A/n: A huge thanks to my followers and readers *tear, means alot that you're reading this. my disclaimer still stands; i dont own anything- seriously still live with my mom. hope you like it.
Kurt hung on to his Marc Jacobs messenger bag as he and Santana waited for Rachel to finish getting herself ready for their quest.
"Kurt," he turned to see Wyatt and his shaggy dark hair, he held his breath; "you leaving on your quest?"
"Yea, I'm kind of nervous." He smiled shyly, trying to cover his blush, Santana rolled her eyes.
"I really wanted to see you before you left," Wyatt blushed at his own confession, "I wanted to give you something." Kurt smiled because he wasn't sure if he could talk without having his words betray him. Wyatt retrieved something from his pocket, a small jewellers box which sparked interest in Kurt. "I do owe you an indestructible weapon," he opened the box to reveal a grey ring that held a black stone the size of a silver dollar, "it's stygian iron with a black diamond I got from Hades himself on a quest. When you take it off your finger it turns into a labrys, for you."
"I… I'm… I…" he paused and took a deep breath, and then he hugged the tall fourteen year old.
"I made it the perfect accessory," The boy said into the hug,
"Because you can wear black with anything."
Kurt slipped the ring onto his finger and smiled a thousand watts at the taller boy, "I'll see you when I get back and I'll keep this with me at all times."
"Yo Tink," Santana said, successfully killing the moment; "Man-Hands is ready let's go before all this mushiness makes me lose breakfast."
"Goodbye Wyatt!" Rachel chimed in a high singsong manner whilst smiling like she was privy to the biggest secret on the planet.
"Bye Rachel, Bye Auntie Snix." Wyatt said, still in close proximity with Kurt; Wyatt turned back to him and whispered a see you later.
"You like him don't you?" Rachel asked as they headed to the van that was giving them a ride into the city.
"Did you figure that out by yourself or did someone help you?" Santana snapped at Rachel playfully, "Kurt was so into that Hestafreak spawn that he practically sprayed the whole camp."
"I most certainly did not spray anything!" He said with a dopey smile on his face, "I was so taken by the jewellery I was given!"
"Shut up! You got jewellery before the first date!" Rachel squealed, causing the car to swerve into oncoming traffic. The girls pulled at his hand trying to see the ring.
"Granma, that right there is a black diamond," Santana said eyeing the stone, "one that size is very rare, worth at least a couple of million dollars."
"He said it was a gift from your dad, Hades." Kurt said sounding shocked by the value of the gift, "The God of Wealth must be very generous."
"When he claimed to have fucked my mom he gave me these." She pushed back her hair and revealed the most dazzling pebble sized sapphire earrings.
"Wanky!" Rachel said with a saucy smirk.
"So, I don't understand this prophecy." Kurt said in an effort to diverge their thoughts from the dreamy green eyed boy they left at camp. "Where do we start?"
"Well, I personally think that we should ask Athena about this 'As the earth wakes those who were first' business," Rachel said as they walked through the city of their dreams, "She's wise and obviously understands the past better."
"Where the hell do we find her?" He asked the girls who stopped dead in their tracks upon realising that none of them had a clue what they were doing.
"She's your mom!" Santana said with a sneer, "You tell us."
"Well, why not ask a handsome stranger?" said a teenage stud-muffin who was leaning on shiny sports car.
"Hottest smile ever!" Rachel swooned, barely keeping herself upright; "I'm Rachel Berry."
"Soprano extraordinaire," the young man said with a smile.
"How do you know that?" Kurt demanded of the boy who was raising his suspicions.
"Kurt, right?" The boy said his cocky grin still in place, "Counter Tenor, Lyric Soprano range. I'm Apollo."
"God of Music," Santana smirked at the boy, "what do you know of this prophecy?"
"Well, he is God of Prophecies." Rachel said in a dreamy voice, "and the Sun, that's why he's so hot."
"Rachel is quite right," he transformed his car into a self-propelled rickshaw and gestured for them to enter. "Let me tell the story of the beginning in poetry;"
"Hot!"
"Wanky!"
"Fine," They all seemed to say at the same time before both girls gave Kurt a look so as to say 'why aren't you impressed', he shrugged in response.
"In a Universe they make live
From Chaos and the Earth born
The ruled before, without scorn
The second did the Titans give
And never the Olympians forgive
As the time has changed since dawn
Trouble shall the Earth spawn
Though her plight be aggressive
She sprouts a new like an ear of corn
The end shall come at the horn." Apollo flipped his shaggy hair and gave them a smouldering look.
