Planet: Nysa
*Snap!* Snap!* Snap!* Snap!* Snap!*
Persephon kept rapidly clicking the capture icon on his HALO tablet, the tilt of his head only altering slightly between each selfie. If he didn't upload at least twenty before lunch with various hashtags and witty punchlines than his billions of followers would think something was seriously anti-chill in his life. And after the other night's disaster of a party that may or may not have been trending just then, he needed his fans to know that he wasn't melting down in a bucket of vegan ice cream. Hell's no. "#alllemonsqueezy," he smirked as he watched the likes roll in. Sigh. Yes, he knew he was the gods' gift to social media.
"Anyway, back to what I was saying," he huffed and rolled his eyes as he accepted a Bloody Mary from one of the dozens of Oceanid droids constantly buzzing around him. He was outside in the garden, wondering for not the first time why his mother didn't employ real pool boys and not just droids who were cleaning up the remains of last night's wild party. He certainly could have used the eye-candy to help forget about his latest nightmare of a breakup that undoubtedly went viral. "Narcissus can jump into a pool and drown himself in his own reflection before I ever acknowledge his social media presence again," Persephon insisted while scrolling through his MyLife page, debating about when the appropriate time to update his dating status was. What was too soon? What looked too clingy? The online universe was such a judgmental jungle to navigate.
Ugh. Decisions. *Swipe.* Single.
"Oh, sunflower!" His mother, the sensationally beautiful goddess Demeter, swept onto the over-hanging balcony towering above their vast garden. "Scrumptious! There's been a slight change in plans! Mommy must go! Apparently, there is a sudden meeting on Olympus, and I simply have to be there!" She rolled her amber and green eyes, heterochromia iridum eyes her son inherited. "But I swear I'll be back in time for your polo match, lovie! And after you and I can talk about which dating show you want me to get you on! I can't wait to see my baby on the HALO!"
Persephon flipped her off.
She pretended to catch a kiss. "I love you, Mouse!" She struck a dramatic pose as a rainbow mist blew across her -courtesy of Iris, the goddess of rainbows and the official chauffeur of the gods- an instant later Demeter was gone, whisked across the void of time and space, and delivered to her desired location in a mere matter of seconds.
"Ugh, gods, I have got to get famous for something else other than being her son," he muttered as he checked his HALO tablet again. Per the usual, he had a million and one creatures trying to get in touch with him, but he was pretty sure they only wanted anything from him because his mother was Grand Minister of the planet. While it wasn't "public knowledge" that Demeter was a goddess, she was still the definition of a big-time baller and everyone who was anyone loved and worshiped her and wanted to get in good with her. Persephon was quite sure that was why creatures sucked up to him and tolerated his terrible temper. He could act like the most obnoxious, bitchy pain in the ass imaginable and yet creatures would still applaud and claim he was cool, it was practically unbearable. Was everyone so plastic?
"I needed to get my own life, like, yesterday..." He groaned and tapped the tablet to his head.
Suddenly the ground began quivering violently with a resonating growl that was steadily morphing into a deafening roar. All the power in the droids abruptly died and the entire outdoor staff dropped limply to the lawn, one even toppled into the pool. The statues artistically placed around the garden shook so violently they crashed to the ground, splintering into jagged stone pieces. The pool itself began to split open, fresh soil ballooned in the water and sloshed over the edge onto the immaculate lawn. Persephon gave a curse of alarm and jumped from the lawn couch, staggering to and fro as what felt like the entire world swayed. The pergola above the outdoor furniture he was just lounging on collapsed, crushing everything beneath it, the lattice and roses wrapped around it flew into the air from the impact.
"No! That was all vegan upholstery!" He exclaimed, then stumbled and staggered for shelter in the pavilion, inevitably losing balance and crashing to the vibrating opal floor.
Flowering trees uprooted and collapsed into the forsythia maze, tearing the hedges down and left gruesome injuries streaked across the lawn. Next the entire ground ripped open like flesh under a massive, invisible sword. Black smoke wove up from beneath the trembling soil and filled the bright sky, blocking out the sun.
