Reincarnation to the Past

Chapter 73

Chapter 73

Yǔ's POV

"Sele, NOO!!!" came a scream from Persephone, just as things started to get too somber and I willed my tears to disappear. At times like this, I was glad that I was a child of Poseidon. The door burst open, and the bunny flew in, rushing at great speed towards me. She was holding flowers that were clearly forcibly pulled from the ground. "Sele, sweetie, let's make them into flower crowns before giving them to her!!" cried out Persephone, following after her, out of breath. And finally, Mael flew in, wearing a flower crown.

The bunny raced over to me and thrust the flower towards me, tilting her head cutely, "Aww...", I smiled at her cuteness and accepted the flower, which made her happily come and rub her cheek against mine affectionately. Mael also flew towards me and tried to toss the crown on my head and clumsily adjust it with his paws, making it tilt and slightly fall over but I adjusted it with one hand.

"Sele???", I enquired. It sounded like a nice name...

"I'm sorry... It felt wrong to call... her bunny constantly.... so I named her Selene." Persephone gasped out while trying to catch her breath. "Wow, she's fast."

Hades (surprised): Why Selene, though??? What does she have to do with the moon??

Persephone (in excitement): Her eyes!!! It reminds me of the moon reflected in the water!!!

Me (holding the bunny and staring into its eyes): Selene... What do you say, Selene??? Do you like that name???

The bunny tilted her head before drawing close to my face and licking my nose. "Selene, it is..." I laughed happily. I may have lost my father and mother and many others but I reminded myself that I had people who still cared for me, and now Selene is a new addition to the family.

"So... won't you stay for dinner???" Persephone asked, her eyes shining in excitement. "I'll prepare a feast!!!"

"Well, I do have to leave...", I started before slowly glancing at Hades with a playful smirk. "But how could I say no to a pretty tea party centering 'pink'...".

Hades frowned and began to retort, only to snap his mouth shut with a glare from Persephone. He let out a long, exaggerated sigh and snapped his fingers, making a dining table and chairs replace the previous sofa with tables, glasses, and cutlery, all pink, of course. And an hour or so later, a whole feast was spread over it, along with a glass of nectar and ambrosia. The blessings had long since made me immune to the negative effects of the food, mainly due to Apollo's healing abilities, and nectar being liquid didn't cause any harm because of my affinity with water and other liquids. Although the latter was the only liquid that could make me drunk, I was usually careful with how much I consumed.

"Now all that's remaining is for Hades to adorn a pretty pink frock." I said, grinning ear to ear, not so much as flinching at the seething glare directed towards me at the end of that statement. It's been a while since I felt like part of a family. Today too has been a good day...

Hades' POV

(After Yǔ left - midnight)

I sat up on my bed and looked beside me, where Persephone was sleeping, breathing slowly. After making sure she was asleep, I put on an outer robe and quietly slipped out. As I walked to the throne room, I recalled what Yǔ had said before she left...

"Actually, I came here to give you something else too. It seems that my Uncle H, from the present, has been trying to contact my soul. I met him in a dream and let him know I'm fine."  She smiled fondly at the mention of him. "He asked me to give you this."

Taking a seat on the throne, I held the dark diamond crystal made of my powers and stared at it before sighing. I summoned a table and placed the crystal on it, injecting my power into it through my index finger.  The Hades of the present purposely used these crystals to communicate with me, knowing Yǔ would not know anything about it. After all, this is one of the ways we gods communicate, indirectly, with each other during this time.

The crystal released a dull beam of light, reaching the top of my throne and through it, I saw a vision of the future Hades. It surprised me to see him, not because I was looking at my future self but because of his condition. His eyes were bloodshot, and his face was more exhausted, solemn, and somber than I've ever expressed.

"I heard from Percy that he came to you. I couldn't find his soul in the underworld; no matter how hard I searched, I couldn't find it anywhere at this time. With the hope that he was alive somewhere, I tried using the blessing to contact him and after weeks of trying, I finally succeeded. And I heard everything from him. I can imagine how surprised you'd be to find yourself with a nephew like him—or is it a niece now??? Or that I actually blessed a being, that too a demigod son of my own brother." He said, through the recording.

"Since you and I are basically the same, I can guess that you must be confused as to why I blessed him or am willing to go so far for that kid... It's really simple, actually... because to him, family is everything, and even someone like me, who was cast aside and feared by the rest of his kind, is included in that family. He's the only demigod, outside some of my children, with true respect towards me, who brazenly comes to visit me, saying that we needed to 'bond' (making air quotes with his fingers with a small smile), not just when he wants something. He's the first demigod who accepted my children; he even went as far as ensuring that my children would have their own cabin in the camp. That boy, he's a good kid—a pure kid... I guess that's why I regret it more; I regret not having turned the whole of Olympus upside down to save him. I considered it. For the first time in a while, I considered overthrowing Olympus to save him. So what if I'm at odds with my family again??? So what if my children continue to be despised??? So what if I lose my spot in Olympus??? All those things, I got only because of him." He smiled sadly, his eyes brimming with tears.

"I should have done it too... I would have if he just let me. I could have saved him. Anyway, I'm running out of time; I won't be contacting Percy again, lest it leak out to the other gods. So I just wanted to make a request. I won't ask you to overthrow Olympus or anything but please do keep that child safe for as long as possible. Keep him out of the radar of the other gods and let him live as a human. Please, please protect my nephew in my place. That's all, I guess (taking a deep breath and smiling awkwardly, not used to expressing such emotions or talking so much for that matter)... You may not have known him for long, but I'll leave my sole champion in your hands."

This brat, I thought to myself in complete astonishment and disbelief. Just what did he do to have my future self become like this??? To think in the future, I would actually consider overthrowing Olympus for a single kid, and he's not even my kid!!! I tapped at the crystal that had turned to dust and smiled.

Sole champion, huh?? He was begging me all for his brother's son... In the end, it begs the question, Why didn't Poseidon do anything??? Among the three of us, he's the one who's more loving towards his children...

"What to do???", I muttered softly with a sigh, shaking my head in disbelief at the thought that was running through my head, "At this rate, I can almost see myself standing against the gods to protect this child."