Chapter seventeen
Regina's eyes remained glued to the marble floor.
She could practically feel stares aimed at her as she moved, Hades did not have the energy to shoot back a filthy look like she normally would.
Finally, she made it to her destination which was the absolute last place she wanted to be after watching Persephone's marriage a few days ago.
"You summoned me," Regina deadpanned, glancing up at the red-head lounging on her throne. She really did wonder sometimes whether her sister did anything else.
Zelena didn't bother to hide her smile as she looked up at her older sister. She had never seen the brunette look so miserable, and she loved it.
"I only hoped to check in your wellbeing, it could not have been easy to see Ruby marry another," she said, which would have sounded oddly sincere if it wasn't for the smile.
"You could have visited me in the Underworld rather than inviting me here?" Regina shot back, though a real sneer evaded her in that moment.
Zelena scrunched her nose up in disgust and Regina rolled her eyes deeply.
Zeus's hatred of the Underworld was well-documented, though Regina had begun to think that it was beyond trying to simply antagonise her sister.
"Should I assume that you called me here to insult me?" Regina asked with absolutely no bite in her voice.
Zelena placed her hand over her heart and said, "not at all. I asked you here to see how you were, wouldn't want any innocent souls damned because you're feeling sad."
Regina clenched her jaw and replied lowly, "I am fine."
Zelena swung her legs around so that she could lean forward as she pressed, "so the Underworld isn't making your depression worse?"
Regina really wished that she could just walk away.
As it was, she had a certain amount of responsibility as one of the Olympians. Angering Zeus could have unknown consequences which would just end up hurting mortals.
Since Regina didn't say anything, Zeus continued, "the very thought of spending even a moment in that wretched place is enough to drive one into despair. When father informed me that I would become Hades, I felt physically sick."
Regina's desire to leave suddenly left her, to be replaced with a feeling that she couldn't even begin to describe.
Was it shock? Anger? Confusion? Resignation?
The Underworld was certainly a horrible place to exist in, but at least she had been living under the impression that it was where she was supposed to be.
If she was actually supposed to be Zeus then it would change everything.
"You…" Regina began but trailed off when it occurred to her that there was nothing could possibly say.
"If it was you that had been present in father's last moments, you know you would have done the same thing," Zelena explained, "no one should be forced to accept the title of Hades."
Regina could understand taking the opportunity to not be Hades, but the fact was that she never had that opportunity.
"So you called me here to tell me that I should have been Zeus?" Regina asked, though her voice didn't hold any fire, how could it when she felt so hollow?
"Surely you would be Zeus if you were supposed to be?" Zelena asked.
She had never planned to tell her sister of her deception, but she just couldn't resist in this moment. There was no way that this broken mess of a goddess could take back the mantle that should have been hers.
It was honestly a miracle that Regina had even one friend in Hecate and Zelena hardly believed that one alliance would be enough to win a war.
Regina thought that she should want to yell and scream.
She should want to attack her sister with everything she had, but the fact was that she didn't have much in that moment.
It wasn't as though getting the title back would give her what she had lost, Ruby loved Belle and she wouldn't simply leave Athena to be with Zeus.
Assuming that she could somehow muster the resources to win against Zelena, she would only be switching one lonely throne for another.
Zelena grinned as she watched the brunette clench and unclench her fists.
The red-head stood from the throne and began to walk towards the exit.
As she went, she patted Regina on the shoulder and said, "I have other matters to attend to. I believe that it's time you return to your own personal paradise."
Regina scrunched her eyebrows together and she slowly opened her eyes.
She did not enjoy being reminded of that day since it forced her to remember how she had just stood there after Zelena left and did nothing.
The knowledge that she was meant to be Zeus should have ignited a deep desire within her to get what she deserved, but she just did not have the desire.
When it came to that subject since that day, she had been more apathetic than vengeful.
After all, what did a title matter when she had no one?
At the thought, her mind seemed to register a weight on top of her arm and she opened her eyes to find a mess of blonde hair next to her.
Regina experimentally moved her arm, which caused the other woman to turn over so that she could burrow into her shoulder.
