Author's Note: it's me again! This is a good part, but it's a bit longer and less humorous. But just wait till you see what happens to Wufei at the end! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Thalia: Oh just shut up and get on with the fic!
Eros: And it better be good after that stupid cliff-hanger ending in the last chapter!
Oh all right, all right! On with the fic then! Hn! Can't even luagh psychotically in my own fic without stupid muses getting in the way -
Eros and Thalia: SHUT UP ALREADY!!
Disclaimer: Don't own G-boys, and I won't ever no matter how many chibis of them I collect. ::sigh:: Shounen ai, ~VERY~ original interpretation of Greek mythology and it's assorted characters, Switching of POV, general weirdness, more OOC. Don't flame me. I mean it! Squiggly lines ~ ~ are for emphasis.
Back on a cloud somewhere...
Aphodite glared into her pool at the scene of destruction. Eros, Thalia, and the motley troupe of humans all unconscious, the Gates of Hades open, a living mortal trapped in the realm of the dead... She sighed. If only someone had realized Duo Maxwell's true nature beforehand, the whole thing could've been prevented. If only Eros hadn't left his bow and quiver unattended... Well, anyway, it couldn't be undone and now ~she~ was going to have to deal with it herself.
"Dammit!" she cursed, throwing her strawberry margaurita down. "There goes my day off!"
Duo woke in on a bed in a spacious room. Sunlight poured in through the open bay doors at one end while the white curtains billowed in a soft warm breeze. He sighed and rolled over in the soft white linen sheets. White drapes over the bed drifted lazily in and out of his vision, and he curled up around the warm body next to him. Wait a minute... who was that? He looked up. Wufei laid next to him, black hair unbound and flowing around his head like a puddle of shadow. As if aware of being scrutinized, the Chinese boy opened ebony eyes.
"Good morning, koi," he said, bending his neck to plant a kiss on Duo's nose. Duo shivered, a blush washing over him. "Did you sleep well?"
"Yeah," he responded dreamily. He felt bronze arms tighten around him and Wufei brought him in for another kiss, this time on the mouth. Duo began to think he would melt. He had thought his infatuation with the raven-haired pilot was one-sided, but appearantly he'd been mistaken. When they broke apart for air, Wufei giggled. Duo frowned. Since when did Wufei giggle?
"Well, I hope you're good and rested because I don't plan on letting you sleep for a while yet," the boy of his dreams purred playfully into his ear, followed by another giggle. Duo realized that Wufei was grinning. Very widely, in fact. It was... frightening. Wufei never smiled more than a smirk. And suddenly Duo realized he'd never seen in this room in Quatre's mansion. And Wufei never giggled.
"You're not Wufei," he declared loudly. The Wufei-not froze completely, as did the billowing curtains. "This isn't real."
The vision faded, being blown away by a strong strange wind like dunes of sand. Duo was left standing in a cold black place. The sky was dark as pitch and the wind whistled in his ears. Silver sands slipped around him and a mirthless chuckled sounded behind him. He whirled. A tall man with a saturnine look to him stood not three meters away, clothed in what appeared to be shadow.
"You're wiser than they give you credit for," he said. "So much for distracting you."
"Who the hell are you?" Duo demanded.
"I? I am Hades, God of the Underworld. You, my dear, are Duo Maxwell, self-proclaimed God of Death. It's good to finally meet you. Thanatos has told me so much about you."
"Thanatos?"
"My son. Your father. The God of Death."
Back at the Winner residence...
Wufei was floating in a pink heaven. Ahh, so soothing, so healing, so... Pink? Huh? He opened his eyes. A beautiful woman in a very impractical pink satin and lace outfit was standing in the center of a ring of collapsed figures, pink fog flowing from her finger tips. He would've been shocked, but after remembering the events that had brought this about, he really couldn't feel much of anything but anger.
How ~DARE~ that - that ~god~ just waltz in here and take Duo?! ~HIS~ Duo! He hadn't exactly ~told~ Duo that he was his, but that had very little to do with it. And then the way he'd destroyed Quatre's house and nearly killed Trowa with his little appearing act, and the blatant use of power to take Duo away. It was dishonorable! And weak!
"Ahem! Mortal!" the woman in pink interrupted his mental ranting. He turn a gaze filled with rage on her. She didn't appear to notice. "Wake up the other mortals, we've got a job to do."
"Onna, don't tell me what to do! I've got to save Duo from this injustice!" Wufei growled back, standing. He began to walk toward the chasm, which had only closed about halfway for some reason. Then a shock went through him, leaving him laying on the ground in a sizzling heap, seeing pink spots in front of his eyes. He had a nasty suspicion his hair was sticking out like an electrified afro, and set about smoothing it back into its ponytail.
