Author's note: I've been sitting on this idea for a while, possibly even as a little head canon, and I've finally sat down and written this little one shot. I hope you guys enjoy it!
I own nothing except my delusions.
Hades lounged on his throne, staring at the ancient pendant he held.
He smiled to himself, deep in thought about the opportunity he had, one he never thought he would have again.
Hades knew the various beliefs mortals had, how they had evolved through the millenniums, having seen how they've changed. He was one of the few gods that dealt directly with mortals, even if it was after their mortality ran out.
Hades knew he, his siblings, and other gods were considered myths by most, having been long forgotten, except as stories. They were nothing more than myths of deities from civilizations long gone, no more than fairy tales.
The mortals had even forgotten their own origins, how they had come into existence.
They had been created with four arms, four legs, and two faces, but had been split in half, resulting in the form that humans took, only taking back something similar to their original forms through the greatest of intimacies. After they had been split, they began searching for their other half, their soulmate.
Few actually found them, and fewer still were reborn again, only to find each other again.
Lost in memory, Hades recalled the only two mortals to have escaped him.
Orpheus and Eurydice were two of the few who had found each other. They had been deeply in love, and had been engaged at the time. Many at the time didn't marry for love, most having arranged marriages.
It hadn't mattered that he was from a poorer class than she was, that she was practically royalty and he a former slave. They chose each other despite what they had to go through.
Just before they were to be married, they had been out together, spending the day at an open field when Eurydice had been bitten by an Atlantian rat snake.
Orpheus tried everything he could to save her, but she died before the next sunrise, but not before she promised they would find each other again and that she loved him. Her family wanted to bury her, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.
Heartbroken, Orpheus knew he couldn't continue on without her and decided to take drastic actions and do whatever he could to return her to him, stepping into the Underworld despite the warnings from everyone else.
Finding Eurydice, he went with her to Hades, desperate to do anything to bring her back to life.
Firmly believing their attempts to be worthless, Hades removed Orpheus' heart and sent them down to retrieve the ambrosia needed to restore life, thinking they wouldn't pass the test.
Hades knew the second Eurydice's heart began to beat again, signifying she could return to the land of the living with her lover. She and Orpheus left, leaving Hades enraged that he lost one of his charges.
Hades was furious that they had been proven to be True Love and had passed the test, disproving his claims of mortals being selfish beings.
Fury and humiliation taking over, he decended to where the ambrosia tree resided, destroying the tree so no other souls would be able to escape him again.
Knowing he couldn't harm or kill anyone living, he resided to wait patiently for them and retaliate for his humiliation.
Decades passed before Orpheus and Eurydice died, living full, loving lives together before dying together one night as they slept. Having both passed on within moments of the other and finding each other, they passed on together to the Elysian Fields, earning the place there because of their feat in the Underworld.
The inhabitants of the Underworld suffered Hades' wrath for some time after.
He took interest when he found out that Orpheus' soul had been reborn, meaning that Eurydice would soon be born again as well.
He waited, growing inpatient as Eurydice had yet to come again, all the while Orpheus lived a life equal to three mortal life times before she was finally reborn. Once she was born, he knew it was only a matter of time.
Soulmates reborn never recognized each other from their past lives, but they always felt drawn toward each other, meaning he had to wait for them to fall in love.
Orpheus was the first to die the second time around, delighting Hades. He hadn't expected him to die so soon after finding his soulmate again, but that just meant he could start taking his revenge earlier than he had expected.
Hades had taken great pleasure out of beating and breaking his body, whether it be by his own hand or letting Cerberus have him. The sight of Orpheus' blood excited him, making him draw more cuts and lashes from his flesh.
He had smiled the second he felt a living Eurydice enter his realm, looking for her Orpheus, knowing when she did eventually find him, she would find a beaten and bloody man.
He planned to make it as difficult as possible for her to find Orpheus, knowing that in some way, though she was untouchable, he wanted her to suffer too.
Lowering the necklace that had been Orpheus' engagement gift to Eurydice, the small swan engraved on it illuminated by the light of the Styx, Hades picked up the curved piece of metal he had taken from the reborn version of Orpheus.
Rising, he left to where Orphues was held after Cerburus had last gotten him after his prisoner had another released a young woman he had been holding.
Despite how long it had been since Hades had seen Orpheus, he saw he looked nearly the exact same, as if only a day had passed.
Hades never forgot a face.
The same bright blue eyes looking up at him defiantly beneath dark hair, matted with blood.
The only difference was Orpheus had lost his left hand when he was reborn, resulting in him wearing the hook that Hades held onto.
Orpheus glared at him, refusing to back down even in his injured state.
Thinking that there was no way for him to escape, even after his Eurydice came for him, Hades smiled cruelly, crouching down in front of him as he waved the blood stained hook.
"Well, Hook," Hades sighed, hiding his delight at what he imagined was to come. "Looks like your Emma has decided to come and get you after all."
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