Chapter Text
THE God of the Underworld moved as swiftly and silently as the shadow walker he knew himself to be, invisible to mortal eyes saves for the one who had called for him. Hades studied the one who had pleaded to the gods for their help, to take away her pain and suffering, that she wished for her life to end if it meant that there was a way to make the pain end.
Hades inclined his head, observing the inquisitive girl with a gleam flickering like fire within his yellow eyes—the unmistakable gaze of the God of the Underworld. Megara, or Meg, or his playful moniker for her, "Nutmeg," captivated him with her curiosity and undeniable beauty. Even Hades had to admit, she was a delightful sight. Even in the cool embrace of the night, her warmth radiated, as if she were a miniature sun. The girl who had beckoned him forth was fair but not pale, and her long dark hair was casually fashioned into a carefree ponytail. Her hair held his attention.
Hades often pondered why mortal women and goddesses bothered with their hair, but Megara's ponytail was a testament to its beauty. It cascaded in a lovely reddish-brown hue, reminiscent of the auburn shades that Persephone's locks tended to take on during autumn.
The simplicity of her purple dress accentuated her captivating figure. Hades found himself admiring her figure, though he had his Queen to consider. His commitment to Queen Persephone prevailed, and Megara was to be preserved as a cherished specimen.
Preserve the rare ones, brother, he had heard Zeus tell him once, advice from the bastard that he wholly intended to take to heart.
She had already managed to cut at herself with a small chip of glass from what looked to be a broken shard clutched in her hand from a looking glass. She might have accidentally killed herself if she had used anything stronger, just in the hopes of numbing the pain, he knew.
He could feel the sadness emanating from this beauty yet, even still, there was something immensely satisfying about the last time lovely Megara had called upon the God of the Underworld for his help.
He remembered this girl once pleading with him to the point of tears to save her mortal lover's life. She had gone off with that bastard who did not deserve her, only for him to turn to the arms of another woman air filled his lungs once more when Hades had done as she had asked and brought the wretch back to life.
Hades frowned and looked back towards Megara, watching her eyes fill with fear and her pretty pink lips trembling in earnest as the girl turned around, having sensed the chill in the air at his presence, or perhaps it was the mists that tended to follow him in his wake whenever he came here.
"Megara, my sweet, I'm glad to see you're still here, that you've not prematurely made a foolish mistake like trying to take yourself off of my little playing board. You're needed," he purred, his voice a smooth velvety purr that made the fine hairs on the back of her neck stand upright on end. "There is a promised prize you owe me, or did you truly think that I had forgotten our bargain all those months ago, love?" he breathed against her neck as he glided forward, pulling back slightly to study the flustered girl's face.
Meg flinched and Hades blinked, observing the mortal woman's face close had fair skin, yes, but was not pale, and her eyes were displaying more vulnerability than he had seen in any living mortal in a long time.
Yet, even now, as she stared into the God of the Underworld's eyes, she was trying to be strong and brave, and Hades found it brought him amusement to see the girl like this. The God of the Underworld tilted his head to the side and brought a hand to rest on her shoulder, earning a pretty little squeak from her pretty pink lips. He noticed with intrigue the fear in her eyes as her body began to shake.
"You gave me your word, Megara. Will you keep your promise to your god?" he reminded her, careful to keep his tone as level-headed as possible.
Though he knew he could do little to hide the annoyance sparking to life behind his eyes at seeing her was clear his prized possession was having second thoughts about their arrangement from a few months ago.
"I know," she whispered, shamefaced.
Hades merely glared at her and readied himself, fully prepared to pounce and whisk her away to his realm at the slightest sign Meg meant to try to flee from him. At any hint that the girl was lying.
"I told you that I gave you my word that day and I called to you, didn't I?" she questioned, a bark to her voice that had not been there before, a bitter shift to her tone of voice that Hades was not sure he liked. "I gave you my word that…I am yours in payment of my debt. My soul is forfeit and it is now yours..."
But she was scared. Her voice trembled as Hades kept his head bent and his shoulders hunched.
"Behave, my little Nutmeg, and your disgusting traitor of a boyfriend lives. Or should I say former," he sneered, the edges of his lips curling upward into a twisted smirk as he held out his hand for her to take as he came to step in front of her. "If you don't, lovely…well, must you make me spell it out for you?"
His head moved downward as his inquisitive yellow eyes made a quick scan of her slender figure in her dress. She was going to have to do, as out of the many problems that had fallen into his lip, the damned River Guardian was proving to be the most problematic.
He did not finish his sentence, but Hades knew he did not truly need to. It was quite clear what would happen to her and to him if she did not behave and go with let those words sink in as she stared numbly at the God of the Underworld's outstretched hand that looked more like a curled claw to her.
The claw of a demon came to whisk her away to his kingdom, his domain, and she was sure that she would likely never even see the sun this was the promised price, and she knew by the glint in the god's yellow eyes that the God of the Underworld fully intended to take what was owed to him.
The question was would it be the easy or hard way? Meg grimaced. Her face twisted and contorted in grief as she realized there was no other would have to go with him. She had no choice available to her, she knew as she stretched out a trembling hand and rested it in his palm. The moment the god's long spindly blue fingers wound around hers, a terrified shiver ripped through Meg just then.
"Are you ready then, pet?" Hades purred, his hand gliding up to rest on her arm.
