Chapter 37: Chapter 37

S A V A N N A H

HADES WISELY KEPT his mouth shut as I headed back to continue thawing out my mother.

I did not want him to say anything.

I did not want him to ask what anything meant, or about what Søren and I had been talking. I did not feel ready to have that kind of existential conversation with my father.

I reached up and tied my hair up into a ponytail with strands of my own hair in order to keep it out of the way. I did not have a hair tie, and I was too lazy to go inside to search for one. It was however, more secure than the previous one; I made sure of that by mercilessly tugging at the strands.

I had a far more levelled head, which meant that I could concentrate.

But I knew that Hades wanted to say something anyway, because he could not keep an aloof façade for too long.

“So —what happened?” he finally asked.

I started and tactfully took my hands off of Phoebe, instantly extinguishing the flames.

I narrowed my eyes at Hades as he met my gaze.

“I mean, did anything happen,” he amended the question.

I scoffed and raised an eyebrow. “What, are you trying to be more invested in my life now?” I deadpanned.

“Well…yes,” he frowned. “But I am also just…checking up on you.”

I blinked, surprised by his answer. It was not what I had expected. It really seemed like he was trying to make the effort to reach out to me at a pace that suited me.

“We had an existential crisis,” I sighed. “We’re both pretty unlucky in love, and we both realised that we do not want to repeat mistakes.”

Hades was looking at me with a stupid grin.

“Dad,” I said firmly. “He is not my type.”

His smile fell and he nodded importantly.

It seemed to satisfy his curiosity at last.

I then refocused my concentration again. I was actually quite chuffed with myself at how quickly I had managed to master manipulating my newfound ability. It was surprisingly simple —it was like switching a light on and off. Except if I did not pay attention, I could very well render something to ashes.

Hades and I sat in silence afterwards, which I was not opposed to, but it only resulted in him unintentionally glowering at me or at my mother while he was deep in thought.

“…Do you really think that you’re a cold, malevolent, unfeeling and selfish bastard?” I eventually murmured, glancing up at him.

“What?” he snapped, starting in surprise.

“Do you think what Mom said about you is true?” I deadpanned. “Because if you don’t think that about yourself, it wouldn’t bother you —and she wouldn’t be frozen.”

Hades opened his mouth to respond, but something then made him hesitate. He glanced down at the ground and sighed. “A part of me would like to believe that she is wrong. That those words are just words. But…another part, deep down, knows that she is quite right.”

I raised my eyebrows.

He offered a sad smile. “Do you want to hear about how we met?”

I nodded, suddenly eager.

“Eighteen years ago, Persephone and I had a really big argument about our son and where the future of the Underworld was going. He had moved out, and Persephone was worried about how he would do on his own. He is not that old, by god standards, so think of it as though a fifteen-year-old was leaving home,” he started nostalgically.

I raised an eyebrow at his interesting analogy but did not say anything.

“…In the end, we could not really stop him. So, Persephone and I argued for what felt like days, before she kicked me out and I came to the mundane world.”

I did laugh at that.

“I bumped into your mother while she was grocery shopping one afternoon. She was young —barely twenty, and she had just started living in her own place close to where she worked. We quite literally bumped into each other —she was coming around the corner and I had not been looking.”

“Is this real life or a romantic comedy?”

“Shush —it really did happen that way,” Hades insisted, flippantly waving a hand at me. “And I remember looking at her and thinking…I had never seen a more beautiful mortal,” he went on. Then his gaze flickered over me. “…You definitely take after her.”

“Don’t joke…” I scoffed.

“Again, I am serious,” Hades deadpanned. “You were spared my dull aesthetic genes. Your mother is beautiful. And I did not hesitate to tell that to her face either, after picking up a head of lettuce that had fallen out of her basket when we knocked each other down.”

I smiled softly and moved my hands as I noticed how the ice had almost completely melted where I had been concentrating on before. “I bet she called you a creep,” I murmured.

“Oh, of course,” Hades chuckled. “But only after she had stared at me in surprise for a few seconds. She would not admit it, but I do not think she had heard that compliment before then. After she called me a creep, I immediately lost all of my confidence and stopped making sense. So, I just turned around and walked away, wanting to kick myself.”

I laughed, beginning to picture it.

“Yes, yes,” he murmured reluctantly and wearily. “Your old man is not actually very smooth; surprise.”