"The faster you get your friends awake the sooner you can go. I don't like leaving all these loose ends around," she said, crossing to his side and heaving him to his feet with inhuman strength. She brushed off his now-slightly-charred blue tanktop and white pants, giving him a swat on the behind to get him moving. {1}
Seeing that antagonizing this onna would be - unwise - he began to try to rouse his fellow pilots. Heero woke easily, coughing out pink mist. Trowa, like Wufei, had woken up on is own and was awakening Quatre. They gather together in a close knot as the winged bishounen and violet-haired girl were zapped into singed wakefulness by twin bolts of pink lightning.
"What the bloody freakin' ~Tartarus~!" demanded the girl, leaping to her feet. Then she saw the pink-clad woman. "Oh, it's you. Well, we need all the help we can get, I suppose..."
"Mom? You saw... ?" the young man said, standing with more dignity.
"Yes. I hope you realize how stupid it was to leave you bow lying around. This may never have happened otherwise," she said, giving him a glare that might've been enough to rival Heero's. "And I've given you two your powers back. We might need them."
"Er- What's Eros's bow have to do with this?" Quatre asked. "And may I ask who you are?"
"Dear boy, I am Aphrodite, Goddess of Love an Beauty. And Eros's bow had everything to do with it," the woman declared as though it was obvious.
"But... how?" Quatre managed not to squeak.
Aphrodite gave him a look. Eros put a restraining hand on her shoulder. Thalia sighed and stepped foward. Wufei fixed her with a stern gaze and waited for her to begin. She took a deep breath.
"All right, let's see if I can explain it in your terms. It's like this. The psychic consciousness of the Gods is like this big old pond. When a God or Goddess uses the things made by or for the Gods, there are ripples in the pond that we all feel. The more energy the god or Goddess has in them, the larger the ripple. Mortals have considerably less energy, and so cannot under normal circumstances use such things."
"But today Duo used the bow..." Wufei said,
"That's it. We, being mostly powerless, didn't notice the ripples. They couldn't have been terribly large, because Duo is mostly mortal, but it was enough to alert Hades of his presence. It probably drained him considerably, even so," she explained with a grimace. Wufei nodded. That certainly explained Duo' unconsciousness. Thalia turned to the other woman. "How come ~you~ didn't notice, O Almighty Aphrodite?"
The Goddess of Love had the decency to blush prettily. She mumbled something.
"What's that? I didn't hear," Thalia said, holding a hand to her ear exaggeratedly.
"I ~said~ 'I was dying my hair!' Do I need to spell it out for you?" exclaimed Aphrodite irately.
"Well it might help - "
"What were you two doing here in the first place?" Wufei interrupted impatiently.
"You said you were on a mission. And then later that you 'chose' Duo for something," Heero reminded them. This time Eros, Thalia, and, much the the other's surprise, Quatre were the ones turning red.
"Er - this is all ~Aphrodite's~ fault, you realize," Thalia said. "~We~ were merely innocent pawns. ~She's~ the one who wanted entertainment."
"Yeah, and if it weren't for ~Thalia~ messing up right away, Quatre wouldn't be involved," Eros explained.
"I didn't even really ~do~ anything, either..." the Arabian said guiltily.
Wufei, Heero, and the silent Trowa merely looked on impassively, waiting for an answer.
"...We were suppposed to hook up Wufei with Duo," Eros finally mumbled.
Wufei hadn't thought he could be shocked anymore that day, but then he hadn't thought his romantic life would be a mission for deities that hadn't been worshipped for over two thousand years. Then he felt even more anger.
"So you're saying that everything I've ever felt for Duo is all ~fake~?" he snarled, in his fury forgetting to be secretive about his passion for Duo. This was such injustice that he'd see it righted even if it meant exposing his emotions. "It was all just for the sake of divine ~amusement?~"
Eros and Thalia looked taken aback. Quatre grinned suddenly.
"Wufei, they hadn't even gotten so far as to see you in person before Aphrodite took their powers away and they had to hide. No one influenced how you felt about Duo in the least," he said.
"..." Wufei responded, at a loss for words. His righteous anger drained away slightly, and he felt a traitorous blush creeping across his face. Thalia gave a short giggle. He refused to acknowledge both, and quickly found his tongue. "Well then, what do we do about getting Duo back? What does Hades plan on doing with him?"
The shadow-covered man came closer, and Duo found himself backing up. He stopped as soon as he realized he was doing it and glared defiantly into eyes that had no iris or white, just black holes.
