Hades hummed at Hercules’ reply, quiet for a long moment as if he were contemplating taking the boy’s advice. Then, an troublesome thought infiltrated his mind, and the content grin on his lips became thin and pulled taut, disgruntled by it. “That’s not so easy for me, knowing that your father owns everything beautiful in this world,” he commented, sighing through his nose as he looked around. Even now, the hair on the back of his neck was on edge from being on Zeus’s turf.
“I have no idea what an Ikea is,” Hades said, a half grin returning to his stoic features. “But that sounds like a dreadful place to get furniture.” A laugh left him, amused by his nephew’s observations and hesitancy about the Underworld. “You’re not wrong,” he said, “but there’s a little more variety in my kingdom than your imagination could possibly imagine.” He resisted a chuckle at his denial of his offer. That was fair.
The god sighed again, sitting up straight on the bench now, chewing on his responsibilities and the full aspect of the purpose for his very existence. “It isn’t something that you could do,” he stated simply as a fact, “only I can do it, while keeping the dead dead. I’m evil in the Underworld because I don’t allow the dead escape, and punishment for trying is worse than death itself. My brutality as a king keeps mortals on Zeus’s plane safe.” His words were bitter in his mouth, torn between obligation, an obsessive desire to keep the order of the universe, and his resentment over the fact that his purpose served Zeus’s kingdom.
“Kieran, Harbinger of Death. Has a nice ring to it,” Hades said, trying to relax but his feathers were ruffled and he lacked the ability to untense his jaw. He lifted his head, looking over at Hercules. He didn’t know the woman’s reputation. He went quiet again, pausing for a long moment while he turned over his thoughts like gemstones in his hand. “Love and gods don’t mix - oil and water,” he replied, head tilted to the side briefly and lamentation in his voice despite his stoic features, “No. I don’t love her. She’s a thorn in my side and I aim to pluck it out. She is powerful – but I see her trickery now and I won’t be toyed with. I just need to get Kieran away from her, first.”
THE MORE HERCULES SEEMED TO HEAR ABOUT ZEUS the more he began to gain a disliking towards him. He tried to tell himself that he didn’t really know his father... and he was sure at the time Zeus believed he was doing the right thing.. but it was getting harder to excuse and harder to ignore. He was beginning to understand where Hades was coming from. “He does not own everything, just... most things...” he stammered, unable to come up with a counter argument. “Would you really let yourself miss out on a sunset because my Father is a bit of a dick? I thought you were more stubborn than that.”
“It’s pretty cool, everything is like a giant showroom but also a maze-- i got like three lamps last time for no reason..” he confessed, a little ashamed to have let the tricks of Ikea fool him into purchasing things he did not need. “But it also comes flat packed so you’re probably right.” Hercules shook his head at his Uncle’s words, believing that yes the Underworld was indeed more impressive than he could ever imagine though he needed to be smarter about it. Going there would be walking into a trap, or his grave. “Perhaps next time you could take photos. You’ve got a phone right?”
Hercules sat in silence as he felt the weight of Hades truth wash over him. He knew his Uncle had a difficult job that he guessed had turned him bitter but he wasn’t expecting that level of honesty to come out. “I know you don’t like Zeus.. but it sounds like he gave you the most important job of all. Did you ever consider that he trusts you the most... maybe that’s why he gave you the hardest job?” he felt silly for saying it, running the underworld was hardly a picnic but if anyone could do it was Hades right? It certainly wouldn’t be Zeus... he’d already made a mess of Earth.
“See you’re starting to get it!” Herc grinned, thinking about taking his little cousin on strolls through the park while proudly exclaiming his name is Kieran the harbinger of death to strangers. His excitement was brought back down at Hades comments of gods and love, would that mean the same for him? Were all gods destined to be doomed when it came to matters of the heart? He hoped that wasn’t the case. “I didn’t think anyone could outfox a fox.” he stated, surprised to hear someone tricked Hades. “--How can I help you?”
