“Hades’ palace.”
“I thought his name was Louis?” Harry says confused.
“He goes by many names.” And he takes off. Gee, thanks for the absolute flood of information, Harry thinks. Charon sounds as though he’s slowly turning into one of the grey smoky souls himself. But, Harry concludes, he probably would too if he spent centuries with desperate, crying souls. They reach a muddy brown river, filled with trash and garbage. The River Styx, Harry knows.
“What is all this?”
“Human misery. Lost hopes and dreams from centuries.” So naturally, Harry sticks his hand in the river (it doesn’t feel like water at all) and fishes out a broken mirror. The mirror is stained with mud and a sticky red substance that is probably blood. So he slowly drops it back into the Styx and watches other things float by. A pocket watch. An ancient Greek helmet. Glasses. A lighter. A pair of scissors.
“We’re here”, Charon announces. “I cannot take you any further. Ask the ghouls to let you past Cerberus. They’ll know it’s you.” Cerberus. Giant, three-headed dog. Kind of scary, Harry notes when he sees the shadow of three dog heads move on the wall where he’s dropped off. Cerberus looks like a Rottweiler, only this one has three heads.
When the ghouls order him not to eat Harry, Cerberus seems to be looking a little sad. So Harry approaches him (he can nearly hear his mother screaming at him, asking if he has a death wish ‘because it is about to get fulfilled!’) and fishes out a little rubber ball from his pocket. “Hey, big guy! D’you wanna play?” That could’ve sounded very wrong, but seeing as he was talking to a three-headed dog; not so much. He throws the ball at Cerberus and the middle head dives for it, battling the two other heads for the little ball. He looks just like any other dog. Except for his three heads.
Maybe monsters do need a little love sometimes.
Harry is lead to Louis’ palace by the ghouls and once he’s inside, it actually quite looks like Buckingham Palace from the inside. Not as much fire and creepy floating things (read: bats) as he’d expected.
“Harry, my dear. I’ve been expecting you.”
Harry whirls around so fast he almost gives himself whiplash. He clears his throat and greets the Lord of the Underworld back. “Hi.” For the Lord of the bloody Underworld, Louis is quite pretty. Sky blue eyes, brown hair that seems very light and is swept in a fringe across his forehead and thin lips.
“You’re not too bad yourself.” Harry’s eyes widen. This dude can read minds? “Dude? Is that how they say it these days? I should really visit modern society more often”, Louis says thoughtfully. “Anyway, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Louis. Most people know me as Hades which is also fine but Louis sounds somewhat more…. Human, I guess.”
“I’m Harry.”
And Louis smiles a pretty smile. “I know, dear. I invited you to my palace, yes? Please have a seat,” he gestures to a human sized throne in the main room, next to a bigger throne which is probably Louis’, “husband-to-be.” Harry’s given an almost blinding smile and he obeys mindlessly.
-
Harry’s been in the Underworld for ten days and living with Louis is…. Something else, to express it. It’s a good thing. He thought he’d have no freedom at all but Louis has been nothing but lovely so far. He even got his Furies to get some human food above ground for their date. (It took Harry about half an hour to explain the concept of a date, only to be promptly asked on one. Let’s just say it was a wonderful surprise.)
“Husband-to-be”, Harry murmurs dazedly. He’s getting married to this lovely man in a few weeks’ time.
“What’s that, darling?”
“You’re my husband-to-be.”
“I know, lovely. Isn’t it wonderful?” Harry nods happily and feeds Louis another chocolate-covered strawberry. He knows Louis isn’t too keen on all the lovey-dovey stuff but so far, they’ve been nothing but cuddled up in bed.
“Can I kiss you?” Harry asks and Louis looks up at him.
“I thought you didn’t have to ask.” There’s a twinkle in his eyes and it makes Harry doubt himself for a minute – a minute only because Louis laughs and leans in. They kiss for what seems hours, days even, but it’s probably only a few minutes. It’s wonderful.
Getting married to the Lord of the Underworld doesn’t seem too bad now.
*** A/N: Sorry for any errors. I tried. Might do another longer Greek mythology!AU another time. I kinda like it so I probably won't settle for only this short one. There's much more myths to write about :)
No but just imagine Louis as Lord of the Underworld on a throne with a crown and fire all around him and *heavy breathing*. I have a lot of feelings today.
Leave a comment? It's been a while since I updated. <3 ***
These words will be written on my stone [Greek mythology!AU] [drabble]
Start from the beginning
