Disclaimer: I don't own KnA or the gods they portray.
Chapter 1: Hades
Mornings were filled with darkness. Sweet darkness. Warm darkness in spite of the solitary candles that emitted a blue-green light. Most of the time, it was hard to tell if it was morning in the Underworld, but by now, Yui could tell. Especially when she noticed that her lover, the Lord of the Underworld, was gone from their bed.
Hades would go to bed after her and wake up early to take a patrol through his realm. It was his responsibility. In spite of the curse on his chest and the howling dark souls that resided so close to his throne and chambers, he had learned to accept his role, realizing its importance. Still, it was hard work. Yui, being a good, devoted lover, supported him in every way.
Yui stretched out to feel the cool sheets, laughing a little as she could hear Cerberus barking excitedly and Hades give him a frustrated scolding. She always thought that three headed dog was ferocious, but a dog's a dog and the beast begged for food, piddled where he wasn't supposed to, and got overly excited whenever he saw his master.
Living in the Underworld was just a series of contradictions. It was dark, gloomy, and frightening in most respects, but then watching Hades get flustered, and Cerberus roll over on his back, his three tongues hanging out, made the Underworld not so bad. Yui didn't want to be "that person" but she didn't see why the souls had to insist on being so miserable.
She sat up in bed when the door to their chamber opened. Hades, in his black robes and crown full of thorns, entered. He hadn't noticed she was awake and stood over their dresser, pouring himself a glass of water to drink out of and took off his crown.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow," he grumbled as the crown got caught in his long green-black locks. Once he got it free he said to himself, "Why do I insist on wearing this?" Hades proceeded to quietly wash his face, not only to refresh himself, but to get the dog slobber off his face.
Yui watched quietly as he poured a little water in the small flowerpot that rested next to the candle. The flower was growing, albeit slowly in spite of Hades' rather special care. Hades' red eye caught her moving as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.
"You should be asleep," Hades said, "I'm sorry to wake you."
"It's morning, Hades, I should be up," Yui rubbed the kink out of her neck. "You, however, should be back in bed. How long have you been up?"
"Couple of hours," he replied sitting down at the edge of their bed, he reached over to stroke her hair, a soft smile on his face. "It's all part of the job, dear. At least the more troublesome souls don't cause trouble too early in the morning when I do my rounds."
"They treat you like a camp counselor," Yui giggled, resting her head against his shoulder.
"And what is that?"
"Someone who's in charge of a bunch of rowdy children when their parents aren't around."
Hades smiled, "Yeah, well, if I weren't around they'd be partying all day and if death was perceived as fun, no one would want to be alive."
As morbid as his assertion was, he did have a point. The living should stay living and the dead should stay dead. Still, maybe making the Underworld a less dreary place would give the lost souls some reprieve. Yui concerned herself mostly with her lover, but in most regards she was sympathetic towards the souls.
Yui was frightened of them. They threatened to kill her, maim her, do unspeakable acts…all of which resulted in harsh punishment from Hades, by being sent to the deepest, darkest pits of the soul well, alone and forever drowning. That was angriest Yui had ever seen Hades.
After a while, Yui learned to ignore their threats, and instead listened to their cries. Many cried about missing families and friends, envying that they could not see their faces in the brightness of the living world. Yui had thrown away her family to live with Hades and there were days she felt like those souls did.
But, she assured herself, that her family was with Hades. And his dog. And his turtle that was currently doing his own slow laps in front of their door. Even some of the souls that she had encountered seemed to be every part of the 'household'.
Hades squeezed her hand, "Is something wrong, love?"
Yui shook her head immediately, "No, I was just thinking."
Hades was caught between wanting to pry and leaving her to her thoughts. He was very aware of the sacrifices she made to stay with him. The last thing he ever wanted was for her to regret her decision. Yui was, in all regards, the one thing that made staying King of the Underworld all the more bearable, and he did his damnedest to be good to her, given the circumstances.
He stroked her wrist in silence, allowing her to think on her own. For a moment, Yui was reminded when they first were together here in this world. She was petrified and nervous, a combination of which didn't make their first night pleasant. But Hades gave her time, letting the stroke of the wrist be the only contact until it escalated further. Of course even then, their consummation was fit of apologies and crying-mostly on Hades part. Still, the next day the souls were a little perplexed as to why their gloomy king seemed so chipper.
"I really shouldn't be loafing around," Yui sighed, thinking about Hades and his hard work. "I should help you more in the mornings, if you'd allow me."
