, ever so slowly."

Once she ascertains that the young girl has not blinded herself, the healer invites her to keep her eyes open under the hood as she fetches her a small piece of black cloth.

"What is it?" asks Selaene passing the small square between her fingertips. Tyna takes her by the arm and helps her up, leading her to the nearest window.

"Put it in front of your eyes and look out, we will use a thinner cloth each time."

The young female positions herself in front of the window and holds the cloth in front of her eyes with one hand, while she removes the hood from her head with the other.

"Does it hurt, honey?" Selaene shakes her head and a smile spreads across her face as she catches a glimpse of snowy mountains outside the window.

They remind her of the Illyrian steppes. Her wings twitch involuntarily. How she has missed flying, how she misses home.

Tyna passes her other types of cloth, all gradually finer and less dark, until finally she declares that her eyes are apposite and she can look out without the help of anything.

"Maybe don't look straight into the sun, but there's not much here anyway." The comment warms her heart, somehow. When was the last time she looked into the face of another person?

"I would like to go back to my home."

"Don't worry, stay here. Our Lady has gone to call the Third-in-Command of the Night Court. She will take you home." The Fae nods and watches the female figure as she leaves the room.

Now that she finds herself alone and can see, she studies her surroundings. Around her are various dried herbs, and she is probably in Tyna's study. There is a mirror near the sink, and she decides to observe herself after almost five hundred years. She approaches slowly keeping her gaze down, and after a long breath and resting her hands on the pottery for support, Selaene looks straight into her eyes. She is smug with her reflection: she is exactly as she was all those years ago. She was never vain, but she knew she was a beautiful female, and Azriel did not fail to repeat this to her every day, making her blush. Her eyes are still bright purple, and her hair is still black and shiny, just as long as it was. The mirror is too small to mirror her wings in full, but it was one of the few things she had bothered to do in the UnderWorld: the exercises Cassian made her do to keep her wing and back muscles in training. The only thing that has changed is her complexion, once honey-colored, now turned a ghostly hue.

Voices in the distance distract her from her thoughts, and she hurries back to sit on the small cot as before. "Oh, there you are." The white-haired female greets her, the same as before. She must be the one who called the blond-haired Fae to her side. Could it be her Mor?

In her scent she recognizes some familiar trace, but she could not trace it back to anything or anyone in particular.

Mor watches her in surprise, a distressed expression aging her face as she seems to be having a silent conversation with the white-haired female. Selaene does not like this. Is she a Daemati too? She tries to check her mental shields, but cannot remember how. The Fae eventually leaves after a brief embrace with the blonde.

"Is your name Selaene?" A question asked in such a hopeful tone, if she is really Mor, then she is the Third in Command of the High Lord of the Night Court. Which is... her brother.

"Are you Mor?" The blonde seems annoyed by her question and the fact that she did not answer, but then she smiles.

"You look just as I imagined you." She says, and her eyes glaze over. Selaene hasn't allowed herself to cry yet, and she won't allow herself to until she knows her family is okay, but Mor is giving her more hope in these minutes than in most of her life.

"Let's go home, Selaene." She tells her after clearing her throat, her voice cracked. She holds out a hand and the young girl studies it before taking it between her own.

"Shall we go to Velaris?" Mor smiles at her, but does not answer. The young woman's heart could burst with joy at any moment. The blonde's grip tightens on her hand, and in the blink of an eye, the two find themselves at the gates of Velaris. "Welcome home, Selaena."

Only now, only after setting foot in her city, in her home, does the fae allow herself to cry. She does not cry as she expected: her tears are silent and of pure wonder. Mor squeezes her hand one more time before bringing it back along her own sides. "Come on, let's walk to the River House."

They walk silently, the blonde not wanting to disturb Selaene. Not when there is such wonder, such happiness in her gaze. She is just as she expected, a copy of her cousin. Gods, she was her cousin.

"Selaene. We haven't introduced ourselves." She tells her after they stopped at a stall and bought her a typical treat-the Fae did not ask for it, but Mor saw how her pupils dilated at such a delicacy, "I am Mor. And I am your cousin. And your brother's cousin."

At her words Selaene's heart gave a little sinking. "Is he-he is here? Is he okay?"

"He doesn't know you're here, we're going to see him." She cannot stop the tears even if she wanted to. Mor hands her food, but she is not hungry. She can't even remember the taste of the food, can't remember the last thing she ate or when.

"I want to go to him right away." Mor chuckles and makes her way through the crowd. "They're all there, honey. We were having dinner."

It takes ten minutes on foot. Ten terrible minutes in which Selaene's heart does nothing but beat, beat, beat. Louder and louder.

"Here we are."

As soon as they enter the front door, the smell of Rhysand, a female and something else fills her nostrils, and she smiles at the familiarity she had forgotten.

She hears his voice, their voices. She hears the clatter of cutlery and the laughter of a family.

Mor enters first, but the room freezes at the new, well, not new, found smell. Rhysand, her brother, oh gods, her brother gets up to see who is hiding behind his cousin.

And when their gazes meet...

next chapter

tags: @helo1281917

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iouinotes · 11 months ago

Text

Heroic Betrayal | Luke Castellan (part 1)

SPOILER FOR THE PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS SERIES AND THE BOOKS

pairing: Luke Castellan x female!reader

show: Percy Jackson and the Olympians

warnings: dark!character, betrayal, implied sexual content, heavy angst, kidnapping

word count: 5,8k

summary: When Luke switches to the dark side, he tries everything possible to win you for him.

a/n: so as the show comes to an end (dont cry dont cry dont cry), I thought I would finally post this :)))

read part 2 here

"I'll find you!" his voice echoes through the forest, my laughter much louder than I intend to. But that´s just how it always goes. It's our own little tradition.

Every year when the camp starts again and we meet after the holidays passed, we play hide and seek in the dangerous forest of the half-blood camp. The creatures usually don't come across our path, in recent years it has rarely happened, that we actually had to defend ourselves against them.

Once it was an angry dryad, who threw branches at me (she had a crush on Luke and wanted revenge, but since I could understand her feelings and felt sad for her, we sorted it out).

Another time we were spotted by some camp members, who made fun of us, but Luke must have said something to them later, because we haven't been bothered by these troublemakers since.

It is always the same pattern, but each time there is still something special about it. We have grown, became more mature (I think), and have more and more experience about the struggles in life.

So being able to just let go for a few moments and being completely alone with him is probably the best thing to keep myself sane (even if he drives me a little bit crazy with the love I hold for him).

But a lot has changed recently.

It all started when rumors spread, that Zeus' lightning bolt had been stolen by Poseidon's son. And then the most supportive, bravest, sassy kid in the world showed up here. Percy Jackson. Ever since I met him, even though it's not his fault, there's been war going on. The gods are angry, the monster attacks became worse and again, rumors about the oldest, most powerful titan Kronos reached the camp.

It scared and frightened many people, including me. That's why we've been training harder and stay awake, even when the stars are shining, so that we can prepare for any catastrophe. To be able to fight.

My mother is the goddess Demeter, my father a simple man. I adore them both, even though my mother isn't one of my closest contacts. But I never really held that against her, because at least she decided to acknowledge me as her daughter. After all, it's a privilege that not everyone gets. My siblings and friends at camp are important to me, but the world is changing and so is everything around it.

The only stability I have left is my boyfriend Luke.

If I had to rely on one person in the whole world (and by that I also mean the underworld), it would be him.

He's been my best friend since I arrived at this camp. We've been together through ups and downs, I know every side of him and he knows everything about me too. Many of the people here are like blank pages to me, but not him. He is like my favorite book, that lays open to me and allows me to read each letter individually. Just as I know every of his dreams, every secret, every truth and every lie. He is my protector, my hero in every dark night and every bright day. Without him, I don't even know who I am. He is a part of me and my heart wouldn't be whole without him.

I watched him grow up. From the small, thin boy whose eyes hid so much pain and sadness to the strong, soulful leader he is today.

His beauty cannot be influenced by anything, he is like my very own sun, without him I could not survive.

I wouldn't want it any other way though.

Now, I'm hiding behind a tree with my back pressed against the bark and I am able to hear the cracking and swinging of the branches.

I smile so wide, that my cheeks start to hurt, when I hear his voice calling. My heart is beating in my throat, but it's not just the adrenaline of not getting caught. It's because of my love for him, which is so strong that sometimes I'm afraid of it. But only in the moments when I realize that nothing, but him is my biggest flaw. I think I would do anything for him.

Then I concentrate again and listen to the sounds around me. But his voice has fallen silent and I don't hear his footsteps anymore.

My eyebrows furrow, confused I try to look around the tree and search for an orange t-shirt. Likely together with his slim body, biceps, beautiful face and wonderful personality.

But when I want to withdraw again, it's already too late. A branch breaks behind me and before I can move I'm pushed against the tree from behind.

I immediately feel his body against mine, hear the laughter in his voice and listen to his strained breathing. His hands wrap around my body and turn me towards him, so that we are now face to face.

He's taller than me and as I look up, I feel the familiar fluttering feeling in my chest. I am so in love with him.

He grins triumphantly at me and I lean against the tree, smiling kindly.

"Found you, princess." The light reflects in his brown eyes and some of his curls are laying wildly on his head. He looks like an angel.

"I made it easy for you." My voice teases him and when he leans in so close to me, that our lips almost touch, I forget how to think properly. A habit I can't change. He's just so captivating.

"Yeah? You think I wouldn't have found you otherwise? Funny. I remember that in the last few years, I always was the winner of our little game." His lips brush mine, I want nothing more than to kiss him. But he knows that, which is why he slowly pulls back, when I start to lean forward.

When I want to complain, he puts his hand around my waist and pulls me into his chest. My knees almost give out, I feel so intoxicated by his presence.

"I-I wanted you to find me." My voice whispers quietly.

His eyebrows rise in mock surprise.

"Then I guess, I can claim my prize without feeling bad." In the next second, his lips are on mine and I'm unable to do anything, other than kissing him back. I wrap my arms around his neck and enjoy the warmth that radiates from him. He sets my heart on fire.

While pushing me against the tree, I've completely forgotten about, he lets his hands wrap possessively around my waist. Digging his nails into my hips, to keep me grounded. Otherwise, I would probably get lost in those sensations.

Luke kisses in a way, like it's the last time he'll have the chance. (As if I would ever want to keep him from doing that).

He's passionate, my body feels like it's on fire and the heat inside me feels so good, that I want more. I can never get enough of him and he knows it. He grins against my lips, but he doesn't break the kiss. I think he secretely loves knowing how much he can mess with me, with just a few kisses.

My hands find his hair and pull him closer to me, our chests touch and his breathing mingles with mine.

It is wonderful and so precious, I would refuse any gift from the gods just to be close to him.

When he pulls away from me, our bodies are still close. My eyes open and look dreamily into his, our gazes reflect a familiarity and love that is like nothing I have ever experienced.

He smiles at me, pushes a stray strand of hair behind my ear and leans himself against me. His fingers stroke the exposed skin of my pulled-up shirt.

"I've missed you." If my heart hasn't melted before, it has now. I give him a kiss on the cheek and hug him, we stand in our embrace for a moment. Enjoying each other's closeness, the calm feeling until the next chaotic situation happens.