"I have been forced to stay in my realm for thousands of years because of decree Zeus made after I spirited away my bride. Your grandmother, Persephone, gave me twin sons, Thanatos and Hypnos. {2} While I was imprisoned here they took care of things above. But your father went against my commands to remain objective. He fell in love with a human woman and spared her life long enough for her to bear the child he'd gotten her with.
"Zeus forbade Thanatos to take you to Olympus and raise you as a God. He cast you down to earth in a different time to keep you from ever guessing your heritage. But now things have changed. The reason you were kept from me was that you are a link to the world of the living. You have the power to bridge the Underworld and the Living World. That is why I brought you here, my grandson. You will help me regain entrance to the mortal world," Hades finished his monolouge with a hungry smile.
"So basically you're saying I'm a demigod, the son of Death, and the key to a deity's plan for escaping a divine prison?" Duo asked skeptically.
"Well, if you have to put it that way, yes," Hades managed not to sound sulky. "Will you help me?"
"Why should I? You've kidnapped me, even if you ~are~ my grandfather. And what are you planning on doing if you gain access to Earth?" Duo fixed those abyssmal eyes with a glare.
"Nothing that concerns ~you~, should you accept my offer. You'd lose your mortality and become a God in the process of bridging the two worlds. You see, Shinigami - what? That ~is~ what you call yourself," Hades remarked, noting Duo's surprised expression.
"Yes, but how did you - "
"I have kept tabs on you since I heard of your birth from Thanatos. But as I was saying, once the two worlds are bridged, I can - talk - with my ~dear~ brother, Zeus," Hades said bitterly. "We have much catching up to do."
Something in his tone and expression - it may have been the mad gleam in his eyes and manic smile - made Duo realize that the last thing Hades wanted to do with Zeus was have a nice little chat. He resisted a shudder. If the gods fought on Earth, there'd be more damage done than by any war humans could create. He tried to tell himself that this was probably all some sort of hallucination - ancient Greek gods duking it out on Earth because ~he~ was the key to Hades's escape from the Underworld? Come on! - but he knew it was all true. He felt it in his heart, his bones, his soul. Shinigami had always been there, waiting in the background, helping him survive, even when he was paying lipservice to the Catholic church. He'd know he wasn't exactly average, but he'd put it down to the fact that he hadn't had an average life. Finding out he was a demi-god didn't surprise him.
"Well, I'm not going to do it. I'm sure Zeus has a good reason for keeping you and the Underworld down here, and you haven't really done much to make me think otherwise," Duo said with a wide, dangerous grin, unknowingly echoing Hades's. He crossed his arms over his chest. "Now, why don't you just put me back where I belong?"
A brief flash of rage contorted the King of the Underworld's face, but it was gone incredibly quickly. The calm, smug look that replaced it seemed to confirm Duo's diagnosis of dementia.
"But Shinigami, don't you want to meet your mother?" Hades asked, snapping his fingers. The cold silver sands swirled, forming a pool of faintly sparkling light. Duo couldn't resist peering inside. He gasped.
A willowy woman with shoulder-length chestnut hair sat in a field of flowers. She smiled sunnily as children played around her. She resembled him quite a bit, but her eyes were sapphire blue instead of flashing violet. She was braiding a garland of flowers, looking so ~happy~ as she did so...
"Wait a minute! You said she died after giving birth to me!" Duo shouted, tearing his eyes from the woman. "How can that be her?"
"My dear boy, Hades in not only Tartarus, but the Elysian Fields as well. Her spirit resides there, with the the souls of the innocents and others like her. Would you like to meet her?" Hades asked, with a dark unnerving chuckle.
"..."
When the ground began to shake again, the gods snapped their fingers. Wufei was about to yell at them for wasting time with meaningless gestures when suddenly he was floating above the ground on a cloud of purple and white mist that was somehow solid. It rose quickly, filling him with vertigo. He crouched down to better keep his balance as the puff of cloud soared upward over the pit that Hades had taken Duo into. There the others were assembling as well.
"What's going on?" Quatre shouted at Aphrodite.
"The Gate to the Underworld isn't closing. It's opening. This is very bad," she added unnecessarily.
"Why is it opening?" Trowa asked.
No one had an answer right away. Then Thalia smacked her forehead.
"Oh my Zeus! I should've realized it sooner!" she exclaimed.
"What?" Heero yelled, kneeling cautiously at the edge of his cloud and staring into the gap.
"The Gates of the Underworld can't close as long as there is a mortal in Hades! And Duo is mostly mortal!" she responded.
"But why are they opening wider?" Wufei repeated Trowa's question, following Heero's example. The bottom of the chasm was impossibly far below, and brilliant poisonous green snakes of vapor or liquid or maybe just plain energy writhed down there. It was a sickening sight that brought to mind maggots and parasites. Wufei looked away before he could disgrace himself by losing his lunch.
