Chapter 98

98 Chapter Ninety Eight

‘Maybe this was a bad idea,’ the moon goddess thought under the scrutiny of the mighty Hades.

‘You cannot back out of this now. Not when he’s right in front of you. Gods this powerful don’t take lightly to things that take their time for no good reason. We don’t need another tragedy on our hands,’ Seth spoke through the mind link that the two shared.

‘You’re not helping, Seth,’ she complained, trying to regain her composure in front of the god.

“Well, you know the essence of the spirits of wolves,” she began.

“Oh, I remember that well. A sneaky way of you getting people to be reborn. That quite an interesting concept you came up with,” the god mused, his dark eyes gleaming with amusement.

“I don’t quite follow,” Seth spoke up. The god turned his head to the side and watched the man as though he was only seeing him for the first time.

“You dared to bring a hero to my realm?”

“He’s not dangerous. Besides, he’s my divine significant other. His rank is just as high as mine in the eyes of the gods,” she defended the man. Seth was starting to feel like he had made a mistake to speak up when the goddess ran up to him and hugged him in front of the god, a sign of affection that calmed Hades. Mortals weren’t trusted for their ever-shifting emotions and it was frowned upon when a goddess took on one of them for a spouse.

“Does his loyalty still remain?” the god asked, darkness creeping in from all sides of the already dark and gloomy palace.

.....

“Yes, he does. How else would he have followed me to the Underworld?” she swooned looking into the man’s eyes. Seth calmed down holding the goddess lovingly in his arms and kissing her out of spite. The goddess didn’t fight him in his course of action, caught off guard by the man’s actions.

Hades watched them patiently as they had their moment. His scepticism towards the mortal receded the more he watched them. Seeing through deception was one of his specialities and this man was smitten with the goddess as she was with him. They made a rare couple among the gods that even the goddess of love envied.

“Ahem, if you’d only pause the love charade and tell me what you came here for so I might let you continue. Preferably in a place that’s not here. Maybe back in your moon palace,” Hades caught their attention. The god’s words cut through the fog that came along with the moment that the lovers had themselves in. They quickly cut their love scene short, remembering the person that was in front of them.

Celeste was surprised the god of the Underworld had not vapourised them or at least done something overboard with their reckless display. ‘The kiss was your fault,’ she said through the mind link.

‘I take full responsibility, my love. I couldn’t help it,’ he replied before they turned to the god. Cerberus continued to bite into his treat as though nothing was going on. The meat had been enchanted to keep growing back until the three-headed hound was full and tired of eating it. This was why it was his best treat. Once he was done, the meat would shred completely and leave a clean white bone that he would then spend months munching on in his downtime, that was when he didn’t have to guard the souls that stood in the judging lines awaiting their judgement.

“To answer the question that your spouse asked earlier, the concept that the moon goddess came up with concerning werewolves. You must know that at a certain age, typically eighteen, they tend to say that the werewolf matures,” the god started.

“I have heard the story before...”

“Don’t interrupt me,” Hades said calmly, the warning getting across with the slight but scary sway of the shadows, “Now, as I was saying... and I’ll be clearer this time. This time that they say that the wolf has matured. The kind of evolution that forces a werewolf that has not learnt to control the shift to shift uncontrollably and irreversibly unless their mate is present. Celeste asked me to help her out with that part a long time ago... it was about the time she was trying to make amends with Prometheus.

The werewolves were violent creatures that didn’t care about anything that lived. As long as it had life, once a wolf had shifted, they’d kill it. It was a dark sight. So she came to me for help in giving wolves something that I would call emotions. The concept was simple enough. The wolf, at the age of maturing, would have a soul occupy it. One that had been dipped through the River of memories and they would be reborn as the wolf part of a werewolf,” he explained.

Seth was appalled by the information. After realising that Hades had finally finished the explanation, he turned to his wife, deciding it was better to ask her and not the short-tempered god before them, “Are you telling me that every single wolf out there is a soul that has been reborn into the body of a werewolf?” he asked.

