"He told you to live a long life? I guess it doesn't mean much when you die yourself… Where's Mel?"
"I don't know, she got sliced in half and sank into her own blood."
Conversing was Nobara and Megumi, while the two haven't known Itadori or Melinoe for very long but the death of two had them clearly bummed out. That along with the summer heat and the sounds of cicadas weren't making their days any better.
"First time having a partner of yours die on you…?" Nobara asked Megumi, resting her head on her hands.
"A classmate, yeah…"
"You seem to be taking it well…"
"Yeah, so are you. Thought you really liked Melinoe too?"
"Well yeah Mel was awesome of course, I'm not the type of girl to cry over people I only known for two weeks." Nobara turned her head away as Megumi could notice that her mouth trembled after she said it so he decided not to press it further.
The two were silent for a bit as Megumi felt as if he made things awkward so he tried to shift the conversation "It's pretty hot huh…?"
"Yeah… wonder when we'll get summer uniforms…?"
"Sheesh you look even more bummed out than usual Megumi." The two first years looked up at the new person standing right in front of them. It was one of the second years of Jujutsu Tech Maki Zenin, a taller girl with a ponytail who wore glasses and carried around a weapon case on her shoulder. "What is this a funeral or something?"
"Hey Zenin." Megumi greeted.
"I said don't call me by my last name."
"Maki Maki!" Another voice called out to the second year as the three looked to see a talking panda named… well Panda and a boy with platinum blonde hair called Toge Inumaki hiding behind a tree. Maki simply told Panda "Hey can you shut it I'm trying to talk here."
"Are you serious right now Maki? You don't know why they're so down?!"
"No, should I?"
"Two people died yesterday, two of the first years!"
"Fish flakes." Inumaki said.
Maki looked back at them with a face that displayed both embarrassment and anger as her lack of knowledge of the situation made her look like an asshole "W-well why didn't you say something?! Now I look like some sort of heartless monster!"
"Well you pretty much are!" Panda shouted back.
"Tuna mayo."
Megumi and Nobara watched the argument unfold with Nobara asking "You know these guys?"
"They're the second years, Zenin is the best of all the students at wielding cursed tools, Inumaki is a cursed speech user and the only words he says are rice ball fillings, and the last one is Panda. There's one more first year Okkotsu but he's away overseas, he's the only one who I sincerely respect." Megumi explained to Nobara.
"So are you gonna elaborate on Panda or is he just… a panda?"
Panda then went back to the real reason they came here "We're sorry about this especially in this sad time please forgive us. But we want you guys to come participate in the Kyoto sister-school goodwill exchange event."
"Huh?"
"It's a goodwill event with the other Jujutsu school in Kyoto, but isn't that mainly for second and third years?" Megumi asked the second years.
"The two idiot third years Hakari and Kirara are suspended, and Yuuna is off the grid right now, not even the Blindfolded Idiot knows where she is."
"So what do we do at this event? Play smash bros? I rule at the Wii version." Nobara asked while also bragging about her skill at smash, if only they saw her the time she asked Melinoe to play with her.
"The event takes place over the course of two days, the two principals chose an event for the day. But that's oversimplifying it, usually its team battles the first day and one on one's the second day." Panda explained in a way that was simple to the two first years.
"Wait so we're fighting other Jujutsu sorcerers?!"
"Yup! No holds barred fights where the only rule is to not kill. Anything else is fair game, so you in?" Maki asked the two who immediately nodded and gave them the answer "We're in!"
"Because I will do anything it takes to get stronger."
"Because I will do anything it takes to get stronger."
Both of them said it with Itadori and Melinoe in their minds. They may no longer be around in the world of the living, but that's not an excuse to wallow in defeat but instead get stronger, and live on for them.
…
Melinoe's vision finally began to clear as she got the blood out of her eyes and looked at the surrounding area which seemed to be a hall of sorts. With shades lining up in front of her the goddess immediately knew this was the underworld. Her head began to hurt as she looked forward at the empty desk in front of her and briefly saw the Titan of Time who awaited her everytime she used to drop into Tartarus. She closed her eyes and shook her head as when her eyes opened once again the vision disappeared and the Titan was no longer there.
