Who: Katou, Persephone, Hades What: Hades and Persephone come across a teenager made of plants who needs a little help When: Sept 29thish Where: The street Warnings: Katou's in bad shape and language, but other than that, not really
Even if his body hadn’t been in the process of a slow death, Luci’s last blow would have taken him out sooner than later, even if he’d avoided killing him in that one blow. Besides, Katou was the only one among them that wasn’t fit to enter Heaven, enter the Gates of Entemenanki. It made sense that he’d hold the gate open so Set could get through in one piece.
And then the gates closed, and the Star of Wormwood filled his vision. Someone - Kira - had once told him that a falling star grants a million wishes, but the only wish that Katou had was that he had a light for his cigarette.
And then there was the red glow of a cigarette pressed up against his, and Kira was standing next to him, and maybe, just maybe, death - true death, this time - wouldn’t be so bad after all. It wasn’t like he’d ever really expected to get a chance at a real life ever again.
Except then the light he could still see through his eyelids dimmed, and the roaring of the rushing star was replaced with the din of traffic, and the gate he’d been leaning against, the debris and stones he’d been sitting on, suddenly felt suspiciously like a sidewalk.
He couldn’t open his eyes, couldn’t move a muscle, but before he lost consciousness entirely, he heard a man say, “Hey kid, are you all -” and then there was a hand on his arm, and he heard “oh shit,” and then he heard nothing else.
Hades was pleased that summer’s end had finally arrived in Vallo. The cloudy skies and cooler temperatures of Autumn suited his tastes far better than the bright sunshine of the summer months. Wanting to make the most of it, he’d originally decided to go for a run. However, one look at Persephone’s big eyes and he immediately altered his plans. Instead he invited her to come on a stroll with him. It was difficult to miss the way his face lit up when she accepted.
He happily listened to her talk about her day as they walked, his attention focused solely on her, despite the bit of commotion that seemed to be happening up ahead.
Though the day was nothing less than beautiful and the company nothing less than, well, perfect, it was difficult not to slow her steps as Persephone felt an inexplicable shift in the energy around her. Her hand, whose fingers were currently laced through Hades’, loosened their grip as she moved to tug at his sleeve and point toward the unmistakable stir just ahead of them. Brow furrowing, she said, “We should go see what’s going on.”
Persephone was inherently the kind of person who wanted to help others. It wasn’t just a matter of the guilt that constantly rode shotgun in her thoughts, but also her very nature. This wasn’t that, though. For as much as the shocked gasps and hurried gestures indicated that someone might be hurt, there was a wrongness that she could feel about whatever it was that had caused the public distress. Whatever had shifted in the energy was directly tied to the pull she felt toward the crowd ahead.
Glancing up quickly, she made eye contact with Hades, then hastened her steps and pushed forward.
The more reserved King of the Underworld was far less likely to run and help someone just because. It was more his style to hang back and observe before making any moves. He wouldn’t let her go on her own, however, and it was clear she would insist that they help. With his expression set, Hades gave her a slight nod and together they strode toward the slowly gathering crowd.
As they drew nearer, he could also sense….not something wrong, exactly. Souls leaving their bodies was as natural to him as anything. But he could see a struggle happening as a soul tried desperately to cling to its massively injured body. His eyes briefly flashed red as they finished closing the distance and he surveyed the scene. “That soul is hanging on by a thread.” He said quietly to her.
Persephone could only nod in acknowledgement. She couldn’t sense souls the way that Hades could, and she would have no way of understanding that something was off with the soul in trouble here, but she knew just as surely as Hades did that someone or something was dying here. As she approached the crowd, she tried to elbow her way through though the onlookers were less yieldy than she would have liked. After a moment of struggling to make a path for herself and Hades and languishing in the dyingness in the air around her, she had had enough.
“Move!” she shouted, lifting up off of her feet and using the momentum of her flight to push the remaining startled people out of her way. She settled down next to--well, he looked like a person, even if he felt different to her.
She knelt down and touched his face--clammy--and asked, “Hello? Sir? Can you hear me?” But there was nothing for it. He was slipping and fast if Hades’ words were any indication. “Hades, Hades, we have to help him,” she pleaded, as she started looking for any obvious wounds. She was no doctor, but she felt sure that she was meant to help.
It was so like Persephone to dive headfirst into something before taking a moment to truly assess the situation. Hades’ brow knit together as the tiny pink goddess made her way directly into the crowd without a second thought. His jaw clenched slightly, but he stayed right with her.
He’d been about to order the onlookers aside himself when Persephone took care of things quite efficiently. A brief smile of admiration for her turned up the corners of his mouth. It didn’t last long, however, as he quickly followed after her through the now cleared path.
