It has been over a month since I updated and I apologize for that. This chapter has been unexpectedly hard for me to write. To be honest, I'm not completely satisfied with it.

Like always, I would appreciate it if you would leave a review.

Anyway, one of you has pointed out that it seems like Hades favors Nora. It isn't like that under any circumstances. He may find it easier to get along with her because she is much more mature than her siblings, but he loves his children equally. I hope this chapter will portray this.

Warning: I'm not sure when I'll able to update the next chapter. There are currently many exams awaiting me.

Rating for this chapter: K

Summary: Death gained a whole new appeal the moment I became a daughter of Hades. Self-Insert

Have fun.


Edited on the 24th of June 2016


Chapter 6

As The World Moves On


"It takes courage to admit fear."

― George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

"Do the dead frighten you?"

― George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones


March 14th, 1940

I was currently witnessing the most amusing sight ever. The perfect blackmail material for centuries to come. There were many things I expected to witness in this new world, but father playing mythomagic with my brother was not one of them. I never actually imagined father playing anything with us.

At the beginning the god wanted to deny Nico's request, but my elder brother could be quiet persuasive when he wanted to be. My dear twin looked at the Lord of the Dead with those damned sad puppy-dog eyes and father's resolve broke immediately. Like I have mentioned before, there wasn't much father could deny us.

Oh, but you should have seen the faces he made when he saw those cards. Priceless, that's what they were. He looked ready to murder someone after he noticed that the 'Hades' card had less magical power than the 'Zeus' card. Poor mythomagic inventors.

''I win!'' Nico exclaimed in utter delight. It was the third round they were playing and the third time that my brother won. Somehow father just couldn't get the hang of it. Or maybe he was letting Nico win, but I doubted it. The irritated expression on his face spoke volumes. However, Nico's apparent happiness seemed to placate his anger. Thank the gods, I did not fancy earthquakes.

''That you do.'' Father put his cards on the table. ''Why don...''

Nico did something not many dared to do; he interrupted the God of the Dead. ''Can we play another round?''

Before Hades had to answer, mother entered the room. She was wearing and apron and held a large spoon in her hand. ''Dinner will be ready soon. There isn't enough time for you to finish another game, Nico.''

My twin pouted but did not say anything else. Mother sighted. ''Why don't you ask your father if he could read something for you and Nora. Maybe one of the books we have gotten last week?''

Nico's face lightened up like a Christmas tree. His gaze moved towards our father. ''Papa?''

Already knowing the answer, I stood up and moved towards the large bookcase in the corner of the room. It was fairly new, father let it magically appear when he noticed the many books we got since we moved into the hotel. The ability to conjure things out of thin air was really practical.

Nico joined me after father gave his agreement. The bookcase was very large and thus had a huge assortment of books. In the higher shelves were the ones mother got for herself, in the lower shelves were ours. They were mostly mythology and some far fetched fantasy books. Not many of them were picture books.

I left the choice to Nico, who choose the book with the prettiest cover. It just happened to be a version of 'Little Red Riding Hood'. I loved that story when I was a child in my previous life.

Father was waiting for us on the couch. Each of us sat down on one of his sides and Nico handed him the book. It was so unfair that while we couldn't read in any other language but ancient Greek, father spoke about half of the languages used on earth and could read them all perfectly and without any problems. That's what I call bullshit.

Hades made sure that we were comfortable and cleared his throat. ''Little Red Riding Hood, huh?'' He opened the first page. ''It's a short story, we should be able to finish it before dinner.''

Neither Nico nor I said anything. We just looked at our father expectantly. The man just rolled his eyes and looked down at the first page. ''Once upon a time there lived in a certain village a little girl. She was adored by her mother and loved by her grandmother even more.''

Hades voice was very soothing. Perfect for story telling. And he really did know how to tell or in this case read a story. He used those dramatic breaks and made his voice a little deeper at the perfect moments. He reached the part where the grandmother was eaten by the big bad wolf and Nico gasped in shock. My twin was looking at our father with wide eyes, intently listening to the story. He seemed spellbound, his expression changing with every word that left father's lips.

And when the part where the grandmother was saved by the huntsman was reached, his eyes were twinkling with delight. He always enjoyed it when father told or read us a story. And that was one of the reasons why I enjoyed it so much as well.

It was truly astounding how much my siblings' happiness meant to me. In my previous life I had never experienced something like this. This utterly unconditional love for another person or people.

''And so they lived happily ever after. End.'' Hades snapped the book shut and looked down at us. ''Did you like it?''

He often asked questions that he already knew the answers of. Even if we hadn't shared our bound with him, a person would have to be blind to not see how much we enjoyed ourselves. Maybe he did it to seem more human to us? Or to give us a somewhat normal childhood?

I nodded my head as Nico answered for the both of us. ''Of course. Can you read us another story later, papa?''

Hades pulled us both to our feet. ''Not today, Nico. But maybe the next time I come to visit.'' He tilted his head slightly to the left. ''Go wash your hands before dinner. Your mother and sister are almost finished.''

Nico grumbled under his breath. He did not like being ordered around.

''What did you say, son?'' Father looked amused.

''Of course, papa.'' My brother took my hand into his own and lead me to the bathroom. He decided to take the route through our bedroom, where he picked up a pair of comfortable looking clothes. A few hours before father had taken us outside to the park. To fit in with society we had to wear the clothes that were popular nowadays. They weren't exactly uncomfortable, but I wouldn't call them comfortable either.

