G A Y L E
13. misery loves company
I THINK THAT by now we've all established the fact that I am what some would call a coward. So meeting Hades was probably one of the scariest moments in my entire mortal life.
It wasn't just the scary dark room with a giant throne made of skulls smack in the centre, or the ominous black helmet hung on top of the back rest of that throne, it was the feel of the room itself. The greenhouse felt like a safe place, a utopia littered with flowers and a sense of content seeping through the fresh air.
This room is the complete opposite. It's so cold that I'm shivering, and a chill races down my spine at the sight of a man resting languidly on his throne, his leg draped lazily over his arm rest and a giant gold crown over his head.
He is very pale, but there's something about him that has me gravitating towards him, his darkness gives off an aura of authority, and he licks his lips as Persephone leads us towards him. She's casually gliding towards her husband, who's lips break into a grin at the sight of him.
I don't know this man. I've never met this man in my life, but it has become apparent to me that he's not really the type to smile very often.
It seems unfamiliar to his face, but brightens it all together. His dark brow arches as he lays eyes on both Apollo and Hercules, a bored expression etching itself onto his pale face.
"Oh, would you look at that. Apollo and Hercules. Two of my least favourite nephews." He drawls sarcastically, placing his fingers in through his black hair. There's large silver rings on his fingers.
Persephone frowns at her husband and knocks him upside the head. "Play nice." She warns as he rubs the spot on his head that she hit.
He rolls his eyes before sitting up straight. "Yes, dear." He groans, but I notice the shadow of a simper toying on his lips before he turns his gaze back on us.
He pulls Persephone by the waist onto his lap, where she sits comfortably with a smile on her face, and puts her arm around his shoulder. He kisses her cheek.
"Have a seat." He motions to the empty space ahead of him, where a black leather couch appears out of nowhere at the flick of his hand.
"Let's talk."
* * *
ALL THE WHILE Apollo explains, Hades and Persephone listen whole-heartedly, as well as Hercules who seems to be hearing all of this for the first time as well.
"You don't know who got you out of Tartarus?" Hades asks when he's done. Apollo purses his lips, sparing a moment to think about it before shaking his head. "You didn't enlist anybody to help you out?" Hades asks, silver eyes laced with curiosity and concern. Apollo shakes his head once again.
"I was hoping that you could tell me, but I see now that I have made a mistake." Apollo sighs, all signs of hope and light leaving his his eyes as he raked his fingers through his hair nervously.
Hades and Persephone exchange a worried glance at one another while she runs her fingers through his hair. It's almost as if they're having a whole conversation with their eyes, not having to say anything to each other.
Persephone clears her throat. "We know who opened the gates, Apollo." Apollo's head darted up, his eyes shifting between Hades and Persephone. Persephone's voice is downbeat, and it's even a little sad.
Hades's head is in his hands, and he groans before nodding. Even Hercules seems taken back, I look to Thalia, and find that she's already looking at me. She shrugs and focuses her eyes back on the two gods on the throne.
Apollo was waiting for them to say something, gobsmacked.
"It was Aphrodite."
There's a thick silence that follows, tension so thick you could cut it with a knife as my eyes wander to see everybody's reaction. Thalia is sitting as if she's watching the world's beat soap opera and all she's missing is a bag of popcorn for this world-class entertainment.
Something I've noticed about Hercules is that unlike Apollo and Hades, he wears his emotions on his sleeves. Right now, his brows have laced together in confusion as he tries to process the overload of information that's just been thrown on him.
Apollo's face is jaded. His lips are pursed, and he has his index finger over his face before shaking his head. "I don't believe it." Hades rolls his eyes at Apollo's persistence.
"Who else – "
"What reason could Aphrodite possibly have to do this? Uncle, I know you've lost hope in her but I do believe there's still good in her. Yes, she may have lost her way, but she wouldn't do something like this." Apollo defends her fervently.
I don't know much about this whole mythology thing, but I do at least know that Aphrodite is the goddess of love.
"If she did do this, I know it was not with malicious intent. Maybe she was unaware of the consequences, she thought – " Hades lifts his palm up to indicate that he's heard enough, silencing Apollo.
"I admire you, Apollo. Did you know that?" He addresses Apollo with what I assume is as much sincerity as he can manage.
Apollo shakes his head. Hades shrugs. "I do. I really do, and do you know why that is?" Apollo shakes his head once more, silver eyes glaring daggers at Hades for cutting him off.
"You, like my beautiful wife here, always manage to see the good in people. It serves as both a blessing and a curse. Aphrodite has been missing for months. Nobody knows where she is even in this moment, but her presence was detected just outside Tartarus, just before the gate opened. She's done much more damage than I think she's aware of. Not only have the gates to Tartarus been unlocked, but they have broken. The titans along with Zeus have taken over down in the Underworld. It's chaos," all of this seems to be genuinely stressing Hades out, his jaw clenches as he uses his hands to discuss this issue.
"There's only a matter of time before the decide to take over. This is bigger than you think. Why do you think Hercules is here and not on Elysium? You think somebody gave him some large quest to fulfill? No. Opening the gates of Tartarus consequently opens the gates to the rest of the Underworld and to Elysium. There are many evil spirits roaming about on the mortal world. Spirits like the Keres, evil and filled with unrest. Hercules has come here for answers, because Elysium has officially shut all of its residents out and shut down. Nobody can enter, not even the Underworld." He explains, making us all realise just how detrimental this is to the world.
"So there's no way of reclaiming my powers?" Apollo's voice is laced with concern, and his eyes even widen at the thought of being mortal forever.
I finally decide that I am confused enough to chip in and ask a question. "Uhm... excuse me, your excellency?" I pick my hand up as if I'm in a classroom and I have questions.
