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Prior to this moment, Jason hadn't understood why people would say Children of Hades were scary - not when Princess Hazel was so kind and Prince Zagreus, with all his boisterous and unruly manner, was arguably the funniest royalty ever. And his lover - oh his lover, the Second Prince of Hades was the most radiant person Jason had ever had the blessing to meet, with those eyes of the most lustrous onyx and a resplendent smile that would make Apollo flip if he heard a smidge of what praises Jason had given Nico di Angelo's smile and not his Sun. Compared to Jason's suffocating royal siblings with equally suffocating court, the Children of Hades' exuberance was not much different from a breath of fresh air that filled his lungs with vigor, enough to enchant a dead man back to life. Thus, he had always felt the need to differ whenever people brought up the fellow royalties' supposedly "creepy, scary, terrifying" aspects, which were but mere illusions imposed upon them by their narrow minds.
Now, however, as Jason sat poised and tense on the velvet sofa in the monarch of Hades' office, he realized that the rumors had not been encouraged without a reason.
Because Bianca di Angelo - Queen of the Underworld, Hades' Blessed Daughter, She Who Rules All the Unseen, Angel of Virtue and Repentance - was undoubtedly the most terrifying person Jason had ever met in his entire life.
Zagreus was not kidding when he told Jason to be careful. And, sure, Jason had had his fair share of surprises since he started befriending Nico, but nothing could have prepared him for the moment the room temperature dropped ten degrees lower and Queen Bianca walked in, looking like Nyx descending with shadows looming behind her in the form of a billowing cape and her gown an expanse of the blood moon. Tiny Stygian pins dotted her stream of luscious black hair, probably a reminder to the stars trapped in the endless darkness she beckoned. Her crown appeared to be made of ivy vines and literal human skulls, with multiple precious rubies etched masterfully into what Jason hoped weren't eye sockets, staring right into his soul from where they hung tilted gracefully across her forehead.
"It's such a delight to make your acquaintance, Prince Jason of Olympus."
The woman smiled, thinly and dangerously. The act did not induce even a semblance of the warmness Jason had come to expect from Nico. It sent blood running cold in his veins instead, and Jason suddenly felt like a doll pinned on the spot, left to Bianca's torturous game.
And her eyes. Di immortales, those eyes. Jason had been too accustomed to Nico's warm earthy brown that Bianca's bottomless black sent arlams blaring in his head. Her eyes were just as dark as Nico's, yet whilst Jason's lover always wore a curve on his lips to light up his whole face, Queen Bianca held her gaze like a weapon. Just one look and her cold, cold gaze gave Jason the impression that half of his soul had left his body only to fall right into her pale, delicate hands as a plaything, or become one with the many faces of anguish embroidered on her deep maroon gown.
Oh Gods, I'm going to die here, Jason dared to think. Fear seized his body, freezing his muscles tense.
Bianca arched an elegant eyebrow.
Startled, Jason realized that he had been standing dumbfounded in the presence of royalty - a monarch, no less, since her arrival. "Your Majesty," he hastened to address, dropping to the floor in the most dramatic bow ever. "It should be my honor to be on your presentation."
Jason swore he was trying but his voice shook a little. In his defense, his limbs had entered fight or fight mode against his will whilst his brain was rocking still from the onslaught that was the Queen's overwhelming entrance.
Bianca di Angelo hummed - a soft sound that sent chills down Jason's spine. "I've expected more adequate etiquettes from a Heir of Juno."
Jason felt like the world was crumbling down above his head. Is she offended? He freaked inside, Gods please tell me Hades doesn't do off with your head.
The Queen walked to the opposite Chesterfield, her ruby heels didn't make a noise on the onyx floor and her glide looked as graceful as a panther from where Jason kneeled, head bowed low still.
Defending his stepmother's dignity seemed a required act at the moment, but Jason couldn't bring his throat to work as the shadows poured down from Bianca di Angelo's cape and slithered to him, hissing like venomous snakes. It took all of Jason's restraint not to make a run for it.
And then, the Queen laughed. "Rise, Prince of Olympus. I was merely joking."
At her order, Jason bit his lip and stood up stiffly like an enchanted undead. He only hoped his posture was more poised than how he truly felt inside.
It took every ounce of courage Reyna had bitten into him for Jason to meet the Queen's gaze again.
