Meanwhile in the Underworld, it was a lot easier for Macaria to learn what she needed to from Thanatos. They didn't have to hide their meetings from Persephone, meaning they could meet much more frequently. Thanatos was pleased with Macaria's quick progress and she was soon helping him reap souls full time. Whenever a mortal would die honorably, she would be there to bless the family and bring the mortal's soul safely to the Underworld and ensure their place in Elysium. In the Underworld, Macaria became known as a protector of the Elysian souls.
Hades had just finished speaking with Thanatos about Macaria's accomplishments in her immortal training when he noticed a goddess lurking in the corner of his throne room. He looked at the woman in a displeased silence as she bowed and walked forward. She stood next to Thanatos, who was looking at her with amusement, and removed the hood that was covering her face.
"Greeting, Hades." She spoke in a calm, yet powerful manner.
Hades sighed in annoyance and addressed the goddess.
"Hecate," he said, "what an unexpected surprise."
"It is quite unlike you to come all the way here for a visit, m'lady," Thanatos mused.
"Enough with the formalities Thanatos. We are all friends here," she replied with a hint of a smirk.
Hades scoffed and said, "You may be his friend, but I am most certainly not yours."
"Relax, my dear Hades, I come bearing good news," She replied.
"I see Lord Zeus has demoted you to his messenger now," Hades scoffed. He continued to watch Hecate with a mixture of annoyance and boredom, but he chose to tolerate her presence and hear her out. He was correct in that Hecate's visits to the Underworld were few and far between. She had connections to them, but she was a sort of free spirit and spent most of her time wandering around on earth, guiding mortals to their fates and protecting their cities from restless spirits who had not been permitted entrance to the Underworld.
"What our Lord Hades means is that he is beyond delighted to have you in our presence," Thanatos said to Hecate. "Perhaps I should set the table for a meal?" Before Hades answered, Thanatos left to do just that.
Hecate sighed with an amused laugh, "And you have poor Thanatos as your servant now?"
"Trust me, he enjoys the work," Hades said, standing from his throne and walking towards Hecate. He begrudgingly offered his arm to her, "Shall I lead you to the dining hall then?"
"Only if you insist," Hecate replied.
By the time Hades had led Hecate to the dining hall, Thanatos had already set out an assortment of foods for them to enjoy. Macaria, too, was seated at the table before the pair had arrived.
Hecate took a seat next to Macaria and Hades took the one across from Hecate. Macaria smiled at the goddess sitting next to her and shot her father a very confused look. He simply shrugged his shoulders in reply and turned his attention to Hecate, allowing her to start the conversation.
Hecate rested her elbows on the table, folded her hands, and placed her head where her fingers intertwined. She smiled at Hades and said, "That's a lovely bouquet of flowers you have on your table."
"They're Hyacinths," Macaria replied, still weary of the other goddess.
"Persephone's favorite," Hades said smoothly. His expression was unreadable as he studied Hecate for a while. "What is it you came here for?"
"Straight to the point as always, I see. And who is this beautiful lady sitting next to me?" She smiled at Macaria.
"Macaria, my daughter," Hades said.
Macaria gave Hecate a small wave. "Um… hi?" She said uncertainly.
"I never knew you had a daughter, Hades. How unlike the gods to travel news so slowly," she laughed, "You would think Persephone would have shared such news with Apollo, who, if I may be so blunt, is a gossiper by fault. He shares everything with his sister who ends up telling Athena and by then Aphrodite has caught word and the whole universe knows what's what the very next day."
"Yes," Hades said flatly, "how unusual."
"I know you care little about gossip on Olympus, but as I mentioned before, I have some good news for you."
"Then do tell already. The anticipation is killing me." Hades's sarcastic tone was matched with an equally unamused expression on his face.
Macaria stared between to two gods, wondering why her father was acting as though he wanted nothing to do with Hecate and why she acted as though Hades was her long-time friend. The relationship between the two was very odd and hard to place. Macaria concluded that they knew each other well, but only tolerated each other when they had to. Hecate had the same teasing way about her as Thanatos sometimes had, but Hades responded in a much more arid manner.
"Alright then, Hades, here it is," Hecate said, "A hero named Theseus is on his way here with a friend of his, Pirithous. They have intentions of kidnapping your wife as their own."
