First Encounter
I never thought love existed among the gods. Not true love at least.
I never really believed I was important.
I never knew I needed anything more than what I already had.
But then he came and swept me away to his world.
Now I'm free… I wish he'd come back and take me again.
Hakuno first saw him on Olympus.
There were times the gods needed to gather to discuss certain matters: things like how the mortals live their lives, what areas needed rain, some gods argued over who got more offerings. Hakuno never really paid attention. Her biggest duty was helping her mother, Nero, with maintaining nature. And it wasn't uncommon for these meetings to end with a party.
Hakuno didn't usually mind, most of the gods and goddesses were nice to her. She was even friends with some of them. But this is where she usually ended; leaning against the wall, hidden behind the pillars. Her friends had gone off to challenge other deities. Her mother was in the middle of a crowd singing. She stood there, watching the crowd of gods mingling, talking, laughing, some fighting to prove their strength. No one noticing her absence.
Hakuno didn't think she could blame them. They weren't trying to be cruel or neglectful, it was just, she didn't stand out. Hakuno was a goddess. A goddess of nature like her mother, but her mother often took care of nature most of the time, Hakuno would either watch or help with the small things. Then there was the matter of her appearance. Hakuno was not ugly, per se. It was just compared to the other goddesses, she was… plain. The other goddesses had shimmering hair and eyes of exotic colors, voluptuous bodies, adorned in gorgeous dresses, each unique in their style. Even her bombastic mother, adored a dress of red and gold that would twirl with her as she danced on the floor.
Hakuno, in all honesty, looked like a normal mortal girl. Her long, slightly wavy, hair and eyes were brown, her favorite dress was a plain white with small red accents. To add to the fact, she stopped aging when she turned seventeen. Often, she wondered how she would look so ordinary, when she was born from Nero, the beautiful golden haired goddess.
Nero adored her. They almost always together. She would braid her hair, design her dresses, and would dance for her among the flower fields after a hard day's work. Hakuno loved her mother, but sometimes she would think she was a bit much.
On days she spent on her own, Hakuno would usually go spend her time amongst mortals. She actually found it was easier to relate to them then her fellow deities. She even made a few friends. But always she was reminded she was different. Those friends often aged and died. She would often miss them.
Aside from making friends with the mortals, Hakuno liked to observe how humans lived. The clothes they made, the food they ate, the art they created. It was all so fascinating. Sure, they might had been more simple, but Hakuno liked simple. She couldn't help but find the mortals fascinating, sure there were bad ones, but overall they were charming. They things they did on their own. They could make things with their hands. Sculpting, building giant temples and buildings. If Hakuno tried to make those things by hand, well… she was just happy she was immortal. While she did enjoy the palace of the king of the gods, Gilgamesh. She couldn't help but be more impressed by the details made by mortal man.
However, in Hakuno's opinion, there was one thing the mortals excelled at, even better than the gods. Love and marriage. Hakuno wouldn't be seeking a husband anytime soon. It had nothing to do with the age differences, most of the gods were thousands of years old, she was barely two centuries (When you're an immortal goddess age really is 'just a number'). What she wanted in a husband, the gods couldn't give.
It wasn't as if the deities were emotionless. They did feel love, but when they married, they never seemed to take their vows, seriously. Gilgamesh often had affairs, despite being married to Arturia. Granted she never seemed to care, but he promised to love her for eternity. If he meant it, why did he cheat? Her mother told her, that their vows were to be married, not to be faithful. Hakuno knew that when a god truly gave his word, he is bound to it for all eternity. It wasn't just Gilgamesh. Often the gods would cheat on their spouses. Often, they wouldn't care, but the ones that did, got even. They didn't try to talk it out and try to make things better.
The mortals were different. Yes, there were many who cheated and shared similarities between them and the gods. But there were even more who remained faithful no matter what. And sometimes when a few do cheat, they argue with their wives, but somehow, they forgive each other, and never cheat again. Hakuno wanted that. She wanted a love of honesty, of faithfulness, meaning. She wanted someone to love her and mean it. Not say 'I love you' and then run off to sleep with a nymph.
But it wasn't as if the gods were lining up to ask for her hand anyway, and at the moment, that was fine. But she couldn't help but think little of herself. She looked plain, she had no major role other than assisting her mother, and she was single.
Hakuno wished she had a different role. Don't get her wrong, she loved nature. She loved the plants, the flowers, the fruits, she loved her mother. She just wanted to be able to do more. Her mother could handle nature without her, she did it before she was born.