Hades chuckled, more relieved that she wasn't thinking about her situation, "Do you want to wake up before death itself? I don't think you'd 'loaf' doing work that early."
Yui scowled at his pun and Hades shifted his eyes away in response, not daring to laugh at his own joke. Yui had a sense of humor and she prided herself in making Hades laugh on occasion. But the puns. She didn't hate them, but she also didn't want to encourage Hades to make more than he already does.
Hades wrapped his arm around her shoulders, allowing her to lean against his side. "Regardless," he replied in his soft but deep voice, "You should stay in bed. I don't want to let the odd hours wear at your health."
"Hades, I'm not a child," Yui protested pulling away. "I'm not sick, nor am I defenseless."
"Forgive me," Hades apologized. "I don't want such a thing to occur. If something were to happen…" He paused and he swallowed, looking helpless at the very thought of losing her. "I'd rather have you here with me, with your warm body, than to see you out in that pit, cold and distant, where I can only look at your face but not experience you as a person."
Yui smiled, entwining her fingers into his as a method of reassurance. She was here with him, "Come on, Hades. Don't be so glum. You'd be surprised how life is like when you look at things with the glass half full."
Unfortunately, Hades didn't get that metaphor, but he understood what she was trying to say. The truth was, he counted all of his blessings every morning and even tried to muster up a few more. That way he wasn't so beaten down whenever he encountered troublesome souls. Even as his blessings whittled down throughout the day, his hope immediately shot up whenever he saw Yui still here and, he hoped, happy.
Of course, being overprotective wasn't something he was used to feeling. For a short while he was protective of his younger brothers and his nephews, but to have someone who truly could be considered his family only caused him to hover. Luckily, since he was also busy dealing with the Underworld matters, it didn't annoy Yui as much as it should've. Anything bad happen during her day it was his fault, according to Hades.
"I'll try," he said with a soft tone, his red eye losing its rather horrific edge. He leaned in hesitantly and kissed her softly. Gentle was his touch and administrations, almost treating her like a fragile doll. Yui brushed the black bangs away from his red eye and kissed it.
"Sometimes you have to make the best of what you have," she explained. "Not everyone is given the best of circumstances. My family wasn't particularly wealhty but we were happy, even in the worst of times. Meanwhile, think of all the hassle Zeus caused himself up on Olympus."
Hades chuckled and leaned his head against her shoulder, " He manages better than I do."
Normally he didn't like thinking about the struggles of others, but Zeus was an exception. Much of the trouble caused in their history was made in part because of him. Hades succeeded in his duties where Zeus shirked. But, he and Posiden owed him for rescuing them from their father's wrath.
"Just think," Yui said, taking his hand in hers and entwining their fingers. "Apollon will show us the stars you love so much. Once winter starts."
"I don't much care anymore," he murmured. This surprised her. He loved the stars more than anyone else she knew. One would think he would grab at any opportunity to see them once more.
"You're my only star," he said sleepily. "My nebula. My galaxy. My universe."
Yui blushed almost as hard as they did their first night together. Hearing his loving words were almost too much. She grasped at his hand once more, gripping tightly. Hades pulled them back to lie on their bed, side by side, staring at the ceiling as if they were watching the stars themselves.
This gave Yui an idea. She had seen plenty of stars in her short life in the mortal world that she could equate them to memory. Perhaps she could take some of the time in the mornings where she should be up with her lover to paint those stars on the ceiling, like the plastic glow-in-the-dark stars her parents put on the ceiling of her brother's bedroom when he was a young child.
Then, their Underworld would feel unlimited, just like their love.
She relayed her thought to her lover, but got no response. "Hades? Hades?"
She turned over. Hades was still next to her, his eyes closed blissfully, breath easy in calm sleep. Yui smiled, nestling herself closer beside him, resting a little more before he rose again to a slightly better Underworld.
A/N: I'm kind of ashamed that I haven't written Hades before. I've got nothing against him or his Cosby sweater daddy vibe, but in some ways he is too easy for me to write. Thankfully he's gotten plenty of love from fellow writers on here. Still I hope this satisfies the Hades fan in everyone.
Should I get enough reviews, faves, whatever, I do plan on getting to ALL the gods, even Dionysus and Thor (even Akira, though...what..the hell am I going to do with that one.) I don't have a planned order, necessarily, but Loki or Takeru or Apollon next if I get enough support. I usually don't blackmail chapters for reviews but in this case I have a big backlog of stories that I don't want to invest time in a story that doesnt get read.
