Chapter Nine – Of Stars and Rain

It was frequently said that after a night's sleep, problems seemed smaller by dawn. But there were problems that were like poison. Once they spread through the organism, they couldn't be weakened by rest, still wrapping the nerve endings, twisting them slowly.

Ignoring the shadows crawling in their minds, the day had dawned clean and clear, sun spreading over the Academy as clouds wandered in the sky. The storm og last night was a nightmare that didn't leave trail in the world.

Though it wasn't uncommon, for knowing it hadn't been a natural storm, the fact acted more as an exposed vein. It was impossible to forget the howling of the wind and the whipping of the rain, as it was impossible to forget the opaque eyes of Yui and how her voice had been almost monotonous when she and Ren walked back to the dorm.

Yui had claimed that she was alright, but Ren knew this wasn't so. The girl was pale that morning and this accentuated the shadow under her eyes, which were enough signals to anyone to see that she hadn't had much sleep.

Ren and the others had told her that, if Yui wanted to talk, they were there for her, but the girl had just smiled and said that things were okay. Ren supposed that someone could believe the lie, were not for the frozen eyes and the weak smile.

"She could have drowned. There is no need to act as if things were fine" She reflected, placing an extremity of a hose in a small sink. Maybe she could help Yui if…

Her mind didn't allow the idea to stop being a shadow to take shape.

Yui remained firm in her decision of helping Hades somehow, though she had no illusions of the severity of the case. The god still kept his distance, except when the girls were heading to class, he had approached enough to ask Yui if she was alright.

As always, there was that kind of seriousness in his expression, but this time it seemed that there was a shivering under the control. Not surprising, Hades knew that what happened had been his fault and probably blamed himself. Yui had only had time to say she was fine and Misaki had tried to say something, but Hades had just nodded and walked away.

If he hoped that, after all that, Yui would give up trying to approach him, then Ren believed the Underworld Ruler would have quite a surprise very soon.

"All ready there, Amaya?" Dionysus asked, holding the other end of the hose. The yellow, metal head looked like the head of a long green snake. The girl nodded and opened the water before turning back to the vases, long and grayish, that she and Dionysus had placed in the yard. Some had small seedlings they had placed there some moments ago (The god had taught her how to transfer plants without hurting their roots), others were a light sheet of earth over seeds and some were still empty. As he had told her before, Dionysus planed to plant grapes, but also spoke to Ren about different kinds of plants and flowers, suggesting she picked some books about them to decide which she wanted to plant too.

A tiny rainbow gleamed as Dionysus placed the hose in certain position under the sun, a fragile waterfall over the plants whose leaves shivered under the water.

"We need to watch out in case of many bugs or larvae" Though they had vases, there was also a small bed flower nearby and Ren now remembered that some bugs could before true plagues and some weeds could dominate a garden if you didn't take care.

The idea of bugs made her shiver in disgust.

"Some people use repellents or poison…" She commented. "There are some that are botanic, natural…" She remembered that her dad had once used one made with a certain plant, but it had been years and she didn't remember well about it. Dionysus however nodded to her.

"We could also use other bugs. Prayer mantis and chrysopidae, for example."

"Chryso-what?" Ren asked, not understanding, her ponytail falling over one of her shoulder.

"Chrysopidae" Dionysus repeated slowly. "Some devour some bugs that are like plagues. They can be quite useful."

Ren was about to say she would rather try repellents (even if bugs were important to nature, it didn't mean at all that she wanted them anywhere near her), when the pressure of the water seemed to increase out of sudden, surprising the god. The hose agitated in his hand as a furious snake, the water spreading everywhere.

Both heard cries of surprise before Dionysus managed to control the hose as Ren ran back to close the water.

Near the stairs, with Apollon and Balder, Yui stood completely soaked.

"I'm so sorry!" Dionysus said when seeing her, nervous. "Are you alright, there? Are you too wet?"

"Too?" Apollon repeated as Balder leaned to the girl, worried for her. "Dee-dee, she is completely soaked!"

"N-No problem, I'm fine…" Yui muttered, voice shivering in fright and cold. "It was just an accident…"

Ren saw Hades sitting in the stairs' steps near the trio, watching the girl in silence. And then she knew what it all should have been.

"Ahh, Fairy! You need to dry yourself! Sorry, I'm really sorry!" Apollon said nervous. Some water drops had fallen in his racket and seemed diamond drops against the metallic blue. At his side Balder also apologized and asked Yui if she was sure she was fine.