Everything suddenly ceased to move, and an eerie silence ensued.
Persephon was panting from the excitement, his head spinning with confusion as he struggled to process what had just transpired. He shrieked a heartbeat later as a hulking mass rose out of the crater in the garden - it was Cerberus. Persephon screamed and frantically started hurling fallen liquor bottles at the hideous, three-headed wolf creature.
The beast was completely furless; his ebon fettle flesh was emblazoned with precious minerals and metals that steadily twisted and turned in ever changing patterns across his muscles like breathing tattoos. Polychromatic scales wove around his empty eye-sockets, creating a permanent furrowed brow, before snaking down the backs of his necks and spine to form his long, parasitic tail. A hissing, fire-spitting dragon head was mounted at the tip of the monster's tail, lashing aggressively. Smoke wafted from Cerberus' parted jaws and an eerie red light glowing within his fang-infested mouths made his already petrifying appearance that much more grotesque. The dragon head on Cerberus' tail slowly rose to be nestled between his three heads. "Thisssss one will do!" The head hissed, eyes locking on Persephon.
Cerberus' middle head gave a booming bark and then the beast lunged forward.
Persephon scrambled up to his feet and took off running for the house, screaming all the while. He managed to look over his shoulder in time to see the hellhound trample through the pavilion and tear through the havoc-ridden backyard in pursuit. "Leave me alone!" He suddenly tripped on an uprooted piece of earth and crashed to the ground shaking under Cerberus' strides. Persephon just managed to get up when the hellhound leaped over him, sailing right into the glass-paneled side of the mansion. The collision sounded like thunder, glass and debris flew like rain. Persephon barely had enough time to cover his face before the debris blew into him. He lost his balance and fell to the ground again, frantically sitting up just as the beastly guardian of the Underworld loomed above him.
Two of the heads bowed down so their empty eye-sockets glared at him from both sides, then the middle head parted its jaws; smoke slithered through the air like serpents and wrapped around its victim.
"Ehhh," Persephon made a face of disgust as he clawed at the sticky bands of smoke.
Cerberus lifted his heads and marched over the demigod. Persephon held his breath until the monster passed but just before he could breathe again, the dragon tail lashed out and sunk its jaws in his shoulder. He cried out in pain as blood flew up from his wound and wildly clawed at the dragon head while being dragged across the upheaved ground. "Noooo!" he screamed as Cerberus leaped down the fissure in the ground, dragging Persephon after him in a tunnel comprised of compacted dirt and stark white bones. He kept screaming and thrashing, his pain forgotten as horror overwhelmed him with the realization that he was not only being kidnapped, but also descending the layers of the universe well on the way to the Underworld. According to Demeter the only accessible way to Hades was by the tunnels his demonic dog dug. Cerberus had the powers to dig through the very fabric and physics of a planet to return home, much like how the powers of the goddess Iris could transport gods anywhere within her reach with the rainbow mist.
"This is a mistake!" He caterwauled as the sunlight above disappeared. He was then lost in utter darkness, he couldn't even see the bones of death lining the tunnel anymore, could only feel them jostling his body as he was dragged over them. "When my mother finds out about this...she'll...she'll come un-fucking glued! And she's a goddess with a short fuse, you crazy bitch!" He managed to snap. The eyes on the dragon tail were glaring at him and abruptly removed its vile jaws from his shoulder. He yelped with pain and pressed both hands to his bleeding wound.
Cerberus stopped walking as his tail spoke, "you're gonna bleed out if I don't look at that wound," it licked its fangs. "Lemme just...cauterize that," the tail hissed and then lunged, biting back into his shoulder only this time it breathed fire. The wound shriveled up as Persephon screamed hysterically; his scream tapered off quickly as he fainted from the tribulation. "Fiiiinally," the tail spat him out again. "Got thisss one to shut up, let's go." It slithered under the demigod's arms and tightened its hold around him as Cerberus resumed the trek to the Underworld.
