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Doyoung leaned back and let the whole picture sink in - the infinitely dark sky strewn with clouds that looked like lambent fire, flickering erratically. They floated and moved around like colored gas that was, however, more pertaining to a liquid - a dark, velvety black liquid with flecks of emerald green and gold.
When the clouds couldn't be seen in the sky, the underworld looked even darker. The sky was a deep shade of black, only some especially bright stars of constellations - that's how humans called them - were flashing through. The stars of some specific constellations became a bit more vivid every time Charon brought a new dead to him. Then the respective constellation began to shine at intervals and as soon as Doyoung was done with the human, the light quickly faded into an already established pattern.
The last time Doyoung had a clear view of the sky, the zodiac sign of Scorpio stood out the most, but that could change at a moment's notice. If Doyoung was being honest, his only guests were those who brought one of the zodiac signs to light.
These guests were annoying. He would rather have had no visitors at all than having to deal with these kinds of people.
To his right side, he could hear the crackling of the eternal fire as well as the soft snoring of his black hellhound Kerberos. When dead silence fell upon his endless palace, he could also discern distant screams of skeletons that were once enveloped in human flesh. Grinning, he turned his head to the left to glance at the river. Its water has long since turned black and was flowing slowly, like oil or warm venous blood. Charon hadn't brought any new guests here for a long time. Doyoung was getting a little bored; if something exciting hadn't happened soon, he would have to find ways to entertain himself.
He could harness the four black horses to his carriage and give humans some extra anxiety, but actually, he didn't feel like stepping into the bright daylight or preparing the horses. As if he had spoken his thoughts out loud, Nykteus raised his head and glared at Doyoung with his yellow eyes. Even at a great distance - his horses were standing at the southern end of the palace - these yellow eyes stood out from the black surroundings. Doyoung raised his hands in dismissal. A dark forest sprawled beyond the area reserved for his four black steeds. It seemed endless for those who didn't know their way around.
Some guests were never convinced of his hospitality and cautiously looked for a possible way out - without food, without water and money; after all, they had to give their last penny to Charon. But the forest, with its tall, barren pine trees, wasn't nearly as endless as it was thought to be. Doyoung had only plotted it in a way that would make one come back to the same place, no matter which direction one took and no matter how long one fled.
In moments like these, Doyoung sat grinning on his golden throne and ordered his four faithful companions to chaperone the runaways back to him, when those exhausted and frightened for dear 'life' managed to shuffle out of the forest.
Doyoung's throne was built at the northern end of the palace and stood on a small elevation that could be reached by only a few steps. The steps were made of solid marble, and his 'humble seat', as Doyoung called it, was enthroned right at the top of the last step-like platform. That way he had a perfect overview of his surroundings when he sat on his ornate chair.
When Doyoung turned his gaze to the left, a long plaque on the east side of the palace could be seen. Doyoung had never had an opportunity to test out the full capacity of this heavy golden table. However, he assumed that at least twenty guests could sit at it without bumping their elbows when they ate. Usually, Doyoung sat at the front in splendid solitude and enjoyed the view of the eternally long table which shimmered so nicely in contrast to the sky. It looked the most beautiful when he poured fresh champagne over it while eating and a whole sparkling constellation would appear right in front of his eyes. And then the tabletop would glitter in the brightest colors possible and it looked as if Doyoung was running his fingers through pure, liquid gold - a sight that deeply satisfied him and showed how much power he was entitled to.
However, despite the infinite power Doyoung possessed, his moods were often obnoxious.
Whenever he wanted some peace and quiet, he would essentially recognize the small wooden boat with an oil lamp on board that announced a new guest. The oil lamp was brought into action by the blood-like water of the stream and Charon only had to hold it underwater for a brief moment to make it glow a little brighter again. That didn't change the fact that he always dropped off visitors at the wrong time. Especially when Doyoung had just poured himself a glass of champagne. It seemed like a curse.
On the contrary, when Doyoung was bored, just like he was now, nothing exciting ever happened to him.
He couldn't even while the time away with the music. Doyoung loved classical music. Not too loud, otherwise he would no longer hear the screams of sinners, but he could dance wonderfully to the calming sounding of it. Unfortunately, it was impossible to indulge in his hobby in the underworld, for he neither had his own orchestra nor a record player.
A few weeks ago Doyoung was so desperate that he tried to dance to the rustling and howling of the dead, but it seemed like none of them had any tact and so, after a few pitiful attempts, he had given up dancing a decent waltz.
Perhaps he should teach some of his regular guests how to do music so that the silence wouldn't be so heavy and sullen. Undoubtedly, he did enjoy the silence but hearing his dog snoring all day could drive Doyoung insane too. It wasn't uncommon for him to be tempted to throw his golden, champagne-brimming goblet at Kerberos. He could control himself most of the time, although some of the goblets already lied smashed right next to Kerberos, their smithereens scattered all over the marble floor.
Doyoung snickered at the thought. How done and irritated Kerberos looked every time he had to face his master's mood swings. Even now he was startled - not from the shattering glass but Doyoung's hysterical laugh.
The two stared at each other for a moment before Doyoung stopped laughing and rose from his throne with a swing. It was time to put an end to boredom.
Gleeful about his plan, he strutted down the stairs, his shoes click-clacking with every step he took - a telltale sign of power.
Nykteus stared at him again, this time uttering a breathy nicker. As if in a trance, the other three companions of Nykteus raised their heads, glared briefly in Doyoung's direction through their long, dark manes, and then trotted towards him.
Doyoung had his four steeds under unprecedented control. That's why it took him only a few minutes to get on his carriage and let the golden reins slip through his fingers before he shifted them into a proper position.