Hades could see the anguish on her face as she began to assess his wounds. His heart ached for her, knowing just how much saving someone would mean to her. He knelt on the ground beside Persephone and placed a gentle hand on the small of her back.
“I don’t think it wise to move him,” he said quietly. “Perhaps I can retrieve a healer and bring them here.”
“No.” Persephone replied wildly. She couldn’t explain it, but she knew that this was…different. They didn’t have time and they didn’t need traditional means of medicine. Not yet, anyway. After he was stabilized, they’d need to find a healer. She could feel the thorns starting to slowly circle their way through her hair as she hurriedly checked the obvious places for mortal wounds to no avail.
But yet-- but yet she could feel it, like she could feel the slowly dying plantlife as winter approached, or the wilting leaves of a drought-fated flower. It made no logical sense to her because she knew too well that people were not plants, but the familiar tug at her senses needed no explanation. “Hades,” she said, voice low and meant only for his ears, “He- I think he’s-- a plant.”
And struck with the sudden rightness of saying it aloud, Persephone quickly went to work feeling out the problem the way she might tend to her garden. Winter might be approaching for the fallen man, but Persephone knew how to make sure life grew anew when the snows melted.
“I….” Hades paused and looked at her, bewildered. “What? Kore…” He moved in more closely to her, concerned by what she’d said. Yet, despite the fact that it made no sense to him, he couldn’t deny what was currently happening directly in front of his face. Whatever it was that Persephone was doing, it was working. He could see the body in front of them slowly growing stronger.
He placed a gentle hand on the young man’s arm. Whatever it was that Persephone was doing, it wouldn’t be worth it if the damned soul slipped away from them in the meantime. He willed the soul to stay right where it was for the moment.
Persephone could not pretend to understand that was happening. She'd never had the same affinity for fixing people as she had for nurturing flora. But here she was, feeling each thread of this person's life slowly unraveling and pulling taut as she used her will to thread him back together. Her fingers moved up and brushed over his shoulder where the seam of his being gave way for the metal of his arm.
This was the root. She could feel it in every fiber of her being. If he was the garden, the arm was the blight. She frowned, hesitating over his shoulder. She didn't know how to fix this outside of removing the arm, but that felt like a bigger decision than she could make here in the sidewalk surrounded by people watching them work. It wasn't a choice she could make for someone else on the fly.
She couldn't fix it, but she could buy him time.
As Hades worked to tether his soul, Persephone got to work fortifying the barrier between flora and metal. If she could make it strong enough, put enough of her own magic into its life, she could give this man the time to make his own choices--and enough time for her to come up with a better plan.
It didn’t take the soul much coaxing to go back into its body once it was made habitable again; it had been fighting to stay there in the first place, and the something there making sure it didn’t go flying off to wherever, the crawl back was made easier.
The sounds of the city returned first, a confused cacophony. It was a familiar side, but not one that he knew right away, except for the fact that it wasn’t right. Where were the angelic trumpets or the roaring noise of the fallen star that should have been there.
And then, he was suddenly aware of the fact that someone was there, right there in front of him, touching him, and someone else with their hand on his arm. He had the vague impression of an angel that had wanted to experiment on his body, and his first thought was that she’d come to collect what was owed her.
He lashed out with the metal arm, the person in front of him away, and did the same with whoever was touching his actual arm, even before he opened his eyes. He didn’t recognize either one of them, but that wasn’t a surprise, since he didn’t know much of anything: not where he was, or why he was there, or even who he was.
He scrambled to his feet, and stepped backwards to put more space between them, stopping instinctually before he stepped off the curb and onto the street, tearing his gaze from them only for a second at a time - hopefully not long enough for either one of them to make a move - to make some sort of sense of his surroundings. His metal hand, steel bound in leather, had sprouted five long blades from where his fingers had been. “Where is this? Who are you?” he demanded.
Hades’ eyes flashed at the movement of the arm and he instinctively pulled Persephone closer. He grit his teeth against the anger that flared up in his chest. It was a natural reaction he’d direct toward anyone who might potentially harm Persephone and his eyes glowed red. However he still had enough sense to recognize that a soul who had come so close to passing on would be understandably bewildered. It was not done out of any particular malice or desire to hurt them, and his cooler, more logical side took control once more.
He stood, and gently helped Persephone back to her feet as well. “We’re not going to hurt you. We were only attempting to help heal you. My name is Hades.” He glanced down toward Persephone, giving her the opportunity to introduce herself.