"I'll be right back, okay?" Ren muttered to Dionysus, who just agreed without asking her reasons and deciding to go back to the vases. Even so, she thought that him, as Hades' nephew, should have a notion of what had just happened.

Without a word, she approached the group.

"Hey, it was nothing, all right?" Yui looked from Balder to Apollon, unable to avoid holding her shivering arms due to the cold water and turned to Hades. "So, see you in the evening, okay?" She lifted her hand to the others and Ren. "See you guys later."

Apollon and Balder still muttered among them, picking their tennis balls before going back to the courts and saying goodbye to Hades and Ren, who stood alone and spent some seconds in silence before the girl asked.

"She wants to go star gazing with you again?"

Hades emitted a sound that was almost a half sigh, still watching the girl's figure walking away, the purple hair making a wet mantle against her back.

"She should understand" His whisper was almost too low to be heard and the slight frown, half hidden by the hair of greenish lights, indicated that Yui's behavior was confusing to the god. His red eye turned to the girl standing near him. "She told about yesterday, did she not?"

Ren nodded slowly. After some moments, the deep voice of the god of the dead slithered in the air, a bit more brusquely-sounding.

"She could have died. For her own sake, it's better if she stays away"

The girl remained in silence, thinking about the weeks they had spent since arriving in the Academy. In the comments Yui had made and her smiles, even when she was worried about the chances of them not graduating.

"That may be so… But it doesn't mean this is what Yui wants"

Hades sighed and looked to the sky.

"She must be insane… Deliberately placing herself in harm's way. Doesn't she understand?"

Little by little, a sigh came up Ren's throat, added by a sound that could be almost a laugh. Hades heard it and looked at her with the corner of his eye. Yui was no longer visible, but Ren still had her eyes on the path her friend had taken.

"I think you should understand why" She whispered calmly before turning her back to go to Dionysus, not without casting a last glance to Hades, who watched her not fully understanding what she meant.

"She is just like the stars you like so much"

XxX

"Was that weird, or it was just me?" Arisu asked, sitting in a bank and dragging her feet against the grass delicately in a way the leaves caressed the skin exposed in the sandals. She looked in the direction Balder and Apollon had left to fetch the tennis's balls. Apollon's one had practically flew after hitting the wall, what had looked strange once his hits hadn't been that violent.

Picking a new arrow, Isuzu shrugged.

"I dunno, I didn't even see exactly what happened" Her attention was focused in her posture and the arrow's aim. For an instance, Arisu still had her eyes in the pathway, but the gods didn't show signs of being coming back and she turned to her sister who was concentrating in the details of her posture, seeking a perfect aim.

Both of them hadn't commented a thing about last night's incident, but there was no need of words. The events were still in their minds and it was frustrating how, as much as they thought about it, they couldn't find a way of helping Hades. None of them understood still why such things happened to him, but they didn't like the idea of just leaving him alone.

Arisu leaned her elbow on her thigh, resting her face on her hand, watching her sister. Isuzu arranged her arm and pulled the arrow. Among the silence, even the tiny noise of the rope sounded louder. Her sister's face had no marks, but her brown eyes burned with concentration.

The arrow cut the air, hungry for the target in the wall.

The explosion was so intense that even at that distance, Arisu coughed when different aromas invaded her nose. The target was tore apart in something that seemed a mixture of smoke and small, violent flames that jumped to them. Isuzu cried in fear and fright, backing away and Arisu lifted her arm in the height of her eyes, expecting to feel points of pain.

The sensation was of minuscule things sparkling against her skin and the warmth was almost pleasant. Slowly, still shivering with the fright, she lowered her arm and saw sparkles still jumping around as fast fireflies. Isuzu breathed fast and deep, one if her hands still in her chest as she tried to calm down. Red and yellows sparkles jumped in her shoulders, as playful fairies in a story for children.

"That… Caramba…" She muttered and Arisu could only nod, lips shivering. She thought that was real fire. It certainly had looked the part when the target exploded, the same way the flames of fire would spread by air with violence when a window would break under the heat.

A well-known laugh came in front of them.

Loki was sitting over the wall, legs swinging in the air as he laughed showing his sharp teeth and gleaming silver eyes. Thor was near the wall, having rather walk around it then climb and his face, as always, was just serene, making the twins wonder for s moment if he had found that funny or just boring.

