Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom. - William Shakespeare
“Move your huge fucking head!” Thanatos said to Phaeton as the two stood in the hallway in front of the door to the hospital wing.
“Make me,” Phaeton said. The Death God grabbed on to either side of Phaeton’s shoulders, and forced him away from the window. The hero leaned nonchalantly against the wall beside the door, as Thanatos stared in at the twins embracing on the hospital bed. “What’s wrong with you?” he asked.
“Enyo, he’s supposed to love me,” Thanatos said, his voice ended in a slight whine.
One of the hero’s eyebrows jerked up, and his crooked grin formed. “You don’t think someone could love two people at once?”
The villain’s head swivelled to stare at the golden boy’s mostly naked body. Thanatos’ waxy complexion became rosy. “Well… uh… of course a man of my skills could handle an extra one or two people in bed.” The Death God stumbled over his words as he tried to appear casual in response to Phaeton’s proposal, but he shrugged so many times that the hero thought the villain was developing a nervous twitch.
Phaeton couldn’t contain his laughter. He burst out laughing right in Thanatos’ face. “That’s not what I’m talking about. Don’t get love and sex confused or else you’ll definitely end up alone in the rain.” Phaeton shivered in the dank hallway. “Besides, I think it’s kinda sexy,” he added.
“No, it’s wrong. They will get in so much shit if people find out about them,” the villain said, clearly embarrassed but not willing to mention the misunderstanding.
Phaeton shrugged and yawned. He wasn’t too concerned. Eris would come back to him sooner or later. He was sure of it. One thing he was a little concerned about was being in a strange place with a villain he knew nothing about. He was probably surrounded by villains. At any moment they could jump out and kill him. But he had to remind himself he wasn’t a hero anymore.
The Death God tore his gaze away from the window and looked over at Phaeton. “Who in the Underworld are you?” he asked.
“I’m Phaeton, son of H-h-h-elios,” he chattered. “And r-r-recently revoked from the Olympian clan.”
Thanatos raised his eyebrows. “I’m Thanatos, adopted son of Hades and direct descendant of Nyx.”
Phaeton inclined his head out of respect, even though he knew villains weren’t very respectful beings. He knew Hades was a supremely powerful God and used to be on the Titans’ side until that disaster with Zeus’ daughter Persephone. He didn’t exactly know where Thanatos’ loyalties lay, but he wasn’t prepared to get on the villain’s bad side. Hugging his arms to his body, Phaeton shuddered in his boxers. “Is it always so cold here?”
“You’re supposed to wear clothes…,” Thanatos said, admiring the Sun God’s beautiful body. The golden skin was out of place in the dark headquarters full of pale, waxy villains.
“I didn’t have time to collect any, and I’m not sure it would be a good idea to wear a hero’s garb in this place anyhow,” Phaeton said.
Thanatos nodded. “We should get you registered. Follow me.” Thanatos took off down the adjacent hall towards the registry and recruitment office, while Phaeton trailed on his heels. “What made you want to join the villain’s side?” Thanatos asked.
“The heroes are all a bunch of corrupt bastards,” Phaeton shrugged. “At least you guys don’t lie about it.”
“Makes sense,” Thanatos said. “Is there more to that answer?”
“No,” Phaeton said a little too quickly.
Thanatos stopped in midstride and turned to face Phaeton. Narrowing his eyes, he gazed at the man. Stripped almost naked, the hero didn’t look like anything special. He didn’t look like he was descended from one of the most powerful Titans. But he realized that without his clothes he’d probably look as ordinary as Phaeton. There was something about the boy that he didn’t trust, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. “If you’re a spy for the Olympians I will hurt you.”
Staring at Thanatos’ strange outfit, Phaeton grinned. “What would you do? Bore me to death with shopping?”
Thanatos growled deep in his throat and walked towards the hero. “I’ll have you know my power would have you quivering in fear against the wall.” The villain kept walking towards Phaeton.
The blonde man took a couple steps backwards, until his shoulder blades met with the stone wall. The decorative stone trim carved with tiny gargoyles dug into the small of Phaeton’s back. “Well you do have me against the wall, but I can’t say I’m quivering with fear.” The golden boy was quite enjoying their banter.
“Don’t be smart with me,” Thanatos said under his breath.
