Ok peeps, same deal third story (and it's a good one!) ok, fifth if you want to get technical about it… I don't own Disney's Hercules (unfortunately) but Persephone, Thanatos and all the other original characters and places that pop-up belong to me…

This story takes things from both the film and the series while it also contains some carrying themes from it's forerunners; Plight of Persephone & Daddy's Little Hellraiser (plus a few things from both short stories too) so read them first…

Little hint: if you haven't read it's forerunners then you will get confused because some things that have happened in past fics are coming back in this fate-filled fic..

And a little reminder… Disney twisted a lot of myths for their storylines so I have to do some minor tweaking of my own to make this work…

…enjoy x

BubblyButtons2me: Awesome Review!~! X

AngelOfDarkness1959: Yeh, that would be my nightmare too! Whew… thank god it was justa dream eh? ;) ..Yup and there's more Melinoe in this chap too so you can compare some more… P.S. thank you X

DisneyPrincess: Well that's a relief! And glad you laughed because here's more Hades related weight-gain humour… and yup, the baby's powers are interesting aren't they? Lucky Than? Will you still think so after this chap…? O_O …x

The Importance of Thanatos

This chap goes out to my three most loyal reviewers since they were the only ones to review… Why? Because their awesome! That's why! Xx

Chapter Thirty-Six:Being Death's a Bitch, Ain't it?

Thanatos frowned at the small figure of Zeus sitting on the chessboard before him. Slowly the godling lowered his flaming head so he now his glaring golden orbs were directly opposite the stone figure.

'How do I settle with you..' The fiery godling glowered impossibly harder at the figurine of his cloud-dwelling uncle. It wasn't a question… it was more of a rolling statement of frustration. Throughout the busy winter months Thanatos had been very busy slicing life-lines and trafficking souls.. but through it all the fiery godling's mind was a constantly ticking. Though his gaze remained sombre and silent his brain was constantly working on Zeus.. It was like an obsession. He now understood his father's once long-held dream to overthrow his uncle… it was like a growing knot in his stomach that grew tighter and tighter the longer it was left. Like a long and slow, agonizing torture with no end in sight..

The son of Hades had managed to get out of joining his parents and little sister on Olympus for the Spring Celebrations by saying he had some important business to attend, though Persephone made him swear by the Styx he would at least make the effort to show up and say 'hi' to his grandma at some point. Thanatos had rolled his eyes at the thought of getting another smothering cuddle from Demeter but he reluctantly agreed just to please his mother..

'You don't..' A voice instantly responded from directly behind the fiery godling, causing him to straighten and swivel around to see Atropos grinning at him with her two sisters on either side of her. '-at least not yet you don't.' The Fate of the Inevitable finished her statement, still leering at the son of Hades.

'What?' Thanatos sounded completely bemused and flaring slightly irritated by this fact at the same time. Due to his own powerful gift of omniscience the God of Death-in-training was the only immortal being the Fates had chosen to mentor, allowing him to enter their inner-circle and learn the divine mysteries behind their Eye of Fate. It was a position that most other gods would have considered trading their immortality for.. Since the fiery godling had been rigidly schooled by these three old crones he knew each of them inside out and knew when they were holding back information from him. The young God of Death-in-training then folded his arms as his robe-covered foot tapped the stone floor in a steady irate rhythm, his golden eyes narrowed in a slightly jaded-yet-annoyed fashion. He didn't have to say a word, what his body language was saying was obvious to any being..

'Don't worry my dear child..' Lachesis said with a twisted smile.

'-you'll get your chance..' Clotho added soothingly before the Fate of the Inevitable hit her on the nose causing the Eye of Fate to pop out her eye socket. As Clotho rubbed her now sore nose Atropos pushed the squidgy eye into her empty socket and grinned widely at her protégé.

'I can guarantee it..' The tiny fate flashed a nasty leer up at the fiery godling who threw her a wicked smirk back. It vanished off into a heavy sigh as Thanatos' shoulders sagged wearily.

