A Flower in the Dark [EDITING]

*Chapter 8*

It scared the living daylights out of me and I nearly turned him into a potted fern.

Hades pulled the chair out from across me and sat down, a tiny smile on his face. "I told Cerberus to keep watch of you. I would do it but, I had a business to tend to today. I hope you didn't mind."

My mouth gaped open for a minute before closing.

He did that? He told his bizarre three-headed dog to follow me everywhere so I wouldn't die?

Something inside me warmed and felt relaxed that he was keeping his promise to keep me safe. I was expecting worse from him, maybe a three-headed snake that followed me everywhere and bit me.

My mother trained me to always prepare for the worse, but sometimes that can lead to bigger problems.

"Oh, thank you. I didn't know that." I scratched the back of my head sheepishly, "His name is Spots."

The smile on Hades face grew, "It only took a couple of millennia for somebody to finally get it. Do you know how long I have been waiting for somebody to say something?"

A look of shock grew across my face. "Millennia! But he's so small."

"Cerberus takes on different appearances when needed. He can be a puppy as he is now or a giant snarling 3 headed dog. It just depends."

I hope I never see that side of him. I prefer Cerby to be small, it doesn't make me scared.

A comfortable silence filled the air between us and I took the time to admired Hades. Despoina was right, the god of the underworld was undeniably attractive.

He had dark hair that hung over his forehead in a somewhat messy style, he was pale as Despoina said but not too pale, he had the common strong jawline that most Greek gods shared. There was a dash of freckles that went across his nose, cheeks, and forehead. His eyes were a bronze color that reminded me of fire.

Despite the fire color of his eyes, there was a sadness too that weighed heavy even though we were having a light-hearted conversation.

My eyes went back to his head where there was no crown. Most gods wore laurels but powerful gods like Poseidon and Zeus wore crowns often crafted from materials in which they control. For example, Zeus crown is crafted from stone that only forms from when lighting strikes clouds.

It's a weird metal, cletal. You would think that when lighting strikes a cloud nothing happens but in Olympus when lighting strikes a cloud, metal falls.

Magic at its best my friends.

"You don't wear a crown?" I asked with a perched eyebrow.

"I don't deserve a crown." He said simply like his sentence didn't have value.

"But you are a king, kings always have crowns," I said my head slightly cocked to the side.

"Anybody can wear a crown, but just because they do doesn't mean they deserve it."

I frowned, what he said previously and now not settling too well in my head.

That's so sad, that Hades doesn't think he's worthy of a crown. I know plenty of people who don't deserve a crown but wear it like they earned that crown. I'm not saying any names but his name starts with a Z.

I pressed my hands firmly together and then slowly drew them apart. A moment later a flower crown composed of brightly colored roses, carnations, and baby breaths. I smiled widely and stood up.

"King Hades of the underworld. A worthy deserver of a crown." I announced as I placed the crown on his head, a grin on my face.

He smiled, one that didn't quite reach his eyes, "Thank you, what about you?"

"What about me?" I rose an eyebrow at him, "I don't rule anything."

"Anybody can wear a crown," Hades responded. He gave a wave of his hands and with a loud heavy thunk, a tiara appeared in front of me.

It was a gold colored tiara that had red jewels of different sizes place all around. Some of the gems were in the shapes of tiny flowers. With a gasp, I picked it up, despite the loud noise it made earlier the crown was surprisingly light-weighted.

"Thank you, it's lovely." I placed the crown on my head and grinned, "How do I look?"

Hades eyes widen and he seemed to struggle with words, "Good. Uh, do you want to go to dinner with me? Wait- ok ok, it won't be just me because that would be weird and it would be a date. And I don't want to date you- not that you're not pretty cool and not-dateable because you totally are ...dateable." The god of the underworld pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut.

When he opened his eyes again he spoke once more, "Its dinner with colleagues? Friends, its dinner with friends. You can meet new people- or not, you don't have to go."

I smiled warmly and suppressed the giggle that was rising up from Hades rambling. "I would love too."

Hades smiled and nodded, his cheeks slightly flushed red, "Great, that's great."

And with a snap of his fingers, he poof us away.

93/2
1/7/2020