Doyoung had to prepare both himself and his black horses for the upcoming sunlight. Of course, he could have waited for the sun to go down, but what the hell was he supposed to do until then?
His black horses were used to the light of the underworld. Their yellow eyes provided night vision that was clearly useless in the bright sunlight. Furthermore, the chances were high that the pernicious effect of sunlight would cause their pupils to darken, making it barely possible to see in the underworld.
This happened once and Doyoung wouldn't allow such a mistake to take place ever again. His four black horses had been lying on the ground for days, grumbling to themselves miserably, as if they were pissed off at their own helplessness.
As a result of the preparations, their eyes turned a pungent ice blue as soon as they reached the exit of the underworld so that the sunlight wouldn't pester them.
Today seemed to be a particularly warm day. They had barely left the underworld when Aethon snorted in indignation and reluctantly threw his head up in the air.
Doyoung was also surprised by the hot stream of air that whiffed over his face. If only had he stayed in the underworld.
Perhaps Charon would have a new visitor for him now.
But now that he had harnessed his horses and driven them into the heat, Doyoung also wanted his unexpected visit to Earth to be worthwhile. Otherwise, the four majestic creatures would ignore him for several days out of pure defiance and treat him as if he were air (which was quite true at times).
Doyoung pulled on his little cap and within a few seconds, he vanished into thin air along with his carriage. There would be more buzz about a quadriga speeding across the fields without a coachman than about the coachman easily identifiable as Doyoung. With the help of his cap Doyoung became invisible and thanks to some special qualities that the cap turned out to possess, so did his quadriga.
He had literally squeezed these 'latest findings' out of one of his guests. He even took care of his arrival in the underworld himself. That happened extremely rarely, even Kerberos seemed to have been amazed and also a little offended that he wasn't able to process the visit that time. Kerberos enjoyed his job very much.
Doyoung grinned and turned his quadriga east. The air seemed to stand still and the blazing sun made the black fur heat up particularly quickly. The horses weren't used to the merciless sun and would get sunburned if they stayed in the sun for too long - another thing Doyoung wanted to avoid. He spoke from experience. He hadn't surfaced very often but he learned from his mistakes. He didn't want to see his pets experiencing all hardships of being burned alive. Besides, they would resent him for weeks, if not months.
Not an exceptionally great idea, since the four black horses were actually his only companions with whom he had managed to develop some kind of bond. This was far from bordering on friendship - did he even know there was such a thing called 'friendship'? - but Doyoung liked to describe this remarkable bond as an alliance.
The quadriga slowed down as Doyoung drove it towards the woods in search of some sprawling shadows for the horses.
The black animals strode through the partially light-flooded forest, snorting and grumbling. The light still found its way through the dense canopy of leaves but the place was, however, mostly shady. The horses welcomed it eagerly.
Doyoung looked around. If he wanted to experience something exciting, then he presumably shouldn't have ridden through a seemingly enchanted forest but steered towards Olympus. There were the Gods, which implied that there always was drama, and even if everything was peaceful there, as soon as the Gods noticed that Doyoung had risen from the underworld, there would be drama.
However, he also wanted to give his companions a chance to rest and maybe he should go to the body of water so that the magical creatures could refresh themselves.
A few minutes later, the forest thinned indeed, revealing a small pond.
Doyoung stopped the quadriga, put down the golden reins that shimmered conspicuously beautifully in the sunlight, and unbridled the horses. The atmosphere here, by the pond, seemed to soothe Doyoung. Suddenly the urge to ride to Olympus lost its prior charm - the little lake he had found was a worthy alternative.
Just when was the last time Doyoung had surfaced? Must have been ages ago.
It was strange. Doyoung was always satisfied with his life in the underworld. He loved the silence, the solitude, and also the darkness of his abode but as he was grazing through the knee-high grass and the sun was tickling his nose, he felt a short pang of chagrin in his chest.
Of course not because he missed it all. No way! It was definitely the sun that bothered him. After all, he wasn't used to it.
Slowly, he sat down on the grass and watched his horses take a few steps into the lake greedily drinking water. After they got fed up, it was completely silent. Doyoung heard the chirping of birds and how the grass swayed slowly and rustled in an emerging gust of wind.
Another sound was carried to him by this gust of wind. It sounded like some distant singing. Even Nykteus raised his head and perked his ears, inquisitively glancing at Doyoung who shrugged his shoulders, knowing just as much as his companion did.
As soon as the steeds were hitched to the carriage and Doyoung was sitting there with his cap on, the entire team was invisible, but now that he had untied the horses and got off the carriage, only he himself had the privilege.
Even though he was only visible to his horses, Doyoung rose carefully and took a few steps in the direction of where the light singing came from. It had to be a male person - the voice was soft and pleasant but way too deep for a woman.
Doyoung stood behind an old oak tree, that cast a long shadow in the clearing, and peeked out from there, his curiosity piqued.
At the other side of the bank, on an old stump sat a nymph. He sang in such a dulcet manner that the flowers all over the meadow were turning their buds in his direction, nodding slightly to the melody and seemingly getting bigger with every passing minute.
His hair was lily-white and even from a great distance, Doyoung could see little flowers and tendrils decorating him. It looked like they had grown into his skin. They merged with the overall image of the nymph perfectly.
Doyoung didn't know much about nymph creatures or humans in general, he was alone most of the time anyway, but in this case, he could assume the creature to be a tree nymph. Elegance shined through every little movement of his and he blinked at the sun almost gracefully.
Something began to nibble at his cloak. Why was he still wearing that stupid thing? The cloak was long and heavy, dangling to the ground. Exposed to the sun, it heated up quickly, making Doyoung extremely uncomfortable.
As long as he was in the underworld, this cloak was a perfect piece of clothing to showcase his power, but here it was just plain annoying.
