Two Weeks Later
I stared aimlessly at my ceiling, wishing that I wasn't here.
Here.
In this place that is foreign, cold, and not my home.
It's funny how my mood within the past few weeks that I had been in Underworld went from sad, angry, depressed, happy, and then sad and depressed all over again.
It was like I was going through puberty all over again.
Expect I wasn't. It was much worse. I was stuck in a place I didn't want to be in.
The Underworld. A place that mortals and immortals fear. I know I feared this place. That was until I learned that it wasn't the people and creatures that made it worse.
It was the atmosphere. It was nothing like the world above and often left me feeling depleted and tired like I was just a useless piece of immortal bones and ichor.
I have no purpose here at all besides being a clingy 108 years old. Hades is trying his best to hang out with me but that's a little hard when you have a place to manage and a certain river nymph to ward off.
I felt selfish. I could perfectly function on my own in the Underworld but at the same time it felt like I couldn't.
I just wanted to go home. At first I was scared to be entrapped in the Underworld. But slowly after time, I thought being in the Underworld would be thrilling and exciting but it wasn't.
It was depressing.
I sighed as I rolled over on my side and stared at the wall, the same plain-colored wall that I have been staring at for the past 3 weeks. If I squinted hard enough I could see the paint strokes that were left by a horrible painter.
I couldn't help but wonder what my mother was doing right now. I know that it made me feel worse to think about her but every time I lay in my bed, wasting my life away by the minute I wondered if she felt the same.
It has always been just my mom and I, with the occasional visit from her other children, but for the most part just her and I. I always thought that my life in my cottage with my mother was bad, but little did I know that was something much much worse than being with my mother 24/7.
A few days after I came to the Underworld I didn't think I would miss my mother much, I thought finally! I'm free from her clutches and overbearing tendencies. However as time went on, as artificial night turned to artificial day, I began to miss her so much it felt like I was mourning a person I'd never see again.
Which I was slowly starting to give up hope that I ever would. It's been 4 weeks since I have been trapped in the Underworld. I have been so caught up in my feelings and the whirlwind of being in the Underworld that I never bothered to find a way out.
My laziness was starting to bite me in my butt. Hard and rough.
My mother wasn't the only one I missed, of course, I missed my cottage, the smell of the wheat fields, the sound of the wheat stalks rustling in the summer breeze. I longed to run barefooted with my friend Cyane through the forest that rested behind the wheat fields.
It's the little things that you don't think you would miss that you miss terribly.
I felt something drip down my face and realized I was crying.
I didn't mean to cry. I hate crying, my mom says it shows weakness and that you shouldn't do it.
So I don't.
She would be so disappointed in me right now. She's probably glad to have gotten rid of her weak good for nothing daughter.
One less burden on her shoulders.
I grabbed my pillow and cried into it, trying my best to contain the sobs that were coming out. I didn't want to disturb anybody with my sobbing, it would make me feel even worse for bothering somebody with my completely needless crying.
-*-
After crying for approximately 1 hour and 28 minutes there was a soft knock on my door. I wasn't exactly the most composed person right now so I ignored it.
Assuming that whoever came to bother me was gone I resumed my quiet sobbing, which as it turned out wasn't so quiet.
"Kore, I know you're in there. I can feel the distress and sadness radiating off of you." I heard Hades say gruffly through the door.
"I- I'm fine!" I hiccuped, and tried to sound happy, "Truly!"
"No your not. Open the door, flower."
I can't let Hades see me like this, he probably already thinks I'm weak, him seeing me like this would make that opinion of me stronger.
"I'm naked!" I blurted out. For some reason that was the first thing that came to my mind. I immediately scolded my self for saying such an embarrassing thing.
I wasn't naked, I was very much clothed in sweat pants and an overly large sweatshirt that was stained with tears. I looked like a mess.
Hell, I was a mess.
"I can tell your lying. Your voice has a higher pitch to it." Hades said back.
"Leave me alone!"
"I'm not going anywhere until you open this door. Even if it means sleeping out here in the hallway, which I don't want to do because there are spiders. So please open the door."
A faint a quick smile appeared on my face, the god of the underworld, afraid of spiders.
I quickly buried myself in the large fluffy white comforter before I gave a weak wave of my hand and listened as the lock on my door clicked as they unlocked. The door creaked open and I heard hades shuffle forward.
