I realized I forgot to post this here, but this was another of my march flash fiction prompt fills for the prompt: coming home.
This was inspired by druidforhire's Hadestown Unswayed AU on tumblr, where, after singing Epic iii to Hades, instead of letting Orpheus and Eurydice go, hades banishes Orpheus to the Great Beyond. During their mapping out of the AU, they had said that they imagined Eurydice coming to find Orpheus would be like her version of Wait for Me, and their convo would almost be like come home with me iii. And, when I read this prompt I immediately thought of them.
It's a 10/10 amazing AU that I highly recommend and I'll link it at the end because I love it. For purposes of the fic, I used Nabiyah Be and Damon Daunno as Eurydice and Orpheus (the NYTW actors) as that's who they use, but you can imagine Eva and Reeve for Eurydice and Orpheus if you want!
Enjoy!
"Come home with me," Eurydice says, the words leaving her mouth the moment she spots him.
The journey to the Pit has not been easy, it was long and lonesome, and as Orpehus' song began to falter, she began to believe she'd be lost here on the outskirts of the crawling neon city forever. But, the toll of her journey has been nothing compared to how being stuck in this Pit must've been. Looking at Orpheus, she can tell the time he's spent here hasn't been kind, stuck deep within the ground, the lack of sunlight has left him pale and sickly looking. His breath comes out in rattles and wheezes, and his arms are bruised and wrapped up in dirty cloth to try and protect the burns on his skin. He looks ghastly and fragile from the grueling work and very little breaks, and the man before her is nothing like the Orpheus she knew back above.
(It breaks her heart)
A voice within reminds Eurydice that it is her fault her lover looks like this. Had it not been for her climbing aboard the train in the first place, he would not be here in this pit. Orpheus would not be stuck working his fingers to the bone, shoulders slumped, eyes hollow, covered in soot and ash. Then again, if she thinks more about the situation, even if she had still gone down to Hadestown, it's Hades to blame for banishing Orpheus here rather than just kicking him out. But, it could even be said that Orpheus not helping her as winter rolled around was what prompted her to leave, so she supposes no one can shoulder the blame alone.
But that's not why Eurydice is here. She didn't steal Orpheus' guitar from Hades, slip out of Hadestown to then wander through the Great Beyond to talk to Orpheus about who is to blame in all this. No, she's come to take her lover home.
Orpheus stares at her, no recognition sparking his features. "Who are you?" He asks.
The whole conversation is almost like the first time they met - same words said but the roles are switched. Except, Eurydice doesn't have that sure-fire confident tone Orpheus once had, with a charming grin and guitar in hand, and he doesn't look amused and perplexed about the woman who has so boldly approached him.
Even the way he speaks is so different. Orpheus' voice, where once strong, melodic, and smooth, is rough, like rusted gears and fragile, like glass, and sounds like bent copper wires. Her heart breaks further. Eurydice will kill Hades for what he's done to her poet if she ever sees him again - No. She'll destroy every last bit of Hadestown first before doing so as to make him realize his mistake.
But for now, for now, that anger can wait. For now, she will swallow it and give Orpheus a gentle smile in its place. It is not him who she is angry with. Offering a hand, she answers, "The woman who said she'd marry you. It's me, Eurydice. Come home with me."
He glances down at her outstretched hand before meeting her eyes. "Eurydice?" Orpheus repeats the name like it's foreign on his tongue. For a moment, her name hangs in the air, and she waits for him to remember. But Orpheus doesn't, a frown spreading across his soot-covered face.
Eurydice's heart drops, but she doesn't give up hope. She knows how memories become muddy in Hadestown - how sometimes you forget faces and lovers and names, both theirs and your own. Sometimes you forget places, and things, and who you once were, it fading away until it's only a feeling you once remember. But even that feeling gets foggier by the shift until you can't remember anything - so she doesn't blame him. It's not his fault if he can't remember her.
(But she did, back when he found her, alone by the factory. After she had forgotten her name and who she was, and who he once was, she had remembered him, and so, Eurydice knows, she can help him remember too.)
