Dante Lot (unseen_miami) wrote in olympian_rewind, @ 2010-10-23 17:02:00 |
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Entry tags: | arion, dante lot, demeter, hades, madeline scott, zale scott |
Who: Hades & Demeter (w/ Zale cameo at the end)
What: the most terrible discussion of a birthday ever
Where: Zale’s private high school
When: Between Oct 18-20 Somewhere around then. 6:30 PM
Warnings: none
The sun was just beginning to set behind the grand main building of the prestigious private high school. The sun setting meant three main things for Hades as he laid out on one of the benches of the courtyard, effectively hidden from his car and anything else the parking lot some dozens of feet away. The first was that Zale would be finished with his equestrian practice soon enough and know to come over to the bench to fetch him so they could both go home. The second was that he could take off his sunglasses, which he did so promptly as he pillowed his head on his arms. The third was that it was almost time for dinner...
C’mon, Kiddo, he urged, thought to himself as he glanced over at the door of the school, We’re both hungry...
She’d received the name of her son’s school during their last conversation. As per her usual mode of transportation these days, Demeter stepped onto the school grounds from a secluded copse of trees. It was after hours, and she didn’t know that Zale was still at school for practice. She’d merely wanted to take a look at the place where he was getting his education. She’d done her research and found out quite a bit about it. It was the best place he could have been enrolled, and silently she made a mental note to thank her eldest daughter for taking such good care of him. Of course, she also knew that her brother had to have had a hand in that as well, but she figured it would be a blue moon before she’d see him in person again.
Completely oblivious to the hidden presence of her son’s guardian resting on the courtyard bench not too far from her current location, Demeter began to walk around the grounds, inadvertently causing the local flora around her to brighten with renewed vigor and life as she passed by.
The local flora brightening up immediately caught Hades’ sensitive eyes and he bolted up to sitting. And the his eyes caught sight of her... Of all the courtyards in all the world, the damn bitch had to come to this one... he thought to himself, but outwardly all he did was sigh... loudly. “You. What are you doing he.... You know what? No. Can play nice and we can both pretend this didn’t happen and you just go.”
Demeter froze in her tracks when she heard the unwelcome familiar voice disturb the peace and quiet that had been in the air. She sighed herself before glancing over her shoulder back at Hades. Then she smiled. “Fine. We can play nice. You can stay there and pretend this didn’t happen, and I’ll continue on my merry way somewhere over there.” She made a vague gesture towards the side of the grounds where, unknowingly, the equestrian practice was taking place. Then she turned her back on her brother with a wave of her hand and started walking again. “Nice to see you, Dante. Hope we don’t repeat this anytime soon.”
“You don’t know how to play the pretend game correctly. The correct answer was you leave...” Hades then stood up from the bench, keeping his eyes now locked on the sister he ironically wished to never see.
“I am pretending,” Demeter said as she continued her examination of the school grounds, taking note of the good architecture of the buildings and how well kept the landscaping was in the courtyard. “I’m pretending that I’m an only child.” She examined a sickly looking topiary shrub with a critical eye. “Too much water,” she murmured under her breath before stroking the leaves and willing it back to better health.
“We can both pretend that. More than happy to separate you from me...” Hades shook his head and sat back down on the bench, pulling out his iPhone to give himself to do besides looking at her and her inability to go away. If that activity was buying shares of overseas companies that did horrible things to the environment in the name of progress and profit, so be it. He didn’t lift his gaze from the screen, “Oh, and if you don’t do anything for that boy’s birthday, I am going to burn down your house and everything around it. Don’t care what boosts or whatever you have... My helm shielded me from all observation in our heyday. It certainly will now.”
Demeter paused and glanced over at Hades once more. There was no anger or reflexive spitfire that usually followed such statements from her brother. Instead, there was amusement in her face. To her credit, she didn’t laugh out loud, but the upward quirk of her lips were not forced there for show. “How I plan to make things up to my son is nothing for you to worry about. So save the empty threats to my domain. You aren’t welcome there anyways.” She spoke with a confident tone, something she lacked much of in the months before her two year absence. Then she heard the sounds of horses in the distance. Thoughts of her son and his love of riding immediately came to mind, and she started making her way towards the source of the sounds.