"Well," Santana's face twisted from that of a dopey infatuated pre-teen to her standard scowl, "that was a total waste of our time! You sound like a crazy person."
"Dreamy," was all Rachel could say.
"That poem is even more confusing than the original prophecy!" Kurt snapped at the surprised god; "I think you should be committed."
"Okay," Apollo resigned, hands up; "the eldest are The Protogenoi. They were the first rulers, from Chaos came Gaea- the personification of earth. The Protogenoi each personified a different aspect of the earth with Ouranos, who represented the sky, as their leader."
"So, what?" Kurt interjected to the disdain of the god, "Gaea is trying to resurrect these really old bitches and I'm supposed to just gather knowledge that will bring about a downfall of someone or other?"
"Something like that," Apollo's face had turned stern, "Gaea brought her husband's downfall at the hands of her children, the Titans. It was she who prophesized the fall of Kronos at the hands of Zeus."
"If she put you in power why does she want to see you fall?" Santana asked to Rachel and Kurt's surprise, "What? If we can get sufficient knowledge from him we can go back to camp and try to get Wyatt to make-out with all three of us."
"No!" Kurt screeched, "No! No to cheating on the quest. No to going back to camp and absolutely none of you two making-out with Wyatt."
"Dude," Apollo said with a hand on Kurt's shoulder, "You just took a piss on the dude, marking your territory."
"Call me dude again and I'll castrate you!" Kurt said giving Apollo the Glasz Glare of Doom. "BTW I was not claiming him, simply drawing a line in the sand between genders."
"I think your eyes are dreamy," Rachel said before clamping her hand over her mouth and blushing violently.
"I think we should get off now," Santana suggested, "before Rachel loses her mind."
"Where to?" Apollo asked.
"Central Park." Kurt said as he checking Rachel's vitals.
"Why?" The blond boy asked.
"To feed the ducks," Santana said, the malice oozing from her words.
"Yay!" Rachel exclaimed suddenly, "my outfit is so appropriate!"
"Honey, that was a joke." Kurt flipped Rachel's hair from her face, "I don't think the New York air is good for you."
They got out of the rickshaw which turned back into a sports car and shot away, they made their way across the park. "I think I might have an allergy to large quantities of Mist."
"I think so too," Kurt said with a playful tug on her cheek.
"I just couldn't help myself! I had a single though," Rachel carried on explaining, "'Cute boy' was all I could functionally think."
"I hope the underworld would extinguish your sunshine and rainbows." Santana sneered, "Makes me sick."
"We're going to the underworld?" Rachel asked; her voice sullen.
"Yep," He beamed at her, "And you're getting us there."
"Me!?" Rachel shrieked, forcing both he and Santana to cover their ears.
"Yes, you and your Middle Eastern dictator moustache." Santana said, "This is the Door of Orpheus, it opens to music, so sing!"
Rachel approached the rock touched it, "Hi, I'm Rachel Berry and I'll be singing On My Own from the seminal Broadway musical Les Misérables."
"It's a rock Rachel," Kurt scoffed while he fiddled with his ring.
"Just sing," Santana screamed, startling Rachel.
"The rock might not be familiar with the material," argued Rachel, to no avail.
~0~
After walking in a narrow dark tunnel for what Kurt was sure was an eternity, they came to a magnificent palace that was set in a motif of black and bronze. Santana lead them through the most beautiful garden, Kurt was tempted to try some of the fruits but he restrained himself.
"This is the Palace of Hades," Santana said, not sounding as impressed as Kurt was. "Brace yourselves; it's going to be creepy."
"Oh Santana," Rachel was met with a glare, "Auntie Snix, I think you may be over reacting."
Kurt watched as Santana navigated the palace like it was her millionth visit, he raised an eyebrow. "How do you know where we're going?"
"I can feel Hades' power," she explained, "so I can follow it like a scent."
"What happens if he's having sex and we just barge in?" Kurt asked when they stopped in front of a set of bronze doors.
"Or worse;" Rachel pleaded, "He's taking a dump."
"This is the dining room," Santana pointed at the sign above the door. She kicked the door open, "Yo, family! I missed you bitches!"