Persephone maintained her composure as she dusted herself off, Hades’ presence beside her helping. “And I’m Persephone. You’re in Vallo, but this is a conversation that might be best held, well, somewhere a bit quieter?” She tried to keep her voice calm and soothing, lest she startle the person in front of them more than he already seemed to be. Glancing over her shoulder pointedly, she tried to point out the still lingering crowd, which seemed more intrigued by the potential drama than possessing any motivation to help the situation, without saying it out loud.
“Basically, this isn’t home. There are people who can answer all of the questions I’m sure you have, “she continued, “and you can get something to eat. If you, ah, you know. Eat. You should probably rest soon. You were in a bad state just now.”
He tensed, ready for a fight when he saw Hades’ eyes, but after a moment he relaxed a little, his finger blades retracting so they were once again normal looking fingers, tipped in metal fingernails.
The name Hades was familiar, except it was a place, he thought, not a person. The person was… was Uriel; the name came to him after only a little bit of searching. He glanced from the two of them to the crowd when Persephone pointed them out, and he relaxed further: no one was going to attempt to fight him with this many people around. At least, he assumed they wouldn’t.
He’d thought, not in so many words, that he knew this city - Tokyo - but now that he had more time to glance around he realized he didn’t. There were similarities, but not a whole lot.
“I was supposed to be dead,” he muttered, patting his stomach for the wound he thought must be there, then his chest for an even older wound, but he couldn’t feel the torn flesh underneath the rags that had, at one point, been a shirt and jacket.
He was still standing on the edge of the curb, and as a bus went rumbling passed, close enough that he could feel the wind from its passage, he stepped further onto the sidewalk. Bewildered as he still was, there was something in his body posture that suggested that he’d probably follow them.
“You would have been,” Hades answered solemnly. “Had it not been for her.” He touched Persephone’s back gently.
The more they spoke, the more Hades realized they were really just speaking with a confused, frightened child. He thought of how he would feel if Hazel turned up somewhere, dying and alone. He’s expression softened further. “I know none of this makes much sense right now, but we can make sure you stay safe. If you feel comfortable with it, we can escort you to the new arrivals building.”
Katou’s eyes stung, but he blinked hard and scowled. He had to stop crying every single time he didn’t die, and he definitely didn’t intend to cry here, in front of a crowd of strangers. Though, at least some of the bystanders seemed to have lost interest now that it seemed like there was going to be no fighting and were dispersing.
He nearly laughed at the idea that someone could make sure he stayed safe, but he settled for a snort instead, and then, after another moment, he nodded. He wasn’t quite sure if he trusted his voice not to betray him at the moment.
Persephone of the past might have protested at the compliment. She’d only helped a little! Hades and his soul work had been the drux of it! But…no, Persephone’s contribution had been significant. Hades could have held his soul in place but with a dying body that would have barely been a bandaid on the problem. Conversely, had Hades not been there, no amount of Persephone’s patchwork would have been enough. She was more powerful than she’d ever given herself credit for, and she was grateful for a partner like Hades who not only recognized but appreciated that power in her.
That was a thought to revel in later, though. For now, the most important thing was this new arrival. She didn’t expect him to trust them right away, but at least he seemed open to humoring them long enough to make it to the DOA.
A warm, understanding smile perked up at the corners of her mouth. “Right then, this way. It’s maybe a ten minute walk from here.” She wondered for a moment if she ought to look up the phone number to the DOA as she knew they’d already have someone en route. She didn’t want to risk losing his cooperation, though, and thought perhaps this might be one of those times to apologize later, if necessary. “What’s your name? How are you feeling? We should probably talk later after you feel a bit more comfortable about...what happened back there.”
Hades raised an eyebrow at the boy’s snort, but chose not to comment. Instead he just gave a slight nod, and fell into step alongside them as they turned toward the DOA. He was good with souls, but social interactions were most definitely not his forte. They were for Persephone, though. Hades was positive she could win over just about anyone, and so he opted to stay quiet (while keeping a wary eye on their surroundings) as she tried to get the boy to open up slightly.
The boy’s eyebrows furrowed at the question, and he patted what was left of his jacket before he found his pack of smokes. He didn’t know what happened to the one he’d had before he came here - chances are that it had burned down, or had disappeared when he’d lost consciousness - but he managed to find what was left of his smokes and took one between his teeth before he remembered that he didn’t actually have a lighter on him.
Still, the action had given him time to think, had given him an excuse to not answer right away, because he didn’t have an answer. But as he tried to come up with an answer, he thought of Kira, who’d called him Katou, and Setsuna, who’d called him Yuu.
“Katou,” he said after a moment. “My name’s Katou. I don’t…” He grit his teeth and rubbed the side of head. “I’m fine. I have no idea what’s going on though. Is this somewhere on Assiah? On Earth, I mean?”