This wasn't a dream, she was…
Home…
This was the House of Hades but how? What about the titan? Where was her father, mother, or brother? Did her relatives on Olympus and those in the Crossroads win the war while she was gone? She should be relieved and celebrating but something felt off. Melinoe walked forward, examining the decor of the house and how different it was from the emptiness it was when she first got here all those millennia ago as the shades got out of her way as she walked from The Pool of Styx. She heard someone playing the harp that gave the house a sort of ambiance, she smelled cooking from the wall to her left and sounds of chatter so that meant there must be a lounge of some sort, and she heard the familiar snoring of chthonic deity who was referred to as sleep incarnate.
Melinoe turned to see the god of sleep himself Hypnos, for once not sleeping in a hammock pulled by two shades filled with roses. But instead a red sofa while he held a clipboard to use as a pillow. Even asleep she was glad to finally be seeing a familiar face as the smile on Melinoe's face could not be wider. She then whispered "I'm back lord Hypnos..."
The manifestation of sleep suddenly jittered awake and scared the goddess as Hypnos tossed his pen and clipboard in the air before catching it and shaking his head "Ah! I'm up, I'm up!"
The goddess held her hands to her mouth and her eyes were as wide as they could be. She was in utter disbelief in what she was seeing, Hypnos was awake?! But how? No one could awake him from his eternal slumber back at the Crossroads no matter how hard they tried. This had to be a dream of some sort because there was no way that-
"Welcome to the House of Nyx! Wait I kno- wait no, sorry I thought you were someone else. Enjoy your stay!" The manifestation of sleep greeted in a cheery tone of voice as Melinoe still was shocked and has yet to say a word. "Uh… helloooooo? Anyone home?"
"L-lord Hypnos… you finally awoken…"
"Oh come on I wasn't asleep on the job that long, anyway let's see here…" Hypnos looked at the papers attached to his clipboard for a minute "Ah ha! Melinoe… sounds familiar. Says here you died by Ryomen Sukuna! Whoa what an honor, let's be real no way you were beating that guy in a fight!"
"Wait what?" Melinoe only is just now remembering the events that happened that lead to her demise. Itadori turned into Sukuna to save them, him and Megumi clashed with him even though it was barely even a fight to the king of curses, and she made one last attempt to get Sukuna to regenerate Itadori's heart. After that everything went fuzzy and now she's here…
"Lord Hypnos, please forgive me for requesting this from you, is there anyone here who goes by the name Itadori Yuji or Megumi Fushiguro?" Melinoe's smile had disappeared as she now feared the worst for her friends.
"Let me see here… uh nope no Fushiguros and… that's weird…"
"What, what is it?!"
"There is a Itadori Yuji here but it's crossed out? I don't remember doing that, oh well."
"But what does that mean?" Melinoe asked with her worry being slightly lifted.
"I dunno, probably means he's not here or something. Now if you'll excuse me, Zzzzzz…" Just like that Hypnos fell back into the world of dreams which left Melinoe with nothing but confusion. She simply decided to not pester him anymore, she still needs to explore the house more. But what did he mean by House of Nyx?
Melinoe walked to the right and made it to the lounge where she now could smell the delicacies much more clearly, the smell of Nectar and Ambrosia in the air giving her a craving for said bottles after a long while of having neither. With the way things are going right now she could certainly use a bottle right about now. It seems like someone shared her idea as one of the tables in the lounge had a woman with blue skin and a darker blue hair color who kept said hair in a ponytail. Most notably was the whip on her hip and the one wing on her back, Melinoe knew exactly who this woman was as she had been described to a few times over the years. She had her face down on the table with a half empty bottle of ambrosia and she was just playing around with it, it was easy to tell that she was not in a good mood today.
Melinoe stood to the side of the woman and caught her attention with "Excuse me are you ?"
The Fury lazily picked her head as "Obviously, who's asking?" Megera looked to her side, having a tired and annoyed expression that turned to shock. The perpetual flames from her feet and the heterochromatic eyes with one being black and red, it was easy to tell who's child she was. "Who are you?! There's no way, you can't be…"
"My name is Melinoe… My father is Hades."