"Thank you," Hades said, his voice warm and soft. I felt a weight settle down at the end of the bed by my feet as Hades sat down.
"Kore, how sad are you?" Hades after a moment of silence.
Incredibly, but I wasn't going to admit that. I didn't want Hades to feel bad...I didn't want anybody to feel sad.
"I'm not sad. I'm just a little bummed, truly Hades don't worry about me." I said hoping that my voice didn't adapt the high pitch Hades said I get when I lie.
"Your lying."
Darn you vocal cords.
"Why does it matter? Everybody gets sad moments in their lifetimes, this is just one of those moments, I'll be fine by morning." I purred, adding a little magic to my voice. When I was younger, my mother taught me a trick. If I get my voice to sound soft and like a melody and add a small surge of magic to it then I can persuade people to do the things I ask of them or convince them.
If I could persuade Hades to leave me alone then I can go back to wallowing in my sadness.
"It matters because when you first arrived I promised I would do everything in my power to make sure you were okay during your time here and I intend to keep that promise." I felt hands grab a handful of comforter by my feet and before I could kick them away they yanked the comforter away from my body. "Now stop moping and get up."
I let out a hissed and instantly recoiled, missing the warmth from the blanket. I bared my teeth like they were fangs and hissed again, I'm sure I shared a striking resemblance to a cat being chucked into water or a person being dragged into hell.
Crazy, angry, and not happy.
"Oh, gods above don't attack!" Hades said quickly standing from my bed. "I am with child!"
I stopped mumbling angry words and looked to what Hades had strapped to his chest. A small baby who was giving off a strong power wave looked at me with wide eyes that were a startling bright blue.
Eyes that hauntingly reminded me of my fathers.
My eyebrows furrowed in confusion and I squinted at the baby, "Who...Congrats?"
"Not mine. He's not mine." Hades quickly said, "It'sHermes. The little tyrant got on Hecate's bad side and was transformed into a baby. It's more of punishment on me than it is on Hermes."
Ahhh, another one of my fathers spawns. Honestly, at this rate, my dad has probably fathered more than half of the population of magical beings.
Despite being a total train wreck I opened my arms for the infant.
For some reason babies always soothed me, I think it brought out a maternal side in me that had yet to fully develop. I didn't plan on having any children, my mother always taught me that was best to save your virginity, to stay whole and pure.
Hades placed Hermes into arms and sat down in a chair I had put in the corner.
I looked down at the god and examined his features, we barely shared any resemblance. Hermes had light brown hair that slightly curled at his temples and olive-toned skin. The only thing that was similar to our features was our perfectly straight noses and round facial shape.
"He's adorable." I laughed as I fixed his hair. I brushed it to the side, marveling at how soft it was.
"He's annoying. There are souls that are currently backed up and waiting for transport, but can't get transported because my transporter doesn't know the basics of not messing with a witch!" Hades ranted, "He ruined my plans."
"Aww, your plans can wait, look at his adorable little squishy face," I said holding Hermes up to face Hades.
Hades looked at me with something undistinguishable in his eyes, I couldn't quite tell what it was because as soon as it appeared it went away. A slight blush formed on hades cheeks, "My plans can not wait. Lay the vermin down, he will be fine in a couple of hours."
"Ssshhh don't say rude things to the baby." I scolded Hades. I placed Hermes back in my lap and cooed at him softly, "Don't listen to that grumpy man. He's just mad he doesn't get cuddled like this."
Sensing Hades growing impatient, I laid the infant god down on my bed. I made a barrier of pillows around him to ensure he doesn't roll off.
"Goodbye, Hermes," I said promptly before turning to Hades.
"I have something to show you," Hades said, he reached for my hand but instantly pulled back, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
I noticed he did that often. It was the same reaction I got from a lot of people in the underworld once they sensed the godly fire that flowed through my body.
They yanked away because they were afraid of being burned because they were dark beings. Most of them should fear contact with me, others not so much.
I reached forward to touch Hade's cheek. He winced away as I did, his eyes were wide and full of fear.
With a soft smile, I said softly, "Do not be afraid. It's okay." I touched his cheek gently and smiled. "See?"
He released the breath he had unconsciously been holding. "There's no darkness in you Hades, you are good."
And for the first time since I have been in the underworld, Hades touched my hand.
3/10/2020
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