He’d never heard of anywhere called… Vallo? Had she said? But it wasn’t like Katou’d paid much attention in class, so that didn’t mean much.
Shaking her head, Persephone replied, “I don’t think so. Everyone here has kind of a different version of Earth, but Vallo is not it. It’s--” She hesitated, pressing her lips together as she tried to choose her words carefully. She wasn’t trained to explain this the way the DOA Welcoming Committee was, and she was at least a bit concerned that she might overwhelm him to the point of refusing to go any further with them. “It’s complicated,” she settled on. Honesty seemed a good way to go. “I landed here the same as you, honestly. Well, no, not exactly the same. There was less, mm, need for medical attention? But this was all very new to me when I first saw it myself.”
Without missing a step, Hades pulled a lighter from his pocket and smoothly passed it over to the boy- Katou. He very nearly asked for one of them himself, but ultimately thought better of it. Instead he just slipped his hands into his pockets and walked alongside them.
“There are many of us here,” he murmured in a low voice, continuing to look ahead. “We all were pulled here unexpectedly from our worlds to this one. It’s become a community of sorts, with most of us living our lives the best we can here.”
Katou took the lighter without a word, lit his cigarette, and handed it back. He took in a deep breath and exhaled through his nose. That helped, a little. Things he’d forgotten, memories that had been leaking steadily from him since he’d lost his arm, were coming back to him now, a trickle more than a tide. His sister's name, breaking the Egg of Wormwood.
There were a lot of people here, he noted. Maybe as many as there were in Tokyo. Evidently, he hasn't ended this world. Or maybe Setsuna had saved everyone, like he had the habit of doing. Maybe Katou'd pretend it was the latter; that seemed better than the idea that he’d woken up in a new world just after destroying his own.
"And people do what, exactly?" Katou asked. Somewhere on the other side of the street, someone laughed, and Katou looked toward the sound; it had been a long time since he'd last heard something like that. If he didn't know better, he'd have thought there was a dwarf standing there talking to a fairy. Maybe there was something still wrong with him. Then again, these people were pink and blue, which Katou was just beginning to realize was kind of weird, so maybe there was just something wrong with here. "There some reason we were brought here? Some sorta job they expect us to do?"
Persephone considered Katou’s question. It was a question she’d asked herself plenty of times. Why had she been brought here? Why had Artemis been brought here and then taken away? Why had her mother never shown up? There didn’t seem to be any particular rhyme or reason as to why some people were pulled here. “I wish I could answer that satisfactorily,” she offered, her fingers brushing by Hades’ as they walked side-by-side.
“But there doesn’t seem to be any real catch, if that makes sense? I mean, we all end up doing something here because that’s how life works, but nothing is specifically required of us. Some people help fight the dangerous creatures that sometimes crop up, but no one’s required to. I don’t usually partake in the defense of Vallo myself, but I make an exceptionally good latte. And-” she hesitated, glancing over at their companion, “I offer a unique insight into and affinity for plants.” She watched him for any signs that that meant anything to him, any acknowledgement of the matter she’d sensed he was in part made up of.
But then the looming building ahead caught her attention and, for the moment, she pulled her eyes away from Katou and nodded instead toward the DOA. “And that’s our destination just there. They’ll be able to get you set up with a way to communicate with the rest of us Outlanders as well as housing. They’re very helpful, actually. For landing in a random world unexpectedly, they make the process a little easier to swallow. There’s also a very cool introductory video that one of the other Outlanders created.”
Hades listened thoughtfully as Persephone did her best to try and explain some of the way this strange place worked. He was always interested in hearing her thoughts and opinions on things. They never failed to be new and refreshing. He gave her a gentle smile as they came to a stop in front of the DOA building. He looked from the building, to Persephone, and back over to Katou. After a moment’s pause, Hades handed Katou a business card. (Yes, he’d created new business cards for himself here.)
“Should you find yourself needing any additional assistance for anything.”
It seemed like a lot of work to go through if there wasn’t a catch involved. It seemed like there should be something. And the building up ahead, the idea of just walking into some building and getting housing and some sort of So You Died Again and Get Yet Another Chance At Life video seemed way to normal for how strange all of this way. He found himself wondering if this wasn’t one of those hallucinations that cropped up sometimes, where someone tried to get into your head and show you something that you’d always wanted so they could convince you to attack your companions or give up fighting.
Except for the fact that Katou was usually pretty good at sensing when that was going on, and he’d already been at the end of the line. There’d been no more fight left in him by the time this… whatever it was took over. Besides, you’d think they’d use people that Katou actually cared about, instead of a couple of people he’d never met before in his life. Besides, they tended to be more believable than whatever this was. He took Hades’ business card, giving it a quick glance before he put it in his remaining pocket with his smokes.