***
Planet: The Underworld
The obsidian castle of Hades was built like a crown upon a floating island with the Melinoe Lagoon surrounding it peacefully before the silky black waters plunged over the sides of the levitating land. It then formed a dramatic curtain of mist in the center of the enormous junction encompassed by jagged black mountains. The mountains cast a different shadow at every angle, perpetually shrouding the lagoon with mysterious darkness. Each mountain far below the floating island was molded into a grim skeleton face with features chiseled out by the countless ghosts and spirits that had slithered over the surfaces for eons. The gaping maws of the skulls steadily drank in the rivers that pooled beneath the castle.
High above the haunted hills, in a gondola that calmly drifted through the rippling lagoon closer and closer to the overhanging waterfalls, was Hades himself, the lord of the Underworld and the God of the Dead. He was stoically staring down at his reflection; the youthful face of the gorgeous, robust beast of a young man in his prime staring back at him did not match the weathered, forsaken, and afflicted soul he felt trapped within.
He supposed looking twenty-one forever was yet another curse he had to live with. But it certainly wasn't one of the worst ones.
His silvery pale flesh had the faint, sempiternal effect of light bouncing off water in the dark and had shiny mirror-like eyes that could capture the soul of any mortal and make them fall head-over-heels dead. Yeah, he was a lot to taken in at first glance. He had long flowing snow-white hair that would constantly float around his sculpted shoulders like smoke on a battlefield if he didn't keep it constricted within the plates of a braid daily, and yet some of the untamable locks still indigently managed to spring free from time to time.
Everything about the God of the Dead was full-on fierce and point-blank intimidating, from his stunningly dramatic looks to his sinister black body-armor that was covered completely in genuine human bones. Gold-tipped fangs studded the knuckles of his black fingerless gloves; thick stacks of chains coiled around his throat like layered chokers and, from a hefty chain stretched across his broad chest from spiked pauldrons on his shoulders, were amber cocoons with never-to-be-born baby monsters frozen inside of them. A pair of heavy black dragon wings studded in golden quills formed two long capes that trailed after him and a radiant red crown fashioned entirely of blazing fire wrapped around his head. Strapped across his back by a golden chain baldric was a reaper guard staff; the long sword weapon was fused with a scythe on the other end of the glowing red skull pommel.
"What are you doing with your life?" He asked himself for not the first time that century.
The non-existent reply was suddenly interrupted by the toll bell: another soul had entered the planet. Great, more work for him. He was just starting to get caught up again too. He hadn't realized how close his gondola had drifted to the edge of the lagoon that fell to the dark lake below, so he quickly summoned his command over minerals and made the stone boat race back to the black sandy shore the castle was perched on top of before he hastened up the beach.
He no sooner settled in his towering golden throne (the rising back of which was comprised of burning torches) when the front doors of the manor were shoved open and in strode Cerberus, his loyal hellhound that he shared a telepathic bond with. "Cerberus, what's up with the toll bell? It rang like it usually does when a soul arrives, but I haven't sensed any death cross the threshold, so... Know anything about it?"
"My master," the three-headed dog bowed each head one at a time. Hades rolled his eyes. And they say cats are dramatic. "That is because the soul that has entered your domain doesn't happen to be dead." Suddenly he swished his tail, and a body was flung forward. Hades' jaw dropped in shock as a breathing corpse was dropped at his feet. "For you, master!" His hound exclaimed joyfully. "It does sicken me that you spend so much of your infinite time alone, moping around in the dark, working non-stop because you don't have any hobbies..." Hades' stunned expression was replaced with an insulted one and a glare. "I mean, I hope this beautiful companion brings you a small amount of pleasure," Cerberus wagged his dragon tail hopefully, his ears perked forward eagerly.