However, what else could she do? All the important positions were filled. To the sun and moon, to the laws and war of mortals, there was already a deity in the major aspects of the world. Her mother would always tell her a deity was born when they were needed. If that was true, why was Hakuno born? Was it really to just be Nero's helper?
She closed her eyes and sighed. She wished the party would end so she could go home. When she opened them, she noticed something in the corner of her eye. Something that wasn't there before. She turned her head, her eyes widened in surprise. A few meters away, someone else had decided to lean against the wall. It wasn't the fact that someone had gotten so close without her knowing, it was who it was that surprised her.
His outfit was mostly black; black pants and top. But draped over his body, was a blood read coat. His stance was completely different from hers. Despite leaning, Hakuno was mostly straight, quietly waiting for her mother to be done. His was more relaxed, a single leg propped him to the wall as the other crossed it. His arms were crossed in the front. His skin was tan, his hair, short, silver, and slicked back. While his eyes were closed in disinterested, Hakuno knew they were silver as well. Hakuno knew exactly who this man was. He was the oldest of the gods, one of three kings who ruled the underworld, one of the most powerful of gods: Emiya.
Hakuno didn't mean to stare, but she couldn't help it. She had never been this close to him before. Sure, she knew of him and his duties, how he and the original six, her mother included, defeated the Titans and began the era of the Olympians, and she had seen him at the meetings in the past, but she never spoke to him. She doubted he even knew her name. He never stayed for the parties, he would take care of whatever business that was required then leave. Sometimes he would speak to his brothers, one of the other kings, Gilgamesh and Cu. But that was it. From what Hakuno understood, aside from the mandatory meetings, he never left the underworld. Unlike Gilgamesh and Cu who often leave their domains to enjoy the Earth.
Most of the gods, her mother included, didn't seem to like him. Not even his brothers. Honestly, Hakuno didn't see a reason to dislike him. Sure, he wasn't social, but that wasn't a crime. He probably just didn't like parties, or liked to be alone, that didn't necessarily mean he hated everyone. At least she hoped that. He never really stuck around, she did know he had something of an attitude. The first time she saw him, she was a child, but her mother decided she was old enough to go to a meeting on Olympus. It was during a meeting when he was arguing with Cu.
Hakuno clung to her mother's hand, the halls of Olympus were so big, as were the gods and goddesses who roamed its halls. She felt tiny.
"Remember Hakuno," Nero instructed gently, "You must behave, we will among all the gods."
"Say that again you bastard!" Someone shouting, caused Hakuno to cling to her mother's dress in fear. Her mother quickly proceeded to gather her in her arms.
"They're fighting again," Nero mumbled as she looked towards the source of the disturbance. Cu and Emiya stood opposed.
"Will you calm yourself," Emiya said, sounded more annoyed than angry, "I was only stating a fact."
"So you think I'm greedy?" Cu's face was twisted in a snarl, he looked like he was ready to tackle the other god to the ground.
"Do they have to do this today," Nero began to power walk to the next hall, trying to get Hakuno away from the fight. Hakuno looked over her mother's shoulder as she was being carried away. For whatever reason, Emiya turned his head towards the fleeing goddesses, and for a brief second, his silver eyes met her young brown ones. Then she disappeared behind the corner.
The reason he probably wasn't so popular was because of his position. He was the ruler of the dead. Mortals feared death, so naturally they feared Emiya. While the gods were immortal, they didn't like him either. Most avoided him. That didn't really seem fair, he was one of the gods who defeated the Titans and ushered in their reign. Didn't he praise. When she asked her mother that she sighed and told her, "He did help defeat the Titans, and he has never done anything to harm us, but he did kill more in the war than any of us. So, much, death…"
"But you said it was a war."
"Hakuno, he even killed those who surrendered. There is no excuse… but he was still given a domain, the underworld… how fitting…"
Now that she was actually near him, Hakuno couldn't stop looking at the god's rare appearance, he honestly didn't look like a bloodthirsty killer, also he was actually pretty attractive. Despite being thousands of years old, he looked to be in his twenties. His body was truly that of a god. His crossed arms were toned and as thick as tree branches, and his black clothes didn't hide the fact the rest of him was equally toned. As she continued to scan down, she couldn't help but notice that, he seemed bored. Completely uninterested in the party of the other gods. She was started to wonder, why didn't he just leave like he usually did? Then when her gaze went back up, she noticed, his eyes were open and were now looking at her.
