Dying Ichor

THIRTY-NINE

   Elias loomed over the invitation, wondering what this was all about just as Hades smiled down at the male. He stood behind him, also leaning down to copy Elias' action.

"She isn't here?" Elias asked.

"No, she's preparing to go to the banquet Hera is hosting. This is the invitation everyone received."

"Is everyone going?"

Hades shrugged. "All gods, even the minor ones, have received an invitation from her. I'm sure everyone will be going."

"Even you?" Hades didn't look like a party person.

But the god surprised him when he gave another shrug. "I'll be attending. It's been months since Hera showed herself. If it was any other god, we wouldn't have minded, but the queen is a normally sociable person and likes to host these things every so often to keep herself in the circle for all the latest news. It's sort of a big deal right now."

"Oh, I see."

Elias was once again disappointed and frustrated. When Hades confirmed Hecate refusing to come to the palace, he felt like he hit a dead end yet again. He wondered if the woman knew which was why she was trying to avoid Hades and Elias. He wanted to see her, but Elias thought if it was time to move onto another target that would be less difficult to reach. But who else would there be other than Hecate? Even the sisters of fate deemed it was Hecate who played with the dark arts, making it a possibility she was the one who brought Elias here.

But there was Eris, too.

Elias never told Hades about what that goddess did. If he told him, Hades would demand to know why Eris pushed him into Tartarus. Elias wouldn't be able to find a good enough excuse as to why the goddess hated him, so he couldn't risk telling Hades anything.

Was it worth it to find Eris? Probably not, but Elias was desperate, and he was getting nowhere with Hecate. The last thing he could do was remove the charm Nyx had given him. Elias might be able to find out more about his dreams, though he wasn't so sure if he could count on them to tell him anything.

Hades saw the look on Elias' face and chewed the bottom of his lip. "Are you angry?"

"What?"

"You came down all this way to meet with her. I'm sorry I wasn't able to convince Hecate to come."

"It's fine... I'm not that disappointed," Elias brushed it off, though a little ticked off.

Elias had stayed in the realm of the dead for about four days now just patiently waiting for her. Hades didn't want to tell Elias straight away that Hecate didn't want to meet with them, so he tried persuading the woman to come for a while. In the end, she sent another letter repeating her decision. Hecate will not come to the palace, and she urged Hades to drop it.

Elias should've expected this really. Why would he think it would be easy to get an audience from Hecate? At most, he was able to relax in Hades' palace and stayed true to his promise that he wouldn't step a foot outside these walls. He spent the majority of his time still exploring these grounds, and even spending lots of his time in Hades' gardens while the god was away dealing with other matters concerning the dead inhabitants of this realm.

It wasn't all that bad he supposed.

The second day, Hades personally went to Elias' room and dressed the male up himself like before. He liked to dress Elias and was picky about every single clothing he chose, wondering which would look best on Elias. It wasn't that hard to think all of them fit him considering how attractive Elias actually was, but it made Hades all the more indecisive with his choices and ended up being scolded by the mortal. Hades was taking up too much time just on clothes.