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If your brothers are the template for every existing alpha and you are the only brother to present as Omega, then this is not exactly the perfect outcome. Especially not with brothers like Poseidon and Zeus. Hades really had too much of them and their shenanigans. That's why he preferred to stay in the underworld. There were at least fewer gods there who tried to claim him. Emphasis on gods.
It was one of his first days with the new system that he had introduced in the underworld when it first happened. He stood a little at the side while Charon picked up the new souls with his boat. A male soul was about to get in when he turned his head strangely. His nose twitched. It was as if he...smelled. Hades didn't think anything for exactly three seconds. Then the alpha ran off in his direction. "They are still like that in death?," he sighed. He dived into the shadows and reappeared at the other end of the shore. "Was there a problem, Mylord?" Hecate stood next to him. "Alpha souls can still feel the urge to claim an omega?" "I don't know what would stop them from doing so. The consequences are what is unclear to me... did an alpha try that with you?" "I will come up with a solution."
The problem was simple. Mortals could control themselves with mortals. Gods could control themselves with gods, but there was something that made it...strange between the two species. This meant that it made it difficult for mortals when being around gods. Their smell was too strong for the mortal senses of smell.
Hades found a simple yet effective solution for this. A collar. It was high and ran down in four pointy tips. Its color was black and decorated with dark golden patterns. It was supposed to prevent alphas from being able to make a mate bite. And it worked.
The next time he was attacked by an alpha, it was from behind. He broke his not really existing teeth on the collar. Fair. Hades didn't even want to think about what would have happened without the collar. Thanatos looked at him strangely after the incident. "Speak Thanatos," he demanded without looking away from his papers. His office was quite small, but that's exactly what he liked about it. "If you don't want a soul to attack you, then I can supervise Charon from time to time." "I'm fine," said Hades. "I can take care of my kingdom myself." "I don't doubt that, Mylord, but-."
"Thanatos, you don't understand me. I don't show any weakness. To no one. What do you think my brothers will do when they find out I'm hiding? They feel that I am an Omega too weak for my position anyway, they learn about something like that, then they will overthrow me. Believe me, you don't want one or the other as your ruler." Thanatos lowered his head: "I didn't want to doubt you, Mylord. I just wanted to help." Hades smiled weakly: "That's nice of you, Thanatos. You are the most loyal friend I've won here, but I can't show any weakness. No spark."
Hades remembered every single incident in which a soul attacked him and forcefully wanted to make him theirs. There were men and women, mainly alphas, but also a few betas were there. These memories burdened him. It was a burden that was unfair. His brothers didn't have to put up with something like that. On the contrary, his brothers were the problem. Supported the problem.
But he didn't say anything. There was nothing to be noticed. He rarely left the underworld and when he did, then without the collar. He didn't need any stupid questions. On Olympus, he gave himself as unreachable as his brothers. Standing above everything. He walked in a coat of shadow. The other gods, many of whom treated Omegas with the worst disrespect, feared him. There was no question whether he was an alpha, a beta or an omega. It was a question of whether you were on his good side or not. At least most of the time. He ignored the other times. That didn't bring him any friends on Olympus either, but he didn't care. He saw how the other Omegas lived.
Especially his nephew Apollo had a hard time with all the advances. In addition, Apollo was powerful, but still far too friendly and far too pretty. At times, Hades decided, he would take Apollo under his wing. But only when he stood on his own feet. Even if he didn't know when that would be.
It happened that a party was held on Olympus. It was a celebration in honor of Zeus' wedding. A kind of anniversary of indefinite number. It was a tactic of Zeus to attue Hera, who was angry about another affair of his. In any case, it was time for Hades to be seen again so that no one became suspicious.
"Take a little care of the souls," he said to Thanatos as he took off his metal collar. Thanatos was the only one who was allowed to see him without a collar, at least as far as the underworld was concerned. On Olympus, no one had ever heard of his collar. "I will. Take care of yourself, Hades." "I will."
The party was bright and loud. Everything Hades hated. Perfect. He was mostly on the side in his cloud of shadows. Nobody spoke to him, everyone was just staring.
Well, except for one. "Hello brother." "Hestia." "It's so nice to see you again, you come by far too rarely," she said and hugged him. "By the fates, warn me," he said. She quickly withdrew: "Sorry, I forget it every time. You should just push me." "You just like to hug people, that's an impressive friendliness to people," said Hades. "Oh, that's very easy. How are you?" she asked. "Great, everything in the underworld is going well."