"Now we are together again. Only that matters." It's quiet around us and when I close my eyes for the second time, I hear his fast heartbeat. I have to supress a smile.

The wind is the only thing I hear until his voice breaks the silence.

"Something will happen soon. Something big." The peaceful atmosphere is threatened by his words and when I look at his face again, I see his worried eyes.

I sigh, but then nod to agree with him. "I thought about that too, it feels different. Like something is coming our way, that we can't control."

His fingers stroke my cheek and for a moment, his face holds an expression, that I can't understand. It resembles regret.

But before I can ask him about it, he smiles tenderly at me again.

"Nothing will separate us. The world is just a game. It's a matter of time and making the right moves." That is his motto. But I'm not always convinced of this. Even though I trust him to do the right thing.

"I'm just worried we'll get seperated, you know? Evil can be sneaky and traitors always exist. You never know who you can trust." Something I said must have really bothered him, because he looks like I just stabbed him.

This time I ask him about it.

"What's on your mind? You can tell me. Two people who worry about something are better, than one who is alone with it." I take his hand and stroke his skin, it feels cold even though we have summer.

"Nothing, just- I don't want to lose you. I couldn't be here without you. I need you. I mean...I-I love you. You know that I would do anything to keep us together, right?"

His words surprise me. I know he loves me. I can sense that, everyone probably does. But he has never worn his heart on his sleeve and the three magical words only come out of his mouth on special occasions. The fact that he's telling me now surprises me.

"Of course. I trust you. We will survive together, I know that. Are you worried because of the rumors about the Titan King?" This topic is always very critical and he usually doesn't like to talk about it, but this time I decide to address it directly.

"He will come. I just want you to be safe, when it happens." He sounds so confident it gives me goosebumps.

"Perhaps. His followers will definitely try. But love is stronger than anything else. Especially our love. We will get through it." He doesn't look convinced, so I turn his face towards mine and kiss him.

My voice sounds soft, when I speak again.

"Luke, I love you. I could never leave you. Not even the King of the Underworld will be able to keep us apart. I promised to be by your side in every moment of our lives. You are my soul and without it I am damned."

This seems to reassure him, but I feel like he's not telling me something of great importance. But I don't want to push him, I know he will tell me when the time comes.

He always does.

⚔️⚔️⚔️⚔️

As the day comes to an end, I say goodnight to my siblings and report for my night watch duty. The situation has been a lot more worse the recent weeks. Kronos exists, my worst fear was confirmed. And he is building an army, that is so strong that it will be difficult to fight against it. But what I'm really worried about are the rumors about our people, who have also joined his cause.

Nobody knows who, the spies have been hiding ever since. I've never felt like I was paying more attention to my words than I am now. The only person I don't have to hold back to is Luke.

But even with him I notice the effects of the bad news. The circles under his eyes are darker than ever and his nerves are so frayed, that every little thing makes him want to explode. His temper is hanging by a thread, that is increasingly threatening to break. And I'm trying everything to prevent this.

No matter if I try it by making him laugh (which has become difficult), massaging his tense shoulders, trying to kiss him to the point of forgetfulness (usually it's the other way around) or when he takes out his frustration by burying himself deep inside me. With every thrust of his hips, I feel him relax, his hand so tight around my body as if I would run away, if he didn't hold me close enough.

He's changing and I'm trying my best to maintain his good sides. That he doesn't completely lose himself in his responsibilities and the pressure, that he has, because he is a member of the camp council.

Besides, I can't complain, when he fucks me until I can't breathe aynmore and I block out everything around me. When he comes, he whispers the sweetest things in my ear. Even if sometimes they sound so protective, that I could almost come from his voice alone.

When he whispers to me how good I am for him or how much he loves being able to have such a power over me like that - maybe it should scare me, but I trust him like no one else.

My mind concentrated his best for my shift, but when I finally go to bed after quiet some time, my eyes quickly close.

Looking back, I wish I had never let myself sleep that night.

Because, when I close my eyes I see waves. Hear the seagulls screaming in the sky, the fish swimming in the water and the distant cries of strangers.

It's all unusual and the bright light would blind me, if I didn't avert my gaze. And as soon as I do it, I see a ship. It's huge, rust shimmers in the sunrays, the anchor shows that it's been in the same place for a while now.

I feel something pulling me towards it, pushing and burning in my chest, leaving me with a tremor that I can feel, even in my deep sleep.

As I flit through the window like a ghost, I feel paralyzed. My blood freezes, I want to disappear immediately and in my mind I scream at myself to wake up.

But it's no use, whatever is here, someone decided that I have to see it. Only then, my wish will be fulfilled and I can wake up. So, I hide in a corner, there are scratched picture frames above me and broken glass is scattered on the floor. The monsters that loudly crush the glass ahead of me seem unstoppable.

I tremble as I look at at least seven dracaenae, several shaggy hellhounds and set my eyes on gigantes, that take up almost the entire room.

But that is nothing compared to the terror, that grips me when I see my classmates. My friends. People I trusted, who I fought alongside, for who I cared about. People I would have sacrificed myself for. They all betrayed me. And I feel close to tears. When I want to turn away, I hear a voice that almost brings me to my knees.

It's Luke.

My faithful and caring protector, my heroic love. Someone, to which I had dedicated everything. He was my life, with every single breath I took. The motivation behind my every action. The reason I wanted to survive in this cruel world. He was everything I had and everything I will ever have and in that moment it was abruptly taken from me.

I didn't have the strength to concentrate, it was as if every fiber of my body was on fire, triggered by the torment of my suffering heart. Seeing him like that, in black armor, Kronos' silver mark glittering around his neck, instead of his colorful necklace. A stoic, hostile expression on his face, his hands gripping his sword, it all hurt too much to watch.

And as I sank to the floor and covered my eyes with my hands, I was still forced to listen. I couldn't understand why he was saying such things.

"With every day he becomes stronger, with every participation in our army, we become stronger. Everything is planned, the camp is weak. Just like all of its residents. The surprise is on our side, because we will show no mercy. We will kill anyone, who does not confess to us. Do you hear me? No hostages will be taken. Only Hades population will be expanded."

The screams around me are so loud, so angry and horrific that I feel tears running down my cheeks.

I don't want to see any of that. The person infront of me is not my Luke.

A kind of fog creeps around me and I feel cold, it seems too late to forget it now. When I notice the golden coffin and Lukes hunched posture, the scar on the side of his face, I realize he is praying to him.

To the fall of Olympus. Kronos.

I want to cry, to scream, to be angry - but I just feel like every part of my heart is breaking and will never be whole again. Luke will never again be the one to heal it.

My consciousness leaves the ship until I finally wake up, but I can't move at first. I feel lost, my muscles are stiff and after a few seconds I notice that I'm shaking. But it's not because I'm cold, the summer air is wafting in the air.

Such dreams are rare, but are like the own scary predictions of the future.

And then it comes all back so me, the memories, that have just turned my whole life upside down. Traitor. The word appears in my mind, I feel like I almost can't breathe. And then there is a finger on my cheek, gently stroking the skin and my chest immediately becomes warm.

I know this gesture.

When I open my eyes, I see his loving eyes and the smile that covers his mouth makes my heart clench in sorrow.

It was just a nightmare. Luke would never betray me.

But the whispers in my head say otherwise.

As we continue to look at each other in silent, I notice his furrowed eyebrows.

"What's wrong, my love? Did you have a nightmare? You look scared. Don't be afraid, I'm here. I will always protect you." His voice is so calm, so usual loving and it makes the butterflies in my stomach fly around like crazy.

He is so beautiful.

As he briefly turns his head to tighten the blanket around me, I see his side profile and the scar. Reminders of my dream crash onto me like a lightning strike from Zeus himself.

I sat up abruptly. Luke is a servant of our enemy. How could I ignore that? I feel like I'm almost starting to hyperventilate. The thought, this nightmare, Luke's appearance, this evil feeling - it makes me sick. And I'm suddenly so afraid, more than I have ever been in my life. But I can't tell if it's the fact that I just found out he joined Cronos' army or that he broke my heart doing so.

I see him tense, my panic seems to be affecting him too.

My thoughts are so confusing, I don't know what to do, I have to tell someone. I have to-

His hands find their way to my cheeks, cupping them gently to direct his gaze towards himself. I would have preferred not to look at him, but I have no choice. His eyes search mine.

Then, as if the weight of Atlas punishment was put on his shoulders, he lowers them. His lips tremble slightly and his eyes look at me, as if I am the most valuable thing in the world and he is about to lose it.

"You know it." He doesn't have to say what he means by that. We both know.

I want to break away from him, but he won't let me. He's always been much stronger.

But everything still feels so different, light surrounds us and I can't really feel my body.

"Listen to me, please. I can explain it. Please-" The world goes silent, before he can finish his sentence.

It is too much.

I stifle a scream. I want to jump out of bed, but his hands hold me close. I only manage to fall to the ground, breathing heavily, but his arms are much stronger and I'm still weakened by my dream. He trys to hold me in a position, so that his back hugs me. His hands grab mine and one of them covers my mouth to silence me, when I want to scream for help.

With any other person, I would have known what to do. With anyone but him, I could have defended myself without any problems. But it wasn't just anyone and what he had done to me, the betrayal he had committed, was nothing I could handle.

I tried to wriggle out of his grip, to kick him, but the more I cried and the more hysterical I became, the easier it was for him to have control over me.

And for the first time, it scared me.

"Please calm down, I have to explain it to you- you have to know, that I never wanted to deceive you, please-" I notice how his voice is failing and he has to pull himself together, to not to lose his composure.

When I shake his hand away and want to yell again, he grabs my neck with such a warning force, that no sound escapes me.

I tremble in his hold. Tears stream down my cheeks and I literally feel my heart breaking.

Then he starts whispering in my ear and his grip feels like a tragic prison.

"Nobody can know. I never wanted you to find out. Not until I convinced you, that it is the right thing to join him. Because he will win, sweetheart. I want us to win by his side." His voice sounds so confident and at the same time, as if he was a completely different person.

Tears continue running down my face and he slightly let's go of me, so he can comfort me.

"If you would just listen to me, you will understand my actions. Please, just listen to me-" but the world blurs infront of my eyes and I am only able to whisper three words, before darkness surrounds me.

"You betrayed me."

⚔️⚔️⚔️⚔️

When I wake up, my head hurts so much, that it takes me several minutes to open my eyes. When I finally do it, I almost have a heart attack.

I recognize the similarity of this room from my dream. When I stand up, I run to the round window and look out, being only able to see the blue sea. Feeling empty and alone.

When I want to step out the door, I expect it to be locked. But instead the handle turns and I step out of the room. I'm so surprised about that, that I'm acting without thinking twice.

As I walk around the next corner, the deck creaks and I see an ugly creature in front of me, that makes every instinct to escape kick in.

I run in the other direction, but every turn makes me more desperate and, without any consideration, I run into the hall, I was so afraid of.

It is filled with all kinds of ciders, and I also see the figures of my classmates, wounded and unhappy.

It's all so overwhelming, that I dont even see him standing on the podium, in the first place.

But as the monsters try to grab me, his voice echoes through the room with an affable authority.