"You got really scared this time, hm!" He shook his head, the red hair burning under the sun. Arisu was up in a jump.

"LOKI, YOU BASTARD!" She screamed so loud that the muscles of her throat whimpered in pain, while she ignored the pleasant pricking of the sparkles and a shivering in her lungs that had nothing to do with the smoke or fright. "Do you want to kill us, you PEST?"

Loki started to twirl a strand of hair in his fingers and, though he smiled, there was an unreadable emotion in his eyes. Thor's golden gaze went from his friend to the girls, but none of them realized and Arisu, not waiting a reply from the Trickster God, forced another arrow in her sister's hand, keeping her eyes on him and muttering.

"C'mon, you can do it. Right in the middle of his forehead, I'll say it was an accident." She turned to Thor, unable to keep the amused expression that started to dominate her face and crack her mast of pretended seriousness. "We can trust you to confirm it, right, Thor? It was just an extremely sad accident"

"And do you actually believe" Loki started, leaning a little forward. "That a thing like that will hurt me?"

"I got no idea." Isuzu replied amused, lifting her bow with the arrow pointing to the god. "Can we find out now?"

"Hey…" Thor started, looking from the twins to Loki, who had his eyebrows lifted but both girls couldn't keep it anymore and started to laugh. Isuzu lowered her arrow and Arisu hid her face in her hand.

"Don't think that everything's fine" The girl warned, lifting her face enough so her fingers weren't on her eyes, shoulders still agitated by silent laughter. "It was a cretin thing to do. I thought we would get actually hurt"

Loki was quiet, still playing with his hair, his smile not once shivering, yet… It was a bit strange. Last day, when he had played a prank on Arisu, leaving her with white spots, the girl had been completely enraged and tried to punch him while crying out curses. Now, she was laughing. With the ages, this had become a thing he knew, aware that people could find some things funny and get irritated with others.

However, he thought that messing up with Isuzu's targets, something she seemed to like so much, would make both of them furious. And contrary to what Arisu seemed to believe, he wouldn't be insane enough to use actual fire in a prank like this when they were all with their divine powers sealed.

Arisu shook her head, face still pink.

"I mean it, Loki" She continued, her smile slowly fading. "That was really scary"

"Well, for someone who thinks so, you're pretty dying from laugher there" The god replied, jumping to the ground easily, near the tattered target. Now that smoke had faded, it was possible to see him clearly: Tore apart as if some animal had slashed it with a single claw.

"It doesn't change the fact that…"

"You seem to be getting along better!" Someone commented behind Arisu. Balder was back and watched the scene with a smile. He would have liked to see Loki and Thor making friends with the others and it seemed that this last prank of his hadn't made any of the Hironezumi twins truly annoyed.

"We? Naah!" Loki waved, dismissing the very idea as thought it was nonsense. "Like that's likely to happen!"

Arisu's eyes narrowed and Isuzu sighed. It wasn't, truth to be told, a different answer than what they had been expecting, since they had no illusions that Loki had any sort of affection for them or anyone but Thor and Balder.

Some sarcastic replies passed by her mind, but Arisu kept them away from her mouth. In the moment, they had far more important subjects to deal with and Loki's rejection wasn't exactly on the top of her worry list.

"Ah, but do you think this behavior will help him to graduate?" A mocking voice sounded from the depths of her mind and the girl tried to not think much about it now, even though she was aware of the truth in it.

Lost in her thoughts as she became, she just noticed Loki walking away when Isuzu said.

"Hey, Loki… A warning, though" She carved her eyes in him, holding her bow with a firm hand and a smile of dangerous kindness. "The targets I can accept, but if you ever even touch my bow or my arrows… Then I'll start training using your eyes as targets, are we clear in this matter?"

"Oh, really?" Loki asked in the same tone, his cat eyes gleaming as liquid silver. "Very well, agreed. I understood completely, young miss"

He gave his back to them, walking away with hands on his pockets as if he didn't have a single worry in the world. Isuzu still looked at his direction and ended up sighing, her shoulders falling.

"I practically asked him to do something of this sort, didn't I?"

Arisu and Balder nodded, the god with a smile almost of apology and even Thor, who had came closer, also agreed with a controlled gesture of his head.

"Well, he really hates us, hm?" Arisu commented as she took a seat back in the bank and leaned behind, stretching a little.

"Don't take his words so seriously" To her surprise, who said it was not Balder, but Thor. His voice was deep, and the girl thought it matched with him as she blinked, a bit uncertain and caught off guard by his words.

