#au002

Santiago has found he can’t stay put in one place for too long. The next adventure is always waiting, so this stint in Paris is just one of many stops. He’s known to be a little bit tricky - a little too charming for anyone’s good. If you don’t pay attention, he might just get his hands in your pockets. (Everyone needs a hobby, especially when you’re immortal.) He’s blessed with the gift of being able to travel anywhere at will - not just across the globe, but across the borders of mortal and immortal spaces. He’s been known to make a visit or two to the Underworld if he really feels like an adventure. If you’re lucky, he might bring you along for the ride.

It helped that he knew Iris’s habits by now - the sorts of places she liked to visit. He was hardly surprised to find her out and about with her dogs in the city streets, materializing next to her when no one was looking and instantly falling into step beside her. (It helped that mortal memories were so fallible no one would ever quite be sure he hadn’t been there the whole time.) “You’ve not changed a hair since the last time I saw you, my radiant mademoiselle. Though you must introduce me to these new little friends of yours.” He grinned, amused with himself.

Natasha looked at James who sat still beside her and offered a reassuring smile. “You’ll be fine. It’s just a baby.” She couldn’t stop herself from giving his hand a small pat, again to assure him that there was nothing to worry about, before getting out of the car. She greeted Pepper and Morgan with kisses on the cheek and looked back at James who was still in the car. “My friend’s a little shy.” She whispered to Morgan.

They sat together in a cafe, Hermes sitting with a plate of assorted macarons and nibbling on one with a hum under his breath. “They’re good, but yours are better, mon ami.” He conceded, letting his coffee cool in front of him, looking around the little cafe in curiosity - as always, his mind moving quickly, ten steps ahead. “We should play a game. It’s been too long.”

They had sort of ran away, but they had every intention to head back. They just wanted so time alone where they didn’t have to worry about getting in trouble for looking at each other too long, plus it was no mystery where they could be found if their parents got that worried. “Do you think mom is gonna be really mad this time?” Andy asked, hoping from rock to rock as they neared closer to the lake, having to trudge through a pretty thick brush of trees to get there. “Maybe we should start leaving notes when we want to leave.” she suggested, holding the towel she was had brought with her a bit closer to her bare midsection, her bathing suit not doing much to protect her from the stray twigs that left tiny little lines on her skin if she got too close. 

It was here. One week had passed and now the wedding had arrived. Clarke Bellamy, Persephone and Hades were getting married. Spring was marrying death for all of eternity. All of the important gods and goddess were there, just in case anyone them took not getting an invitation as a great offense. Her mother was there and Clarke was not sure about how well that was going to do. Nerves fluttered like butterflies in her stomach. Nerves over everyone there watching her when she had been hidden away from them for so long, nerves about becoming a Queen, and of course nerves about what about happen that night. But there were also flutters of excitement. She felt ready to take this next step, to be with Bellamy as his wife, especially when she thought about the small kisses they had been sharing the past week. She wanted this. All the preparations had been made. Offerings had been given, which she considered silly considering that this was a wedding of gods, she had been cleansed and given her nuptial bath and now she was finally finished getting dressed. Her chiton gown, one of the ones the servants had made her, was simple but interwoven with subtle designs of flowers. Her golden hair had been pinned up and secured with her usual silver circlet of roses around her head. And then finally, her veil was placed across her face. A bell chimed and Clarke sucked in a breath. It was time. 

It had been a few months since his Queen had chosen to eat his pomegranate seeds and come to live with him in the Underworld. He wasn’t sure if she knew how much time she had left down here, but he was down to the second. As he sat in his library, skimming through a new book that he had received from Hermes a few days ago, he counted down the days. She had 2 months, 13 days, 6 hours and 42 minutes before she had to go back up to the Overworld, and live with her mother for 6 more months. He had grown accustomed to Clarke’s presence, and he wasn’t sure how being without her for such a time will be like, but he knew that that was the deal that they had made, and that was what was going to have to be fulfilled, despite the fact that it wasn’t what Bellamy wanted. Sighing, he finished the last page of his book and placed it on the table beside the chair he was sitting in. Leaning forward, he let out a low groan and placed his face in his hands. He had so much to do. He had to deal with all the deaths coming in over the humans’ stupid wars. He had to figure out what to do with his asshole brothers, who were arguing again. He had to do so much, but all he could think about was Clarke all the time. When was she going to marry him? When would her coronation be? Did she even like it here? He was going insane. 

Her entire future rested in the palm of her hand. Literally. Clarke stared at the ripe red pomegranate that rested in her cupped hands as she sat in the grove of trees that Hades had disappeared into only a few days before. Had it really only been that short of a time? It felt like an eternity. She hadn’t been able to sleep, barely ate or even spoke as she pondered his offer. An proposal to be Queen of the Underworld was not one that was taken lightly. If she opened that fruit and ate its seeds, Clarke knew that her life would never be the same. That she would never be the same. A chance like this was something that she had longed for eons for but now that it was before...she was terrified. The garden and protection of her mother were all that she had ever known. She had never known change. But could she spend another countless lifetimes in this garden, never to know what or who she could become? She recalled the way that Hades had looked at her and thought of freedom. So taking a deep breath, Clarke closed her eyes and cracked the open fruit. Slowly, she lifted a seed up and plopped it into her mouth. Decision made.