“Why? Do you like your victims to pretend they’re more stupid than you?” Thanatos took one last step towards Phaeton so that they were pressed chest to chest. He was just about to respond to Phaeton’s gesture when the man placed a finger on the villain’s lips to silence him. “Because, I’m good pretending. I could pretend to be anything you want.” Removing his finger, the hero felt the Death God let out a ragged breath.
It took a while for Thanatos to find his voice. “I can show you the moment of your death reflected in my eyes,” he whispered.
Phaeton raised his eyebrows. “Interesting power. Except I don’t fear death.”
“Everyone fears death, especially mortals,” Thanatos said.
“How do you know I’m mortal?” Phaeton asked, genuinely curious. He wasn’t scared of this stupid villain, because Thanatos had nothing to gain by killing him. But, as it has proved countless times, stupidity is a dangerous thing, and the villain seems pretty stupid.
He raised his hand and put it on Phaeton’s bicep. “You’re warm, and your heart is faster than immortal hearts.” Thanatos looked down for a second at their connected chests where he could feel the steady pulse of Phaeton’s heart pick up. The Death God smiled.
Maybe the villain wasn’t as stupid as he presumed, but he was still an imbecile. “That still doesn’t prove I’m afraid of death. My father threatened me with death every day I lived with him. He loved watching flesh burn. He burned any of his servants who displeased him in the slightest. He loved the way skin warps and bubbles, before blackening into a crispy shell. My skin glistens because of the minute scars from thousands of little blisters and burns. Being the son of a Sun God isn’t all warmth and light. It really burns.” Phaeton scratched the scar above his eyebrow as he spoke.
Thanatos didn’t know what to say. His father would kill his piranhas now and then, and forbid him of continuing his dreams as a fashion designer, but Hades never hurt him. “Sounds like Helios should have been a villain,” the Death God said.
“He was a villain in my eyes. But that’s not my point. My death doesn’t scare me. At times it was what I most desired,” Phaeton said. “The reason people fear death is because of the uncertainty of it, but uncertainty is what makes things so fucking exciting!” Phaeton grabbed both Thanatos’ wrists, pushed away from the wall, and turned on the spot, so that he could slam the villain to the ground before he even had time to reach for his weapon.
Thanatos fell. Phaeton had the villain’s arms pinned and his knee kept the Death God’s body anchored to the ground. “Would you look at that! I bested the son of Hades!” Phaeton threw back his head and let loose a loud, mocking laugh. “HA HA HA! If I had my dagger I could slit your throat right open.” The golden boy trailed a finger across Thanatos’ jugular.
The villain’s body shook angrily, as he stared into the hero’s blue eyes. Phaeton’s laughter died suddenly when the Death God’s eyes flamed to a soft crimson. The hero saw a bolt of light flash before his eyes. The hairs on his body lifted. It felt as if an electric charge was traveling through his whole being. He looked down at Thanatos, and he knew the villain felt the shock too. Sliding to the ground, the hero scooted away from the Death God. The glow of Thanatos’ eyes cooled to their usual black like heated steel doused with water.
Neither man spoke or made eye contact. Phaeton was no longer cold, but he wasn’t warm either. He felt clammy, as if the air in the corridor had somehow become humid. It was quiet for a spell, until they heard the peculiar sound of tentacles slapping against wet bricks, as a sea creature approached them. Professor Scylla turned the nearest corner. “Bravo boys!” she said, clapping two of the tentacles on her right side, while one of the left tentacles gripped a blue margarita garnished with an eyeball. “That was a very clever use of flirting and hand-to-hand combat to bring your opponent down,” the professor said to Phaeton.
The almost naked man stood and hiked up his boxers, before offering his hand to the sea goddess. She grasped it firmly and shook. “I’m Phaeton son of—“
“Son of Helios. Of course I know who you are,” she interrupted. “I’m sea goddess Scylla, the History professor. Come to join the villains?”
Phaeton nodded. “If you’ll have me.”
“You’d be an excellent professor for close combat. It’s clear that some of us need it.” She looked down at Thanatos who was still staring up at Phaeton with an unreadable expression.
“That sounds great,” Phaeton said. “When do I start?”
“As soon as you find some pants,” the sea goddess joked, taking a sip of her drink. “Thanatos, help him get settled. No more fighting. He’s one of us.”