"Ah… Okay… Thanks, Thor" She didn't really have another answer to give him. The god nodded once more and walked away, following Loki. Also, Arisu wasn't sure that he was right about that and, taking Isuzu's gaze, she shared her opinion.

Something should have appeared in their faces, for Balder agreed with Thor.

"Thor is right, you know." He commented. "Loki is like this, really, but it isn't that he detests you or anything of this sort. He is always pranking everyone, even us. It may seem hard, but give him some time."

If it wasn't for Balder's gentle tone and how he seemed to not want them to start hating his friend, they would never have agreed. At this, Balder smiled and went to the court to continue playing tennis with a quick word that they should go back to the Academy together once done with their clubs, Isuzu sighed.

"Being honest, I still think Loki doesn't seem to be interested in being friends with anyone here." She picked another arrow and went to aim for the other target as Arisu muttered in concord. "For me, that's fine, at least he has been a little more polite than when we met him."

"You gotta be joking…" Arisu mumbled.

XxX

"So that was it…" Dionysus muttered as he held a small garden shovel with which he made a small hole in the earth on one of the vases. Sitting near him and working in another vase, Ren confirmed.

The god sighed.

"I thought it had been something of this nature" If either because he had noticed Yui had been close to Hades some moments ago or that he had realized by Balder and Apollon's apology that she had been hit by their tennis' balls or anything of the sort, he didn't say so.

A while ago, he had gone after the girl to apologize himself for the incident and once he was back, he had informed Ren that Yui had told about how she wanted to get closer to Hades and help him somehow. Ren was not surprised by this at all.

Finishing the holes in the long, rectangular vase, she placed the seeds carefully. If buried too deep, the plant could suffocate once it started to bloom, as Dionysus had explained to her.

"And the storm yesterday." He muttered, to which the girl merely nodded without saying anything.

"Why those things happen to Hades?" She wondered, not taking her attention out of the gardening, though she noticed that his firm expression. For a couple of seconds, she thought she wouldn't get any answer.

"Amaya… You do know what he is god of, don't you?" He knew there were some things that several mortals knew, even if they never studied much about it.

"The afterlife, the realm of the dead" She replied quietly, taking a long strand of hair out of her face, leaving a small brown stain in the corner of her forehead. "Tartarus, Asphodels and Elysium." The first was a place for the souls condemned for their sins, the second was a purgatory-like region and the third was the region destined for good people, as a sort of Paradise.

Dionysus confirmed her words, touching his lips with the end of his tongue. Few times there was conversation regarding Hades' realm, even in Olympus even after so many millennia.

"Mortals have always feared death" He told Ren, not looking at her. "Even the other gods don't like to speak of it, it is something even more distant for us, since we are immortals"

Ren felt there was something here, however Dionysus seemed insecure about whether or not he should talk to her of it. And her assumption was right: This was about Hades. Dionysus respected his uncle and wasn't sure if he would like having some details being told to the girl without asking permission first.

"You know how mortals worship us… The cult and festivals in our honor" He carried on, aiming for a safer ground for now. "With Hades… It is different. There was veneration to him during funerals and rituals of calling for the dead, but in general, he was feared enough so people wouldn't consider safe to say his name." He gave a humorless and dry chuckle. "Sometimes, his realm was called by the same name as his and his name was used as a curse…"

He was in silence for a while before looking at the girl. Ren had never seen Dionysus with such expression.

"Do you understand what I'm telling you?"

The girl agreed slowly and silent. The natural fear of death made people fear the one who ruled over the afterlife, where their souls would go. Even aware of the existence of a place such as Elysium, the feeling was still more powerful. As a consequence, Hades not only didn't receive the same festivals as the others, but he was far more feared…

Even loathed.

She remembered when Hades had told her and Yui to stay away and the strength pulsating in his voice. It had been the first time they had felt a shard of his nature. And how frightening it was…

"He rules over the dead. He couldn't do so being different…" And despite it, it was because he didn't want them to get hurt. In the end, Hades cared for people. He had looked severe in the occasion, sure, but after millennia ruling the Underworld, what surprise was in this side of him? You wouldn't have control over such a place in any other way.

The souls of Elysium shouldn't be a problem, for what it seemed, but they were the only ones there.

"Does he… Does he never leave?"

Dionysus shook his head.

