Hades

Author's Note: Hello, I want to start off by saying that I'm deeply sorry about the hiatus. I currently lost two editors within this month, so it will be a while before chapter 10 can be submitted, due to my on going search for a new editor.

BeastLover18

****

Once finished with the her talk with Stephanie, Athena walked back down into the living room just in time to see Hades walking outside with Claire right behind him. Athena smiled and shook her head at his caveman behavior. Just when she was about to go out and join them, Demeter stepped in her view.

"Well, I now know who to blame for Hades finding Persephone before Pirithous."

Athena calmly stood there with her hands folded in front of her, "We both know that if you had let Persephone give birth to the baby we wouldn't have gone through this mess."

Demeter's eyebrows lowered in anger, "I would not allow my daughter to give birth to that thing."

"You decided to play with fate, and you know how much they hate when people do that."

"That thing would have killed her."

Athena used every ounce of patience she possessed and told Demeter what she feared, "If the child was born Hera would have killed you, and you know this. I haven't told Hades that you killed his unborn son because you didn't want an angry wife to take your immortality."

****

Hades looked at Claire without hiding his emotions, "I really wish you would start taking a chance on me."

Claire laughed, "You hardly know me. I told you we could be friends first, and see where it goes from there."

Hades looked at her and sighed, he knew that even though her mind told her to slow down her body would start to refuse.

"Fine," he said looking up at her with a smile. "We will be friends."

Claire smiled, "Great, now can we go inside its freezing." Hades chuckled, and wrapped his arm around her shoulders leading her into his warm house. Once inside Stephanie told Claire that Shelly was on her way. Hades watched as Claire announced to the party members that Shelly was only a few minutes away, everyone started wondering where they were going to hide.

Claire looked out the window and saw that Harry had just pulled up into Hector's driveway. "They're here, everyone hide." She said in a hushed tone, while walking over behind the couch to hide. She jumped as she felt someone put their hand on her lower back.

"I hope you don't mind but all the other places are full," Hector whispered.

Hades watched her smile and did the same; he could tell that he was slowly breaking down the wall she had built. The more he tried the more he was convinced that her wall might not be as thick as the Berlin Wall.

"We really must hurry Harry; I know that they will be waiting at the apartment...." Shelly said right before Hypnos turned on the light and everybody revealed themselves.

"SURPRISE!" The guests shouted, as an extremely surprised Shelly grasped her chest.

Both friends walked up to her and hugged her while laughing at her scolding. Once finished, Hypnos took it upon himself to escort Shelly around the house. Hades watched as his friend turned into the perfect date; not crowding Shelly, talking when necessary, and not making a fool of either of them. Hades was about to walk into his kitchen to grab a drink but he paused immediately when he felt the power of his mother-in-law. Realizing that his mother-in-law would ruin his mood he decided to bypass the drink, causing him to nearly bump into Claire.

"Oh, sorry I thought you were going in."

"No, I had a change of heart."

"Well, I need to go get another bag of chips." She stated as held up an empty glass bowl and walked around him to enter the kitchen.

He took a deep breath and followed her inside, the last thing he wanted was for his mother-in-law to poison Claire's mind. They walked in to find Demeter standing next to Pirithous; they were both looking out the window was over the sink.

Claire put on the fake smile that Hades hated and began a conversation with them. "Are you both having a good time?" She asked as she grabbed a bag of chips and emptied it into the glass bowl.

"Yes, of course. It's a wonderful party." Demeter told her with a flawless smile. Claire smiled and excused herself as she went to put the glass bowl out to the party and left the three standing there.

"How long have you known?" Demeter asked.

"Long enough," Hades said. "I have always hated you Demeter, but I thought when I married Persephone that we could put our differences aside for her sake."

"You kidnapped my daughter, took her to your realm, and raped her." Demeter stated through clenched teeth. "Was I supposed to forgive you because you decided to marry her?"

Hades clenched his fist, "I know my taking of Persephone was a mistake that will never be able to escape from my memory, but that did not give you the right to kill her and our child."

Demeter raised an eyebrow, "You know... how?"

"It was whispered into my ear."

Demeter rolled her eyes, "Those damn fates..."

"Come now, we aren't all that bad." Hades turned to see the Moirae standing in the swinging door entrance.

Hades immediately bowed, "What have I done in order to be blessed with your presence?" He asked while keeping his gaze on the floor. They all chuckled.

"You have always been nothing but polite to us." Lachesis replied.

Lachesis then looked at Demeter, "Where are your manners?"

Hades assumed that Demeter and Pirithous both kneeled, soon after Atropos began to answer his question. "We wanted to wish our cousin Happy Birthday."