She quickly looked back ahead, her cheeks turned red, embarrassed she was caught staring. She felt a little conscious of his presence. She never thought she'd be this close to him. Still, she still felt ashamed, she just stared at him, now she was pretending that he didn't exist. She should at least say, hi. Although she did hear, he could be very snarky. Her hands clutched the skirt of her dress. Why was it so hard to just say, hi? She got along fine with Cu, even Gilgamesh, and he calls everyone 'mongrel' even his fellow gods. Besides, everything she heard about him she heard from others.
She took in a breath, she would try to start a civil conversation. If he was as much of a jerk as she was told, she'd leave, if he was nice, she would try and talk to him for a while. She looked back at him. He was still looking at her, Hakuno couldn't help but blush again in embarrassment. He released a small amused chuckle.
"Um…" she tried, "I'm-…"
"Hakuno!"
"Ah," Hakuno yelped. She was almost tackled to the ground when Mordred jumped her. Her arm throwing over the brunette's shoulder, "Mordred!"
"Guess what, Gilgamesh brought out his wine. We need to get some, now!"
Hakuno loved the god of war (calling her goddess meant she'd try to kill you) but she was almost as overbearing as her mother, "Can't you see I'm trying to be civil?"
"With who?'
"With Emiya."
"Uh… Hakuno, he isn't here." Hakuno looked. Mordred was right, he was gone.
"But-but he was…"
"Okay you sat on the side for too long, the isolation is clearly getting to you," Mordred said before dragging her back to the center of the room, "Lets get some wine before your mom finds out. I wonder why she doesn't like me hanging out with you."
"Something about you being a bad influence," Hakuno said.
"Me? Because I'm the god of war?"
"I think it had more to do with that incident with that lion."
"It was asking for it!"
Hakuno watched as her mother danced. Then when she struck a pose, red roses appeared around her. Hakuno clapped, her mother had a great love of roses.
"No then, back to work," Nero said straightening up, "We must start with this forest."
Hakuno looked, there was once a forest, but now all that was left was a large burnt area. It was as if the Earth had a scar. Hakuno couldn't help but frown.
"Did the mortals caused this?" Hakuno asked. Sometimes the mortals weren't very good with fire.
"No, it was a lightning strike," Nero explained, Hakuno couldn't help but notice Nero's eyebrow twitching, "No doubt Gilgamesh. He just loves to burn down my work while he sits on his golden throne, laughing. He never takes the time to appreciate anything and his tacky sense of fashion is-…"
"Um, mother," Hakuno interjected, "Maybe we should start. We'll finish faster."
"Of course," Nero said, "I'll just have to create an even greater display of flowers to show that arrogant ass, he doesn't bother me."
"He's still our king mother," Nero reminded.
"Well," Nero looked at the area, "For something this big, we'll both have to split up and work different parts. Do you think you can handle it?"
"Of course," Hakuno said, "I'm still a goddess."
Nero just smiled, "I know my dear. Just remember, if you need me, call me."
With a wave of her hand, more trees grew. Flowers and grass sprouted from the ground and vines began to crawl up the newly formed trees. Hakuno smiled at her work. The forest was already looking better. With that spot restores she began to search for a new area. She thought back to what her mother said. A lightning strike caused this fire. Sure, Gilgamesh was fickle, but burning so much of the forest down? That seemed extreme even for him. If Gilgamesh did something unorthodox it was because he was bored and was hoping for entertainment. However, Hakuno didn't think he found fires entertaining and he hated Nero's yelling. Why would he go so far as to burn down so much?
Hakuno saw an exit in the trees. So much light, it must had meant there were no trees to filter it. Another area that needed to be restored. However, when she left the trees, she found herself in a field full of flowers.
Hakuno couldn't help but smile at the sight, her mother must had been through here. She did love flowers especially roses. Hakuno couldn't help herself. She did a few twirls as she walked through. The colors and smells blurred together around her. Until she got dizzy and fell over on her back.
Okay that was enough fooling around back to work. She got back up and was about to leave when a certain flower caught her eye. It was beautiful, so beautiful. Hakuno couldn't help but be drawn to it. She crouched down to get admire it closer. She started to wonder what type of flower it was, then she remembered; the narcissus flower. A flower so beautiful, it will force anyone god or mortal to stop and admire it.
Wait.
