InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Cantaloupe!"

Hermes (ever_mercurial) wrote in nevermore_logs,
@ 2021-10-10 16:48:00

Entry tags:

hecate, hermes

WHO: Hermes, Hecate
WHEN: Sunday afternoon
WHERE: Hospital
WHAT: Reunion
WARNINGS: TBA

Hermes had messaged Hecate, and now all he had to do was wait. Wait to see the face of his sometimes-wife, which he hadn't laid eyes on for three months. Hermes didn't like to show weakness or vulnerability, but with Hecate it was easy. He didn't have to fake anything with her. He could just be sad, broken Hermes who had spent three months wasting away in a dungeon while no one he loved even looked for him.

He supposed it was 'lucky' - to a certain degree of lucky - that Lucifer had lost interest in actively torturing him after a month. His wounds had healed, though the scars remained; mostly burn marks and the traces of whip marks across his back, which he figured would fade with time. The passive torture though...the starvation and terror and thirst and sleep deprivation, the marks of those would be harder to erase. Hermes was bone-thin, his appearance truly alarming. Especially to someone who - up until a few hours ago - had thought him safe and well at home. He constantly panicked at loud noises, and jerked away from hands coming at him. He hadn't been touched in kindness in so long, with the exception of dear Henry, and then his rescuers. He wasn't used to hands coming at him to help.

He wanted to go home, but he was far too weak. The doctors had him on some kind of feeding plan, and he couldn't walk on his own, unaided. He had a fair way to go. Anyway, that imposter was still in his house. With his wife and his Luna. And there was no way Hermes could fight whatever that thing was like this. Hermes needed help.

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saffroncloaked
2021-10-10 07:57 am UTC (link)

As Hecate strode across town she told herself firmly that she was not all seeing. That despite the resurgence of her strength in recent decades, the Christian Devil was still a formidable opponent and one she did not have the power to take on by herself. But to not even see it, when he sent one of his creatures in to replace Hermes? To be fooled by a copy of someone she was supposed to know so well? And to not even see the danger that put Luna in, a woman she'd sworn to protect?

But anger at her own ignorance would solve nothing. She'd seen Luna two days ago, and she was clearly unharmed. Whatever the damage, it was more insidious.

Or— and here was an alarming thought, one that chilled her badly— perhaps Hermes had paid the devil for Peitho and Luna's safety. After months of torture, and to protect them, would he sign away his soul?

Fuck's sake— she'd thought a war between Apollo and Ares would've been bad enough. But one between Hades and Hell?

Reel it back, she told herself, pausing with a small crowd of other pedestrians at the crosswalk. She placed her hand gently on the baby Kyos had borne, wrapped snug against her chest, and forced herself to take a deep, centering breath. There was just as little point speculating in a scenario that may not come to pass as there had been berating herself over her blindness.

Hermes had asked to see her because she could help him, so she would go to his side, find out what he needed, and help him.

Hecate was not squeamish. In her long lifetime she had witnessed the cruelest things people could do to each other, she'd seen the effects of torture on generation upon generation of those accused of witchcraft, so when she pushed open the door to Hermes' private room and regarded his skeletal form on the bed, it was an expression of deep sympathy, and not shock or surprise, that settled on her features. Sympathy with undercurrents of protectiveness and anger. "Oh Hermes," she said, approaching slowly, and gently extending her hand, though she was watching carefully for his reaction to her presence before coming any closer.

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ever_mercurial
2021-10-10 08:34 am UTC (link)

While Hermes might have pulled away if it was someone else, there was no way he was pulling away from Hecate. "Hecate," he said, breathing her name like the desperate breath of a drowning man. He reached out for her, taking her in. "I- I am so glad to see you." Emotion was stark on his face, though he managed not to burst into tears. "Who is this?" he asked, about the baby strapped to her.