"Well, Duo is also partially God! The duality of his nature is somehow forcing the Underworld up into this plane of existance! Look!" the muse pointed down. Wufei steeled his stomach and followed her gesture. He was startled to see dunes of silver sand covering the ground on either side of the split earth. The remains of Quatre's estate were no where to be seen, and the stretch of sand was speading even as he watched. Green lights flickered up and flew out across the silver desert that hadn't been there moments before.
"We've got to stop it from spreading!" Quatre cried, eyes wide.
"We have to get Duo out of the Underworld," Heero told the Gods.
"We can't. We Gods can sense each other; Hades would know the second we entered his domain and he'd hide Duo. We'd never be able to find him before the whole Underworld has merged with yours," Eros replied in dismay. "By then it'd be too late."
"I'll go!" Wufei declared. "I'm no god, Hades won't suspect me!"
"You can't go down there," Aphrodite said with a frown. "You're mortal! You'd never make it past Cerberus."
"Well have ~you~ got a ~better~ plan, onna?"
Aphrodite merely gave an unladylike snort in responce. Eros flew over to Wufei, wings spread wide. He came almost nose to nose with the Chinese boy, staring deeply into onyx eyes.
"Find your justice," he commanded in a low voice.
"What?" Wufei asked. Whatever he had expected the God of Love to say, that wasn't it.
"Connect with your justice, let it fill you, become one with it. It's your only hope of saving Duo. What are you waiting for?"
Casting a befuddled glance at Eros, Wufei did as he was instructed. He slipped into a semi-meditative frame of mind, letting the bittersweet justice fill him as it did when he piloted Nataku. He let it flow through him, around him, in him, until he was sure of himself and of his sense of integrity. He felt something be pressed into his hands and he snapped his eyes open. It was Eros's bow and a quiver of black arrows.
"These will aid you. The arrows are laced with hemlock, so don't touch the tips. They should work on the creatures of the Underworld," Eros instructed.
"But - but you said only Gods could weild things made for the Gods," Wufei said, hesitant to take the weapons. Eros left them in his hands with an enigmatic smile. Surprised, all Wufei could do was clutch them as Eros flew away. "Hey! Wait a second! What are you - aaah!"
A sudden flare of pain rippled through him. He felt the muscles in his back spasm, and he fell to his hands and knees, fingers tearing into the solid fog. He heard noises like popping bones and groaning sinews as he bit back a yelp of pain. Something was straining against the back of his tanktop, which ripped. He gave a relieved sigh as the pain receded. He got to his feet, stretching the kinks out of his muscles. He heard everyone around him gasp.
"What? What is - " he began confusedly, but saw something out of the corner of his eye. He spun to get a good look at it, but it always was just out of sight. He tried to whirl faster, but still it eluded him. Laughter from the three Olympians and Quatre made him stop long enough to glare at them. "What's so funny?"
"Wu- Wufei, you - " Quatre gasped out, but he was soon overcome by very hysterical giggles. Wufei snorted and turned to Heero, whom he knew wouldn't be laughing.
"You've got wings," the Japanese pilot said flatly, pointing. Wufei blinked in surprise. He turned his neck and saw long, half-extended green wings behind him. Wings like leather, like bat wings. He flexed his shoulder muscles, feeling a wave of satisfaction when the wings extended fully.
"~Now~," he said, slinging the bow and quiver around his shoulders but under his new wings. He leaped from the cloud, soaring down into the Gate of the Underworld. "Duo, I'm coming. Not even the Gods can escape justice!"
{1}- Wufei: ONNA!!! ::rubbing his behind::
Tee-hee! Wufei got goosed!
Wufei: INJUSTICE!!! I'll get you for this, onna!!
Quiet, sweetcheeks!
{2}- Okay, blantantly twisting Greek myth here. Thanatos and Hypnos were brothers, but they were not Hades's sons. Hades was not ordered by Zeus to stay in the Underworld. But my mind works in twisted ways, so I tweaked the myths a bit so it'd fit the fic.
Well, I think that as long as you don't use my fic to study for any mythology tests, you'll be all right. Anywho, I think there'll only be one more part, unless I decide to have a nice happy little epilouge. Depends on how ambitious Thalia and Eros are. Hey guys, how ambitious are you?
Thalia and Eros: ZZZZZZZZZZ....
Hn. Well, looks like I'm on my own. ::ignores groans from G-boys and readers:: Anywho, review or Wufei'll come and kick your ass. Right 'Fei?
Wufei: I SHALL DECIDE JUSTICE! BWAHAHAHAHAAA!!!
