Death's Daughter

Chapter thirty five: Uncle Hypnos

Styx returns Leo and I back to the domain of the dead, back in the valley of souls.
Immediately, we are led to the throne room where my father is seated on his bone ridden throne.
"Thanatos" Styx says, bowing in respect to him.

"You may rise Charon" father says, raising his hand towards him.

"Grim! Hey how ya doing?" Leo says, suddenly appearing next to him. Leo begins to lean on fathers throne, grinning down at him.

"Got everything handled, knew you would Grim!" Leo says, nudging him in the shoulder.
My lips form a scowl as I look at Leo treating my father as if he was his best friend. Even though he has lost my trust, it doesn't mean he deserves a lack of respect. I hear a low chuckle from behind me and immediately, I spin around to find the source of laughter. Who on earth could find this funny?

As I make eye contact with the being in front of me, I almost drop my scythe in astonishment.
Standing before me is Hypnos. The God of sleep and my uncle. His deep blue eyes look me over and a small smile appears on his lips.
His eyes resemble the night sky, it is said that if a mortal looks deep enough into the eyes of Hypnos, they will fall into a deep slumber.

"Leonardo Hellington. Causing trouble as usual" Hypnos says, closely observing him.
In response, Leo salutes to him.
Father rolls his eyes at the demon.

"Brother, what are you doing here?" Father says in a dominant tone, looking into the sleepy eyes of his brother.

Seeing Hypnos in this part of the underworld is very rare. Hypnos lives in a cave on the other side of the underworld. So far, that even the poor unfortunate souls don't roam over there. Hypnos rarely leaves his cave. His cave is located within a valley in the underworld where night and day meet. The river Lethe runs past his cave. Fitting that the God of sleep is located near the river of forgetfulness.

At the entrance of his cave, it is rumoured that hypnotic plants and herbs grow outside of it such as poppies. No light nor sound ever enters his cave to avoid him awakening by even a small creak. Sleep is his forte after all.

Hypnos is in fact Thanatos' brother. The siblings parents were in fact the deity of darkness, Erebus and the deity of night, Nyx.
In fact, Hypnos and Thanatos are twins. The only way to identify the two from each other is through their eyes.
Hypnos' eyes represent the night sky, full of wonder and endless possibilities.
Thanatos' eyes represent the colour of death. A dark shade of garnet with specks of obsidian dancing in the garnet pools. The garnet colour represents the danger and despair that follows him and the obsidian specks represent the dark and soulless personality he can possess.

All reapers have a shade of red in their eyes. However, I am the only reaper with bright ruby eyes. All other reapers have a dark red colour. Whereas mine are vibrant as a rose.

"Can a brother not come and visit his family?" Hypnos says, raising an eyebrow.
Father sighs as he comes to stand in front of his brother.

"Not when he sleeps for almost an eternity he can't. Why are you really here?" Thanatos asks, growing tired of his excuses.

"I heard Crowe has returned and apparently she's after your children" he says, gesturing towards me.

"Though, I only see one. Where is your heir?" Hypnos asks, searching the room for my brother.

"The heir to the underworld throne is Raven. Blake abandoned his duty, becoming a traitor" he says through gritted teeth. Father still hasn't forgiven Blake after all.

"Apple doesn't fall far from the tree" Hypnos sighs, referring to Crowe.

"The fates warned you brother. Mortals are unpredictable" Hypnos states as he sighs once more.

"I do not appreciate my brother waking up just to scold me" he says, practically spitting it out to his brother as he snarls at him.
Deciding to end the bickering, I jump into the conversation.

"Childish arguing won't help the situation at hand. A war is to come forth after all" I say, bringing all attention towards me.
Hypnos raises his eye brow in shock in my direction.

"Another war? Have I been asleep that long?" Hypnos asks, turning to death.

"You asked something similar the last time you drank too much ambrosia" Father says, rolling his eyes.

"It was a party Thanatos. Did you expect me not to drink the gods finest beverage?" Hypnos asks, rolling his eyes.
Huffing, father crosses his arms over his chest looking like an immature child. Honestly, sometimes I find it hard to believe he is the God of death.
A loud cough erupts around the throne room from beside me. I turn to see an amused looking Styx as he observed the brothers.

"I hate to interrupt this interesting little argument but we do have a serious matter on our hands" Styx says, causing a silence to overcome the brothers.

"Yeah, while sleepy here has been asleep for over two decades, your niece here has declared war against Adam Bloodbrook" Leo casually chimes is, looking smug.
My uncle turns around to face me.

"You declared war against the King of the vampires?" He asks in astonishment.

"Indeed I did. The saviour has arrived and he threatened her life. Also, he has committed endless crimes such as killing his brother, the rightful heir to the vampire throne" I say nonchalantly.

"He killed his brother? But that's not possible. A reaper would have to bring his soul here correct?" Hypnos asks, thinking over the situation.

"Someone appears to be a traitor among us" I say, looking at father. He had grown speechless. I had forgot to mention the little dilemma with the traitor to him.

"WHO DARES GO AGAINST THE UNDERWORLD KING!" Father bellows around the throne room. All reapers near by stop dead in their tracks.
Well, this is going to be a long day.