"Holy shit..." Hades stared in horror at the creature groggily muttering in a slur at his feet. "Cerberus! You kidnapped a living! What's wrong with you?! Why would you do such a thing?!" He stared at his hound in alarm. Okay, it was one thing when Cerberus brought back brio weapons from Athens or starships from Argos during his late-night sprints around the galaxy, but he had never fetched his master a living, breathing soul before! And his pet had brought back a lot of crazy shit that he had never asked for or wouldn't ever have any need for, but this was just outrageous! "Bad dog!" He scolded, Cerberus' brows furrowed with sadness as he lowered his three heads, his tail hissed with embarrassment and slithered over the floor underneath him with shame. "Bad! You're not supposed to bring any living whack-jobs down here! And look! It's injured and bleeding all over my floors! I just had them cleaned!"
Cerberus whimpered and backed away. "I was only trying to make you feel better," the left head mumbled as he pawed at his muzzle self-consciously.
"Having more problems to fix does not make me feel better!" Hades snapped and then marched past his canine, his control of the minerals in the stones had the undead's body move across the ground after him. Once outside, Hades knelt by the edge of the isle, the undead one's body rested beside him. He cupped his silver hands into the Melinoe and poured it over the wound, the creature hissed with pain as the water ran through his torn flesh, whisking bright droplets of blood away with it before the wound sealed shut flawlessly. A horde of albino dragonflies suddenly descended to gather the beads of blood off the surface of the water, buzzing excitedly as their eyes glowed brighter red.
Hades sighed and leaned back on his heels to the study the creature at his side. Okay, arguably he had seen worse looking creatures; and certainly not many better looking. The living creature had a soft, slightly flushed complexion, beautifully wavy flaxen hair with vibrant purple lowlights stemming from his roots that added an unexpected amount of pluck to his otherwise angelic features and had a feather-light dusting of freckles across his nose and cheekbones. He was slender and lithe, with a smooth and slight though angular jaw, exceptionally pristine eyebrows, and his glossy pink lips were perfectly arched in the middle. Whoa, he was pretty. His long mascara-blanketed eyelashes fluttered and suddenly his bright green and amber eyes flew open and locked on Hades'.
Persephon screamed bloody murder and frantically scrambled backwards before clumsily falling into the lagoon. Hades slowly rose to his feet as the creature resurfaced, gasping and sputtering. When their eyes met once more Persephon screamed all over again and was anxiously backing up deeper into the lagoon. "Don't come any closer to me!" He held up his hands, water was weaving off him and plastered his thin white polo shirt to his sleek torso.
"I haven't moved," Hades countered coolly, crossing his arms. "Well now, you've had a twisted little bit of Fate today, haven't you?" He smirked faintly.
"Hey, fuck off and leave me alone!" Wow. The feisty attitude did not match the angelic appearance. "I got gods be damned calls I'm going to make and one of them is to a fucking goddess!"
"AKA your mom," Hades snorted. He knew those eyes; they were Demeter's and that made this guy a demigod. And meant Hades' list of problems for the day just got longer - anyone who was anyone in the galaxy knew that Demeter was not a mother to be messed with.
"What do you know about my mother?" Persephon demanded, then shook his head quickly. "I mean, you're so going to pay for this, you crazy bastard! I had a fucking polo match that's been ruined thanks to you! And I'm the star of the show!"
"Look, don't go confusing yourself thinking that any of this is my fault," Hades scoffed incredulously. "I'm just as baffled as you are that you're here. Seriously. I literally wish you weren't. I had other things to do today besides return a misplaced demigod."
Persephon's complexion reddened with aggravation. "No, this is your fault! You sicced that big, stupid, ugly dog on me-" he broke off suddenly in scream as he felt something cold and slimy weave around his legs. He frantically searched the clear black waters and realized that there were hundreds of banshee-white silhouettes zig-zagging through the water. The more spirits that populated the water made the coals that covered the bottom of the lagoon glow bright red. Persephon kept screaming, desperately clawing at the clammy clasps of the specters on his legs. The coals glowed bright enough to make the water look searing red as the spirits' activity increased with excitement. Hades put his hands over his ears, glaring heatedly at the demigod screaming and splashing around loudly enough to have been mistaken for an army invading.