“Plants, huh?” Katou asked. “Guess that’s how you were able to put me back together again? Uriel gave me this body so I could leave Hades, but it’s kinda been falling apart since...” He shrugged his metal shoulder, since that probably explained most of it. He was starting to feel a little bit more like himself now, his soul settling back in and getting its bearings.
He glanced at Hades and frowned thoughtfully. “Don’t suppose you got any relation to the place, huh?” Katou’d never seen anyone blue in Heaven, Hell, or in Hades where human - and some angel - souls went when they died, but he wasn’t about to fool himself into thinking he’d seen even a fraction of any of those places. Besides, they’d mentioned different worlds, so different afterworlds seemed to make sense too.
Nodding, Persephone said, “It is. I didn’t know I’d be able to do it when we happened upon you. I surprised myself a bit, actually. I’m glad we were in the right place at the right time, though, because I’m not entirely sure a regular medic would have been able to help.” It was uncanny, really, how lucky they’d been. She was just glad that he seemed, for the moment, all right. “Definitely reach out after you get settled, though. I want to make sure you don’t end up in that same shape again.”
She turned her attention toward Hades, then. She’d never heard of a place called Hades, but he’d also been alive far longer than she had.
Hades cleared his throat softly, feeling slightly uncomfortable. But it was a simple enough question to answer, even if he didn’t particularly care to. “It is named after me. In my world, it would be known as the Underworld, but as I rule over it, it can sometimes be referred to by name instead. That is how I was able to keep your soul in place and tether it back to your body even as it wanted to move on. As King of the Underworld, I have control over spirits.”
Katou stared. Had he known that someone was holding his soul in place? He thought he must’ve, because the initial surprise of it was gone quickly, replaced with a quiet duh. He wouldn’t have been able to hold on by himself.
A smile was forming, uncertain, nine-tenths disbelief as he turned his gaze over to Persephone, and then he started laughing, raking his hand - cigarette held between his index and middle finger - into his hair.
It was like the start of a bad joke, wasn’t it? A Flower Princess and the King of the Underworld stumble upon a corpse made of plants. A+ material right there, hysterical, and he was forced to clench his teeth as the laughter got louder, suddenly sure that it was going to turn into sobs if he didn’t put a stop to that.
Seriously. What were the chances? Pretty fucking unlikely. Impossible, he might have said. And he was pretty sure he knew what the punchline was: This is your absolute last chance, don’t fuck it up again. Message received, loud and clear.
No pressure.
He kept his fingers tangled in his hair for a moment longer until he was sure he had control over himself again, and then he pinched the cherry of his cigarette between his metal fingers, and tucked it behind his ear; they’d arrived in front of the building they’d pointed out to him.
“Well shit, guess I’m pretty fucking lucky you’re the two people that stumbled on me,” he said, the closest he was likely to come to a thank you, and it was only through years of practice that his smile looked like pretty much the real thing now, no trace of hysteria or uncertainty. “Looks like this is my stop.”
Persephone couldn’t disagree with him. It was pretty lucky that Vallo had seen fit to put them in his path. But it wasn’t luck that was going to make sure Katou kept walking around here as healthy as he was at this very moment. The bandaid would slowly start to peel off and she didn’t know how to impress upon him how important it was that he reach out to them sooner rather than later.
She nodded in acknowledgement at the building in front of them and said, “Let us know if you need anything after you talk to the DOA. I made a comprehensive list of the best bakeries in town, and we know all of the best places to take a dog or several for a walk. It’s also really therapeutic if you don’t have a dog? Because there’s lots of opportunity to pet them.”
She cleared her throat, stopping herself from rambling on. “Anyway, you should head on in! I’m sure they were already out looking for whoever came through one of the waypoints. But don’t forget! We need to talk soon about your arm. You can reach me through Hades’ card. I don’t, erm, have any business cards of my own.”
Hades thought he recognized the expression in Katou’s eyes. It was the look of someone barely hanging on. He felt extreme empathy for the young man, but chose to keep quiet for the time. He knew that if the roles were reversed, he wouldn’t care for anyone to be calling it out.
He looked over to Persephone and nodded in agreement as she encouraged the young man to contact them. After she encouraged him to head on in, Hades stepped forward and handed Katou his lighter. There were very few things anyone could do to provide comfort during this transition, and he was certain the young man would have an even more difficult time of it than usual, given the state he’d been in. It wasn’t very much, but it was something. “We’ll talk with you soon.”