The Death God nodded and stood. He grabbed onto Phaeton’s bicep, and practically pulled the golden boy down the hall to the office. When Phaeton tried questioning the villain about what had happened in the hallway Thanatos ignored him. The villain had felt a shock of pain and saw the flash of light when he had used his powers against the Sun God. He thought that it was a glitch with is powers or a trick on the hero’s part. But, ultimately, his powers had failed him.
The Death God stayed quiet through the registry process. The villains in the office poked and prodded, weighed and measured Phaeton. He filled out some forms and was given a stack of clothing especially picked by Thanatos from the racks of new recruits’ clothing. “Light blue. To match your eyes,” the Death God mumbled.
All of the t-shirts, underwear, and socks were baby blue and emblazoned with the insignia of fiery chariot pulled by winged horses. “It’s kind of tacky don’t you think?” Phaeton asked.
“Perfect for you,” the villain said. Phaeton ignored him.
As soon as Phaeton wrote down his credit card information, the young Minotaur working in the office handed Phaeton a key to his room and his blue spandex villain’s suit. “Congratulations, you’re now a villain, and he is your roommate,” the Minotaur said in a bored voice, using his horns to point to Thanatos.
The villain was slinking surreptitiously behind a rack of clothing. He held up a black and purple lace shirt to himself before stuffing it into his pocket. Phaeton laughed and shook his head at the Death God. “Show me to our room, pretty boy,” he said with a wink.
Thanatos lifted one eyebrow before following Phaeton out of the room. “You’re more of a pretty boy than I am,” he said.
The new villain laughed. “I take that as a complement.”
Once the two villains arrived to their dorm room, Phaeton took a shower while Thanatos slouched on his bed. He had an ache in the pit of his stomach and it wasn’t caused from hunger. His powers had failed. His father always reminded him that he was a failure, but now he believed it completely. He even failed at his relationship with Enyo. The villain angrily stripped off his leather suit, and put on his fluffy, purple housecoat. He started his nightly facial moisturizing ritual to calm himself down.
Wearing his new t-shirt and boxers, Phaeton exited the bathroom. His skin, hair and teeth seemed to almost glow with yellow light, now that the dirt and rain was washed away. The golden boy didn’t say anything to the villain spreading copious amounts of white lotion all over his face.
Phaeton lay on the spare bed and pulled the sheet over him. Yawning, he turned to face Thanatos. “You were right. I didn’t tell you the full reason why I joined the villain’s side. It’s not because I’m a spy, it’s because I’m in love with Eris.”
Thanatos snapped the lid closed on his lotion, and lay back on to the piles of decorative pillows on his bed. “Those twins, they really get to you.”
“It’s like he has seeped into my body and soul. Life loses meaning if I can’t be with him.” Phaeton explained how Eris had died and came back to life.
Thanatos listened and nodded. “I know what you mean. We need them back.” The Death God turned the light off, before speaking again. “I will win Enyo back. He will love me as much as he loves his brother. But I’m not sure you should do the same with Eris.”
“Why not?” Phaeton’s heartbeat sped up.
“Because you’re mortal. When you die, Eris will be crushed. He’d look like Enyo did in the hospital, only worse. Mortals don’t love the same way immortals do. I’m sure you can redirect your affections to someone else easy enough,” Thanatos said.
Phaeton was quiet for a second. “That’s a crap solution and you know it! If I truly love him and he loves me, then our love will be immortal. It’ll last forever even after I’m gone. Allegiance changes, people change, hair colour changes, but love is the one thing I know lasts forever. Even if Zeus kills me.”
“How do you know Zeus kills you?” Thanatos asked.
“You showed me with your powers. Didn’t you see the lightning bolt? Zeus kills with lightning bolts.” Phaeton turned over in bed. He wanted to end this conversation.
“Yes, I saw it. I felt it too. It’s strange, because I thought my power didn’t work. I thought you shocked me or something and it failed. I’ve never been able to see my opponent’s deaths, but with you it was different.”
Phaeton sensed annoyance in Thanatos’ voice. “No, it definitely worked,” the golden boy said quietly.
“I thought you weren’t afraid of death,” Thanatos said.
“I’m not scared of death, I’m scared of love,” Phaeton replied.
A/N: I know not everyone likes these characters, but they're my favourites so pleaaaase don't hate on them! Hope you liked the chapter :) On another note! I've reached 40,000 words for this story! Can you believe it? WOWZA! Lol look at that picture on the side >>>> ;)