Chapter Text
The ground thundered under the massive paws of an oversized black great dane as he chased the stick. The reverberations under his feet could be felt as he brought the stick back to Soul.
Soul picked it up, ignoring the slobber, and threw it again. Here in the mortal realm, he couldn’t exactly let him play fetch with a real bone, the dog’s actual favorite toy. Also, three heads tend to freak out the humans. Glamours were underrated sometimes.
Over and over, Soul throws the slowly-deteriorating stick. Another reason to stick to bones, since they could withstand Cerberus’s teeth.
The clearing in the woods was the perfect place to play fetch and stay away from Wes. It was nowhere near a body of water, uninhabited by humans, and most of the forest floor was dead already. Yes, he left a trail of dead grass as he walked here, but there was nothing to be done of it.
Being the God of the Underworld had its side effects.
He threw the stick again, but winced as it broke in half when Cerberus caught it. The large dog came trotting back with an expectant look on his face. “I have to find another one. You broke it!” Cerberus only barked at him.
Soul didn’t have long to look before voices drifted through the trees. “Time to go,” he said quietly, but Cerberus was watching in the direction of the voices.
“But why is the grass dead? I checked the soil just last week, there’s no fungus growing here!” Female. Obviously, she was furious at the trail he had left.
“Maka, I don’t think we should be over here.” Another young woman. Had he misjudged the distance to the next village?
“I need to know! This forest was healing! What could have come in within the past week and ruined it?”
Soul eyed Cerberus. “Cerberus, come!” he whispered, but the beast launched. He disappeared into the trees toward the girls. “NO!”
“Maka! I hear something!”
“That’s silly, there’s nothing bigger than a fox in these woods--There’s a dog!”
No, no, no, no, no, Soul didn’t want to witness what carnage Cerberus might cause. He wasn’t used to seeing mortals!
“A big dog! I’ll go see if I can find the owner.” This was the second woman, and she didn’t seem frightened. It took Soul too long to reach them.
When he did, he burst into another clearing, the grass around him instantly dying. In front of him, Cerberus was on his back, legs sticking up in all directions, and his head was in a woman’s lap.
“Oh, are you the owner? Even if he’s friendly, you should have him on a lead.” The woman hadn’t even looked up, she was smiling at his dog, who had the goofiest, most relaxed expression on his face.
It took Soul a moment to find his voice. “He, he’s not really friendly. It’s why I take him so far from people.” His voice had gone gravelly at the end, and he knew even a swallow wouldn’t help.
Finally, the woman looked up. Ash blonde hair parted to reveal eyes the color of the grass under her. The smile quickly disappeared as she noticed where he stood. “You’re killing the grass?”
Oh, she’s not mortal, but who is she? “Uhh, occupational hazard. I can go.” There was no need for her to know his identity if she hadn’t already figured it out. She must be some nymph of Spirit’s. The man lived around here somewhere.
“Cer- uhh, come!” Soul commanded, only a hint of the rumble he sometimes used for the dead present. The dog didn’t move.
“Guess you need to train him better. Why is the grass dead under you?” Maka gently pushed the heavy head off her lap and stood up.
Officially too many questions. “Don’t worry, we’re going.” Cerberus had gotten up when he lost his pillow.
“No, I want to know why!” Maka said. Right, the other woman had called her Maka.
“No, you don’t.” Soul needed to leave now.
“Yes, I do!” Ok, the foot stomp was kind of cute. No! Don’t get distracted!
He wasn’t going to argue anymore. Cerberus was now sitting next to this nymph like he planned on moving in with her. “Cerberus, come!” The thunder rolled from his chest, compelling the beast to listen. He obviously didn’t plan on listening otherwise.
Maka’s eyes widened. Yup, time to go. Cerberus shimmered and his other two heads appeared. Oh yeah, using compulsion overrides glamours. He’s never had to worry about it before. Crap, that means his clothes have changed too.
The edge of the cloak floated at his ankles. A dark tunic replaced the white cotton one. He didn’t dare watch Maka’s reaction. He turned, opened a rift right there in front of her, and fled to the Underworld.
***
“You’re lucky I don’t send you to Tartarus!” Soul left Cerberus sulking at his post past the Styx. Kilik was just arriving at this shore with the latest souls to enter and be judged. Soul could never be thankful enough that that wasn’t his job.