'Lemmie guess..' The fiery godling half-rolled his eyes with a jaded boyish smirk. '-this is the moment you tell me to quit my loafin' and get back to work, right?' He sounded in a dry-yet-ever-so-slightly-amused tone.

'Right..' All three Fates sounded together brightly.

'Yup. Just checkin'..' The fiery god responded with a snicker. '-I gotta get back on Suicide Watch anyway, losers get pretty depressed this time of year..' He then vanished out in a curl of black smoky darkness with a mock-salute.

'He's so impatient..' Clotho sounded after the Fates had been left to themselves in the throne room for a short while..

'He's just restless..' Lachesis added lightly to her sister and Atropos murmured in agreement.

'We'll speak to Hades about it when he gets back..' The eldest Fate smiled mysteriously..

'Persephone, sweetheart!' Demeter squealed out happily as she embraced her pregnant daughter warmly. 'Oh, wow… pregnancy really suits you this time..' She beamed taking in her daughter's radiant aura and youthful appearance, her six-month baby bump was a neat swell sitting proudly on the front of abdomen.

'Thanks mom, I have been feeling oddly perky lately..' Persephone beamed back widely, a hand stroking her bump..

'Oh good, maybe it'll show in your work this year..' Demeter sounded in a vague voice causing her daughter to scowl as her mother only beamed in the same dismissive-but-slightly-irritating fashion. 'Are the kids with Hades?' She suddenly asked lightly causing her Persephone to blink in shock.

'Mom, quit trying to dance around the subject..' Persephone sounded stiffly. '-what's wrong with my work?' The Goddess of Life frowned placing her hands on her hips and frowning at her mother.

'Oh pumpkin, don't get antsy or you'll upset the baby and that's not good..' Demeter only sounded knowledgeably, still dancing around the subject.

'Mom!' Persephone scowled deeper.

'Look, we've been over this a hundred times and you never listen dear, your flowers are either to pasty and drab or too dark and dreary. Spring is about bringing life and zest and Gaia knows that to do that you need a splash of colour here and there..' Demeter frowned at her daughter.

'I do add colour-' Persephone retorted hotly, about to add how subtle colour was more effective than bold and bright but she suddenly hiccupped and a glowing bubble issued from her mouth, it floated for a moment before bursting into miniature bright light orbs that vanished.

'What the-?' Persephone only managed to mumble before another hiccup came and yet another bubble popped out from her lips and burst.

'I told you not to upset the baby..' Demeter sounded in a smug little sing-song before disappearing off into the crowd to say hello to her son-in-law and grandchildren.

'Rrrrrr…' Persephone growled in frustration before, '-hic!' Another glowing bubble appeared and the goddess sighed, choosing to burst the bubble with her finger. She then silently cursed her mother before moving through the crowd of gods after the green-skinned goddess. She ignored the strange looks she got for hiccupping bright white bubbles along the way..

…Meanwhile at the back of the coliseum Hermes was with Hades and his daughter. Beside the Messenger God was a rose-skinned goddess with sky-blue eyes and multi-coloured hair which caused the aura to glow with a rainbow of colours.

'Whoa..' Hades blinked at this goddess, who must have been around fifteen. '-Hermes, what's with the kaleidoscope-kid? She's a bit young for you ain't she?' The fiery god kinked an eyebrow while leering in an expression of mock-jest.

'Eh-heh-heh..' Hermes mock-laughed in amusement back. '-look who's talking..' The tiny blue Messenger God then smiled widely at the fiery god before gesturing to the girl beside him. 'Hades, I'm sure you vaguely remember Iris, youngest daughter of Zeus and Hera..' Hermes then turned to Iris who had beamed widely. '-and Iris, I don't believe you've actually met your cousin Melinoe before have you?' He added conversationally causing the rose goddess' bright blue eyes to turn to her gloomy cousin who actually looked less than impressed with her.

'Hi there..' Melinoe sounded in a dull voice with a half-hearted wave. '-my friends call me Mel, at least they would if I had any, but since I don't, you can just call me Melinoe..' She reeled off in a quick dismissive manner and turning her green eyes away again, clearly not interested in socializing with her cousin any more than she had to. Iris let out a light girlish giggle which tumbled like a waterfall of laughter at her cousin's words..