“It wasn’t an empty threat. Meant every word.” There was no humor in his voice at all as he bothered to put away his iPhone and glance up at her again, and then beyond her to where the sound of the horses had come from. Practice was almost over if they were so close. “And it is my concern how you make things up to your son. Because if you fail, I’m the one who is there for him.”
She stopped once more and took a measured breath. Then she looked back at Hades, meeting his gaze without blinking or flinching. “Zale is my son, and I do not plan to fail him. I will give him something that not even you, nor anyone else in our family can offer.”
Hades stood, a cruel slow smirk snuck across his face, before he repressed back and walked passe to the direction of the sound. He knew the students would come with the horses this way, but perhaps if he could see if they were riding to the stables, he would know how much longer he had to tolerate her. If only this wasn’t the meeting spot, he would just go somewhere else. “We’ll see if you don’t fail. You already gave him something the rest of our family can’t offer - the trauma of being abandoned by his mother, the person he depended on the most. As much as I hate you, I don’t want you to give him that again.”
Demeter sighed, raking her fingers through her hair in frustration. She wanted so much just to lash out at him in some way. But then a memory of the silver-haired Danu came to mind and gave her pause. She was silent for a moment as she contemplated the memory.
Then her arms fell to her side. When she spoke, it was with a tired, resigned tone of someone giving up. “[I’m done with this, Hades. I’m done. I’m done with the bitterness. I’m done with the anger. I’m done with the blame. I’m... I’m done fighting back.
“[If you want to stay mad, that’s your prerogative. If you want to call me names, wish me ill, threaten my home and the things that I love... Fine. But I refuse to continue this any longer on my end. All I want to focus my energy and powers on now is the happiness and security of the people who mean something to me in this world.
“[And even if you never believe it, that includes you too.]”
Without waiting for a response, Demeter turned to a large oak tree and walked around it to its shadowed side. She didn’t emerge from the opposite side, though, a flurry of leaves appearing instead that quickly followed a sudden breeze that took them to a large tree on the opposite side of the practice field for the equestrians, well away from Hades. The goddess reappeared there, out of sight of any mortals. She stood there for a minute to compose herself, then made her way to the fence, leaning against it as she quietly watched the boys and girls as they wrapped up their practice. Perhaps, if she was fortunate, she could catch a glimpse of her son before he left with his uncle.
Hades flinched as she disappeared into the tree and his very soul felt like it bristled within his body but then he took a breath and released it, trying to calm his own burning anger. She had at least disappeared from his sight and presence... but he was pretty sure that if she had moved somewhere it was to look for her son. Whatever. Zale was heading toward him.
But glancing at the oak tree, he wondered if she would hear him... if she was inside of it somehow or if, like in his daydreams, all of nature was against him and would pass the message. He didn’t care. If she heard him good, if she didn’t... nothing changed. He took another breath because nothing would ever change.... : “[I don’t believe you because you do nothing to prove it. For a goddess of plants, you do not understand olive branches.... you do whatever you wish as if you were the center of the world, viewing only from your own eyes, as always. But I don’t need your care or concern...]” Looking up towards the leaves of tree, he then truly hoped she could hear him, “[I hope you can see your son. Look right at him. You hurt that boy and he’s still hurt. I can see it.... I may hate you, but I love him. I threatened what you love because your neglect threatened and hurt what I love. If you’re going to be here in Miami, you don’t get to do it again.... at least not on his birthday. That’s too much.]”
Hades didn’t care how threatening violence was a page out of her ancient book - he chose it on purpose because of that fact, nor did he care how his words sounded more fitting from a father - he had been the closest thing Zale truly had to one anyway. He just returned once more to sitting upon the bench.