“Did your field trip go awry?” Kilik asked, his full purse clinking away with his steps.
“Damn dog went all doe-eyed at some nymph. He’s never cared about anyone in the mortal realm before!” Soul paced back and forth while the souls disembarked. This would take a while.
“Some nymph? He doesn’t care for Blair, so why would he care for one up there?” Kilik leaned against the closest pillar, not partaking in Soul’s restless energy.
“I don’t know! I’d never met her before.”
“You don’t meet anyone new unless Aegiochos calls you to Olympus.”
“That’s besides the point. If I hadn’t met her, then Cerberus hadn’t met her before. What could make him fascinated?”
“And there’s the real question.” Kilik chuckled. “Why are you fascinated?”
“I’m not! She was the one asking all the questions about the grass dying,” Soul finally stopped and leaned on another pillar. “I’ll have to find a new hiding spot now if that’s one of the nymph haunts.”
“Wait, she was worried about the grass?” Kilik asked, his brow furrowing with concentration.
“Yeah, going on about the dead grass and wanting to know why and how and I couldn’t exactly tell her who I was but she figured it out when I had to compel Cerberus--”
Kilik cut his rambling off. “You know she’s not a nymph, right?”
“What?” Soul studied Kilik. “You know her?”
“Everyone who’s had to deal with Spirit knows her. That’s Maka, his daughter.”
“Yeah, her friend called her Maka.” Oh. Spirit was God of the Harvest. That meant Maka was a goddess.
“Oh, wait till Spirit hears about this! He never lets anyone talk to his daughter!” Kilik broke down laughing, even though his boat was empty.
“Do your job. I don’t like lines at the door,” Soul muttered, pushing off the pillar and making his way into the Underworld. He could make a rift, but his mansion wasn’t too far. He could use the walk.
He had heard of Spirit’s daughter, the Goddess of Spring. No one had met her because Spirit refused to bring her to Olympus. No one knew what she looked like, and no one knew how to meet her.
But now Soul did. He knew she had ash blonde hair, large green eyes, and a radiant smile worthy of worship. The mortals worshipped him because they felt they had to. They didn’t know he wasn’t involved in judging their deeds. He just guarded their realm.
Even there, Cerberus did all of the brute work.
The mortals would worship Maka for her smile alone. They would plant flowers in honor of her. They would hold festivals and make statues of her in their towns. He was so different from her, she would probably forget he existed.
Until he killed her grass because he wanted to feel the sun on his face.
He was almost back at his house, but he heard his guest anyway from down the path. Apparently he was popular today.
“Soul! Where have you been?” Black Star leaned against the front door, obviously having been unsuccessful at breaking in. This time.
“If I told you, then I wouldn’t have to go, now, would I?” Soul smirked and fist-bumped his friend. “What do you have for me today?”
“Oh, just another invite from dear old King Dad for another party. Are you declining?”
“Is everyone going to be there?” Soul asked, already crafting a “regretful” decline in his mind.
“Yeah, but it sounds like this will be more family friendly,” Black Star could barely hold back the laughter at that, “And some will be bringing their kids.”
“Who’s accepted so far?” Soul couldn’t be blamed for asking, right?
“All the usuals, Stein, Azusa, Wes, Justin, Joe, Spirit. But more are invited.”
Green eyes flashed across his mind. “Are they all bringing kids?”
“No, but most will be. I think even Spirit was convinced to bring Maka.”
Damn. “I’ll go. Wait, how do you know her?”
“I have to bring Spirit letters from Olympus. Of course I know the bookworm. You know no one expects you to come.” Of course Black Star didn’t believe him. Why did no one believe him anymore?
“I’ll go.”
His friend grew serious. “Are you sure?”
Soul nodded, but couldn’t meet Black Star’s gaze. “How else am I supposed to take a break? It’s not like the dead ever stop arriving.”
He could tell Black Star didn’t buy it, but his friend nodded. “Alright. I’ll tell Aegiochos you’ll be there. Gotta run and deliver more invites.”
Soul nodded and gave him some snacks for the road. And Black Star has never commented on the veiled bribery to continue this friendship.
At least not to his face.