'Oh you, your so funny!' Iris tittered amused causing Melinoe to frown at her.

'And your annoyingly perky..' She sighed in an exasperated tone. The next second Iris' rose-tinted arm extended around Melinoe's shoulders and she pulled the blue-skinned gloomy goddess into an incredibly tight hug causing her to wince..

'I hope we can become really good friends..' She sounded in an upbeat tone as her incredibly white teeth flashed into a dazzling smile.

'Urh, I think I would rather contract Proserpina Plague and lock myself in Tartarus before that ever happens..' Melinoe grumbled irritably while trying and failing to pry herself out of perky Iris' grip.

While the cousins were having this exchange Hades and Hermes had been talking.

'Oh yeh..' Hades had drawled, vaguely remembering Iris as a baby, Bolt Boy had taken one look at his daughter's multi-coloured hair and decided that she would oversee rainbows since her hair reminded him of one. 'So what're ya doin' with her now?'

'Zeus wants me to train Iris up to become a second Messenger to the Gods, the big guy thinks I could do with the help, apparently I'm not around as often as he'd like..'

'Translation: he thinks your spendin' too much time in the Underworld.' Hades sounded with a slight smirk, he knew Zeus far too well.

'Yup. That was my conclusion too.' Hermes sighed wearily. 'But I shouldn't complain..' Hermes instantly snapped out of his funk and grinned widely. '-I always said I wanted a P.A. right?'

'Indeed ya have..' Hades nodded in agreement, remembering a few times Hermes had complained about there being too many errands for one god to handle.

'Hey, have you put on a little weight by any chance?' Hermes suddenly asked as he took in Hades' appearance, he did seem a little chubbier than usual. The fiery god instantly flared a nasty orange colour while his white hot flames seared down his shoulders, causing Hermes to flutter backwards with his arms up. 'Yeesh, no need to flare off the handle… was just asking..' The blue Messenger God uttered in a soft voice looking worried.

At this point Demeter arrived and smiled widely at the small group, clearly pleased to see that her family could socialize when they wanted to.

'Are we making friends with Iris, Melinoe?' Demeter trilled amiably to her granddaughter who threw her grandmother a filthy look but Iris beamed widely.

'Oh yes Aunt Demeter, we're becoming fast friends..' The rainbow-haired goddess sounded in such a chirpy voice that it made Melinoe want to heave. Not even Psyche was this perky!

'Oh that's wonderful!' Demeter clasped her hands together adoringly. 'I've always said you should put more effort into making friends Melinoe, and stop hiding that pretty face behind all that hair.' Demeter swooped forward and tucked Melinoe's bright blue hair behind her ears revealing her prominent cheekbones. Melinoe glared impossibly harder before managing to wrench herself free from Iris' grip then shook her blue hair loose from the confinements of being behind her ears. Thankfully her grandmother had now moved onto her father.

'Hades, I don't want to sound insensitive but you do seem to have..' Demeter bit her lip timidly before adding, '-filled out a little bit.' The fiery god blinked before running his eyes over Demeter's body, if anyone had filled out over the centuries it was her.

At this moment Persephone appeared out of the crowd and rolled her green eyes at her mother, who was obviously trying to be tactful to her husband about his weight gain, which was more obvious in the daylight than the dim Underworld light.

'Excuse me?' The fiery god sounded in a low voice, trying to mask his irritation.

'I wasn't trying to be rude dear it's just you do seem a bit fuller in the face, not that that's a bad thing.' She added trying to dig herself out of the hole she'd made. Hades narrowed his eyes at his mother-in-law, he considered pointing out her apple-shaped figure before changing his mind. He wasn't going to be that insensitive to his wife's mother who had become a surprisingly useful ally to have when dealing with Zeus..

'Yeh, I know, so I've put on a little weight over the last year, get over it, boom. I'm dealin' with it, 'kay? Got the weight set out this mornin'..' The fiery god reeled off amiable-yet-slightly-defensive tone... why did everybody have to point out his tiny iota of a 'weight issue' as if it was big news? His mother-in-law only smiled completely oblivious to his irritation, just like always..

