HADES (Ruby Rose fanfic)

SEVENTEEN (Ruby POV)

"What the hell is going on now?" I ask angrily while walking through the courtyard of my dark palace and the shadows move away, I walk fast and don't look around assuming that Mina has left her throne and is following me. Those forget-me-not plants that Iselen made grow are starting to wither in pots and the ground is covered with dry petals. I close my eyes because I don't want to see them and snap furiously again. "Why have you called me?"

"Well, the thing is that..." My niece runs behind me out of breath while I climb the stairs and walk down the balcony and corridor. Fuck! It's only been four days since my wife left and dust is already covering furniture, the golden frames of paintings are shining with less intensity and light is getting dimmer. Plants will start dying soon and autumn will arrive again to the underworld before it should, changing the balance. This is a mess, my whole life is a mess!

"I've made it clear I don't enjoy being disturbed during my retreat, you know that. There's a reason why I choose to hide in the remotest corner of hell, I need silence and quietness, and I can't have them if you call me every time you screw things up..." I take my leather jacket off with abrupt movements and let it drop on a bronze sideboard of the throne room. I'm dressed all in black for the first time in years and not wearing any red garment or accessory.

"But Hades..."

"What?!?!?" Mina steps back scared when I put my hands on my hips and yell right to her face, the fires of Tartarus burn with more intensity on the other side of the Asphodels Meadows and the screams of pain of the damned echo through the whole hell. My niece knows that the Erebus suffers the consequences when I'm in bad mood and I've never been so angry and hurt before... and so sad. I miss my wife and the only thing I want is to hide far away from this palace and cry because she's decided to leave me... Gods, I'm pathetic...

"That." Mina points at my dark throne and I frown confused but she doesn't elaborate and waves her hand ordering me to walk around it. I obey wearily, I just want to end this as soon as possible and go back to...

"For the Olympian God's sake..." I mutter completely floored. "Iselen...what is she doing here? How did she get to Hades? Did you bring her here?" There's a whirl of confused thoughts in my mind and I don't know if I'm excited, angry or dazed while I watch my wife sound asleep on my throne. The position can't be comfortable, she's hurting her neck probably. My protective instincts kick my ass hard and I feel tempted to take her in my arms and carry her to our bed... only it's my bed now. She chose to leave, why is she here now?

"This wasn't our idea, I swear..." I raise my hands in an inquisitive gesture: someone who lives here has had to bring her to the underworld, there's no other way to... "She's come walking..."

"You're kidding me," I answer harshly.

"No, I've talked to Charon and Hecate while waiting for you to come back, besides I've searched her backpack." Mina points at the floor with her chin. "I think she found the Averno entrance: there're several flashlights, food leftovers, a book of mythology and a map of the northern part of Naples. The boatman says she gave him the required gold branch for the livings, even bought a handful of obols in an antique store and... she outsmarted Cerberus with one of your love songs and dog treats mixed with enough sleeping pills to knock down an elephant. Waking him up was really hard, believe me."

"She's drugged my dog?!?!" I ask outraged, staring at my wife with my mouth wide open, although deep inside I can't help feeling admiration for her. What she's done is... Few living beings have managed to reach the Hades on their own and they were heroes and children of gods usually. Normal humans don't survive to this journey... although she's not normal, the soul of a goddess burns inside her and her power is getting stronger.