𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐃

places start with suffering, freedom starts with confinement, courage starts with fear, strength starts with surrender, every mountain starts from beneath the earth, and you too, shall rise.

#angcltouched            an independent, private, mutuals-only and slightly selective multi-muse blog from different fandoms such as greek mythology, tvd or to, viking and more. this blog is oc friendly, loved and written by Carina ( she/her thirty y ). made january 2026. its important you read my rules before interacting. information / prompts / wishlist. if you can't pick a muse, do it here.

highly affiliated with : @edenhusk ♡ / @serpentmass ♡ / @unholyrites ♡ / @theirmadness ♡ / @razedhell ♡ / @rcliicta ♡ / @xunreinx ♡ / @helenaus ♡

she didn't pull away when @unholyrites fingers closed around her wrist, that alone should have alarmed her more than it did. his touch was careful, infuriatingly so, and she found herself watching his hand against her skin with a detached sort of confusion. she wasn't used to careful. she understood bruises, understood blood split across knuckels and threats delivered through gritted teeth. pain had always been simple. pain had rules. it could be controlled, redirected, returned with interest. pain made sense, this didn't.

there was nothing cautions about the two of them. nothing gentle. she had been hired to hunt him down, to put an end to the devil himself, and somewhere along the way that straightforward objective had twisted into something she no longer recognised. she couldn't pinpoint when exactly it had happened. whether it had been the first time he hadn't run from her, or the hundredth time she had found herself staying when she should have left. she only knew she hated not understanding it.

her gaze lowered briefly as he lifted her hand, and for the first time in longer than she cared to admit, her thoughts stumbled over themselves. ❝ what are you ... ❞ the question never found its ending. the soft press of lips against the inside of her wrist silenced everything. for a heartbeat, she forgot how to breathe. the reaction alone made irritation flare violently beneath her ribs, it had to be a trick. lucifer dealt in temptation, manipulation. pretty lies wrapped in sincerity convincing enough to make fools out of people far smarter than they thought themselves to be. gestures like this weren't real. softness wasn't real, not from him, not from her, and especially not between them.

because if this was real, she would have to acknowledge what it meant when she hadn't pulled away immediately. shego tore her hand from his grasp with considerably more force than necessary, taking a sharp step backwards as though distance alone could erase the unfamiliar heat lingering against her skin. green eyes narrowed almost instantly, rebuilding walls that had cracked for a fraction of a second too long. ❝ if you do that again, ❞ she said flatly, voice steadier than the pulse hammering traitorously beneath the very wrist he'd touched. ❝ i'll stab you. ❞ the threat settled comfortably between them, familiar and safe.

it was easier to threaten him than examine why the memory of something so simple had lodged itself beneath her skin with irritating persistence. she folded her arms tightly across her chest, expression sharpening into something dismissive as though annoyance had always been the only thing she'd been feeling. ❝ seriously, ❞ she added dryly after a pause, refusing to look at her wrist again. ❝ buy me dinner before you start making poor life choices. ❞ the sarcasm tasted more natural, she could work with sarcasm, with anger.

he could not stay any longer. the voices had grown louder with each passing day, no longer distant murmurs buried somewhere at the edge of his consciousness. they called for him now with desperate insistence, echoing through the hollow spaces of his mind like the cries of souls abandoned by their king. the underworld demanded his return. it always had. it was not merely a kingdom he ruled from afar, it lived within him just as surely as blood coursed through mortal veins. every soul that crossed its borders, every shadow that lingered within its halls, every burden entrusted to his care had become woven into the fabric of his being. to remain away for too long was not an act of rebellion, it was self-destruction.

hades had already delayed his return more times than he cared to admit. for @serpentmass, he had ignored the whispers that urged him home. for her, he had endured the growing ache beneath his skin as though parts of himself were slowly being torn away. yet even gods had limits, and the balance he had spent an eternity preserving had begun to fracture around the edges. so he turned away, because looking at nazan would weaken what little resolve he still possessed.

