You were in soooo much trouble...
The wardrobe closet you were in was closely packed with clothes surrounding you, your breathing heavy from all the running you have been doing and it wasn't helping that you were hiding in the dead of night. Your mind was racing for a solution to your problem. Everything was quiet until the hair on the back of your neck stood up when you heard someone walk into the room you were hiding in.
"[Name]...?" you heard a deep voice whisper out into the darkness. Carefully placing a hand over your mouth, you took deep, slow breaths to keep quiet. The soft footsteps of them walking closer to the closet made goosebumps run up your arms. A hand stretched out to open the door you were hiding in, but they stopped momentarily when a swish was heard behind them. A trident pierced the closet door, wedging itself near your face. Your eyes widen when you stare directly at the trident's prongs in front of your eyes, mere centimetres away from your pupils.
"You are not worthy of them." Another voice joined in. Their cold tone grew colder when they glared at the man in front of the closet door. The two stared daggers at each other, one holding more malice than the other.
"I am not letting them escape me again. Not when I found them after thousands of years. More years than you were alive, Pisseidon," he replied, glowering at them.
The trident wielder held his gaze, narrowing his eyes in disdain. "Then we both have some mutual feelings over this, Demon."
You might be wondering how you were stuck in this dangerous situation... Well, it all started this one time, at band camp.
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𝟰 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿...
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"You agreed to what?!" Göll screeched, her fingers tangling in her hair from the frustration she was feeling. "What in your right mind, made you think it was a good idea to meet up with the Lucifer?!"
You pursed your lips when her frantic stare suddenly turned into a glare. "I mean well! It will help us win Ragnarok, I promise."
She shook her head in disbelief, a loud sigh leaving her mouth. "Is that why we are alone in a room? You didn't want Brunhilde to find out?"
"Yes.... that's one of the reasons..." you softly uttered. Göll's attitude shifted, her disbelief changing to confusion when she heard your nervousness.
"One of the reasons?" she asked, her eyebrows furrowing. "What do you mean 'one of the reasons'?"
You nervously shifted on your feet, clearing your throat. "Well, ever since the dinner we had she's been acting very... possessive. I barely have any time to talk to the competitors!"
Göll nodded along to you, her lips pursing together. "Oh, I have been noticing that as well," she says, looking troubled. "Sorry about that, you must have reminded her of someone she knew in the past."
"I am well aware of who it is. Just don't tell her about the thing with me and Luci. I swear, it will benefit us in future rounds. Round one has set the bar low and the humans need some encouragement that we can win. Promise me, you will not tell her," you said seriously, placing your hands on her shoulders and looking straight into her eyes.
"What if she asks where you are?"
"Just tell her I am on a walk, or make something up," you tell her, relief flooding through you. "Thank you for this. I owe you!" you yell, waving to her as you left the room. Göll frowned watching you leave, her stomach twisting at the thought of lying to her sister. She left the room, her eyebrows furrowed and her lips in a thin line. How would she lie to her sister? She was a terrible liar!
"Where is {Name}?"
Oh my gods...
Göll froze in her place when she heard the familiar voice of her older sister. She cleared her throat and turned around, plastering a smile on her face. "Oh, dear older sister! I think they mentioned that they are... going to bed earlier. They said they want to be ready for Round Two, tomorrow. You know how humans are tired all the time," she quickly answered, chuckling nervously. She was hoping that Brunhilde would brush off the nervous tone in her voice.
"Is that what they said?" Brunhilde asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes," Göll nodded, gulping nervously. "They hoped that you would understand since you two are so close..." Göll knew what she was saying was using her older sister's feelings for the human, but she trusts that [Name] wouldn't mind. They did mention that she should make something up.
Brunhilde watched her sister closely. She noticed how her sister was fidgeting with her hands behind her back, the nervous smile on her face giving it away that she was lying. Brunhilde knew, but what her sister said made her hesitate.
They said we are close? Brunhilde wondered, her eyes looking away from Göll's nervous state.
