Chapter Text
“One would think that the gods would be grateful that they have such wonderful children who still worship them…albeit they do it out of fear…”
“Of course not, they expect to be worshiped. Nothing more nothing less, ha! As if WE needed worship from them!”
“Come now my sibling, we simply enjoyed being in their presence. Who knew that us going to sleep would end up like this!”
“One world is riddled with gods who want to destroy humanity and the other is riddled with gods who don’t give a f*ck about their kids.”
“...Oh, so we’re speaking in modern lingo now?”
“That is NOT my point!”
“I’m simply asking…no need to get all uppity at me.”
“I will show you-”
“And your analysis on the first world we created is wrong! They appreciate the will and power of humanity! Especially the godly fighters.”
“Again, they simply want to f*ck them to make more kids they probably won’t give to sh*ts about.”
“....I don’t think so…if you have looked into it you can see that a few of them, being on the godly side, are worried that they won’t be able to keep their human lovers without children to bind them.”
“Oh great. They’re possessive assholes in that universe as well.”
“My sibling!”
“You said it.”
“They want to be with them until the end of time and I think we can help them with that!”
“...What are you up to?”
“The son of the sea will be tortured for years, hated by everyone until the Great Prophecy is finished and he is lauded a hero.”
“And giving him to the TYRANT version of his father who is OBSESSED with PERFECTION and MELDING his and SASAKI KOJIRO’S lines is your idea of his life being better?”
“The son of the underworld will always be second fiddle to his sister, hated by his stepmother and feared by all other demigods.”
“And you think giving him to QIN SHI HUANG, a woman who has never had a STABLE FAMILY and Hades who is quite honestly an embarrassing SIMP is a good idea?”
“The son of Jupiter, abandoned at the behest of his awful stepmother and forced into leadership for all his life only to be forced into a lie that will end up breaking him.”
“And you want that skeletal, fight loving and creepy father of the cosmos to raise him?”
“He would go to his Golden boy and his lovely moon haired wife!’
“...He might actually turn out well rounded, considering his mother would be the underworld famous ARTIST OF DEATH and his father another embarrassing SIMP…..”
“They would be raised as children and warriors all the same! They wouldn’t have to fear!”
“What of the others?”
“Huh?”
“Lu Bu and Thor? Tesla and Beelzebub? Okita and Susano? Simo and Anubis? Especially Leonidas and Apollo, if you want to stick to the Greek thing.”
“Oh…I…I…um…”
“They will riot if they cannot have the same. You know this.”
“They have the most danger upon them, by those blasted children of ours! They think meddling with lives is funny, oh those fates…”
“First off, we are siblings. Calling them out children is sick! Second…they like to ruin lives.”
“Look, I can’t find any child of Thor, Beelzebub in that world has decided to reside in landfills for some reason. Sunsanoo I can’t find him no matter what. Anubis ends up becoming obsessed with a girl WAY too young for him and…Apollo has TOO many.”
“...I doubt Apollo would like that. I doubt any of the Greeks on the more reasonable side would like that they are neglecting their children.”
“..I know. That is why I am only doing them. Nico will be deaged to ensure he won’t remember anything. Percy is too powerful for Sally and he needs a firm and kind hand; something she won’t be able to provide…not with great sacrifice. Jason…he deserves a nice family.”
“You're ignoring the real question I asked. Why aren’t you actually going to give these more reasonable gods their children? I am sure they would be happy, if they realized how sh*tty they have been treated for their counterparts flight of fancy.”
“As much as I would rather not, that prophecy needs to be fulfilled before I can even entertain thinking of such a thing. With a stroke of luck, we may be able to create a one way for the reasonable ones, so they can actually begin to bond with these forgotten children.”
“Hermes and Ares are going to want to FIST FIGHT their counters, you know? Who knows what Apollo is going to end up doing who knows what to his own. Aphrodite…I don’t know, she’s a bitch…she’s gotten better for sure but I think you're just hurting those kids more.”
“Who knows. Who knows.”
“...When are we dropping off the kids?”
“Once the bad news is delivered.”
“...You really want that Son of Poseidon to die.”
“I don’t!”
“....”
“HEY! DON’T LEAVE!”
In the great seas of the godly realm, Poseidon was reaching his limit.
Did his subjects not know how to govern their lands and decide to waste his time in helping straighten out the stupidest of disputes?
Him? The God of Gods?
Disgraceful.
How he wished to impale them all with his trident.
But as a king and as a god, he must be perfect.
And perfect he shall be.
Despite how much they were grating on his nerves.
“All I am saying is that allowing humans to occupy our land is outrageous! Especially since they seem to think that waterworks will sway our incompetent queen!”
Except for instances like this.
“And what do you have to say with your new queen,” Poseidon interrupted, eyes opening to gaze upon the mer who gave out the spew of words that would spell his doom. The humans on the opposite side of this debate noticed his mood switch, and wisely stepped back; the guards standing at attention at their lord's visible ire.
This was going to end with the throne room stained in blood.
Once more it seemed.
“My King! A human! One that killed you during ragnarok instead of rolling onto her back like the dog she is and begging for her life is not one worthy enough to be our queen-” he began, looking like he was in the right as the humans shook behind him and sought the guards to defend them.
And readily defend them they did, for they showed an ounce of self preservation.
“You deem the one person in all of Valhalla who can best me to be unworthy as my partner and queen of the seas? You compare the only one able to defeat me to a dog,” Poseidon demanded, standing up as the merman began to swim back. “Am I hearing you correctly?” He demanded, hand tightening around his Trident.
“NO! I would never-” He gasped, only to be interrupted.
“But you just did! All you do is curse our race and our queen, saying she is nothing but the royal bed warmer,” the defendant, a human fisherman who supplied the humans of Valhalla and the palace yelled out, pointing at him accusingly from behind a guard. “I said I was sorry for fishing in your territory! The lines drifted further out due to the latest storm! It wasn’t my fault!”
“...Is that right,” Poseidon sighed, already deciding on killing the merman. “You seem to hold a lot of arrogance for a merman who did nothing but bark during ragnarok. Humans came to the aid of humans, they cheered them on and healed them. We gods relied on ourselves.”
“My king-”
“I will hear no more from piss like yourself. Your lands will be given to the fisherman to be used as he sees fit under our laws and ordinances, you are sentenced to death.” Poseidon decreed, already moving down the steps from his throne to deliver the final blow.
"For what, My king what have I done to lose my lands,” he wailed, falling to his knees as the human blinked in shock. They went to speak only to have Proteus stop them.
“Don’t, lest our king turn on you as well,” he warned the human, Poseidon impaling the merman without any pretense with the final words of-
“You insulted my queen.”
It was silent after that, the human flinching at the bones that snapped and cracked as the trident was removed from the other body. They shivered as the body let out a splat as it hit the ground, swallowing while they hugged themselves before Poseidon turned on them.
They gave a cautious step back, bowing their heads in a show of submission because they did not want to have the same fate. Poseidon hummed, noting their submission with a nod of his head.
“Proteus, ensure the transfer of lands goes smoothly, I am finished with this farce,” Poseidon informed him without a care of the blood on him. “I will be with my wife.”
“Of course my lord,” Proteus bowed, others following before the doors closed on Poseidon’s back, the god feeling their visible relief before he continued on his way to the training grounds where his human queen awaited.
The sounds of thumping and thwacks of a wooden sword on bamboo mats was familiar to him, him entering the open air arena to see his foolish wife hard at work in practicing.
No longer donned in her expensive silks and adorned with dripping jewels, she was in her old ronin outfit, the top pooled around her waist as nothing more than bandages covered her breasts. Her hair, black and lustrous as the powers at be that reversed the effects of her aging deemed her to be worthy of youth and the keeping of her skill, was once more in her signature ponytail.
On her left hand a silver pearl encrusted ring lay firmly upon her hand, one that was never taken off despite what she did.
And oath sworn between Husband and Wife.
Sasaki Kojiro.
The World's Greatest Loser.
The First Human Winner of Ragnarok.
The Swordsmen who reached the peak of Swordsmanship.
Queen of the Seas.
Wife of the God of Gods.
Wife of Poseidon.
His wife.
His….wife.
He held no illusions about his love being wholly pure and untainted by his anger and obsessions. In fact that is what spurred his desire to marry her in the first place, someone who looked him in the eye without fear and defeated him with odds stacked against her and her pathetic race. It was his desire to break that, make her see that she could not change him and that he would be who he was no matter what; her win or no.