"You look pale." The lady noted, cocking her head in the most creepy type of innocence Jason had ever witnessed. "I hope that I haven't gone overboard in our first impression?"
I think I just lost ten years of my life. "N-No, ma'am. Of course not." Jason tried for a polite smile.
"Please, sit." ordered the monarch, to which Jason followed. It wasn't like he intended to go against Bianca di Angelo's wishes at this moment.
The Queen regarded him cooly, hands folded neatly on her lap. Now that she had retrieved her oppressing aura and Jason had gone over the initial shock, her gaze remained piercing, whose owl-like keenness reminded him of his sister's, Athena's, acuteness. Jason frantically went through in his head the limited bits of knowledge about the Hades kingdom's proprieties Nico had revealed to him. He hoped he didn't breach an unacceptable amount of it.
A moment, and then two went past in silence. For some reason, the Queen, seeing as she had been the one to initiate their encounter, decided to keep silent after inventing Jason to sit, opting to scrutinize him instead. The lack of conversation grated on Jason's nerves. He felt terribly the weight of helplessness without his trusted Gladius. He had no doubt that Queen Bianca di Angelo, who had singlehandedly defeated Kronos' army in the Second War, could very well end his life should she desire to, but a form of defense could have prevented cold sweat from breaking down on his back.
Unable to bear it longer, Jason cleared his throat, "Your Majesty, if I'm permitted to inquire, for what have you demanded my presence?"
Bianca hummed, again. She looked at him as if she wanted to cut him out and wrench him inside out to see what he was hiding. She looked and looked, and looked--
---And didn't say anything.
The returning stifling silence was probably laughing in Jason's face. Maybe the Queen was trying to see how much she would need to break him just by keeping silent. If so, Jason wanted to confess that she wouldn't need to try.
Receiving no answer, Jason opted to keep his mouth shut. He certainly hoped his face wasn't burning from embarrassment. At least, not too blatantly. Once, Nico had teased Jason about how he managed to keep a regal and serious facade during court, yet on the other hand was also easy to embarrass.
The air felt like it was freezing over between them with how heavy the silence it. Right when Jason suspected he was slowly turning into one of the many motionless statues surrounding Hades' Palace, Bianca started, "I'll be forthright. I do not approve of you as my little brother's other half."
The Children of the Underworld truly knew how to start a conversation.
And where to stab to disarm your opponent with the least words needed, apparently. Jason saw it as a blessing that he didn't have anything in his throat to choke on at the moment. His head spun at the Queen's blatant declaration.
His relationship with Nico so far had been going so well without obstacles (Juno didn't count, seeing as difficulty was her specialty) that Jason hadn't had a mind to ponder the possibility of the family's objection. Now that it had suddenly come to hit him in the face, Jason felt like falling off Olympus all over again. Gods, what if the Queen ordered him to leave her brother? Did he have to just up and leave Nico, the love of his life?
"Easy there, Prince." Bianca's amused voice cut through the stream of Jason's thoughts, "I haven't finished yet. No need to spiral so fast."
"Wha--" He stammered, confused and feeling like falling backward, (preferably into a three-day undisturbed sleep with Nico by his side. But Jason would take whatever kind of blessing he could get right this moment).
"It's true that I dislike the Olympians on principle." The Queen admitted as if she wasn't - in some sense. Jason knew it would be considered one should Ares be here - declaring war on Jason's kingdom with such undisguised disgust in her tone. She waved a dismissive hand at him in a non-verbal sign of "It's nothing personal". At least it felt somewhat reassuring to know that he wasn't the reason. "Nonetheless, I trust my brother's judgment. Nicky might seem naive and unaware, but he is capable of seeing through people better than I am."
Jason didn't have the heart to speculate whether that was the reason why the lady preferred to disarm people first thing into their meeting, instead of shaking hands like normal people.
"He knows how people feel. Nicky can't tell explicitly, but his history of interacting with Hades' dwellers has raised him to be quite emotionally intelligent. That's why he always smiles so that he can make others smile." At the mention of her brother, Bianca's demeanor softened quickly, her smile full of adoration and pride, which in turn allowed Jason to relax a bit as well.
Nico had that effect on people, Jason thought fondly. Outside, he said, "He is an amazing person."
"He's kind, unlike me." Bianca smiled sweetly.
I can see, Jason bit back the retort. He didn't know what to say. He had been rendered speechless quite some times in the span of ten minutes.