"I asked about you, Hades. I'm happy about that, but how are you?," asked Hestia. "Mhm, as always." "Are you not alone? You don't let anyone in to visit you." Why was Hestia so kind and caring? All the other of his siblings were self-centered assholes. Only Hestia not. "I'm fine. And there are people in the underworld. With whom I spend time." "That's good," Hestia said with a smile.
"Hestia, Hestia, you have to introduce us." A young woman had arrived. She seemed to have just appeared beside them. Her hair was strawberry blonde. Her eyes green like spring. She was a beautiful woman. And she was Alpha. Hades took a step back. "Hades, this is Persephone, Demeter's daughter. Persephone, Hades, king of the underworld." "It's an honor for me," said Persephone, bowing. Gods rarely said that to him, even if they were afraid. "It's...nice to meet you, Persephone." He hadn't met anyone new for a long time. What did you talk about with new people?
"Do you know, many here are afraid of you," Persephone said. "I know." "That's the meaning of the dramatic shadows, I suppose." Hades almost laughed. "I think they are pretty." "Pretty?," Hades burst out. Persephone laughed. Where had Hestia gone? "Has no one ever told you that? They are very pretty. Fit in with you." Hades felt a strange feeling in his cheeks. "I... I don't know what to answer." "You're very tough, aren't you?" "Could be," said Hades. "Why are you here at all?" "Because I wanted to talk to the pretty, mysterious Omega," Persephone replied.
Again the strange feeling in his cheeks. "Persephone! Get away from there." Demeter. "Hades, stop speaking to my daughter." "She spoke to me," he said. "Mother-." "Come with me, this is no company for a decent lady." "Sympathetic as always, Demeter," Hades said before she pulled Persephone away.
It was that simple. He never had to talk to this woman again.
And yet he lay in bed in the evening, the smell of flowers in his nose and the thought of green eyes in his head.
In the next few days he worked a lot. Did a lot himself, just to distract himself. It was terrible. And worst of all, he didn't understand it.
"Boss? Something has come for you." Hades looked up from his desk. Thanatos stood in the door to his study. "What should come for me?" "From some goddess from Olympus. Has been looking for me for a long time." Hades frowned: "A goddess...wait." "You know who she is?" Thanatos asked. "Can be. Give it to me." The god of death put a small basket on the king's table. "It's...Sweet. What did you do on Olympus?" "Nothing, you can go." Thanatos laughed quietly as he left the study. Hades didn't notice this at all, because he was completely fixated on the basket in front of him.
It smelled like her. Like Persephone. At first you might think it was Demeter's smell, but then the sharpness was noticed. The extra smell of pine trees under the flowers.
In the basket was a small bouquet of flowers in black. Hades had never seen such flowers. Did black flowers exist at all naturally? Next to it was an envelope, which he carefully opened. Did his hands shake?
In the envelope were a note and a pin. The needle was black, but the stones with which it was decorated shimmered brighter than black stones should. Strange. Strange and beautiful. There was a sentence on the note.
‚That reminded me of you, sorry for my mother.‘
The funny feeling in Hades' cheeks was back. It was also in his stomach this time. How did he get rid of it? The needle was still in his hand. Slowly he took it in both hands and clipped it to his Chiton. Her smell was on it. Just like on the flowers. He shouldn't do that. He should throw everything away.
The flowers were given a place of honor on his work table.
"Do you smell like Alpha, Hades?" "How do you come up with that?" he asked Hecate while the two walked through the underworld. "Because that's how it is." She looked up and down at him and her gaze stuck to the needle. "Where is it from?" "From a daughter of Demeter. It's an excuse for her mother." "Oh. And this apology happens to have its scent all over it?," asked the goddess. "I'll assume it," said Hades. "What else?“ "Oh, nothing." "What do you mean by: Oh, nothing?" "Nothing." The goddess disappeared. "Hecate! Come back."
Hecate didn't come back. She didn't let herself be seen for days.
Hades spent every day staring at the flowers on his desk. Did Persephone really just want to apologize? What else should she want? Why were Thanatos and Hecate so funny about it?