"Nobody touches her. You hear me? Nobody. She is under my protection." I almost freeze into a stature, as he comes towards me and I have no way of avoiding him. No weapon is within my reach, his eyes notice my growing panic.

"Everyone leaves the room. Now." Nobody discusses it, even if some roll their eyes or quietly protest. His authority is unquestioned, it sends a cold shiver down my spine.

When the last doors slam shut, we stand a few meters opposite each other.

"The doors are guarded." It's the first thing he says.

When he tries to approach me, I lose my nerves and run to the corner with the broken glass, that I saw in my dream. I take them in my hands.

I see his eyes widen and he stops in his tracks.

"You- you want to fight me?" He actually sounds surprised and sad. Like I was the one who betrayed him and not the other way around.

"Don't come any closer. I may not have been able to do anything last time, but if you take one step closer then-" I don't know what to say. In no scenario did I ever think, I would have to threaten him.

But despite my warning, he comes towards me with his hands raised, the panic within me so palpable, that I can feel every muscle in my body.

I dodge, when he is only a few meters in front of me. Right into the next corner. As far away from him as possible.

"Princess, you can't keep me away forever. I've always loved that about you. You need me as much as you need to breathe."

It's supposed to sound sweet, but his words make me feel sick

"I'd rather suffocate." He didn't expect that. My words hit him so unexpectedly that he is almost speechless. Almost.

"I won't hurt you. You just have to let me get to you and I'll show you everything. You will understand, believe me." He really thinks, I'll just stay by his side and let him explain.

"Are you crazy? You're a traitor, Luke. You- you betrayed everyone. You betrayed me. How could you do this?" I suppress my tears, because that's exactly what he's waiting for. That my defense becomes weaker. I can't allow this.

"You dont understand. I always told you I would protect you. And I can only do that, if I'm on the winning side. And I am now. We are." His eyes flash with a craziness that makes me tremble. I don't recognize him.

"Why are you acting this way? You are doing the wrong thing - you give up everything. You're giving up on us." Tears leave my eyes and I see him take a few steps in my direction.

"I'm doing the right thing for us. You'll see. You just have to trust me, please. You know I always win. With the power he gives me, I will be invincible. You don't have to worry about one of us dying in this war anymore." I can't move, even if I wanted to, I wouldn't have a way out now. He's too close.

"You are wrong. I would rather die in this war than join this monster and his deceitful army." The shards in my hand hurt, but I don't let them go. They're the only thing I can use to defend myself.

"You would leave me?" His eyes are staring into my soul.

"Would you fight me?" Every word is more intimidating.

"Would you stop loving me?" His words are like his own shards, leaving deep wounds in my heart.

He's standing right in front of me now, looking at me like I'm fragile.

Then he whispers "Would you kill me?"

In the next second, he suddenly has my hands in his, making me drop the glass. Be is only a few centimeters away from me now, his eyes are looking into my own.

"Would you, princess? Then show me." Suddenly he does something, I would have never expected. He takes out his sword and puts it in my hands.

His own hands go behind his back, his eyes tempting me. I feel all the blood in my body drain.

"Do it. I can't live in a world, where you don't love me anymore. In which you are no longer by my side. I am yours. That will never change, just like my love for you."

I can barely hold the sword, it's so wobbly in my hands. He stands in front of me and gives me every chance to defeat him. But I can't move.

It's quiet for a moment, then I see new hope in his eyes and when he speaks again, the tone of his voice melts my heart.

"What did you say a few months ago, you would always let me win? Let's win together this time. Please, just listen to me." His hand strokes my cheek. Wipes away the tears.

Then he drops his hand and grasps his sword, letting it fall to the ground.

He takes my hand instead.

"Follow me." He pulls me behind him, closer and closer to the golden coffin, it's like I'm in a trance, but when I finally feel the cold aura of something cruel, I'm able to think clearly again.

"No-" I don't want to be one step closer to this thing.

He turns around so quickly, that I can only slap his cheek, before he grabs me again.

"That was for kidnapping me. Let me go now!" I want to avoid his grasp. But again he does something I don't expect.

He holds me still, catches my gaze and then, kisses me so gently that the feeling alone makes me almost completely defenseless. His hands cup my cheeks, grip my hair, hold my body.

This is probably his worst trick. I've never been able to resist one of his kisses. And he knows that. He uses it against me.

Then he murmurs words against my lips, that barely reach my ears.

My heart is pounding in my throat.

"You feel this? We belong together. It is not written anywhere on which side we need to be. As long as we are together." His fingers stroke my lower lip, his figure towers over me and for a moment my surroundings fade. It's almost like always.

But he's not wearing his orange t-shirt, his expression isn't relaxed, and I don't hear any insults from the camp members in the distance.

"You're manipulating me." I am powerless against him. I thought we were on the same team, that no one had more power over the other one. But I was so wrong.

His eyebrows furrow again, and when his hands try to pull me against him, I hit his chest, without thinking, with the only piece of glass I hid in my pocket. But unlike I expected, nothing happens. The shard bounces off his skin and falls loudly to the ground. I can only stare at him in disbelief.

"How-" He just looks at me worried, no anger is visible in his eyes.

"You can't hurt me. I have the curse of Achilles upon me." I suddenly become aware of the effect the lake Styx in the underworld hast and I almost fall to the ground at the realization, my knees weaken.

"That was a test earlier. You wanted to see if I would kill you-" my voice fails.

He just looks at me sadly and smiles in regret. My heart becomes heavy.

"And I knew you wouldn't hurt me on purpose. You would never hurt someone you love. Not if you'd kill me in the process." What can I do? He knows me better than anyone, he can see right through my every thought.

"I can't do this, Luke. I-I can't be together with you, if you are like this." I'm serious, but he doesn't believe me.

"That's what you think, but it's a lie. The sooner you admit it to yourself, the more pain you avoid. Our souls are linked together, without me you are not able to live. I know, that you will continue to love me, no matter what I decide to do. That's how much you love me. You would rather die than not loving me."

I can't listen to him. I can't.

But his eyes are like all the promises in the world. He is my world. How could I ever forget that?

"Please come back with me, Luke. I-I won't tell anyone, but please. Let's go, let's forget everything, please-" I cant deal with this anymore. It's like he's draining all the energy out of me. More with every word, that leaves his lips.

"I can not do that. It will stay the way it is now. Don't fight against me, fight with me. You are so smart and loyal, you will be convinced. He will show you." His eyes now flash with something that frightens me. I see his hunger for power, something that has always been dormant within him.

"Luke, the only thing I ever really wanted was you. No power, no war, no prosperity. Only you. But I'm about to lose you. Don´t do this to me, I beg you." My hands find his face, stroke the skin and I look into his eyes. But they are no longer the same ones I fell in love with.

I never thought he would love having power more than he loves me. It breaks my heart.

"I have decided. Nothing will change about that. Not even your pleadings. I'm sorry." His eyes reflect my desperation.

"What's holding you back? All you need is me." He says it so confident, that I almost wonder, why I don´t agree with him.

But my conscience has always been my greatest strength.

"I won't betray them. I couldn't live with myself, if I did." He takes a step back.

"But you could live without me? You would rather be by Jackson's side than mine?" His words hurt me. But he speaks the truth.

"I love you Luke, more than I ever thought was possible. But just as you put power before me, I put loyalty first. And I'm not sorry about that."

Frustration finally seeps through his perfect facade. I wonder how long he's been playing with me. The thought of it makes everything inside me tighten.

"I am not letting you go. Our fate is set. You will recognize it too and when that happens, you will be on my side."

His conviction frightens me, but this time it doesn't freeze me into a statue. Now, I'm running away.

And luckely, he didn't expect that.

For a few minutes now I've noticed one of the windows, that doesn't look very stable. I just have to jump against it to open it.

"NO!" Luke's voice echoes across the room, loud and warning, but it doesn't stop me. Before he can catch up with me, I jump towards the window, my shoulder hurts, but I was right, it breaks.

But I didn't think about the height difference and I realize it might be too late to do something about it now.

As I try to hold on to the wall outside, two thoughts repeat in my mind.

Either I die or I'm trapped.

Then I hear Luke's voice. He sounds desperate and at the same time angry, like I have never heard him before.

The wall is slippery and it takes every bit of strength in me not to fall, I know it would be my death. I hold on to the broken wall.

"She is outside. Get her back, NOW!" My muscles hurt and I don't know what to do. Then I hear the loud beating of wings. Before I can see who it is, I hear Percy's quiet voice. I feel like crying.

"Drop down, I've got you." I have to trust him. So, I let myself fall without thinking.

Then I feel myself landing on something soft, I hold on to it and my knuckles turn white.

The screams and shouts of the monsters make me tremble, I just want to get out of here. Even if it means, that I perhaps will never see Luke again.

"Come on, now. They'll be here soon." As the wings of the Pegasus move towards the sky, towards freedom, I let the tears fall. The wind is beating around my ears and I can only see in the corner of my eyes that we are getting closer to the clouds.

"I'll find you!"

Luke's threatening voice is the last thing I remember as I close my eyes from the grief of leaving him.

#percy jackon and the olympians #luke castellan #x reader #greek gods #love #betrayal #angst #percy pjo #percy series #annabeth chase #percy jackson

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jollmaster · 2 months ago

Note

What sin(s) does the main gang has?

I thought at first I'd somehow put one sin on each of them, but then it turned out they all had several sins

so enjoy, they're all disgusting a bit 🖤

Charlie

• Pride: Charlie condescends to sinners to help them, not really understanding their morals, life and views; but she understands it and successfully tries to learn

• Envy: can't figure out how she feels about humans, but feels she's deprived of something (socialized differently and didn't feel parental warmth in youth)

Vega

• Wrath: aggressive towards many people around her, especially arrogant dirty men, though she has big reasons for this

• Pride: considers herself superior to sinners because she wasn't particularly sinful in mortal life, and has been punishing them for three centuries

Angel Dust

• Gluttony: smokes to calm himself, drinks alcohol, addicted to drugs, though he has long since been unhappy about it

• Wrath: really hot-tempered and swears a lot

• Sloth: longing for family, self-loathing because he doesn't think he's the one who worthy of life, even if life looks like this

• Lust: actively flirts/seduces and gets into big troubles

Alastor

• Pride: considers himself higher by the fact that he's Tainted (he ate demon flesh, saved sanity and stayed alive, isn't it outstanding?), has gotten along well with the underworld, has visible dose of narcissism

• Gluttony: slight desire to partially devour himself and rip out the remnants of mortal memory with the meat; sometimes gluttony merges with small doses of greed and subverted non-sexual lust

• Wrath: his first crime was emotionally based (Alastor shot a man who raped his friend, married young woman)

Niffty

• Sloth: quite indifferent to own decay + in her mortal life she never defied the will of elders

• Gluttony: eating disorder (Niffty eats all insects she finds, she even not always wants to eat, she eat just because she can)

• Wrath: committed murder in seventeen and refuses even to think that she could be wrong

Husk

• Greed: has repeatedly lost everything out of a desire for more, more and more, and after first death had bonds with Mammon

• Sloth: he's just really tired of all this shit and wants to sleep, damn, why're you ask me again for help

• Gluttony: drunkard

sir Pentious

• Pride: not unreasonably thinks he is an outstanding engineer and insists on this fact in front of basically everyone

• Greed: very stingy

• Wrath: always says what he thinks (even when this is rude) and fights with others

Cherri Bomb

• Wrath: hot temper and inability to think well before actions

• Envy: why Pentious can make such cool guns, how is he better than me?