Shock rippled throughout Hades' body, "Do you mean Shelly?"

"Of course," Lachesis answered.

*****

Athena walked into the kitchen and was faced with the Fates, and two very powerful Greek Gods. Once her presence was known she lowered her head, "To what do we owe this pleasure?" She asked with her eyes still lowered to the floor.

They all three smiled, "We have come to celebrate the birth of our dear cousin." Atropos answered.

"Cousin?"

"Yes, you might know her as Shelly."

"Is there any blood relation?"

"There is," Lachesis said not giving any indication of continuing.

Athena looked at the Moirae with absolute confusion along with Hades. He looked at the Moirae and was rendered speechless due to the earlier news of Thanatos and now the revelation of the relation of Shelly.

"Hades, how does the quest go for capturing Persephone's heart?" Atropos teased knowing full well how difficult Claire was becoming.

Hades smiled knowing that Demeter was becoming more irritated due to the lack of knowledge in Hades' pursuits. "It is going as planned, my dearest Moirae."

Atropos smiled, "That sounds promising." She looked at Demeter's furious face, "Demeter? What seems to be the problem?"

"There are no problems that are becoming conflicting to my reign."

Lachesis smiled cruelly, "Good, you always know just what to say Demeter in order to save your ass from being incinerated."

Hades, who still remained kneeling, saw Demeter clench up her fist wanting so bad to attack Lachesis, but knowing the outcome if she did. There was a time where Lachesis and Demeter were good friends, because of Persephone. Since Persephone's death Lachesis has been keeping a tight rein on Demeter's activities. Ever since the Moirae told him that it was indeed Demeter that killed Persephone, Hades now understood Lachesis' anger toward the Goddess.

In the mist of all the quiet, the swinging door opened, revealing Claire. When she entered everyone rose to their feet and looked directly at her. She stopped in her tracks as she realized that she was the main attraction. "What? Do I have something on my face?"

Hades smiled at her, "No, you just surprised us. That's all."

"Oh, thank goodness. I was a little worried I had been eating one of Shelly's cupcakes but don't tell her, she'll kill me." She stated as she walked over to the fridge to pull out a soda. They all watched her exact movements.

She noticed the Moirae, once she finished her soda, which was standing beside the cutting table. "I'm sorry I don't believe we've met.

Atropos smiled sweetly, "We are Shelly's older cousins, and we raised her after mother and father died."

Claire's face lighted up with recognition, "Shelly talks so much about you three, and it's a pleasure to meet you." She said sweetly as she hugged each of the three Moirae. "I do have to ask you if Shelly has always been afraid of the mountains."

Lachesis immediately tensed, "Mountains, which ones? There are quite a few in Alaska."

Claire smiled, "Of course, it's the Kuskokwim Mountains, we were going to climb to its highest peak, but once we were close Shelly fainted and when we got her back up she was so scared we had to immediately leave."

Clotho immediately stepped in and answered for the group, "She's afraid of heights. She always has been. I'm surprised she even decided to go." She stated.

Claire's eyebrows frowned in confusion, "Well she didn't faint until we got close to the high peak." She stated before she shrugged her shoulders and smiled, "Anyway, I was just wondering."

"How long ago did you three try to go to the high peak?" Lachesis asked with what seemed to be innocent curiosity.

"It was pretty recent so I believe two months ago."

They all watched as Claire walked out of the kitchen.

Hades was the first to speak, with his head bowed he asked a question that he thought might anger the Moirae."If I don't disrespect I would ask a question."

"Ask," Lachesis said as she stared where Claire had left.

"What is inside the Kuskokwim Mountains?"

"Demeter return to Olympus." Demeter had no choice in the matter walked out with Pirithous, he looked at the Moirae who were waiting to feel Demeter enter Olympus. "She's there."

Clotho sighed deeply, "The Titans are in the Kuskokwim Mountains, and we put them there after they almost escaped from Zeus' carelessness."

Hades sighed; he remembered the day that his little brother's cage for the Titans had been demolished due to his 'distraction'. His little brother had always been quite the whore, but that time it almost cost the entire modern planet. It had only happened once but it almost destroyed the earth.

"May I ask why Shelly fainted," Hades asked holding his breath, hoping that he was wrong.

"She is an oracle, but she is also half Titan."

Hades breath escaped his body; he looked at his Moirae in disbelief. "Why was she not disposed of?"

Lachesis looked at him with tearful eyes, "She is of our blood, and even though we knew the consequences of our actions we did it for the greater good."

