FFXV: After the Fall

Chapter 36

Hades finished tying his robe, looking down at the body of Helena as she lay sprawled out and gasping for breath among folds of bedcovers, and then went into the throne room to have a drink as well as take a short break. He'd already seen hints of bruising starting to spread out over her skin in many places, scratches lining red through some of them, and there was even a delightful patch of red that he'd spied between her pale legs. Her eyes were threatening to close but managed to hover half-open, and in them, there was the beginning of the first hints that maybe, with time, she might start to enjoy the proceedings a bit more.
In other words, the Changeling was playing her part perfectly.
He still couldn't believe that this idea, this simple yet perfect idea, had come from the mouth of one of the most cowardly beings he'd ever laid his eyes upon- and a human at that.
He was very glad that it had, however, and judging by how well the first trial had gone, that looked set to continue indefinitely.

After he had returned home, his first task had been to address his legions to let them know that the balance would remain. That pleased them all greatly, and he then left them to their amusements while he took care of some of his others.
He first sought out Diabolos, overlooking the breach that he had committed by discussing the forbidden secret of Omni with Helena, then he had rewarded him in the next breath by allowing him to have unrestricted access to the wretched soul of the former Emperor, as well as letting him start first. There was plenty of time for Hades himself to have a few turns, after all, but at that precise moment he had other things on his mind.
His second action was to release the Chief Succubus from her current duties so that she could return to her clans to better guide and instruct them, and then his third action was to travel to the area of the Realm where the Changeling clans resided.
Along the way, he thought himself rather lucky.
Over the centuries, he'd used them to spread the odd bit of corruption on Eos, commanding them to seek out and take the temporary place of certain people in order to stir the pot. Hearing of the ensuing chaos that caused was always a fond thing of his, and despite how frequently he'd ordered them to perform such activities, not once had he ever thought of asking a Changeling to assume the form of the Emperor.

With hindsight now on his shoulder, he was very glad for that.
If he had decided to do such a thing he would have ended up shattering the balance, now that he was able to see what would have come of it due to the actions of the real Emperor and the people who loyally followed him. Bahamut wouldn't have been very forgiving of that idea.
No, Hades was counting his blessings there, and despite feeling just as much resentment for the population of Eos in general, he was still glad that a select few had been able to restore the status quo along with the impossible High Magister herself.
He'd seen that, having been made painfully aware of her part in the drama by Bahamut as well as her sacrifices and risks, and he himself knew that she would be forever beyond his reach. He'd accepted that, though it tore at him, and then the cowardly, pathetic, irritating little worm known as Prompto had given him an unexpected boon out of thanks and sickening sympathy.
After having just finished with the first full trial of that boon, Hades had conceded that on this occasion, he would overlook the worm's silken thread and not cut it for showing such insolence.

After explaining the idea to the leader of the Changeling clans, he'd then requested that her best was selected to join him and serve as his new concubine from that moment forth. Dzini had thought about it carefully, and she decided that the only one who'd be skilled enough to perform that intricate and detailed a change on a regular basis...would be herself. She then instantly stepped down as clan leader, giving the role to her second N'jaa, then she left them all behind to travel back with Hades to his domain and also, his personal chambers.
Upon seeing the picture that Hades then presented her, she immediately transformed into a perfect likeness of the High Magister Helena, awaiting the Daemon King's attentions. However, the result wasn't exactly perfect. Not just yet.
With great patience, he then explained to Dzini and taught her about the personality of Helena. Some of the things she did, the mannerisms he remembered the most, as well as also mentioning how much more fragile and weak humans were compared to members of the Daemon races...which is very.