He pulled the hem of his cloak out of Alastor's mouth - that bastard actually dared to nibble on the dark fabric. Doyoung glared at him, whereupon the horse's eyes turned cyan-blue in a bellicose way. In the underworld it would have been a sulfur yellow, Doyoung had seen that many times before but up here... they just turned light blue.
"Screw you too," Doyoung muttered and nudged Alastor on the nostrils. As years passed by, he had come to terms with his horses, and... maybe (but really just maybe) the five were now in a kind of symbiosis, but Doyoung didn't want to waste any thoughts on that.
Alastor perked up his ears and eyed the nymph on the stump suspiciously, then turned his gaze back to Doyoung and looked at him through his long mane. Doyoung could have sworn the steed was laughing at him. Another nudge at the nostrils.
Doyoung rolled his eyes as he leaned on Alastor's shoulder with his arms crossed.
The nymph was still sitting on a tree stump, humming a melody to himself. It was actually a perfect moment and maybe Alastor was right? Doyoung had toyed with this idea too but was quick to dismiss it - the sun seemed to feign his geniality. On the other hand, the idea was anything but repugnant.
Doyoung set his mind rather quickly, pushed away from Alastor, and whistled for the rest of the horses - a sound that only them could hear. After all, Doyoung was still wearing his cap and he had no intention of taking it off before his carriage had disappeared into the underworld.
He gestured his companions to trot quietly and carefully towards the carriage that was still standing at the other end of the clearing - not camouflaged, just like the steeds themselves.
Doyoung swung himself onto Alastor's back so that he wouldn't have to walk back on his own, and Alastor disappeared at that very moment too.
He wanted to prevent the creature on the stump from hearing any sounds caused by the horses.
The other three had moved a little further towards the carriage and Doyoung hoped they were camouflaged well enough not to attract the nymph's attention.
When all of his companions were equally close to the carriage, Doyoung began to harness them one by one.
Who came up with an idea to harness every damn horse individually?
"I should definitely teach you how to put a halter on yourself. That's damn annoying!"
Orphanaios, who was closest to him, struck him in the side while the other three just stared at him condemningly.
"Oh, don't complain!" Doyoung said and pulled Orphanaios' belt tighter which the latter acknowledged with an insulted snort. "Wouldn't happen to you if you did it yourself."
With that Doyoung swung himself on the seat and after an infinitely long time, he finally put his cloak next to him.
He was just not used to this goddamn heat and that was a good thing - he preferred the dark sky in his realm a thousand times. The pines grew even without sunlight (It didn't matter how Doyoung had managed it. He didn't stand next to every single tree, persuading it to grow and watering it meanwhile).
He didn't care about other flowers or plants. As long as his black horses had enough food, it was enough.
Doyoung wouldn't place a vase of brightly colored flowers on the long table just for them to perish. That would disturb the whole majestic overall picture. Not to mention the dirt that would result from their withering. In the end, it might turn out that Doyoung had a pollen allergy and he would spend the whole day (or night) sneezing and wiping his teary eyes.
He wasn't the most cordial host out there but still wanted to avoid sneezing into his visitor's face. Whereby the guests would certainly be happy about flowers and blooming trees - Doyoung would never let that happen.
Now it was the nymph's turn.
Doyoung clicked his tongue and the invisible carriage began to move.
He would have to sneak up very close to the singing nymph for everything to go smoothly. He wasn't even allowed to get out of the carriage, otherwise, he would jeopardize the invisibility of it. If the nymph had noticed that all of a sudden an empty carriage was standing right next to him, he would most likely disappear. Maybe in a tree, in a flower, or he might even fly away. Could nymphs even do that?
Nymphs were actually beings who stayed in and around the water and tended to keep the areas assigned to them intact. Doyoung had never heard of them flying but honestly, it had been ages since he'd attended a class on Mount Olympus. That was before Zeus, Poseidon and he had drawn straws to decide who got which area and that had to be a long time ago - like really, really damn long ago.
Doyoung parried the quadriga to dressage in order to steer it closer to the singing being.
It was a matter of seconds.
The carriage had come to a standstill, Doyoung had leaned forward, grabbed the creature under their arms from behind, and dragged the overwhelmed lad into his invisible carriage. The tree nymph was now invisible too and the quadriga shot across the glade.
The young man must have been so shocked that he hadn't uttered a sound for the first few seconds - lucky for Doyoung. Now that the nymph turned to him with wide eyes and began to scream, no one could hear him.
Even so, Doyoung had to make an effort to hold the lad tight. If he jumped off the carriage, he would no longer be invisible and would possibly get injured and that was another thing Doyoung wanted to avoid - injuries were poison.
Kerberos sniffed blood three kilometers against the wind and Doyoung had little desire to watch out for a fleeing nymph while he kept Kerberos from wanting to attack him.
The quadriga galloped over a wheat field and only now did Doyoung, who was still busy holding the lad, notice that the sky had darkened within the last few minutes. He heard a rumble nearby and coaly black ravens streaked out of the field some distance away.
That was where the gateway to the underworld had to be. With one hand on the reins, he ordered the horses to descend there. Doyoung's left hand was still clutching the nymph's arm and soon enough, he felt piercing pain shooting through his nervous system. Only when he took a closer look did he notice that small spikes were growing out of the lad's skin, which penetrated Doyoung's hand painfully.
"Hold still, damn it," Doyoung shouted against the wind and grabbed the thin arm tighter, which only caused him a lot more pain.
He had to hold out for just one more moment. The quadriga headed for the portal at full speed. Next to him, a bolt of bright lightning flashed over the horizon. Seconds later, it thundered.