“There’s no surprise —I never thought that he was,” I chuckled. He pouted slightly in mock offence, which only made me laugh more.

“All right, can I continue now?” he snapped.

“Fine, fine,” I sighed, genuinely smiling.

“Thank you. As misfortune would have it, I did not see her for a week; in which I was trying to sort myself out with accommodation and whatnot. But when I realised that I actually needed food, I went back to the grocery store. And Fate decided that I had not quite embarrassed myself enough, and so we bumped into each other again. This time though, your mother’s orange juice spilled all down the front of my suit.”

“Ha!” I blurted, pointing at him comically.

“Yes, it was hilarious —for everyone but me. Luckily for me, Phoebe is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside, and insisted that she get my suit dry cleaned. Because I could not possibly say no to her, I agreed. We kept seeing each other more often after that,” he sighed and leaned back to look upwards, before developing a far-off dreamy look. “…And although I should not say this, your mother was the first mortal to make me momentarily forget about Persephone.”

I blinked, dumbstruck. “I don’t think that Persephone would be too pleased to hear you say that.”

“Of course, she would not,” he agreed, looking back down at me. “But I cannot deny the truth. I really did fall in love with your mother. As deeply as a seabed dweller. And maybe in an alternate reality, where I was not a god and Persephone and I were not together…perhaps Phoebe and I could have lasted,” he said quietly, growing pitiful.

I frowned and bit my lip, unsure of what to say.

What exactly was I supposed to say?

Did he expect me to agree with him?

I had always known that he had loved my mother, but it had not occurred to me that he might still be thinking about her and alternate happy endings for their tragic love affair all of these years later.

He sounded as though he truly cared.

“How did you react to Mom becoming pregnant with me?” I then dared to ask. I had wondered for while what he had thought. My mother had told me all sorts of stories, but I really wanted to hear it from Hades.

The god of the Underworld blinked at me and did not say anything for a moment. “I mean…the fact that she become pregnant was not ideal,” he started, “I was apprehensive about having a child; knowing you would be a half-blood. Phoebe was stubborn and insistent, only caring for the moment and not the consequences.

“But I do not regret bringing you into the world. Phoebe assured me that she knew what she was doing. That she knew what she wanted. Contrary to popular speculation, your mother knew I was Hades as early as our fifth date. And she did not care after the initial shock,” he chuckled. “I really loved that about her. I was momentarily overjoyed when she told me. Then I remembered the last millennium,” he deadpanned.

It made me snicker just a bit.

“I tried my best to be a father again when you were born,” he admitted, before pausing and looking crestfallen. “I really did try to stick around —you know that, right?” He asked me earnestly.

I pressed my lips into a line and simply nodded.

“I do not regret it all,” he then unwisely quipped.

My own limbs seemed to turn to ice. Up until that point, I had almost forgotten about what my mother had said and about why I had been crying. Hades had just reminded me, and the mood instantly dampened.

“I…should not have said that,” he murmured, finally realising. “Savannah, I did not mean —”

“It’s fine,” I spoke up, shaking my head. I smiled weakly and willed my words to turn to truth.

“…Okay.”

I went back to thawing out Phoebe. She was almost free. So, I increased the intensity of my flames —and accidentally over accelerated the process. The ice turned to steam under my touch and evaporated even when I let go.

Phoebe let out a strangled cry as she regained mobility and suddenly fell forward…into Hades’ arms.

“That was close,” he quipped.

“How did you get to her so fast?” I frowned. “You were standing just there.”

“You forget who I am, don’t you?” he smirked, helping my mother to straighten up. I shook my head in amusement as I helped her too. She was shivering, and understandably freezing. She then staggered, disoriented, before she shook her head and sneezed.

“Bless you,” Hades said.

She suddenly stopped trembling, and the blue tint to her skin dissolved. She gasped, flipping her arms over. She shot the god of the dead a glare.

“Hades,” she growled.

“What?” he quipped, arching an eyebrow. “I can’t help it. You sneezed. And so, I said, ‘bless you’, therefore so it was.”

“I don’t need your help,” she snapped. “You are the one who froze me in the first place.” She then paused and glanced at the ground. “…By the way, I heard what you said. Both of you.” She looked at us gravely as my father and I stiffened. “…And I’m sorry.”