He was a god and she a filthy mortal.
Even now, he had moments where he stilled wanted to kill her, for those words she had spoken to him that day when he told her what it meant to be a god.
“That sounds…awfully lonely.”
He still hated the way that response would echo in his head whenever people spoke of him leaving her for another goddess at some point as if those blundering whor*s were able to match up to her in any sort of way.
And then he would hate himself for thinking she was above the goddesses that populated his realm.
But…in the end…
Yes his pride forced him to confront her time and time again, his anger made him come into conflicts with her again and again; and his unholy desire to dominate and conquer her reared its head at some point in the year….
But he loved her.
Wholly and truly.
Someone who understood him, his plights and his desires; their first coupling he had wanted to destroy her but all she had done was hold him close, whispering about how he was treating her so wonderfully and how she felt so good.
How she felt so much joy in giving him her maidenhood, having never given it during her natural life.
That is when he cracked, he would often think, during that moment when the blood of maidenhood dripped onto the floor and he was met with the reality that he had found his match. A woman who could change and adapt at any moment, who never stopped learning and always improving, so wholly unlike him but his perfect match.
Those f*cking Fates.
“Po?”
Her voice broke him out of his musings, the god locking eyes with her as she smiled, waving him close while hefting the wooden sword onto her shoulder.
“Didn’t you have those…ummm…what are they again? Oh!” She snapped her fingers. “Didn’t you have those open hearings for your subjects today?”
“....They are all useless and not worth the time of a god,” he decided, blowing out a breath while closing his eyes to dull the headache he could feel forming.
“Oh, so you left after it got too annoying hhhhhhhhhh,” she teased, smiling while he opened his eyes to glower at her. “Sorry, sorry. But I understand it. I can barely get through mine when you make me,” she pouted at him, the god smirking at her despair while she struck her tongue out at him. “Sooo…what brought you out here today?”
“....Dinner.”
“...hmmm? Oh! Is it dinner time already,” she gasped, looking at the arena’s clock before sighing. ‘My bad! I’ll get cleaned and changed, meet you in the dining hall for dinner?”
“Yes.”
“Alright,” she nodded, moving in to kiss him as Poseidon responded in kind. He pulled her in close, molding her lips to his and sighing into it as it felt right. But it was cut short as she pulled back, laughing with that idiotic smile on her face before kissing his cheek and leaving his embrace, heading to their rooms to prepare for dinner.
He turned, already dressed for the meal and would be content to wait for her at the table. His walk was shrouded in silence, while he was making his way to the dining hall he passed by the courtyard where the servants were taking care of the special kimonos he had ordered for her, the human women efficient and precise in their washing of the immensely delicate fabric.
He remembered the day he was forced to bring them in, Sasaki’s formal Kimonos all destroyed by his foolish servants ineptitude in taking care of such delicate clothes. The humans had been intimidated but steadfast in their skills, the kimonos that could be salvaged without much fuss and the other finer kimonos were all washed and steamed to perfection the very next day.
Needless to say he kept them on staff as his wife’s personal staff, the older woman in charge of designs for his wife when new kimonos were set to be made. She was the most adept of his wife’s staff and he rewarded her handsomely for all her work.
She simply bowed, chuffed and said that beauty like her needed to shine.
He didn’t like humans, but he liked her attitude.
Shaking his head he moved to enter the dining hall, raising a brow at Hermes who stood at attention next to his chair.
“A missive from Beelzebub,” was all his nephew provided, holding out a letter that held the demon’s wax seal.
Poseidon hummed, taking the letter with some excitement coursing through his veins as his answer to the question he posed to the depressive god was no doubt being answered.
Without another word he opened the letter, browsing it’s contents before the air turned cold.
Deadly cold.
“...Uncle?” Hermes asked, blinking at the dramatic shift in the air before he looked down at his uncle and he gave a hesitant step back.
“Get out.” Poseidon ordered, voice blank and eyes hidden by his hair.
“Pardon,” Hermes asked, blinking at the pure fear he could feel coursing through him at the continuous rise of his uncle’s anger.
“Get. Out.”
“Uncle-” Hermes coughed, but he stumbled at the pure anger coming out of his uncle’s form and the fear he would be killed rose prominently in his mind.
“Now.” That was an order, and a warning.
Hermes wasted little time in leaving, rushing out without a second look at his uncle who was growing more tense by the second; the door having barely closed before the god of the seas grabbed the expansive banquet table and threw it into the wall. He took in a deep breath before moving to the chairs that were still standing around, grabbing one before throwing it to where the table had landed, going around one by one, doing the same to every single one of them.
He was lost in a haze of rage, all he could think of was how this could not be happening; that Beelzebub was wrong and he would make that insect pay for doing this to him. He would-
“POSEIDON,” Sasaki’s scream ripped him out of his reddening rage, her hands grabbing either side of his face and wrenching it to her own. “What is going on! What is happening!” She was panting, shaking in her fine kimono of deep blues and purples that reflected the flowing water all around them in the dome that surrounded his underwater palace.
“....” He stayed silent, not wanting to tell her but knowing she would get it.
“Po, what happened? Did someone say something again,” she whispered, her big eyes searching his face but as before, his mask was too good.
“...Beelzebub sent a response.” He finally told her, watching her face carefully and feeling his brow pinch as her face turned sad…but no the sad he was expecting.
“....Oh,” she sighed, removing her hands and stepping back. “...I see.” Her tone had him confused and angry for some reason.
“...You seem to know what’s in that message,” he noted, feelings of anger coming back once more.
“Po…Poseidon. I’ve died and come to Valhalla,” she gave a small laugh, looking up to lock eyes with him. “I can’t bear children since I am now dead.” She told him gently, as if it was common knowledge.
How foolish.
His wife was a foolish woman.
“I am a god,” He reminded her. “I am not those men in valhalla that see fit to use their co*cks to and f*ck anything willing to spread their legs open simply because the threat of bearing progeny is no longer a problem.”
‘Poseidon-”
“I have not allowed any of those whor*s who throw themselves into my bed in hopes of bearing a divine child and becoming queen,” he continued. “I am a god, and-”
“Poseidon,” Sasaki snapped, the god stopping with wide eyes as she had never done this before. “Poseidon,” she began, voice softer. “I’m dead. I cannot nurture life anymore.” She closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath to calm herself all the while Poseidon stared at her with blank eyes. “I am…sorry, that I am unable to fulfill your desire to have a child now,” she began. “I realize that you want us to be bound in many other ways aside from marriage and our bed, but I am not a living human no more. We cannot…have a child.”
And then she bowed in apology.
Like she was at fault for this.
“....”
“I am sorry….I love you,” she whispered, pulling him close basking in his warmth all the while he crushed her body to his.
He said nothing.
His eyes moved to the paper on the ground, and he wished to go back to moments ago when he was ignorant to its contents.
Lord Poseidon,
I have done all manner of tests, even for myself and Tesla, it would take centuries to even have a healthy embryo created much less ready to be fertilized. I am confident in saying that we as gods, cannot produce offspring with those who reside in Valhalla. They are souls who have died on earth, thus they live on but their bodies lose all function in the end.
I am upset about this as well.
I will continue my research.
Beelzebub, Lord of the Flies.
“I love you, never forget that,’ Sasaki spoke softly and Poseidon knew what she meant.
‘If you still want children, I have no problem with you going to other goddesses.’
He said nothing but held her closer, angry at everything…including himself.
Things continued as normal and life continued. Months have passed since that night, things tense but not horrible between the ruling monarchs of the sea as they continued on with their lives.
Poseidon still was an arrogant prick that people feared and barely could stand, Sasaki shrunk her duties as queen of the sea and worked on training every day and night. They still dined together when the time arose, they still went on beach walks that ended up with them twisted up in the sand in compromising conditions.
Things were good….
Things were normal…
…But Poseidon still cursed the fates for making him love someone who is unable to bear him children.
It was not the fact that he wanted children, no they were annoying at the best of times and a nuisance at the worst of times. He had no time to rear children and he certainly had no patience to mold them into beings of perfection….
But they would have been Sasaki’s children too.
A child of both him and Sasaki, brilliant in swordsmanship and holding the noblest of divine blood, trained and raised by both parents. It was selfish to not make a child like them, to show the rest of the gods that they were above them all.