It was in that deafening crash that Doyoung's scream was drowned out - the damn spikes were getting bigger and bigger. He let go and the nymph threw himself over the edge of the carriage in no time.
"Fuck you, Zeus!" Doyoung exclaimed as the carriage came to a halt in the underworld. Even here you could hear the thunderstorm and which was really rare. Doyoung threw the reins out of his hand and jumped off the carriage.
Freeing four horses from the harnesses with only one hand wasn't as easy as Doyoung had imagined.
Nykteus blew warm air over the wound, which Doyoung acknowledged with a hiss and gave the horse a pat on the backside so that it turned away and made more room. He crossed over to the river and immersed his hand into it. The water felt like hot oil, but when Doyoung pulled his hand out again, the wounds were just about to close. Luckily, Kerberos didn't seem to have noticed anything. He wouldn't dare to attack Doyoung, but he was interested in his blood anyway and if Doyoung wasn't careful, Kerberos would still snap at the wounds, that bloodthirsty bitch.
Sighing, Doyoung got to his feet again and wanted to drag himself to his throne when he saw the reason why Kerberos didn't come sniffing at him. The three-headed creature stood growling in front of a petite man who was retreating further and further away with little, palsied steps.
Doyoung raised his hand in the air. In fact, he was already immersed in the underworld when he let go of the nymph. That was exactly what he had secretly hoped for, but he was a little surprised that the tree nymph didn't call for help, but rather tried to appease the hellhound.
"Kerberos!" Doyoung said venomously, every word uttered sharply through his gritted teeth. "Dare to touch one hair on the nymph's head and I'll throw you into the flames with my own hands!"
With that, Kerberos tucked his tail but didn't move an inch. In absolute contrast to the nymph.
The creature now looked at Doyoung with huge eyes and gradually brought more distance between Doyoung and himself.
Doyoung put his friendliest smile on. "Hello! It is my pleasure to welcome you here. This is my palace. My four horses stand back there and guard the forest. Kerberos guards the hellfire, you have already met him." Doyoung peered down at his fingernails. "Not in the friendliest way possible, but still. Make yourself at home."
With that, he turned and walked towards his throne (definitely with more pride than before).
"Excuse me? What the hell?!" The tree nymph's voice no longer sounded melodic or gentle, but simply irritated and outraged. Doyoung couldn't figure out why, but the phrase 'what the hell' made him smile.
Doyoung turned and looked at the lad, amused. Then he shook his head briefly.
"Sorry, how reprehensible. I didn't introduce myself properly at all. Hades, God of the underworld, brother of Zeus and Poseidon. And you're..." Doyoung made it sound like a general statement rather than a question, but his eyebrows rose in anticipation.
The young man stared at him speechless for a while before he began to answer.
"Taeyong."
Doyoung blinked. "Lovely."
"Lovely?" Taeyong repeated sullenly. "Then I shall take my leave now. Where's the exit?"
He turned on his own axis, ready to follow the directions. As if it was that easy.
Doyoung was pretty sure that the nymph had just made this statement on purpose. Apparently, the other's sentence wasn't open to objection and Doyoung wasn't interested in it. Why should he be?
"There is no exit," Doyoung noted after a while and watched Taeyong's reaction with alert eyes. "At least not for you or for any other person who isn't called Hades."
"You are just trying to convince me that I won't get out of here?" Taeyong looked at him in disbelief.
Doyoung put a frugal look on and took a few steps towards the nymph. He liked the situation - the perfect one to showcase his power.
"Not unless I want to," Doyoung looked down at his fingernails.
"Then want it! I have to take care of my charges," Doyoung hadn't expected Taeyong to be so brave but he had also taken a step forward and now they stood so close that their noses almost touched and Doyoung could feel the hot breath of the nymph.
Taeyong smelled of flowers. If Doyoung were to guess which flowers exactly, he would assume it to be a mixture of peony and hibiscus, but actually, he hadn't had the faintest idea of flowers.
As if the God of the underworld, who owned four black horses and whose realm was as dark as the night, knew something about the scents of flowers. That would be ridiculous. Flowers were vivid and colorful, and Doyoung guarded the realm of the dead.
"You smell good," he stated, lips outstretched in a lazy grin.
Taeyong's response was an annoyed snort, and Doyoung felt the smell intensify.
"Show me the exit!" There was a dangerous undertone in his voice. Taeyong really showed no fear, Doyoung found that almost impressive. Nothing seemed to be left of the graceful and gentle nymph.
Doyoung took Taeyong's chin between his thumb and forefinger and cocked his head up.
"No, my dear. There's no exit."
Taeyong shook himself out of the tight grip and stared Doyoung in the eye for a little too long.
"Do not touch me," he growled at the god.
"Or what?" Doyoung asked. "Are you going to pull out your spines again?"
Even if Doyoung only wanted to lure Taeyong out of his reserve, he hoped that this ability would have no effect in the underworld. Doyoung's pain level was high, he tolerated a lot of pain, but the thought of spikes digging into his hands made his innards contract - something that happened very seldom.
"Maybe," Taeyong seemed to have seen Doyoung's thoughts. Did he have so little control over his features? Doyoung was actually used to hiding his emotions well behind his dark face.
"Listen," said Doyoung, trying to change the tree nymph's mind. He had little interest in having an angry nymph in his realm who tossed spikes around. "I don't feel like arguing with you. You will stay here for the time being. It's nice to have visitors who don't wander into the hellfire after five minutes and burn there screaming."
At these words, Taeyong took an imperceptible step backward.
"Don't worry, I didn't take you to the underworld to throw you in. I have more important things to do than choose my fire sacrifices. The victims choose themselves."
"So you needed company and thought you were just grabbing an innocent tree nymph?" Taeyong was clever. Within a few minutes, he had seen through the god of the underworld. Doyoung didn't let it show.