his back remained toward her while he stood motionless, hands clenched tightly at his sides though holding himself together through sheer force of will. he could not bear the thought of witnessing the hurt he knew wuld exist within her eyes. he could not survive seeing disappointment there, knowing he had become yet another person choosing duty over love. then her hand found his, the touch was gentle, human. warm, for one devastating moment, the voices fell silent. the underworld ceased to exist.

there were no restless souls awaiting judgment. no kingdom threatening collapse in his absence. no divine responsibilities carved into his bones. there was only her. a sharp breath escaped him as his eyes closed against the sudden wave of longing threatening to consume him whole. every instinct he possessed urged him to turn around, to gather nazan into his arms and surrender to selfishness just this once. to remain beside her until the end of her day and damn the consequences waiting beyond them. gods knew he wanted to, perhaps more than he had ever wanted anything before.

but wanting had never altered reality. slowly, painfully, hades withdrew his hand from her before the comfort of her touch could convince him to make promises he could not keep. ❝ i can't. ❞ the words emerged barely above a whisper, his throat tightened around them. ❝ i can't stay. ❞ silence settled heavily between them before he forced himself to continue. ❝ not this time. ❞ there was no coldness in his voice, just grief. ❝ not anymore. ❞ the admission carved itself through him with brutal precision. hades had endured suffering throughout his existence. he had survived cronus' cruelty. he had weathered wars and betrayals and the crushing loneliness of immortality.

but none of it compared to willingly walking away from the person he loved while every part of him begged to remain. his shoulders tensed as he struggled to steady his breathing.

she laughs, a low and broken laugh, something the sounds like glass counting through skin. she's sitting on the edge of @rcliicta kitchen table, legs crossed, wearing tactical gear like couture, and her eyes, god, her eyes could devoure him whole. she as killed more people than he saved, and she never pretended otherwise, and with him she would never do so. ❝ you think you can do it ? ❞ she tilts her head, long dark locks falling across her face, and when she moves, it's something almost inhuman.

❝ christams you better be careful with what you say. ❞ she stands close now, close enough to kill him if she wants to, and they both know it. but her hand finds his throat, not squeezing, just holding, feeling his pulse jump against her palm. she likes it, the power, they way they consume each other. ❝ come here then, ❞ she whispers, and her mouth is quick to find his, she tastes like copper and something sweet, like poison and honey, and when she bites his lower lip, hard enough to draw blood, a drop remains on her mouth, one she uses her tongue to clean. her dark eyes never leaving his. ❝ sink your teeth then, and see what happens. ❞

his hand tightens on the doorframe, wood splintering beneath his fingers before he remembers to gentle his strength. he releases it slowly, shaking out the damage, and @razedhell sees the war in him, the thousand-year habit of discipline cracking against something older than duty. ❝ i am not ... ❞ he stops. swallos slowly, in the mirror behind her, he catches his own reflection, the way his eyes burn too bright, the way his stillness isn't human stillness but the coiled patience of something that had watched empires rise and fall. ❝ if i start, i won't know how to stop. i wasn't made for gentle things. ❞

but he's already crossing the room, already reaching for her with hands that have killed men without mercy, hands that tremble now as they skim the lapels of her dress, spreading it open, revealing her. ❝ tell me you understand what you're asking. tell me you know what i am beneath this. ❞ he lifts her onto the dresser, glass and perfume bottles rattling, and she feels him then, the impossible heat of his skin, the way he holds himself back like a man restraining an army. ❝ i have wanted you since the first time you looked at me and saw a person, ❞ he breathes against her throat, teeth grazing, not biting, learning tenderness in real time. ❝ not a weapon. just ... me. ❞

his mouth finds hers, desperate and devouring, when they kiss his long fingers realease him from his own clothes, and when he pushes inside her, it's with a slowness that costs him; she can see it in the strain of his jaw, the way his eyes squeeze shut as if pleasure itself is a kind of pain he's not entitled to. ❝ adelyn, ❞ he moans her name, moving deeper, losing rhythm, losing himself in her, but still somehow holding back. because deep down he fear what he might to if he lets himself love.

