Hades

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

After our talk in the music room, Hades starts to spend a lot more time with me. I don't know what it was that I did, but in the two months that followed, Hades started to make a much more obvious effort in ensuring that I was comfortable around him. I don't think he noticed it himself, but after that day, his demeanour also slowly started changing. He started smiling at least once a day, laughed a little more often, and generally looked a lot more relaxed when he was around me — almost nothing like the reserved, off-ish god I'd first met almost three months ago now.

I wasn't sure if that change was due to me or not, but I secretly liked to think so.

As time passed, I found myself quickly falling into a familiar, comfortable rhythm. So quickly, in fact, that I surprised myself one day, whilst curled up reading a book aloud to Hades, when I realised that I felt more at home in the Underworld than I ever did up on the surface. I came to the conclusion that it was because everything that I thought to be real was, in retrospect, all superficial; my family, my friends, even the future that I was being pushed to pursue. But down in Hades' palace, as ridiculous as it sounded, everything felt real, and I was finally in charge of my life, not a bunch of gods.

And when I realised that, I suddenly wasn't at all sure what I was going to do once my four months were up.

Despite the enormity of the palace, I found that I ended up hanging out with the same people almost every day. Every morning, I was woken up by my new maidservant Zola (who was grumpier, older and much less talkative than Calla), who found great joy in forcing me into a ridiculously frumpy Victorian dress — despite my many, many loud protests. If Zola ever felt that she hadn't sufficiently tortured me enough after that, she took vicious glee in telling me, at length, what a horrible person I was to have 'driven my first maidservant away'. In all honesty, she was lucky I didn't know where the Tartaros Pits were; I definitely would have tossed her into one if I'd been given the chance.

Once I eventually managed to evade her claws, I'd go and badger Kezia to entertain me, either with food experiments or palace explorations. The goddess knew the palace like the back of her hand, and she always had stories to tell that would have me in stitches. She also, ironically, had a very soft spot in her heart for Pluto; who had already grown to the size of a large dog, by the way, and loved accompanying me on my adventures around the palace.

I'd then spend most of my afternoons curled up in the library, either reading on my stomach on the sofa, or aloud to Pluto in front of the fireplace. Hades, on occasion, would appear while I was reading to the large black lion-cub, and would quietly sit on the couch and listen along. He never said a word, but from the way he leaned forward and visibly hung onto every word I said, I knew he enjoyed listening to me. And I never said anything to him about it, but I enjoyed reading to him even more.

My nights consisted of mindlessly watching Pluto wreak havoc in my room, or playing cards with Hades. He was still frustratingly good at poker, to the point where several nights ended with me throwing the cards at him and hiding in my bathroom in shame. Hades seemed to find my temper tantrums funny though, and would often leave chuckling under his breath.

Despite all the time I spent with him, however, I wasn't fully aware of just how dependent I had become on Hades' company until the day finally arrived where I didn't see him. All day. Not around the palace as I explored, not in the library for reading, and not in my room for a round of poker.

I frown as I peer around my room, crossing my arms over my chest. Hades has always been impeccable with timing; I couldn't begin to count the amount of times he'd frightened me by just popping into existence the exact moment the hour changed.