Finding Fenrir (Underworld Chronicles Fanfiction)

Waking Sleeping Dogs

There was no sleep. I sat on the floor, legs crossed and with my eyes closed as I waited. It was not Hades that came to retrieve me. He was tall and had similar features to Hades but the comparison ended there. I felt my Beast stir, recognizing another animal in the room. I opened my eyes and saw the very person my visit was about. Theo, Lord of Styx and one of the youngest sons of Hades. He hadn't bothered to knock and stood in the doorway wearing skin-tight black leather pants with a white button-up long sleeve shirt. I'd seen him before at the meetings and saw that he had a shared Hades' venomous humor. I remembered this man fondly. He always gave Hel shit and it was fun to watch. He was looking at me with confused blood red eyes, one eyebrow arched as he looked into the room.

"What the fuck, you sleep sitting up?" Theo asked and for some reason I wanted to laugh. I uncrossed my legs and rose from the floor. I felt my Beast uncurl and practically heard it purr. Apparently it liked Theo's Beast. I wasn't exactly sure what to think of that.

"Dad sent me to get you." Theo said in a grumble, rubbing his arms. I looked at his forearm and saw that he his skin was prickled with goosebumps. "He's ready to start again." He said as I joined him in the hall. I nodded in understanding and walked behind him. For once I felt the Beast pressing toward my consciousness and shivered as I shooed it back into its lair.

When we were almost to the lab Theo rounded on me and bared his teeth defensively. "Do you feel it too? Is yours acting all fucked up?"

I blinked at him then smiled understandingly and nodded. I had no idea how his beast reacted to mine, but I could only describe the sensation as "fucked up".

Theo growled quietly and whipped around to storm into Hades' lab. "Dad, can we please get this shit over with?"

Hades wasn't even prepping. He was sitting calmly in a chair, one long leg curled over the other and his face cradled in his hand once more. I blinked at him in surprise, having expected him to be putting something together. The machines were working, blinking and flashing numbers. Had he started without me? "What happened? Was there a reaction?" Hades asked calmly and Theo sighed dramatically.

"Yeah." He frowned and reached into his shirt. There was a ripping sound and he produced one of the white circles Hades had put on me yesterday. "I'm not sure how to explain it. It didn't feel angry, more..."

I watched Theo search for words then smiled a bit as I looked toward the machines instead. How could one explain the astral equivalent of two dogs sniffing each other to one's father?

When I heard Hades snort in amusement and say "Oh." 

I shook my head. I kept forgetting how strongly Hades could hear my thoughts.

"Well, that's interesting. I'd wondered if Beasts could sense each other. I knew that Xiphrus could sense them, but he's the first so it makes sense that he can recognize other Beasts." Hades said, looking thoughtful as Theo peeled off the rest of the white circles he had under his shirt.

"Oh, it 'sensed' him alright. I don't know what he was feeling but that shit was weird."

I glanced over at Theo sympathetically. He still had no control over his Beast. I knew that when one's Beast was so new to them it was strange to feel them shift and move in your mind. I looked at Hades and his thoughtful expression became a frown. "Wait." Hades said in a casual command as he raised a hand in a "stop" gesture. "You control it?" He asked and I blinked, not having expected that question.

Theo was looking at me now, eyes a bit wider than before with his surprise. I looked between the two of them, growing somewhat alarmed as they both stared at me.