❝ you speak of desperation, ❞ he says, voice rough and deep as if something had turn inside him. ❝ as if you understand what it costs me. ❞ he leans in, close enough that @razedhell can taste the metal on his breath, that soft smell of him that often clings to his skin. his eyes, usually so carefully guarded, burn with something ancient and starving. ❝ every moment i am with you, i am undone. ❞ his thumb traces the line of her collarbone, dips lower, following the hollow of her throat until she shivers. ❝ do you feel it ? the way my need strains against the cage of my self-control ? ❞

he catches her wrist when adelyn tried to reach for him, pinning it above her head against the wall, his other hand slides beneath her thigh, lifting, spreading, until she is open and vulnerable and his. ❝ i have held kingdoms in my palm, ❞ he whispers against her mouth, not kissing, just breathing her in. ❝ i have commanded souls to forget their names. but you ... ❞ he rocks against her, hard and deliberate, letting her feel exactly how little control he has left. ❝ you reduce me to this. to trembling, to this need. ❞

his mouth finally takes hers, brutal and worshipful at once, teeth catching her lower lips as his hand between her thighs finds her wet and wanting. ❝ tell me again, ❞ he demands, fingers circling, teasing, denying. ❝ tell me how much you like it when i break. ❞

for a long moment, hades said nothing. crimson eyes remained fixed upon @lightcreators while silence settled comfortably between them. he had ruled over the dead for centuries beyond counting. he had witnessed kingdoms rise and collapse beneath the weight of time. he had watched mortals and immortals alike make the same mistakes over and over again, each convinced their suffering was uniquely their own. surely someone like him sould have known what to say, surely age was meant to grant certainty, wisdom. yet standing before his son, hades found himself confronted with a truth he had learned long ago and never quited accepted, experience did not always bring answers.

it merely taught one how to endure the lack of them, his gaze lowered briefly before returning to zagreus. ❝ you will not know until things go wrong. ❞ the words were simply, spoken with the same quiet calm in most things hades chose to say. there was no attempt to soften them with false reassurances. no comforting lie about destiny revealing itself at the right moment. because hades had never found the world to be so kind. ❝ the fates, have never concerned themselves with making life easier for anyone. ❞ there was something almost bitter in his observation. ❝ they weave their threads as they please and leave the rest of us to stumble through them, pretending we understand where they lead. ❞

his expression remained composed, though a familiar melancholy lingered behind his eyes. ❝ there will be moments when you believe you have done everything correctly, only for everything to fall apart regardless. there will be times when you hesitate and regret your caution. others when you act decisively and regret that instead. ❞ a quiet breath escaped him. ❝ such is the privilege of living. ❞ his gaze drifted somewhere beyond zagreus for a brief moment, as though recalling memories he had no desire to revisit. ❝ i have made choices i believed were right and watched them wound the people i wished to protect. i have made mistakes i recognised immediately and others i only understood long after the damage had been done. ❞

for someone else, such admissions might have sounded like weakness, from hades, they were an offering. ❝ but certainty ... certainty is a luxury very few are granted. ❞ finally, his attention retruned fully to zagreus. ❝ what matters is not avoiding every mistake. ❞ the corners of his mouth tightened faintly. ❝ you will fail. you will hurt other without intending to. you will be hurt in return. there are no lives untouched by such things. ❞

❝ say that again. ❞ his voice came from somewhere low and lost as he moved against her, each movement slower and more deliberate than the last, as though he were trying to memorize her. the muscles in his forearms tensed out against his skin, his fingers twisting the sheets into ropes. he was holding something back, she would be able to feel it in the careful way he measured his weight. ❝ say that again, @rcliicta. ❞ the crimson of his eyes had deepened to something almost black. he lowered himself toward her and when his mouth found hers the kiss was deep, hungry ... he was near his edge. the desire ran inside him without control, but first he would make her taste her own.

his hands lingered on her waist a breath longer than they needed to after her words reached him, fingers pressing just slightly, as if testing the weight of her. a mischievous smile pulled at the corner of his lips, the kind that promised nothing good. he leaned into her again, the full weight of his body pressing her down against the sheets, his chest was cold but somehow warm and solid against hers. ❝ your wish is my command. ❞ he murmured, the words whispered against her lips.