Emma remained in this position for a few moments, before she seemed to realise that there was no point trying to go back to sleep with Regina staring at her and she opened her eyes to look back to the chocolate orbs, though she didn't make any attempt to move away from her shoulder.
"Good morning," Emma said through a yawn, and Regina smiled as she motioned for her wife to move so that she could sit up.
The pair stared at each other for longer than could be considered normal, before it occurred to Regina that they couldn't do it all day.
They had dinner plans.
There was very little chance that Zelena simply wanted to meet Emma and Regina would sooner wipe the princess's memory of divinity rather than allow her to be caught up in a feud that she didn't even know about just over a month ago.
"Is something wrong?" Emma asked as Regina frowned deeply.
"I'm fine, dear," Regina assured, "I just have some preparations to make for dinner. I believe that Dawn had something that she wanted to show you this morning…"
Emma really doubted that Regina needed hours to prepare for dinner, but based on what she knew about Zelena and Regina's relationship, the event was bound to be something that would incite Graham-level anxiety in the other woman.
If Regina wanted some space then she could give it to her since she was giving her the chance to go to Olympus even though it was clearly the last thing that she wanted to do.
The blonde smiled and nodded, pushing down the urge to ask further about the frown. This wasn't the time to prod further about thousands and thousands of years of rivalry.
"I'll go and find her, I'll see you later?"
"You will," Regina agreed, glad that Emma wasn't asking whatever question was clearly on the tip of her tongue.
They both sat motionless as they each tried to figure out what it was that they should be doing now.
Since they were already flouting courtship rules by sharing a bed, there wasn't exactly any kind of handbook for this situation.
Emma finally decided what the best course of action would be and she leaned up to place a quick kiss on the older woman's cheek before she turned over so that she could stand from the bed on which she had perhaps had the best night's sleep of her life.
Regina's frown began to turn upwards as she watched the princess walk away, and a somewhat contented sigh left her lips as she leaned back against the pillow.
"This is amazing," Emma announced as she ran her hand across the patch of dirt Dawn had presented to her, "how did you do this?"
Dawn uncrossed her arms and crouched down so that she was on the same level as the blonde inspecting her wedding gift. Her original plan was to show both her and Regina at the same time, but it wasn't too surprising to discover that her mother was off brooding about the dinner she did not want to go to.
However, she was quite happy about this development since Regina would be more likely to believe in the whole 'new Persephone' thing if she was presented with a thriving garden.
"I sort of threw every spell I could at it, it will be up to you to see if anything will actually grow here. If not, I guess that your gift will be the fence."
Emma chuckled and rubbed the dirt between her thumb and forefinger, it was definitely different to the rest of the Underworld. It was promising.
Dawn asked, "so…how was your training?"
Emma smiled as the question brought back memories and she replied, "we went to Wonderland and Camelot…"
The blonde felt her cheeks burn as she tried to think of the best part to mention first. Though she would be forever in awe of the fact that she had gotten to learn swordplay from Lancelot and that Merlin had personally trained her in magic, she found that there were parts of the trip that were far more memorable.
Dawn raised an eyebrow at the woman and smirked slightly at the expression on her face. With all of the previous day, she hadn't had the chance to ask how things had gone, but now she was sure that they must have gone rather well.
"You went to Camelot?" she asked.
Emma nodded and replied, "Regina said that it would be the best place to learn swordplay…Arthur and Merlin 'saved' us from bandits. We were then invited for dinner as special guests of King Uther."
"Of course you were, interesting things always happen to mom when she goes to other realms. But why do I get the feeling that there is something you're not telling me princess?"
Emma brought her bottom lip into her mouth hoping that it would somehow temper the blush ascending up her neck.
Finally, Emma replied, "your mother asked if she could court me."
Dawn laughed again at the reluctant way her step-mother had said that as if she would have a problem with the idea that her mother was actually willing to court someone.
"You're already married and sharing a bed and my mother thinks that now would be a good time to start the courtship process?"
"How do you know that we shared a bed?!"
"The mirrors talk, princess."
"Sidney," Emma hissed, making a mental note to tell Regina that she should take the mirror down in what she hoped was now their bed chamber.
