Inferna (Tau)
by Sadistic Sinner on aff
>Chapter: Tau<
Jonghyun wasn’t sure if it was the sound of a body moving between the sheets, rolling over the woollen bottom layer to get closer to him, that woke him up at the break of dawn or if it was the fact that said body was warm and pleasant against his own skin.
A feeling that the brown haired deity was not familiar with.
Having another presence with him, cuddling closer and sharing their immortal bodies’ warmth - Jonghyun had never really experienced this.
Not like this.
The god decided that it must be a mixture of both as he opened his eyes lazily, still a little drowsy from a very deep slumber. For a moment, the brunet was confused as no memories came to haunt him before he realised that he could not remember his dreams at all.
And that was an alleviative blessing.
Jonghyun let the younger move, noticing that Kibum was still asleep when he finally settled on the brunet’s chest that seemed to be his bolster of choice for now. His arm circled the blonde deity’s waist easily, but he did not dare to let it wander.
Instead, he just held him close like this and hoped that he was providing the other with whatever he sought after.
May it be warmth or security.
Kibum seemed to be sleeping soundly. His cheeks had regained their rosy, healthy colour and Jonghyun found himself staring at the other yet again.
It happened far too often in his opinion and yet, he didn’t find it in him to stop. It was like his eyes were coaxed by a magnetic pull.
His golden orbs take everything there is to see, but they never grew tired of it when they repeated the same process over and over again.
Jonghyun wondered if that was healthy for the umpteenth time.
“I’m sorry if I woke you up”, Kibum’s voice suddenly drifted into his consciousness. He still sounded utterly tired as his voice was raspy and layered with sleep.
“You did not”, the elder told him instantly to ease his worries
“Okay”, Kibum retorted and buried his face at the other’s neck now, which sent Jonghyun into a kind of stupor. He felt the younger’s breath, felt his button nose rubbing against his shoulder junction. The brunet swore that he died a little inside at the close proximity between them and at how easy it was, how easily these feelings overwhelmed him.
Jonghyun didn’t know how long he stayed like this, just taking in the younger’s presence, but when words finally came back to him they kind of just burst out of him.
“I’m sorry”, he started, “I’m so sorry that I… that I wasn’t here when you needed…”, he stopped himself from saying ‘me’ as he didn’t want to be selfish or arrogant, “someone to hold you”.
This had been haunting him the whole night until they had both fallen asleep.
Which happened pretty quickly for Kibum considering that the blonde was utterly exhausted and… the elder represented the sturdy rock he needed to soothe himself.
Jonghyun wished that he had understood faster.
He wished that Kibum would have said something, but then again the younger really wasn’t at fault at all. The brunet should have been more observant and should have caught on that this time the younger didn’t need distance, but closeness.
A hug.
An embrace.
Someone who held him at night just as Jonghyun had finally done it now.
“It doesn’t matter”, the blonde’s voice carried a form of affection and forgiveness that the older deity couldn’t fully interpret.
But when could he? Fully understand the being of Kibum that was.
Barely ever. The other was a mystery, still.
But the brunet was more than ready to invest his endless life to explore and learn.
The spring god tightened his hold on the other deity’s tunic in which the brunet had fallen asleep, as he had not bothered changing the night before.
“It doesn’t matter, because you are here now”
Jonghyun’s breath hitched in his throat and it felt like he would never be able to breathe again. Kibum’s words pierced through him like a dagger and left him gaping.
And yet again, the elder wondered if the blonde knew what he was doing to him. What he was able to do to him and his very fragile heart with just some well-placed words.
Perhaps, he did.
Listening to his inner desires, Jonghyun wrapped his arm around the other again and held him closer. His hand stroked the younger’s side carefully but with languid strokes.
“Is this okay?”
“Yeah”
They both fall into silence, but it is by no means uncomfortable. They just enjoyed what they had in that moment.
Security and the assurance that the other was there to catch them if they fell.
But, like always, Jonghyun is bad with keeping his mouth shut for a long period of time.