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ashicyde · 2 months ago

Text

—Aiding You—

・Aphrodite x Female Reader・

Fluff

!TW!: mentions of blood

>>Hades Game Masterlist<<

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You sighed, running a hand through your hair. "One more time." You muttered as you left your training ground, ready to escape your father's underworld.

You landed on the ground, standing up from the rough landing. You see a pink flash and look up to see Aphrodite's boon. With a smile you go to the floating pink boon.

"How I love seeing your boon, Lady Aphrodite." You mutter. "In the name of Hades, Olympus I accept your message!"

There was a flash and the ground rumbled before you saw Aphrodite in all her glory.

"Ah! My little dove how I missed you!" Aphrodite proclaimed happily as she seemed to look at you. "Now, I know that we can't communicate like this, but there is a way." She muttered as she held out one boon instead of the normal three.

'Aphrodite's Aid'

You carefully take the boon and hear Aphrodite giggle gently. "Now, you can call upon me, and I'll come to your aid." Aphrodite stated before disappearing.

You went about your run, successfully got through Tartarus, Asphodel, and most of Elysium. You've lost all your death defiances, your face covered in your blood. This wasn't a smooth run for you. This is your last life for this run.

As you walked into the colosseum Theseus spoke. "Ah! Asterius look! The corrupted princess is trying to battle us again!" He proclaimed, looking to Asterius with a wide grin as the crowd cheered.

"I'm not the one that's corrupted here.." You muttered, gripping your weapon.

"Excuse me!? Are you saying I'm corrupted?! Asterius and I will struck you down for your lies here and now!" Theseus yelled, gripping his weapons.

Theseus and Asterius attacked you harshly, barely giving you time to fight back. Theseus was hard to fight the most, always blocking your attack with his shield or Asterius interrupting your attacks.

After your constant hit and dodge movements you were able to kill Asterius, making Theseus angry.

"Asterius, no!" He cried out, watching as Asterius disappeared before glaring at you. Theseus was around one third of his health, while you were at around one fourth of your health.

"Lord Ares, give me your power!"

Theseus called out, watching as you started to get targeted by Ares' wrath with a grin. You quickly began to dodge, but your body was slowly weakening as you tried to attack Theseus. Finally... You called out.

"Aphrodite!"

"Who dares threaten my little dove?"

Aphrodite questioned with a smirk, and Theseus looked at her in surprise.

"I've been smitten!" He proclaims and you quickly lunge, attacking him while he was weak.

Thanks to your other boons from Artemis and Poseidon, you were able to land the final blow to kill Theseus.

"Why... You...!" He grunted out before he disappeared, leaving you and Aphrodite. Aphrodite looked to you softly and gently carressed your face, seeing all the blood that covered you.

"Little dove... You're hurt." She softly muttered, watching your blood slide down your face more.

"I'll be fine..." You reassure her, one of your hands holding hers now. She stayed silent before gently kissing your non bloody cheek.

"You'll make it out soon, and when you do I'll be greeting you with my arms wide open, my little dove." She said softly and lovingly before she slowly disappeared, your divine call ending.

"... And I know you'll be aiding me the entire time." You muttered before leaving the colosseum, more determined now even at your low health.

#hades aphrodite #aphrodite x reader #aphrodite #hades game #female reader #wlw post #wlw #x female reader

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xjulixred45x · 8 months ago

Text

succumbing to the Brainrot of Hades (the more Gameplays I see, the more I love the game, both as a fan of Greek mythology and of video games in general) I am going to do a couple of jobs related to the game. Here it would be the first.

Zagreus(Hades) x Leuce! reader

quick context: Leuce was a nymph who was Hades' lover before Persephone, but since she was "mortal" (which doesn't make much sense? since she was the daughter of Oceanus and Thetis?) when Hades died, he immortalized her in the white poplar tree that there are in the Elysian fields.

Taking this as a reference, I imagine this Leuce! reader OBVIOUSLY she would not be a lover of Hades here, she would probably be a nymph native to the Eulisseum and who is especially related to healing (the poplar can be used to cure fever) and in general she tried to go unnoticed, due to the bad luck that usually have nymphs that are related to the celestial commotion.

She is like an Aurora in a way, she has a great connection with the Shades that live near her and follow her (similar to Melinoe) and together with her sisters and Cocito (one of the rivers of the Underworld) they dance and sing old stories .

It is around these times that Zagreus comes into her life. precisely because of his attempts to escape from the Underworld.

When one day Zag arrives at Elysium especially hurt and tired, he decides to "rest" (the poor guy gets tired) and when he regains consciousness he only knows that he is suddenly much better. without injuries, with energy, what the hell?

Leuce, although he knows that Zagreus is somewhat infamous in the Underworld, could not simply leave him dying. She swears she won't do it again, but as soon as it happens again (Zag probably had a bad time with Astherius) she does it again.

and after that Zagreus has no doubt, someone is helping him. and being him, he wants to know who it is.

Which wasn't that difficult, but it did take some patience. Zagreus arrived at the Elysium, not that hurt, but he pretended to be unconscious, after he felt he was better, he took a little look and saw Leuce from behind.

a nymph huh.

It's a shame that when Zagreus tried to get up to greet her, thanking her, he scared her and she ran away :,)

On another occasion he decided to take a look at where Leuce had gone and he could just find her singing, dancing or taking care of the poplar trees that were in Elysium.

In general, his interactions at first would be short due to Leuce's fear of the gods or retaliation for her actions, but with time and Zagrues assuring her that he rather wanted to thank her for the help, she relaxes and opens up little by little.

I imagine that Leuce is the only nymph of Elysium that is not scared the most when they see Zagreus 😅 her sisters run and scream when they see him but Leuce stays to greet him 🤣

Leuce's home is a safe place in Elysium, not only because she can heal Zag, but because in general he can forget a little about the outside problems there. hell, sometimes it even seems like he just lets himself get hurt so Leuce can take care of him.

When Leuce is not taking care of him/healing him like I said, she likes to dance and sing, maybe to inspire her a little (similar to what he does with Orpheus) he tells her some of his fights to date and myths about his relatives (Leuce would die laughing when hearing the myth that Dionysus and Zagreus are the same person).

Also even Leuce could offer to teach him how to play instruments! The nymphs were very good at all kinds of arts, so it wouldn't be very difficult. Besides, it would be nice to be the one teaching after all.

Zagreus and Leuce dancing gives me some sleeping beauty vibes. again.

If we talk about terms of relationship in which Leuce lives in the house of Hades, it gets even cuter.

Imagine Leuce and Dusa having a platonic relationship! o Dusa not only having a crush on Zag, but also on Leuce since she helps him clean and feed Cerberus

or Leuce dancing every time Orpheus starts playing and singing, also encouraging some of the nearby shades to do the same😭 it definitely livens up the house quite a bit before Persephone's arrival.

Leuce wearing House of Hades themed clothing!

I don't know which would be more difficult to win, Hades with Leuce or Zagreus with Leuce's sisters😅

At least Hades would accept Leuce because 1- now he has a better relationship with Zagreus and wants to see him happy and 2- he is not going to provoke Persephone's wrath. Who, by the way, is delighted with Leuce. It's like a small parallel of her and Hades if they could have met under other circumstances. so she is very supportive of her relationship with Zagreus and how happy they make each other.

Zagreus will have more problems related to Leuce's sisters because of the above, they are both scared of Zag and convinced that he is planning something horrible with their sister. It will take a lot, a LOT of time and help from Leuce for them to understand that this is not the case.

Even if Leuce tries to help and maintain a certain formal air in the house, Zagreus tries to make her feel as welcome as possible, probably with some help from Hypnos, Cerberus (best boi) even Thanatos. that she lose her shyness and feel that, after all, it is also HER home now.

Did you see that in the Underworld Persephone has a Garden? imagine if Zagreus gets Leuce one of her own🥺

Definitely Zagreus (and in general several other characters like Dusa for being a sweetheart) is not going to tolerate any type of discrimination towards Leuce due to her origin as a nymph (we know that there are gods who took mortals as spouses, but the only nymph who married a god that comes to mind now is Amphitrite) and he would gladly ask Cerberus to go "play" with whoever made any out of place comments :)

They might as well go to the surface together! Of course, neither of them really know how to interact with mortals or how certain things work up there, but I think Zagreus could use some help taking care of his mother's garden while he's there. Who better than a beautiful nymph?

Overall, a pretty endearing pair. and gives some visibility to a very forgotten nymph :,)

Shares, reglogs and comments are very welcome!

Question related to my next work: Someone knows how ALBINISM was treated/seen in ancient greece?

#drabble #headcanons #hades zagreus #hades #hades game #hades supergiant #supergiant hades #hades zagreus x reader #zagreus x reader #zagreus #fem reader #nymph reader #incorrect greek mythology #hades 2 #hades ii

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theultimatenonbinarynerd · 5 months ago

Text

The Tragic Tale of Eurylochus, Orpheus And Not Looking Back.

Introduction

I need Hades Town and Epic fans to forgive me for what I'm about to write.

All I ask is that Eurylochus haters stay away cos this post is not to bash on Eurylochus.

So I haven't seen much of Hadestown but I know of the myth so when brainstorming for a Eurylochus God Games as part of a Eurylochus Lives au I pondered what would convince Persephone to let Eurylochus live and then I realised Assurance. Persephone needs assurance another Orpheus won't happen. If she lets Eurylochus live she needs assurance he won't be like Orpheus. She needs to know Eurylochus would look forward instead of back.

Then the Epic Writers sever inspired me more and I realised especially in Epic and Hadestown Eurylochus and Orpheus's tale share a lot of tragic similarities. Eurylochus and Orpheus are men who doubted, looked back and it then cost them everything.

I gotta say the Eurylochus and Orpheus parallels fascinate me more than Eurylochus and Odysseus swapping character arcs in Epic.

So let me elaborate on what I think makes Eurylochus and Orpheus so similar

Eurylochus and Orpheus's Doubt

We all know the myth. Hades promised Eurdice could return if Orpheus guided her out of The Underworld and didn't look back and it went well until at the Last Second Orpheus looked back. He wanted to protect his loved ones but let the doubt consume him. Sound familiar?

"Everything's changed since Polites."

"Let's see what you got."

"But Sir, it's too late."

"I don't want to see another life end."

What do all these lines have in common.

They're Eurylochus looking back at his mistakes. He opened the Windbag because he lost trust in Odysseus after he lost Polites in the cave. He immediately gives up when he realises his mistake of opening the windbag. Polyphemus's cave messes him up so badly that he doesn't want to lose anyone else. Orpheus didn't want to permanently lose Eurdice and Eurylochus didn't want to lose the men that had kept him sane for ten years.

Eurylochus like Orpheus is willing to get tasks done but when doubt creeps in its game over. Orpheus follows Hermes and Hades instructions yet still fails. Eurylochus stays loyal to Odysseus yet fails.

