intoxicated i love you || xReader [SEQUEL] [COMPLETED]

twenty three // there are no flowers in heaven - saywecanfly

Y/N

  i don't mean to be a bother,

but have you seen this girl?

she's been running through my dreams,

and it's driving me crazy, it seems.

i'm gonna ask her to marry me.

~~~

The worst pain in life is chasing after something you try not to believe is still there.

~~~

I was dead, I realized, as my eyes opened to view the River Styx. The familiarity of the rocky underground walls and the constant rush of water was a constant and quickly adjustable, as if I'd been there a century.

A soft echoing of voices chimed before me. They must have been from the people buried improperly, condemned to wandering along the River Styx for a century. Although most were likely hundreds of miles away, a few lingered near where I was. I couldn't exactly see them, probably because they were transparent or something, but they had a unique aura around them.

Something tingled along my mouth, and as I reached for the strange texture, I realized someone had put a coin there. It was part of a ritual for me to encounter Charon, the ferryman to transport me to the Underworld, and that was when all the skepticism to my death was wiped away.

I began walking along the river in pursuit of Charon. If I was a dead person, I'd have to start acting like one.

~~~

"obol?"

"yeah."

"hang on."

~~~

Immediately I was greeted by the chilling air of the Underworld itself. Most would argue it was a scalding place, but honestly, that was all decor. It truly felt freezing, despite the lava pouring down the jagged walls.

So this was where Hades lives.

I'd been to the Underworld before with Nico, but that was just to talk to past heroes and those who died in a war Percy won. But then, we were in a nicer area. Now I was where the 'common folk' went.

Then I remembered Percy, and how he'd be somewhere in the Elysian Fields. Fortunately, the entire place was a shadow, and so that's where I'd shadow travel.

~~~

"Did you really think you could just waltz wherever you pleased?"

I collapsed on the ground with a thud. Somehow I felt pain, although that was something a wandering soul shouldn't. The voice was suave and familiar, and I looked up from the cold, metallic floor to face a pair of familiar dark eyes.

"Hades," I whispered coldly. I crossed my arms together and quickly tried to show no evidence of emotion. "What do you want?"

The god rose slowly. I was in the throne room, I realized, and no longer holding the upper hand in the situation.

"Why do you never call me 'dad'?" he asked sorrowfully, casting his hand over his eyes. "Please, I just want to talk to you, Y/N."

Don't let him get to you.

He's trying to find your weaknesses.

DON'T LET HIM IN.

HE'S NOT YOUR FATHER.

I glared at Hades. He betrayed me. He left my mom a cowardly new husband to replace him. But there was no placing a father! There was no replacing a lover, or a dad, or a friend.

"Why didn't you ever come back?" I spit. "You're a foul, no -good, awful --"

"Don't talk to me like that!" Hades roared, flame licking everything near him. I'd inherited my special ability, mystical fire, from him. That was when I realized I'd never be able to overpower him, especially in his realm.

He soon calmed down, and it was like a heavy burden was just lifted off my shoulders. I could breathe again. Then I realized another thing -- I was afraid. And Hades knew it too, because he tried to extend his arms like humans do to horses to show they're safe.

"I know I missed a lot of important moments in your life," Hades pushed, "but you've got to understand. I wasn't allowed to see you. I'm here now, Y/N, so please just listen --"

"Don't say my name!" I exclaimed, watching him flinch. "You have no right --"

"I gave you that name -- "

"-- I wish you hadn't --"

"I am your father!" Hades burst into fire again, but this time I felt no fear. I was invincible.

"Well you've never seemed like one," I growled, suddenly on my knees and ready to attack. I wanted to feel him hurt. I wanted him to --

Hades let out a small sigh, calm again, and shook his head slowly. "Is this about that boy again?"

DON'T TALK TO HIM LIKE THAT.

I crossed my arms, standing up straighter. "Why do you care about Percy Jackson? You just let him die without thinking about -- "

"He was bound to come eventually," Hades reasoned. He cast his hand over his eyes again. "Did you really believe someone like him could live forever?"

It hurt even more when what the god said was true. Percy was destined to die. I was destined to die. We're mortals, after all.

"I just wish I could've gotten to be with him a little longer," I mumbled, looking down. I couldn't face Hades. Not after everything.

"But you can," Hades said. Suddenly he was in front of me, picking up my chin, staring into the E/C eyes we shared. "You're not dead. I'll take you to him if you'd like."

That was when I remembered the last time I'd been 'awake', and then seeing Percy didn't seem like such a good idea. The way he supposed I was fake made my gut drop to the, well, Underworld. But maybe, just maybe, there was a reason for that. Maybe I just wasn't supposed to be with him yet again. 

I shook my head. "I want to go back. To camp. To my life."

Hades nodded slowly, and let go of my face. He walked backwards, and eventually made his way to his throne.

"Just be careful," he winced slightly, grimacing, sighing, and holding a finger to his head. "You mean more to me than you think, and I don't say this a lot, but I'm sorry. I hope one day you'll give me a chance to redeem myself."

I rubbed my hand. I wanted to see Adrian again, to smoke on top of the Hades cabin. My father must have known about that if he truly cares about me.

"I'll see you later ... dad."

~~~