"If it makes you happy, then just grow your plants and flowers down here. The blacks are sure to be happy about fresh, green stalks. At the moment, they are nibbling on the withered blades of grass. The last tree nymph that was here had a broken arm and could hardly achieve anything green before she made her way into Hellfire."
Pure lies. Horses came from warm regions in which the meadows were sparsely overgrown. They were contented with short stubble to nibble on. So neither the horses' mood nor the nymph's unfulfilled task mattered. But maybe he could make Taeyong more docile by transferring power.
Taeyong narrowed his eyes.
"You really seem to yearn for company. You haven't had any good guests for a long time or were they too boring, huh?" Doyoung's jawbones protruded, but he ignored the comment. "How long?" he heard Taeyong say unexpectedly.
Doyoung tilted his head to the side as if to think about it.
"Indefinite."
Taeyong shook his head firmly. "No, tell me a period of time, or I'll scream the hell out of you until someone gets me out of here."
Now Doyoung was indeed laughing - so sincerely that he had to put his hand on his mouth to muffle the noise.
"Underworld, not hell!", Doyoung stated admonishingly when he had calmed down a bit. "Nobody will hear you down here. The only one who might is Kerberos and he will yell with you until it gets too much for him and he bites your thigh. So think carefully about what you are doing."
"I'll retreat now and in the meantime, you can calm yourself down, rest, and grow fodder for the horses," Doyoung said firmly and turned on his heel.
"What are their names? I want to know who I give my straws to," Taeyong's gaze was fixed on Doyoung. He was still pleased that Taeyong threw him sharp comments instead of creeping into the last corner and howling as everyone else did. He had chosen a good companion.
"Nykteus, Alastor, Aethon, and Orphnaios," Doyoung replied and heard Taeyong mumbling something about strange names behind his back.
The god rolled his eyes, tossed Kerberos a treat, and sat on his massive throne after a relatively long while that felt like an eternity.
In the distance, he saw the tree nymph approaching the horses and at the same time, he felt his eyelids getting heavier. Don't fall asleep, he admonished himself and focused on the play that took place on the meadow.
Doyoung expected tree nymphs to only know how to handle puny flowers. Taeyong had just taught him better. He walked up to the big black horses without hesitation and caressed Nykteus' nostrils cautiously, but not fearfully. Nykteus, of all people. The one Doyoung trusted the most and also told the most - if he ever did tell.
Most of the time, they pissed each other off, each in their own way that was available to them - Doyoung with teasing words and Nykteus with his tail, the slaps of which were insolently painful.
A loud bang echoed through the palace and startled Doyoung. He cursed under his breath. Hadn't he made up his mind to not fall asleep? He wanted to keep a close eye on Taeyong.
He looked around the hall sleepily.
Taeyong stood at his marble table with a huge vase in his hands and glared at Doyoung. Doyoung realized that it must have been the vase that had made the loud noise. How did it not crack in the impact?
"If I'm already here, I want to know everything."
"What do you want to know?" Doyoung blinked and straightened from his sleeping position. His neck hurt and he really cursed his body for falling asleep in the first place.
"Everything," Taeyong replied simply and sat sideways on the table.
Doyoung went down the steps, picked up a cluster of green grapes from the table, and put some in his mouth. Such things were always there at his reach - grapes, nectarines, cranberries, cheese, and of course champagne with some golden goblets. As long as Doyoung had no guests, he drank the champagne from the goblet, but he normally reached for chalices with a visitor.
He handed Taeyong one of the full ones. The latter acknowledged Doyoung's action with a crooked look and placed the chalice a little too hard on the table.
Doyoung sat down on the table directly in front of Taeyong, swirled the contents of his chalice briefly before taking a sip and grinning at the nymph.
"Were the black horses happy?" He asked instead, not responding to what his opponent said in the broadest sense.
Taeyong rolled his eyes. The god of the underworld, who lacked visitors and therefore kept an innocent tree nymph as a slave, couldn't have a normal conversation. He suspected that it was really because he had too few people to talk to. Doyoung had a dog and four horses, what was he expecting.
Taeyong gave a short shrug but didn't answer the question. The nod had to suffice as an answer.
"What is your job? What about Plutos and Pluto, Erebos and Eros?"
Doyoung smiled. "Not so many questions at once!" He held up his arms defensively and almost spilled his champagne. That would have been embarrassing.
"My job?" Doyoung made himself comfortable.
"I take care of the dead," he thought briefly as to how he could put it most objectively. "And keep them in check." That sounded good, he thought.
"You surely know about the coin," Doyoung assumed and raised his eyebrows in surprise when Taeyong shook his head thoughtfully.
"I neither deal with death nor people," Taeyong explained and formed a pink hydrangea flower between his nimble fingers, which he placed in the vase.
Doyoung sighed. "Before the burial, each person is given a coin slipped between their hands. As soon as they are buried, they exchange the coin with Charon, my ferryman, for the last trip across the Dead River. Then they arrive here and are accompanied by Kerberos to the hellfire." Doyoung felt the need to teach Taeyong his task as gently as possible. He wouldn't say a word that he was amused by the dead and had already tried to dance to the screams and that he was, in fact, a sadist.
During the narration, Taeyong had made more flowers, which he placed one after another in the vase and filled it to the brim. Doyoung recognized poppies, daffodils, roses, sun hats, a large iris, and peony leaves, which Taeyong used for abundance and a dash of green color. It was a combination that you would never see in nature because the plants bloomed at different times.
Doyoung would never admit that he knew so much about flowers. Then who would Taeyong take him for? Not for the god of the underworld, that was clear.
"People say that besides Hades there are also Plutos and Pluto," It sounded more like a question than a statement.