Duo: Ah, Wu-babe? I think you're still channeling your justice... you're not supposed to do that outside the fic... er... heh heh
Thalia: Oh just shut up and get on with the fic!
Eros: And it better be good after that stupid cliff-hanger ending in the last chapter!
Oh all right, all right! On with the fic then! Hn! Can't even luagh psychotically in my own fic without stupid muses getting in the way -
Eros and Thalia: SHUT UP ALREADY!!
Disclaimer: Don't own G-boys, and I won't ever no matter how many chibis of them I collect. ::sigh:: Shounen ai, ~VERY~ original interpretation of Greek mythology and it's assorted characters, Switching of POV, general weirdness, more OOC. Don't flame me. I mean it! Squiggly lines ~ ~ are for emphasis.
Back on a cloud somewhere...
Aphodite glared into her pool at the scene of destruction. Eros, Thalia, and the motley troupe of humans all unconscious, the Gates of Hades open, a living mortal trapped in the realm of the dead... She sighed. If only someone had realized Duo Maxwell's true nature beforehand, the whole thing could've been prevented. If only Eros hadn't left his bow and quiver unattended... Well, anyway, it couldn't be undone and now ~she~ was going to have to deal with it herself.
"Dammit!" she cursed, throwing her strawberry margaurita down. "There goes my day off!"
Duo woke in on a bed in a spacious room. Sunlight poured in through the open bay doors at one end while the white curtains billowed in a soft warm breeze. He sighed and rolled over in the soft white linen sheets. White drapes over the bed drifted lazily in and out of his vision, and he curled up around the warm body next to him. Wait a minute... who was that? He looked up. Wufei laid next to him, black hair unbound and flowing around his head like a puddle of shadow. As if aware of being scrutinized, the Chinese boy opened ebony eyes.
"Good morning, koi," he said, bending his neck to plant a kiss on Duo's nose. Duo shivered, a blush washing over him. "Did you sleep well?"
"Yeah," he responded dreamily. He felt bronze arms tighten around him and Wufei brought him in for another kiss, this time on the mouth. Duo began to think he would melt. He had thought his infatuation with the raven-haired pilot was one-sided, but appearantly he'd been mistaken. When they broke apart for air, Wufei giggled. Duo frowned. Since when did Wufei giggle?
"Well, I hope you're good and rested because I don't plan on letting you sleep for a while yet," the boy of his dreams purred playfully into his ear, followed by another giggle. Duo realized that Wufei was grinning. Very widely, in fact. It was... frightening. Wufei never smiled more than a smirk. And suddenly Duo realized he'd never seen in this room in Quatre's mansion. And Wufei never giggled.
"You're not Wufei," he declared loudly. The Wufei-not froze completely, as did the billowing curtains. "This isn't real."
The vision faded, being blown away by a strong strange wind like dunes of sand. Duo was left standing in a cold black place. The sky was dark as pitch and the wind whistled in his ears. Silver sands slipped around him and a mirthless chuckled sounded behind him. He whirled. A tall man with a saturnine look to him stood not three meters away, clothed in what appeared to be shadow.
"You're wiser than they give you credit for," he said. "So much for distracting you."
"Who the hell are you?" Duo demanded.
"I? I am Hades, God of the Underworld. You, my dear, are Duo Maxwell, self-proclaimed God of Death. It's good to finally meet you. Thanatos has told me so much about you."
"Thanatos?"
"My son. Your father. The God of Death."
Back at the Winner residence...
Wufei was floating in a pink heaven. Ahh, so soothing, so healing, so... Pink? Huh? He opened his eyes. A beautiful woman in a very impractical pink satin and lace outfit was standing in the center of a ring of collapsed figures, pink fog flowing from her finger tips. He would've been shocked, but after remembering the events that had brought this about, he really couldn't feel much of anything but anger.
How ~DARE~ that - that ~god~ just waltz in here and take Duo?! ~HIS~ Duo! He hadn't exactly ~told~ Duo that he was his, but that had very little to do with it. And then the way he'd destroyed Quatre's house and nearly killed Trowa with his little appearing act, and the blatant use of power to take Duo away. It was dishonorable! And weak!
"Ahem! Mortal!" the woman in pink interrupted his mental ranting. He turn a gaze filled with rage on her. She didn't appear to notice. "Wake up the other mortals, we've got a job to do."
"Onna, don't tell me what to do! I've got to save Duo from this injustice!" Wufei growled back, standing. He began to walk toward the chasm, which had only closed about halfway for some reason. Then a shock went through him, leaving him laying on the ground in a sizzling heap, seeing pink spots in front of his eyes. He had a nasty suspicion his hair was sticking out like an electrified afro, and set about smoothing it back into its ponytail.