"Rarely. He can't. I was even surprised when I learned that he was here. Sometimes he would come to the reunions of Olympus, but just once in a while and he was never considered an Olympian god. Actually…" He slowly stopped talking, as if changing his mind before saying slowly. "Amaya… Hades is a cursed god."

His words pulled Ren's mind violently, for she felt that Dionysus wasn't speaking figuratively. The god had stopped his gardening and his eyes were fixated upon her. The green in them seemed to wave as leaves of a forest and the sunlight seemed to make the color range from light to dark.

"Those that were cruel in life are punished in Tartarus and hate him with all their might. This hate, over time, accumulated and created a curse. And it continues until today… They don't admit they are being punished and, as such, they want to prevent Hades from having any sort of happiness during all his existence."

"Wait, that's not fair…" The words escaped in child-like protest, out of Ren's control. Dionysus chuckled to himself, the sound just having the shape of a laugh being actually full of bitterness.

"They do not think as such. Mortals always find a way to justify their own actions, so they don't admit being judged. Or the consequences." He sighed and shook his head to himself. Ren didn't even bother trying to find words to counterattack for there weren't any.

"Hades is already shunned by the living and those being punished for their own deeds, hate him…"

Dionysus had told her about Yui's conversation of a few moments ago. Ren recalled of the last day, how she had said she didn't like the situation of the Underworld God. Perhaps she would try to do something before they went star gazing?

A mist started to take shape in her mind, something too fragile to be classified as idea or thought.

"Dionysus, there is something Yui was talking to Hades about…"

XxX

The afternoon surged softly, wrapping the world in veils as the sky changed colors slowly and Venus shined as a lonely diamond. Around, the shadows played in the reddish light that turned some leaves into dark gold.

Hades stood from the bank, going to the gates. There was a hill with a small gazebo, it was the ideal place to watch the stars and he always waited a little after the noon, when the starts started to winkle during the way and once he arrived, the sky opened itself in a dark blue that seemed to change sometimes, revealing purpleish areas. Such view was possible due to the nature of the place.

So, the god could enjoy a long time before he had to go back to the Academy, following the curfew time (not that he gave much importance to the fact in itself, but it didn't make much difference to follow the procedures).

"Oi, Hades" A voice he was already used to called him, almost making him sigh without understanding what would lead a person to insist in something that could (and probably would) cause wounds in the end.

Yui Kusanagi, this time, wasn't alone. Apollon, Dionysus, Balder Hringhorni, Tsukito Totuska, Isuzu Hironezumi and Ren Amaya were with her.

After changing the gym clothes and leaving her uniform to dry near the room's window, Yui had met with Apollon and Dionysus, with whom she had talked a little more regarding Hades and last night's events. She was aware of his position as Underworld God and how it had come to be, but even taking everything in account, she still didn't accept he had to suffer because of this.

When they had told her that their uncle liked daifuku and strawberries (something that had been quite a surprise to her. Somehow, those weren't foods she would associate with him right away), then the girl had tried to use them as a way to approach the god and show there was no need for him to remain alone.

Yui admitted she had been a little silly.

She should have imagined there was something more serious involved than it firstly seemed and not something that had an easy solution. If it was as such, then he wouldn't have spent all those years behaving in this fashion.

Hades had showed this to her when explaining about his curse and the dark mark he carried in his chest. The memory brought shivers from the depths of her nerves: A dark stain, marked by purple and black as a bruise in which veins of poison throbbed.

There was no way of mistaking that for a tattoo, something in that had looked and felt alive. Even she, human, almost could feel the strength in that, the physical manifestation of hatred'd pure essence.

There was no salvation or healing for this.

Before such power, of such age, what was she but a mortal whose life was no greater than the shivering of a candle's flame?

Only then Yui had come as close to understand Hades' situation as a human could be.

Yet, when she went back to her room with the remaining daifuku, instead of focusing in the feeling of emptiness and dread, she had rather focused in how she still didn't want to give up, leaving Hades to isolate himself no matter if it was out of worry for others.

"Even if there is nothing anyone can actually do against this, it doesn't mean we can't do anything!"

Afternoon had fallen already by this time and she looked through the window as the sun approached the horizon and the night's mantle started to cover the sky. She had had an idea, but was aware of the little time she had before Hades left to watch the stars. Even if knowing the path to the hill he seemed to prefer, Yui thought it was better if they went all together.

So, she had run through the academy in searching, soon meeting Apollon and Tsukito and then Balder, Isuzu, Dionysus and Ren, calling them to come along.