"You know me, though. Don't you?" Orpheus then asks her, as if catching the disappointed look on her face.
Eurydice nods.
"You're Orpheus," she begins. "The best poet I've ever known. Your song could make stones weep and flowers bloom, you could calm beasts and make even the Gods pause in their actions." Eurydice swallows, watching him take in every word. "You traveled here, to the Underworld to come and take me home. You stood up against Hades himself and…" At this, Eurydice takes his hand. He doesn't flinch, but he doesn't curl his hand to hold hers back. "You showed me that people can change the world too," she finished honestly.
Her whole life, Eurydice had been certain that things could never be changed. That the world was how it was, and only Gods, if they truly cared, could fix things. She had spent years believing the world was cold and cruel and that you had to fight everything with sharp fangs and claws. But Orpheus had proved to her - ever the skeptic, the realist - that the world could be gentle too. It could be soft, and kind, and people could do things - even the smallest of things - and make the world a little better.
Orpheus gives a soft sigh.
"But how? You said I stood up against Hades, but if I'm here, then I wasn't successful in trying to get you away from here. So how can people change the world?"
"With this," Eurydice simply says, reaching with her free hand to grab his guitar. Letting go of Orpheus' hand, she offers him the guitar, beat up, one string broken.
He takes the guitar, fingers slowly curling around the neck. Orpheus holds the guitar as if his hands have become unfamiliar with the instrument, shaped now to know only the handle of a pick axe or hammer.
She continues talking while he stares at the guitar. "I'm not all that good, and I can't say I'm much of a singer either but -"
"Eurydice"
Eurydice stops. Then she sees it, the recognition on his face. It blooms like a flow in the sun, petals unfurling to face her.
"Eurydice," he says once more, but now with much more certainty. "You said your name was Eurydice."
She nods. "That's me."
Orpheus' voice is still rough, but he smiles and what comes out next from his mouth sounds as soft and sweet as any song he ever sang her. "The girl who's name sounds like a melody."
Now with a smile, she nods again.
Then the guitar drops with a low thump and he hugs her tight. Her heart leaps from where it's fallen in her chest, and Eurydice holds him close. It feels like it's been years since she was in his arms, and when he eventually pulls away, she finds herself almost reaching for him again.
"How'd you get beyond the walls?" Orpheus then asks her, looking worried,"Hades didn't send you here too, did he?"
"No, I snuck out," she reassured him. "Then I followed your singing until I got here. And now I've come to take you home."
Orpheus' worried look doesn't fade at her words. "You can't."
"If Hades thinks he can stop me, I'd like to see him try," Eurydice told him, dead serious, but Orpheus shook his head.
"It's not just him we have to worry about."
Before Eurydice can ask what he's talking about, she hears low growls, and looking over his shoulder, she sees two large dogs stalking towards them, a tall figure following not far behind.
"And what do we have here?" The figure snapped, as she approached the couple. The woman stood towering over them, eerie eyes watched them carefully while her two dogs moved to circle the lovers. "I don't think we've met before," she continued, directing this at Eurydice. But I recognize a trespasser when I see one."
The words came out almost like a hiss, the 's' drawn out long, and around them, the workers seemed to lean away from her, eyes wide with fear.
"You should go back to where you came from. Doubt Hades would be happy to have his shades wandering about."
Eurydice knew she should be terrified too - or if anything, wary of her. After all, she has no clue who this woman is, and there is no guarantee that she will be like Hades or if she may be worse. But Eurydice doesn't step back or cower or worry, not even as Orpheus does beside her. Rather, she stands tall, squaring her shoulders, before meeting the woman's gaze.
"No," Eurydice told her. "I'm not going back alone. I've come to take him home."
It was not a question, but a demand. Regardless of who the woman was, she was not going to kick Eurydice out. Not without a fight at least. Just try and stop me, the glare she gave said.
You should definitely check out the AU if you liked this (you can find it on Tumblr by searching unswayed au) bc it's just incredible. Also, let me know what you guys thought! I've never written for this fandom before, but hopefully, I did them justice!
-Twist