The Problem with Melione
Yup, that's right, do a double-take I'm back! Now... Moving on Herc-fans!
As usual I do not own Hercules (Disney does) but I do own this version of Persephone, Thanatos, Melione and Macaria as well as a whole cast of gods, minions, places and even certain plants that come up in this story. The original character cast is well over a hundred characters, I actually counted them and they all have a back story which is just insane (pretty sure I still hold the record for largest well thought out OC cast in this category, so take that newbies!) Permission can be granted to use them, I'm not possessive if you like a character you should be allowed to use them, just my opinion. I only ask that I know what your up to so I can read it, I like doing that and offering character reference to those who need it.. Assuming I still have some fans out there..
Gimmie a holler guys!
Chapter One: Bluebird's Big Secret
In the months that followed the the break in the trinity things in the ancient world of Greece were tense. Without the allegiance of their younger brother Hades to back them up anymore Poseidon and Zeus were determined to keep their realms united. They were vulnerable to the mercies of other gods and they made sure that no sniff of this information made it down to mortal lands. The mortals already had this image of Hades and Persephone remaining aloof from the other gods and they played up to that. Of course, the one ramification that came from banishing the Rulers of the Underworld was the absence of Demeter. The Goddess of Nature no longer wished to grace the cloudy realms of Olympus with her presence. Apart from Bacchus all her immediate family lived underground and she had always preferred the company of mortals to the squabbling of gods.
The tarnished trinity affected Poseidon much more so than Zeus. Where as the eldest son of Cronos and Rhea remained firm and resolute in his decision, the middle son pined for the loss of their bond. Poseidon had always been the peacekeeper between fiery Hades and stubborn Zeus, he had been a buffer in more squabbles and duels than he could count. Despite a volatile temper it always washed away quickly into a sensitive and more easy going nature, it flowed just like the realm he ruled. The Lord of the Waters knew that if he had been present at Zeus and Hades' meeting he could have talked them both around to a more peaceful option. But, alas he had not... And here they were..
...Broken. Unfixable and vulnerable... Even if the other two couldn't see it.
Things had been nerve-wracking up on Olympus as the Spring season approached. Persephone's presence on the surface was supposed to signal the beginning of the warm seasons on the surface. A few weeks prior Demeter had disappeared from the surface into the Underworld, no doubt to try and convince her daughter into returning to her surface duties. The many of the other gods were anxiously waiting for the big day, with the exception of Aphrodite, Cupid and Psyche. They were confident that the Queen of the Underworld would return. She was the Goddess of Life, a close personal friend to the all amour family and the mentor to both Eris and Psyche's little baby girl Voluptas. The God of Love and his wife had already started preparing the first shipment of love arrows for the new season which just proved how much faith they had in Persephone making the right choice.
Sure enough, the snow melted and Demeter returned to the surface along with a collective sigh of relief as the blonde teenage-looking goddess with ghostly-white skin and olive-green eyes reappeared onto the surface with her mother and youngest daughter. Life, could go on as normal, at least as normal as it could from this time on...
"Mama, mama.." The chirpy voice of Macaria squealed out joyously as she skipped excited around her mother's legs then tugged on the skirt of her long dress. "Are we going to see Voluptas when we are up here? I love babies, do you think I will have one when I'm big?" The questions burst forth from the tiny goddess' mouth in one long animated burst.
"Oh figs, I hope not, your father would combust.." Persephone muttered under her breath trying not to shudder at the idea of Macaria no longer being the sweet innocent girl she was now and then trying to banish the look of murderous rage that would cross Hades' face if any male tried to touch his daughter.
"Grandmama, can I run through the grass and grow bluebells as I go?" Macaria bounced up and down beaming widely, her odd eyes looking pleading up at her grandmother.
"Of course you can sweet flower, fill this field with them.." Demeter nodded kindly with a warm maternal smile and immediately the pint-sized goddess screeched with joy and scampered off giggling, her chubby little hands outstretched and glowing as her blonde pigtail whipped behind her as she went. Behind her dozens and dozens of purply-blue tiny bluebells sprouted quickly in her wake, following her as she speed through the fields and zig-zagged. Both Persephone and Demeter clutched hands cooing at her in adoring fashion.
"Oohh, I hope she always stays this sweet and innocent.." The Goddess of Life sighed before making a fist that glowed with star-white light, she raised it up and blew a kiss and as her fist unfurled dozens of multi-coloured butterflies fluttered forth after her daughter. Macaria squealed in delight as they wafted by and began giving chase, trying to catch one of her mother's creations.
"Careful what you wish for, you sound a little like me.." Demeter chided gently, bowing first hand where that naive thinking got you.
"I know but I understand now. Heh, besides it's Hades you should be worried about. Sure he can be a little neglectful with his girls but I know deep down he wants both of them to stay innocent little Vestal Virgins." Persephone replied lightly as she and her mother strolled through the field of bluebells towards the family farmhouse.
"Hmh, guess that proves he's my brother, but what about Thanatos?" Demeter kinked a brow.
"Oh mother, we both know the seeds of innocence have already fallen from that tree.." The blonde goddess responded nudging her mother playfully and both goddesses giggled..
