Summoning Bones

33. Too Many Lies in the Underworld

Hades sat at his desk, his fury tangible in the air as Thanatos informed him of his daughter's whereabouts.

"We can access her; she has set up protections in place. None of our forces are able to penetrate them," he said. His voice was cold, icy even. Makaria trembled in her chair, pulling her legs tighter to her chest. Hades looked up slowly, to glare at his favorite Underworld helper, but in his eyes there was no understanding, only rage.

"Then, find someone who can!" He thundered, making Makaria squeak and bury her head in her knees. "I want Melinoe in my office by the day's end. If you fail, I will personally choose a torture for you to suffer through for eons."

"Of course," Thanatos replied smoothly. He vanished in a cloud of smoke as Hades turned his attention to his daughter. He smiled, revealing fangs.

"What shall I do with you? Use you as bait?" Makaria quickly shook her head, staring at her father with a tear stained face. "I could have you bring Melinoe here yourself?" She shook her head again.

"Please," she whispered.

"Please what? Use your words daughter," Hades taunted gleefully.

"Don't harm her, I will do whatever you wish, just please, please don't let any harm come to her," she begged. Hades' smile widened.

"Anything?" Makaria nodded feverishly. "Well, a deal has been struck. I want you to go to Melinoe's home, she will let you in and lure her out, just beyond her spells. And yes,-" he said seeing Makaria's mouth open in protest, "I promise no harm will come to her. Now, leave."

"You are a cruel Father, and a worse leader," spat Makaria, before quickly leaving his office. She quickly left the castle, her white dress billowing behind her like steam from a kettle. She ran over the bleak landscape, heading towards the only part of the Underworld she had not visited in vain attempts to hide form her father, Melinoe's cottage.

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Eirene and Cadmus sat at the worn table, sitting across from each other as Eirene flipped through her childhood spell book. Cadmus looked over maps of the Underworld, trying his best to decipher the Greek names.

"What next?" Said Cadmus, breaking their comfortable silence. Eirene let her book fall onto the the next page and looked up at him.

"Well, there's a few options." Now that she was in the Underworld, she wasn't sure where to begin. She was torn between meeting Selene, which despite her earlier realization, she needed to meet with. Eirene needed answers from the goddess. Eirene rolled the thought of meeting Makaria first, getting the ruby, and learning of Hades' plans face-to-face. "I can visit Makaria or Selene. Then Hades."

"Which will you choose?" Cadmus prompted.

"I don't know, I have two goddesses I want to meet with, to choose one over the other is a dangerous game," she lied easily. It was the partial truth, but no goddess would take offense if she chose the other as a goddess herself, but if she were mortal, she'd be a dead woman walking. "But I believe it best if I meet with Selene, she is rather unpredictable during the night," she mused, running her finger over the edges of the book.

"Very well, will she come here?" said Cadmus, trying to suppress his excitement at the prospect of meeting a goddess, unaware he had been traveling with one for days. Eirene's eyes filled with joy at his child-like wonder.

"No, I will join her in her home, a simple mansion beyond the trees."

"A simple mansion?" His eyes were wide and his eyebrows. She smirked.

"She is a goddess. She had many mansions over the realms."

"Realms? Plural?" Cadmus, leaned forward in his seat, entrapped by learning about the gods' and goddesses' casual habits. Eirene laughed.

"Of course, the heavens, the Underworld, though few chose to visit here often enough to warrant a home, the living realm, other pantheons," she said, picking up her book and beginning to read once more.

"Other pantheons?" At his words, a knock sounded through the kitchen. Cadmus leaped to his feet, his eyes yellow and his teeth sharpening into fangs. Eirene, closed her eyes, reaching though her magic, feeling for the trace of the intruder. Her eyes snapped open and she stood abruptly.

"Makaria!"

"How did she get through your spells?" Growled Cadmus.

"She is the only besides us," Eirene said, walking to the door. She peered through the eyehole to see her sister. Her skin was pale, and her eyes continue to dart around her surroundings while her hands twisted by her stomach. Eirene opened the door. "Makaria, come in."

As soon as Makaria crossed the threshold, Eirene scooped her into a tight embrace.

"How I've missed you Makaria, last I saw you was your mortal form."

"I know, Fa-Hades is cruel, Persephone left." Makaria corrected herself, catching sight of Cadmus. Eirene held her sister in front of her, her eyes flashing, searching for truth.

"She... left?" Makaria nodded.

"Yes, she reflected when she was here, it was only a weekend, but they yelled. It was awful," Makaria said, her nerves rising in her once again. Her hands once more began to twist.

"What did she say?" Pressed Eirene. Makaria glanced around the house, looking anywhere but at  Eirene or Cadmus, who both had forgotten stood in the corner.

"It was you. Persephone held so much guilt at what they did when you were a child," Makaria said.

"What did they do?" Growled Cadmus, promising pain to any who dared harm his love.

"I, they," stuttered Makaria, quickly glancing between Eirene and the bristling wolf.

"Giving me powers, training me, they coaxed my parents into beginning to train my magic to split," Eirene quickly said. Camus growled.

"They will pay!" His voice boomed, bringing Makaria back into her memories of Hades' office. She squeaked and pulled herself to press against the door. Tears began to poll in her eyes.

"There is nothing you can do, it is in the past. Put your claws away," ordered Eirene. Cadmus growled once more, before shifting back to his full human form. Eirene turned away from him to Makaria. She pulled her sister back into a hug and rubbed soothing circles on her back.

"I will protect you, do not fear here," she whispered. Makaria's breathing slowed and she raised her head, reaching into the pocket of her dress.

"Here, I cannot bear to return to Hades' castle, please hurry me home," she whispered, placing a ruby the size of her eye into Eirene's palm. "Please Melinoe." Her words were quiet so only Eirene could hear. She nodded and pocketed the ruby.

"I won't let you go back to him. You can stay here as long as you need, even when we leave," she said, gesturing to Cadmus. "You can take your room upstairs."

Makaria nodded and waited for Eirene to lead her upstairs. She eyed Cadmus warily, fear evident on her features.

"Cadmus, wait in the living room, you're scaring her." He grumbled as he made his way to return to his spot on the chair. The lamp was still covered in the film of light preventing him from touching it.

Makaria quickly followed Eirene up the stairs, and retreated to her bed. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she fell asleep, having barely been able to under her father's eyes.

Eirene returned to the living room, expecting to meet Cadmus on the sofa, but instead she saw him back at the table, his yellow eyes watching her.

"I have let you lie through her pretty lips. I have let you confide in me when you are ready. I have let you keep your name from me. But now, now I cannot let this continue. I am in the Underworld, my mate is meeting with Hades, she is on first name basis with a goddess who is asleep upstairs in a house that reeks of dark magic and you. Who are you?"