But no, he could not.
Because she is dead.
And he still lives.
How he hated how the fates had punished him for something he had naught an idea about.
“I know that look,” Sasaki sighed, head on his chest as they laid on the surf looking up at the stars and embracing the sounds of the waves. “I am fine with no children. I died before the idea took root…heck, I am too old to even bear children. Least in my time,” she murmured, closing her eyes while Poseidon wrapped an arm around her waist.
“Hmmm.”
“I am serious,” she told him again. “Childbirth scared me.” She admitted, sighing into his chest once more while tracing mindless patterns on his side.
“....”
“I thought….I thought that I would be bound to the earth forever, never to take up a sword again if I gave birth to a child,” she murmured to him. “That scared me more than anything. The sword was my entire life and to give it up for potential years before I could teach them…it had me terrified…”
“As if it could stop a vagrant like you,” was all he said before his snapped open.
“I am being serious, Poseidon! The…the thought of not even being able to use my sword had be petrified and I-”
“Something is wrong," he told her, getting up and holding her close to his chest all while glowering out into the endless ocean that bordered the endless void of creation of the primordials, who reside in it.
“Huh, what,” she gasped, looking around as Poseidon summoned his Trident in hand. She blinked once more, fingers digging into the sand beneath her before she spoke.
“The ground is rumbling. Is Hades upset?” Sasaki asked him, getting up while he pushed her behind him.
She had not brought her sword with her, and she had not the skill to summon her weapon to her at all.
“He has not been upset in many eons,” he reminded her, taking stock of their surroundings. “If anything the rumbling in the ground is his incessant need to f*ck that crazed emperor.” He snapped, annoyed at the situation and his elder brother’s shameless behavior.
“Qin is a very nice woman, and good for your brother you know,” Sasaki reminded her husband, pout on her lips.
Just then a lightning storm appeared out of nowhere, Sasaki gasping as a bolt nearly hit them, Poseidon throwing her to the ground while he growled at his idiot younger brother.
If he was doing this…
“What is he doing,” he demanded, looking up at the sky to see nothing but the sky, no clouds or stars in sight.
“Po,” Sasaki murmured, gripping his arm as he looked to where she was pointing and he was met with a smiling cloaked figure who held an orb in their hand at the very edge of his godly sea. It glowed of starlight and emanated pure power, the kind that he had only ever felt from the primordials during the Titanomachy all those eons ago.
“...Impossible,” he whispered, the smile widening under the hood. “All are said to have died off.”
“Simply a nap,” they chuckled, suddenly before them and leaning down at them from their impressive height. “Me and my sibling are very much alive, Storm Bringer.”
“...” Poseidon narrowed his eyes.
‘I have use of you. I do hope you understand,” they began, the smile visible.
‘What,” he demanded, finding solace in Sasaki’s death grip on him because she was still there with him.
And preventing him from attacking out of pride for their blatant disrespect.
“A pet project of mine. A few of them actually, you're a good god. You’ll listen to me. After all…,” they cackled. “They won’t appreciate him until he shows worth, what about you,” the voice spoke, a smile etched upon their face as they moved the orb to their other palm.
And then darkness surrounded him.
And the next moment he was on another beach so different from his own that resided in his domain, polluted and reeking of humans.
Disgusting.
“W…What happened,” Sasaki gasped, looking around while Poseidon held on tight to her wrist to keep her close. “Where are we? Who was that?” She demanded, shaking a leaf, Poseidon pulling her close to offer her comfort.
“One of the primordial deities that still is awake, apparently,” Poseidon told her, looking around with a scowl.
‘The who?” She shakily snapped.
“Either Chaos or Order. I am not sure which. They do not meddle with humans as gods do, we often assume they died along with the others. Their power is too much for their bodies, but apparently they simply fell asleep. As for where we are…. it seems like they had a pet project that they kept secret…most likely what caused them to fall asleep,” he grunted.
“Huh?”
“They have created another world, one ruled by gods similar to our world but that is all that I can sense.” He told her bluntly, uncaring of how strange that sounded because that was the truth that was being given to them on a gold platter.
“....WHAAAATTTTT???”
“Most likely it was a flight of fancy,” he shrugged. “One that would differ from ours in a way that was significant, but as to what that can be I don’t have a clue. After all, gods will be superior in all ways,” he smirked, Sasaki sighing as she shook her head.
“So why bring us here?” She grumbled, moving to take in her surroundings and scrunch her brow at all the strange things surrounding them.
They must be in the modern era then.
“...That I do not have any clue about. We barely know what goes through their heads at the best of times. They are fickle, seeing as they created this other world as a flight of fancy for some untold reason,” he sneered. “Honestly, what a waste of time.”
“Well-” Sasaki began to speak before a strike of lightning hit not too far from them-one smelling of his idiot younger brother’s power-and the scent of his own power not being wielded by him reared its head. After the two powers clashed a scream rang through the air that had his wife whipping around to the epicenter of the power struggle.
“Even in this world he is a fickle idiot unworthy of being a god. What is he doing,” Poseidon snapped, annoyed before growling as Sasaki rushed off, ripping her wrist from his grip to the sound of the scream. He followed, scowl on his face as the sight of a burned woman came into view, Sasaki by her side before he stopped.
Something was very wrong.
He sensed divinity.
His own divinity, but it was muted as if something was muddling it.
His eyes flitted to the side to the ocean around them, grip on his trident tightening as he approached with a calm gait; not wanting to scare the divinity around them should his counterpart be here. He was so caught up in protecting his wife that he failed to notice the squirming bundle in her arms.
It was only when it let loose a cry that he turned and felt it.
A child.
A….Demigod child.
One that smelled of the sea.
No…
No.
NO.
“They dare to mock me,” Poseidon snarled, stomping forward as Sasaki turned, tears staining her cheeks holding the child close to her breast. “They dare to bring forth this piece of-”
“It’s a child, no more a babe really,” Sasaki protested, her brown eyes filled with tears as the babe continued to cry. “Poseidon his mother was just killed and he’s a son of the sea! He’s the Son of Poseidon! That’s why Zeus killed her!’
“That thing is not my son,’ he snapped, eyes narrowed in warning as he raised his trident to strike. “Place it down so I can dispose of it.”
“He is your son,” Sasaki protested, face twisted up in pain. “He is your son! A son from this world's Poseidon but a Poseidon nonetheless!” She argued, hiding the babe with her body and he growled in annoyance.
Stupid woman!
“No it is not-” He began, feeling rage bubbling up within him because she didn't understand this imperfect being was a stain on their relationship. She was protecting something that would bring shame on them BOTh.
“Poseidon! This is what the primordial sent us to do! To give the Son of Poseidon a home with his father! He can be raised a proper prince of the sea. He can be made perfect and he can be molded by your hand,” she told him, face red while trying to calm the baby down. “This is all you wanted, why do you want to kill him?”
“...Put that thing upon the sand and step away,” he ordered her, eyes turning cold before he stepped back when she pulled out a Tantou and held it out infront of her.
‘No! I..I need to know! This is all we could have asked for,” she pleaded, tears streaming down her face. “Poseidon, our child would have been a demigod! Why is this baby different? Why can’t you accept him! He is your son either way and-”
‘He’s not of your blood,” he roared, having enough of her worthless blubbering in attempts to save that useless, squirming pile of flesh.
“So what! I can love him all the same!” She screamed back, the child crying still but Poseidon cared little for the thing. “I can be a mother without having given birth to him! But Po…he’s YOUR son!’
“I will not accept this.” He told her, lowering the trident but he didn’t banish it.
“He has no one! I heard her dying breaths, gods of this world cannot interact with their children…he’ll be alone,” Sasaki pleaded, sounding frantic while the babe continued it’s pathetic cries. ‘He needs parents! He needs-”
‘And he will be left with the humans of this world-” he sneered, face similar to when they faced off against one another on that day naught more than 5 years ago.
‘He has your eyes Po,” she breathed, lowering her blade and moving the blanket down for him to see a tuft of silken black hair and sea green eyes strikingly similar to his own, his pale skin illuminated beneath the moon above them.
Pale Skin…Black hair….Sea Green eyes….
Him and Sasaki.
He was the child he had always imagined they would have.
….Mayhaps the primordial really was helping them; as insulting as it was to him.