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saffroncloaked
2021-10-10 08:51 am UTC (link)

The bones stood out in his face, and beneath her hands his arms were thinner than she'd ever know. From the story told by his eyes and his body, it truly had been months (she was so stupid— no, don't go there!)

"This is my ward," Hecate said of the sleeping baby, running both her hands soothingly down his arms. "I'm calling her Clementine. She's a story in herself, but I'm here to hear yours. Hermes— what happened?"

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ever_mercurial
2021-10-10 08:58 am UTC (link)

There was a baby in the room Hermes hadn't known about and he wasn't ready to move on until he had acknowledged that. "Hello, Clementine," Hermes said warmly, though he turned back to Hecate afterwards.

"I- I thought Luna was-" Hermes waved his hands around. "I think the imposter is a demon who can take people's faces. It came to me as Luna and drove me out to 'meet Peitho' as I believed. Only it took me to Lucifer's house. Once I was there, it took my face instead and- Lucifer, he- He threw me in his basement and I didn't see the sky for months."

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saffroncloaked
2021-10-10 09:20 am UTC (link)

Hecate smiled, softly, as Hermes greeted Clementine. She had yet to decide if it was wise to raise this child in the world of the gods, but for now, Clementine was part of her family.

"I saw Luna two days ago, she is unharmed," Hecate reassured Hermes, watching the stress evident in his hands and refusing to voice the thought unless she has been replaced as well. She caught his waving hand and pressed it gently between hers, taking a seat on the bed beside him. "And as soon as I leave here I will get the pair of them out of that apartment and away from that demon."

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ever_mercurial
2021-10-10 09:26 am UTC (link)

Hermes let out a relieved whoosh of breath. He hadn't even thought about Luna being replaced. Only for her safety. "Thank you," he said, closing his eyes at the feeling of her holding his hand. "I just want them to be safe. I am sure he will steal everything not nailed down, but the money and the stuff doesn't matter to me. I just want Peitho and Luna to be safe."

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	saffroncloaked 2021-10-10 09:42 am UTC (link)
	"They can stay at the Enodia," Hecate said, watching him carefully as he closed his eyes. "Maybe even the one in Salem; I'm sure Luna would like that. Salem leading up to Halloween might be right up her alley." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

ever_mercurial
2021-10-10 09:49 am UTC (link)

"She would love that," Hermes said, looking up at her again. "She- I can only imagine what that imposter has done-" Hermes hated that his wife and acolyte had been used by someone with his face. It was a disgusting violation. "I don't know when I will be able to get out of here. And even then I wouldn't- Its going to take some time before I can protect myself, let alone anyone else."

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saffroncloaked
2021-10-10 10:10 am UTC (link)

Hecate closed her own eyes when he speculated what the demon would have done, closed them firmly to remind herself to keep her rage out of this hospital room. Yes, she could imagine very clearly what the imposter had been doing in Hermes' absence, and how both woman and goddess might respond to it once they knew.

But rage could come later, when she could best put it to use.

"Who else do you trust to keep them safe, and with the knowledge of what happened to you?" she asked him. "I can spread the word, carefully. Create a network that will help protect them. Athena will have some ideas. And Artemis would jump at the chance to discover if demons have tender bits. Even—" she sighed begrudgingly "—Apollo is fond of Luna, and we all know he isn't quiet about his feelings toward the devil for what he did to Clio. You have strong allies on your side."

Enough to take on the devil? Probably not. Enough to protect Luna and Peitho if they turned out to be targets? Perhaps.

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	ever_mercurial 2021-10-10 10:15 am UTC (link)
	"I trust your judgement," he said earnestly. His grip on her hand tightened as he spoke. "I know you would never do anything to endanger them, so if you feel Apollo should know, I trust that. The muses would look after Luna as well, I believe. And the Merry Men. Not for Peitho, but for Luna. They would protect Luna." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

saffroncloaked
2021-10-10 10:23 am UTC (link)

Ugh— did she really want to call on Apollo? No, not really, but she wouldn't rule it out entirely. He certainly had more power than the Muses and the Merry Men— though Luna would be emotionally safer with all of them. "Did the devil give you cause to believe he would go after them?" she asked, and then realised she was missing quite a large part of his story. "And who rescued you?!"