"...then I guess I will let them sleep," Brunhilde said softly, a small smile on her lips at the thought.
Göll's shoulders relaxed, the smile on her face softening. "Then have a good night, sister," she said, turning to leave. As she was about to walk, Brunhilde called out to her. Göll stopped in her tracks, her heart sinking to the bottom of her stomach again. "Yes, Brunhilde?"
"You wouldn't lie to me about that, would you? About what they said?" she asked, her eyes moving back to Göll's own.
Göll bit the inside of her cheek before she shook her head. "I wouldn't."
Brunhilde let out a sigh, nodding to what Göll said. "Good, good..." she whispered, turning away from her sister and walking down the opposite end of the hallway. Göll pursed her lips as she turned away, walking to her room, wondering if she made the right decision.
Brunhilde walked down the hallway, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. A lovesick smile spreads across her face, her eyes wide as a giggle escapes her. "I knew it, I knew it, I knew it," she repeated, slowly getting louder until she found herself in front of [Name]'s room. She stopped in front of the door, longingly looking at it. Her body moved on its own, her hand reaching out to the doorknob. Before she could twist it, she froze.
They trust me enough to let them sleep... She thought, taking her hand back with a sigh. A small smile was still on her face as she gazed at the door, her mind imagining scenes of what could be behind the door. The faintest blush formed on her cheeks at the images in her head. She shook her head, trying to shake the images out of her head, embarrassed that she was even thinking like that. Brunhilde took a deep breath, hesitantly leaving. Brunhilde sighed as she left, her feelings conflicted on whether she should turn back around or just go to her room.
"No, I should let them sleep," she told herself, nodding with her thoughts. I'll see them tomorrow. No big deal.
Except, for her, it is a big deal.
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You looked around the dark hallway, your stomach turning in anticipation. You were starting to regret coming to the god's side of the castle, especially with how many maids and butlers gave you weird looks.
"Just follow his directions [Name]. I can't believe I am doing this shit..." you whisper to yourself. As you were walking past a dark mahogany door, decorated with golden serpents and a cornucopia, a loud bang caused you to jump. You booked it down the hallway, not bothering to look behind you as you randomly ran past doors. Your plan? Don't get caught and die.
The hallway started to become even darker in colour the further you ran. The carpet's turning from deep, red to black, the walls changing to stone instead of light quarts. A figure stood at the end of the hallway, looking out the window without a care in the world. Their head snapped in your direction when they heard you running to them.
"Why are you running?" you heard Luci ask.
"Why? Why?! Because I am on... the side of the castle that I... was warned about!" you whisper-yelled, placing your hands on your knees to catch your breath. "This... better be... worth it!" you said in between breaths.
Lucifer smiled down at you, a chuckle bubbling in his chest. "I assure you, the gods do not come out of their rooms at night. Especially the younger ones, like Dionysus." At the mention of Dionysus, he rolled his eyes, seeming annoyed at just the mention of the god's name.
"Sounds like me..." you mumbled, before standing up to your full height now that you could breathe properly. "I want to get straight to the point, Luci."
He sighed, nodding, "Can we not talk? Catch up a bit? I have a lot to tell you," he said, looking into your eyes with a pleading look.
You bit your lip, narrowing your eyes at him. "I don't have anything to tell you, besides that I reincarnated a bunch of times." You shrugged, looking up at him. "But I guess, since you knew me then, we could talk for a little. But only a little," you said, pointing an accusing finger at him.
He nodded happily, the smile on his face growing wider. "Yes, that's all I need." He took a step towards you, reaching his hand out for you to take. You looked at the hand, hesitant if you should take it. "Please?" he pleaded, looking at his hand and back at you.
You groaned softly, before reluctantly taking his hand. A soft gasp escaped your lips when your surroundings changed in front of your eyes. The empty, dark hallway you were standing in moments before, was gone, now replaced by a sunlit field. Flowers, green grass, luscious trees and animals all around you, minding their own business as if there didn't just appear two people in front of them. They seemed almost used to it.