“He…He said…They won’t appreciate him until he shows worth, what about you…could they be sending him on a quest like Heracles?” Sasaki gasped, still holding the babe close with the blade held in a vice like grip.
He knew she wouldn’t hesitate to stab him in the stomach should he lunge.
How he loved that side of her.
“...Maybe,” he conceded, having an idea that if there truly was a demigod here like the legends in their world often portrayed, then the gods of this world may be like the legends stupid mortals back home often touted. “...He has your hair.” He noted, stepping back and banishing his trident.
“He’s not my son.” She reminded him with a whisper, hair flowing freely in the wind and he thought she never looked more beautiful than before. Dressed in opulence that fitted her, hair free from the restrictive hairstyles of her culture, eyes rimmed red with passion swirling within her brown orbs and skin illuminated by the moon. The waves crashing enhanced the whole experience.
“....He should be.” Poseidon said simply, crossing his arms.
‘Po…” she murmured sadly, his eyes taking in her entire being and he felt himself become excited at her state of beauty and feral nature combined, babe in one arm while the other held a blade ready to strike him down should he attack.
Truly, his equal.
“If this was their intention, then they must stay out of the affairs of the worlds they have created. It seems like my brother in this world is more fickle than the bumbling buffoon I have, killing a woman holding her child near my domain.” He commented, looking idly at the dead woman on the ground along with the crashing waves of his counterpart's domain.
“Indeed. I was correct in my assumption that the boy will be well taken care of,” the voice spoke again, the cloaked figure appearing once more. “Sad…that she died in such a way,” they sighed, head turned toward the mortal woman. “But Zeus is fickle and violent, not one to care for the lives of those intertwined with his brothers.”
“...You have a lot of gall to force me to take this halfbreed not of-” Poseidon began, only to be interrupted.
‘Sasaki’s blood?” They cackled, bringing a finger to their lips as if they were excited at his anger.
“....” Poseidon glared at them with as much malice as he could muster.
‘Po!” Sasaki demanded, stepping back in fear that he might actually go through with killing the baby.
“I stand by what I believe. A child of both myself and Sasaki would be unmatched in power, this child may be mine but it is not hers.” He snarled, Sasaki shaking and looking around for a route of escape.
If she had to leave him, she would and she would find a way to live.
This child would not die by her husband's hand.
“Blood may have a lot to do with connections, but rearing does as well. He has no one, he knows no one. All he shall know is Poseidon and Sasaki, the God of Gods and the Greatest Swordsman. I think that would be worthy of the blood of the sea. He even has a worthy name, Perseus… a great hero.” They told Poseidon, the god sneering in response.
“We shall see.”
“Black hair. Sea Green eyes. Pale Skin. Grecian features. He’s practically your son already,” they snorted. “It's up to you to accept it.” They shrugged, looking bored as one could in a cloak that covered all.
“....” Poseidon continued to glare.
“Take care of him. He’ll need all that you can offer to be able to prevent all the hardship he would have gone through.” They sighed, raising a hand up while Poseidon’s cackles raised at the order.
‘What do you-”
SNAP.
The Mortal Queen and The God of Gods vanished, leaving the other with the corpse of Sally Jackson.
A death they had caused for the greater good in the end, but they felt guilty over her death either way.
“He’ll be fine, that I can promise,” they assured her. “He will be loved and trained, prepared for all that shall come his way and more. I assure you of that.” He turned and bowed over her corpse, hoping to offer this one comfort to a death he needed to orchestrate.
She said nothing, but he felt the relief in her dwindling spirit all the same.
But even still, all they felt was guilt and shame.
…But, better a death at the hand of a god than at the hand of a worthless drunk that would get his coming to him without her.
If they had anything to say about it at least.
And much they did.
Hades took in a deep breath once more before he opened his office, feeling his eye twitch at the literal mountain of paperwork and once more debated….
Would he be able to get away with murdering his fellow gods for making all of this extra work for him?
He could see why his younger brother often limited the amount of interaction with his domain.
It allowed for the paperwork to be limited to the minimum.
Lucky bastard….
“I have told you~” A familiar voice intoned, making Hades sigh but a smile was plastered on his face all the same. “That you should take in the gods of death from other pantheon’s to handle their followers!”
“I know, I know,” he told her, turning to see a familiar blindfolded face smirking at him. “But it gives us ample time to…be together,” he grinned, the woman blushing before she pushed him and entered the office with a huff that showed she was too embarrassed to reply.
Hades snickered, closing the door to begin the day as his wife began the usual process of sorting the files into the piles they have made to extradite the process. He sat down at his desk, preparing himself for another paperwork-filled day as his wife flitted about, placing binders away and sending out missives to have the other gods ready to receive their souls for their respective regions.
Qin Shi Huang, the king of Genesis and Where it All Began; was good with this sort of thing. One did not become the Emperor of all of China untied without having to deal with loads of paperwork dealing with various regions after all.
Even if she had a tendency to slack off from her more important duties as the wife of Hades.
Don’t get Hades wrong, he had loved Persephone, he really did; he truly thought their love was one for the ages actually. He believed it to be one that could actually last in a pantheon such as there's, as riddled with marital strife as it was.
Sure he could have handled the whole situation better and he could have actually tried to woo her instead of kidnapping her and making her eat the fruit…but…he was young and immensely stupid at the time when it came to love.
A domain such as his did not leave much time to be able to go out and flirt, attempting to find out how to actually bag a woman was something he never experienced.
Even now he felt like he was still left in the dark about certain aspects of love, flirting…anything to do with the subject really.
He was dense for sure, and he wasn’t claiming otherwise.
He loved her, and wanted her to love him back in equal measure. But no matter what he did…she just ignored him, sought the pleasure and bed of others while he slaved away to make sure the balance was kept between the lives of mortals and the powers of gods.
He was the God Whom the Gods Most Relied On.
Still, he felt his heart break and harden with each man she spent time with, each child she bore that was not his and all the times she left after coming down for a date he asked for. He was trying so hard and was so desperate for her eyes to turn to him; to actually see him and all he had done for her.
To see that he was working on being able to express his sincere and genuine love for her, despite all his follies he had done in the beginning of their…questionable marriage.
But nothing worked…
And then Ragnarok happened.
He lost his brother, his nephew and he would lose many more if he did not make a stand and a stand he did.
The haughty emperor of China was a thrill to fight against, he could feel himself smiling at times as they traded blows, the arrogant emperor never faltering in their belief of a king or their own prowess…
And then…then…
He lost.
He had needed to win for his brother, for his nephew even. He NEEDED too.
He didn’t win.
He realized that in his last attack he had faltered and hesitated too many times, he had allowed Qin to be able to win…but he was fine with that, in the end.
Because in that moment he felt what he felt when he first laid eyes on Persephone all those many eons ago.
Love.
He loved the way the light reflected her bare face, the stark tattoo on her skin and the milky glow of her eyes that stared into his soul despite being blind. Everything about her he fell in love with as he felt his soul vanish reminded him of the day he saw his wife.
But instead of malice he was used to seeing the eyes of his wife, he saw respect and even a bit of interest in her own…as well as sadness at the parting they had come to. He could only wish he could have had more time to admire her amongst the cheers of her kin before blankets of darkness surrounded him and he faded.
Then he awoke.
He woke up to the cheers and tears of his kin, Zeus and Adamas wailing into his chest while he and Poseidon stood up on shaky legs.
The Humans had won, and in an act of kindness they have decided to bring all those who had failed back. Every single one of them.
Hades didn’t know what to feel, aside from happiness.
He could bathe in her light once more. Even if she did not wish for him in that way, he knew better now; he knew that his old methods would keep her away and he would do anything to keep that from happening. He needed her light, her essence in his life. He needed to be drowned in it.
And did he ever drown in it.
She was a light, so bright and burning so hot he felt as if he would melt in her warmth and suddenly the fool Icarus made sense. If this was something he could go toward without fear, he too would have done the same as the prideful boy.
And like a fool he was so many eons ago, but wiser now than then, but still a fool as he blurted out with the help of a couple goblets of wine-
---------------------------
“Marry Me.”
The banquet hall turned silent, all eyes turning to Hades and Qin; the Emperor-never empress, for she was the first and will be proclaimed emperor-lounging sinfully on a divan surrounded by servants of her country. Even with her blindfold he could tell she was blinking in shock at his proclamation, her head craned to look up at him with an open mouth. In her hand a goblet of wine was being held limply, forgotten in her shock.