Her mother didn't grow these. She believed they were to dangerous for mortals, so why was one here? As she thought that, she felt a chill run up her spine. She felt like she was being watched, that someone was behind her, slowly getting closer to her.
She whipped around in panic… to find nothing, just the field and the forest. Hakuno let out a sigh of relief. She must had been imagining things. She stood up and turned around; to come face to face with Emiya.
"Wah… Emiya," shocked at the sudden appearance Hakuno scrambled back in a panic flail. Only for Emiya to grab her wrist and pull her back in panic scream. When Hakuno collided into his body, his arm secured her to him. Hakuno struggled, pushed against his chest to get free, but he didn't budge, "What are you doing?"
"Hakuno?" Nero's worried voice came from the tree line. Hakuno turned towards the direction her mother's voice came from. She must have heard her scream, "Hakuno, where are you?"
Her mother was one of the strongest of goddesses, if anyone could help her, she could. Hakuno opened her mouth to call for her mother, when she felt Emiya's hand on the base of her neck. She felt some type of energy flow from his palm into her, the next thing she knew, she was tired, so tired, her eyes suddenly became heavy, "Mo… ther…" her eyes closed. The last thing she saw was the flower field before falling into darkness.
Hakuno opened her eyes drowsily. After she blinked a few times, she realized she wasn't in her bedroom. She sat up and looked around. The room she was currently in, was extravagant. It was more extravagant then the one back home. It was large, but also dark, the only source of light was coming from the fire place. From what she could tell, was the room was made of black marble and gold. The bed she was in was equally large and extravagant, it almost covered the wall.
Where am I? How did I…? Memories flashed through her muddled mind. The burnt down forest, the flower field, the narcissus flower… Emiya.
At that thought she quickly scanned the room again, searching for the god. To her relief she was alone. She needed to think for a minute. What was going on? Where was she?
She noticed one of the walls had a long red curtain, one meant to cover a balcony. She got out of the bed and went to it. She couldn't help but notice it was so dark, did she sleep that long. When she pulled the curtain aside, then took a step back. The sky hadn't gone dark with night. There was no sky!
She ran onto the balcony to get a better look. No stars, no clouds. The horizon was non-existent in the eternal darkness. There could only be one explanation, she was in the Underworld.
Hakuno began to pace around the balcony as she muttered to herself, "Okay Hakuno don't panic, don't panic, don't panic."
However, she was panicking. It was obvious, she was abducted. Why? She didn't know. One thing she did know; she wanted to go home. That was going to be easier said than done. This was the Underworld, another realm entirely! It wasn't like Olympus or the ocean, they were directly connected to the mortal realm, and travel was easy. The Underworld was separate. Connected by a river. Only four gods could travel from the mortal realm and the Underworld directly: Emiya, the king of this realm, his brother Gilgamesh and Cu, and the messenger of the gods, Astolfo.
Hakuno didn't have the power to go home on her own. Astolfo was a friend, and while he did technically work with Emiya, guiding souls to the Underworld, he stopped at the river Styx. He only went into the Underworld if he had to deliver a message to Emiya, and Hakuno doubted that was going to happen anytime soon.
She had no choice, she would go to the gates and have Drake, the ferry woman of souls, take her home, but Drake was famous for being cheap. She would only take souls across if she was paid in gold coins. Where was she supposed to get money? She was a goddess of harvest not wealth. Then she remembered, the balcony was made of gold.
She went to one of the decorations and with all her might, broke a piece of the gold off. She then placed her hand over the gold in her palm and ran her power over it, melting, making it take a new shape. When she pulled back her hands, the balcony decoration had become three gold coins. That should be enough to pay Drake.
Now she needed to sneak out of the palace. Thank the fates, the door wasn't locked. Hakuno opened it a crack and looked down the hall. No one was there, she opened the door further so she could stick her head out and looked down the other side of the hall, no one was there either.
She quietly closed the door behind her and started to creep down the hall. While she kept looking ahead, she also kept constantly looking behind her. The ruler of the Underworld snuck up on her twice and she wasn't going to let there be a third time.
As she snuck through the hallway, Hakuno couldn't help but notice how beautiful the palace actually was. Whenever she imagined the castle, she imagined it to be made out of bones and rock, since it was in the realm of the dead. Instead, everything was made of gold, except for the floors and columns, those were made of black marble. The walls were covered in red tapestries. There were vases every few meters. One would think it was just a black version of Olympus.