"Yes. Make the pain stop, Hades, please," Meg whispered shyly.
"How?" he breathed against her ear.
Meg hesitated, unsure if she should answer yet it was too late for her to take back her words now. "Use me in whatever way you see fit. Put me to work, send me someplace," Meg whispered. "Make me forget him," she asked. Meg glanced up, expecting to see a glimmer of delight flickering to life in those haunting yellow eyes of his. But instead, as his eyes landed on hers, there was no joy on his face.
In fact, Hades was practically glaring at her. Meg felt her already shattered heart break into a thousand more pieces, never to be made whole again, she was sure of it. She looked away as Hades said nothing, but the god's vice grip on her shoulder tightened, his touch on her arm was almost possessive in a way.
She flinched as tears began to roll down her face. If Hades was bothered by it, he did not show it then.
When he spoke, his voice was surprisingly soft. Almost...caring, even. "We leave this place, then. I have the perfect job for you, my Nutmeg. Something to take your mind off your…pains," Hades murmured, reaching for her hand and bringing her knuckles to his lips and kissing them. "You are truly a lovely specimen, Meggie. As lovely as my sweet Persephone and the job I've in mind for you is a fitting one."
Meg nodded numbly to herself, certain she did not want to hear it, and yet, she had no choice. It angered her greatly, that she had been so foolish as to bargain away her own immortal soul to the God of the Underworld, the God of the Underworld, without thinking of the natural consequences of her then-so-stupid actions.
It angered her greatly, that her life now did not belong to her, and she felt as though she had just lost a prize. She turned at the waist slightly to look at the God of the Underworld to find Hades staring at her with raised eyebrows and looking at Meg rather expectantly now. The god's smile was lecherous and surely could mean nothing good for her in regard to whatever 'assignment' he had in mind, but almost friendly. His white pointed teeth gleamed at her and she shivered and tried not to look repulsed by the god's fangs.
"I want you to persuade the River Guardian to ally himself with my cause, Meggie. You do that, and things will go very nicely for you. With his help, my brothers will fall," he said, and Meg choked out a laugh. It sounded almost as if she were choking to death as she fought back the beginnings of a bitter sob.
"I just…have to talk to it? Nothing more and nothing less?" she asked softly. Meg's voice was low and almost shy as she glared at him in suspicion. Something about his guarded tone felt off to Meg now.
"Yes. Talking will be more than enough," Hades muttered, reaching up a hand and he stroked the back of his index finger over her cheek. "You asked me for help, Meg. I came when you called, and I offer you a way to forget him. If you agree and say yes, then you will remember nothing of the man who broke you."
Meg stared at her new master in disbelief.
She could hardly believe her ears or that she was even considering going through with this, though she knew, of course, it was too late to back out. She sighed as she nodded.
"If this is the only way to forget, then I'll do as you ask," she murmured in a listless voice.
"I'm very glad that you've come to see things my way, my sweet little bird. You do this for me, and your memories of your old flame are gone," Hades purred, clasping his spindly fingers together and grinning at her in a way that stuffed the chills down her throat. "I will take you to Nessus and once you've managed to persuade him, only then will I purge you of those…unpleasant memories."
Hades paused as he looked at his newest servant, thinking that there was something strong and determined about Meg's voice.
She really was quite pretty, with her brown hair and purple eyes. Blonde perhaps would have been better, knowing Nessus, but she would do nicely.
Megara was spirited. No, there was more to her than that, wasn't there? She was beautiful, any blind fool could see that, but she was beautiful in a subtle way.
In the way where, if you happened to be observant, as Hades was, then you would look twice at this lonesome young woman and see a strong spirit.
This was a good thing. It meant that she could survive down below in his Underworld, and she could survive his Queen. But it also meant that it would make it that much more dangerous for her when it came to recruiting the more volatile of creatures who might not be so easily persuaded as Nessus was.
Meg narrowed her eyes as she noticed Hades staring at her.
"What is it?" she asked, furrowing her brows in a frown.
Hades let out a deep morose chuckle and felt a smirk play on his lips. "Nothing, kitten. I'm just…curious to see how you will handle Nessus. He is reported, ah, to be, shall we say, fond of 'pretty faces'. However, I think you of all the mortal women I've come across have the capability to handle him. You're the fittest that I think could persuade him. But are you sure? The brute is rumored to be quite a fiend."
Meg hesitated and chewed on her bottom lip before she nodded.
He already owned her very soul, she had no choice at all.
"I am sure," Meg replied firmly as stepped forward and took hold of Hades' hand. The moment she did, Meg flinched at how icy cold the God of the Underworld's fingertips were. She ground her teeth in anticipation.
The god said nothing by way of response before he wound an arm around her waist, causing her to shiver.
"Just take me there, please, let's get this over with already and get on with it," Meg whispered as she stared out into the night and let her tears run down her face. At a minimum, she was grateful at least, that her tears would be indistinguishable from the weeny spritzes of rain that had started to fall.
She closed her eyes as she felt a light breeze blow her bangs off her forehead and did not even need to open her eyes to realize that Hades had whisked her away from her old haunt of a home and into a brand new ring of hell designed especially for her. Meg opened her eyes and looked straight ahead, shrugging out of Hades' grasp, and stalked away from the ice-cold God of the Underworld to locate this Nessus he spoke of.
She did not dare let herself look back.