“.....WHHHHHAAAATTTT?” Her little valkyrie screeched, Zeus laughing out loud and holding onto his stomach while Adamas called his elder brother an idiot, shaking his head at the scene before him and wishing to vanish.
“...Why should I?” She retorted once she regained her bearings, co*cking her head to the side with a pout on her face. “What could you offer me? Are you not already married?” She snorted, Hades flinching at the reminder of his wife who was actually at the very banquet they were in.
He didn’t dare turn to look at her.
“...I can get a divorce….” He murmured, Zeus falling to the ground clutching his sides all the while Hera looked to be in pain, chugging a goblet of wine in seconds; she then proceeded to grab another from a shell shocked servant.
That was the wrong thing to say apparently, he thought while watching win’s face darken.
“Ohhh, so you would see me disposable too. You are arrogant, you forget I am the Emperor of Genesis,” She laughed, her face twisted up with annoyance while her clawed fingers pointed at him. “I will be no mere consort to a god that will be rid of me once he has had his fill of me!” She flicked him away, downing her wine in a show of dominance and he ached so badly.
He wanted her to be his wife.
“I am…I am serious,” he swallowed, feeling like a child once more and resisting the urge to shuffle his feet. “I…I really want you to marry me.”
“This is why his wife hates him,’ Adamas groaned, hands in his hands. Zeus was getting up only to fall back down at his elder brother’s comment, his face was red and he was very much struggling to breath.
Hera was on her 5th cup of wine now and the servants were bringing her more.
“Hooo? You are,” she challenged, sitting up and Hades tensed, feeling like a human teenage boy hopeful for his crush to actually say yes.
He…may have asked some human souls for some help; those of the…younger variety.
“I am,” he nodded, face turning serious as she was actually considering his offer.
That means his affections were returned…right?
“This is pathetic,’ Poseidon sneered, Sasaki blinking at the display before her all the while she was trying to get away from the Sea God who had forcefully taken the seat next to her, his hand on her thigh stopped her though.
“Then kneel and proclaim your intentions,” her clawed fingers flicked down to the ground, indicating where he should kneel. “If you do that I will seriously consider it,” she told him, a smirk pulling at her lips and his heart jumped into his throat.
“....She’s not going to flip him right,” Ares whispered, Hermes looking on with wonder at the scene before him as Apollo beside them tried to urge Leonidas for a quickie behind the column.
“He’s not actually going to do it…holy sh*t,” Shiva breathed, watching as Hades without hesitation got on his knees. “He actually f*cking did it…he…he’s so f*cking whipped,” he told Raiden who snorted into his drink. His wives had their jaws on the floor, unable to comprehend the scene before them.
“I….I am serious. You would be no consort. You would be an Empress. Empress of Helheim and Queen to a Chief God. I…I would never discard you,” he swore, blushing like a young boy as he hoped and believed in all his might for this to work. “I swear,” he told her sincerely, hoping that this would work.
It was silent and he began to worry that she wouldn’t want to marry him anymore. Maybe he needed to take her out on a few dates, show her his realm, show her that he can pleasure her in ways she could only imagine-
“HAO!” She cried, laughing while Hades flinched looking up at her with a bit of a confused expression.
“Huh,” he asked, unsure of what was happening.
“....HAO! HAO! HAO!” Qin proclaimed, standing up with a flourish of her robes. “FINALLY A WORTHY MAN TO CALL HUSBAND!” She proclaimed to the heavens above them.
“Thank the fates,” Hades breathed, slumping slightly.
“COME! I WISH TO SEE MY KINGDOM,” she boomed, moving past him and he scrambled to follow her.
“....At least he’ll finally have someone who respects him,” Hera slurred, fully inebriated with about 12 goblets about her. “When….when are you getting divorced,” she then turned to Jane who was beside Heracles; the woman jolted at being addressed. “I hate that husband you have….I…I’d be glad to sic him to the hounds…” She grinned, looking happy at the idea while Heracles grabbed Jane and pushed her behind him.
‘Stepmother,” he began, looking a bit wary at her drunken state.
“I can do SO many things to him,” she told Jane, looking eager, hand moving around expressly and wine sloshing about.
“That’s enough wine for you,’ Zeus coughed, taking her 13th goblet. Pushing off her grabby hands while she whined at him to give it back. Adamas grumbled, moving to help his sister to a seat before she stumbled into the fountain and got stuck…again.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Poseidon murmured as the ground shook slightly beneath them. “They are shameless,” he clucked, Sasaki blushing as she understood what was happening.
“Damn, already,” Loki whistled, Thor turning to Lu Bu who shrugged and went back to talking with her tactician Chen. The boy had a blush on his face, but he was trying to keep a calm facade despite that.
“....Sister…are they…” Goll began slightly horrified, only to have her sister shake her head.
“D….Don’t ask.” Brunhilde coughed, pulling at her collar while others began to whisper excitedly around them. “Just…don’t.”
---------------------------
Not a day went by after that night that they did not make love somewhere.
It wasn’t sex.
No, no they made love.
Because he was in love with this arrogant, haughty, beautiful emperor and he would be damned if he didn’t take her love back like she loved him. After so long of being denied love by the woman he thought he loved, having someone who did love him was refreshing, beautiful and…wonderful. It was simply wonderful.
That being said, their libido’s were nothing to scoff at.
More often than not many of the undead servants came in on their lord pleasuring the woman, her gasping as he sucked and nipped at her lower lips and drank her forbidden nectar, smirking as he brought her to completion each time and then taking her over and over and over again until satisfied.
Other times they would find them up against a wall, f*cking like animals as she egged him to go harder, faster and to ruin her. If not against a wall then in his office chair where she would simply co*ckwarm him while murmuring the filthiest things they could do in the bedroom all the while he breathed in her scent and rubbed her cl*t till she orgasamed, both of them finding pleasure in it and it’s simplicity.
He loved every moment of it.
Soon things began to change in the underworld, things like tapestries and lanterns being hung up for her, or vases made by her favorite artisans. Heading out more to meet with her friends and her mother figure, to which Hades nearly lost his phallus too.
Chun Yan was scary, that was for sure.
But the Palace soon felt like a home and he soon found himself enjoying his life there for once.
Sex was a much added bonus.
“Hello,” Qin murmured, hugging him from behind as he smiled, looking to the side to kiss her as she grinned at him.
“Hello,” he hummed, feeling her arms wrap around his neck in a warm embrace, he closed the ledger he had and handed it off to a servant who rushed out. “You're all fired up it seems.”
“Can’t a wife love her husband,” she asked, kissing his temple while he hummed his agreements.
“I am not against this,” he chuckled, lacing his fingers together while she hugged him tighter.
“...Are you still upset,” she murmured against his temple, Hades eyes moving to a piece of paper that still was on his desk impaled by a dagger in anger. “Hades?”
“...Can we not,” he asked, moving to grasp her hand with his own. “Please, my love.”
“We will be fine-” She began, but Hades did not want to hear it.
“You know it’s not about that,” He interrupted her, not wanting to get into this conversation again. “I know we don’t need heirs but…” He sighed, closing his eyes as the pain from reading that message was still fresh despite it being over three years.
“...I wouldn’t be a good mother.” She told him bluntly, Hades jolted at the cold tone she held.
“Qin,” he turned, seeing her without her blindfold and face solemn.
“My mother abandoned me, my father only saw me as cattle to sell off to the highest seller…Chun Yan was my mother but it was out of obligation and a bit of hate.” She sighed, shaking her head with a laugh like it was some sort of grand joke. “I don’t know what a love of a parent is, and I doubt I would be able to give it to a child.” She shrugged, Hades turning and taking both hands into his fully.
“...You would be a wonderful mother. Because you would want them to have what you did not have.” He murmured, kissing her cheek and both hands as she hummed.
“...I suppose.” She didn’t sound convinced.
“Come now,” he turned, bringing her into his lap. “A frown is not appropriate for an Emperor like you.”
“Hmmm,” she pouted, but a small smile appeared. “I am sorry there won’t be a glorious child between myself and you,” she nodded, Hades chuckling as he shrugged, happy she was happy now and not focusing on that accursed letter.
“After one, we would be banned from having another,” Hades laughed, kissing her on the cheek one again. “I just know it. They wouldn’t be able to handle any child of ours. Be they a boy or girl!’
