Ferry of Woe [malexmale]

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

The world is full of hope.

Even when things seem dark and bleak and there's no sign of light at the end of the tunnel, someone will always come in and turn the lights on for you. Hope didn't come in obvious ways either. It came masked as a test. Should we go for it, or not? What if we fall flat on our faces again? There was only one way to find out.

I closed the cover over my journal, standing up and turning to tuck it into one of three bookcases in my room.

I paused at the sweet succulent scent of food wafting into my room. A warm homey scent that warmed me to the core. I drifted out of the bedroom and came to the kitchen to see steam rising from a pot on the stove and Alexion with his back to me as he cut up vegetables.

Tall and incredibly handsome with a broad corded back, long muscular arms, long tapered fingers. Sandy blonde hair swept back from his face with a headband, intense blue eyes focusing hard on his work. He wore a navy elbow-length shirt and jeans, his bare feet on the floorboards. My eyes went back up to his face as he worked. I inched in further and further until I could press myself against his back, and his serious stare melted into a smile as he paused his work to glance back at me.

"I take it you're hungry?" He asked. I nodded, breathing in the scent of the food as well as Alexion's natural scent that made my senses tingle. I put my arms around his waist and hugged him. He put his hands over mine for a moment, then went back to cutting the vegetables.

"Do we have a run to make this afternoon?" He asked. I nodded.

"Yeah, but it's the last one. My brothers are also calling a meeting to discuss Hades's plan."

"You want me to come with you?"

"Of course. You're my second-in-command, after all." I added brightly. Alexion smiled at that and turned in my arms, embracing me tightly and kissing me until I was dizzy. I wanted to lure him to the bedroom again, but sadly we didn't have enough time. I made a mental note to make time once we got back from the meeting. I stepped back to let Alexion finish making our meal before heading to the bathroom to shower.

When I stepped out, I paused to stare at myelf in the mirror. My hair had gotten a little longer, and thankfully, I had gained some weight back. I was still quite thin, but not unhealthily so. I supposed my body was just naturally lithe. I was all right with that. At least I couldn't count my ribs anymore.

I left the bathroom and went to my room, changing into black jeans, a long sleeved black shirt, and my boots. I picked up my cloak and put it on, but didn't bother with the hood now. I had no use for it anymore, really.

I came back out to eat with Alexion at the table in the living room. I'd managed to change my furniture back from the modern style Hades had insisted I keep. I wasn't into most modern conveniences. I was just happy with what I had.

Although, we did fix the house up. We repainted the outside, so now the white paint wasn't peeling or cracked anymore. The inside was repainted with green and brown tones. I'd gotten some Victorian style furniture put in and also had the floor boards redone. We'd cleaned out every cobweb and dust bunny.

It was now warm and cozy, just the way I liked it.

I glanced at Alexion, watching the way he ate small, dainty bites. He had no problem touching me now and would even come up behind me while I worked on occasion to cover my eyes and get some attention. Part of me wondered what had made Alexion so afraid of touch before, but I didn't want to stir up the dark memories of his time with Cronus and Zeus. He no longer had an interest in revenge. Granted, I'm sure he would have no problem watching them die, but he wasn't going to pursue it. He seemed content here.

Even though he was technically branded as a slave. He had to be the slave with the most freedom, though. I never told Alexion what to do and I gave him permission to use his powers whenever he saw fit to do so. I even promoted him, against Hades's wishes, to my second-in-command. He had as much power as Leon or Adrian or Noe or Sept. Any of them. The brand on his foot meant nothing to me. It was just a formality so that Hades wouldn't be mocked by the other gods, something that always bothered me.

He was so concerned with how his family looked at him, but I knew it would never change so long as Hades was the god of the underworld. If he showed a moment of weakness, the other gods would take it upon themselves to attack him or cause him more misery. He already didn't particularly enjoy his job. It was the reason why he was so... cranky. Even Persephone wasn't enough to sooth him. Their relationship was one balancing on a tightrope above a sea of starving sharks.

As for Epimetheus, there had been no sign of him since a month ago when he vanished. No one was avidly searching for him, but the guards would report back with information and most of the information was the usual thing-- no Epimetheus. Part of me wondered if he went to hide in the Labyrinth. I only slightly pitied him. His brother was locked in Tartarus and his lover was dead. He was probably licking his wounds and waiting to emerge again to kill us for what we did, but when he did, we would be ready.

Hannibal also seemed to be moving from place to place. Occasionally the guards would come back with word that he'd been spotted at a bar in Inferi, then a club in Styx. I felt very sorry for him. He was a lost soul. He wandered like the souls in the Fields of Asophodel, but he had no good memories to fall back on. I could only hope that some day, he found good memories to have.

As before mentioned, Prometheus was in Tartarus. He was heavily drugged and chained to the corner of his cell with very short, barbed chains. According to Zelios, Prometheus merely curled up into a ball and didn't react to anything. Again, there was a part of me that felt sorry for him, because he was only trying to hurt the people who hurt him. But that never worked out for anyone, and now he knew that.

Xenon avoided us like the plague. He claimed the situation with Prometheus was too close a call and had revoked our ability to summon him.

"I don't need the rest of my pantheon wiped out because of a gaggle of stupid gods," He'd informed us when we tried to summon him about Epimetheus, "From now on, if you try to summon me, I'll send you a gift basket of dead kittens. I'm not going to get sucked up into your messes anymore. I don't even serve gods to begin with. I serve the lessers, and that's what I'm going to return to." He'd vanished and left us annoyed, but we understood. Even though Xenon didn't say it or even show it, I knew that the situation with Prometheus had scared him. It scared him so much that he just didn't want anything to do with us and I respected that. Even I didn't want to be sucked into these incidents.

I was relieved, though, that for once... the mess we got into with Prometheus didn't result in punishment from Hades. Even better was that Hades didn't gut me for making Alexion my second-in-command. His only response was a curt,

"Well, as long as he dies for you, fine. Let's hope that's sooner than later."

Hades had a strange way of expressing himself.

But nonetheless, things seemed peaceful now. There was no fear of the Titans escaping; Zelios had increased his security and torture levels. There was no fear of Epimetheus. He obviously was in hiding and would be for a very long time. The beating Cain gave him may not have killed him, but it severely incapacitated him. Granted, though, the only Titan that had yet to be caught was Philotes. Although, I had a strong feeling that had a lot to do with Adrian, who pretended he had no idea what was going on... and the rest of us pretended we didn't know he'd hidden her someplace. Even Hades acted like it was nothing, despite Zeus's constant whining about it.

For once, there was no need to fret.

And granted, it probably wouldn't last, and once again, my brothers and I would be called upon to do something to keep the world in working order, but until that day came, I was happy right where I was.

In my tiny little home on the river Acheron with Alexion.

TO BE CONTINUED...

A/N: Very short last chapter, but I felt it was suitable :) I hope you all enjoyed Charon's story as much as I enjoyed writing it! I had a good connection with Charon and I was happy to share his story with everyone, and happy that he got his happy ending at long last. Thank you all so much for reading, voting, and commenting! I'll see you in the NEXT BOOK: Monster!