Hades

Epilogue

                      Epilogue

Christmas came, bringing with it the many joys of winter in the crystallised frozen world of the living. December soon melted into January, and January passed into February, and little by little the days became longer and lighter. As the ice began to melt the songbirds returned, filling the warm air with their cautiously optimistic melody of coming spring.

The earth, in all its simple and yet magnificent glory, moved ever forward.

Harusame came to live with Hades in the Underworld, as this arrangement fulfilled both their deepest wishes. Though she had lived modestly and frugally all of her life, he ended up making repeat teleportation trips back and forth simply for the purpose of transporting her many books to their new home. Anyone who ever said you can't take it with you when die had never told Harusame - she had stories left untold, pages left to turn, and now had all the time in the world to do so.

She wrote a long thank you note to Mrs Kamiya, explaining that she was moving far away but that she'd really appreciated the old lady's company and support over the past few years. The one item she left was the china  piggy bank, and instructions for its contents to go towards the keeping and care of her beloved puppy who was now living a very full life with Ryunosuke and Arada.

Uxi, beside herself with delight, offered Harusame a hearty 'welcome welcome welcome!' along with streamers and flags upon her arrival, to which Hades dryly remarked that the Underworld had officially been stripped of all its dignity.

Harusame adored the bedroom he'd set aside for her. Its decor was pretty and old fashioned, just the way she liked it, and was furnished with pot plants and sweet-smelling flowers for her to tend, and a conveniently massive bookcase. Harusame deeply suspected that Uxi had helped the slovenly god to furnish it.

Hades adored welcoming Harusame into his home, his castle. Though uneasy thoughts plagued him over his vague, recurring dream - he reasoned that he and Harusame had far more important things to think about now, and so worried no more. They had the future ahead of them, and for once, the Lord of the Underworld didn't think it looked quite so bleak.

Uxi never saw the breathtaking wooden carving made in her image, and the day that Harusame entered the Underworld the angel put Freddy's hourglass away on its proper place among the high shelves of the great hall. Uxi loved him still and feared she always would, but her master's actions had reminded her that she could not live in the past forever and that a one-sided love wasn't really love at all. She wished the human named Frederic all the happiness in the world, and went back to her secretarial duties.

At least she would have, had Hades not taken her aside while Harusame was unpacking.

'I imagine I got your hopes up before didn't I, with all that talk about getting you your freedom?'

'Not at all, Master,' she smiled warmly. 'I don't mind staying down here, especially with Haru-chan around for company.'

'Ah,' said Hades, 'well, that's a shame, because I managed to get you your freedom anyway.'

With those words her contract appeared in the air and was suddenly alight, the embers of her sacrifice falling to the stone cold floor.

Uxi watched it burn with wide eyes. 'But how...?'

Hades smiled, his eyes flashing. 'I finally got a little leverage. My big sis is friends with a goddess named Pheme who knows everything about everyone, including the scandalous stuff. She didn't need much persuading to tell me all about my brother's latest indiscretion, and all I had to do was threaten to tell his lovely wife all the gruesome details...if he didn't remove your allergy to the human world.'

'But my contract with you-'

'Ah, the hell with it. What's a stupid contract compared to all you've done for me? There you go, Ux. I'm giving you back your freedom.'

Uxi was moved greatly by this sweet, if slightly underhand deed, but to Hades' surprise she shook her head. 'If it's okay with you, Master, I'd really like to stay,' she said without hesitation. 'I have nowhere particular to go in the human world, and you need me down here. Besides, someone has to chaperone you and Haru-chan.'

And with a knowing smile, she resumed her seat at the typewriter.

'You don't have to call me Master anymore,' called Hades over his shoulder as he left her to it.

'Whatever you say, Master,' she laughed.

*

Observe, if you will, the young man cloaked in black. He stands in the shadow of a cherry tree on a beautiful spring day, a spring that has been unseasonably warm, as the sunlight pours through the branches onto the dewy grass.

The love of his life, a young lady with sparkling yet serious green eyes, stands at his side as a gentle April shower begins to fall from heaven.

She asks him in a hushed whisper, 'Why did you fall in love with me?'

He looks down at her, startled, and thinks for a moment about his answer. 'A human's life is as fleeting as the spring rain,' he replies, 'but the life of a god goes on forever. Our existences can often become cloudy and messy because they aren't reined in, but I believe humans see all the more clearly because they know their time is so short. They see things that we don't, and appreciate life in a way that we never can; the sound of the distant ocean lapping at the white shore; the colours of a firework, brighter than the moon; the scent of the summer breeze fragrant with freshly cut grass and lemonade. They have much to teach us if we'd only stop, look and listen. In answer to your question,' he turns to her, and cups her face in his hands. 'I fell in love with your humanity, because you showed me my own.'

The petal of a cherry blossom lands on her face, and he brushes it away with a tender kiss that becomes a deeper, sweeter kiss. The light rainfall ceases, and a rainbow appears in the sky.

Some people find their true happiness in the next life. Some find it over the rainbow. These two found their heaven right here on earth.

The End...

...For Now.