“As if they would be able to stop us!’ Qin sounded affronted, as if the mere thought was something she couldn’t comprehend.
“I’m glad to hear it.”
“Who are you,” Hades demanded, pushing Qin behind him as a cloaked figure appeared through his closed doors. “Speak!” he ordered, his authority flowing through the air as a show of intimidation.
“The daughter, she has a bright future so long as the boy remains her reason to fight.” They commented, seemingly annoyed at the notion.
“What are you saying,” Hades demanded, eyes narrowed. “I demand answers.”
“He will need a loving hand, instead of a firm and uncaring one,” they spoke, opening the door to sounds neither have heard before.
“...What has happened,” Qin demanded, holding his arm tight while he leaned forward to look through the door.
“...That may have been one of the remaining primordials,” he growled, taking out his weapon.
“....remaining?’ She whispered, understanding the severity of what her husband was saying.
His land was the closest to the Void and thus he was one of the few privy to knowing that only a few Primordials had simply fallen asleep and not died like many others.
“Chaos and Order. The only ones remaining, if I am recalling correctly,” he told her, both of them turning to one another. “They do not meddle in our affairs…but they are now.” He growled, moving to the door and reeling back at the sight before him.
It was a casino.
“...What is this place,” Qin gagged, looking annoyed. ‘It smells!” She moved to cover her nose as the smell of cigarettes, alcohol and sweat assaulted his own senses.
“It’s a mortal casino. A den of greed and sin,” he grumbled, entering cautiously and taking his wife’s hand. “We have been brought here for a reason, for what reason I have no idea.” He pursed his lips, looking around with a frown on his lips.
For what reason would a primordial bring them here?
“It is too loud,” Qin murmured, clenching his hand tighter as Hades took note of the Lotus imagery all over the place. The smell of opium and drugs permeating the place along with the sounds of cheer and despair.
The couple walked, unimpeded as they sought what they were told to get from this place. Hades himself took note of the eclectic mix of people dressed up in different eras, some of them spoke in different English than others. As that happened, Hades pursed his lips when people handed them trays filled with confections that held lotus cookies and cakes filled with lotus paste.
It was then he realized where they were and his senses sharpened out of fear.n
“This is the den of Lotus Eaters,” Hades murmured, taking some Lotus Wine. “This is a place to trap humans in the modern world, keeping them trapped here forever in a land of bliss. It’s dangerous and not many ever escape.” He then poured the wine out into a plant, both of them moving quickly to avoid being seen.
“Indeed? Everyone?” She demanded, clutching his arm tighter as they moved to hide behind some slot machines.
“Yes, everyone.” He sighed, head moving around noting that everyone was older than the age of majority so that gave him some relief.
But not for long.
“Hades,” Qin whispered, sounding fearful.
‘My love,” he asked, turning to her with some fear. “What?”
“...The children,” Qin breathed, pointing them out. Hades turned his head up seeing a young girl holding hands with a toddler, she herself was no more than 6 years old.
“Come on Nico, we need to get some food.” The girl smiled, reaching a hand out for her brother.
“Comin! Comin,” the boy smiled, bright and wonderful; rushing forward he jumped as his hand caught his sisters. Both of them laughed before moving to head to where people gathered for some food.
“...They have divinity,” Hades breathed. “...My divinity.”
“...Nǐ shì shénme yìsi!?” Qin yelled, face red as she smacked him. (What do you mean by that!?)
“They are my children, but not mine,” he murmured, turning to have her look at him. “Chaos and Order may have created another world filled with gods, but they have been having Demigod after demigod with the personality that our myths proclaim we have.” He explained, sounding pained.
“....Nà tài yúchǔnle!” Qin pouted, cheeks puffed out in annoyance.(That is stupid)
“I know, I know,” Hades murmured, moving them in between columns and keeping an eye on the children. “I do not…believe that they are wanting us to take both…we can only take one.”
He turned to look at his wife who looked offended at the notion of not taking both children of Hades.
“....No. No I refuse,” Qin sneered, pushing her husband away. “I will not leave one in favor of the other,” she hissed, Hades nodding.
“I know, I know,” he assured her, running his hand through her hair. “I…I have an idea of what his message meant….I think this version of me favors the daughter. Not the son.” he whispered, Qin jerking back, looking up at him with disbelief before scoffing with a shake of her head.
“Then why have him,” Qin demanded, watching the girl plate some food for her brother who smiled brightly at her. “Why have another so many years later,” she demanded of him.
“He can’t keep it in his loins,” Hades offered, watching as the girl handed her brother some book and went off to speak to someone that felt wrong. “Tch. Fury.”
“One of those hags,” Qin breathed, looking at the woman dressed in a power suit and a tight bun that seemed to pull her skin up her face. “Why is she here?”
“Probably to check in on the children, but more likely the girl…” Hades murmured, eyes narrowing as the woman took the girl away….
Leaving her brother without any form of protection.
“Stupid girl!” Qin breathed, stepping forward to no doubt go to the boy.
“My love,” Hades shushed her. “We must be careful!”
“He is alone! This is a place that takes the senses,” she shot back. “And she is negligent!”
“She is a child too,” Hades reminded her. “And she is as lost as him.”
“I am serious! I will not stand for this! None of this! How can you be so cruel,’ She snapped, stepping out of his embrace to glower up at him.
“Are you talking about the me you see before you or the me that sired these children,” he demanded, looking hurt.
‘Would you favor one over the other,” she demanded. “Would you do that to me…to our children?”
“...Never,” he snapped, offended at her accusation. “Every child is a gift, this is why I have none; because I had no one beside me to adore them with me!’
“...And if we decided to do this you would love him all the same? Because that abandoned child I will take as my own and no one shall tell me otherwise,” she hissed, jerking her chin up in defiance that had Hades smiling.
“Of course…he looks like you, you know,” he smirked, Qin turning to noting he had inky black hair like herself but his eyes were similar to Hades. Such a dark brown they bordered on black, his skin was olive toned in nature but it complimented him beautifully.
“Hmmm,” she hummed, shrugging as hands went to her shoulders.
‘He is expressive like you,” Hades noted, resting his chin on her shoulder. “He seems like such a kind child, one that will be hurt by the favoritism toward his sister…”
“....Let us get our child,” she smiled, Hades grinning.
“Indeed.”
The two made their move, walking with confidence to the boy who hummed happily as he ate-in their humble opinion-slop with glee. He barely noticed them as they took their seats by him, both of them unsure of how to continue before Hades tensed.
“My love,” Qin asked, looking confused at the sight of him crushing the table beneath his fingers.
“Monster,” he whispered before the boy let out a scream, the two fighters turning to see a woman attempting to strangle him with a dagger poised above him.
“How dare you,” Qin yelled, using a flying kick to the monster’s head, her long tongue shooting out at the kick and flames sprouting from her mouth.
This was a Greek monster, in the modern day?!
‘Empousa,” Hades snarled, summoning his bident with ease and stabbing her through, chaining her to the wall as she screeched in pain. Her eyes glared into his own, Qin rushing to the boy who was limp on the ground.
“That is my meal,” she screamed, Qin beside the boy who held a small cut on his collarbone.
“Not tonight,” Hades sneered, grabbing her head and snapping it with ease, noting how they vanished into dust before Qin called him over with worry.
“The blade was poisoned!” She cried, worried while she held him in her arms.
“sh*t,” Hades cursed, kneeling beside his wife and boy, flinching at the heat emanating from the fresh wound. ‘This is hydra poison. There is no cure!’ He growled, noting his darken veins from the cut.
“This cannot be! This is not fair!” Qin snapped, ripping the shirt further off to see the veins becoming prominent as the poison ran through his body.
“I will have to force his body to become younger, it’s the only way!” He told her. “But it might not work,” he warned her.
“...You can do that,” she demanded, confused as Hades placed his hands on either side of the boy's head.
“Yes, but I will have to revert him back into a baby to make sure the poison is fully purged from his entire system. Hydra poison is dangerous and long lived,” he grunted, exerting more power into the boy as he forced it to de-age.
“Why is the poison not fading,” Qin whimpered, noting the blackened veins remained even as he deaged.
“It’s attached to his divine blood. I’ll need to burn through it with my own power when it’s safe too,” He informed her, focusing as the boy soon became drowned in his clothes.
“Hades…” Qin whispered, fearful.
