Dante Lot (unseen_miami) wrote in olympian_rewind, @ 2008-09-13 22:11:00 |
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Entry tags: | dante lot, hades, nick aiolos, pelops |
Who: Hades and Nick (Devil cameo)
What: Heaven or Hell
Where: Cave near the sea/Hell
When: Sept 11, 9 PM
Warnings: None
Many in America would believe using the observance of September 11 for their own means would cause a person to go straight to hell when they died. Hades didn't need to wait that long. Flush with power from dozens, hundreds, thousands of national memorials for the dead throughout the day, it seemed like the best time to do something incredibly dangerous.
So, Hades waited invisible at the mouth of the cave that was concealed by the ocean at high tide in wait. Last time he was here he was as close to death as he had ever been and Mel had pulled him back. Now he waited for Nick... something just seemed right about meeting him somewhere the ocean had abandoned with the tide.
The place was quiet. Go ahead, say it was too quiet. But not for long, as a wailing baa called through it as Nick stepped forward. He was wearing dark clothes to avoid being seen here and for good reason; he didn't want to be seen carrying a small, black lamb in his arms into the cave. It was little, maybe just old enough to have been weaned, and clearly wasn't enjoying his trip.
He paused at the mouth cave and looked around. Either Hades was pulling his strings and was never coming, or he was invisible. He'd hope it was the latter. The mortal put down the lamb, keeping it close with a small tether around it's neck. "I'm here," he called.
“So am I.” Hades responded, looking down at the lamb. “Black lamb, good choice.” Part of him had been hoping Nick would find one and not bring two black calves. That would just be more difficult. “Come into the cave.” With that, he went inside the dark, but for the mortal's sake he had brought some candles to offer light.
Close enough; one hand carting the small beast, he pulled a lighter out of his pocket to lead the way and he followed behind obediently. After his snap at Mel, Nick had promised himself he'd try. For his daughter's health, his girlfriend's happiness, and his own sanity.
Still unseen, Hades turned the glamoured key again and again in his hand before releasing such a glamour to allow the black adamentine key to the Underworld to rest along his chest on its chain. It reminded him of what he was about to do. But first things first. He bent down and picked up a large butcher knife – Hestia was going to kill him if she noticed it was missing before he brought it back – and creepily walked forward with it before turning it around to offer it to Nick handle first.
Whoa, floatie knife. Nick took it and looked up to where he guessed Hades' face was. "You want me to...?"
With a cool finger, he traced a line right across Nick's throat. “Do it like that and the lamb will not suffer. And turn your head away from me and do it in my name when you do.” With that Hades stepped back in the shallow cave, closer to the back wall.
Right, right... Nick looked at the lamb, feeling rather bad for what he was about to do. But the reward... was worth it. He swallowed down his guilt and knelt down, looking to the side wall of the cave. Taking the lamb by the head and shoulders, he kept it from struggling as he quickly said, voice loud in the cave, "[For Hades,]" and ended the creature's life with a quick stroke.
Not the elaborate prayers he had once had, but the intention was all the same and that's all that truly mattered. Hades was only a step away and when the little lamb died suddenly, slumping lifelessly, he touched his fingers to the fresh blood and touched it to his lips. The rush was incredible... and he would need it. He turned his back to the mortal and his sacrifice, taking the key in hand. Concentrating now, he turned it and the black intricate interwoven thorny bars of the Gates to Hell appeared with a terrible clanking, blacker than the darkest night and made to appear even darker by the ominous orange glow behind them. But they were still closed... Not that they weren't rattling to be opened. “Whatever you do... When I open this, do not come any closer to it. If I'm not back in fifteen minutes, throw the lamb's body in and run. Understood?”
Nick stared at the door, somehow transfixed even as something deep in him howled to run away. Far, far away. Instead, he nodded without a word.
Good enough. Hades took a deep breath and opened the gates. They instantly let out a howl and for once, he did not close them behind him when he entered. He left them ajar and visible to Nick. He needed to be able to leave Hell quickly and in the isolated stretch of parched land beside a bend of the dark water of the River Styx, he did not fear something trying to escape. He would notice a demon coming anyhow.
He knelt down and the very ground crunched beneath him like hundreds of bones breaking at once. Closing his eyes, he did the opposite of what he normally did... much to the Underworld's shock. Hades opened his mind to it. Hades allowed himself to be one with it once more... “[Luke Aiolos, died in the year 2008, in Miami, Florida. If you are here... ]”
Nick shuddered, frozen in place with a fear he had never felt so strongly before. But hearing Hades' words, faintly, he stayed where he was and waited for any sort of answer.
Hades was unsure how long his consciousness floated and touched the unity of the Underworld. It felt like an eternity and a mere second. He knelt in silence once the question was asked... until he felt another jolt of power from the solemn day. People in Georgia, Virginia and a few in Maryland and Pennsylvania were taking the date literally and having a minute of silence at 9:11 PM. It was enough to remind Hades to pull away and gave him the strength and will to do so in one piece.... Enough of a jolt to make him move.
He opened his eyes and drew to his feet just in time to stumble back at the sight of a being of blinding light coming toward his general location, the force of the flapping of his wings feeling like a hurricane. He had no doubt who it was, but the words and voice that echoed in his mind destroyed all uncertainty. “# I know you are here, Possession! I can feel you and you seem to be avoiding me lately... Why? #” Hades tried not to flinch or show anything as he backed slowly toward the ajar gates. His eyes locked onto the King of the Fallen Angels, even as his form morphed into that of a dark haired, almost skeletal man... Had the Devil decided on a recurring form for speaking/annoying him? No matter. He merely thought about why he might have been avoiding him and the Devil paused, all forward momentum stopped as he landed, “# My chainsaw? Why would I even have a chain...#”
That was all the time Hades needed. He was back out of the gates and back into the land of the living, closing and locking the gates behind him. Only then did he laugh. Confusing the Devil worked... Good to know.
"Wah!" Nick fell back with a yell as the death king suddenly reappeared. Jesus christ, give a guy a warning! "You okay?"
Right, Nick was here. The reason why his head was aching like someone had used it like a drum for a thousand years. Hades took a deep breath, “Your father was not there. You can rest easy about his final location.” Unless he was a ghost wandering around lost... But even that was better than Hell.
Really? Truthfully? Nick smiled and sighed, looking down to the ground, and looked as though the world had been taken off his shoulders. His father was safe. He didn't have to worry or grieve for him anymore. "Thank you," he murmured.
Hades looked down to the ground, too, but for different reasons. His dead lamb was there and he was now eying it like an invisible wolf. “Go home and rest. Your father is well...” Eh, why not? Nick had been pretty good tonight. “You're welcome.”
Nick opened his mouth to say more but remembered Mel's words, and quickly shut it. A smile was enough he guessed, so he stood and held out the knife back to its owner.
Taking back the knife, he picked the little lamb up and brought it to the back of the cave to sit with it. The smile was enough.
Summary: One dark night + One black lamb = answers about where Nick's father went when he died.