ELYSIAN, the riordanverse

24

UNDERWORLD

The Underworld.

It is a grim place, people say. 

I personally agree with them. The mortals and demigods are correct, the Underworld is an uninviting place, but it is also my home. I watch from my throne as my son, Nico enters the black obsidian palace. 

'Hey, dad...' he says and then close his eyes from what I think to be exhaustion. I sigh and snap my fingers as his throne appears next to mine. Nico smiles wearily and sits down. 

'So, what happened to you, my son?' I ask him as he laughs in an almost self-deprecating way. I know how such a laugh sounds, perhaps because I have laughed such a laugh so many times when I was a younger deity. 

He sniffles and whispers quietly, 'Will and I had a fight.' It's so quiet that I wouldn't have been able to hear it in the Land of the Living, but here? In the Underworld? Where silence rules?

I can. 

I nod in acknowledgement, 'How serious was it?'

'I mean, it was kind of serious?' Nico says. 'He may have said "go to hell" and I may have shadow-traveled away.'

Of course, and since I banned him from... never mind, the closest place would have been here. The Underworld. I purse my lips, 'And are you ready to forgive him?'

I have never been a relationship counselor, but for the sake of my son, I am trying to become a better father. And I suppose, now that he has a glow-y boyfriend whom he fought with, it's time to be a father.

'Of course,' Nico goes on. 'I love him, but I don't know what to do.'

My eyes light up in joy, he loves him. That's wonderful, love is a wonderful thing to have. And I am quite glad that Nico has found someone he loves. I am also glad that it is Apollo's son and not Poseidon's.

 'Perhaps try talking to him, Nico.'

He scoffs lightly, 'You think I hadn't thought of that?'

'Maybe you did, but I don't see you acting on it.'

Nico groans and shadow-travels away before I have the chance to give him some chocolate. His sunshine boyfriend said chocolate helped with shadow-travelling. It was odd, but Kit-Kat bars did help.

I sigh again and gaze outside the palace, watching the souls flow by. 

It's an even odder thing, how used I am to the silence and the darkness. Persephone might be right, I will have to go visit the upper world sometime. But not in the spring, that was quite a mess last time. 

Demeter yelled at me for ruining her flowers, but what was I to do? Just me being there made the flowers wither and die away. 

I wince at the memory, exhaling lightly. Perhaps the Underworld is the best place for me. It is home, after all.

The quietude.

The absence of light.

The gloom. 

The death. 

I scoff lightly, it really is home.

It really, really is. I sigh for what seems to be the millionth time today and stand up from my throne. Sitting there everyday gets boring. I walk down and exit the palace, making my way over to Persephone's garden. 

It's funny. 

How my wife prefers Kore when she is with her mother, but the moment she enters the Underworld, she is Persephone. 

Maybe it is because, Kore means maiden or innocence, a quality Demeter only wishes her chaotic daughter had. Or maybe it is because Persephone means to destroy, and being a Queen of the Underworld, means one has to be capable of destruction.

I pluck a pomegranate from the garden and peel it open. Putting a seed in my mouth, I smile slightly as I see Nico appear next to me. 'Are you two ok now?'

'We talked, kissed and made up,' Nico said, smiling. 'So, yeah. We're ok.'

I nod curtly, that's all that matters. Nico realizes that I'm eating pomegranates and flinches. I grimace, shadow-travelling us back to the throne room as the pomegranate lies there in the garden. 

Nico takes a seat on his throne as I sit down on the other, 'Sorry about the fruit, son.' 

I know it brings back bad memories for him, but for me it is the fruit which makes sure I get to see my wife for at least a few months. 'It's alright, I have to get over it sometime.'

I nod as we both sit in a comfortable silence. We both enjoy the quietude of the dark, the silence of Erebus. The peacefulness of the Underworld.

_____

I WANT TO WRITE A STACE BOOK. I WANT TO WRITE ABOUT MALCOLM AND CONNOR BUT I ALSO WANT TO DO MY RE-WRITE OF TOWER OF NERO, I ALSO HAVE AN ORIGINAL BOOK I WANT TO START. I ALSO HAVE A JAMES SIRIUS POTTER × TEDDY LUPIN BOOK I'VE STARTED BUT I AM YET TO FINISH. AND I HAVE A RE-WRITE OF CURSED CHILD I STARTED, I HAVE A SHORT STORY THING, I HAVE A SHADOWHUNTERS NEXT GEN PLANNED, I HAVE AN HP NEXT GEN SOCIAL MEDIA BOOK PLANNED. I WANT TO WRITE A SCORBUS BOOK, OR A FIERROCHASE THING.

AND I HAVE TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THE HECK IS HAPPENING WITH "TOGETHER, WE ARE ONE" BECAUSE I LOVE IT BUT I ALSO WANT TO TAKE IT DOWN AND GIVE "THREE DAYS TOGETHER" A BETTER SEQUEL. 

AND I AM SO CONFUSED. 

um, anyway... i hope you guys liked it? it was short but i'm having a mild case of writer's block. but like, i want to write. it's confusing, like most other things. 

alright, i'm going to stop ranting. i do hope all of you liked this. thank you for all the votes and comments, they make my day. ~ Love, Via.