A startled man with chalk white skin and hair that shone like each strand was made of Onyx; the man had menacing eyes- they seemed to know and see too much- and Kurt recognised that this was Hades. Adjacent to Hades sat a pretty, petite, dark haired woman with mocha skin and a displeased look on her beautiful face.
"Santana," Hades said with his arms open, "What a pleasant surprise!"
"To what do we owe this pleasure?" The beautiful young woman asked; a borrowed smile on her face.
"Lady Persephone, Father." Santana said inviting herself to their lunch; "Kurt, Rachel, join us. Hades, this is my lifetime bestie- Kurt Elizabeth Hummel- and his hag- Rachel Berry."
"I'll get more food, my lord." Persephone said sweetly, her voice like honey; "What would you like to drink?"
"Their fine, they just had some Snix Juice." Santana said as the dark haired woman disappeared.
"Lord Hades," Kurt said; his voice respectful. "How are you? It's been so long, how's the wife?" We'd like to ask you about the Protogenoi."
"Kurt Hummel, why do you wish to hear of such ancient beings?" Hades asked him with a chuckle at his 'manners', Hades' voice smooth like velvet; the perfect tenore di grazia.
"We have reason to believe that Gaea is resurrecting them to overthrow the Olympians." Rachel said in a trained voice.
"Well, it wouldn't be her first try to dethrone Zeus." Hades paused took a sip of his beverage and stared into nothing for a while before speaking to the agitated children again, "She prophesied his fall at the hand of Athena and his youngest son with Metis. Zeus, like our crazy father, had Metis turn herself into a fly and he swallowed her but he'd already conceived Athena."
"That is just all kinds of nasty!" Rachel said twisting her face into a scowl, "Firstly, that's how disease is spread. Secondly, didn't he hear what happened to old lady who swallowed a fly?"
"I heard she died," Hades said with a chuckle.
"So, why doesn't Gaea like you guys?" Kurt asked cautiously.
"I'm not sure," Hades let out a strained breath, "Kronos was her favourite son and we destroyed him but she prophesied that it would happen."
"So when time took course, her prophecy had to come true?" Rachel asked.
"Exactly!" Hades said, suddenly snapping to face Kurt, "May I see the ring?"
"Sure," he said taking it off.
"No need to take it off," the man examined the stone, the metal work and even the precision engravings; "I gifted this stone to the young hero who saved the underworld from a flooding Styx. It holds great power, bringing the wearer great fortune and protects them from harm if wilfully given but brings great sorrow if stolen. The most precious, beautiful and rare jewel; most appropriate."
"And the fact that the hero is totally crushing on Kurt is just a bonus." Rachel said, causing an outbreak of laughter and Kurt to blush violently.
"May Kurt and I be excused?" Hades got up and gestured for the boy to follow him, Hades walked quite some distance but he followed. "Kurt, I recognise your magical signature."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Athena told you she isn't your mother yet her 'DNA'- using that term loosely- allowed her to claim you, why do you think that is?" Kurt stood and considered the lord of the dead's statement; he knitted his brow trying to figure out the 'riddle' facing him. "I'll leave you with that thought, but welcome to the family."
Hades took a step forward and pushed Kurt backward hard; before Kurt could grasp what was happening he was falling through a pit of darkness, he was bought out of his stupor when he hit something hard- hard wood floor- and realised he was laying between Rachel and Santana. He looked around and was pleasantly surprised to be in his bedroom.
"Tink, it seems my father wasn't keen on feeding us." Santana got up and started to rifle through Kurt's accessories.
"You won't find anything appropriate in there," he warned the girl, "All my summer clothes are at camp."
"My dad said you should wear your bedazzled sun visor." She handed him his studded sun visor.
"This makes no sense," Kurt thought deeply of the one good gift he got from his dad.
"They're gods," Rachel said comfortingly stroking his arm, "They should know more than we expect them to."
"But the designers are incompatible," He exclaimed, "This Michael Kors visor doesn't match my Gucci belt!"
Santana ruffled his hair, "I think you'll surv-"
"Kurt! Santana! Rachel!" A voice rang merrily from upstairs.
"Kurt, who is that?" Rachel asked quizzically, "I thought you said you didn't have a mother."
"He doesn't," Santana said as she walked up toward the voice, "Burt is a total lone wolf"
"As much as I've talked to my dad about you two I doubt he'd tell a lady friend I haven't met about you." Kurt said; he knew his father wouldn't let a stranger wander around in their home without consulting it with him. "Let's go check her out."