‘Almost done…” He cursed, sweat rolling down his face before he sent a shock of power through the boy and gasped, feeling the poison being burned out.
He leaned back, Qin removing the clothes quickly to behold an olive skinned babe with the most enchanting eyes.
“He….he’s a babe now,” Qin whispered, taking the four month old into her arms, swaddling him in her expansive robes. “He’s a babe,’ she murmured, tears running down her face as she held him to her chest. “A baby.”
‘Our baby…one that will face no hardship,” Hades nodded, a bit pale as a single line rang through his head.
‘I wish it was you who had died instead of Bianca!’
“And he will have all the love in the world.” He assured the boy and himself as that line continued to ring. “Come,” he urged his wife to get up. “We need to get back to our office.” He smiled, finger caressing the cheek of his new child, his heart melted at the happy gurgle he gave at the affection.
His…son…
“R-Right!” She smiled, holding the boy so tenderly.
‘Not a good mother,’ Hades thought, hand on his wife’s lower back as they began the trek back.
Without much fanfare and perhaps the tripping of an annoying server or two, the God Whom the Gods Rely on the Most and the Emperor of Genesis retreated with their newly found son.
“Dear god,” Jane sighed, rubbing her forehead once more as Heracles looked at the layout for her private sitting room. “I told you I would handle it.” She grunted, placing her current book down and getting up, pouring herself a cup.
“No! No! It’s fine,” he assured her, looking at it once more trying to figure out where the shelf was supposed to go again. “Besides, we can spend time together,” he grinned, Jane sighing once more as she sipped her tea.
“...I am fine you know,” Jane relented after a few moments. “Even if we could, I am unable to.”
“....” Heracles was silent, back to her as he finished placing the shelf down in its proper place.
Goodness, was he moping?
“Dear God, this is no time for moping.” Jane chided him. ‘It has been a month and I am fine.”
“You don’t know if you would be unable to,” he murmured. “I might be a god but…but we have many operations and medicines we could have used to help you stay healthy!” He turned, looking resolute in her proclamation while Jane blinked confused.
Then it hit her.
Oh her sweet puppy dog husband…
‘Oh,” she chuckled, placing her tea cup down. “No, Dear God. It is not the matter of me, a human, carrying the babe of a god. It is a matter of the fact that I no longer have a uterus.”
“...Huh,” he blinked, unsure of what his wife just said. “...Y…you?”
“...I was married twice,” Jane began, lacing her hands together but refusing to look at the god, she moved to sit back down on her chair. “I had to be, in order to study to be a doctor and to get out of the life of being a prostitute. I married a man of good standing who needed a wife to show off to at events and nothing more. It was a mutual agreement and we knew that we would need to have a child to show people that everything was alright.”
“But Henry-” he began, a bit hesitant to say his name after all that happened.
‘He was my second husband, a rat of a man nonetheless and a part of this tale,” she informed him, getting up to move to the couch to be more comfortable.
“Jane, you don’t,” he coughed, looking ashamed at having brought up the topic. ‘We don’t have to do this.”
“I want to,” she told him sincerely, smiling at his look. “Allan, my first husband, was a good man. We didn’t love one another and did our duties, pretending to be in love and attending social events, with ease. I got to go to medical school and continue my…less than pleasing work behind the scenes. Allan stayed in the limelight without hounds of women coming after him,” Jane chuckled, slightly fond even as Heracles frowned. “Then we needed an heir…he needed one, and we did as any married couple did and soon I was pregnant,” Jane smiled, Heracles feeling his hackles raise at the thought of another touching Jane in…that way.
“And where is your child? You never mention them…” He trailed off, seeing her smile falter before it fell off completely.
“They were never born,” she sighed, rubbing her forehead. “Never had a chance to be born.”
“...Jane-”
“Allan got it into his head we were actually meant to be a couple and that I should end my studies,” Jane continued, closing her eyes to stave off a headache..and the memories. “I told him no and he got so angry each time, accusing me of cheating and not taking our agreement seriously. He was losing it, in his jealousy. I could never love him how he wanted me too and he knew it, so he did whatever he could to try and get me to break.”
“What did he…?” Heracles whispered, unsure if he ever wanted to know the answer.
“Nothing serious, just drunken ramblings and slamming cabinets closed. Until that night…” Jane trailed off, eyes glossy as she remembered said night, Heracles reaching to hold her hand and that had her blinking out of her reverence. “Ahem.”
“We can stop. I won’t push that matter,” Heracles murmured, a sad kicked look on his face. “I am serious, my love,” he promised her, grabbing her hand.
"You should now,” she smiled, patting him on the hand. “That night, he came home drunk and with the notion I would file for divorce once the birth happened. He was screaming and raving about one thing or another, saying that he would force me to stay even if I tried to leave. And then he got it into his head that the child wasn’t his, that what I was doing out at night was to meet a lover.”
‘...Jane he didn’t…did he-” He struggled for the words, but Jane understood.
‘He punched me in the stomach, quite a few times,” she nodded, patting his hand once the tears began to flow out of him. “Grabbed me by the hair and threw me down the stairs to try and get me to miscarry.”
“...J…Jane…” he whimpered, falling to his knees and clutching her hand. “My love..my love,” he wept, bowing to her as if he was the one who wronged her.
“I managed to get up, slam a lamp on his head and run out of the house onto the street calling for help. I wasn’t paying attention and was hit by an oncoming carriage, it was dusk so everyone was getting home, I threw myself into the road in a panic and…well..” She sighed, looking out the window.
“And you lost the child,” he finished, clenching her hand tight while her eyes stayed toward the window and the garden he had planted for her.
“...Funnily enough both Mother Goose and the Five Lords of London, all of them were fighting all throughout that part of London that night,’ She chuckled, eyes a bit lost. “Fighting to get to me and finish me off or get me to join them, they all appeared the moment the carriage hit me. Noah spoke about how he felt sick seeing me bloodied and pregnant, scared of the man in the house just as the carriage hit me.” Heracles noted how her hand was rubbing her stomach; but he did not comment about it simply asking a question.
“...What happened then?”
“I was given immunity for the time being, time to heal. Pimon, the Lord of Corpses was the one to tell me that my baby had essentially been torn from my stomach. He personally took the babe and swaddled him for me to hold after I had woken from the procedure to remove my uterus. Told me they had no way to repair it and the only way to save my life was to take it out,” she told him, eyes a bit lost.
“Why save you, if they wanted you dead,” Heracles whispered. “Why?”
“One of the Lords saw what happened between me and my husband, all of it as he snuck in to try and knock me unconscious,” She sighed, slumping her shoulders. “He took care of my husband so to say, stayed with me for a while too to make sure I was healing alright. He asked me if I had any requests on how to finish him off, I simply told him to do as he pleased. He left me alone after that,” she admitted, looking a bit annoyed.
“...What happened after?” He urged her to keep going, she needed guidance and he would be there for her.
“I was declared off limits for the time being, my medical care was paid for my Lord Pimon and Noah, both of them had been witness to my accident and felt as if they needed to make sure their enemy was healing correctly,” she chuckled. “During that time I was attending socials while working in the hospital and met my second husband.”
“...Why marry again?” Heracles asked, confused about the culture of humans at times. “Why marry not for love?”
“I’m a woman who is the daughter of a prostitute, even if I made a name for myself that is all I was going to be known as. And besides, I wasn’t allowed to fight anymore until I was fully healed.” She reminded him, smiling down at him while he still held a frown.
“So it was for your own benefit?” He seemed confused, but did not comment further.
‘I guess you could say that,” she smiled, patting his cheek. “Henry was worse than Allan, I should have seen it but I was so bored without anything to do that I thought being a wife would help alleviate it until I could get back into the fray…”
“But…” He urged.
“He saw me as nothing more than a receptacle for his seed. One that would bear no fruit,” Jane sniffed, shivering as she remembered his slimy hands on her. “I demanded and even hit him in an attempt to get him to stop,” she swallowed. “He never did.”
“So you killed him?”
That was a statement.
And a correct one.
‘Yes,” Jane breathed, nodding while Heracles clenched her hand tight. “The night he came to have his way with me as he usually did…Pimon and Noah both came to inquire about my health and see how I was doing. They hated one another but made an alliance to make sure I was fine. They heard me screaming and rushed in. I was bashing his head in with a metal vase, crying hysterically,” Jane leaned forward, Heracles lightly tapping their heads together.
