Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Grace stared idly at the grand entrance in front of her, splayed against the throne and her cheek numb from her palm pressed firmly against it.

The entrance of the throne room, greek pillars and marble friezes that showcased the might of the gods and the plight of mortals. How it laughed at her. Oh tiny mortal. It whispers to her. How fitting that something so alive must rule over something since long dead. Even Orpheus had more right to rule than you.

The entrance was right though. Hades was practically empty, save for a few souls too angry to fade (Grace didn’t really like interacting with them), and Orpheus, who, to his credit, was strumming a few loose notes to a song only he knew.

Grace had decided to make him the palace bard. She didn’t want to sit with her thoughts in silence.

Calliope had gone off further into Hades, looking for the souls of the other gods who had died. Maybe she hoped to find her sisters? Who knew, anyway. Hermes certainly couldn’t help, they hadn’t ferried anyone but Calliope.

Still, Hades was silent, and Grace could only think to listen to the music, or the storm forever swirling outside.

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“Hello, hello? Is anyone there, Eddie? Dearest?”

Grace stirred from her steady slumber, to see an old man, brown, sun and salt-kissed skin hobbling into the throne room. (Well, his skin was a translucent green, but Grace had gotten pretty good at imagining what people looked like without the overlay)

“Oh, err.. Hello, sir? Is there anything I can help you with?”

Grace looked over at Orpheus, who had stopped strumming, dumbfounded.

“You’re new. In my thousand years of ruling, you’re new.”

Grace quickly stood up and went over to the gentlemen.
“Oh. Err… Hello, Sir. Welcome to Hades! I see you have many questions, and so do I, but we’ll answer yours first.”

“What is going on? Hades… My grandson mentioned that…”

Grace pulled over a stool for the gentlemen and sat down on the throne, the proportions of it making her feel far too small in turn.

“So, how much do you know about the Greek Gods?

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About an hour and a cup of tea later (Grace had no idea where the water came from but she hadn’t been sick yet), everything had been laid out on the table. The idols' return, the chaos that followed the next 6 months, and then the present day.

The gentlemen, whose name had turned out to be Isaac, helped fill her in on what was happening in the living world. The Edge of Elysium - oh how fitting that name was now - had been touring around America spreading the news of the idols, and their legitimacy.

“My grandson was obsessed with them, said they had an idol as their drummer. I was never into that sorta music, but they have spirit to them.”

Grace’s heart stung at the mention of Freddie. They hadn’t talked since that meeting two months after the reveal. Since they had sung out how much everything had changed. Grace couldn’t help but scoff internally. They thought things would stop changing then. Who knew how wrong they were.

Isaac couldn’t help but notice the hesitation. “Is everything okay, dear?”

“Yes. It’s just, wow. They’ve all been so busy. I’ve just been sitting here.”

Orpheus laughed. “That’s being Queen of the Underworld for you, little muse! You signed up for this!”

“You’re Queen of the Underworld?” Asked Isaac.

“Errr, yes?”

“You should know then. There were at least a dozen people sitting on the banks of the river.”

“What!?”

“The big fellow wouldn’t let them cross. Said they didn’t have coin on them. The only reason I could was because my grandson had given me a quarter as a good luck token. He might have been on to something.”

Chapter Text

After explaining to Charon that no, he didn’t need to ask for a coin every time someone wanted to cross the river, people started to flow into the throne room.

Grace sat back in the throne, answering, talking, but still quietly in awe at the new energy the place gained. Sure, the rest of Hades was dead quiet - people tended to congregate to the noise after all - but it was a start. Grace could nearly imagine what Hades looked like in its prime.

Orpheus seemed happier too, having people to talk too outside his own little choir of muses. He explained the chord progression to a song he and Eurydice wrote. Was it about farewells? Grace couldn’t care to pay attention. Every time she did the lyrics caused her heart to burn.

Watching the slight crowd, Grace noticed a small mote of light spin in a broken doorway to the side of the hall. Other people began to notice as the mote expanded into a familiar, golden doorway.

“Wow, heh, I have not used this doorway in so long. Hey Grace, how’s it hangin-- oh.”

Hermes stepped out into the throne room, frozen at the sight of the dozen or so people staring at them.

“Heh heh, heyyyyy…… Grace, why are there people here?” Hermes stage whispered as they edged back towards the portal.

“I don’t know, they just showed up like a day ago. Wait where are you going?!”

“I shall be back in a sec byeeee.”

“Wait, don't go!” Hermes had already left though the portal, and Grace could already see it starting to close up.

The throne room was eerily quiet as the souls processed what had just happened. Someone mumbled about that being that tik tok star their kid was all about.

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It wasn’t until a few moments later that the doorway reopened and Hermes stepped back out again, dragging someone with their hands.

“Come on, you have got to see this!”

“This better not be one of your pranks, Hermes.”

Stepping out of the portal was Persephone, dressed in her usual robe and maroon red waistcoat.

In the half second it took for Persephone to process her new surroundings, Grace could see her expression change in real time, starting from mild annoyance, to shock, and then, happiness? It was a new look for the goddess.

“I didn’t realise it would fill so soon.” Persephone’s voice was breathless as she surveyed the crowd, equally shocked at the new arrivals.

“So… what can I help you with?” Persephone’s face turned bitter the moment Grace spoke.

She couldn’t help but feel a twang in her chest when the expression turned. She couldn’t help being reminded of the rejection, of the betrayal at both ends, of how it all ended up.

“We wanted to talk to you, Grace. But it appears you have your hands full as it is. We should leave you to it.”

Grace scrambled out of the throne to stop Persephone from leaving. “I’m sure we could work something out! What did you need to talk to me about?”

The goddess froze, sharing a look with Hermes, who shrugged. “Let’s talk in my office.”