In the bathroom Nico moved a stool towards the basin. We could reach it just fine without the extra height the stool gave us, but after what I had dubbed as the 'Water Flooding Incident', mother had asked us to use it so that something like that wouldn't happen again. I swear that the incident wasn't our fault, the water moved on its own accord. It was most likely trying to spite us, I promise.

''Could you give me the soap?'' Did I ever mention that I was a little of neat freak. Not to the point where I might seem obsessed, but I found hygiene very important. I thanked all the gods that I wasn't reborn centuries before, where people bathed once a week and never even thought about brushing their teeth. That would have been a nightmare.

Nico put the small, pink and rose scented square into my hand after having used it himself. Then he cautiously turned the water on. It flowed perfectly into the sink, not causing any major problems for us. And no, I'm not paranoid, water truly hates us. If I had to guess, I would say that it's our dear uncle's fault.

I reached for the white fluffy towel on my right and wiped my hands with it. Afterwards I passed it to my twin. ''I will go and ask mamma if she needs help. You should get dressed.''

Nico nodded his head. ''I will be there soon.''

''Don't make us wait too long.'' A small grin appeared on my face. ''Or I just might eat your dinner.''

''Nora!'' Nico pushed me lightly and quickly started to change his clothes. When I reached the door he was already halfway done. I couldn't help the laughter that escaped my lips. By the gods, he could be so amusing sometimes. With all his escapades Nico gave me the perfect blackmail material for the future.

The walk to the kitchen wasn't a long one. Mother was the only person present there. She was stirring something inside a big pot, it smelled like her famous spaghetti. No matter how cheesy or cliche it may sound, mother's spaghetti was the best spaghetti in the world. Her cooking altogether was fantastic.

''Is something the matter, Nora?'' Mother asked without turning around.

I walked a few steps forward and stopped in the middle of the kitchen. ''No, I was just wondering if you might need some help?''

Turning the stove off, mother angled her face so that she was looking at me. ''I am almost ready with everything in the kitchen.'' She frowned slightly. ''Your father and sister are preparing the table. Maybe you should go and ask them if they need some help. I fear that they might do something rather...unexpected.''

I did not blame her for not trusting them with such an easy task. While father was more than capable to prepare a table, Bianca could be sometimes very persuasive. And if you considered the fact that father probably never had to set a table before, then well, I was worried as well.

I was only happy that that worry seemed to be for nothing. When I entered the dining room, the table was already prepared perfectly. Bianca and father sat at it, the former drinking a cup of orange juice. I was pretty sure we did not have any orange juice at home. Another one of father's freaky conjuring powers, I guessed.

Bianca regarded me curiously as I entered the room. ''Where is Nico?''

Was it really so rare to see us twins apart? ''He is changing his clothes.''

''Oh.'' My sister looked down at her own attire. ''Should I change as well?''

Unlike Nico, she most likely thought that her dress wasn't appropriate. Which was actually quiet amusing because we were just having a normal family dinner. I could still remember the times in my previous life when I ate dinner in my pajamas. Bianca would have a heart attack if she ever heard this. ''Your dress is fine. Besides you know that Nico finds most of his clothes uncomfortable. That's the only reason why he is changing them.''

She looked a little dejected, after all Bianca liked dressing up.

I walked towards the chair next to her and sat down. Taking one of her hands into mine I spoke up, ''If you would like it, I could do something with your hair later.''

''Really?'' A bright smile came upon her face. ''Even that double plait thingy?''

I nodded my head. ''Yes.''

''I can help too.'' Nico spoke up from the doorway with a sly grin on his lips. ''I will do better than the last time. Promise.''

I must have paled a little, but compared to the whiteness of Bianca's face it was nothing. The last time he touched her hair, Nico somehow managed to put such a knot into it that mother had to cut Bianca's beautiful dark tresses. Only one or two centimeters, but since then we hadn't let him touch our hair if it could be avoided.

''No, Nora will be fine by herself. I am sure of it.'' My elder sister almost stuttered.

''A shame.'' Nico said as he sat down on a chair opposite of us. He took a glass from the table(It was filled with orange juice as well. Where did the juice actually come from? I knew that father conjured it, but from where?) and drunk a few sips.

Choosing not to interfere with my sibling's affairs, I turned toward our father. ''Are you staying after dinner, papa?''

Bianca and Nico ceased their banter and turned to look at our father expectantly.

''No, I have some business to take care of.'' The god answered with his deep voice. ''I won't be coming back for a few days.''

That completely stopped our movement. Father never stayed away for longer than three days, most times not even that long. If he choose to mention this, then well, it must have meant that he would be staying away for longer than the normal time frame. That was worrisome.

''How many days?'' Bianca asked, a slight frown creased her eyebrows.

Father regarded us calmly. ''I'm not sure. But it might be over a week.''

The three of us froze in place. Over a week? So much could happen in a week. Besides what could be so important that father would need to leave us for a longer period of time? Did it have anything to do with the war?

I wished I could have asked, but I knew that father would have not answered honestly. He did not want us getting involved in any of it. He did not want us to see his dark side, the one which did not care about anything but his own needs. Did not want us to see the demons that he had been hiding from us since we were born.

But deep down we knew that the war which had been raging around the world for a year now was partly our father's fault. So many people died because of the hatred he felt towards his brothers.

My father was a monster. No different than any other god or goddess.

None of us said anything else. Silence surrounded us like a blanket during our meal. That night not even mother's fantastic spaghetti managed to improve our sullen mood.