Abruptly all the bloodthirsty albino dragonflies flew up into the air, joined by thousands more streaking across the sky like a snow flurry. They rapidly morphed into a roaring form of a serpent-like demon; its long winding body wove through the sky and just skimmed over the surface of the lagoon. A sizzling fan expanded around its unsightly head as it towered behind Persephon, the countless red eyes illuminated with crazed hunger as a jaw rapidly formed with jagged fangs.
It released a chilling cry and dove for its prey.
Hades swiftly raised his hand, and an icy bolt of hail was thrown forward. It stabbed through the air and tore through the humming horde of dragonflies, flinging them in every direction across the sky. The God of the Dead swept his hand over the lagoon and a wave of icy mist rolled over the water, stilling the spirits under the surface, and calming the warning coals so the water blackened once more. Persephon abruptly stopped screaming, finally, too overwhelmed by the cold to do more than shiver violently and lethargically tried to rub his arms. He felt like he was slowly turning into an ice sculpture standing there in the freezing waters that were then dusted with splinters of ice.
Hades calmly exhaled and ran a hand over the plates of his braid. "Look, I'll have this affair straightened out accordingly, in the meantime don't just stand there like a Gorgon turned you to stone. Get up here. I'll have you shown back to the manor where you can warm up." He turned and disappeared into the shadows.
Persephon muttered curses to himself through clattering teeth as he waded back to the shore. He stiffly scrambled back up to the rocky ground and looked around, yelping in alarm when he suddenly registered a strange stone creature crouched a few yards away. "Shoo! Shoo! Wh-what are y-you look-looking at?!" He demanded, glaring at the disturbed-looking goblin creature. It was terribly short but had just enough legs to imagine that it could really lunge if it wanted to and had a pair of bat wings perched on its humpback. An unsightly crooked nose was twisted practically upside down on its face and beady marble eyes stared unblinkingly from beneath its hooded brow.
It hopped a little closer and Persephon nearly fell back into the water as he stumbled backwards quickly. The creature beckoned for him and then began hopping up the sloping shore to the castle. "Gods, wait till Mother hears about all this twisted, creepy shit." Nevertheless, he felt slightly less terrified hopeless when he finally entered the castle. Oh, it was still scary as the Underworld - Wait. He was in the Underworld. Go figure, he thought with an eyeroll as he observed the pillars that looked like giants struggling to support the ceiling. Chains flying off the giants' arms were carved out of black stone and seemed as though they were frozen in mid-air high above the enormous flight of golden and ruby stairs they passed.
But at leastwise the castle offered shelter from the frigid air outside.
The creepy gargoyle-goblin-guide-thing abruptly stopped in what the demigod could only assume was a sitting parlor. There was at leastwise a decent fire roaring in the huge crystal fireplace that looked like a mammoth sparkling skull protruding from the wall. The goblin patted the leather couch and snatched up a furry throw blanket from the spiked studded leather ottoman, holding it out to Persephon who was still dripping wet. "Eh, disgusting, you little creep," he tried to shoo the creature away. "I'm vegan, I'm not about to sit on a dead centaur or cuddle up in the fleece ripped off a satyr! Gross!" He skirted around the goblin still brandishing the blanket and stood before the fire, relieved to be drinking in warmth. "So, what the fuck is happening? I'm just supposed to wait here like an idiot while Hades places some calls, hm? Collects on my ransom, huh? OMGs. You know what, whatever," he huffed. "Just as long as this doesn't take forever, I gotta make half a dozen posts every other hour or else my followers will freak."
He really wasn't worried about anything else at that moment, he knew his mother would pay anything to get him back. And he also knew that his mother would go straight to her big sister Hera, the Goddess of the Gods, and demand to have Hades punished for this crime. Oh yeah, his mother knew how to make things happen.
"You think you're in hell now," he scoffed, shooting the gargoyle goblin a look over his shoulder. "Wait till my mother gets finished with you, then you'll see." He shivered and rubbed his hands over his arms with more vigor. "Gods, I'm going to catch a chill." And starve. He was so famished. "Gotta find something suitable to eat." He turned to leave when the goblin jumped in front of him as if to stop him, brandishing the blanket again. "You're not a matador! Quit waving that gods be damned pelt at me!" He snapped, then marched out of the parlor. "Where the hell are the servants in this forsaken shack you call a palace? Where's the kitchen? Gods, do I have to do everything myself?" He groaned with annoyance.