Dawn laughed at the look of indignation on the older woman's face.
"Have you been spending all the time we were away with Graham?" Emma asked a few seconds later.
Dawn's smirk fell into a sort of bashful smile before she nodded.
"Does that blush mean what I think it means?"
Dawn swallowed to moisten her suddenly dry throat. It was a reaction she only really gave in response to her first crush, especially since he was less anxious as of late.
The brunette looked down at the ground and shrugged, "I'm not…exactly sure…"
"Perhaps you could speak to your mother about this?"
"I'm legitimately afraid that she might murder Graham if she knew that there was even a possibility," Dawn replied with genuine concern dripping through her words, "I don't want her to know until…I know…you know?"
"I'm sure Regina wouldn't murder him," Emma said, but at Dawn's skeptical look, she added, "his immortality certainly helps his chances."
"I suppose, but could you try and keep my mother distracted with the courtship to give me some time to figure this all out?""
"I'm sure I can manage that," Emma replied with a little laugh and Dawn scrunched her nose up in a sort of faux-disgust.
"You're going to be late, mother," Dawn called as she walked straight through the doors to Hades's chamber without bothering to knock.
Regina just rolled her eyes without turning around and continued on her current mission.
The goddess picked up a dress and inspected it for a few moments as she said, "I will be ready soon."
Dawn raised her eyebrows and waited for Regina to throw the dress rather dramatically back down to the bed.
"Are you seriously concerned about what to wear?" Dawn asked, considering the multitude of dresses and pants and tunic combinations, the demi-goddess could almost believe that her mother wasn't overstating when she said that she needed time to prepare for dinner!
Regina ran her hand over the leather gown she had been wearing the day she had met Emma. Though it may not have been a conscious decision at the time, she now realised that she had picked the gown that would be the most intimidating to Snow White and Prince Charming.
This time, she couldn't just pick the most intimidating outfit since Zelena would hardly be scared of a dress.
"I'm not worried about it," Regina mumbled making no attempt to look at her daughter.
Dawn walked over so that she could sit on the only portion of the bed which was not covered.
"You know, Emma doesn't know what to wear, she's unsure of the expected attire on Olympus."
Regina was silent for a second before she tentatively asked, "do you…happen to know what she is planning to wear?"
Dawn quirked an eyebrow and said, "as far as I know, she has settled on a purple tunic."
Her mother nodded and her eyes scanned over to the pants, it would make sense if they wore the same kind of clothing as each other, right?
"What exactly is it that you are worried about, mother?" Dawn asked, as she tried to figure out whether she had ever seen her mother look nervous.
Regina blew out a long breath through her nose.
"Emma…has never treated me as if I'm…" she began, but trailed off when she realised that she had no idea how she actually wanted to finish that sentence.
"…Hades?" Dawn supplied.
Regina turned around and fell down heavily onto the gown she had been looking at a moment ago and nodded slowly.
"Every single person on Olympus will treat me as the ruler of the Underworld, they all think of me as a villain."
Much to Regina's surprise, Dawn laughed and replied, "and you're convinced that they will somehow make Emma believe that. The princess agreed to allow you to court her and she had the resources to leave whenever she pleases. I truly do not believe that there is anything that anyone could say to change the fact that she loves you."
Regina's eyes widened and she finally looked at her daughter fully.
Dawn chuckled at the look on the woman's face and shook her head.
It was oddly great to see the goddess look more like a teenage girl than the ruler of the Underworld.
"You are due to leave in fifteen minutes, mother, just choose something to wear. I'm sure your dear wife will love whatever it is," the demi-goddess laughed as she stood from the bed, making sure to put more emphasis on the word 'love' than was necessary.
Regina sighed for what felt like the millionth time and watched her daughter leave the room.
Once the door shut behind the young woman, she turned her eyes back to the clothes that she wasn't sat on.
This time, she had a grin pulling at the corner of her lips as she leaned forward and picked up a red tunic that she knew would compliment Emma's purple one nicely.
There were no words.
At least none in any mortal language that came to Emma's mind as she looked around.