Doyoung shook his head in amusement. "People are stupid. I know they distinguish these three personalities, but that is utter nonsense. I am everything - Plutos, Pluton, and Hades. Anyone who doesn't know my real name calls me Hades. Plutos and Pluton as names are never involved."
Doyoung looked away doggedly. He could see the curiosity in Taeyong's gaze. Why hadn't he kept his mouth shut? Even when he wasn't in contact with many people, he made a firm commitment every time not to get cocky. He was the god of the underworld, the mysterious Hades, and no one else.
"Doyoung," he muttered and immediately regretted it. He didn’t want to reveal that much.
"Cool, Doyoung," Taeyong emphasized his name and glared at him. He had totally figured the god of the underworld out and he enjoyed teasing Doyoung a little.
"One more thing," Taeyong got up and strolled a few steps around the marble table. "Erebos and Eros."
Doyoung noticed that they were on the same level. Taeyong was confident and so much more interesting than any of his previous guests.
"Eros?" Doyoung laughed and waved him away. "Eros has absolutely nothing to do with the underworld and me. He is the god of love. The Romans call him Cupid. Have you ever heard of him?"
Taeyong let out a low 'oh' and looked down at the floor, a little ashamed.
"With Erebos, you are on a better way. In practical terms, he is the personification of the underworld and is viewed as part of it."
A new flower went into the huge vase.
Doyoung cursed himself for liking the brightly colored bouquet in the center of the table.
And he cursed himself even more for taking a liking to the tree nymph.
"What about you?" He heard himself ask and was amazed that he was really interested in Taeyong's answer.
"What about me? I am the slave of the great Hades of the underworld, who is too afraid to reveal his real name to prisoners because he thinks that he would then be powerless. And I've also conjured up a bouquet so that it doesn't look so bleak here."
Doyoung was in front of him within seconds, pushing Taeyong back hard enough for him to hit the edge of the table.
He leaned forward, but paused a few inches away, close enough for his breath to raise goosebumps on Taeyong's skin.
"What is it?" Taeyong asked, turning his head to look at the way Doyoung's eyes hadn't strayed from his face.
"I've never told anyone my real name and you're the first one who doesn't shy away from my dark charisma!" Voice laced with menace, he stared darkly at Taeyong.
"Should I take that as a compliment?" Taeyong replied, visibly amused.
Taeyong sounded confident and he returned Doyoung's gaze without difficulty, but his posture said otherwise. He had leaned further back to put enough distance between himself and the god. Nevertheless, they were so close that he even felt a little bit of Doyoung's pelvis when he concentrated.
"Do you know anything about the thing called distance zone?"
"What?" Surprised, Doyoung pulled back.
"Minimum personal space that you are comfortable with?" Taeyong didn't really know how to express it.
He had no problem being around other people, but to feel someone's crotch during the first encounter was a bit too much. Their intimate proximity was very distracting too.
"You smell good," Doyoung said as a justification.
Taeyong smiled. "You're repeating yourself."
Now Doyoung glared at him again. "Quit it!" He hissed.
Taeyong's expression reflected innocence and Doyoung knew full well that he was doing it on purpose.
"You know exactly why. You're doing it intentionally - amplifying your smell. You want to influence me."
"I really don't know what you're talking about," Taeyong explained, looking at him with wide eyes.
Doyoung was suddenly in front of him again, closer than last time. Now Taeyong no longer imagined the touch of his pelvis. He could literally feel Doyoung's manhood press against his thigh and that made little creeps steal up his spine.
"I had no idea that this is how I react to smells," Doyoung admitted honestly. His eyes darted to Taeyong’s lips and then further down his neck, tracing the sharp edge of his jawline, his Adam's apple, and his trapezius muscle merging with the curve of his exposed collarbone. "But if you don't pull yourself together, I don't know how much longer I can hold back."
He felt a special sort of pleasure when he noticed how Taeyong had gulped nervously.
"Your heart's beating really fast," Doyoung leaned in and whispered into his ear, his lips brushing Taeyong's skin with every word. His eyes flicked to Taeyong's. "Are you scared?"
"I'm not sca—" Taeyong started, though the gasp that tore out of his throat when Doyoung's teeth grazed his neck right under his earlobe cut him off.
"Hmm?" Doyoung hummed low in his chest, a teasing smile molding to the jut of Taeyong's jawline. "What were you trying to say?"
"Touch me again and you will regret it. The spines can get longer," Taeyong knew how to defend himself, Doyoung stated bitterly.
"I'm not touching you," Doyoung said with a disappointed sigh and put his hands on the tabletop instead, to either side of Taeyong, locking him in some sort of an improvised cage.
"How did your wounds heal so quickly?" Taeyong suddenly turned the subject in a different direction. He blamed himself for letting his guard down that easily.
"The power of the god of the underworld," Doyoung declared confidently, even if it was a lie. The tree nymph didn't have to know that.
There was a pause and Taeyong kept staring at the god.
"The bouquet looks better than I thought. You can put them on the table more often," said Doyoung, to put an end to the uncomfortable silence.
"You like flowers?" Taeyong's question sounded more like a statement. He was still caught between Doyoung's hands and the sharp edge of the table was pressing against his rump.
"How did you come up with that?" Doyoung tried to make the question sound as if the answer was completely unimportant to him.
Taeyong took his time with his next words.
He propped himself up with his hands on the tabletop, took a swing, and sat carefully on the table to put some distance between himself and Doyoung.
"Do I get an answer?" Doyoung asked shortening the distance once again when Taeyong didn't reply instantly. This time they were perfectly at eye level.
Doyoung noticed how the tree nymph was trying not to move backward.
