Awakening.
Chemicals were strewn on the floor of her bedchamber. The singing scent of stale bleach hung in the air around her. Styx sat up in bed, slowly pushing aside the silk coverlet that Nyx had so carefully tucked around her
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"This is not the easiest time of your life. Especially with Zeus returning. You know I must support him; I always have, despite the things that have happened, even though I may not agree with the things he sometimes does. But I have loyalty to you, as well, my Sephy. I will be with you as much as I can, for whatever good this will do you." Giving her a half-hearted smile, she pat her hand as it lay laced through the fingers of her other hand.
Then Sephy asked That Question. Styx would not discuss the mess she'd made of herself. She wanted that to be personal, and so far, only Nyx and Thanatos knew. It was even possible that Moros himself did not know. She hoped he didn't.
"Things were difficult for me, for a while. I am well now," she said simply. "Thank you for asking."
It was clear that there would be no further discussion on the matter of Styx. She seemed collected, elegant, strong. If the outer shell covered something of a shambled interior, there was nothing to show for it. And in truth, Styx was pulling herself together in more ways than one. Those things that had run rampant through her for too long were being leashed, halted, frozen, stopped. Soon, she would be everything she used to be. Soon, that cool veneer would not be just a veneer. Styx was moving on. There was nothing left now for her to do but that.
"But Hades is 'indisposed'?" she asked, curiously. Hades seemed stronger than that. Even Styx had not been crippled by Amenomi's death. It had taken more than that to bring Styx so low. "Is he... How bad is he?"
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"In any case, you being with me always does me good, lady," Sephy assured her, then put her head back on Styx's shoulder. "I know you support Zeus. You're supposed to. We're all supposed to, even me, and I did it until he was deposed. I just don't want him to... I don't know what will happen now that he's in power."
Persephone had considered the possibility that she might have to make some kind of bargain to protect Hades and Meilinoe. She was prepared to, if she had to. But she didn't want to talk about that either. Instead she shook her head at Styx's question about Hades.
"He's inconsolable, Styxie. I've never seen him like this before. Miserable, can't get up from bed, he's just in such... pain. It's awful."
She sighed.
"I don't know what to do for him."
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Hades, paralyzed from grief? It seemed hardly possible. Not Hades, King of the Underworld. Death was his forte. It was his life, as ironic as the statement was. And Styx knew, deep inside, that Amenomi should not have been kept alive. She rarely allowed herself to admit this, but she knew. Amenomi had been doomed from the beginning.
"This is strange indeed, what you say of Hades. I would see him, myself, if you would permit it."
This was a potentially touchy subject. The mother of Hades' first child should have been Persephone, by all rights. But it had been Styx. And Styx was now asking to do a wife's duty and see to Hades, even after Persephone had been with him and presumably done everything that she could for him.
It was presumptuous of Styx to offer. But at the same time, Hades was the King of the Underworld. Without him, the balance of their home would be even more upset than it had been before. For as much toil and grief that Hades had set into play, the rulership of their home belonged to Hades, and to Hades alone. As presumptuous as it was, it was also right.
Styx read Persephone's expression, gaging her response.
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The relationship that her husband had with the river goddess had always been good. They shared a mutual respect and a friendship that had always pleased Sephy rather than make her feel in any way threatened.
Amenomi's arrival had been disconcerting. Perhaps even troubling. But Persephone knew that no betrayal had been intended there - that what had been created between Styx and Hades had no affect on Sephy and Hades' relationship. While that knowledge didn't change the twinge that having someone else be the mother of Hades first child created, there wasn't anger or malice in her for either of them.
Now, Styx would go to Hades. She would, because Persephone would not stop her - would encourage her, even. But Sephy could feel the change in her husband - his rash decisions of late, his distance from her, and now, this breakdown.
Persephone was at a loss.
So, when Styx asked her, Persephone slowly nodded, and said,
"I think... I think it might be good if you did. Perhaps there's something you can say or do for him that might help."
Persephone refrained from allowing herself to add the thought,
something you can say or do for him that I can't...
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"I will do my best for him," she said, and her voice carried the power of the Oathkeeper. "If there is something that I may do, it will be done. Hades cannot be permitted to remain in the way you described."
Sephy seemed to be holding together quite nicely. There was doubt, uncertainty, all of the things Styx would expect, but under it, there was a band of steel that ran through the underworld queen. Impulsively, Styx kissed Sephy's cheek.
"You make me proud of you, Seph-Seph," she whispered in that conspirator's tone that they shared so often.
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"Thanks, Styxie," Kore said, and hugged the other goddess.
"And... I appreciate it. I don't know what to do for him, and if there's anything you can..."
Persephone nodded, and pushed the hyper-concerned note out of her tone, pulling away again.
"He can't stay that way. He'll eventually have to face Zeus, and when he does, it's going to have to be from a position of strength. Otherwise, we might have more trouble than we bargained for down here."
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"I concur," she said, in response to Sephy's analysis of the Hades-Zeus situation. "The sooner, the better. Shall I go now?"
There may have been more on Sephy's mind, and Styx certainly wanted to give her time to say it, but on the other hand, the situation with her husband was dire.
Styx would leave it to Persephone to make the call.
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With this determination, Sephy spoke to Styx:
"Go ahead. We'll catch up more later."
She paused, and then said, "Thank you again, Styxie. Really."
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With a little carefree wink, she dusted herself off and headed into the temple of Hades. She knew where he made his bed, and went straight for it, leaving Sephy to her own devices, for the moment.
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He knew who was coming..
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When she opened the door, she immediately genuflected with a respectful murmur: "My Dark Lord."
Continuing on once proper respect had been paid to the King of the Underworld, prone though he may be, she moved to his bed. It was a grand thing, something worthy of the King and Queen of Hades. Taking the steps up to the mattress, she tucked her knees under her body and knelt there at his side.
"Hades, Great Lord, I come on behalf of those who need you. Hear me, now."
She stared down into his face. His eyes were open, but she was uncertain if he was conscious. Was her nephew Morpheus in his head, the Dream-bringer of Kings? It was difficult to say. The Oneiroi, all of them, were tricky creatures. Or worse, was he submerged in something much darker than she suspected?
She simply did not know.
((OOC: New post, girllieee! Make a new post in DDC for Hades! I await with baited breath!!))
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