Meanwhile Hades' holo-call to Olympus was interrupted by the bone bugles blowing in the distance. They only sounded for one occasion, and that was when Olympians entered the Underworld. "Well, I guess I know what they're here for," he muttered and shook his head as he left his office. Demeter apparently hadn't wasted any time organizing a lynch mob. Damn it, if only he had gotten the chance to call her himself before she had gone into a frenzy; she wouldn't believe a word of truth now. But whatever, anything to get rid of this little bitchy bastard. He searched through the auras of the Underworld to locate Persephon; much to his alarm the demigod was in the kitchen. "What? No," he felt his already pallor complexion blanch.
Persephon was kicked back at the head of the emerald table in the dining room, his boots on the table, peeling himself a pomegranate when Hades materialized from the shadows on the other side of the room. "Wait! Don't eat that!"
"Excuse me?" He scoffed. "You expect me to starve? Fuck you, I'm hungry." He popped a slice in his mouth. "Hmph, not too bad. Of course nothing beats Mother's -"
"No!" Hades stared with dread as he sensed Persephon's aura change very abruptly, and he could easily visualize it happening as if the demigod's spirit was a flower suddenly withering and blackening until the pedals all fell off. The demigod was then a spirit of the Underworld, imprisoned by his physical body and his soul was trapped within the very atmosphere of the planet. No living souls were ever supposed to journey to the Underworld, and they certainly weren't ever supposed to eat or drink from the planet; if they did than they would become a part of the planet. Hades suddenly felt his temper peak with rage. Didn't he have it hard enough without having to be stuck with a self-entitled brat for all of eternity?! "You idiot!" He cried with fury.
"He can't be talking to me," Persephon rolled his eyes as he continued eating the pomegranate.
"I am! You stupid little fool! I was trying to send you away but now you've cursed yourself to stay here! Cursed yourself! You hopeless fucking moron!"
"Whoa, rain check on the attitude. Now what the hell are you bitching about?" He took a sip of wine. Little strong but nothing he couldn't handle. He wrinkled his nose before he swallowed.
"If you feast upon this world, this world will feast upon you, and that means your soul and body are trapped here," he shot him a blistering glare.
"Yo, life-coach. I had two slices of fruit, for gods' sake, that's hardly feasting," he snorted. "I'm vegan, okay? We don't feast, we eat to live, not live to -"
"I don't care what you are! You're cursed now!"
"Wait," Persephon sat up straight as he suddenly felt something eerily sickening settle in his core; all the blood in his body abruptly went cold, and then changed consistency altogether. He couldn't describe it exactly but in the next moment he didn't have to. He stared at his hands in horror as his veins all briefly went black and the bones in his hands started to glow. He could see them through his transparent skin before everything faded back to semi-normal. The only thing that was noticeably different about him then was the ever so faint golden glow that softly shined from his skin. He screeched in alarm and jumped up so fast the chair toppled to the floor. "What the fuck is this?!"
Hades just glared.
"You're the fucking God of the Underworld! Reverse this!" He ordered, waving his glowing hands. "I have a life and fifty-six million fans to get back to!"
Hades still glared.
"You fucking bastard! You tricked me! You did this on purpose!" Persephon wailed with disbelief and then sunk to the floor, covering his face with his hands as he struggled to keep from hyperventilating. Then he abruptly started crying and cursing, clutching at the back of another chair to rattle it back and forth in a fit of fury, sobbing and cursing everything in the universe.
Hades made a face of disgust. What a heathen wretch. "Watch him," he snapped over his shoulder at Keir, the little goblin gargoyle he had brought to life with his power over stone. Then the God of the Dead stormed down the hall, his holier-than-thou-art-could-ever-hope-to-be family was awaiting him and his explanations which he was still trying to figure out himself.