Who: Hades & Persephone What: Aftermath Where: The Lot-Little residence When: Backdated. 2/23/2010, before he sends the mass message Warnings: none
At any other time, Hades would be amazed at how he could call a company states away and have people set up floorless outdoor shed in his backyard to be ready for him when he reached the state. Freyra had supervised, but Hella had handled much of the transport of Zeus' body. Perhaps if he hadn't spent much of the return trip lost in thought, maybe he would have spoken to her. Maybe he would have said much of anything.
But now he was home, sitting in the new outdoor shed with the ground having been dug out two feet so he could be partially underground and the body could be completely beneath it. He sighed a little as he put his fingers into the deep axe wound along Zeus' skull. It would be the least of his problems for this.
With another sigh, he pulled out his phone and texted his fiance: -- Love, I'm outside in the new shed. We need to talk. -- And then he pulled a sheet over the body.
Persephone had wondered about the shed, but she knew that Hades had his strange hobbies and didn't ask questions often about them. It had been a trying few days, of course, so she did not disturb him upon his homecoming. She waited patiently for him to make the first move, which he did by text.
Making sure that Mallory and the ghosts could handle her two little ones, she made her way out to the shed.
He had stripped off his armor and thrown it into a corner of the shed. It was no longer needed. He simply sat beside the body, the silk shirt he had worn under his armor was torn and ichor-stained from when he had been shot, but he looked to the door of the shed, waiting for it to open. “[Careful. There's a two foot drop from there.]”
"[Thanks for the heads up,]" Persephone murmured, carefully hopping down into the shed. She took in his appearance and tried to remain calm. Answers would come in good time. "[You wanted to see me?]"
Hades was so terrible with tactfully doing things like this, but if he figured standing would be a good start. “[I have some good news and bad news about what happened today. Which do you want first?]”
Persephone sighed, rolling her shoulders. It had been a long few days for her as well. "[Just get the bad news over with.]"
“[Don't say I didn't try to brace you...]” Hades replied softly before leaning in to kiss her cheek. Then he turned and ripped the sheet that was covering Zeus' dead body.
Having been the Queen of the Underworld and of Hell, dead bodies did not shock Persephone the way they would a normal person. Still, her eyes went a bit wide. It wasn't every day you saw a dead god.
He waited a moment. Hades knew she wouldn't scream or startle from the sight, but he wanted her to take the moment to understand the situation. Only then did he lower his eyes to the ground and confessed in a whisper. “[I don't know what to do... I only brought back a dead Greek god once and it wasn't like this. I just don't know...]” Only with her did he feel comfortable confessing such a thing and the fact that he had his former queen to confide in only made him feel worse about it.
"[What seems to be the problem? Why can this not be reversed?]" There was no emotion in her voice, only cold tactical curiosity. Zeus had been her father, yes, but she had never been close with him. "[Perhaps something they did to the body?]"
Hades let out another sigh and sat down again on the ground, “[No. The problem is this family needs to stop eating each other.]” Pausing, he patted the ground beside him as he remembered she hadn't heard the 'good news' section. “[You have a new brother. He shot out of your father's head like Athena did. But when your father died and he was born... I saw your father's soul being to depart... It didn't get very far.]”
"[So it went into him? That's not normal.]" She remarked, stating the very obvious.
“[I know it's not.]” He turned his eyes to Zeus and poked one of the limp wings that draped off the dead body's chest when the blanket was pulled away idly. “[But it did and I need that soul to bring him back. Do you think Hera would notice if he was just a zombie?]”
"[Probably. Zombies are very indiscreet.]" Persephone quirked her mouth to the side. "[Dead...wow.]"
“[So was he. We could probably make the zombie a woman-chaser...]” Hades said before he could even catch himself. No. That was a horrible idea It wouldn't be Hera's husband... just an animated meat puppet and having it chase women... He shuddered a little as he let the idea leave him. “[I'm gonna try to bring him back but without the soul...]”
"[Is that wise?]" They did not need a zombie epidemic. Persephone would not stand for a zombie epidemic at ALL.
Turning to look at her, Hades cupped her cheek softly. Touching her made him feel more in control of this situation. Like maybe with her at his side, a sudden necromatic idea would pop into his head. If anything, at least she was there. “[Just because I don't know what to do doesn't mean I don't know what I'm doing.]”
"[I know that. I am offering counterpoint.]" Persephone murmured with a shrug, wrapping an arm around him. "[Someone has to keep your godly head on your godly shoulders...]"
“[That was always your role, wasn't it?]” Hades murmured in reply as he let his hand fall from her cheek so he could likewise wrap an arm around her, pulling her close to him. It never crossed his mind how possibly weird this all was. Holding her close to him two feet away from her father's dead body. Instead, he remembered the centuries of sitting her down in the twilight of his former realm and teaching her the darkest arts. “[Do you want to help me try?]”
"[I could.]" She murmured softly, glancing over at the body. "[Just tell me what you need of me, Hades.]"
Returning his eyes to the body as well, he shrugged a little, “[You got any ideas besides shaking your new brother until he spits up that soul?]”
"[No. Is shaking him an option?]" She hadn't realized that was on the table, so to speak.