"The faster you get your friends awake the sooner you can go. I don't like leaving all these loose ends around," she said, crossing to his side and heaving him to his feet with inhuman strength. She brushed off his now-slightly-charred blue tanktop and white pants, giving him a swat on the behind to get him moving. {1}
Seeing that antagonizing this onna would be - unwise - he began to try to rouse his fellow pilots. Heero woke easily, coughing out pink mist. Trowa, like Wufei, had woken up on is own and was awakening Quatre. They gather together in a close knot as the winged bishounen and violet-haired girl were zapped into singed wakefulness by twin bolts of pink lightning.
"What the bloody freakin' ~Tartarus~!" demanded the girl, leaping to her feet. Then she saw the pink-clad woman. "Oh, it's you. Well, we need all the help we can get, I suppose..."
"Mom? You saw... ?" the young man said, standing with more dignity.
"Yes. I hope you realize how stupid it was to leave you bow lying around. This may never have happened otherwise," she said, giving him a glare that might've been enough to rival Heero's. "And I've given you two your powers back. We might need them."
"Er- What's Eros's bow have to do with this?" Quatre asked. "And may I ask who you are?"
"Dear boy, I am Aphrodite, Goddess of Love an Beauty. And Eros's bow had everything to do with it," the woman declared as though it was obvious.
"But... how?" Quatre managed not to squeak.
Aphrodite gave him a look. Eros put a restraining hand on her shoulder. Thalia sighed and stepped foward. Wufei fixed her with a stern gaze and waited for her to begin. She took a deep breath.
"All right, let's see if I can explain it in your terms. It's like this. The psychic consciousness of the Gods is like this big old pond. When a God or Goddess uses the things made by or for the Gods, there are ripples in the pond that we all feel. The more energy the god or Goddess has in them, the larger the ripple. Mortals have considerably less energy, and so cannot under normal circumstances use such things."
"But today Duo used the bow..." Wufei said,
"That's it. We, being mostly powerless, didn't notice the ripples. They couldn't have been terribly large, because Duo is mostly mortal, but it was enough to alert Hades of his presence. It probably drained him considerably, even so," she explained with a grimace. Wufei nodded. That certainly explained Duo' unconsciousness. Thalia turned to the other woman. "How come ~you~ didn't notice, O Almighty Aphrodite?"
The Goddess of Love had the decency to blush prettily. She mumbled something.
"What's that? I didn't hear," Thalia said, holding a hand to her ear exaggeratedly.
"I ~said~ 'I was dying my hair!' Do I need to spell it out for you?" exclaimed Aphrodite irately.
"Well it might help - "
"What were you two doing here in the first place?" Wufei interrupted impatiently.
"You said you were on a mission. And then later that you 'chose' Duo for something," Heero reminded them. This time Eros, Thalia, and, much the the other's surprise, Quatre were the ones turning red.
"Er - this is all ~Aphrodite's~ fault, you realize," Thalia said. "~We~ were merely innocent pawns. ~She's~ the one who wanted entertainment."
"Yeah, and if it weren't for ~Thalia~ messing up right away, Quatre wouldn't be involved," Eros explained.
"I didn't even really ~do~ anything, either..." the Arabian said guiltily.
Wufei, Heero, and the silent Trowa merely looked on impassively, waiting for an answer.
"...We were suppposed to hook up Wufei with Duo," Eros finally mumbled.
Wufei hadn't thought he could be shocked anymore that day, but then he hadn't thought his romantic life would be a mission for deities that hadn't been worshipped for over two thousand years. Then he felt even more anger.
"So you're saying that everything I've ever felt for Duo is all ~fake~?" he snarled, in his fury forgetting to be secretive about his passion for Duo. This was such injustice that he'd see it righted even if it meant exposing his emotions. "It was all just for the sake of divine ~amusement?~"
Eros and Thalia looked taken aback. Quatre grinned suddenly.
"Wufei, they hadn't even gotten so far as to see you in person before Aphrodite took their powers away and they had to hide. No one influenced how you felt about Duo in the least," he said.
"..." Wufei responded, at a loss for words. His righteous anger drained away slightly, and he felt a traitorous blush creeping across his face. Thalia gave a short giggle. He refused to acknowledge both, and quickly found his tongue. "Well then, what do we do about getting Duo back? What does Hades plan on doing with him?"
The shadow-covered man came closer, and Duo found himself backing up. He stopped as soon as he realized he was doing it and glared defiantly into eyes that had no iris or white, just black holes.
"I have been forced to stay in my realm for thousands of years because of decree Zeus made after I spirited away my bride. Your grandmother, Persephone, gave me twin sons, Thanatos and Hypnos. {2} While I was imprisoned here they took care of things above. But your father went against my commands to remain objective. He fell in love with a human woman and spared her life long enough for her to bear the child he'd gotten her with.