It's really heartbreaking to think about cos like how if Orpheus didn't look back. If Eurylochus listened to "I need you to always be devout and comply with this or we'll all die in this." then Mutiny would have ended differently. I understand Eurylochus though. Odysseus selfishly withheld Syclla from them and it cost them great friends.

However there was no other way cos Odysseus had doomed them with Poseidon so to him six men was better then all of them. You should have told them Ody.

Back on topic. If Eurylochus is Orpheus who is his Eurdice. Simple Ctimene. In Horse and The Infant Odysseus promises his men that if they do what he saids they'll see their wives and children again. Odysseus is Eurylochus's Hades. All though not a good bargin Odysseus promised Eurylochus he'd see Ctimene if he obeyed. Hades promised Orpheus, Eurdice would be free if he didn't look back.

"Don't make me fight you brother, you know you'd have done the same."

Odysseus is wrong here. Eurylochus has swapped roles with Odysseus to the point the crew have become his Eurdice. Metaphorically the crew represent all of Eurylochus's doubts.

Like the chorus do for Orpheus in Hadestown who are his subconscious.

"Show her the way."

Eurylochus was never gonna survive because he learned from Polites and Odysseus and tried to be kinder. Orpheus was never gonna get Eurdice cos he was destined to look back out of love and concern.

When Eurylochus looks back he does it for the same reason. He's concerned for his crew and even though hunger got them into this mess through Polyphemus's cave he still does it.

Now let's get back to the ending of this heartbreaking myth. Orpheus holds Eurdices hand but then at the last minute looks back. It's so sad and inevitable. Hades from experience tells Orpheus to not looks back but he does.

"Please don't tell me your about to do what I think you'll do."

Odysseus is Hades in this situation. Polyphemus's Cave and Poseidon has taught him he needs to be Ruthless but also the cost of pissing off other Gods. He realises he was doomed the moment he killed that sheep in Polyphemus's Cave and Eurylochus is about to damn them all again by killing The Sun Gods cattle.

Orpheus wanted to protect Eurdice but he caused her doom.

Eurylochus wanted to protect the crew but ended up causing their doom. Odysseus was never gonna save them.

So yeah those are my thoughts summarised.

Conclusion

Once I see or listen to the orginal Hadestown soundtrack I need to do a Eurylochus reincarnates into Orpheus fanfiction for the double angst. Could you imagine Odysseus seeing Eurylochus repeat the same mistakes.

Eurylochus deserves so much more love as his character is way more complex then you make him out to be.

Thanks to The Epic Writing discord cos this turned out more angsty then I intended.

Epic is awesome 👌🏼.

Again for give me, I'm just an enby who's trying to brainstorm ideas.

Don't look back friends and don't kill God's cattle.

-Melody-

They/Them

#epic the musical #hadestown #orpheus #epic eurylochus #eurylochus #wait for me #mutiny #Hades #Hermes #greek mythology #greek tragedy #musicals #character analysis #persephone #jorge rivera herrans

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finisnihil · 11 months ago

Text

Analysis with Penacony spoilers ahead, read at your own behest

I love Acheron so so much and one of the main reasons is how human she tries to be. She‘s trying so hard to stay human, to be human.

She’s killed people the blood debt is a burden she carries. She only sees the world in black, white, and red, but she gets lost easily and guides strangers home and she thanks you for trusting her even though you don’t have to and she protects a little boy from the mafia and she mourns your friend with you even though she didn’t know her because she knows you’re hurting and she helps you calm down after you watched your friend die horribly and she stays with you and looks after you and tells you to stay level headed and she apologies for being held back from protecting those you love because she isn’t human anymore and then she does one of the most human thing of all and blesses the soul and mourns her with you, guides her home like she did with you. Acheron is gentle like a psychopomp, like Death. She cries blood but it’s still crying.

Onto the allusion, the name Acheron comes from the river Acheron, one of the five rivers of the Underworld in Greek mythology. The Acheron is the River of Woe/Pain/Lost Souls. The River Cocytus (River of Wailing/Lamentation) and River Phlegethon (River of Magma) both flow into the River Acheron and the River Styx (River of Oaths/Border to the Underworld/Makes one invulnerable if they bathe in it) stems from the Acheron. The final river is the River Lethe which causes forgetfulness when bathed in or drunk from and usually used by the souls of the dead to be reborn. These allusions fit Acheron well, as she cries blood which is fitting for one named after the River of Woe. Her difficulty to hold onto memories is also reminiscent of the Lethe, especially now that we know she’s an Emanator. She was technically “reborn” as when she became one.

Building off this, she fulfills the role of a psychopomp. In folklore and mythology psychopomp are entities that guide souls of the dead, such a Thanatos in Greek mythology who is the personification of peaceful death (Who Seele has allusions to but that’s another analysis). Aventurine associates Acheron with the Finality a few times and we see her act like a psychopomp when she does things like “take us home” when we first meet her and she mentions guiding again when she sends Firefly off. She gets lost in the waking world but never seems to in the Dreamscape.

Building even more off this allusion, in Greek mythology the twin brother of Thanatos is Hypnos, the personification of sleep. Sleep and death are often tied together even outside of Greek mythology, like the Epic of Gilgamesh where Gilgamesh is literally told he can’t think about conquering death when he can’t even conquer sleep.

This all leads me to a theory about why Acheron said she had no choice in whether to draw her blade. She wanted to but she had no choice in the matter. We’ve seen her draw her blade twice so far in the story and it was to wake the Trailblazer and to fight Sam. If Acheron is an agent of the Finality maybe her blade can’t be drawn because it can only be used against those dying or dead or not living? We know Firefly was dying and we know she has a weird connection with Sam. The weird “Death” monster also seemed to target Firefly. I think Acheron couldn’t draw her sword against the “Death” because she is also an agent of Death and cannot attack one of her own, but she can use it against Firefly because Firefly is dying and it would be seen as a final severing of the soul from life or as “harvesting” the soul. Of course I could be completely and utterly wrong I’m literally just making an analysis based on allusions and motifs but still I think it’s interesting. Plus Aventurine calls Acheron and Sam enemies and Sam uses fire, an element typically seen as representing life.

Pulling a little bit away, Acheron sees the world in black, white, and red. The red is fleeting according to her and it reappears when a choice is made. If Acheron is a psychopomp this makes sense, she would mostly see the world as the living and the dead and the red could be a tie to the idea of the red string of fate, as we know destiny is a major theme of HSR’s story. When we make choices that change the direction of fate, we interact with the red strings of fate. This could be another reason she’s at odds with the Stellaron Hunters, they adhere strongly to the idea of destiny but to death destiny would have a different meaning. Her sword has an eye and is adorned with red which is where the majority of the color in her design is centered, going back to my theory around her sword it could represent how it cuts strings of fate and the eye matches the one on the “Death” nightmare.

We also know she apparently hijacked the Ever-Flame Mansion party to come here, maybe because she sensed there would be a lot of death here and came to collect the souls?

Finally, I would like to reiterate I do not play HI3 this is just something I’ve noticed, so correct me if I’m wrong:

She seems to be a Raiden Mei Expy and I know nothing of that character but I did notice when she says “Do you remember me?” there’s the answer of no and yes, and she akins us to a dear friend she had. We, the protagonist, fulfill the same role in this game Kiana (I think that’s the HI3 protag) does in HI3 and I’m vaguely aware Raiden Mei and Kiana have some sort of relationship in HI3. This asking if we remember her could be two things to me: Either she’s asking if we remember her as we have faced death before or she’s asking if we the player remember her from HI3, which she may have an awareness of if she is a personification of death and that may link her to knowledge of the Imaginary Tree as trees seem to be associated with death in HSR when you remember Yaoshi is associated with trees as well and the fruit of their tree on the Xianzhou gives immortality, where if Luocha is an Emanator he would have that tree motif too and we know he has tree motifs because he’s an Expy of Otto who did interact with what I think was the Imaginary Tree and that carried over when Luocha was given the element of Imaginary (Of course I had to talk about Luocha who do you think I am)

Anyways there’s so so much more but this post is already really really long and probably incomprehensible so if I think of any more I’ll make like a part II post anyways thanks for reading this far if you did and feel free to add discussion, mwah!

#honkai star rail #Acheron #acheron hsr #Penacony #Penacony spoilers #ACHERON I LOVE YOU #My special interest of folklore and mythology comes in clutch for analysis again #good luck to anyone who tries to read this whole thing it’s a nightmare (pun intended)#I’m sorry HI3 players who follow me/read my stuff y’all gotta suffer through my half assed understanding of the lore all the time #Finis Analyzes

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galadrieljones · 3 months ago

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A demon among angels, huh? 👀

Let it be known that I don't think Daryl is a demon lol. Obviously, he's a good man and a moral character. I do, however, think he's a fallen angel. With his tattered, black leather wings, his fall from grace and journey through hell has reminded me of the literary Lucifer. Lucifer means "light bringer" and also "morning star," which is the name of the weapon that Daryl has wielded since season 10, the eponymous episode, in which he leads his people into rebellion against Alpha, a psychopath who certainly regards herself as a god.

In Christian texts, Lucifer, an angel, was cast out of heaven for questioning God and even believing that he could become God, as well as for recruiting a third of God's angels to join him in his rebellion against God. In Dante's Inferno, Lucifer is portayed as a cold and grotesque being in the Underworld, lonely and chewing the heads of betrayers such as Judas Iscariot. He's not a villain, per se. He's just lost, and in the old literature, he was never found again.

Re: the dialogue with Genet:

Speculation time. I believe Daryl is being used by Losang, and I think that Genet knows this, and I think that's what she's referring to in this scene, and why she's laughing maniacally. I think that possibly, Genet is not the "true" villain of the story. She is a villain, but that's just our current point of view. We don't know what Losang wants, but we do know that he wants something that has to do with Laurent. We know that Genet is his enemy. We also know that Genet's faction the Power of the Living has persecuted the Wildfire scientists, hunting, jailing, and killing them since the Fall. Since persecution is bad, we all assume that what Genet did was bad, and that she's the bad guy. But what if it's not really that simple? And what if she truly believed she had a good reason to do what she did? Everybody views her as the devil, but what if the "angels" that she fights are not as angelic as they seem?

For example, what if the scientists were abducting and experimenting on innocent people? On children? Would the fact that they are working on a cure for mankind excuse this? We have proven precedent for this kind of thing happening before, in both World Beyond and The Ones Who Live. The CRM has been used as a major proxy for the magical science of unethical thinking. This exact same conflict (sacrificing the few for the greater good) is also explored in "Coda," when Dawn tries to convince Beth to stay, because her sacrifice is important, because what she's doing there could be "the most important thing she does in her life."

Of course, we have no idea what Dawn is talking about.

We know now, too, that Laurent will be taken from Daryl and Isabelle, as TD predicted some time back, and I'm guessing it will be Losang who takes him, whether by force, or because he somehow gaslights Laurent into going with him willingly. Where is Losang taking him, and why? What is the "ceremony?" What is Losang's relationship to the scientists that Genet hates so much? Why is he Genet's enemy?

Realize that this is all pretty much hypothetical speculation at this point, so just consider it food for thought.