“[Probably not. It may or may not kill him. I don't know, but it's not like Zeus is going to get more dead if we leave that option to last.]” He closed his eyes for a moment and just tried to settle. Maybe he would think better if he settled and relaxed for even a moment. All his muscles were tense, his brain had been working rapid fire for hours... maybe that was why he was at a loss. “[Of course, there's a fifty/fifty shot Hera kills you new brother and then I could just try to pull those souls apart.]”
"[Give her the option to kill him and she definitely would,]" Persephone shrugged. She reached over to give his temples a massage. "[It would be a simple solution...though who knows if it is the correct one. And we have no way of knowing for sure, do we? That the vessel is even in tact to receive the soul.]"
“[Eh, that's not too much of a concern. Last time I did this, the god's head was completely off his body and sewed back on pretty much.]” Leaning into her touch, he tried not to let the image of sewing up Zeus' body and then covering it in eagle feathers and whatever else was sacred to him. He didn't know if similar things had actually helped Himeros, but no reason to mess with success. “[What we don't know is if they can be separated. Even eating someone normally involves chewing. A soul eating a soul? It didn't look good.]”
"[It ate his soul?]" This was very confusing. "[Maybe we could just take part of it...who needs a whole soul?]"
Considering Zeus was never a model of upright morality, probably not him. Hades couldn't help the thought even as he opened his eyes and looked again to the dead body of his brother. He could look at him as his brother again, at least for now. He didn't feel angry at him anymore, but he accepted the fact he might also be in some manner of shock. “[Well, it sucked the soul into itself, consuming it, but consuming and eating are similar enough.]”
"[I don't know darling...I don't think there's anything to do but wait and see,]" Persephone murmured, letting out a heavy sigh. She could only imagine the fit that Hera was pitching.
“[We just got to try without the soul for now. I have no choice.]” Hades could imagine the fit Hera was pitching, if she had woken up yet. He had been partly on the receiving end of the beginning of her fit, it would probably only skyrocket from there but maybe his hope had reached her... And so he had to try.
"[Alright...]" Persephone frowned, giving his shoulders a loving squeeze. "...did you want tea first?"
“Gods yes.” It came out of Hades' mouth before he could even think about it. It was like the part of his mind that had adopted British culture made him blurt it out in revolt for missing afternoon tea due to all this miss. He gave her a kiss on the cheek before he stood and offered his hand to help her up. “Then I want to take a good shower and hug my children. Only after those three things am I going to any store and buying stuff to work on this...” His guilt for delaying and how that would hurt Hera was offset by the desire to push back the failure he was more than sure he would meet.
Persephone took his hand, staying close to him. "I'm glad you're hugging them before you go back out. They miss their daddy." She smiled, reaching up to touch his hair. "I missed their daddy too."
My sons probably missed their daddy, too, but having to answer questions by going over there isn't going to help... Hades squeezed her hand as he pulled her close to him to lead her back into the house. Keeping her so close helped to halt his rapid thoughts. Halting them was the first step to thinking clearly about all of this. Clear thinking would help. “Missed you, too. Liked it better the first time we attacked Subrosa and you were with me.” He then paused in midwalk and turned to her, “You know, we didn't completely succeed with that rescue mission either. Terrible track record with this and rescuing your parents.”
A thought came over Persephone, spreading through her mind like a dark cloud. "How effective were you in taking care of Subrosa then?" She had to wonder how safe it was. If it was safer, surely her mother would come home then, wouldn't she?
Hades continued to walk back to the house, closing and locking the shed behind him as he did so. The coffin Zeus was in would automatically shut, lock and preserve him on a timer; he wasn't asking how any of it worked, he just knew it would. “Everyone in that bunker was killed. The rest of them will follow shortly if I have anything to say about it. I'm just done with them. Luckily, I think people finally agree with me.”
"That's wonderful," Persephone murmured, leaning her head on his shoulder. He smelled strongly of death in a way that he hadn't in a long time, but she didn't mind. It was familiar in a way. "My hero."
Hades kissed her hair gently as he unlocked the door to their home and then pulled her inside. In one fluid motion, he pushed her against the then closed door and kissed her deeply. Releasing her only after he needed a breath, he backed away, letting go of her hand and breaking all contact with a small smile. He needed this break. It would help for later. “You're the only one who ever appreciates me.”
"Which is a pity, but it has always worked in my favor..." Persephone giggled, a smirk on her lips. She slipped past him, putting the electric kettle on. "What kind of tea would you like, my love?"
“Surprise me. [I need to get some of this dried ichor and blood off of me. I can feel it cracking when I move my hands.]” Hades clenched his hands, mostly to see how Duvall's dried blood cracked and threatened to flake off his skin. No, this wouldn't do. Touching Persephone like this was one thing; her with some dried blood on her was a little hot. Dried blood in his tea was unacceptable. “[I'll be right back down. Try not to miss me too much.]”
Persephone nodded, and sensing that maybe he needed something strong to steel his resolve, she got out the Earl Grey. She hummed softly to herself, sensing that (in spite of her father's apparent death) all was well in her universe for awhile. She had her children's safety. Her husband had returned. There was a chance that maybe her mother could finally come home. Perhaps Hades could fix Zeus, and then...then everything would be in complete harmony.
Summary: Hades returns with Zeus' body to his home and Persephone is the first to know about it.