"Where are we? Why have you brought me here?" you asked, still in wonder at the land in front of you. It was almost impossible to look away.
His grip on your hand tightened, looking out into the field. "This is the very place, you swore to protect all those years ago. The Garden Of Eden."
Your eyes widened in shock. This put a whole other meaning to what you were seeing in front of you. "Why am I here?"
"Because I want you to remember," he answered as if it was the most simplest thing. Your face fell and you raised an eyebrow at him, looking unimpressed.
"Not to burst your bubble, but I can barely remember what I had for breakfast."
He chuckled, shaking his head at you. "When you were patrolling over the borders," he pointed up in the air, a line appearing where his finger met the sky. "I would wait for you right there. Do you see where the sky separates from the clouds?" You nodded, watching how the line appeared more clearly. "That was the closest I could get to you. I always came here after choir practice. It was quiet for the time being..." He told you, his voice growing quieter. As Lucifer talked about his day-to-day life, occasionally telling a story of how he tried to skip practice just to see you, his tone changed to a nostalgic sounding one, his eyes softening at the memories.
"Do you ever miss being an angel?" you suddenly asked. When you realized what you had asked your hand came up to cover your mouth in shock. "Sorry, it's probably a sensitive subject."
He shook his head, a small smile on his lips when his gaze turned to you. "I sometimes do. There were some great memories, like meeting you. But all that changed when that day happened. When I was cast out; when I couldn't say goodbye." His jaw clenched, his hand letting go of yours as his hands curled in fists.
"I'm sorry." You didn't know what you were apologizing for, but it seemed like the right thing to do. "I can't remember on command. But if you tell me how to better harness and use... uh... what was it called?" you mumbled in the end, your hand coming up to scratch your head.
"Life and Death?"
You snapped your fingers, the word coming back to you. "Yes, that! Life and Death. If you could help me to better understand it, then no one would ever have to miss out on saying goodbye to their families in the tournament. It could help you and me." You told him, taking a step towards him.
"How would teaching you Life and Death, benefit me?" he asked, looking down at you.
"It is one of the rules the gods made. If the gods win, humanity is wiped out. Gone. I will be gone." You paused to let it sink in, looking into his eyes. By the way, his eyes, got a shade darker, you guessed he had got the message.
"I wouldn't let them kill you," he told you firmly.
You shook your head, taking his hand in yours. "That is not for you to decide. But, if the humans were to win? We get to live for the next thousand years."
He stood silently, his head dipping down to look at your hand holding his. "But you would just reincarnate every time. You would forget me over and over."
"But I would be alive, no?" you asked, tilting your head slightly to l
He didn't answer, taking a deep breath as he thought about what you said. Slowly, he nodded, agreeing with what you said. "Alright. I will do it."
You perked up at him agreeing, a smile spreading on your face. "Thank you!" you exclaimed, happy that you were somewhat convincing.
"It's not a big deal," he muttered, his cheeks flushing when you smiled. He cleared his throat, playing it cool as he looked away from her. "I saw what happened with that fighter in the first round. You absorbed his energy before he died, so you have that in the bag," he mumbled, letting your hand go as he turned around to walk in the shade of a tree. "The only way you will be able to bring him back to life is by gathering energy from others. With enough, his life force could be restored back to normal. You will probably pass out on your first time-"
"Pause," you interrupted him, holding your hand in the air to silence him. He stayed silent, leaning against the tree when he saw your stunned expression. "Pass out?"
Lucifer nodded. "Yes, it takes a lot of energy out of someone. And, since you are human, you have a higher chance of fainting. But, with practice, you will faint less and less until it will be like second nature to you. You have nothing to fear, I help you," he told you reassuringly. "There are many ways to gather energy. Absorbing it when someone dies, through physical contact like holding hands or kissing..." His voice grew quieter at the end of his sentence, his eyes looking away from you.