It was about a week later when Thanatos came back in with a small basket. "Another thing for you, Hades." Hades frowned: "From Persephone?" "Yes. She seems to find you quite…appealing," said Thanatos. "What do you mean?" Thanatos put the basket on the table in front of Hades: "She is courting you, boss." "Never." "Oh yes. No alpha sends gifts to an almost strange Omega a week apart if that's not the case," he said. "She wanted to apologize because Demeter was a bitch." Hades looked at the basket. It was another bouquet of flowers, this time in dark blue and with a different shape. Next to it this time there was only one note:
‚Fresh flowers to exchange. I would like to see the underworld if you allowed.‘
She asked for permission and didn't just try to get in? Very respectful for an alpha goddess. "What should I answer?" asked Thanatos. "Say yes. Tomorrow," said Hades without taking his eyes off the flowers. "All right. I'll leave you alone with your courting gift." "It's not a courting gift!" Thanatos had already disappeared.
Hades had no idea about courting. He had never been courted and he had not noticed anything about the courting of his siblings. How did it even work? An alpha gave an omega many things until the omega said yes to the bite? Unconscious Hades' hand went up to his collar. At least he didn't have to be afraid of that. In the underworld. What had he allowed? A goddess of the upper world in the underworld. This had not happened for a long time. What would the others think? Would they even notice it? Persephone didn't feel like someone who immediately would run to Zeus and tell him everything...what if she was a kind of spy? What if all this was a prank by Zeus?
He felt Persephone's presence at the gates to the underworld the next noon. Actually, he wanted to go on a tour, but he didn't want to keep her waiting. And don't wait to ask her.
Persephone waited politely in front of the entrance. She did not try to get in and not to use any magic. Hades stepped out of the shadows: "Hello." She smiled: "Nice to see you again." "Before I let you into the underworld, I have to be sure that you were not sent by my brother or your mother." Persephone laughed: "My mother would never let me into the underworld if she knew. And why should I do something with... You already know who? He's an asshole." Hades chuckled: "I believe you could do many things." "I don't know you so well to have enough reason to betray you," said Persephone.
"Pragmatical," said Hades. "That's how I am, have I passed the test now? By the way, I like your collar, it's pretty." Hades froze. He had left the collar on. "Is everything okay, Hades?," Persephone asked worriedly. "You have to swear by the Styx not to say a word about the underworld, about Me and about the collar. Understood?" "I swear by Styx. But I wouldn't have talked about it otherwise," said Persephone. "But I understand that you don't trust me, you have people to protect." "Well, let's go in," said Hades. He opened the door for Persephone and she walked without hesitation through the shadows and darkness until she came out on the shore of the Acheron.
"You're not afraid, are you?" asked Hades. "Of what? Darkness? Why should I?" asked Persephone. " Unless you let me in to kill me and keep me here." Hades laughed: "I haven't thought about that yet." It was unusual to meet an alpha that actually treated Hades as equal and not less. Even his brothers couldn't do it. On second thought, comparing someone with his brothers lowered the standards by a lot. "But I'm happy about that," said Persephone. She looked around: "Woah. These are all souls waiting?" The banks of the Acheron were full.
"They are all waiting for Charon, the ferryman, yes." "Can we go closer?" asked Persephone. "Yes, you should only keep an eye on the souls of mortals. They react...strongly to our scents." As soon as they had come a few steps closer, Hades had to push back a soul with his magic. She landed directly in the Acheron. "Does this happen often to you?" asked Persephone. "Yes." Persephone's gaze seemed brightened for a moment: "That's why you're wearing the collar. I mean it's pretty, but made of metal, it must be heavy. It is to avert mating bites from souls. That's brilliant." The feeling in Hades' cheeks was back. "Your cheeks are golden," said Persephone. "It looks cute."
Hades frowned. Was that meant to be disrespectful? "That was a compliment, Your Highness." "I...can't distinguish between compliments that are serious and compliments that are a joke," said Hades. "This is a shame and only shows how mean people were to you. Wrongly, you're really nice." Hades smiled: "That's... nice of you." "Only the truth. Watch out!" When Hades turned around, a tendril of dark plants had seized a soul. "He wanted to attack you, sorry." "Thank you," said Hades. "You can throw the soul into the river." Persephone did just that.
"Is there more here? Oh definitely." Hades held out his hand to Persephone and she took it without asking any questions. The two disappeared and reappeared on the other side of the river. "In that direction it goes to the court, you don't want to see that. Here it goes to the Elysium and the Asphodel meadows." "That's where the good souls go, isn't it?" asked Persephone. "Elysium, yes. Asphodel is for...neutral souls. Not particularly bad or particularly good. It was once a single field where the souls stood around and could do nothing but that. I changed it when the underworld became mine."