then, in a single motion, the world titlted. suddenly she was above him, the sheets cool against his back, his hips caught beneath the weight of her thighs. he looked up at her wiith those crimson eyes, unhurried, entertained, the way a predator looks at something it has already decided belongs to them. he was not a man who surrendered control easily. and yet. his palms slid up her legs and settled on her hips, thumbs tracing slow, idle arcs against her skin. ❝ so what will you do now ? ❞ something moved behind his eyes, not quite patience, nor restraint. it was something hungry. his grip tightened, pulling @rcliicta down against him, so she could feel how much of him already needed her as his growing arousal pressed painfully against the cage his trousers formed around it.

medusa sat upon the temple floor, her back resting against the cold wooden frame of the chair behind her. on either side of her, poseidon's legs remained still, caging her in a way that should have unsettled her far more than it did. instead, she found herself leaning ever so slightly into the gentle pull of the brush. each careful stoke through her hair eased the tension that had settled within her shoulders after a long day spent tending to athena's sanctuary. the repetitive motion soothed something deeper, quieting the restless flutter of her heart in a way she did not entirely understand.

a @rcliicta, a being revered above kings and mortals alike, and yet here he was, seated within a temple that did not bear his name, patiently untangling the hair of one of athena's priestesses. it was such a simple act, such a human act. her gaze lowered to her hands folded neatly within her lap as questions drifted silently through her thoughts. why did he continue to return ? why had he taken such an interest in her, of all people ? surely there were countless others far more deserving of a god's attention. medusa had always believed in the goodness of the divine, she had dedicated her life to it.

every prayer offered beneath athena's statue, every candle lit with trembling devotion, every sleepless night spent in service had only strengthened that faith. to her, the gods were worthy of reverence because they could be kind, perhaps that was why she failed to recognize how unusual this truly was. or perhaps she recognized it all too well and simply chose not to question the comfort it brought. the brush glided through her hair once more, and her eyes drifted closed for only a moment. ❝ you needn't do this for me, ❞ she murmured softly, though there was little conviction behind the words.

there had been a time when hades accepted the distance without question. if @unholyrites needed space to heal from the wounds he had caused, then he would give it to her without complaint. if she needed silence, he would endure it. if she needed him to remain at her side without touching her, without asking for anything more than her presence, then he would do so willingly. it had never been his place to decide how another person should heal, especially when he had been the one responsible for the hurt they carried. yet, as the months passed, hades found himself growing weary, not of her, never of her, but of the uncertainty that lingered between them. he had spent so long proving through actions rathe than words that he had changed, that his heart had chosen and continued choosing her, only to still find hesitation in her gaze whenever he came too close.

❝ when will you let me show you ? ❞ he asked softly, crimson eyes fixed upon her face as though searching for the woman who had once looked at him without fear. there was no frustration in his voice, only a quiet sadness that seemed to settle heavily around him. ❝ when will you let me prove to you that there is nothing left of her ? ❞ the confession lingered in the space between them. ❝ i do not think of persephone. ❞ he continued after a moment, each word deliberate and honest. ❝ not in the way that hurt you. not in the way that made you question your place beside me. ❞ his gaze lowered briefly before finding hers once more. ❝ my heart made its choice long before i understood what it meant. i simply lacked the wisdom to recognise it. ❞

slowly, cautiously, hades reached for her hand. the movement lacked the certainty it might once have held, not because he doubted his feelings, but because he feared it could cause her pain again. his fingers curled gently around hers, giving her every opportunity to pull away if she wished. when she did not, he guided her hand toward his chest until her palm rested over the steady rhythm beating beneath cold skin. gods were eternal creatures, ancient and unchanging in so many ways, yet mantis had taught him that ever immortality did not shield one from love. if anything, it only deepened the fear of losing it.

❝ do you feel it ? ❞ he murmured, his hand covering hers where it rested above his heart. ❝ do you feel what happens when you touch me ? ❞ his voice remained calm, but there was a vulnerability within it that few had ever been permitted to witness. ❝ you once told me that touching me hurt, that all you could find within me were echoes of another person. but what do you feel now ? ❞ his thumb brushed softly over the back of her hand, never forcing her to remain where she was, merely allowing her the choice to feel for herself what he had been trying so desperately to convey. ❝ there is only you. ❞