Hell Is An Empty Heart (Book One of The Triple Moon's Chronicles)

81 | Doomsday I - A Long Pearl Necklace ***

Warning for depictions of sexual acts—behaviours displayed on living statues—and whom society nowadays still shames women for it.

From exquisite flowers to glistening rivers, the whole world of Zeus was monochrome to Hades. Mount Olympus could have bloomed in a rainbow of radiant hues, that his eyes remained achromatic to its beauty.

One tint that demystified all the shallowness from the wonderland. One long silent walk to the palace of Zeus that he did in the company of his heavily gilded armoured hound.

Cerberus' chins were all high, yet he couldn't hide the sheen of sweat on his foreheads. Gaze bouncing from side to side, his mouth spoke the contrary to his insecurities. "Yes, I'm a dog, and I can talk. Live with it!" He wasn't immune to all the repulsed eyes on him, nor was he deaf to all their murmurs. Cerberus had never stepped into Mount Olympus before, a world that had just proven to him to be cruel to those in his likeness. His voice became flat to the vibration of his now quivering jaws when he repeated. "Yes, I'm one of yours."

Hades too could act almighty, but he couldn't ignore the distress of his loyal hound. With a soft tap on the back of his pet, he smirked and said, "Cerberus, could we be more discreet?" After clearing his throat, he continued, "Besides, those people are not staring at you. They are all staring at me."

Six eyebrows scrunched together, steps refusing to go further, and one head tilted to the side were Cerberus' shock at what he had just heard.

If Cerberus didn't fit into their criteria of normalcy, Hades was the symbol of their worst nightmare. He used to be one of them, an elite among their most secluded circle. A renegade made King of their upside-down world. Someone whose face had melted into a fearful iron mask for centuries.

They were all afraid of his inheritance, the doomed realm that they only visited when punished.

Hades brought dreadfulness in perfume with him. The powerful deity painted pale and dressed in armoured scars, the living proof to them of the irreversible damages caused by hell.

However, among them, one wasn't afraid of him. One body with three faces alike, his hound, one who knew all the rituals and secrets of the underworld—indeed, Hecate was the only one to bow before them from the crowd.

The gesture could have left Hades indifferent, and yet he diverted his trajectory to Hecate, the clouds of gods dissipating at each of his moves.

Drawing near to her, he made sure to close the gap between them. Hecate flinched at his potential anger at her with her arms raised in front of her body, but instead, Hades' gaze just dimmed. "I know Persephone appointed you as her minister for a good reason, and you have already served her well." She slowly put down the shield of her hands to see Hades' usually motionless face sporting a playful grin. "My kingdom would always need to diversify its minds. Next time, just let me know before you two act on your own. Three heads are better than one."

With his palm facing down and his fingers pointed to the symbol of the Underworld on his armour, he gave Hecate the utmost show of respect in a military salute before walking off.

At Hades' words, Cerberus snorted. "Indeed!"

Holding on to her stomach as if it hurt, Hecate needed another confirmation. "Can I go home now?" She dragged her footsteps behind the king, despair coursing through her heart. "Please, please, please let me go back to my home." At her pleading, her knees gave way to the ground, and tears streamed down her face.

Cerberus was the first to turn around to face her chagrin, and he felt compassion for the goddess. He asked her, "You don't want to live here?" with arched eyebrows. She bowed her head and pursed her lips in reply. Like Hades, Hecate loathed the Kingdom in the Sky—the realm that had married her by force, a place to which she was made confined until her own evasion.