“I’m sorry this happened to you”, he started and wetted his lips right after
“I’m so sorry… all of this only happened because I was being selfish and made you come here…”
Down into the underworld, realm of the dead, the punished, the souls - Jonghyun’s home.
However, before he could ramble on about how everything was his fault, Kibum stopped him.
“Shut up”, he said unceremoniously and kind of punched the elder with his fist, right onto the brunet’s shoulder junction
“It’s not. Are you being selfish now?”,Kibum’s voice had dropped as he seemed seriously agitated by now.
“No you are not”, he grumbled and rose into a sitting position as if he wanted to tower over Jonghyun’s lying form to prove a point
“You could have forced me. You could have forced me into… into anything you would have wanted. I hate to admit it, but I’m inferior to you in both physical strength and divine power. You could have just…”, the blonde’s voice hitched and then only continued in a stuttered whisper, “you… could have forced me like… the.. other…”
The other Jonghyun.
Peitho, who had tried to rape Kibum in the form of the god of the underworld to make the blonde distrust and hate Jonghyun all over again.
And said deity couldn’t be more grateful that Peitho’s plan… Hyosung’s plan hadn’t worked.
Thanks to Taemin.
Jonghyun’s eyes wandered back to Kibum’s form, only to realise that there were big round tears gathering in the corners of the blonde’s eyes.
“Hey-”, the brunet sat up immediately, coming into a sitting position like the younger in front of him, who was shedding bitter tears by now
“Kibum…, hey, please don’t cry”
He shifted so he would be able to cup the other’s cheeks in his palms, but before he could do so, he found himself thrown of balance and back onto the mattress.
Kibum was clinging to him, hands holding on to him with an iron grip as he buried his face in the crook of the brunet’s neck.
Jonghyun sighed as he felt just as horrible as the younger.
Maybe not fully, as nothing could compare to the pain and shock one experienced firsthand, but he was close.
Seeing Kibum this broken…
This utterly shocked and scared… it angered him.
It made him furious, but right now it would be the wrong emotion to nourish. Instead, he wrapped his arms around the younger’s quaking body, trying to soothe Kibum as he kept on sobbing.
Kept on crying it out.
All the pent up pain, the hurt. The fear.
Jonghyun held him as close as he could.
“I’ve got you”, he whispered over and over again.
--
He decided to let the other rest as long as he needed to.
Jonghyun knew that Kibum was still exhausted.
Not only from crying his eyes out until he fell asleep from effeteness, but from all the power robbing work he had done before.
If Jonghyun would have to travel the world and bestow his power and energy to each tree and every flower and plant there is… he had to admit that he wasn’t sure if he would be able to do it. Make a whole season start and maintain it… it was a great deal.
Especially this time as Kibum had forfeited any help from his mother, who was the goddess of harvest and grains.
Plants and agriculture were their shared domain and it must be clearly easier to accomplish all this if you had help.
So the elder let him rest and sleep until he would have recovered.
Jonghyun made his way out of his own chamber and walked back to the main hall. He needed to catch up on some things.
Something had been bugging him for a little while now, but he hadn’t been able to tell what it was until now.
He had a feeling that it had to do something with death, but Yerim had not contacted him yet.
Which was good, Jonghyun mused.
If there was a problem with death…
It could end badly. Not just for the mortals.
He shook his head as he closed the door behind him. He was over-thinking things again. If no one contacted him, then he was obviously making things up on his own.
“Greetings, Mr. Daydreamer”
Jonghyun blinked as he came back to reality, face to face with his friend.
“You? Here?”
Taemin was still avoiding this place to his best ability.
So…
“Nice to see you”, the brunet smiled eventually and offered a chair to the messenger deity, who complied and sat down.
Taemin’s features however told him that the black haired was bored, his wings folding up neatly, but they seemed kind of restless to his golden eyes.
Imagining things.
Jonghyun really needed to calm down. Ever since the assault on the blonde spring deity he had been even more on guard than before.
