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His name rang out like a bell. “Hades?”
It was the specific tone of voice Sybil used whenever she needed something from him. Bright and clear, but he always bristled at the implied mischief. He’d known to expect it now from her and Hythlodaeus alike. Just his luck that he’d love the two people most unlike him in every way. Taking his time, he stood, stretched, and called back to her.
“You woke me up. Is it important?”
She laughed. “You’re a terrible hypocrite, Hades, do you know that? Every day I hear you prattle on about work, yet it seems I always catch you napping.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
She appeared in the doorway, hood and mask removed. She smiled at him. “Yes, it is important. I’m working on something and I’d like your assistance, if you can find the kindness in your heart to help me. Come to the balcony.”
He followed her out. In the starlight, her hair and eyes gleamed as she looked out into the night. “Well, what is it?” he asked.
She gestured upward. “You have been blessed with a truly miraculous gift. Attunement with our world so powerful that you can see its very soul. I cannot see this as you do, but I wish to know of it for my work. Can you describe it to me, my friend?”
He followed her hand and looked toward the Underworld. He spoke steadily. “The vast aetherial river, its rapids steady in their wildness, its tributaries drifting souls coming and going from whence they came. It is beautiful in its way, bright enough to be blinding, and even looking toward it for too long can bring the temptation to forget all things and fall into the flow.”
“Then you’d best return your gaze to me before you lose yourself.”
He fought against the smirk trying to make its way onto his mouth. “I still need to answer your questions, don’t I? What else do you wish to know?”
“If you may speak of the souls within. Can they be distinguished? Are they truly so scattered as to be irreparable?”
He looked within the tide and gave the question some thought. “Scattered as rain, yet I suppose it could be possible to bring them together again. Provided the pull is stronger than the Underworld’s, which would be no easy feat.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “Yes...I see. I understand better now. Thank you, my dear, you can go back to sleep if you wish.”
As she returned to her rooms, he followed her once again. “What are you working on?”
In her study, he watched as she flitted across the space like a shooting star, collecting books, inks, parchments, crystals, anything she deemed necessary for whatever was the task of her attention. Finally, she settled with her materials on the central table and beckoned to him.
“You know this, but I often travel far away,” she said, “And the road can be fraught with dangers. In my mind’s eye, I see that there is some as-yet unseen trial on the horizon, and I see that we will need to be prepared. For my part, I have been tinkering with an incantation. A summoning.”
“A summoning?”
“Yes. Should I find myself in grave danger, I shall summon my dearest friends and allies to my side-- whichever among them is most suited to the task. But, if the danger is truly so great, there stands the chance that my closest and most able companions will have parted from our world. And so this is not only a call to arms, but a call beyond. A true and final manifestation of the eternal bonds shared between us.”
“Ambitious…”
“Certainly! And this is why I have asked for your knowledge of the Underworld. I ask not to permanently tear a soul from their well-earned rest, but rather to simply beckon their spirit to aid me when I need them most. In the darkest day, the blackest night. Who else could I turn to?”
“You could always summon your fellows in the Convocation, you know.”
“Bold of you to think that I wouldn’t! Dire causes are far different from minor inconveniences, you know.”
He wasn’t sure if he’d call situations such as “there is a raging drakon razing the land” a “minor inconvenience”, but to her credit, she and her motley crew had dealt with that particular trouble very cleanly and, as much as he hated to admit it, with greater efficiency than they in the Convocation could ever have managed. Sybil had never been a fan of red tape. Even so, it was...nice that she considered them all as dear friends. Well, of course she considered him a dear friend, that was obvious to him by now, but still. It was still nice to hear it.
“I shall watch this incantation with great interest then,” he replied, “How long do you think it will take to get to the testing stage?”
With a few swift motions from her hands, a swirl of light came together to form a small star in her palm. She examined it for a moment, sighed, and let it dissipate back into the air. “Still some time, I should think. But, my companions and I will be travelling to a city famed for its summonings soon. So perhaps I will learn something of further use there.”
She returned to moving throughout the room, collecting more objects and returning others. There was an easy grace to her, even in these more frantic moments. He could have watched her work for hours, days even, to see the flow of her movements, the gleam in her eyes as she delved into the wondrous mysteries of the world. Oh, he was very lucky…
He caught her from behind and embraced her, pressing his lips gently against her neck.
She laughed. “Hades, I have to leave early tomorrow morning.”
“Tell them you’ll be delayed.”
“Hm...alright, I’ll delay one day.”
“Three.”