Taeyong's voice sounded a lot more powerful than his posture showed. He snorted. "You didn't even notice how you partially stared at the flowers while I was shaping them, did you? Even your eyes have darkened when I held the iris in my hands."
This time around, Doyoung was the one to take an imperceptible step backward.
"So?" Taeyong looked at him questioningly and shifted a little on the tabletop. Doyoung didn't have his hands next to him anymore, so Taeyong was experiencing unexpected freedom.
"Doesn't matter," Doyoung muttered, even though he knew Taeyong wouldn't let this go until he got an answer.
He avoided Taeyong's gaze and stared at Taeyong's chest instead, crossing his arms.
A moment later, he felt Taeyong gently grab his chin. Doyoung's only memory of Taeyong's hands was them suddenly growing spines, which got bigger and thicker, digging painfully into his skin. He backed away and immediately cursed himself for being so weak in Taeyong's presence. He felt the need to tell him everything he had experienced so far, that he felt alone even though he had four horses.
He was the god of the underworld, for goodness' sake. The god of darkness in propria persona. And a tree nymph who had just avoided being burned made him buckle. Although he had to admit that he had caused this situation himself. If only had he hunted another nymph.
"Thorns don't always grow out of my hands, you know?" Taeyong said calmly, his fingers catching Doyoung's chin again, this time more carefully.
When Doyoung looked up, Taeyong seemed as elegant and relaxed as at the lake for the first time since he had arrived in the underworld.
His eyes sparkled even though it was so dark. A zodiac sign lit up in the sky.
"Why do you have such a soft spot for flowers?" Taeyong's aura was so comforting to Doyoung that he couldn't help but tell him the truth. There was no other way, no matter how hard he tried.
Doyoung gulped. "It's a good distraction. I have four horses, but sometimes I feel lonely down here. The people who arrive here disappear after a few minutes, nobody talks to me because I am the god of the underworld and bring shame to souls."
"Are you really doing that?" Taeyong asked and handed him a white carnation with pink edges that he had just shaped.
"No," Doyoung looked at the carnation and gently caressed the individual petals.
"There's more, right? After all, that doesn't explain why you know all of the flowers. They don't grow down here," Taeyong chose his words carefully. Just as carefully as he shaped his flowers.
"I don't want to talk about it," Doyoung said quietly and took the dahlia that Taeyong handed him.
"Talking helps, you know? Even a god has to tell things that preoccupy him. Unlike your other guests, I listen," Taeyong took Doyoung by the shoulders. It actually seemed to calm him down a bit.
"Because you are one of the few guests who are alive and have not yet rowed across the Dead River," Doyoung suddenly remarked and looked up.
Taeyong shook his head with a smile. "I think I know why I am here and if there is a reason then that's fine with me as long as I don't have to stay here forever. Besides, it's not as bad as I thought - if this horrendous dog leaves me alone."
Doyoung turned around to see Kerberos. He was standing at the gates of hell, sniffing the air.
Doyoung gave an amused snort. "What a fool," he stated.
"He's actually not that terrible, only his appearance is a bit off-putting."
Doyoung slowly relaxed again. He could feel Taeyong's presence behind him and he didn't mind, not even when Taeyong's hands reached for his shoulders and began to massage them.
"Tell me."
Doyoung sighed. "It must have been ages ago. At that time a tree nymph came to me. A good soul, in the truest sense of the word. She died of a broken arm. Open wound, blood poisoning."
Taeyong's hands felt good.
"She cultivated the palace meadow without my asking her to do so. She was however unable to do more with her broken arm. So much time has passed, I can't remember everything exactly. She taught me a lot about flowers. She couldn't make them anymore, but she showed them to me. The nymph and the flowers have made my life a lot brighter. I was really grateful to her, but she had to leave at some point."
"Why?" Taeyong whispered. He had laid his head on Doyoung's left shoulder during the narration, without the god noticing.
Doyoung breathed in and out shakily. He never wanted to reveal so much about himself and it scared him. "Even in the underworld, wounds cannot be healed. In this case, she died for the second time from her injuries. I had to carry her into the hellfire myself."
"One can die twice?" Taeyong wanted to know. He seemed to deliberately ignore the nymph herself.
"The second time the soul dies," explained Doyoung. There was so much pain in his voice. "And even the god of the underworld doesn't want that to happen to anyone."
Doyoung just let himself be hugged. He didn't do anything. As much as it had hurt him to tell someone this story, he felt relieved now.
"How long have you been alone?" Was Taeyong's first question after the underworld had been completely silent for a moment.
"Too long. Maybe around five hundred years?"
Doyoung heard Taeyong gasp behind him.
"I really hesitated about taking you with me for a long time, but I couldn't help it," Doyoung defended himself. His head was still bowed, but he was leaning slightly into the tree nymph's embrace.
"Why didn't you ask me if I would come with you? Then you could have saved yourself the wounds on your hands." Doyoung gave a toneless laugh and looked at his hands.
"As if you would have come to the underworld of your own free will, because Hades, the god of the underworld, kindly asked you to."
Taeyong pushed away. "Okay, you are right, but if you had explained to me why I should have come with you, I would certainly not have minded."
"You're the first person I've told this to," Doyoung mumbled quietly.
"What?" Taeyong grabbed Doyoung's shoulders and forced him to turn around so he could look the god in the eye.
A cold chill ran down Doyoung's spine and he was barely able to keep himself from shaking.
"You heard me," Doyoung didn't want to repeat these words for anything in the world. He was ashamed.
"No," Taeyong said gently. "I really didn't hear you." He tried to make eye contact, but Doyoung was still staring at the marble floor.
Taeyong's hands, so much softer than Doyoung had thought, slid from his shoulders towards his neck and lingered there, gently caressing the skin.