Compared to the terrors his older sister sported, Nico seemed like a child. I apologize, my love, Jason thought solemnly, but your sister is not that different from a psycho.
Bianca didn't care much about Jason's inner lamentation. "He and I were created from the same soul of a woman to be Father's Angels, which made us the only full-sibling. You must have heard of this." She continued, drumming her fingers on her other bicep calmly.
"Yes, milady." Jason nodded. He had heard the story before, not from Nico but from Hazel since Leo was too curious for his own good.
"Then you must have known that I value him more than everything in this world, including this kingdom." Bianca's eyes flashed. The shadows rushed to engulf her in the fear aura again. The room darkened significantly as though it was dipped into the Curtains of Nyx.
Jason heard the threat in the monarch's tone before it left her black-painted lips in the coldest voice possible belonging to a living person, "Should you dare to hurt him, or make him shed a single tear, know that I wouldn't hesitate to unleash the worst Hell upon you. And don't you be foolish to think that the Blessing of Jupiter would be enough to save you from my hands, because I would travel to world's end to make sure your soul suffers, over and over again, unto eternity."
The Queen didn't need to raise her voice to make it sound like the resounding whispers of a thousand ghosts. Her words sucked the heat out of the air, leaving Jason with spiders crawling up his skin and ice freezing his limbs all over.
Right then and there, if someone told Jason that this woman was Hades, Lord of the Underworld himself, personified, he would believe without a doubt. There was something destructive about her, Jason didn't need more proof. It took only one fearful, threatening, powerful, dangerous Bianca di Angelo to govern and protect this kingdom at world's end. It would be unbelievably ignorant to say she wasn't a force to be reckoned with.
So this was the price of being with Nico. The Fates surely didn't give anything for free.
Well, anything for your love, they said. Help me, Piper, Jason prayed in his head and schooled his expressions. "I understand, Your Majesty." He replied, "I love him with all my heart too. If I ever did something that could make a crack in his precious heart, rest assured that I would come offering you my head on a plate."
Jason was surprised, and no less relieved, to hear his voice stable enough to at least convey his honesty. Bianca's lips curved pleasedly, dark eyes crinkling in satisfaction, "Good. That makes a deal between us."
"Pardon me?"
Jason didn't put his name in the devil's contract, did he? He did not.
The Queen's smile promised something else.
He was prepared to ask if he had signed away his life when the door cracked open, and a familiar face poked in.
"There you are, Jason. I've been looking for you," Nico said, a pout on his pale lips. He entered the office, and blinked owlishly at his sister, "Oh, you too, Bee."
Jason had a nearly uncontrollable urge to hug his lover tight and burst into tears simultaneously. His muscles sang at the sight of his source of serotonin. The Angel has come to save me!
Bianca beat him to it. "Did the attendance go well, little star?" The Queen waved a hand in lieu of greeting, her face lighted up, a stark contrast to what she had shown to Jason.
"Yeah, you know, Father is boring as usual." Nico shrugged nonchalantly. He made a beeline for Jason and the latter probably seemed too miserable as it took him only one look to know what was going on. The younger Prince reached out to hold Jason's hand before turning to his sister, his brows knitted in displeasure. "What did you do to my boyfriend, Bianca?"
"Why, we were just having a conversation." The Queen answered, totally guiltless. She directed her signature (which, Jason had figured, basically hinted at dark forces and promised the loss of some lives) smile at Jason, and he knew better than being a snitch to her brother.
"Yeah, we were just talking, Nico." He seconded.
Nico's frown didn't lessen. His brown eyes jumped from Jason to Bianca to Jason again in suspicion. At last, he probably decided that Jason was more important than his sister's crime, as he turned to him.
"Let's get you some water." He suggested kindly, tugging on Jason's arm to pull him up. His touch was cool but not icy cold and Jason wanted to kiss him. Instead, he stood him on paralyzed legs and followed his lead like a duckling. "Please excuse us. See you later, Bi." Nico called through his shoulder, waving.
"Have fun, brother,” was The Queen cheerful replied, her gaze traced Jason's movements still, like a panther playing games with its prey.
Only when the door had clicked shut behind them, and Nico's small hand squeezed his own warmly, could Jason finally breathe out in exhaustion.
It seemed like his days at the Palace of Hades would indeed be eventful.