“Is Kibum here? Well, I mean I know he is”, the messenger god smirked in his typical manner.
Of course he knew.
Otherwise he wouldn’t be here to begin with.
“But is he available right now?”
“Sorry”, Jonghyun hummed and sat down on a chair opposite to the one where Taemin was located
“He is resting right now. Why? Anything happened?”
“There is a reply for him”, the raven haired shrugged and didn’t elaborate any further. Which caused the brunet to grumble.
A reply.
And Jonghyun was not allowed to know from whom. Or what it was about.
He bit his lip, but didn’t voice the question burning on his tongue.
“Are you curious?”, Taemin asked and the brunet wanted to wipe that knowing grin of the other’s lips
“What if I am…?”, the elder trailed off
“Is it because you don’t trust Kibum?”, the black haired deity pulled up his eyebrows and crossed his arms over his chest
“Because if you claim to love him like you say you do… then being butt-hurt about this would prove that you are a possessive bastard”
Jonghyun’s eyes widened at that comment and he found himself amazed at the fact that Taemin could utter such words with… un-paralleling ease.
“I do trust him”, he spoke up, going defensive
“Of course I do”, Jonghyun averted his eyes. But damn, he did!
“I just… “
“You worry”, the younger cut in, “That’s it, right?”
“Yeah… I guess”, the brunet shrugged and hoped that the topic was off the table with this.
But it was not.
“And?”, Taemin pressed, “There is something more”
Damn that guy and his intuition!
Jonghyun didn’t think that this was fair, but the younger’s eyes just… just saw right through him.
The elder sighed.
And why did he give in that easily?
Ah yes.
Because Taemin was still his best friend.
“I’m scared.”
The black haired nodded, urging the elder to continue. And yet again, Jonghyun sighed and just continued.
Spilling everything that was bothering him.
“I am scared of losing him. I’m scared to lose… whatever is between us right now”, he whispered and closed his eyes.
They were close. Closer than ever.
But they were still not… more than that.
Jonghyun was scared, no, terrified of losing the other’s trust, his affection, his smile. He feared that Kibum was only holding on to him right now because he was the only floating branch available, as the blonde was cross with his parents.
At the moment, Jonghyun was the only one the spring god could turn to. And the elder was scared that this was all that was between them.
That the kisses didn’t mean anything.
At least not what Jonghyun wanted them to mean.
Taemin laughed.
It was loud and clangourous and it made Jonghyun re-open his eyes in wonder.
What…
“Honestly…”, the black haired deity shook his head in what seemed to be disbelief, “If the mortals would know how easily frightened the big bad Hades is. The god they fear above any other. They would laugh at you.”, Taemin grinned and wagged his eyebrows in a taunting manner
“They would laugh at how whipped you are. Laugh at how sickening it is to watch you be in love”
Jonghyun just growled in the back of his throat again.
It’s more of a snarl, like Ceberus would do if he was wary of something, but he stopped himself from talking back. The brunet did not dare to argue with the other in this.
How could he, when he knew how right Taemin was?
For a small moment, he felt himself short of breath. Something in his chest was tugging at him, as if it wanted to break free.
It was a fleeting emotion, maybe a little longer than the batting of an eyelash.
And then it was gone again.
The feeling that something was wrong with Yerim returned, but he brushed it aside for the time being. He trusted her.
Just as he learned to trust the Erinyes and Charon over the moons and seasons.
“And you are one of the great three”, Taemin continued and brought Jonghyun back to reality.
“You behave like one of those lovesick heroes who are sent on a great quest, but fall in love with the princess or prince of their dreams instead and endanger a whole population just for their silly love”
Jonghyun scrunched up his nose at that comment.
It didn’t sit too well with him.
“So, you say that love is stupid and silly?”
Taemin shook his head in response and sent his friend a wink.
“No. I just love to tease you”
“Oh really”, Jonghyun scoffed, but wore a grin on his features
“I couldn’t tell”
“Good that I was being sneaky then, right?”, Taemin offered with a blinding grin.
They were almost back as they used to be.