Hades stared at the group and didn't answer right away, however Dionysus explained that even if he refused, they would just follow him anyway. Seeing there was no real choice in the matter, Hades hadn't said anything.

Like the last night, when they arrived at the hill, night had fallen completely and its dark veil covered the land. Stars gleamed as a pinch of silver and blue drops in a sky where the dark blue seemed to lighten until an almost purple river in some areas, going back to the dark tone. The few clouds were pearly mist.

"It's so beautiful" Isuzu muttered in awe, for she always surprised herself with how many starts and the clarity of the sky here. She and the other girls exchanged looks of comprehension: Even in areas with less pollution than usual, it wasn't easy to see so many stars and, since they lived in cities, they knew how the night sky could look different from what they saw her.

Many times, back home, what Isuzu saw at night was a dark and dead mass with just some stars that seemed weak, lights that would perish soon. Even the sunset was marked by pollution…

The sky in her world was dead. Here, it vibrated with life.

"And to think that, ages ago, the sky back home could be like this too…" Yui reflected, but soon pushed the thought away for now. It wouldn't be of any help if she started to get upset, it wasn't for this she had come here. Balder and Dionysus asked how many starts they thought existed, to which Hades replied with an estimative, to which Yui held a giggle. Of course it had to be just an estimative, since the universe was infinite.

As she offered help to Hades to get his telescope, a cold drop fell in her hand.

Without a word, Hades stood to leave. Yui held his wrist at the same instant.

"Please, wait…" Her whisper was well heard despite the low tone and the others exchanged smiles. They already knew this would happen and, therefore, had taken preventive measurements.

Hades, still in his usual silence, just looked from the caramel-eyed girl to the other gods, but he didn't try to get free from Yui's touch.

"Now it really starts!" Apollon laughed as he took off his jacket, the others following his example to reveal they had their swimming suits underneath, the same they had wore in the beach. The sun god laughed, defying the misfortune and the curse as the rain fell over his flesh, not bothering him at all.

Despite not being touched by the rain, Balder laughed with them, the sound mixing with the water cutting the air and touching the plants and the gazebo nearby. Watching the group, wearing the school one piece herself, Isuzu had to admit that it was amusing to see gods playing like this and she started giggling herself with memories of when she and Arisu were younger.

After all, who hadn't played in the rain at least once?

While the others ran around and enjoyed it, back at the gazebo, sheltered and watching, Yui was with Hades and Ren. While she was unsure if she would be able to transmit perfectly what she wanted to, Yui was set on trying even so.

It wasn't just because she didn't want Hades to stay alone or because this wasn't fair, but also because she, like the others, wanted to be his friend.

Sitting in the floor, back leaning against one of the columns as she watched the rain, Ren gave her a supportive look.

"You know, Hades-san… Your curse, it causes misfortunes." To use his own terms. "I understood this, now. But…" Why things were so easier to feel and so harder to put into words? "I know they can be severe. I know what… What could have happened to me"

At this, she had to swallow for a moment, trying to refuse the memory of the cold water entering her lungs.

"But you were there for me and I was happy for it. Not just because you saved me. And despite all, I was happy that we spent some time together." With a gesture of her head, she indicated the group ahead as Apollon ran after Dionysus, who avoided him easily. The red haired god moved as a wild being, who dwelled in forests and couldn't be bothered by anything related to nature. "Even now, everyone is having fun. My point is that… We don't want to get away from you."

She looked at him with the corner of her eyes, finding no change in his expression. Yui wasn't stupid, she was aware that this curse was not insignificant and not a game, either. But the existence of hardships didn't equal desistence.

"So we have to take some, preventive measures" No other way of saying this. "And take care, but so what? We find that it is worth it. It doesn't matter if…"

"Enough…" Hades muttered, attracting the attention of both girls. It wasn't at all like when he had told them to stay away, thought his voice sounded almost tired, it also had smoothness in it. The god closed his eye and his shoulders seemed to relax. "It… It is enough now."

Yui looked to Ren, but she also wasn't sure of what Hades meant by that.

He sighed.

"Even with all the disgraces that happen around me…" Hades muttered, almost as if to himself as he saw his nephews laughing, some memories of past events going through his mind. Some of the other gods avoided him due to his domain and nature, however Apollon and Dionysus were among the few who seemed set in enjoying the time they could spent together.