"How, pray tell, is this good news?" Hades asked. His jaw clenched and he became noticeably irritated.
"Perhaps 'good' was not the proper term to use. I have this news for you, yes, but I sense great opportunity here." Hecate paused and chose her words carefully. "You see, Theseus is the hero that slaughtered the Minotaur. His imprisonment here will remove him from the mortal world and make room for a new hero, one Hera has particular, shall we say, "fondness" of. Not only that, but I believe you could benefit greatly from being the god to bring down Theseus."
Hades studied Hecate with suspicion. "Why are you so interested in my reputation and the fate of Theseus?"
"I'm simply guiding you down the path the fates wish for you to take. Theseus is meant to spend some time in the Underworld. He has been led down his own path by Pirithous who seeks your queen. You and I both know that such disrespect of a god cannot go unpunished." Hecate leaned back in her chair and placed her hands on her lap. "That is all I came here to say."
Hades was still suspicious of why Hecate had bothered with a visit, but he had to agree that such intentions of mortals were intolerable. However, he would not act upon them until they found themselves in the Underworld. Hecate was right. Imprisoning the heroes would be an easier plan to execute than sending someone else to get rid of them. They would slaughter any monster Hades threw at them. He nodded at Hecate and said, "Very well. I shall head your advice, Hecate. Now, was there anything you needed."
"Not at the moment, Hades," Hecate replied, standing from her chair. "Until next time." She bowed and placed her hood over her head. Thanatos offered his arm to her and led her from the dining hall.
Hades sat in silence for a moment, contemplating his conversation with Hecate. Macaria sat across from him awkwardly and fidgeted in her seat for a moment.
"She seemed nice," she said, if only to break the silence.
Hades looked up at his daughter and chuckled lightly. "She visits from time to time."
"Do you really think a mortal would dare come down here to try to kidnap mom?"
"Yes, I do believe they will try," Hades said. Slight amusement seeped into his voice as he pondered the situation. "There is no need to worry, Macaria," he noted the distressed expression on his daughter's face, "they will not get far. Besides, your mother isn't even here at the moment. They are nothing but fools seeking a treasure they shall never obtain."
Macaria smiled at that and laughed a little too loudly. "I admire how highly you hold my mother in your mind," her expression became serious, "but I have to ask, why are the two of you fighting so often?"
Hades sighed and was silent for a long time. He thought back to the last few years. Persephone wasn't as happy in the Underworld as she once was. He didn't quite know why. Maybe the Underworld was reminder to her that she would loose her daughter every six months, maybe she knew that Macaria was training with Thanatos against her wishes. Whatever the case, they had been fighting a lot recently and there was no way to hide it from there daughter.
Hades sighed again and answered, "I think it is because she is upset with the idea of being away from you, but I also have reason to believe that she knows we are keeping a secret from her."
Macaria thought for a moment and replied, "I don't want to keep this secret from her anymore. I'm sure she'll be angry when she finds out, but I'd rather she know the truth than start forming ideas that are false. I want to help you work through this…" She trailed off her sentence and Hades smiled softly at his daughter.
"We will fix this, Macaria," he said with sincerity, "I promise."
Author's Note: Hey all! I figured since I stabbed you all in the back and twisted the knife in the last few chapters, I'd give you a bit of a break. Alright, I have a couple of things to ask/point out.
1) I read on an (unreliable) website that there was some sort of Romance between Macaria and Thanatos and I was never going to have them be romantic towards each other, but I was thinking about it and I thought maybe I'd let you decide. I've created a poll on my Author's Page so let me know if you want me to write a romance for them or not. I can make it into a sub-plot if you'd like.
2)I noticed while writing this that I made a huge error in my timeline. I really wanted to incorporate a lot of myths revolving around Persephone into this story and one is where Theseus and Pirithous try to kidnap her. Well, you may recall in Chapter 2 where Persephone appeared before the three judges of the Underworld and one of them was Minos... Yeah... He's still technically alive after Theseus defeated the Minotaur, but for the purpose of this story, we'll just ignore that I guess? I may try to think up an explanation in the story, but for now we'll just leave it as a continuity error. Oops.
Alright, that's all. Sorry this AN is so long. Be sure to check out my poll (it'll be up for a couple or weeks) and thanks for reading! Don't be afraid to comment or PM me if you have any comments, questions, or concerns. :)