Chapter 3 #3
“My sisters and I mostly live in that room,” I relayed at last. “The one we were in when you laughed at me from our couch.” I gave a grumpy glare before continuing, which was met with an unapologetic smirk.
“In the mornings we tend to the visitors in the prayer grounds.
There are shrines to many gods there where people wish to pray.
We cleanse the visitors and lay hands on them as priestesses, making the way clear for their supplications to reach Olympus. Many people come each morning.
“After lunch and until the sun sets, there are many things we could be told to do. Sometimes we perform rituals or entertain guests. Right now we’re in preparations for our solstice festival, and that takes forever.
But they always find something for us; our keeper makes sure of that.
In the evenings we walk the grounds, or return to our room.
” I shrugged. “There’s not much more to it than that. ”
“It is an unusual life,” Thanatos mused.
“I wonder if the Olympians acknowledge you. How do they decide their answers to your pleadings? When are they moved by your temple’s reverence?
I suspect it means little to them—unless, of course, you were to stop.
” He gave me a knowing look. “Then their pride would mean trouble for you.”
I scrunched up my face. “They hear something. Apollo cared enough, at least, to give us prophecy. And Demeter, to bless the harvest.” I gave it a thought and hastily added, “And Zeus, of course—for the rain, and for…not smiting us.”
Thanatos chuckled. “Covering for every possibility, are you? Smart.”
“I mean, I don’t know what they hear!” I said defensively. “Do you know what it’s like? To hear the calls of mortals?”
“No,” he laughed. “No one prays to me, as no one wishes to draw my gaze, or that of Hades. Besides, I truly do not care. I come for everyone just the same.”
“But what about the ones who don’t do it to bargain with you?” I pressed. “I mean, prayers of reverence, or flattery?”
He gave me a wistful smile. “Only the dead flatter me,” he said quietly.
“But it is adorable for you to think of it.” His gaze softened, and he reached out, seemingly on instinct, only to freeze with his hand hovering in the air between us.
When I didn’t shrink away, he hesitantly tucked a fallen lock of my rain-dampened hair behind my ear. I briefly forgot how to breathe.
“You can ask me now, if you desire,” Thanatos offered, retreating back to his own space. “What else did you wish to know?”
“Hmm,” I stalled. I had come up with a list of things over the past day, but now I was too distracted by my pounding heartbeat to recall it. “Do you have family?” I finally asked. That was a good enough place to start.
“I have many siblings,” he answered. “And a twin, Hypnos, who is Sleep. I know him the best, but lately he visits the Underworld less and less. He likes to play in the mortal plane, and has a home there. The rest of them I only speak with if I must.”
“Why is that?”
He shrugged. “We are simply different. They are Vengeance, Strife, Deceit, and many others. They keep to what they are, as do I. I spend most of my time here, in my own plane, collecting souls. If not, I am usually in the Underworld. I have little interest in much else.”
“Is there anyone you do like to speak with?” I wondered.
“Hades and Persephone are interesting. I enjoy sitting at their table and conversing with their guests. Sometimes I like to watch the judgment of certain souls as well, and the proceedings of the court. There is a lot of entertaining drama in the Underworld.” He grinned.
“Enough that I have no need to look any further for it.”
“I suppose there’s no escaping that, in any realm,” I suggested with a soft laugh. My emotions churned beneath my levity, curiosity and tact competing for prominence upon a foundation of immeasurable awe. “So there’s a hierarchy to the Underworld, then? Where you all fight for influence?”
“Oh, yes. Hades rules it all, of course, with his wife. Those beneath him compete for his favor: the Judges, the Furies, and other immortals like Hecate. Sometimes even my siblings. There is always someone to grovel at Hades’ feet.”
The dreaded ruler of the dead. One whose character remained a mystery to all on this side of the Styx. “What’s he like?” I asked.
“Hades? He is quite protective of his realm. He is stern, but he is also fair, I think.” Thanatos spoke to me so easily, so openly, as though the glimpses of secrets he offered were all mundane to him. I supposed they probably were.
“Incredible,” I breathed. “You’re incredible. We have so few tales about any of this. Has anyone ever escaped Hades? I mean…escaped you, I suppose?”
“Once,” he sighed, wincing. “Well, twice, but the first was a deliberate example. A fool earned himself eternal suffering for his defiance, so I very much doubt it was worth it for him.”
“And the other time?”
“Intercession by immortals,” he grumbled.
“It is offensive enough that I can never have them, but on top of that they resort to hotheaded cheating for their favorites.” He folded his arms, frowning.
“In the end, it is no matter. I am patient, and I always have my due.” His voice remained calm and even, but his broody expression lingered.
My pulse quickened in warning, and I hastily redirected our conversation.
“What of the regrets of the dying?” I asked. “You hear so many of them. What do we wish we had done before we go?”
Thanatos tilted his head, and his stormy countenance faded into a melancholy smile.
“Everyone is different,” he answered softly.
“But often, people wish they had valued their choices in accordance with my finality. They wish they had been themselves while they still could. Such freedom comes to an end when a soul finds my wings.”
His words were weighty, and I mulled them over with care. Was I embracing my freedom, what little I felt I had? I wasn’t sure. I was here, I supposed, chatting with Death in the rain. This, at least, I could always treasure.
“I will try to avoid their mistakes,” I said. “I will do the best that I can to…be myself, and to enjoy my life. I will try to remember what you have told me.”
“Good.” He hesitated, then continued, “I wish for you to have a good life. Try to have some fun before you meet me for the last time.” He flashed me that soft, pretty smile once again.
“I am expected soon,” he added quietly. “But I will come to see you tomorrow, if you like. This place is nicer than the garden. Will you come here?”
I nodded, my mind spinning. “Yes.”
I folded up the rich people’s blanket and stuffed it underneath the seat and out of sight. He flickered to his feet as I lay my wet chiton over my arm, still a bit embarrassed by my immodest sleepwear. He didn’t seem to notice, though.
“I will take you back,” he murmured. When he put his hands on my waist, I dared to do the same to him. Reality twisted into knots, and then suddenly we were tucked in an alcove near the staircase which led up to my room. I stole one last look at his beautiful eyes.
“Goodnight,” I breathed.
“Goodnight, Cyrie.” And then I was standing alone.