Re: Losang's motivations at the Nest:

Remember that Daryl was outside with Laurent when somebody came and told him that Losang wanted him at that meeting, where they discussed what to do about Fallou and Emile. Losang dismisses Daryl's suggestions, obviously, because he's a *pacifist,* but if Losang truly didn't want to hear it, or if he truly didn't want others to hear it, then he wouldn't have told Daryl to come inside. He wanted Daryl there. Because, ultimately, he needs him. He just doesn't want the others to know this, or to know why.

Later, Losang tells Daryl that a team is being assembled to intercept Genet. Daryl tells him he is going to go. Losang doesn't say no. He simply *discourages* the use of violence. He is *unhappy* with how Daryl conducts himself, and yet...

He knows that Daryl will do whatever it takes to get Fallou and Emile back. If he fails, or people die, then Losang can simply blame Daryl for being too aggressive, overly violent, for rushing in too soon. It makes Losang look good. If he succeeds fully, and he even manages to kill Genet, well, then, that's great. It makes Losang look good, too. Losang is using Daryl as a means to an end with Genet, but he also fears that Daryl's influence on Laurent will be too strong. Daryl is an A, remember. He may not relish the fact, but he is very good at leading people, particularly the disenfranchised and the meek.

Like Dawn, Losang needs his "wards" to be as weak as possible. They need to be Bs. If they begin to fight back, then they might accidentally find out what the hell is really going on here, and that's bad. (I have really longwinded, detailed theories about what the hell could be going on here, but it's not time yet for those lol). Anyway, commence the comparison between Daryl at the Nest and Beth at Grady. More on that soon. But first.

Re: Lucifer Archetypes:

This is a slight digression. I have begun to think of the literary Lucifer archetype, the trope of the renegade, fallen angel, because it's indicative often of a character who is struggling with their faith, and struggling with how to proceed in a derelict world. This is very relevant to Daryl right now.

This trope is not relegated to Daryl in TWDU. Though he's the one with the wings, there are many Lucifer archetypes in the series, including major characters like Rick, Shane, Madison Clark, and Father Gabriel. These are essentially rebellious thinkers, revolutionaries, a lot like Daryl, who, at one point or another, get a little too ahead of their skis and go tumbling off the mountain, face first. They lose their pious nature, their goodness, their faith in God and in people, but the key to being the hero in a sick and dying world is that, despite the odds, they find their faith again. This is where the Lucifer trope becomes, essentially, a Christ allegory.

I know that @frangipanilove has written brilliantly about the Lucifer/Christ dichotomy, and while this is mostly unrelated to that, I think there is some similarity at work. Lucifer and Christ are two sides to one coin. Often times, in a story, a character must fall from grace before they can rise again and lead their people to salvation. Of course, not all characters make it past their descent. Some of them are too far gone (Shane, I'm looking at you) and for some, the jury is, essentially still out (like Father Gabriel or Madison Clark).

Beth, by the way, also struggles with her faith while she's at Grady. It's quiet, but she risks losing who she used to be. One of the reasons her "death" is so frustrating, in fact, is that she sort of dies at a low point. She is framed as a hero, and yet, we never really get to see her "rise again." Not truly. Her death is senseless, the point of view confusing. We don't know what she's thinking, or why she does the things she does. Her journey is incomplete.

Re: Dirty Work

Now, more on Beth at Grady. Beth, while in the process of trying to figure out what she believes, is, like Daryl, used by some sort of manipulative "superior" to do the "dirty work." In searching for who to believe, she finds herself caught in the crossfire, a puppet in a war that doesn't even involve her. This is what spurs her renegade spirit, and her desire to rebel. This is SO MUCH like Daryl in France, right down to the part where Dawn is trying to convince Beth to stay, against her own instincts, I don't even know where to begin.

The phrase dirty work is interesting because it shows up several times in relationship to Daryl. Pope mentions "dirty work," too, in "Rendition." He tells Daryl about his mercenary company, who were once hired by "politicians" to do their "dirty work."

The role of a mercenary is related to the cardinal sin of indifference, more popularly known as sloth. Indifference is used to describe sinners who cannot make difficult choices, who will not choose sides in the great big war of our lives. Yes, this is a sin. Perpetrators of indifference only make choices that are most beneficial to them in the moment, or which constitute the path of least resistance. Biblically, it's often associated with one turning away from God, because making choices to live a life dedicated to Christ have become too demanding. In the episode "Indifference" (4.4), Carol essentially accuses Rick of such, re: "You can be a farmer, Rick, but you can't only be a farmer." Maybe Carol acted rashly in killing Karen and David, but at the same time, in growing too comfortable with his situation at the prison, Rick has essentially lost his moral compass. He's missing the war.

Indifferent characters often end up doing a LOT of the dirty work in a war, and they make many deadly mistakes, because their code is compromised. Wolves on either side of the war can sense this and have figured out how to use them to their benefit. They pay them, they threaten them, they manipulate them, etc. etc. etc. To win the war, you have to choose a side. That's the message. Otherwise, you get used, as a mercenary.

This keeps coming up. The concept of having to make difficult choices, of having to choose sides in a war you never asked to be a part of. Somewhere along the line, you find yourself doing things that will haunt you for the rest of your life, and then later, you realize that these choices came at the behest of some fancy "politician," be it a police officer, the President of the United States, or some other "diplomatic" wolf who used you. While Beth was busy trying to save her friend Carol and trying to figure out how to escape from Grady, Dawn was busy using her, to kill not one but TWO of her officers, in a bid to further her own agenda. It is, in fact, this very indiscretion that finally turns Beth against Dawn for good, empowering her to finally choose a side.

Remember, too, that while *we* and Team Family referred to Pope's group as the Reapers, which are, in and of themselves, like "angels" of death, Pope never once refers to them as such. Pope calls his people "The Chosen Ones."

He calls them this because, at the end of the world, while doing their dirty work, they were in a city that, like so many others, was napalmed during Operation Cobalt, and they walked out of the fire, not only alive, but completely untouched, "without a scratch." Pope seems to believe that his people are chosen and protected by God, and he anoints Daryl as such. They are a religious organization. They may appear to be misguided, but they chose God. So while they're angels of death, sure, they're also apparently immortal, Christ-like figures out to cleanse the land of evil. They accept Daryl into their home. They feed him, defend him. We like Daryl, so this is good, right? In a lot of ways, in TWDU, whether someone is an Angel of Death or a Chosen One, a villain or a hero, is simply a matter of perspective, which can change dramatically depending on where we are in the story, at any given time. That's part of what I think is going on this season of DD, with Genet and Losang. I think it's also a really important theme to remember when dealing with a character like Daryl, who has many sides and is capable of many things.

I really don't know what any of this means yet, by the way. And I'm kind of tired and so I know I'm rambling on and on about angels and Jesus and Lucifer, etc. etc. But there has to be a reason that Losang, like Dawn did to Beth, is using Daryl to do his "dirty work." I think it says something about Daryl, and about Beth, that they are living in limbo. I think that Pope and the Reapers are likely meant to function as a sort of allegory here. They're what happens when this sort of thing plays out to its most demonic conclusion. You get somebody like Leah, who has become so twisted that she can no longer function in any sort of cooperative society. She ends up trying to kill the same man she once loved, because she's been manipulated by Lance Hornby, a wolf. Leah dies a mercenary, but she wasn't always one. At one point, she helped Daryl, offered him comfort, etc.

Similar to Shane, she's like the cautionary tale, what could happen to somebody like Daryl OR Beth if they become "too far gone," and they can no longer get on the right path toward redemption. That's what I'm trying to get at with all the Lucifer/Christ/Indifference stuff. Daryl must choose a side, and he must rise again (or, he could descend forever, though I think that's unlikely lol). The side he chooses may not even be Genet or Losang. In fact, it probably won't. It will likely be rebellious, but this, in and of itself, IS a side for a character like Daryl. This stuff also informs what we never saw with Beth, despite narrative promises that were made in season 5. Beth certainly led her own rebellion in the halls of Grady Memorial, even though we saw just a snag.

Anyway. Whatever happens with Daryl and Losang, I essentially think it could really inform our understanding of what happened back at Grady, too. We'll just have to wait and see.

#the walking dead #bethyl #team delusional #anonymous

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evangelineshifts · 11 months ago

Text

OH MY GODS, YOU’RE RUTHLESS

Pairings: book!percy jackson x black!fem!reader

Word count: 5.3k (oops?)

Warnings: angst, mentions of death (literally in the underworld :/), hades being a dick (SORRY I LOVE YOU HADES), swearing (like one word), mentions of throwing up, pet names (angel, sweet girl, little dove)

a/n: this is kinda my first fic (?) so be kind! This is completely self indulgent as it’s literally a scenario for my desired reality so keep that in mind. If you want some back story visit my dr list on my pinned post! Have fun, stay super freaky, have great vagina I LOVE YAAA

I never considered the Gods to be enemies to myself. Of course, I could understand where the animosity the other kids held towards them came from, I just couldn’t find it in myself to share it.

I’ve always seen myself as quite the lover and I’ve always known that it was my undoing. Holding out till the very last minute to toss out hope for redemption. I’ll love until the ability is carved out of my sternum.

I hate it.

The pain that comes with being such a tender-hearted individual is nefarious. But that recurring pain that plagues the minds and souls of those who are cursed to live a life of love and loss is what tortures the poets; and makes for a dam good book.

I hope to be able to transfer my heart from sleeve to page one day. But for now, I’m forced to keep dwelling on the feeling of dread and despair as I march my way through the dreary entrance hall of Hades’ palace.

Truth be told it’s not that dreary, it’s incredibly well-decorated. I'm just determined to be a hater. After fighting monsters, dealing with death traps, and arguing with temperamental Gods, I'm ready for the quest to be over and done with. It’s not as glorious as everyone made it out to be.

I looked over at Percy as the four of us reached the big set of doors at the end of the hall. He looked to be struggling with the weight of his backpack but I couldn’t understand why. Unless Oreos had suddenly gained weight in the day or two that it took us to get here he should be just fine. He wasn’t that scrawny.

“Well, guys,” Percy said. “I suppose we should… knock?”

As if on cue, a hot wind blew down the corridor and swung open.

“I guess that means entrez-vous,” Annabeth said in an exaggerated French accent. I giggled at her pronunciation and she sent me a playful glare as we all tentatively walked into the room.

"You are brave to come here, Son of Poseidon," Hades said in an oily voice. "After what you have done to me, very brave indeed. Or perhaps you are simply very foolish. And you legacy child, well, I expected better of you.” He seemed almost saddened as he uttered the last line.

My three quest mates looked over at me with varying levels of confusion plastered on their faces, I had half a mind to shrug bemusedly as I tried not to show my growing guilt so plainly on my face. What did I have to feel guilty for? Why did I care what Hades thought?

Percy stared at me a few seconds longer before facing the god again with renewed vigor, “Lord and uncle, I come with two requests”

Hades looked toward me and lifted his eyebrows in a “Is he serious???” sort of way but truth be told, I was too in awe of Percy's sudden diplomacy to give him a reaction. I fully expected him to at least glare at him but maybe I underestimated his desire to get his mom back. Hades leaned forward on his throne, a subtle incredulity painted on his sculpted face,

"Only two requests?" Hades said. "Arrogant child. As if you have not already taken enough. Speak, then. It amuses me not to strike you dead yet."