They scaled the stares toward the unidentified voice. "Kurt, Breakfast is getting cold!"
He entered the kitchen to find a pretty, young woman with mouse brown hair; "It's the middle of the afternoon, why are we having breakfast?" He asked in an accusing tone. When she looked up at him, her eyes were warm inviting flames- as warm and inviting as her smile.
"It is morning," he checked his watch and it confirmed that they missed the end of yesterday, the woman reminded Kurt of Bette Middler's character from Stepford Wives after she was mechanised. "Eat up kids!"
"I'm not eating shit till you tell us who the hell you are!" Santana said, placing my studded visor on my head, he and Rachel nodded their affirmation.
"I'm Hestia: Goddess of Home, Family and the Hearth." She said putting out the crockery Kurt was saving for his visit from the Queen.
"Hey! I'm saving that for QE2!" He said sitting in front of his place setting. "But it does go fabulously with this meal, I'll allow it."
"So, Hestia." Rachel said sternly, they were settling in around the table in preparation for what seemed to be the meal of their lives. He suddenly remembered that, thanks to their loss of time, none of them had eaten since breakfast the previous day at camp- his stomach growled at the sight of the Belgian waffles. Rachel was still in stealth mode, moving silently; it's kind of menacing; "What do you know of the Protogenoi?"
"I'm not one for stories," Hestia didn't smirk or laugh manically like the other gods they'd met, she smiled sweetly and without motive; "but I can tell you who one of their only descendants is."
"How do I know we can trust you?" Rachel said with sharp eyes that seemed to pierce into the fibres of Hestia's existence. He was barely listening as he stuffed the buttery waffles down throat, "I think we can trust her."
"Why?" Santana sneered, "Did you two use your virgin telepathy to communicate?"
Rachel flushed, "Wouldn't we have heard it too?" Kurt giggled.
"Good point," Santana said as she violently attacked her plate of waffles, she finally managed to slip in a word between mouthfuls; "So, who is this 'descendant'?"
"Aphrodite." Hestia said with polite smile, "She emerged from the sea foam when Ouranus was thrown in, she is one of his only descendants that aren't… indisposed."
Kurt was menaced by the silence that followed, he was menaced by his inability to say what he felt, he was plagued because every time he wanted to ask questions he was directed to the next person. "Fuck this." He whispered to himself, everyone turned to face him.
"What was that honey?" Hestia said, her voice still sweet but her eyes burned more ferociously.
"I said 'Fuck. This.' Fuck you and all you gods!" He took a deep breath, he felt like he'd never taken a breath before; his lungs rejoiced as they filled. His mind burned white with anger, "I just remembered why I decided to be an atheist. You don't want to be accountable for shit, making me go from one fucking god to the next."
"Boy," Hestia stood taller than before, her skin beginning to glow, "Stand down. We are Olympians and we will smite you if you disrespect us."
"The name is Kurt Elizabeth Hummel!" he stood his ground and rose to meet her gaze, "And it's time you and the rest of those pompous ignorant beings bowed before me and every other ordinary being because without our faith you're sure to wither away."
Hestia's eyes burned so ferociously that the flames poured out over her eyebrows, Santana and Rachel looked away from the brightness but Kurt maintained eye contact. "Look away Tink, You'll combust if you don't." Kurt stared Hestia down as she burst into a pillar of golden flame, he could feel searing hot waves wash over him but he didn't dare look away, Hestia suddenly disappeared entirely.
"Hestia lied to us," He said looking to his friends who were emerging from their cower, "Aphrodite may be the source but she wouldn't tell us anything, I know who will."
Rachel held onto his arm and, with pleading brown eyes, asked him what was going on- this wasn't a time for words and they both knew it. "I love you, you too Santana." He said pulling his best friends into a hug. He led them out of the house; his childhood neighbourhood was too familiar, he took a moment to soak it in and wipe away a tear. He lead the girls toward his father's shop when a chariot and two majestic horses appeared in a blinding flash of blue and grey light, he picked up the note on the seat; 'consider this our olive brand,' it was signed by Athena and Poseidon.
"I don't understand," Rachel finally said, breaking their thoughtful silence.
"I think there might be something we're not being told." Santana said softly, fear resonating from her voice.
Kurt waited a beat before letting loose a breath he'd been holding, "I'm not sure what it is but I think this Protogenoi story is just a guise." He took a deep breath, "After we're done we're going straight to the Imbue."
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