New chapter (I'm not MIA anymore)! I found the idea of this one on a note I'd written ages ago, in an iPod I don't use anymore. Old stuff. Old enough that I probably hadn't even read Heroes of Olympus back then. I edited it and here it is :)
Hades was used to anger.
It was something usual in him; it was since he got stuck in the Underworld, a kingdom so big it left him no time to enjoy it, and piles of trouble –paperwork, lots of paperwork. Not even having a wife made his mood any better.
His son had been right, his children's fatal flaw was holding grudges because their father was like that. He couldn't let the past go, whatever had hurt him… simply because it was all he had left.
His family? They had put him aside, surrounded by annoying immortals or brainless souls.
His wife? She didn't like spending time with him, and she complained too much, plus she often was on her mother's side.
His children? He had no immortal kids to spend time with, like Poseidon had Triton, or Zeus had… he could never remember exactly how many... well Zeus had half of the Olympic Council.
He couldn't go to the mortal world because of the Ancient Laws, and the fear of falling in love, and he didn't think he could stand another tragic story like Maria's in a long, long time. He only had his memories, and his mood reflected the sourness in these.
He'd thought he could get something good from the war. His relatives would destroy each other and pay for the damage they had done. He would be left alone with his wife -and her mother, who he could turn in his favour, given one or two millenia-, and probably the best part of the deal, his son. He'd tried to hide it with forced anger and disappointment, if he were to show how much he cared then his family would've tried to kill the boy, for revenge. He was his son, a part of Maria lived in him, he understood pain and solitude, they could be a family together, regardless of the lies.
Since he'd found Nico, after getting some information about his mother, he'd been going on, and on, and on about the same thing. "Percy this, Percy that" he was losing the little patience he had, and nothing good ever came out of his anger.
He even thought of killing the boy himself, at one point, but one look to his eyes, brown, just like Maria's, had stopped him. She lives in him. I can't kill all I've got left of her. He knew that even if the boy had nothing to do with Maria, the kid was his son, he could scold and threaten him, but not hurt him. At some point he gave up trying to build a barrier, a wall to distance himself from the boy, probably one of the best decisions he'd ever made.
Now they were all sitting on Olympus, safe and sound from Kronos –at least for now, dear old father seldom sat still for too long-. He admitted he could be calm, even in that horrible guest chair he was sitting in, which gave him way less than the respect he deserved. He would let it go that time, however, the heroes had arrived, and Nico was amidst them.
Hades thought the boy would stay with his friends, the kid was fond of some demigods, -including the one he wished nothing more but to destroy-. Or maybe he'd hid in the shadows, so as to not be noticed. He didn't blame him, being a child of the Underworld didn't exactly bring honour, it gave fear and uneasiness between demigods and gods alike.
To his utmost surprise, the boy didn't.
Nico strode towards him, his armour in pieces, bandages in his arms and chest, but he was whole, a fact we was thankful for. The kid stared at him for a minute, before seating by his feet, silently. And yet, there he was, next to him… as if he was proud of Hades being his father, no matter what.
Despite his best efforts to supress it, a smile appeared on his lips for his son. I'm proud of you, too, Nico, he thought to himself. His son had accepted his destiny, fought bravely despite being outcasted by the very same people he tried to defend, and valiantly led an army of undead soldiers. Nico had brought him honour, and that was something that he, god or not, would never forget.