She came across an entrance to a room. Carefully she peeked in. It appeared to be the throne room. A large golden throne stood at the epicenter alone. Still no sign of Emiya. In front of the large throne, was a map of the Underworld. Which was something Hakuno needed. She didn't want to take a wrong turn and end up in Tartarus. She looked scanned the room again and when she knew it was empty. She went in, straight for the map.
The castle was in the center of this realm, obviously, and due south was the gate of the Underworld. There was a path in front of the palace, if she stayed on it, she'd be able to reach the gates in half a day.
Hakuno smiled to herself, she was going to be able to get home on her own. Oh, her mother would be so proud and happy to see her.
She thought she saw something move in the corner of her eye. Hakuno turned ready to defend herself. Nothing, no one was there, but she did see a bowl of fruit next to the throne. Was that there before. She looked upon the fruit. The sweet, juice filled fruit. Being a goddess Hakuno didn't feel, hunger exactly, but she did feel temptation, and she loved fruit. Those apples looked nice and crunchy, those grapes looked like they could just burst in her mouth, and the pomegranate, pomegranates were her favorite, it looked so good. Maybe… No, NO!
She shook her head. She knew the rules of traveling through realms. The most important: Do not eat food from a foreign realm. You will be trapped there forever. She wasn't going to throw away her freedom over a pomegranate. She'd get one when she was home. She turned her back on the tempting fruit and exited the palace.
She found the trail quickly and was traveling down on it. Despite there being no sky, Hakuno could see the terrain pretty well. She could see every blade of grass and every tree. She still stopped every few minutes to look behind her to see if she was being followed. Despite being his realm, she hadn't seen Emiya at all. As she walked, she recounted what had been happening and had been questioning why it was happening at all. Why was Emiya doing this to her? She never did anything to him, the only time she spoke to him was at the party and it was barely two words! While the gods were known to pull mean pranks and acts of vengeance especially against each other. Hakuno didn't do anything to him, was this because of her mother? No, she wouldn't blame her. However, she never heard of Emiya doing things like this and most of the other gods hated him.
The gates came into view. Finally, she was half way home. She quickened her pace to reach the gates faster but stopped when she heard a growl. How could she forget? Cerberus, the three headed dog, growled when it sensed her approaching. The guardian of the Underworld wouldn't let her leave. No, she was so close… wait.
Hakuno remembered hearing about a mortal who managed to get past Cerberus. He played music, a harp, and the three headed beast fell asleep long enough for him to get through. Hakuno didn't have an instrument, but she did know how to sing. The only person who heard her sing was her mother and she would and say she put the muses themselves to shame.
Well, time to see if her mother was being sincere or just trying to spare her feelings. Hakuno took a step forward, Cerberus growled. She gulped, then took a breath, then began to sing softly. The giant dog creature stopped growling and was just looking at her. She took that as a good sign and kept singing.
Cerberus stopped his fearsome stance and laid down, still watching her and listening. He almost looked like a normal dog like that… with three heads. Hakuno kept singing, she noticed one of the heads fell asleep. She internally cheered, it was working.
Soon the second head fell asleep, finally the last head. Hakuno didn't stop singing as she slowly stepped around Cerberus. Careful as not to wake him up. Even when she got past the gate she didn't stop until she was a good several meters away. She sighed and turned around and, in the distance, saw a port and a ship.
"Yes," she made it. She went full on sprint onto the docks soon she'd be home, soon she'd be with her mother again, she couldn't wait to see her as hope filled her chest. Sleeping on a chair was a red-haired woman with scars on her face. Hakuno stopped in front of her, "Um, Drake."
The woman opened her eyes and looked up, "Yeah what?" She looked to see Hakuno. Her eyebrow arched, then she stood up, "You're not dead, you're not even a mortal."
"You're right," Hakuno said, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the coins, "Take me back to the mortal realm, I don't belong here," she demanded. The red-haired goddess looked at the gold, a greedy glint crossed her eye, but then she looked back at Hakuno.
"What's your name?"
"Hakuno, daughter of Nero, goddess of the harvest," Hakuno introduced. Why was she asking this?
Drake sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, "Look kid, I would take you back. I really would, but I can't."
Hakuno felt like she just fell into a pit, "Why not?"
"Because I told her not to."
Hakuno turned towards the source of the voice. There stood Emiya and she wasn't on the docks anymore, she was back at the palace of the Underworld, his home.