Almost.
“Perhaps… you two really need to face your feelings”, Taemin hummed
Jonghyun was all ears.
“Not just yours. Everyone knows that you care for Kibum. He knows about the depth of your feelings as well. But… he still hasn’t given you an answer right? A definite yes or no. Maybe you need closure in order to calm down again. You’ve been on edge. Restless. I’m sure I’m not the only one who noticed. Especially since the… attack happened”
The brunet hummed.
He knew.
But… he still feared what the younger’s answer might be.
“Closure, hm?”, he mumbled and Taemin nodded.
“It’s the only way”, his friend tried to encourage him.
“I guess”, Jonghyun shrugged his shoulders and watched as the younger rose to his full height again, wings unfolding and catapulting him into the air.
“I’ll come back another time. Can’t sit and wait until your lover wakes up”, Taemin snickered and vanished into thin air with his telltale loud ‘puff’ sound.
Jonghyun wished that he could really call Kibum his lover.
--
“Joohyun”, Jonghyun had been on his way up to the meadow when he finally caught sight of one of his Erinyes.
“Master?”, she stopped in her tracks and turned to face the god who had created her
“Is anything the matter?”, Joohyun tilted her head and the perfectly styled hair followed her movement.
“Not really”, Jonghyun calmed her down
“Sorry for making you worry”
Everyone was… everyone was concerned and edgy these days.
The brunet was really thankful that his Erinyes kept an attentive eye on Kibum’s well-being.
“Then what is it?”, she crossed her arms and pouted
“I’m going up to meet… someone”, he sighed as he told the spirit of jealousy about his plan. But he refused to address Minho as his brother or his family anymore.
“If Kibum wakes up while I’m up there, don’t tell him where I went. Make sure he is well rested and everything yeah?”
Joohyun just snickered and hummed.
“He is not a fragile doll, Master”, she interjected and that deflated Jonghyun for a moment.
The brunet blinked, but then he shook his head.
“I know. Just- “
“I’ll keep an eye on him”, Joohyun promised and uncrossed her arms, offering an almost invisible smile
“Thank you”
Jonghyun was already about to turn and mind his business, when the Erinye reached out and touched his arm gently
“Master… be careful”
For a moment, Jonghyun had to blush.
The memories of the past times when he had downright detested any creature of the underworld were still vivid in his mind.
And now?
They cared for him.
Jonghyun cared for them just as much.
Like a family.
“I will”
With that she let him go.
And Jonghyun hated himself a little that what he was about to do did not include the word careful.
--
Ira carried him as close to Olympus as she could. Shadow travelling up there was not possible. But this was close enough, Jonghyun mused as he dismounted his mare and let her graze for the time being.
His conversation with Taemin had helped him come to a conclusion. He didn’t need to talk to Kibum only.
No.
Jonghyun also desperately needed to talk to Minho.
And that as fast as possible.
Because…
Jonghyun needed to know. If… If Minho knew.
If the younger had been aware of the plan.
Hyosung’s plan…
A voice inside his head told him that the younger couldn’t have known… he would have never agreed to a reckless and ridiculous plan like this.
Right?
It was a nagging voice.
And he needed to make it stop.
Jonghyun wanted to know right now and that was why he was here.
Up at the place he avoided at all costs.
A place he once called home, where everyone had seemed to have forgotten that he had been… no, still was one of them.
The god of the underworld closed his eyes and exhaled deeply, before he set his feet into motion again.
Finding Zeus wasn’t that hard.
The brunet realised that some things never change.
Minho sat with his eyes closed, back resting against the large cedar tree. To an outsider he might look relaxed. But Jonghyun knew what was going on for real.
The god of the sky was listening to the prayers of the mortals. If one looked closer, one noticed the slightly strained expression, the knitted eyebrows as Zeus was lost in another world of prayers, chants and pleas of the mortals below.
Jonghyun felt slightly bad for interrupting him, but he had a far more pressing matter that needed attention.
“What does it take to earn a moment of the almighty Zeus’ precious time?”