“I remember Noah threatening me, saying that if I did what he did to you…if I didn’t heed your warnings he’d kill me,” Heracles reminded her, Jane snorting before she spoke up again. “I can see it was made out of care for a respected enemy,” he joked, Jane smiling back before continuing.
“I was screaming ‘I told you to stop. Why didn’t you stop? I don’t want this! I hate you’ and so on,” she admitted. “Lord Pimon let me go on for a moment or so before he stopped me, holding me close as he whispered to me that he was dead. That I had killed him and he wouldn’t do anything to me again.”
‘...That was kind of him,” Heracles smiled.
“I suppose,” Jane nodded. “Soon after we went back to trying to kill one another, but they all knew that…on the anniversary of that accident, I was not to be touched.”
“....”
“So you see,” Jane murmured. “I can’t have children.”
“...I…I am sorry for…for making you talk in depth about our future if we were to have children,” Heracles began, realizing her pained face wasn’t uncertainty but the fact he was so happy and she knew a painful truth.
One she kept from him because he was so happy about the potential future that could never be.
Maybe that is why she was so happy about Beelzebub’s letter.
“You were so excited about the prospect, I could not take it from you,” she murmured, petting his head. “I was happy seeing you so excited about children, you would be a wonderful father,” she assured him.
“...You think so?” He eagerly asked, looking so hopeful that it had her smiling tenderly down at him.
“I just hope you are ready to share them with Ares,’ she smirked, Heracles snorting with a roll of his eyes.
“He is convinced you would teach them knife tricks.” He sighed, shaking his head at his brother's needless fear of his wife.
“It is good intimidation,” Jane replied, flicking his nose with a grin. “And I stand by that!”
“Not helping your case,” Heracles sighed, laying his head fully on her lap while she hummed a reply.
‘I suppose not,” she conceded, petting his hair as the silence turned comfortable, both of them basking in one another's presence before Heracles sat up, alert and much like a ground hound. “Dear God?”
“Someone…something is here,” He growled, moving to grab his club as Jane reached under her skirt and took out a pistol. “...Where did you get that,” he whispered, blinking as she checked the barrel.
“Your brother, Hephaestus, he made it for me as a wedding gift,” she smiled. “He engraved it with some of our scenes of battle,” she showed him the side and he sweatdropped at the sight of London's Bell Tower.
“I see…nice of him,” he smiled, motioning for her to stay back all the while she rolled her eyes.
“I may not have Hlokk with me at the moment, but I am a fine shot,’ she reminded him as he gently opened the doors to the massive courtyard of their dwelling. “And need I remind you which of us won our bout of Ragnarok?”
‘I know, but I would prefer you safe and out of the line of fire if at all possible,” he reminded her. “You are my wife, who I swore to protect with my life.”
“I would find that offensive to me if I wasn’t already well aware of your protective side,” Jane sighed as they walked along the sides of the courtyard to the entrance of the house. “Along with this needlessly sappy side of you.”
“I simply believe in protecting the one you love and-” He began to protest, but Jane stopped him.
“Heracles,” Jane gasped, pointing to the garden where a wolf was circling a babe.
What?
Teeth bared, the wolf crouched on their hindlegs and prepared to jump.
“NO!”
Heracles jumped forward, leaving Jane to rush after him while he landed before the wolf as it soared through the air and with a swing of his club he sent it flying in the other direction. He bared his teeth, releasing all his power he could to ward off any more monsters that might be approaching.
Jane wasted little time in tossing her gun to the side, moving to scoop up and hold the small boy who was crying wildly, hands flapping as the sounds scared him. Her heart ached while she worked to rock him back into a state of calm, her body facing her husband but looking around widely for more enemies.
‘Oh darling little on,” Jane breathed, pulling him close. “Shhh, shhh,” she tried to soothe him, smoothing his blonde hair down as he continued to wail.
“Be gone,” Heracles sneered, the wolf being one of magical kin, knew this was not one battle she would win. “I will not spare your life should you attempt to attack this child again,” he warned, raising his club up once more. The lion on it roared out a warning, the wolf stepped back before it’s tail and ears lowered; it turned and vanished with a sparkle of light.
“What is god's name is happening,” Jane demanded with a hiss, holding the boy tight as his tiny fists clung to her dress. “Where did this baby come from and…and…why did that wolf be dead set on eating him!” She snapped, rocking him more calmly as there seemed to be no more monsters.
“I don’t…I don’t know,” he admitted, slamming his club into the ground. “I…I feel divinity in him. My father’s divinity.”
“...Zeus,” she raised a brow. “...That one?”
‘I have…heard rumors from my uncles. Hades specifically,” he began, looking around and noting they were no longer in their courtyard, but in a forest. “Of the remaining primordials remaining alive and they might have created another world in a flight of fancy.”
“That really doesn’t surprise me,” Jane deadpanned, the boy reaching out from her necklace as it glinted in the moonlight. “Oh oh,” she crooned, petting his head as she tucked the necklace under her collar. “You could choke.” She scolded him, tapping his nose gently.
“Mmmmp,” he whined, blinking as the adrenaline began to wear off. “Mmmmmm.”
‘Little tot all tuckered out,” Jane hummed, bouncing him a bit as he yawned. “Poor boy…”
“A blanket is here,” Heracles murmured, picking up a sky blue blanket with some embroidery. “Jason….his?” He showed it to her, Jane noting that it wasn’t hand made and was in a horrid state that had her wrinkling her nose.
‘I would assume so,” Jane nodded. “So this backup world…demigods,” Jane asked, brow raised. “We certainly don’t have those.”
“I know.”
‘That means that these gods diverged from ours and mingled with humans,” Jane hummed, the boy now calm in her arms and munching on his hand. “And thus they created demigods,” she finished, bouncing him now.
‘Most likely,’ Heracles admitted. “That seems to be the most logical answer. From what Uncle Hades says, the Primodridals don’t create two identical things. So they might have thought a world of Demigods and more…emotion driven gods would be something they would like to see.”
“That doesn’t surprise me at all,” Jane deadpanned. “Now what? Do we give the boy to your father? He might be lecherous, but he hasn’t cheated on Hera,” she reminded her husband.
“That is the most logical answer,” Heracle admitted. “But I do not think my father will be willing to take him in. He's too busy with running Valhalla and sparring with Sir Adam when he manages to annoy him enough,” Heracles told her, looking sheepish.
“Ah, father,” Jane nodded. “Right, he does seek him out alot.”
Adam had taken one look at Jane and declared himself her father, which was technically true, but all matters regarding her wellbeing were to be brought to him.
And yes, Heracles had to ask for his blessing to marry Jane, not that it went bad; Heracles was one of the few gods Adam actually liked.
Poseidon and Hades…
Well Hades was fine, especially after his lovestruck stint about marriage a while back, it was Poseidon that Adam really didn’t like. That is to say when he found out that Poseidon had wed Sasaki without his permission…
That area of Valhalla was still being rebuilt and it had been 2 years.
“Perhaps he is meant to be in our care,” Heracles inquired, looking around. “I hear no human cars or voices from a village. It is isolated.”
‘So his parents left him here to die,” Jane spat, holding the boy close while she clenched the blanket tight. “A child of a god to die?”
“Mayhaps this world follows the legends more closely than our own,” he offered, flinching as Jane’s eyes turned to ice. “...Maybe,” he coughed, knowing what it meant if it was true.
“Ah yes,” Jane drawled, Heracles shivering at the pure malice in her tone. “Murdering your wife and daughter. Bedding and Impregnating the 50 daughters of Thespius,” she sniffed, getting up. “Quite impressive,” she drawled, face a mask of calm.
“I would never,” Heracles whispered, looking upset as he followed Jane back through the gazebo that they appeared to have gone through. “You know that!” He looked anxious as she began to walk back the way they came.
“Hmm, doesn’t mean I like the legends,” she sniffed, nose upturned. “Especially since those 50 daughters want you to make good on that legend!” She reminded him, face the picture of pure annoyance and hate.
“I would never even look at them,” he wailed, following after her like a lost duckling through the foliage. “My love!!!”
“I know. I merely want you to understand my annoyance,” she clucked her tongue, her newfound child staring into Heracles tear filled one as he pleaded with her not to think about his possible counterparts follies.
His eyes moved up to the silver hair of his mother and he ingrained it deep into his baby brain that this was a powerful mama.
His mama.