Taeyong's aura felt like he was lying in a lavender field, with long green stalks, purple flowers, and bees overhead. It was so reassuring.
"You are the first person I've told this to," Doyoung repeated his statement.
The pressure on his neck increased imperceptibly so that Doyoung was forced to look up - right into Taeyong's eyes, which still exuded as much calm and safety as at the beginning of his story.
"Thanks for telling me," Taeyong smiled at Doyoung and then pulled him into a warm hug. And Doyoung simply allowed that too.
After a short while, Doyoung put his arms around his waist, hid his face in the crook of the nymph's neck, and closed his eyes. Probably that was exactly what he had needed all these lonely years.
"Did you love her?" Taeyong asked after a while and slowly broke away from the embrace.
"Hm?" Doyoung hummed and blinked in confusion. Even in the underworld, the eyes had to adapt to the light conditions.
"The tree nymph," Taeyong clarified.
"Do I know what love is?" Doyoung replied and directed the question more to himself rather than to the tree nymph.
Taeyong looked at the god speechless. He hadn't expected such an answer.
"I don't think I loved the nymph, but she was my companion. I appreciated her," Doyoung looked into the distance.
"Why am I here?" With these words, Taeyong tore the other person out of the freeze. "I renewed your lawn and conjured up a huge bouquet of flowers on the table. What else do you want me to do?"
Doyoung reflected on it for a moment. "I want you to keep me company, let flowers grow and," he hesitated. "be my companion."
"For what? Do you have something in return that is worthwhile for me to stay here?" Taeyong looked at him expectantly.
"I told you my story," Doyoung said in a casual manner, turning around and about to leave. He'd been given enough pity and mourned long enough.
"Hold on!" Taeyong grabbed his arm and turned Doyoung back to him. "If there's nothing in return, then I wanna get out of here. I'm not here just to listen to your grief stories."
"You can't get out of here, remember?" Doyoung grinned, the cockiness in his voice coming back. He was the god. He was Hades.
"I swear I'll let spikes grow out of my hands for so long that they will eventually pierce your whole being because they would have nowhere else to go," Taeyong's eyes flashed menacingly.
"My palace is endless," Doyoung smirked. "Half a year," he said, raising an eyebrow.
"Half a year?" Taeyong sounded dismayed. "No way! A maximum of three months and not a second longer."
"Half a year," repeated Doyoung. "I make the rules here."
He took a step towards Taeyong.
"A quarter of a year," Taeyong said doggedly. Doyoung came a little closer to him. "No," he stated.
There it was, Taeyong's smell again - the one that bothered Doyoung so much and although he really would have loved to have Taeyong in view the entire time, he had to screw his eyes shut for a moment.
"Oh fuck," Doyoung swore.
When he looked up again, he found Taeyong standing so close to him that their noses were almost touching. How many times for the past few hours have they invaded the intimate zones of each other like that?... Doyoung felt cornered and that was far from his inherent behavior.
Taeyong's annoyed "No, damn it! I'll stay here for a maximum of three months" was interrupted in the middle.
The whole thing had become way too iridescent for Doyoung as soon as he had pressed himself against the tree nymph and was kissing him, in a simple attempt to simmer Taeyong's temper down.
What Doyoung hadn't expected, however, was that the tree nymph leaned in, kissing him back eagerly, edging on the side of desperate.
Without showing his astonishment, he directed Taeyong to the marble table, picked him up, and placed him on the solid tabletop without breaking the kiss.
Taeyong's hands went up to card through Doyoung's black hair while Doyoung was too busy trying not to lose Taeyong's lips.
Only when Doyoung couldn't feel the tree nymph's lips anymore did he realize that Taeyong had pulled his hair to estrange himself.
"Maybe half a year sounds good, after all," Taeyong mumbled before connecting his lips to those of the god again.
Taeyong lost track of time for a bit after that. All he really seemed to register was the softness of Doyoung's lips, and the way he moved them against his, sometimes gently, like barely-there caresses, and sometimes more firmly, slotting their lips together with a bump of their noses. Taeyong noticed his hands, too, and the way they moved over his body, sometimes threading fingers into his hair to hold him steady, sometimes cupping his jaw or his neck, sometimes smoothing down his back to settle at his waist.
Doyoung smiled. It was absolutely not his intention to change Taeyong's mind using this method, but if it worked that way, of course, he had to use it.
He bit Taeyong's lower lip lightly.
"Hades, you have a new guest!" The voice echoed from a long way off.
Doyoung's fingernails dug into Taeyong's thigh. "Fuck," he swore. Taeyong giggled into the kiss.
"Hades!" Repeated the voice.
"Go," Taeyong muttered between kisses.
In response, Doyoung slid his hands towards the middle of Taeyong's stomach, smugly noting how the nymph's breath hitched.
"Damn it, Hades. I don't have the whole day!" Meanwhile, Charon, the ferryman, really didn't sound like he was up for a joke.
"You should leave," Taeyong pushed Doyoung a little by the shoulders. Doyoung shook his head doggedly.
"I don't want to," he said defiantly and kissed Taeyong again.
In the meantime, he suddenly felt how small, sharp needles slowly pressed into his shoulder. It felt like they were growing.
When he realized that it was Taeyong's spines growing out of his hands again, Doyoung made a giant leap back.
"What the hell?" He swore, feeling one of his shoulders ache.
"Go," Taeyong said gently, in contrast to his action a few seconds ago.
"Fuck you," Doyoung muttered, glared at the tree nymph one last time, and then turned around.
"Hades!" Charon shouted through the palace.
"Fuck you too, Charon! I'm on my way," Doyoung yelled back.
Behind him, he heard a soft chortle.
His new guest must have been the glowing zodiac sign that Taeyong's eyes had gleamed on some time ago.