The brunet had his arms folded over his chest and cursed at himself as he hadn’t managed to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.
But at least it got him the younger’s attention.
Minho opened his eyes, searching for the source of noise before settling on Jonghyun’s black-clad form.
“Jonghyun?”, the golden orbs of the other widened and he scrambled to his feet as fast as possible.
There was some sort of relief visible in Minho’s eyes and the brunet was bemused by that. Relief?
To see him?
Well, that would be something new.
“Tell me that Kibum is with you!”
Jonghyun snickered as his small hope got crushed.
Of course, this hadn’t been about himself. At least, Zeus was concerned about Kibum’s well-being.
That was enough for the elder right now.
Minho looked more than worried as he stepped closer to the smaller deity.
“He sent me a message with Taemin, but that brat wouldn’t tell me where he is… “, the black haired deity growled and Jonghyun’s lips twitched into a small smirk.
“Maybe Kibum doesn’t want to be found, Minho”, he shrugged his shoulders
“That’s stupid… Jonghyun… tell me he is with you. I just… want to know that he is not out there all alone, tending to his work and collapsing somewhere… where a seeing mortal could find him…”
The brunet had to swallow.
To be honest, he was slightly surprised that the blonde’s father worried that much. And at the same time… it made him unbelievable mad.
Jonghyun felt a hot prickle wandering up his arms - a very familiar feeling that he didn’t have the power to stop from spreading right now.
He didn’t look, but he was sure that his lower arms were already starting to emit small blue flames. Jonghyun had had decades and centuries to get a hold of his inner power, to gain a hold of the blue, hot ocean reigning inside of him, but when his emotions got the better of him… he lost the control over the azure flicker.
The brunet swallowed, but he was aware of the fact that this had probably not ceased his flames.
“So now you worry? About him being alone out there?”
Jonghyun found this ridiculous.
Kibum was capable of looking after himself. He was no mortal princess. Though they doubtlessly shared some similarities. Sheltered for all their life, kept away from anything dangerous.
The elder licked over his lips.
They didn’t even realise how much their Kibum had grown.
In power and mental strength.
What a witty and cunning mind he had developed.
“Then where was the great Zeus when his own child was assaulted, hm? Tell me”, Jonghyun demanded with furrowed brows, mocking the other deliberately.
The indigo was spreading, travelling up his shoulders by now, but he didn’t pay it any heed. Minho could see how enraged he was for all he cared.
“Where were you? When someone tried to rape him. Tell me? You were not there to help him”
That caught Minho off-guard.
But the elder still couldn’t tell if it was because of his accusing words or the fact that the younger heard of this attack for the first time.
Still, … it seemed to be the second option.
“So you were completely oblivious of that? Aren’t you the all-knowing lord of the sky? Wow”
Jonghyun knew he was starting to exaggerate, but he couldn’t stop himself.
All these words… they wanted to be said.
They needed to be said.
The brunet couldn’t let them stay unsaid. Minho needed to know… and Jonghyun needed to see his reaction.
Deep down…
Deep down Jonghyun nourished a certain hope.
“I can’t believe it. Were you busy seducing some mortal that you didn’t even notice that your own wife was creating a plan to have your own child get raped in a stupid attempt of revenge?”
Ridiculous.
This whole situation seemed so unreal and ludicrous and downright laughable to Jonghyun, but here he was facing exactly this.
The word ‘rape’ made his flames grow in size as the sole thought of it made him want to vomit.
Made him want to travel back in time and burn Peitho until nothing of her was left behind.
Kibum’s broken gaze lingered in his mind and he had to close his eyes and exhale deeply to stop himself from losing all of his remaining control.
“Hyosung? That’s… that’s absurd, Jonghyun. Why would she do that?”
“Of course, why would you believe me”, the elder snarled and closed his eyes.
“It’s always Hyosung.”, he muttered under his breath.
“You’ve changed Minho. You’re whipped. To the point that you don’t represent your own opinions anymore but you just give in and bend to her will… You don’t trust me anymore.”