"Zeus forbade Thanatos to take you to Olympus and raise you as a God. He cast you down to earth in a different time to keep you from ever guessing your heritage. But now things have changed. The reason you were kept from me was that you are a link to the world of the living. You have the power to bridge the Underworld and the Living World. That is why I brought you here, my grandson. You will help me regain entrance to the mortal world," Hades finished his monolouge with a hungry smile.
"So basically you're saying I'm a demigod, the son of Death, and the key to a deity's plan for escaping a divine prison?" Duo asked skeptically.
"Well, if you have to put it that way, yes," Hades managed not to sound sulky. "Will you help me?"
"Why should I? You've kidnapped me, even if you ~are~ my grandfather. And what are you planning on doing if you gain access to Earth?" Duo fixed those abyssmal eyes with a glare.
"Nothing that concerns ~you~, should you accept my offer. You'd lose your mortality and become a God in the process of bridging the two worlds. You see, Shinigami - what? That ~is~ what you call yourself," Hades remarked, noting Duo's surprised expression.
"Yes, but how did you - "
"I have kept tabs on you since I heard of your birth from Thanatos. But as I was saying, once the two worlds are bridged, I can - talk - with my ~dear~ brother, Zeus," Hades said bitterly. "We have much catching up to do."
Something in his tone and expression - it may have been the mad gleam in his eyes and manic smile - made Duo realize that the last thing Hades wanted to do with Zeus was have a nice little chat. He resisted a shudder. If the gods fought on Earth, there'd be more damage done than by any war humans could create. He tried to tell himself that this was probably all some sort of hallucination - ancient Greek gods duking it out on Earth because ~he~ was the key to Hades's escape from the Underworld? Come on! - but he knew it was all true. He felt it in his heart, his bones, his soul. Shinigami had always been there, waiting in the background, helping him survive, even when he was paying lipservice to the Catholic church. He'd know he wasn't exactly average, but he'd put it down to the fact that he hadn't had an average life. Finding out he was a demi-god didn't surprise him.
"Well, I'm not going to do it. I'm sure Zeus has a good reason for keeping you and the Underworld down here, and you haven't really done much to make me think otherwise," Duo said with a wide, dangerous grin, unknowingly echoing Hades's. He crossed his arms over his chest. "Now, why don't you just put me back where I belong?"
A brief flash of rage contorted the King of the Underworld's face, but it was gone incredibly quickly. The calm, smug look that replaced it seemed to confirm Duo's diagnosis of dementia.
"But Shinigami, don't you want to meet your mother?" Hades asked, snapping his fingers. The cold silver sands swirled, forming a pool of faintly sparkling light. Duo couldn't resist peering inside. He gasped.
A willowy woman with shoulder-length chestnut hair sat in a field of flowers. She smiled sunnily as children played around her. She resembled him quite a bit, but her eyes were sapphire blue instead of flashing violet. She was braiding a garland of flowers, looking so ~happy~ as she did so...
"Wait a minute! You said she died after giving birth to me!" Duo shouted, tearing his eyes from the woman. "How can that be her?"
"My dear boy, Hades in not only Tartarus, but the Elysian Fields as well. Her spirit resides there, with the the souls of the innocents and others like her. Would you like to meet her?" Hades asked, with a dark unnerving chuckle.
"..."
When the ground began to shake again, the gods snapped their fingers. Wufei was about to yell at them for wasting time with meaningless gestures when suddenly he was floating above the ground on a cloud of purple and white mist that was somehow solid. It rose quickly, filling him with vertigo. He crouched down to better keep his balance as the puff of cloud soared upward over the pit that Hades had taken Duo into. There the others were assembling as well.
"What's going on?" Quatre shouted at Aphrodite.
"The Gate to the Underworld isn't closing. It's opening. This is very bad," she added unnecessarily.
"Why is it opening?" Trowa asked.
No one had an answer right away. Then Thalia smacked her forehead.
"Oh my Zeus! I should've realized it sooner!" she exclaimed.
"What?" Heero yelled, kneeling cautiously at the edge of his cloud and staring into the gap.
"The Gates of the Underworld can't close as long as there is a mortal in Hades! And Duo is mostly mortal!" she responded.
"But why are they opening wider?" Wufei repeated Trowa's question, following Heero's example. The bottom of the chasm was impossibly far below, and brilliant poisonous green snakes of vapor or liquid or maybe just plain energy writhed down there. It was a sickening sight that brought to mind maggots and parasites. Wufei looked away before he could disgrace himself by losing his lunch.