'Well at least your doing something about it, that's the main thing.' Demeter sounded satisfied by this explanation.

Persephone suddenly let out a loud hiccup causing the group to instantly turn to her. Everyone besides Demeter looked amazed by the white glowing bubble that issued from her mouth and burst into tiny orbs.

'What in Tartarus was that?' Hades asked bemused as Melinoe just stared dumbfounded by this new power development.

'This..' Persephone pointed to her mouth. '-is the new 'hic' parlour trick our darling little baby has decided to play.' She sounded wearily before hiccupping again and yet another bubble issued forth.

'The baby's just upset sweetheart..' Demeter sounded lightly. 'It'll pass. I used to hiccup butterflies when you were in the womb..'

'Really?' Persephone blinked in amazement before shivering and adding, 'I think I prefer the bubbles..'

'It's wasn't as icky as it sounds pumpkin..' Demeter chuckled good-naturedly at her daughter's grimace. 'Now where is Thanatos?' She asked but before anybody could answer her a disembodied voice did.

'I'm right here..' The next second there was a curl of smoky darkness and Thanatos appeared. The fiery eleven year old grinned widely at his family as they all gawped in shock at his appearance, it wasn't his sudden arrival that had stunned them but the fact that he was caked from head to toe in blood and what could only be described as bits of mortal-inners.

'Oh good Gaia child, what are you covered in?' Demeter's chubby green hands clasped her face in shock. Hermes kinked a brow at his protégé and smirked widely.

'My best guess would be the deceased remains of a mortal who decided to go take a running jump.. quite literally.' The tiny blue god sounded dryly.

'Oh Than, you couldn't even change before you came up here?' Persephone wrinkled her nose in distaste and moved away from her son as the sight of his blood-soaked robes was making her want to vomit… which was strange as she usually didn't care as she was used to cleaning Thanatos' disgusting robes..

'I could've..' Thanatos responded with airy indifference as he casually inspected his nails which were blood-free. '-but then I realised that if I didn't Uncle Zeus would avoid me like a mortal with the plague which is a massive plus point..' At these words both Hades and Hermes instantly snickered in amusement but Demeter lanced them a stern glare and they silenced quickly as she turned to back to her grandson.

'Well you look like a bloody disgrace..' She sniffed in a haughty fashion. 'How on Gaia's surface did you ever get into such a state?' She folded her large arms across her massive bosom.

'Suicide Watch, they don't call it Lover's Leap for nothin' y'know-' The God of Death-in-training the leant into his grandmother causing her to grimace. '-by the way, word of advice: don't be waitin' at the bottom for them to land..' He then straightened smirking and pulling his blood-soak robe. '-I just learnt that the hard way..'

'Ewww…' Iris squealed out in disgust, looking revolted by her cousin. '-you are such a sick, twisted creep.' Melinoe on the other hand smiled widely at the goddess with multi-coloured hair… sometimes it paid to be the sister of Death..

'Admit it candy-chiton, that's what'cha love about me..' Thanatos sounded lazily, throwing his rose-tinted cousin the kind of lecherous smirk his father would be proud of.. In fact Hades laughed affectionately at it, at least he did until his wife elbowed him in the ribs with a smirk of her own.

'Thanatos that's enough..' Demeter sounded sharply making her grandson wince, her stern gaze was on him again, she never missed a trick.

'Well Iris, we best push on, we got a lot to do before this party is over..' Hermes sounded casually checking his sundial. Iris beamed at him gratefully, glad to have an excuse to get away from the eldest child of Hades, however this did not stop her from turning and smiling at Melinoe..

'I'll see you around..' The rainbow-haired goddess' white feathery sandals fluttered lifting her up in the air as her multi-tonal hair swirled loosely.

'Not if I see you first you won't..' Melinoe uttered under her breath making no attempt to be polite. Then as Hermes disappeared in a neon blue blur Iris followed in a blur of rainbow colours leaving a light trail of colour in her wake.