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ever_mercurial
2021-10-10 10:26 am UTC (link)

"No, he- He didn't." Hermes heaved a sigh. "I was there alone for so long and two weeks ago Lucifer brought someone else in. A mortal boy named Henry. Henry told me he was in love with the son of a saint and Lucifer had threatened him. Broke them up. Then took Henry anyway. Turns out Henry was the son of Santa fucking Claus. And - I- Apparently Santa Claus trumps the Devil because the man broke through Lucifer's wards to save his son. I was just incidental."

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saffroncloaked
2021-10-11 10:10 am UTC (link)

Santa Claus was stronger than the devil...? Now that was an interesting piece of information, one Hecate tucked away to muse over later. "And the boy, Henry, he survived? Is here in here too?" she asked, placing a hand over Clementine's back. One thing was for certain; sending her away to live with a mortal family would greatly diminish the risk she'd ever run across enemies as powerful as that. Not remove it entirely, but diminish it... Just another thing to consider, later. "And the saint's son?" By nature of their religion, she tended to steer away from saints, but when mortal children were involved, it didn't matter who their parents were.

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	ever_mercurial 2021-10-11 10:14 am UTC (link)
	"He is," Henry said sadly. "And the second they let me into a wheelchair so I can leave this room, I am going to check on him. Henry was such a kind boy. I think Lucifer broke his back and I don't know if he's awake yet. He was unconscious for two days down there. And I was trying to keep him alive. I don't know the saint's boy, but he wasn't with us." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

saffroncloaked
2021-10-11 10:50 am UTC (link)

Hecate noticed the way Hermes spoke of Henry's kindness, and for a moment she thought about offering to check in on the boy in his stead, but Henry wasn't the one living unawares with a demon. She needed to get to Luna and Peitho, sooner rather than later. "I'll bring you something to make you stronger next time I come in," she said, with a gentle squeeze of his hand. "I'll have Luna help me brew something, but to do that, I'll need to tell her what we're brewing it for. Do you want me to be the one to tell them everything?"

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	ever_mercurial 2021-10-11 10:53 am UTC (link)
	"You can tell her anything you need to tell her," Hermes nodded. He didn't want secrets kept from Luna which might endanger her just because he couldn't be the one to say it. "And I would like that. I am not used to...to feeling weak." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

saffroncloaked
2021-10-11 11:31 am UTC (link)

No, he wasn't, and Hecate wondered if this experience would change the way he treated people weaker than him in times to come. "I'll tell them everything," she nodded, grateful he wasn't asking her to lie. She wouldn't, even if he had asked, but it made things easier if they were on the same page. "I'd say I would message you as soon as they are safe, but I'm sure that they'll message you faster than I can. I'll go and get them now— unless there is anything else you need, or need me to know?"

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	ever_mercurial 2021-10-11 11:40 am UTC (link)
	"No, just- When they're safe and well, may I- Will you come back?" He wanted company and comfort but he didn't want to say so explicitly. "Can I have a kiss?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

saffroncloaked
2021-10-12 07:39 am UTC (link)

"Hermes, you've been on a long journey of suffering and you have a long path ahead of you to walk before you're healed; I'm not going to leave you to crawl out of Hell on your own," Hecate said, reaching out to brush back his hair and press her lips softly against his forehead. "I'll get Luna and Peitho to safety, I'll gather the forces against this demon, and then yes, I'll come back."

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	ever_mercurial 2021-10-12 10:30 am UTC (link)
	"Thank you," Hermes breathed again. She had laid a kiss on his third eye and it was so perfect. So Hecate. "Then be safe. And I will see you soon." (Reply to this) (Parent)