Spoken like a true older sibling. Christ.

I looked over at Percy in time to see his throat bob with trepidation. My heart gives a twinge of empathy, poor kid has only been in this life for a little over a month and he's already facing the god of the dead.

“Lord Hades… Look, sir, there can't be a war among the gods. It would be…bad.” smooth, fish sticks.

“Really bad,” Even smoother Grover, thank you.

Annabeth and I share an exasperated look as I think over every action I've ever made in my life to land me here.

“Return Zeus’s master bolt to me,” Percy pleaded. “Please, sir. Let me carry it to Olympus.”

Looking at Hades I'm getting the feeling that was not the right thing to say. His eyes grew glaringly bright as his face crumpled in anger,

“You dare keep up this pretense, after what you have done?” He spat.

I'm getting sick of the vague accusations thrown at us, “Percy hasn't done anything. I don't know if you’ve noticed but he's very new to this whole thing. I mean look at him, he's like a baby fawn,”

Percy looked mildly offended but he looked more concerned at the fact that I was practically mouthing off at an already very angry god.

Hades fixed me with a furious glare and I was sure I was sure I was going to be smoted. But then he did the strangest thing, he closed his eyes and took a steadying breath and when he opened them again the rage that had previously engulfed his irises seemed to lessen. Only a tad but it's still strange.

“Do you think I want war, child?” He said in an eerily calm manner.

I looked at the others utterly perplexed and when my gaze landed on Percy I had to fix him with a warning glare just to be sure he didn't try to be a wise guy at the wrong time. The last thing we needed was for fish Jesus to be filleted.

“My lord, I’m afraid I don’t understand. Wouldn’t a war expand your kingdom?” I said carefully.

His eyes widen a tad as he look on with absolute disbelief and frustration, “Did my brothers tell you that?? Fucking typical. Do you think I need more subjects?! Did you not see the sprawl of the asphodel fields??” Hades said, his voice risen an octave.

I hesitated to reply but I found I didn’t need to as Hades took it upon himself to continue his rant, "Have you any idea how much my kingdom has swollen in this past century alone, how many subdivisions I've had to open?"

Percy opened his mouth to respond, but Hades was on a roll.

"More security ghouls," he moaned. "Traffic problems at the judgment pavillon. Double overtime for the staff and the mortals just. keep. dying. You know, I used to be a rich god, godling. I control all precious metals under the earth. But my expenses!”

I was suddenly overcome with the fear that I was gonna have to comfort this emo god on his economic problems. And then Percy spoke and I was saved, “Charon wants a pay raise,” He blurted. I just had to laugh.

Hades went on to gripe about Charon and his troublesome discovery of Italian suits. He insisted that a war is the last thing he wanted and I wish I could say I was surprised.

“But you took Zeus' master bolt.” Percy said.

"Lies!" More rumbling. Hades rose from his throne, towering to the height of a football goal post. "Your father may fool Zeus, boy, but I am not so stupid. I see his plan."

"His plan?" I questioned.

"He was the thief on the winter solstice," Hades said. "His father thought to keep him his little secret. He directed him into the throne room on Olympus,”

Before I could even open my mouth to object and say that I was at the winter solstice and Percy wasn’t even a member at camp yet, Hades steamrolled on,

“You took the master bolt and my helm. Had I not sent my Fury to discover you at Yancy Academy, Poseidon might have succeeded in hiding his scheme to start a war. But now you have been forced into the open. You will be exposed as Poseidon's thief, and I will have my helm”

"But..." Annabeth spoke. I could tell her mind was going a million miles an hour. "Lord Hades, your helm of darkness is missing, too?"

"Do not play innocent with me, girl. You and the satyr have been helping this hero-coming here to threaten me in Poseidon's name, no doubt-to bring me an ultimatum. Does Poseidon think I can be blackmailed into supporting him? And you girl!" He directed his attention back to me and I was left to wonder what was so special about me that he felt the need to keep addressing me individually.

“This betrayal is disappointing but not unseen. I would think you would know better.” He glared heatedly at me, apparently abandoning his attempts at civility.

"No!" Percy said. "Poseidon didn't-I didn't- (y/n/n) had nothing to do with this- none of us did!"

"I have said nothing of the helm's disappearance," Hades snarled, "because I had no illusions that anyone on Olympus would offer me the slightest justice, the slightest help. I can ill afford for word to get out that my most powerful weapon of fear is missing. So I searched for you myself, and when it was clear you were coming to me to deliver your threat, I did not try to stop you."

"You didn't try to stop us? But-" None of what he was saying was making any sense. Not according to what we knew anyway. Did we really know anything?

"Return my helm now, or I will stop death," Hades threatened. "That is my counter proposal. I will open the earth and have the dead pour back into the world. I will make your lands a nightmare. And you, Percy Jackson-your skeleton will lead my army out of Hades."

The skeletal soldiers all took one step forward, making their weapons.

At this point the smart thing was to probably be scared out of my mind, but with Hades threatening Percy, fear seemed to be the last of my worries. This boy who I had made fast friends with in the short time that I’d known him. The boy who had lost his mom and his old life all within five minutes and was just expected to be okay with it. Percy Jackson, the dork who watched teen titans with me during the uncharacteristic storm at camp and convinced me to make blue Shirley temples. My very own guppy.

Yeah me and Hades were gonna have words.

“Stop this, now.” I said in my sternest voice. Hades halted and looked at me with intrigue and… slight fear?

“He didn’t steal anything, Hades, enough with the unfounded claims. We didn’t even know your helm was missing until 2 minutes ago and up until then we thought you had the bolt.”

The other 3 went stock still with shock. I’m guessing they were saying their goodbyes to me in their heads but I’m not one to go down that easily. Even if I did want to cry from the confrontation.

Hades looked at me with unbridled fury but when he spoke you would’ve thought he was simply telling me not to steal from the cookie jar again,

“I have tried to be kind to you child. I have tried to treat you with respect as you have done for me in the past but your foolishness and insolence will be your undoing.” He paused for a moment seemingly cherry picking his next words, “What would your mothers think? Hm? How would they fare if they learned of your impertinence?”

I froze. My blood ran cold and my stomach was churning something awful.

“….what?” I said, trying my hardest to steady my voice but it was a lost cause at this point. Grover and Annabeth looked on with pity that could shrink me with a glance but Percy? Percy looked furious. He glared at the god with the fury of a thousand suns,

“Don’t talk about her mothers, leave them out of this- leave her out of this. This is between me and you-“

“SILENCE!” Hades bellowed, as the throne room shook but Percy didn’t even flinch. “You have said quite enough godling.” He spat out the word like poison on his tongue.

Hades turned back to me, a new smugness hidden in the depths of his eyes, “How about we see what they would think? Would you like that legacy child? Would you like to see your parents?” His lip curled in a smirk.

I could’ve thrown up at the thought. What did he mean? Surely he wasn’t going to bring them here? My head was like a circuit, thoughts lapping around my brain like race cars. In my periphery, I could see Percy physically shaking with rage. Grover and Annabeth looked like they wanted to reach out for me but thought better of it, fearing Hades’ next move.

Hades surveyed all of us, taking in the horrified silence as he grinned almost sinisterly. He lifted a hand to the far left wall of a throne room and the surface of it rippled like a disrupted pool.

All of a sudden colors and shapes flew into the frame and found a place on the wall. Almost as soon as it started an image came into focus. A dining room with light pink walls filled with pictures and portraits of hand painted flowers. Most of the pictures were of one woman, a ginger with deep brown skin, gorgeous amber eyes, and a blinding smile. She looked like the personification of the earth and everything good. She looked warm, safe.

In some pictures she was joined by another woman, a more stern looking one but beautiful nonetheless with her honey blonde hair and vibrant blue eyes a stark contrast to her tawny skin. She held a smaller smile than her auburn counterpart but it was no less happy. The way they looked at each other in some photos was almost baffling. I didn’t know you could capture such tangible emotion on camera but they made it happen.

As for the portraits, I would’ve guessed the paintings were professionally made if it wasn’t for the cute little smiley faces and hearts surrounding the flowers in almost every portrait. They were mature and yet so childlike at the same time. Precise strokes coming together to form stunning flowers of bright color. Lilies, gardenias, and orchids filled every frame. It was captivating how real they looked. I could’ve stared at them all day but my attention was drawn toward the dark oak table as a giggle erupted from one of the occupants.

My heart sank.

The same woman in the photos sat at the table seemingly working on another floral piece. My breathing quickened as I put the pieces together. As I stared at the ginger woman’s dimpled smile and traced the slope of the blonde's nose it clicked.

These were my moms.

The women who died when I was just a baby in an effort to protect me. And they succeeded but at what cost?

I ran over to the wall ignoring the calls of my worried friends. Tears clouded my vision as I tried to push all the words I wanted to say past the lump cemented in my throat.

“Mamma?” I said timidly, worried this was an illusion or they wouldn’t be able to hear me.

All of that faded away when the bubbly lady whipped her head around at the sound of my voice and her lover not far behind.

“(Y/N)…?” She called, voiced thickly coated in awe.

The dam broke.

Tear rushed down my face faster than I could process as I nearly yelled out for my mothers, “Mamma! Ma!”

They came rushing over to where I was and knelt down at what I’m assuming was a projected image of me to wherever they were, “Baby angel! What are you doing here??” My mamma, who I’ve deduced is the child of Artemis, Davina, wailed as she went to reach out for me before retracting her hand. Probably figured the image would fade if she did and I’m grateful for that.

“You shouldn’t be here little dove, it’s not your time you must go home.” My Ma, Alexandra, said. A crease firmly placed between her brows that contradicted the wobbling smile that was growing on her lips.

They looked at me with a type of adoration that had my knees wracking. This is the type of maternal affection I thought I would never get to receive in my life. Of course, I had Aunt Go-go but that wasn’t the same.

Before I could respond Hades cut me off, “We can get to all the loving pleasantries in a moment. We have more important matters at hand. Your daughter has aided a thief.”

I glanced at him quickly before I quickly tried to defend myself, adamantly denying his claims.

“He’s lying! She didn’t steal anything and neither did I!” Percy erupted, his stare burning into the god's own, “"You're as bad as Zeus, you think I stole from you? That's why you sent the Furies after me?"

I drowned out the rest of what they were saying as I could only focus on the fact that my parents were looking me in my eyes, “We believe your friend, angel. We know our sweet girl would never do anything to cause harm.” Mamma told me as she looked on with kind eyes. “You’ve gotten so big! I remember when you were just a little raisin”

We shared a watery chuckle as I tried not to bawl my eyes out.

“She’s got your eyes,” Alexandra said fondly as she looked between her daughter and her wife.

“And your nose,” Davina giggled, “What a gorgeous girl you’ve grown into.”

“Thank you,” I managed as I felt my face heat up, “Are you guys in Elysium? Could I come see you?” I said hopefully.

They both glanced at each other warily and I felt dread pool in my stomach. I whipped around to face Hades as the words tumbled out of my mouth, “I need to see them! Please let me see them, I’ll do anything” I begged.

“Anything?” I nodded fervently as the trio voiced their protests, “Return my property and I’ll allow you a visit with your mothers!”