"They never ceased caring for me" Even one time when Artemis had been hurt (which wasn't easy to happen to deity) in a time before the reunion, neither she nor Apollon had blamed him. Even with her foot bleeding, she had still said it was nothing.

Some gods had been muttering about this later and he was always aware of the fearful glances that they sent in his direction…

Yet…

"No matter what happens, they are always there for me" A smile slowly appeared in his face, the gesture just revealed that the face of white stone was actually made of flesh. The difference of such a simple gesture was impressive. "If this is not happiness, then I don't know what it is…"

As if on cue, Apollon tried to call his uncle to play with them.

The sky became clear in that instance.

The stars stopped hiding as the clouds dissipated. Under the soft light, the raindrops resting in the grass seemed to gleam. At distance, it looked like some of the stars had fallen among the leaves.

Hades approached Yui as she gazed to the sky, thinking it looked even clearer after the rain and was excited by how, in the end, they would be able to star-gaze for a while.

"Being the ruler of the realm of the dead…" Hades muttered to her as the other gods and Isuzu put on their uniforms, which they had left in the gazebo. Their collars were soon soaked due to their wet hairs (save by Balder). "I spent practically all my life in darkness."

Darkness when he had been swallowed by his father and darkness after he and his brothers had divided their realms among them. Yet, the darkness of the Underworld was nothing compared to the darkness he had endured inside Cronus.

"Yet, over the time, I found happiness in looking at the sky…"

He lifted his face, recalling the Underworld. The souls filled with nothing but hatred, some no longer even knowing anything but it, even their own names. The other souls, in perpetual mourning in Asphodels… And even so, there were the green fields of Elysium. He, as an immortal, could not spend all time there and his palace was between the three parts of his realm, in a dark area, but knowing that the Elysium existed was a comfort in itself.

"Perhaps, if I had been allowed to live in the sky, I wouldn't be able to value it so much"

Isuzu straightened her jacket, then twisting her long hair to get rid of the excess of water as she took a seat near Ren and Balder, noticing how Hades seemed to be talking to Yui. And some moment, he placed his hand on her shoulder.

That was the first time she and Ren recalled seeing Hades having contact with someone by his own initiative.

The rain hadn't last for long and they still managed to gaze upon the stars, with Hades telling a bit about how to use a telescope and about some constellations they managed to see this night. Even without this, seeing that piece of the universe surrounding them after playing, was cause for pleasant feelings and seemed to grant a new quality to stars that no longer looked the same to them.

At some point later, on their way back, Hades approached Ren.

"Amaya" He said in a low tone as he walked at her side. Some steps in front, the group talked among them or some just followed the path in silence, appreciating it. "I believe I understand what you said today. Regarding Kusanagi" He clarified.

Ren tilted her head to the side, waiting for his explanation. Hades gave her a light smile, his eye landing on the girl in front who was talking to Balder and Isuzu, the purple ponytail seeming darker in the night and waving in her back.

"She is like a star" Perhaps what he was about to say was too sentimental, however he couldn't think in a different way and it wasn't in his nature to lie. "Not miding te darkness, she always shines. To everyone. Unselfishly."

Ren nodded with a slow movement.

"Indeed" She turned her face, her dark eyes going over to her friend.

"It is exactly that..."

Ana: Took a time with this one. My winter vacation is ending and a new semester in college will start by August. Not looking much forward for it, to be honest. And we keep going, a thing at a time. And while the gods have their issues, so do the girls...

AndreaRamos2003: Haha, don't worry. And yeah, I guessed Loki would be among your favorites!

Loki (smiling): I'm flattered and honored, my dear. I must say, I'm...

Ana: Never took you for the Casanova type, stop flirting!

Loki: Flirting? I'm just thanking and expressing my appreciation!

Ana: Yeah, right. I like how he cares for Balder, too. Their friendship is actually really beautiful to see!

Arisu: Really? He is a pain to deal with!

Ana: That's because he is still bothered by being here, give it time. When Tsukito smiled for the first time he looked quite different! It was like "Did that really happen?" Dionysus... I admit, I heard they are making a sequel to the game (hope it will be an anime too) and this time, Thor and Dionysus will have their own routes. I was quite happy, over the time, Dionysus grew on me even if he didn't have much focus on the story.

Dionysus: I wouldn't sleep so much in class if they were interesting.

Arisu: I'm surprised you manage to, considering Thoth's voice.

Ana: And I'm happy that you like my girls! I'm anxious to get into details about them and their stories! Till next chapter!