Hades' gaze meets mine, a flash of wonder working itself through his eyes. "You said Aphrodite is the one who opened the gates, right? Well, see, that doesn't make sense to me. Isn't she, like, the goddess of love or something? Like cupid? So why would cupid put us all in so much danger?" I finish off feeling more unsure than I initially was when I started speaking. My cheeks are heating up, and there's an awkward silence as Hades thinks of how to dumb this down for me.
Persephone flashes me a comforting smile, as if saying, 'you're doing great, sweety!', and motions a thumbs up to ensure I haven't got anything wrong.
Even Hercules seems impressed by my very basic knowledge of greek mythology.
"You're right, mortal – " Persephone shoves him, scowling at the coldness with which he described me. Her eyebrows flick up, as if she's telling him something, and returns to smiling at me like before while the god she's sat on rolls his eyes.
" – Gayle. Aphrodite is indeed the goddess of love, but do keep in mind that she is also the goddess of vanity. The latter can sometimes outweigh the former, especially with someone as powerful as she is. Aphrodite wants to be adored. She wants to be raised up on a pedestal and have everybody bow before her. She wants people to be willing to die for her. There was a time where she had millions of followers, all worshiping and kissing her feet. That was a long time ago. Times have changed now. Western civilization views us all as fictional now, and our temples have dried up. She hates that," he explains softly for me to understand and pauses for me to take his words in.
I nod for him to continue. "I suspect the titans and Zeus have been able to come to an understanding. They plan to destroy the mortal world, and build a new one, one where they will all be worshipped and praised like the olden days. I suspect they cut Aphrodite in on the deal, and probably told her she could serve as the queen of this new world." Hades finishes of with a shrug, and Apollo shakes his head.
"I know Aphrodite has done questionable things in the past, but I know she wouldn't do this."
Hades is getting frustrated in Apollo's persistence to clear the goddess of love's name. "Your blind trust will be your downfall."
"Think about this, uncle. How would she even communicate with the titans? She's a goddess, she slumbers not! They could never speak to her in dreams."
"Dark magic is at play, boy." Hades frowns at Apollo. It takes him a moment to process what Hades has said and a light bulb goes of when he realises what he really means.
"You mean... you think Hecate?"
"It's a suspicion." Apollo slumps into the couch, defeated by all the alternatives Hades has presented him with.
"Okay, okay..." Persephone gets up and brushes her hair back. "Enough shop talk, darling, the poor dears must be starving!" She says, clapping her hands together jubilantly, as if every thought of the conversation we've all just had has gone out the window.
As she claps her hands together, the room around us begins to change and shift into a completely different place. The dark walls are soon replaced by wider white marble as the our couch is then transfigured into a wide mahogany table, complete with six chairs all around, and lots of strange looking foods on top.
Some of the glasses are filled with a sparkly gold liquid which glisten marvelously in the darkened light, and a few plates have a strange looking sort of fruit in them, coloured silver and glowy as well.
The seat I'm at is very simple. There's a glass of water on my side, and a plate of pizza ahead of me. Persephone grins shyly at me before looking back down onto her plate, where there were a few of the silver fruit, and glittery gold liquid on the side.
Apollo's stomach growls as his eyes remain on the pizza curiously and he picks at it. He's trying to seem calm, but there's an uneasiness about him that I just can't quite pinpoint.
"Dig in." Persephone says in a sing-song sort of way and she begins to eat her aesthetically pleasing food.
"What is that?" I can't stop myself from asking, pointing at the food on her plate, on Hades' plate and on Hercules' plate, though his portion is much smaller. The rest of us are having good old pizza.
Persephone points at her food. "This? This is ambrosia, food of the gods! And this is nectar, our drinks." She explains and I nod. "I would give you some but unfortunately it would kill you, dear." She says, all the while smiling dearly.
I glance to Hercules, who seems to be just fine, shoving handfuls of ambrosia into his mouth. Thalia glares at him in disgust, nose upturned haughtily as she bites into her pizza.
"He's a half-blood. His father is a god, so he can handle things like ambrosia and such but in small servings because he may become addicted." She arches her brow at Hercules as he continues to shove the ambrosia into his mouth.
Apollo is frowning, watching Hades' plate longingly as he continues to pick at his pizza. He groans before finally taking a bite out of it, face changing as he relishes on the foreign taste to his tongue.
Persephone watches him longingly. "Is it every bit as good as they describe on the magic box?" She asks dreamily, her eyes on the pizza as she pushes the ambrosia aside. "I wish I could eat mortal food. I always watch those cooking programs on the magic box, and am always so disappointed when I realise that we do not experience taste the same." She complains, pushing her ambrosia further aside.
We all continue to eat in silence, until Persephone clears her throat once she is finished with her meal, running a napkin over her plump lips.
"Apollo. Have you seen Ariel yet?" She asks gleefully placing her head between her hands, elbows balancing on the table as Carmen marches into the room, followed by many more maids dressed the same way as she as they all collect the plates on the table and march away with them, leaving us clean and clear.
There's an awkward silence as Apollo stares down at the table as if it's the most interesting thing he's ever seen.
The air is all of a sudden too thick for any of us to do anything, Thalia is sat awkwardly, brown eyes darting between Persephone and Apollo. Hercules is looking at Thalia, brows furrowed as he studies her curiously.
Hades sits back in his chair and flashes Persephone a knowing look.
"Apparently she's a little too busy to drop by." Apollo deadpans and pulls out a chair. "Thank you for having us, we all really appreciate it."
Hades pulls out his chair as well. "You will not be leaving tonight. There is still much to discuss, Apollo." His eyes glimmer authoritatively.
There's silence for a moment as the two of them engage in an intense stare-down.
Eventually, Apollo gives in.
"Very well. We'll stay the night."