"Melinoe… Melinoe! Where have you been?! Nyx needs to know about you this instant, come with me princess." Megera got up from her seat and the Fury Made her way with Melinoe to the west wing of the house. Making their way to the east wing Melinoe saw more of the house decor, various busts statues while a gorgon head with a feather duster furiously made sure the statues were spotless. They arrived at a large door where Melinoe could feel the presence of something powerful behind the door and she could only assume that this was the aforementioned Nyx. Melinoe had heard of Nyx various times in her life , she was night itself and one of the most powerful gods around who was the mother of various other gods such as Nemesis, Eris, Charon, Hypnos, Moros, and various others she has yet to meet. She didn't know what to expect but hoped for the best, Megera knocked on her door as a soft voice said to her "Just a moment."
After a bit the large door opened and what Melinoe saw was… something she definitely wasn't expecting. It was indeed the night incarnate but certainly not as she was described, she wore a purple and black suit that was similar to that of Chaos the last time Melinoe saw them. Her hair was loose and unkempt, her eyes had bags under them telling Melinoe she was tired or exhausted, she never night itself could get tired in general. Melinoe had only seen paintings of Nyx during her younger years and there certainly was a massive difference from then to now, but it has been thousands of years so it made sense to some degree.
"Megera. What brings you‐!" Nyx gasped upon seeing who was behind Megera. Night incarnate couldn't believe her eyes, while a majority of the house had forgotten Melinoe overtime, Nyx never forgot. "Daughter of Hades…! You've returned with your godhood intact!"
"My godhood? What are you talking about and also what is this about The House of Nyx, where's my father?" Melinoe asked very confused by what she meant.
"So you aren't aware… child we have much to discuss, Megera you are dismissed. Let us take this to somewhere private child." Nyx floated to the west wing with Melinoe following behind Till they reached a garden once tended to by the goddess of spring. Shades weren't allowed access to this area and even staff of the house didn't come often except one, the guard dog of the underworld Cerberus. The three headed hound of the underworld sat by the entrance leading to Tartarus and not moving a muscle as it awaited the return of his master.
Nyx came up to the hound of hell and patted his head as Melinoe stood beside her. "I understand you have questions child, but I'd like for you to answer one of mine. What happened to you?"
"It was the Titan's doing, it's a complicated story but in short I attempted to fight Chronos and I failed… as punishment for being weak I've been sent forward in time and appeared more than two weeks ago. I've spent my time around Jujutsu sorcerers and I've been busy being taught by one named Satoru Gojo. But I perished at the hands of a curse trying to save a friend and that's how I got here."
"Jujutsu… yes we do get quite a few sorcerers but they are exceptionally rare. Harnessing the negativity in one's soul to use it as a weapon, 400 years ago we had a restriction in place to prevent sorcery of any sort. Coincidentally it was a Gojo, he escaped Hades without a scratch and as such we enforced the sorcery ban. When he eventually returned he was certainly surprised by the fitting punishment awaiting him." Nyx told Melinoe.
"Left without a scratch? But no one is supposed to escape Hades?!" Melinoe asked, surprised.
"The Gojo clan is famous for two very powerful tools, the Six Eyes, and Limitless. Individually powerful on their own but combined, it would have rivaled the power of even the gods of Olympus."
Melinoe remembers the power of Limitless from Satoru Gojo, to claim it would rival that of a god of Olympus? It's terrifying for sure, but Melinoe isn't here to talk about that, she has more important questions to ask Nyx "Nyx, please I must know what happened to my family. How come you are now suddenly the ruler of this house and the underworld? What did you mean earlier about still having my godhood intact?"
"I promised to answer your questions, child. So I shall."
With a wave of her hand Nyx's a starry mist would appear from her hand and from that starry night Nyx would tell the tale of how the gods lost their godhood. From the starry night displayed the gods arguing with each other in their throne room in clear distress.
"After you disappeared without a trace the war against Chronos was a losing battle for the gods on Mount Olympus. Chronos continually made advances onto the mountain and the Olympians could do nothing about it, to Chronos he had already won. Your relatives were desperate, looking for any semblance of an answer to fight back the Titan of Time. So desperate that they would offer anything in return of being rid of the Titan."
The scene changed as a man, if you can even call it that appeared. It looked exactly like- no it was him, the pink hair, the markings all over his body, it was none other than Sukuna. But what was most shocking was he had multiple arms and the right side of his face looked strange, it truly made him look more like a curse.