"Kissing?" you asked, making sure you heard it correctly.
He nodded, pursing his lips. "Yeah, yeah. It works better if they have some sort of affection for you. Emotions play a big part in it."
You looked at him with a blank expression, a little doubtful of what he was saying. "Right... are there any other methods?" you asked, looking over the kissing part.
"There are, but emotions are the best for something like this. Focusing on their emotions and extracting is the easiest, otherwise, you will have to wait for someone to die. I'm sure you don't want that."
"I guess, you are right," you grumble under your breath, frustrated that he was right. "Unless..." you started, considering the possibility.
"[Name]," you heard Lucifer say your name, unimpressed. "Physical affection is not that bad. If it makes you uncomfortable, I wouldn't mind helping you with it..." He mumbled towards the end of his sentence, shrugging slightly as he kicked a rock away from the tree. His eyes looked back up at you, looking at you expectantly, a hint of hope in them that you would agree.
"You wouldn't mind helping-?" your question was cut off near the end, your breath hitching when you felt a presence behind you. A tug on your shoulder made you blink, the wonderful land around you disappearing when you opened your eyes again. You were about to give the stranger behind you a piece of mind when your nose caught the faint smell of salt. Your throat closed up, in fear of moving a muscle in front of the god. Your eyes widened, looking at Lucifer, silently pleading with him to tell them to fuck off.
"What is a human doing-?" his sentence stopped abruptly, your curiosity peaking when you heard them stop breathing. Hesitantly looking back, your eyes met light blue ones. A flicker of an unrecognizable emotion passed through them, their grip on your shoulder growing tighter.
"They are here, because I invited them," Lucifer told Poseidon, his eyes narrowing at the hand on your shoulder. When he took a step forward to remove Poseidon's hand from your shoulder, the latter pulled you back further away from Lucifer. "Poseidon, I suggest you remove that hand, right now," Lucifer threatened, his tone growing colder with malice.
"Or what?" Poseidon asked, his eyes looking away from you and to the other god. "Are you going to run to your father?" he asked, his eyes not showing any emotion.
A shiver went down your spine, a cold gust of wind blowing by you. The two stared down, leaving you standing in between them, The mention of Lucifer's father struck a nerve. His stance changed drastically, his red irises glowing brightly in the dark. He held his hand in the air, snapping his fingers. A long scythe appeared in his hand, emitting an unsettling aura. It felt alive, much like Thor's hammer.
He pointed the end of the scythe at Poseidon, his knuckled growing white the tighter he gripped the handle. "Watch your tongue, Poseidon. You will not be the first god to die by my hands."
Poseidon didn't seem threatened at all. "I don't think it would be smart to fight in front of them. I have an image to keep up after all," he retaliated, his left hand's fingers twitching in the air. He seemed just as ready for a fight.
"Your image?" he mocked him, scoffing. "I think it's a great idea that we fight. I get to show them how strong I truly am." A sinister grin grew on his face, the scythe in his hands shining from the moonlight.
"How about you just, don't fight?" you suggest, side-stepping away from Poseidon. His hand gripped tighter, moving you back in front of him.
"You? Strong?" Poseidon went on, your voice falling silent to their ears. "I was the one who protected them against the Romans all those years back, not you. You were busy sulking on your throne."
Your ears perked up when you heard Poseidon mention you. "What do you mean-"
"I never stopped looking for them," Lucifer interrupted you. The air in the hallway was starting to suffocate you with how high the tension was. "You don't even like humans. So why the sudden interest? Is it because they remind you of her?" he asked, his head tilting only taunting him more.
You notice the use of the word 'her'. When you were forced to be a maid for the gods, Zeus mentioned you looked a lot like someone that Poseidon knew. Could it be that it was true...?
At the mention of this mysterious person, something seemed to have snapped in Poseidon. His fingers snapped together, a golden trident now in his grip. "I have my reasons...." he muttered, his teeth gritting together when he spoke. When the two of them shifted on their feet, taking more offensive stances, you took that as a sign to run.