“Yes, that is true. That is what I mean when I say the werewolves are my creation and have nothing to do with Prometheus,” she said.

“Okay then... What are we doing here then?”

“Oh, the man doesn’t know either. This must be good. You’re lucky you made an appointment before coming here. That saved you a lot of difficulties. What is it that you want from me, goddess of the moon?” Hades asked her.

“I want you to perform an intentional rebirth for me,” she said.

“Are you suggesting what I think you are suggesting?” Hades asked...

“Yes, I am. There is a dead werewolf that I want you to send through the process and send their soul to be reborn into someone that I have picked. They will mature when the full moon rises tomorrow. I want that to coincide with the rebirth of this particular soul and for the two to be combined,” she said.

“Well, I wonder why you would do such a thing considering there is nothing the soul will remember. This is a useless endeavour you are going through,” the god of darkness said.

“Well, that is what I have decided. I’m confident this will help me bring the war closer to its end or at least, it will help save the life of the one supposed to bring this war to an end,” she said.

“That’s two favours already, Celeste. Are you sure you want to be that indebted to me?” Hades asked.

The goddess found herself smiling at the thought, confusing her spouse, “I wouldn’t want to be indebted to any other god among all the Olympians,” she said to him.

“It’s been long since I last heard someone praise me. If this is some way of getting onto my good side, it’s working quite well. Consider your favour done. What is the lost soul’s name?” he asked.

“Ashley,” the goddess replied. Seth was astonished by the display going on in front of him. His wife had now completely lowered her guard and was speaking to the god of the Underworld like she would a normal person. There wasn’t a hint of hostility left in the god’s presence and the darkness seemed to recede to its former state. ‘Is she really friends with the most dangerous god out there? If not, the most feared...’ the question buzzed in his mind as he watched them discuss.

“Doesn’t this Ashley have a second name?” he asked, slightly narked by the bluntness of the reply he’d gotten.

“No, unfortunately, she does not. She’d not yet received one by the time of her death,” the goddess replied.

“That sounds sad,” he said, taking out a notebook, (‘Wait, why does a god have a notebook,’ Seth mused.) “Might I know the cause of death then?”

“Assassination by a poisoned blade,” the goddess replied.

“Oh my... that’s rough. Humans do have their ways around getting rid of each other,” he chuckled in amusement. Seth found that he had to grit his teeth and clench his teeth at how lightly the god was taking the death of Ashley.

“Well, is there anything else that I need to know about this Ashley?” Hades asked.

The moon goddess thought for a bit before answering, “I think there is only one... You’ll find that despite her whole life, she was worthy of a trip to Elysium had she not met her untimely death at the hands of a spy,” she said. This got the god’s hands still while he was writing down the information. The goddess held the soul in high regards compared to any he’d ever heard her praise. Well, besides his husband and Sirius of the two werewolf brothers.

“Well, that is quite a description. You’ll see the soul in your scrying pool once I’ve allowed them to be reborn. Any communications that you have for them at that time will be possible before the moon rises. Now if that is all you’d come for, I’ll poof you away from here,” Hades said, adding a hint of playfulness to his voice.

“That is all, Lord Hades. You have my thanks. Call on me if you ever need me to repay the favours I owe you,” the goddess said.

“Sometimes your actions alone make the favours worthy of my time. I don’t think I’ll be asking for the payment soon, so rest easy,” with that said, a dark cloud covered the two lovers. “Oh, and would you please reduce the number of treats you give that mutt? He gets distracted when he has a bone to chew on every time he gets bored.” Celeste couldn’t help but chuckle at the thoughts that expression on the god’s face.

Hades returned the gesture with a few of the rarest things the universe had to offer, his smile... Seth was at a loss for words on seeing the god smile. ‘How is it possible?’

“He’s probably the most misunderstood god in the universe...” she explained to ease the mental turmoil that her spouse was going through.