"That must be an incredible amount of work, such a whole country," said Persephone while the two walked along the way to Asphodel. "Sometimes it is, but the underworld is grateful. The souls, at least most of them, are grateful that they can have something like a second life," said Hades. "And what about the alphas that attacked you?" "I...have had the experience that the souls have better control of themselves later than when they arrive here. And they also have each other under control. Of course, it is not accepted to attack Omega, whether God or not. In addition, I am the king here." Persephone laughed: "It seems like you have everything under control. Not that I doubted it."
"You wouldn't be the first," said Hades. "Why?" she asked. She sounded serious. As if she didn't just want to make fun of him. "You're seriously asking?" "Of course, what else?" asked Persephone. She sounded honest. "Oh nothing, I just have... it's alright." "Don't tell me that people doubt you because you are an omega." Hades nodded. "How stupid. You are just as powerful as Poseidon and Zeus. What kind of people are that?" She actually seemed upset. "You are one of the only ones who thinks that way. That's...nice of you." "You deserve the same recognition as your brothers. Actually more, you're not a big asshole."
"Thank you." That was the nicest woman Hades had ever met. And that was suspicious. Very. "You don't believe me," Persephone noted. And she was also smart. "I...It's hard for me. And you're remarkably nice." Persephone laughed: "If that's your biggest problem with me." The two arrived at the end of the cliff that protruded above Asphodel. "Woah." Hades looked at her: "Do you like it?" "Very much. I mean...It's beautiful." A plant goddess who liked the underworld. Highly unusual. "The crystals on the ceiling and these houses are so beautiful." Some houses were built into the mountains, stones and crystals, others stood in the middle and free. "It's not too dark for you?" "As I said, I have nothing against the darkness. I like it."
"Unusual for a goddess like you." "And what is a goddess like me?" "Flowers and so-." "Spring, Your Highness. The correct expression, please," she said. "Sorry," Hades replied and was serious. "And I also have interests beyond my powers." "I didn't want to doubt you, Persephone." "I know, you're too nice for that," said Persephone. "Never anyone has ever said that to me," said Hades. "That is strange. Can we go down there?" "Sure."
What was he doing? He never let anyone into the underworld. He never let anyone talk to him like that. Except apparently this woman. Persephone went ahead, down the path on the cliff and Hades slower after her. "This place is so much more beautiful than I thought. I knew my mother was lying." "Your mother murders me when she learns that you were here," Hades murmured. "And she's never been here herself, how would she know what it looks like here?" "Obviously, she just wants to scare me." "I don't know if I should be offended or honored that at least someone sees a danger in me." "All of Olympus is afraid of you," said Persephone. "When it comes down to important decisions and politics, then I'm just an omega, in the eyes of most." "Don't let them drag you down, most of them can't compare to you," said Persephone.
"Why are you like that? Why are you here at all?" asked Hades. "Interest." "On the underworld?" "On the underworld too, but mainly on you?" "On me?" "I've had your smell in my nose for over a week, I had the feeling that if I don't see you again, then I'm going crazy." "You can't just say something like that," said Hades. "But it's the truth. I don't think you particularly like lies," she said. "I don’t. I mean... your smell was also there all week." "Oh? That...makes me happy, I think. You also have the needle I sent you on." The truth was that Hades had put it on every day. "It is beautiful. Thanatos said something funny about it." They arrived at the bottom of the stairs.
"Oh yes?" "He thought it was a courting gift." Persephone stopped and turned to him: "And...what do you think?" "Oh, don't worry, I didn't take it that way."
"Lord Hades!" A very young soul had appeared next to them. "Who is that?" The child looked at Persephone very excited. "This is Persephone, she visits us." "Oh, I can show her the village." "I'm sure she would be happy," said Hades. Persephone looked at him strangely before she was pulled by the child towards the houses. Hades followed more slowly. This woman had something about her that was strange. New. And he knew that whatever it was would put him in big trouble, but he felt it was worth it. His hand went up to the collar around his neck. He had noticed that Persephone had never denied that it was a courting gift. But he had no hope.
Hope? What did he even want from Persephone? Nothing. They hardly knew each other. And yet the smell of flowers remained in his nose no matter where he went.