Hades’ words did reach Demeter through the network the local trees had for one another. She heard his voice from the leaves of the oak behind her. As she pillowed her head on her arms upon the top of the fence, she absorbed them, but refused to react to them. Yes, her brother’s words stung, but it was pointless now to be angry or sad about them. Besides, what he said was a drop in the bucket to how badly she already felt about leaving her son alone for two years. However, as Danu had said repeatedly, dwelling on negative emotions accomplished nothing but setting yourself in a cycle of self-destruction that could literally last forever in immortals such as themselves. It was alright to feel badly for awhile, but then you had to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and work to make things right again.
Looking up, Demeter caught sight of Zale as he was making his way across the field towards his uncle. The temperature was fairly warm and humid. and there wasn’t much of a natural breeze in the air. She imagined that he must’ve been hot during practice. So with a subtle flourish, she called forth a small breeze to follow her son and keep him cool until he reached his uncle’s car. The gentle wind carried a faint scent of flowers. If Zale saw her or not didn’t matter. At least, she got to see him, and she could be content with that.
The teenage boys finished their practice in the most suitable way they could imagine, they raced their horses as fast as they could back to the stables and Zale was out in front. While all the boys owned their horses, Zale had spent years riding Gemini and as they raced out in the front, first to reach the stables, they might as well have been one in purpose and determination.
It wasn’t until Gemini was in the stables and he had said goodnight to him that Zale truly noticed the sweet breeze in the air and it brought a smile to his young face as he grabbed his bookbag in one hand and his riding helmet in the other. It was probably late and his uncle was probably waiting for him.
And his uncle was waiting for him, lightly reciting a Buddhist mantra as his fingers toyed with his mala beads that he usually wore as a bracelet. He heard the boy approach before he saw him and then stood up with a slight smile, “Hey, kiddo. How was practice?”
But the smile was quick to disappear from Hades’ face as he realized the boy wasn’t buying it, or at least knew something was up. The little horse-whisperer’s steps grew slower and yet more purposeful until he was three feet away. The boy began to frown and Hades’ mirrored it at the sight, “What’s wrong, Uncle?”
“Nothing.”
Zale shook his head, “That’s not true. You’re upset.” He then pointed at the beads still in his uncle’s hands, “First off, you don’t usually hold those when you’re not…”
Hades was forced then to look down at his hand and then slip the beads back around his wrist, “Don’t worry about it. Tons of stuff upset me on a regular basis…”
Approaching a little closer, he shouldered his bookbag and looked around, “Was Momma here?”
“You’ve hung around me too much to be able to just figure things out like that, but yeah… she’ll see you later though. Dahlia is probably waiting for us to get home so we can all eat.” Hades had always been impressed by how insightful the boy could truly be when he wanted to. Reaching out, he took Zale’s riding helmet from him and tousled his hair before resting his hand on the back of his skull to begin to guide him to the SUV. As he walked his eyes couldn’t help but drift to the little touches Demeter had caused in the surrounding plants… As the sun continued to set, his more night conditioned eyes could better observe the brightened colors and he sighed a little. A few of months ago, he would have appreciated it and it was a heavy weight to know… to know and to have his all his memories still be so terribly close to the present. He shook his head to clear it, “Let’s just get home.”
Zale continued to frown. He expected the restrained anger and disdain from his uncle when it came to his mother. He didn’t like it but he respected that Hades at least tried to feign neutrality around him. He wasn’t accustomed to sorrow… Maybe it wasn’t just that he had seen his mother… “Are you sure you’re okay, Uncle?”
Sure I’m okay? I’m never okay. I don’t think I’ve ever been okay… Hades thought to himself as a snuffed dark half-laugh escaped while he clicked the door opener button on his remote. “You worry too much about me. Am not hiding some new horror. You have my word. Now you go back to being a teenage boy with few cares or concerns in the world and I’ll go back to getting to worry about you.”
The boy nodded as he chucked his bag into the backseat of the SUV. He wouldn’t press his uncle and he wouldn’t press his mother when he could sense her pains and discomforts. But his uncle had picked the right words to tell him – he would have few concerns and those concerns would be the two of them.
Summary: Hades was waiting to pick up Zale from his after-school activity. What he didn’t expect was Demeter to be around the school as well. It goes as well as you can guess.