"They're prayers were answered, but as the saying goes 'Be careful what you wish for'. He called himself the king of curses, he made bold claims saying he had the power to defeat the Titan and end the war. Only in exchange for one thing, all those of Chronos' bloodline would lose their godhood."
The starry mist then displayed the end of the end of the fight, Chronos in pieces with Ryomen Sukuna looking over the body.
"The Olympians didn't take the King of Curses seriously, but two nights later there were no more gods, the Olympians lost all their power and were nothing more than immortal men and women. And so that was the fall of Olympus, and with the gods no longer in control of the world nature naturally took the role of all the Olympians, leaving only a select few along with me and my children the only gods left in this world."
The starry night disappeared and Nyx turned towards Melinoe, the daughter of Hades couldn't even believe what she was hearing. There were only more questions she had hearing the story from Nyx. "Nyx… where is my family?"
"I'm afraid I don't know child… I only faintly remember the day when Chronos imprisoned everyone in the house. Once we have awoken there was no semblance of your mother or brother, only Moros could recount the events that have happened past your departure." Nyx answered, looking away from Melinoe.
Melinoe and Nyx were quiet for a while with the only sounds between them was Nyx comforting Cerburus's left head. "And Hecate… What about her?"
"The Witch of the Crossroads… we haven't conversed since she went to the surface. But last we conversed she mentioned your name, she said she would find a way to bring you back but a lot of time has passed since then."
"I'm leaving Nyx." Melinoe stated before walking towards the exit of the garden that leads directly to Tartarus and was about to say the chant to let herself out. But was interrupted by Nyx who appeared in front of her face.
"I'm sorry child but I cannot allow you to leave." Nyx states as Melinoe's face turned tense.
"Nyx I'm going to find my family, I'm going to find Hecate. I won't let you stop me, now move." Melinoe was prepared to summon Lim and Oros to her hands.
"Child I do not wish to fight, but the matters down here in the underworld require your assistance. You are by blood the princess of the underworld and without either your parents or brother in the picture you are the lord and master of the realm of Hades. My power weakens, child and I'm afraid I cannot maintain order much longer. I understand you wish to find your family and the Witch of the Crossroads but you are required here Melinoe."
"Then what's a few more months then, my entire life has led me to avenge my family. I refuse to rest until I find them, I absolutely refuse to live the rest of my life with them out of reach. I don't care what you do Nyx but I won't take up my father's throne until I find my family and Hecate." Melinoe took a step towards Nyx as Melinoe's feet began to scorch the floor below them and threaten to burn the garden her mother once tended to.
Melinoe could feel the presence of the Night Incarnate around her, her power felt intense. Even if she claimed herself to be weak Nyx was still more powerful than Melinoe and without a doubt could keep her here by force if she so desired. "I am not asking child of Hades, it pains me to keep you here but I cannot make an exception even for you."
"You cannot keep me here forever Nyx, even my brother escaped multiple times. So what makes you think you can keep me here?" Melinoe snapped back at Nyx.
"I suppose you are right child, you would only cause trouble if I were to keep you here. So how about we have a wager you and I?" Nyx's reply only made Melinoe raise her eyebrow at what she could be offering.
"What are your terms Nyx?"
"If you are to escape Hades within the span of 40 days then I will permit you one last chance on the surface to do as you must. I will not stop you, I will not have anyone go after you, you will be free to do as you please until your next demise. But if you fail to escape, then you will carry out your duties as Lord of Hades without question, which includes being unable to leave the underworld. Are there any objections, child?" Nyx put forth her hand for Melinoe to shake to finalize the wager and by the expression on Melinoe's face, she had no objections.
"No objections Nyx, I accept." With a firm shake Melnioe was now locked into her new mission. Escape the underworld and find her family.
…
Author's note
The next 2 or 3 chapters will be primarily located within the realm of Hades. I'll make sure to write a few sections about what's happening on the surface in Japan so expect to see The Disaster Curses next chapter.
I kinda had trouble writing this chapter from a lack of motivation but I'm pretty excited to write the next part so if this chapter isn't that good my bad dudes.
You may have also seen the name Yuuna dropped in there and probably wonder who she is? All I have to say to that is Shhhhhhh.
Make sure to leave a review. I like reading them and thanks for reading.