"Well, Duo is also partially God! The duality of his nature is somehow forcing the Underworld up into this plane of existance! Look!" the muse pointed down. Wufei steeled his stomach and followed her gesture. He was startled to see dunes of silver sand covering the ground on either side of the split earth. The remains of Quatre's estate were no where to be seen, and the stretch of sand was speading even as he watched. Green lights flickered up and flew out across the silver desert that hadn't been there moments before.
"We've got to stop it from spreading!" Quatre cried, eyes wide.
"We have to get Duo out of the Underworld," Heero told the Gods.
"We can't. We Gods can sense each other; Hades would know the second we entered his domain and he'd hide Duo. We'd never be able to find him before the whole Underworld has merged with yours," Eros replied in dismay. "By then it'd be too late."
"I'll go!" Wufei declared. "I'm no god, Hades won't suspect me!"
"You can't go down there," Aphrodite said with a frown. "You're mortal! You'd never make it past Cerberus."
"Well have ~you~ got a ~better~ plan, onna?"
Aphrodite merely gave an unladylike snort in responce. Eros flew over to Wufei, wings spread wide. He came almost nose to nose with the Chinese boy, staring deeply into onyx eyes.
"Find your justice," he commanded in a low voice.
"What?" Wufei asked. Whatever he had expected the God of Love to say, that wasn't it.
"Connect with your justice, let it fill you, become one with it. It's your only hope of saving Duo. What are you waiting for?"
Casting a befuddled glance at Eros, Wufei did as he was instructed. He slipped into a semi-meditative frame of mind, letting the bittersweet justice fill him as it did when he piloted Nataku. He let it flow through him, around him, in him, until he was sure of himself and of his sense of integrity. He felt something be pressed into his hands and he snapped his eyes open. It was Eros's bow and a quiver of black arrows.
"These will aid you. The arrows are laced with hemlock, so don't touch the tips. They should work on the creatures of the Underworld," Eros instructed.
"But - but you said only Gods could weild things made for the Gods," Wufei said, hesitant to take the weapons. Eros left them in his hands with an enigmatic smile. Surprised, all Wufei could do was clutch them as Eros flew away. "Hey! Wait a second! What are you - aaah!"
A sudden flare of pain rippled through him. He felt the muscles in his back spasm, and he fell to his hands and knees, fingers tearing into the solid fog. He heard noises like popping bones and groaning sinews as he bit back a yelp of pain. Something was straining against the back of his tanktop, which ripped. He gave a relieved sigh as the pain receded. He got to his feet, stretching the kinks out of his muscles. He heard everyone around him gasp.
"What? What is - " he began confusedly, but saw something out of the corner of his eye. He spun to get a good look at it, but it always was just out of sight. He tried to whirl faster, but still it eluded him. Laughter from the three Olympians and Quatre made him stop long enough to glare at them. "What's so funny?"
"Wu- Wufei, you - " Quatre gasped out, but he was soon overcome by very hysterical giggles. Wufei snorted and turned to Heero, whom he knew wouldn't be laughing.
"You've got wings," the Japanese pilot said flatly, pointing. Wufei blinked in surprise. He turned his neck and saw long, half-extended green wings behind him. Wings like leather, like bat wings. He flexed his shoulder muscles, feeling a wave of satisfaction when the wings extended fully.
"~Now~," he said, slinging the bow and quiver around his shoulders but under his new wings. He leaped from the cloud, soaring down into the Gate of the Underworld. "Duo, I'm coming. Not even the Gods can escape justice!"
{1}- Wufei: ONNA!!! ::rubbing his behind::
Tee-hee! Wufei got goosed!
Wufei: INJUSTICE!!! I'll get you for this, onna!!
Quiet, sweetcheeks!
{2}- Okay, blantantly twisting Greek myth here. Thanatos and Hypnos were brothers, but they were not Hades's sons. Hades was not ordered by Zeus to stay in the Underworld. But my mind works in twisted ways, so I tweaked the myths a bit so it'd fit the fic.
Well, I think that as long as you don't use my fic to study for any mythology tests, you'll be all right. Anywho, I think there'll only be one more part, unless I decide to have a nice happy little epilouge. Depends on how ambitious Thalia and Eros are. Hey guys, how ambitious are you?
Thalia and Eros: ZZZZZZZZZZ....
Hn. Well, looks like I'm on my own. ::ignores groans from G-boys and readers:: Anywho, review or Wufei'll come and kick your ass. Right 'Fei?
Wufei: I SHALL DECIDE JUSTICE! BWAHAHAHAHAAA!!!
Duo: Ah, Wu-babe? I think you're still channeling your justice... you're not supposed to do that outside the fic... er... heh heh