Only moments after they had gone a faint buzzing issued from Hades' black chiton pocket.

'Oy vey..' Hades groaned digging his blue fingers into the pocket and pulling out his pager. '-this can't be good.' He flicked his fingers over the buttons causing the message to appear. His face dropped instantly as his eyes scanned the message before a scowl fixed his face.

'Oh great, now whadda they want?' He sneered before flaring a slightly ticked off yellow and stuffing his pager back in his pocket moodily.

'What does who want?' Persephone threw her husband a confused look.

'The Fates wanna meet with me as soon as we get back.' Hades responded huffily.

'They do?' Demeter, who had a spit-covered handkerchief and was rubbing Thanatos' blood-caked face vigorously while her grandson squirmed uncomfortably, paused and stared at her son-in-law. Taking advantage of his grandmother's distraction the fiery godling instantly vanished out in a puff of black smoky darkness… he'd rather just have an actual bath than one of his granny's 'spit-baths'.

'Well in that case you better go see what they want..' Persephone responded lightly, pushing herself up on her toes and kissing his cheek.

'I suppose so..' Hades exhaled deeply, seeing his creepy older sisters was always such a chore.. 'So Mel, ya wanna stick around with your mother for a bit or do ya wanna come back with me now?' The fiery god asked his blue-skinned daughter conversationally.

'You seriously have to ask?' Melinoe responded with disbelief.

'Heh, that's what I thought..' Hades' smirk widened at his daughter's face which clearly said that anything other than going home right now would be a living torture. '-see ya later ladies..' He added to his wife and mother-in-law, since they were obligated to stay a little while longer on the surface to start off the lesser Mysteries of Eleusis.

'Bye Mom, bye Gran..' Melinoe smiled sweetly, gripping her father's considerably larger blue hand and the two of them vanished in a curl of black smoke.

'Uh-huh, yeh, ya might wanna try runnin' that by me one more time dad, ya want me to do- What?~!' Thanatos' golden quiff flared brightly as his golden eyes widened in shock. He'd come out of his bath squeaky clean, leaving his bloodied-dirty robes in a trail across the bedroom floor rather than the dirty washing basket where they should've been… he'd then appeared in throne room, coincidently right after the Fates had left, to find his father grinning widely and declaring that he was going to be introduced to another part of being God of Death. At first Thanatos was excited to discover that he was going to be learning another aspect of his position… at least he was until he found himself somewhere in the Asphodel Fields with his blue-flamed father holding a clipboard and surrounded by dozens of the undead residents..

Hades only smirked at Thanatos' mini-explosion, his grin widened considerably at the look of indignation on his eleven year old son's face.. he had heard him, he wouldn't be pulling that face if he hadn't.

'Consider it character buildin'..' The fiery Lord of the Dead sounded lightly with the unmistakeable undertones of smug amusement as Thanatos' flames quivered violently and creeped down to his shoulders..

'But I hate the undead…' The fiery godling whinged childishly as he flung the clipboard down in the dirt of the stone Underworld floor huffily, then folded his arms glaring mutinously back at his father.

'Yeh? Well that's too bad brat cause now you hold dominion over 'em, which means they're your responsibility..' Hades couldn't help but let out a badly repressed snigger of amusement which caused his son to glare harder at him, still reluctant to actually go and deal with the undead souls.

'Your only giving me this stupid job because you don't want it!' Thanatos retorted hotly his skin burning off as he flared more violently leaving behind a really pissed off flaming skeleton. That wiped the smile off of Hades' face and caused his laughter to die almost as quickly as it had started, the fiery god then pouted moodily and placed his hands on his hips.

