PLUTO

CH.4

Charon walked slowly into the throne room. With each staggered step he took, Hades thought he would fall. He waited impatiently for Charon to come closer but it seemed to take longer than necessary. The sound of Charon's feet sweeping the floors filled the room coupled with the sound of his ferry pole hitting the ground.

"You sent for me, my lord?", Charon asked as he got closer. He paused and looked up at Hades.

"Yes", Hades adjusted himself on the throne, "I will not be in the palace today Charon", he said, "I will be going up to scout the land above. It has come to my attention that the earth's fertility is gradually waning"

"Are we at fault here lord?"

He frowned, "I'm not entirely sure. I'll have to see for myself", he said, "I trust that you will be able to handle things while I'm here"

Charon nodded.

"I will be taking Cerberus with me as well", Hades smiled, "it would be nice for him to see the sun"

He left the palace some time later and with Cerberus, he went out scouting the upperworld- making sure to do it quickly and silently. It was possible that Zeus or the other gods would find out he had come out of the underworld and invite him to Olympus. He wondered if he would be able to refuse the offer.

 

Cerberus was perplexed by the daylight and the warmth of the sun on his fur. His dark fur almost glistened in the sunlight and his red eyes darkened. Hades rode on his back before stopping at the Oceanids for the hound to rest.

 

 

Of all the things his mother had made him do since he was born, Eros was sure this was the craziest.

He had followed Hades all day in the sun, waiting for the perfect time to shoot him with one of his arrows without being seen. He wondered if it would work and he would have preferred to take his time but he also knew Hades preferred to seclude himself in the confines of the underworld and there was no telling when he would come out again so Eros had to act quickly.

Hades had taken a stop at the Oceanids. At first Eros was scared he had been caught but it seemed the god just wanted to gaze at the pretty flowers with his new pet. The beast frightened Eros. If he was caught, he dreaded becoming its next meal.

Eros watched as Hades gazed at the flowers, stroking his dark beard thoughtfully. He didn't look the way anyone had described the lord of darkness to be. He looked as regal as any other god would look.

Eros smiled. It was the perfect moment. He grabbed his bow and arrow before aiming at the dark lord. If he missed, he was done for. Aphrodite would feed him to the three headed hound herself. He pulled as far as he could and shot it.

At that exact moment, the hound gruffed And Hades turned to look at her, moving out of the way. the arrow swooped right past him swiftly, bouncing into the body of a bird in a tree. The bird chirped gracefully. Eros gritted his teeth.

Hades cocked his head at the hound, "what is it Cerberus?", he asked but the beast only made a gruff sound in return before one of its mouths opened and wiped its tongue across the god's face. Hades laughed.

Eros bit his lip. He had missed a shot but Hades hadn't noticed. He could still do what he came for. He pulled out another arrow and took a deep breath before hooking it to the bow. He pulled it back and aimed properly at the god's back. He let it go and watched as it flew towards Hades. It hit his back softly and vanished into thin air.

 

Eros cheered to himself but then he remembered he was out in the open so he decided to head back to Olympus quickly- and celebrate with his mother there.