Over the last month or so, she had been to a lot of places: the Underworld, Wonderland, Camelot, and at least in the latter two, she could think of words to describe the sights (less so Wonderland perhaps).
However, Olympus was another matter entirely.
There was one thing that made the place infinitely worse than any other the princess had visited over the last few weeks though.
As they walked up towards the palace overlooking the whole of Olympus, Regina stared adamantly at the ground to avoid the many dirty looks she was receiving from passersby.
Usually, Regina was accustomed to receiving at least a handful of stares, but walking next to the mortal they believed she had taken captive was making matters worse.
Of course, they did not know that this so-called 'captive' felt freer when she was with Regina than at any other point in her life.
Emma's awe at being where mortals were not supposed to be was significantly dampened at her wife's frown.
She would gladly return to the Underworld for dinner right now to see the goddess smile, but that wasn't really an option.
It was for this reason that Emma reached over to entwine her fingers in the older woman's own.
Regina's eyes widened slightly at the unexpected contact, though when she looked away from the ground and over to Emma, she wasn't too surprised to find a reassuring smile, which she managed to return, hoping that it showed the depths of her gratitude in that moment.
However, her smile was soon wiped away when she heard an unfortunately familiar voice behind them:
"Regina?"
Emma frowned as Regina's hand slipped out of hers and the pair came to a stand still so that they could turn towards the owner of the voice.
Regina managed to force a smile at the two brunettes stood before her, though they were the absolute last Divines that she wanted to see in that moment (or any moment for that matter).
Emma had a feeling that the one who had said Regina's name must be Persephone, but during the revelation that her wife was supposed to be Zeus, Emma had failed to enquire who it was that Ruby had married.
Regina's muscles tensed as Emma brought their hands together again, though she made no attempt to move her hand away again.
She really needed the contact.
Similarly, Belle's hand was laid upon her wife's elbow as the taller woman's eyes shifted between the pair and their connected fingers.
She had expected she would see Regina and her bride today, but she hadn't expected Emma to be quite so comfortable with Hades.
It really dashed the idea that Regina was some kind of villain who had forced a mortal into marriage because her parents broke a deal on the day of her birth.
Judging by how close the blonde stood next to her wife, she could only assume that the princess actually cared about the immortal's feelings and comfort.
"This must…" Persephone began, but trailed off when she realised that she had no earthly idea what the mortal's name was.
"Emma White," the princess replied and squeezed Regina's hand again for good measure.
It was honestly hard to believe that Regina had ever been comfortable enough around this woman to want to marry her.
"And who might you be?" Emma asked, smirking slightly at the look on Ruby's face, clearly she did not like brazen questions from a mortal.
Persephone was about to open her mouth to say something, but her wife brought up her other hand to rest atop the one already on her elbow.
It was a clear warning to watch her tongue.
"Allow me to introduce Persephone, and I am Athena," Belle supplied, though Emma narrowed her eyes slightly as it occurred to her that the goddess hadn't told her their true names.
The princess turned her gaze to her oddly quiet wife who she was pretty sure was biting the inside of her cheek in an attempt to stop herself from saying whatever was going through her mind at the sight of her ex.
The princess decided to take the initiative and began taking steps away from the pair of women as she pulled a willing Regina along with her.
"As…lovely as this has been, we really must be going," Emma announced and left no room for arguments as she continued to pull Regina with her.
Regina allowed herself to look over her shoulder at the two goddesses who were whispering to each other (no doubt Belle was trying to reassure Ruby), but Hades quickly turned her attention back to her wife.
"That was…thank you," Regina sighed and squeezed her now relaxed hand against Emma's.
Emma nodded, deciding that there would be no use complaining about how she didn't see how Regina and Persephone could have been together.
The rapidly improving maturity part of her mind could see that she was just jealous of someone who had the chance to know Regina for so long and a little anger that the goddess would break her heart because of Zelena's deception.
It was for this reason that the blonde instead said as they approached the palace entrance, "are you sure you're ready for this?"
Regina blew out a breath and her eyes remained trained on the palace as she said, "I suppose I am as ready as I will ever be."