Twisting your shoulder out of Poseidon's grip, you sprinted back into the dark hallway. The sound of metal clashing was heard from behind you with the occasional insult being thrown at each other. Your legs were starting to ache when you reached the lighter side of the castle. For once you were thankful for the marble ceiling and red carpet. Your legs carried you away, the sound of the two fighting long gone when you reached your side of the castle.
The moment you reached your bedroom, you opened the door and closed it. You leaned your forehead on the door, a relieved sigh escaping you. You turned around but froze when you didn't recognize the layout of the room. In your moment of panic and adrenaline pumping in your veins, you managed to run into a completely different room.
Instead of your constellation-filled ceiling, it was plain black, golden-painted pomegranates, your queen-sized bed was king-sized, and Kai was nowhere to be seen. "Oh, fuck..." you whispered, your eyes glancing everywhere. A sound drew your attention back to the noise in the hallway, the sound of footsteps approaching.
Your eyes searched across the room, landing on a wardrobe closet. Taking a deep breath to calm your breathing, you jogged over to it, quickly opening the doors and squeezing in. The clothing hangers scraped on the metal rod as you moved the suits out of the way to make space for you. You closed the door and crouched down, taking a few calming breaths while counting to ten slowly in your mind.
You silently crouched in the wardrobe closet, hoping that whoever was outside would leave. The eerie silence made you aware of your heart beating out of your chest, the footsteps growing louder before they stopped. Right in front of the room you were in.
"[Name]...?" you heard a deep voice whisper out into the darkness. Carefully placing a hand over your mouth, you took deep, slow breaths to keep quiet. The soft footsteps of them walking closer to the closet made goosebumps run up your arms. A hand stretched out to open the door to the closet you were hiding in, but they stopped momentarily when a swish was heard behind them. A trident pierced the closet door, wedging itself near your face. Your eyes widened when you stare directly at the trident's prongs in front of your eyes, mere centimetres away from your pupils.
"You are not worthy of them." Another voice joined in. Their cold tone grew colder when they glared at the man in front of the closet door. The two stared daggers at each other, one holding more malice than the other.
"I am not letting them escape me again. Not when I found them after thousands of years. More years than you were alive, Pisseidon," he replied, glowering at them.
The trident wielder held his gaze, narrowing his eyes in disdain. "Then we both have some mutual feelings over this, Demon."
Lucifer pulled the trident out of the closet, swinging for Poseidon's head. Poseidon stepped back, bending his back backwards as the trident narrowly missed his neck. You pressed your back into the wardrobe closet, sliding down until you were sitting down, pulling your knees close to your chest.
"You dare use my weapon against me?" you heard Poseidon ask, the sound of the trident striking the ground. The sound of a menacing growl filled the room when Lucifer, lunged for him again.
Your eyes darted around the closet, your eyes catching glimpses of the fight through the crack between the doors. While you were desperately searching for a way out, your eyes focused on the main doors of the room. The handle on the door moved down, slowly opening it to reveal another tall man. Long, silver hair, an eyepatch, and a leaf-like pattern across his forehead with a white suit?
Great. Another one, you thought when he entered the room. His eyes followed them as they fought in the room. His room.
"Brother, why are you fighting in my room?" Hades asked, his eyes narrowing at Lucifer who was pushing the trident further down to Poseidon's neck. Poseidon kept the trident in his hands, pushing it away. The two barely noticed the new god standing by the door, too busy focused on killing the other.
Hades sighed at his brother's stubbornness. He was used to it, but it was the first time in millennia that he picked a fight with another god. Hades scanned his room, before his eyes stopped by the wardrobe you were hiding in. He stepped over the two fighting gods, making his way to it. He observed the broken wardrobe door, furrowing his eyes brows at the three holes in it. His hand came up to inspect it before something caught his eye. He looked down, an eyebrow-raising in interest.
You chuckled nervously, waving to him. "Wassup?"