Hades and I gasped in unison.

Phoebe Green was not a woman who put her pride aside often. When she did, it was not for just anybody. She was apologising —and that was an enormous deal.

“I’m mostly sorry to Savannah,” she added spitefully, turning to me. “I didn’t mean what I said like the way that it sounded. I don’t regret you, sweetheart. I love you. I just…just regret how it happened,” she admitted.

“But what’s done is done. I can’t rewind time and I can’t live in regret anymore. I am sorry for making you cry.”

I blinked, bewildered. Then I darted forward and firmly hugged her, squeezing my eyes shut as the familiar prick of tears started coming back. “I’m sorry for thinking that you regretted me.”

“Don’t you even dare blame yourself,” Phoebe warned me, withdrawing to hold me at arm’s length. “I should have known better. Plus, your father is a pathetic blabbermouth,” she accused, glaring at him.

“Aw, come on Phoebe,” Hades chuckled uneasily. “I had to explain why you were frozen.”

“You could have left that part out.”

“And what good would it have done?”

“Showing how self-assured you should be,” my mother deadpanned.

Hades gasped and glared back at her.

“Okay!” I said, moving to get in between them. “That’s enough; both of you. Mom, what you said to Hades was not called for. I would have gotten upset too. But Hades, it wasn’t worth freezing someone over.”

I glanced between my parents earnestly and it was almost a relief when they both sighed and appeared to relent.

“Now,” I quipped, turning back to my mother. “The reason I came here in the first place…” I trailed off and took a deep breath, preparing myself to say it. “I came to say goodbye.”

Hades looked justifiably nervous as Phoebe gawked at me. “Goodbye?” she repeated, her green eyes widening. “What do you mean by goodbye —I just got you back!”

“I know, I know,” I sighed. “But there is a god out there who is ready to wage war on the Reapers Organisation, and technically it’s because of me, so I’m kind of obligated to participate —”

“Are you serious?” Phoebe cut me off. “War? Hades,” she then hissed darkly at him. “we’re going to talk.”

“Mom,” I raised my voice. “This is not all of his fault. And I’m actually looking for an alternative, by the way. I don’t want to die again,” I mumbled, folding my arms.

“Well, I don’t want you to die again either,” my mother scoffed. “And going headfirst into a war is exactly how to ensure that you die again.”

“But what if we didn’t have to fight at all? What if, I found a way to reason with Hor —”

I did not even manage to finish my sentence when Hades suddenly started laughing hysterically. I looked at him in confusion.

“I’m sorry,” he chuckled, “it is just that…you think that you can reason with Horkos!”

I lidded my eyes as he continued laughing. Phoebe gave me a sympathetic look before sharply elbowing Hades in the ribs. He doubled up and spluttered appropriately, but he still could not stop laughing.

“It is a valiant effort, sweetheart,” my mother sighed. “But your father’s twisted sense of humour actually holds some truth. The gods are not the negotiating type.”

Unfortunately, Phoebe Green was well versed in dealing with the divine.

“Well, I will have to make him listen,” I still insisted, frowning. “He doesn’t know what I’m capable of.”

“Well, I don’t see how that would help your case if you’re trying to convince him that you’re harmless,” Søren suddenly said from directly behind me.

I started as he then came around and stood beside me. I stuck out my tongue at him childishly.

“He’s right,” Hades sighed, over his amusement. “It is contradictory.”

“I refuse to give up though,” I remained adamant.

“Well, you can come up with a new idea,” my mother suggested. “And while you do, I’m going to talk to Hades.”

“Mom…” I said in warning, giving her a look.

“Relax,” she dismissed. “It’s about the story he told you. And…things he said before, when I was still frozen and you were busy with…uh, Stormin’.”

“It’s Søren,” the Reaper sighed in exasperation.

“…Gesundheit.”

He grumbled in disbelief; whirling away in frustration to tug at his hair.

“Fine, Mom,” I said through my teeth, diverting the conversation back to something important. “…But if I see any funny business —”

“Yes, yes, you will have my permission to interrupt,” she cut me off and gently pushed me towards the house. “Now run along.”

I trudged to the front door, unable to rid myself of worry.

“So,” Søren started when we sat down on the sofa. “Let’s brainstorm.”

I sighed in defeat. “All right.”