'Hey! That's a half truth..' He sounded feigning offence before sighing heavily and deciding to explain this to his son in better detail, '-the only reason I got landed with these guys in the first place is because they don't have a pulse which technically means they're no longer part of the living.. but as you can clearly see-' The fiery god gestured to the nearest bunch of zombies who were aimlessly wandering around with blank looks and groaning vaguely at random intervals. '-they ain't dead either, 'kay? Which means they ain't really my problem as I only deal with the dead and since you sit on the line between the living and the dead that means that they now belong to you, so suck it up and get out there and deal with your minions like a good little Ruler of the Undead should.' Thanatos frowned but could not argue with his father's logic. So instead the fiery youth snapped his bony fingers causing the clipboard to jump off the ground and back into his hand before he swivelled around sharply on his hip and stomped off moodily in the direction of the wandering undead. He grumbled vaguely in irritation while cursing his father lightly for giving him such a tedious job before he sighed then returned to his normal form out of a curl of black smoke.

'Ya might wanna consider cataloguing 'em first..' Hades yelled out after letting his son get a good distance away. Thanatos only flipped his father the bird and carried on walking in response..

The Lord of the Dead only snickered at this before shaking his head in amusement before vanishing out in a curl of smoke…

The golden-flamed son of Hades continued to trudge moodily over the dark stone subterranean ground where asphodels had sprung up through the cracks in the ground. Thanatos' narrowed eyes and blank expression masked the seething boil of anger that bubbled inside him. Wandering vaguely through the Asphodel Fields and trying to track down a bunch of useless moaning undead corpses who were constantly losing limbs was not what Thanatos envisioned himself doing when he'd learnt he was getting more responsibilities.

…Stupid undead zombie idiots… can't even keep track of their stupid falling limbs… now I have to baby-sit these friggin' things for the rest of eternity.. Thanatos' mental moaning was cut short as something snared his right robe covered ankle.

'Yaahh!~!' The fiery godling instinctively jumped up in alarm, lifting his foot into the air for inspection. Clamping onto him was a putrid greyish-blue hand with a few missing nails.

'Oh, oh.. Ewwwwwwww!~!' Thanatos pulled a horrified grimace, hopping around on one foot comically as he pried the hand off of his ankle. His grimace widened as his nostrils flared with disgust as he held the hand at arms length which was as far away from him as he could get before turning to the group of undead corpses glaring at them.

'Oi! Brain-dead morons!' Thanatos bellowed furiously at them causing the zombies to all swivel their heads sluggishly around towards him in amazement.

'Urhhhhh..'

'Uhhh..'

'Rrrrhhh…'

Thanatos' scowl melted into narrowed-eyed tedium as he found himself under the blank stares of the undead who looked as if they'd never seen a god before.

'Any of you losers loose a hand?' The fiery god snapped moodily brandishing the limb in front of them..

The undead souls only stared blankly at him, rocking vaguely from side-to-side..

Thanatos' scowl returned and the fiery god slapped his forehead with frustration.

'Helloooo? Are you listening to me.. I ask, you answer, that's how this works..' Thanatos snarled angrily, his flames slowly creeping down his shoulders in irritation. This wasn't character building, this was soul destroying… well it would be if he had a soul..

Undead only stare at him stupidly.

'C'mon people… let's get with the program, let's not make this any harder than it already is, ok?' Thanatos sounded in a loud irritable voice, shaking the hand more insistently before his eyes found a trio of one-handed undead and called out in an irate sing-song voice. 'You three by the river of Lethe I'm looking in your direction..'

Thanatos paused.

The undead souls only stared for a further moment before some of them groaned vaguely then started ambling clumsily of with only the vaguest sense of direction.. The group slowly dispersed leaving Thanatos standing holding the lost limb looking furious.

'Fine, ba-boom..' Thanatos threw the hand full force to the ground. '-if you don't care about it then neither do I..' The fiery god then pulled his clipboard and stalked off sullenly..

Little Notes:

Hey Peeps, I'm sure we all know how this chapter title came about so I don't need to explain that… though I did have a good laugh at it! XP

Ok, in myth Iris was not Zeus and Hera's daughter she was the daughter of Electra who was actually a cloud-nymph rather than an emo goth-kid with a 'fury problem' and I couldn't picture her as the mother of bright and beautiful Goddess of Rainbows. So I chose for her to be the daughter of the God of Sky and Rain Zeus as this made more sense to me. Iris design is in fact based losely on the Iris in 'Fantasia' because I liked her design..

Stay tuned for more soon…

~Ditzy X