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Both nod, and Hades gifts them a rare smile. One that is proud and loving.
“What will you do?” Thanatos asks, unafraid of questioning Hades.
“I will stay here to receive my punishments from the King of the Gods.”
Stopping Kronos doesn’t mean that Hades can move without punishment. She brought their father to Zeus' door. She brought ruin upon Olympus, and she knows that she would punish Zeus if their positions were reversed.
“I can’t kill a god,” Thanatos reminds her, a note of regret tinging his words. “But I can try.”
Hades grins, cupping his cheek and missing the softness of boyhood he possessed not long ago. “Careful, my child. You speak treason.”
Thanatos snorts, closing his eyes as he squeezes the back of Hades' hand. “You forget, Mother, the whole Underworld is willing to commit treason for you.”
Hades pulls him into a hug, holding him tight and breathing deep his scent. Fresh dug earth, floral arrangements, and incense are the notes that cling to Thanatos. Totems of death, memorials, burials, and funeral pyres.
“Go. Take the prisoner home, and stay there until I’m released.”
Thanatos doesn’t appear to enjoy that command, but he nods his acceptance and squeezes Hades' hand again before stepping away. She watches Thanatos lead Kronos and his guards to the crack between realms. Hades’ heart feels heavy, a weight of despair behind her breast that threatens to suffocate hera suffocation she’s saved from when Kore’s arms wrap around her.
Hades never understood when poets waxed on about love. She never understood when Zeus would spin tales, stars twinkling in his gaze, as he talked about his current greatest love. Love seemed a fickle, unattainable moment to Hades. One she’d be better off without if it made her moronic.
In the circle of Kore’s arms, Hades knows love. She understands the words of great poets who speak of the homecoming between lovers. Without Kore, she felt like half a heart, half a body, half a breath.
With him Hades is complete. The ichor in her veins feels warm, and with each intake of air life breathes its way into her, reaching beneath her bones to touch her soul.
Before Kore, she never understood what was missing.
With Kore, Hades is whole.
“I’m here,” he says.
His smile crinkles the golden skin around his eyes, laughter lines Hades wants to trace with her fingers and her lips. She resists the temptation, her fingers dig into the tattered remains of his shirt. Holding him close is enough for now; breathing him in reminds Hades that Kore is real.
“I missed you,” she whispers, afraid loud words will frighten him back to some hidden place—removed from her once more.
She can’t stand to picture that life again. It was bad enough living it for the months Kore was away. Home became a prison, her memories her torment, and Hades wondered if Chaos had placed her in her own private hell.
Perhaps now she’s paid her dues. Perhaps now she can know happiness and peace…
The desire dies a quick death when Zeus clears his throat. Reality is an unkind friend, returning when one least wants. Hades closes her eyes, breathing in another lungful of Kore. Holding the scents of summer and rain until her lungs force her to release that breath.
Releasing him feels like another death, another torment.
“I must go,” Hades whispers, her lips catching against the stubbly skin covering Kore’s jaw.
“Don’t leave me,” Kore begs, his words a warm puff of air against her temple.
“Come, Hades,” Zeus commands, and their moment is broken.
Stepping away from Kore’s arms causes Hades to shiver from a chill. Before Kore she never understood warmth, and this is another thing she loses as she moves closer to her brother.
Don’t look back,Hades tells herself, knowing her resolve will crumble if she looks into Kore’s eyes.
Greater and lesser gods watch them as Zeus leads her toward his palace. All the gods watch Hades with fear and mistrust, gazes that still bother her after centuries of living as an outcast. She stops looking at them, keeping her eyes trained on the golden feathers that adorn Zeus' back. One of his wings is bent, battered to the point it will take weeks to heal. If Hades wasn’t the source of his pain she’d extend an offer to help him. Instead, she follows Zeus into his palace with sealed lips, hoping her silence keeps her from a worse punishment.
As Zeus collapses onto his throne, Hades waits for him at the foot of the raised dais.How long ago was it when we last stood here? What war hung over us then?
She knows the answers, but she still ruminates over the questions. They pass the time and keep Hades calm in Zeus' unending silence.