Deep down in the Underworld everything was peaceful and quiet. While the surface sprung back into life work always tended to start to stagnate and dry up. Inside the dark recesses of the throne room Hades was lounging across the two-seater solid stone throne that he would usual share with his wife. His broad back rested against his own armrest as his rear rested on the seat of the hidden compartment that kept the Helmet of Darkness safely stowed away from thieves. The only other being in the cosmos that knew it was there was his immortal wife and she would never betray him. His long legs hung over his wife's armrest ending in the endless swirl of black smoke that kept his feet concealed. The Lord of the Dead had a bored expression on his face, his listless yellow eyes narrowed with the disdain of such a dreary day.
Business was dead. Literally.
It seemed like eons ago that he would actually want to plot a scheme to boost business, try to get more souls through the gates and into the Styx but after finding out that his son not only excelled him at his own game, successfully killing Hercules and manipulating Zeus into giving up his stranglehold on his share of the cosmos, Hades had thrown in the towel. He had effectively retired from planning anything that did not revolve around dead souls and their afterlives. He was done, kaput... Let Thanatos have the reins. It was his turn to plot the schemes, cause some anarchy and get the souls inside this realm.
Why have a God of Death if you ain't gonna reap the benefits?
Hades smirked to himself at his own private little joke as his lazy gaze rolled around towards his now fourteen year old golden-flamed son who had been promoted to his go-to-God, his left lieutenant but lately things had been far from rosy. Thanatos was viciously loyal to both his own family and the Underworld but he was also growing arrogant about his own gifts and despite being slightly conceited himself arrogance was not a trait the Lord of the Dead wanted his son to have. There was enough undeserved arrogance in this cosmos without it emanating inside his own home. Hades shifted upwards out of his lazy slouch and craned his neck to see what his son was up to on the chessboard opposite. It seemed as if Thanatos was planning something..
"You want any tips?" Hades finally spoke out to his son, trying not to sound hopeful for the interaction as it would be a nice break from the boredom.
"Nope. I'm good." Thanatos responded flatly, manifesting a black hourglass with white sand inside from nowhere, holding it out with a steady hand.
"You sure? Your old man has worked with every being on and under the surface, you won't get better advice anywhere else, Lemmie tell ya that!" Hades tried again to connect with his teenage son. Waving one hand casually to emphasis his point.
"Dad, I'm omniscient..." Thanatos sighed wearily. "Why, would I need advice?" He spoke in a monotonous voice before suddenly whipping around with a wide boyish smirk. "Don't get too comfortable, you got less than a few minutes before someone drops in.." Immediately he slammed the hourglass down on the chessboard and vanished out in a puff of black.
"Hmh, ungrateful little punk.." Hades muttered in a sulky manner as he tried to bury the sting of rejection he was feeling. It hadn't seemed that long ago that Thanatos and him spent lots of time together and now it was like the two of them were drifting apart. Hades rested his large chin in his hand and sighed watching the white sand of the hourglass trickle down. He knew Thanatos had just left this behind so that he could see how exact his son was. By the time the last grain hit the bottom of the glass the soul would whoosh through the throne room and sure enough, the last grain was timed perfectly with the scream of the sliced life-line.
"Am I good or am I good?" Thanatos responded brightly as he materialised out of nothing and pocketed the hourglass.
"Uh, yeh, your something alright.." Hades murmured in an unimpressed bored voice, rolling his eyes before sitting straight and throwing Thanatos a serious look. "Listen short-flames, while I have ya, we gotta talk.."
"Maybe later dad, I gotta go sharpen my scythe." The white-skinned teenage God replied in an uninterested tone, his thumb running over the curved edge of his blade, his yellow eyes then studying the result to his skin. He then began to move away.
"Hear me out ya little-!" Hades vented as his flames turned momentarily yellow in frustration before he took a cleansing breath and exhaled slowly, "No, I'm fine, I'm cool... Heh, Than.. I'm your father and I really think we should talk about your attitude-" The blue-flamed deity crooned towards his first-born child with a forced smile but was interrupted by Thanatos' next words.
"If you want to talk about attitude changes you should aim this conversation towards Melinoe, she's been acting weird ever since she got herself that slobbering boyfriend of hers.." The golden-flamed God of Death replied lightly, casually picking his nails with the sharp point of his scythe looking unconcerned by the effect that this may have.
"Wait, time out, excuse me?" Hades responded with a bemused expression, his attention now suitably diverted from scolding Thanatos about his arrogance on the job. "Boyfriend?" The Lord of the Dead's left eyebrow shot up with the tick that came from badly-repressing the urge to lose control of his flames.
"Yeh, maybe if you ask her to bring him over he can come shed on the couch.." Thanatos continued and he now began walking away with a confident strut, knowing that he was not going to be receiving a lecture on his behaviour. It also seemed that Hades had not taken in a word of his his last uttered sentence as the red-faced fiery God suddenly exploded like some long dormant volcano..
"WHAT BOYFRIEND?!"
Little Notes:
Hey Peeps, long time no see... I know, I know I said I was retired but this story idea has been knocking around ever since Daddy's Little Hellraiser, I just couldn't find enough satisfying myths to weave into it. Now however I have decided to twist two myths together the first is revolving around Thanatos' new found arrogance and how Hades will eventually put him in his place, the second is about Melinoe's first love who I will get back to you on later...
Hope this was a nice Christmas surprise!
~ A Teal (aka: D Minx)
Sorry if the change in category is confusing, it wouldn't let me put this story with the rest!