She turned herself to face him and brought him down for a kiss. “How greedy of you!” and another one.
“I’ve missed you.” he said quietly.
Another. “I’ve missed you too. But, you know I’m never far,” she moved locks of hair behind her ear, showing off her earring. “Not really. Aren’t you glad you married me after all?”
The smile on her face showed it to be a set up. Say something snarky, Hades, I know you want to . But, the thing was, he didn’t. “I am.”
A faint blush rose upon her cheeks. “Sincerity is a good look on you. You ought to try it more sometime.”
“Maybe I will.”
And he kissed her once more.
. . .
The aetherial river was not a calm place. Thousands upon thousands of souls flowed through it, shifting and fading, pulled along the tide and losing all they had to the swiftness of the current. Perhaps that’s how things were meant to be; and he supposed that simply letting go and losing oneself to the flow would be peaceful in its own right, but it wasn’t his idea of a way to spend what came after. It was good for him then, that he had a choice in the matter. Hades hadn’t earned the title of Lord of the Underworld for nothing, after all.
Surprisingly (and, he admitted to himself, disappointingly) it took him a few tries to get it exactly right. It must have been the shock of the blast, he thought, or the sudden, dizzying lightness in his heart-- like a fog clearing, or a weight lifted-- but, whatever it was, it caused him to lose his balance here and there, to lose parts of himself.
Getting out of the riptide wasn’t the issue, it was wanting to get out. He’d had dreams like this, and though many of them ended before he drowned, the feeling always stuck with him. Falling, falling, fading...sleep in a way, painless and breathless in the sea of souls. It was so easy to slip and forget and let himself be gently torn asunder. But, he steadied in time and found peace in his own way. Stubborn bastard he was, he wasn’t going to go just yet.
No, rather he let himself drift just above the river, just beyond its grasp, though he let his fingers trail through. And even that was enough for the memory of what came before to slowly wash away in the waters. Peaceful, in a way...now, how had he come to be there again? And just what was he waiting for? No, who , he was waiting for some one , not some thing . That’s right...maybe he shouldn’t have let himself slip even a little into the current, but he found himself quite unwilling to move.
Time steadily blurred. But, he’d lived a very long life, and the important scenes were very far behind indeed. Recent memory often went first, he knew, and aside from a few important details (such as how he got to be in this situation in the first place), there was very little there he wanted to remember. The more he delved into his past, the more he could feel himself slipping, but that wouldn’t do, because he was still waiting for--
A voice.
It started quietly, a voice calling for him. An incantation he’d heard in its making.
In my darkest day, my blackest night, where else could I go? Who else could I turn to? Return to me, my fallen companions, and grant me your aid one last time.
And in his heart, he heard, Hades. Hades, I call to you, my dearest friend, where else can I go? Who else could I turn to? Hades, answer me, return and grant me your aid.
He smiled to himself. “A call beyond, a true manifestation of the eternal bonds we share…”
He’d never seen the incantation used, for she never needed it. Not to his knowledge. It was an interesting thing to experience first-hand. He felt a bright, warm light pierce through the cool darkness like a comet, felt himself grow stronger than before, and there was the sense that he ought to reach out to it and hold it, and only then could he--
Hades remembered.
Azem. Yes, the warrior was truly her Soul, fractured though she may have been. She always could bring them together, even through impossible circumstances. And following her voice, he acted according to her will. It was the simplest thing in the world for him to wrest the warrior and her companions from the void. A single snap of the fingers and nothing more. Aid given freely, one last time.
With this accomplished, he bid the heroes a fare-thee-well and let himself fall back from whence all came.
He didn’t need to wait. He saw her there, now, yes, her, truly as could be, Azem just as he’d remembered her. She stood ankle-deep in the waters, her arms outstretched to him. “Hades!”
He embraced her without a second thought, holding her as tightly as he could.
“I have half a mind to be furious with you, you know, “ she said, “After all you’ve done while I’ve been away.”
What had he done? It was so distant now…
She sighed and returned the embrace. “Oh, but it’s been so long...I’ve missed you, I really have.”
“It’s over…” he murmured. “There’s nothing we can do now.”
“Nothing but to move forward,” she replied. “You’re so fond of sleep, Hades, why don’t you ever actually rest? Your work is finished. Your part has been played.”
And here she lowered her voice, speaking gently as she said, “And you know as well as I that I am not really here. The closest you would come to holding me again is to hold her. You don’t care do you? I suppose it doesn’t matter now. Good night, Hades, my dearest friend, my beloved. Good night.”
He kissed her as they fell into the flow.