Dying Ichor

FOURTY-FOUR

   Elias toyed around with his cup of wine, growing bored with every passing minute.

He looked over to his side, watching Zeus happily sitting next to him. The king carefully picked out a handful of fruits to place on a tray and hand it over to Elias.

"Lover," he softly said. "Try these."

Elias ignored the tray and helplessly looked over to Hades, who was already grasping Elias' hand and tugging him closer to his side.

Poseidon was kind enough to stand in between Zeus and Elias due to Amphitrite's request. He didn't pay any attention to Zeus' simmering anger, though the King of the Gods didn't say anything and took the tray away.

Elias scooted closer to Hades. The air of death which made him uncomfortable before was suddenly a sense of comfort to him. He didn't even mind when Hades wrapped an arm around him, holding him tightly.

"What happened?"

Elias looked away for a second, finding it difficult to explain. "Uh... I think... well, I guess I caught his attention or something."

Poseidon perked up and frowned. "Blink twice for help. I'll take you down to the ocean right now. You can play with Amphitrite."

Amphitrite, who surprisingly had amazing hearing, gave them a thumbs up across from the room before whispering to Aphrodite about Zeus and Elias. Aphrodite scrunched up her nose in confusion and wanted to go over to take Elias away.

There was no chance to unless she wanted to piss him off though.

But Poseidon had no problems quarreling with Zeus. Even now, he was slightly pushing Elias over to the side and moved him further away from Zeus. He didn't understand what was happening between Elias and his brother, but Hades was incessantly possessive over the mortal from what it looked like. Poseidon would rather try to avoid a fight between his brothers if it was possible.

Plus, Elias blinked twice in a hurry to his question. Poseidon sighed and then smiled, having to think of a way to get Elias down from Olympus once Zeus wasn't looking. He must really like the ocean, huh?

Of course, that wasn't the reason. Elias was grasping at straws trying to leave this place. He didn't even care if he had to go back down to the depths of Poseidon's realm if that meant never seeing Zeus again. At least he had Amphitrite taking care of him down there. He'll rely on her if he had to.

"What's his name?" Zeus asked Poseidon, already getting impatient.

Hades glared. "Little brother, I'd really appreciate it if you'd just piss off. He's mine already."

Zeus wanted to refute him and explain how his threads connected with Elias', but then he saw Elias' look of disdain and immediately withered. He didn't want to anger Elias, so he decided to keep quiet and look for other ways to get him without Hades and Poseidon hovering over him.

Besides, the gods, no matter if they were monsters, titans, or deities of this current pantheon, none of them believed in having soulmates. Only mortals were given the chance to find their other halves. It wouldn't make sense for Zeus to suddenly have one show up out of nowhere, and the man doubted their threads would ever show again. It was meant for only them to see.

Except Hera saw. She knows.

Zeus looked over to Hera, watching the veiled woman nervously standing at the very far back. Although he couldn't her face, she still seemed to be miserable. Zeus turned away, not really fazed by her predicament.

He'll have to ask just how she granted him this precious gift of a soulmate.

"What's going on over there?" Elias pointed down from the palace stands.