Well, that was definitely nothing new.
But that didn’t mean that it didn’t hurt.
“You used to love justice”, Jonghyun continued, “But apparently you left your sense for that matter to Athena completely!”
Heat.
Blue heat was fuelling his anger, his growing spite against Hyosung and Minho.
Blue was Jonghyun’s equivalent to red.
And his golden eyes were tinted dark cerulean by now.
He saw blue.
Rage, anger. It throbbed in his veins as he wanted justice for Kibum, wanted them to know the truth, wanted Hyosung to stand her ground and admit what she had done.
“You used to listen to both sides without being biased. Now you take her side without any consideration”
The brunet tried to stay calm. He really, really did.
Even though his calm voice must be in a huge contrast to the blazing fire that was dancing on his shoulders.
“Because he knows that you are a notorious liar”, Hyosung’s voice cut through the air like a sharpened blade.
Her resentment towards Jonghyun and everything he stood for was evident in her tone.
She strode forward, taking her place next to Minho and squeezed Zeus’ hand in reassurance.
Jonghyun just found it sickening how she managed to play her games.
Why had she changed so much?
Demeter used to be a close family member to him too. By far not the closest but..
He had never thought that they would fight like this.
“He knows you shadow walkers spread lies. Why would I ever do something like this to our precious child? You are still holding him hostage! So the criminal is you!”
“Right, brother”
The brunet shuddered at the term.
He had stopped calling Minho his sibling a long time ago already.
“Why do you accuse her like that?”, the black haired deity of the sky asked, “Kibum is our son. She could never harm him in any way”
The brunet narrowed his eyes.
His hope was being crushed right underneath their feet.
Jonghyun just sighed in defeat, caving in as he realised it would be wasted effort if he continued to press on the matter.
Yet, at the same time it made him even angrier.
Hyosung treated Kibum like…
Like it didn’t even matter to her how scared and scarred her son was now.
And that Minho didn’t even deserve to know in what state the blonde deity was in.
“You’re horrible”, the brunet muttered and looked at the both of them. It was directed at Demeter, but he didn’t mind if Minho would feel addressed as well.
“I loved to call you my siblings”, his lips formed a thin line before he turned his attention to the younger male god alone, “Now, I don’t even want to be called your friend anymore.”
Minho bit his lower lip in response.
The god of the sky seemed to be wavering, but the elder knew he wouldn’t give in.
“Jonghyun… come on… you can’t seriously believe that she would do that. Why would anyone even try to attack Kibum… that’s nonsense”
Nonsense…
Jonghyun’s eyes flared with a new wave of indigo.
He was so close to letting go.
So close to charging at them and teach them the pain that Kibum went through. He didn’t even care that he probably had no chance against two other gods.
It didn’t matter to the brunet.
All coherent thoughts were lost when his fire took over him.
“It’s nonsense and you know it. No one would do something terrible like that. You know that I can’t believe you.”
It felt like the last straw.
The last piece that kept Jonghyun from risking everything.
But he never jumped forward.
Instead, all of his fire vanquished with a single touch.
His eyes turned back to their golden colour as Kibum’s slim hand had grabbed his forearm despite the cerulean flicker and had caused the fire to extinguish with that single small action.
“Then believe me”
>Chapter:Tau END<
A/N:
I’m sorry I am late with Tau! But this chapter turned into an extra long one so I hope this is enough to make up for it?
We are slowly approaching the end ;( And I really don’t want to end Inferna : (
Thank you to every one of you who stayed with me!!
I’m working on this for 18 months already…
It doesn’t even feel like it has been that long…
But as some of you already know, I’m planning a small sequel, so I hope I see some of you guys there again! : )
I claimed a prompt at the fic fest I talked about ;) I will try to do at least two fics for it though…. Did anyone else of you join? It’s a lot of fun!
If anyone of you guesses my submissions… I will reward you ;))
Thank you for your patience and your support!
I’m grateful to all of you and to L for her awesome work : )
xxx Blingdom