I choked out a sob as I looked helplessly at the others, “We-we don’t have it. I swear, I swear we don’t have it! We came here for the master bolt. They-they told us you had the master bolt, that’s why we’re here. Please I’m begging you, just let me see my moms” I rushed out, desperately trying to convince him of mercy.

“ENOUGH WITH YOUR FALSITIES GODLING!” I flinched back at his booming voice, the throne room walls rumbling and the image of my parents warbling. I panicked. “You already possess the master bolt, you came here with it, you insolent fool. You think you can try to deceive me?!”

I’m reduced to wails and gargled pleads as I try to bargain with this clearly unhinged man, “Please I don’t know, I don’t know. P-Percy tell him, please tell him, please”

“We didn’t steal the bolt! We’ve already told you-“

“Then open your pack!”

I looked at Percy in desperate confusion as his face fell. I can practically sense his panic as he slung his bad off his shoulder and unzipped it. Time stopped.

Inside was a two-foot-long metal cylinder, spiked on both ends, humming with energy. I could’ve fallen to my knees right there. I turned back to my mothers begging for them to understand. This was one of the worst realizations I’d ever made. We’d been framed.

'Percy," Annabeth said. "How-"

"I-I don't know. I don't understand." He said, his gaze flickered towards me as a tortured sound ripped from my throat.

"You heroes are always the same," Hades said. "Your pride makes you foolish, thinking you could bring such a weapon before me. I did not ask for Zeus's master bolt, but since it is here, you will yield it to me. I am sure it will make an excellent bargaining tool. And now ... my helm. Where is it?"

I was speechless. Percy was speechless. Annabeth was speechless, and I’m quite sure Grover passed out like 5 minutes ago. We had no helm. The world turned sideways and I didn’t deal well with vertigo.

"Lord Hades, wait," Percy said. "This is all a mistake."

"A mistake?" Hades roared. Quicker than I could process Hades lifted his hand and the image of my parents faded before my eyes.

Oh my gods.

“No- no, no, no, no, no, no, NO,” I gut-wrenching scream pierced through the air as I tried to conjure up the image again uselessly, “NO BRING THEM BACK, GODS, PLEASE BRING THEM BACK HADES PLEASE!” He didn’t even spare me a glance as Annabeth ran over to hold me back from slamming my fist into the stone. My fingernails were reduced to stubs as I clawed at the wall like my mother was going to be standing behind it waiting for me. I was wailing, calling out for my mommies. Usually I would scold myself for such a display of weakness at a time like this but at the moment all sense of self control was out of the question. I was inconsolable as Annabeth tried calming me down, cooing soft assurances in my ear that I couldn’t hear over my own gasping.

The skeletons aimed their weapons. From high above, there was a fluttering of leathery wings, and the three Furies swooped down to perch on

the back of their masters throne.

"There is no mistake," Hades said. "I know why you have come- I know the real reason you brought the bolt. You came to bargain for her."

Hades loosed a ball of gold fire from his palm. It exploded on the steps in front of Percy, and there was who I could only assume was his mother, frozen in a shower of gold.

In my panicked state at the renewed loss of mothers, I had almost forgotten about his.

"Yes," Hades said with satisfaction. "I took her. I knew, Percy Jackson, that you would come to bargain with me eventually. Return my helm, and perhaps I will let her go. She is not dead, you know. Not yet. But if you displease me, that will change."

Someone, or something, was growling. I think It was me. I was so angry. He already took my mothers away, he wasn’t about to take Percy’s.

I went to charge for him when I realized Annie was still holding on to me. I struggled against her hold as she dug her heels into the ground.

"Ah, the pearls," Hades said, and my blood froze. "Yes, my brother and his little tricks. Bring them forth, Percy Jackson."

Percy’s hand moved and brought out the pearls.

"Only four," Hades said. "What a shame. You do realize each only protects a single person. Try to take your mother, then, little godling. And which of your friends will you leave behind to spend eternity with me? Go on. Choose. Or give me the backpack and accept my terms." Percy looked at me and Annabeth and then Grover.

"We were tricked," He said. "Set up.”

“No shit,” I muttered bitterly, tears still tracking down my face.

"Yes, but why?" Annabeth asked, as she side eyed me. "And the voice in the pit-"

"I don't know yet," Percy said. "But I intend to ask."

"Decide, boy!" Hades yelled.

"Percy." Grover put his hand on Percy’s shoulder. "You can't give him the bolt,"

"I know that." He replied, though his stare was focused on me.

"Leave me here," Grover said. "Use the fourth pearl on your mom."

"No!" Percy exclaimed, his eyes darting towards the satyr.

"I'm a satyr," Grover said. "We don't have souls like humans do. He can torture me until I die, but he won't get me forever. I'll just be reincarnated as a flower or something. It's the best way."

"No." Annabeth drew her bronze knife, finally letting go of me and I returned back to the wall trying to see if there was some sort of passageway. "You three go on. Grover, you have to protect Percy and (y/n/n). You have to get your searcher's license and start your quest for Pan. Get his mom out of here. I'll cover you. I plan to go down fighting."

"No way," Grover said. "I'm staying behind."

"Think again, goat boy," Annabeth said.

"Stop it, both of you!" Percy yelled, and the two quieted.

I realized I had been silent through this whole ordeal and knew what I had to do.

“I’ll stay.” I croaked.

“What?!” Percy said, his head turning faster than I could process. “Absolutely not.”

“Percy-“

“No.” He strided over to me so he could look me in the eyes, “I’m not leaving here without you,”

“You don’t get it!” I exclaimed, on the verge of collapse. Gods, I’ve never been so tired. I’ve never done this. I know the stakes. I know how serious this is. But still, at the end of the day, I’m just a little girl who had gone her whole life without parents. Never knowing their faces or voices. Just to meet them and have them taken away within the same hour.

“What don’t I get (Y/N)? Hm?” Percy said frustratedly as he grappled my shoulders. I know he didn’t mean to be harsh but I couldn’t help getting upset.

“I want to stay here, Percy.” I said defeatedly, looking up at him through my lashes. “I ha-have to meet them. I just have to. Please just let me stay here. I need to stay, just let me stay,” I begged him, grasping at his arms to let me go.

He looked at me with a devastating amount of empathy that I couldn’t help breaking down again. He pulled me into a one armed hug as he turned towards Annabeth and Grover,

"I know what to do," Percy said. "Take these."

He handed them each a pearl.

Annabeth said, "But, Percy ..."

I was rambling incoherently into his shoulder, begging him to leave me there. He took my face into his hands and forced me to look him in the eyes,

“Hey-hey! Look at me!” I did, “I know.” And by the gods, I knew that he did. My knees went weak as he pulled me back in and held on to the back of my head as he wrapped an arm around my waist, “I’ll get you back here one day, ang-” he paused, realizing his mistake but continued on, “Even if I have to breakdown the doors of Olympus myself and force them to make it happen, you will see your moms again. Okay?”

I hesitated for a breath before I nodded reluctantly. There’s nothing else I could do.

Percy held me in his arms as he turned his head and faced his mother.

"I'm sorry," he told her. "I'll be back. I'll find a way."

The smug look on Hades's face faded. He said, "Godling ... ?"

"I'll find your helm, Uncle," he told him. Again with this uncle thing. "I'll return it. Remember about

Charon's pay raise."

"Do not defy me-" Hades tried.

"And it wouldn't hurt to play with Cerberus once in a while. He likes red rubber balls."

"Percy Jackson, you will not-"

Percy shouted, "Now, guys!"

He smashed the pearls at our feet. For a scary moment, nothing happened.

Hades yelled, "Destroy them!"

The army of skeletons rushed forward, swords out, guns clicking to full automatic. The Furies lunged, their whips bursting into flame.

Just as the skeletons opened fire, the pearl fragments at our feet exploded with a burst of green light and a gust of fresh sea wind.

We were encased in a milky white sphere, which was starting to float off the ground. My head was still buried in Percy’s shoulder, sobs racked my body as we floated up, Annabeth and Grover were right behind us.

Hades yelled with such rage, the entire fortress shook and I knew it was not going to be a peaceful night in L.A but I couldn’t bring myself to care.

"Look up." Grover yelled. "We're going to crash!"

Sure enough, we were racing right toward the stalactites, which I figured would pop our bubbles and skewer us.

"How do you control these things?" Annabeth shouted.

"I don't think you do!" Percy shouted back.

Is it bad that I kinda wanted to be skewered? Stop.

The trio screamed as the bubbles slammed into the ceiling and ... Darkness.

No, I could still feel the racing sensation. We were going up, right through solid rock as easily as an air bubble in water.

That was the power of the pearls, I realized- What belongs to the sea will always return to the sea.

For a few moments, I couldn't see anything outside the smooth walls of our sphere, then our pearl broke through on the ocean floor.

The two other milky spheres, Annabeth and Grover, kept pace with us as we soared upward through the water.

We exploded on the surface, in the middle of the Santa Monica Bay, knocking a surfer off his board with an indignant, "Dude!" I wanted to hit him.

Percy grabbed Grover and hauled him over to a life buoy. I caught Annabeth and dragged her over too.

A curious shark was circling us, a great white about eleven feet long. Maybe I’d get my soul surfer moment. Stop it.

Percy said, "Beat it." And the shark turned and raced away. New Yorkers.

The surfer screamed something about bad mushrooms and paddled away from us as fast as he could.

Somehow, I knew what time it was: early morning, June 21, the day of the summer solstice.

In the distance, Los Angeles was on fire, plumes of smoke rising from neighborhoods all over the city. There had been an earthquake, all right, and it was Hades's fault. He was probably sending an army of the dead after us right now.

But at the moment, the Underworld wasn't my biggest problem.

Annabeth and Grover shared a glance as they muttered something about getting a headstart to shore. Percy and I were still treading water as he analyzed me.

“What?” I snapped. I can’t say I didn’t mean to but I did feel bad.

“I’m sorry.” He said and my face softened. “It’s not your fault, nothing you could do.” I tried to give him a reassuring smile but I’m sure it looked more like a grimace.

He was starting to gain a real habit of hugging me as he pulled me into his chest. I couldn't tell the difference between the saltwater and saline on my face anymore.

He didn’t say anything, just sort of awkwardly petted my hair. He pulled away to look me in the eyes and some sort of understanding passed between us.

I gave him a nod and gestured for him to catch up with the others. He looked hesitant for a second but ultimately nodded and swam to the duo who were treading just a little ways away.

I looked down at the water as if I’d be able to see the underworld below my feet. I gave a kiss to my fingers and swirled them in the water in the shape of a flower, “I’m sorry Mamma, Ma. I’ll come back for you.”

I start to slowly make my way towards the others thinking over everything that just went down. I realized with a sharp ache in my chest, that I felt more despair than I did hatred when thinking of Hades. I wanted to despise him. To think that he was evil and want to plot some sort of revenge. But I couldn’t. Somehow that was worse.

He was uncaring in his dealings with us. I knew his intentions with the words he spoke to me, burning a hole through my chest till I was left spiraling searching for some sort of reprieve. And yet compassion still had a hold on me. I felt sorry for him but oh my gods, was he ruthless.

✧ dividers by @hitobaby !

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