"My Moirae, she could unlock the Titans, she herself could turn evil and destroy the world. That girl is more powerful than Zeus himself."

Atropos laid her hand on Hades' shoulder, "She is not as powerful as you Hades."

Hades looked at her hand then raised his gaze to her lovely face. She was right, he was born first making him the most powerful of all his brothers and sisters. The fact that he was powerful didn't mean that he was going to do anything and the Moirae knew that. He could've taken over Olympus, and killed Zeus. He would never do that due to the fact that no matter how many times his brother pissed him off Zeus was still his brother who had saved him when their father had devoured him along with Poseidon, Hera, and Demeter.

He hated using his full power, it scared him. The last time he used his full power was when Persephone died, and he almost destroyed all of Olympus. The Moirae of course covered for him, they knew how powerful he was yet they also knew that if any of the Gods found out they would try to kill Hades if they discovered that Hades was more powerful then all of them.

"I can't do what you ask of me," He said sadly.

"If she turns you must kill her, "Lachesis answered sadly.

"She has grown to love Hypnos, can't that save her?"

"This isn't a Disney movie, Hades, love doesn't save us. How can love take the Gods seriously if we do not take love seriously?"

Hades rubbed his eyes with his forefinger and thumb; he didn't want anything to do with this crazy revelation. "If it was up to me I'd take Claire, impregnate her, and live quietly in the Underworld."

"We don't get what we always want Hades, besides Claire wouldn't like the fact that you could do something to help her friend, but you chose not to."

"I doubt she would like the fact that the only way I could save her friend is through her death."

"You could train her; teach her how to handle her powers."

Hades looked at Clotho as if she had lost her mind, "I refuse to have an unstable half-breed Titan in my domain."

"What else are we to do Hades? If they hadn't gone to Kuskokwim Mountain then this all would've been avoided, but the fact that she fainted and was scared afterward just told us that they contacted her. They know she is the key to their freedom, and we can't let that happen," Atropos explained. She lowered her hand, pulling it in front of him and showed him the Titans; they were confined in individual cages that were made by Hephaestus himself. He watched his father standing inside his cage barely able to move, that image brought back undesirable memories of his father devouring them.

"I can't. I may be physically stronger than the Titans, but mentally I can't do it."

"Then you must claim your Persephone and gain your mental strength."

****

Claire walked around talking to different groups spread around Hector's house. They all constantly asked her about the house, to which she just smiled and responded that a friend of hers let her use the space. She knew that Hector should've been out and mingling to get a sense of who she invited over, but for some reason she liked the feel of walking around his house and feeling as if they were dating. After she told the fourth person that a friend who was kind enough to let her use their house she decided to take a look at the backyard. Once outside she realized how many acres Hector had so she decided to stay on the porch.

She hated to admit it, but she did feel something for Hector, she knew that it was because of the way he looked at her. When he looked at her, it was if the whole world just vanished for him and the only people left on this earth were the both of them.

"Hey," a deep voice said, causing Claire to jump. "Are you okay?"

Still frightened she turned and saw that the cause was indeed Hector, "Yes, you just scared me is all." She chuckled, grasping her chest.

Looking into his concerned face, she smiled lightly to reassure him, "I didn't know that you knew Shelly's cousins."

"I didn't know that they were related," Hector answered honestly.

"Oh, well," She answered not knowing what to say, so she decided to change the subject. "How do you like the party?"

"Well, I'm not much of a party person but it seems descent."

"Yea, we have a lot of cool friends who won't steal anything."

Hector laughed, "Claire what's going on? You always ramble when something is wrong."

"I do not. I just have nothing to say."

Hector again laughed, "Do I make you nervous? Or is it the fact that you do want to tell me something but not in front of the nearly one hundred people that are surrounding us."

Claire bit her lip in uncertainty; the fact that Hector had figured out her tell just proved how interested he was, and that he had been paying attention to every detail. "I have nothing to say seriously. I just have this feeling that things are going to hit the fan pretty soon and I almost feel helpless."

****

Hades held his breath; he couldn't believe that Claire had just said that. He knew that Persephone had an insight that both of them had to hide from their family, but he was beginning to believe that Claire had more insight than she realized; it also explained her lack of sleep. He watched Claire look out of the sliding glass door, into the night sky.

"Why do you keep fighting it?" He wondered not realizing that he had spoken out loud.

The statement caused Claire to whip her head towards him and glare in disbelief. Hades sighed realizing that the more he opened his mouth the more she'd fight him. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything." She glared at Hades for a few more minutes, and then turned her head back toward the glass window to resume staring into the night.

Hades also turned to see what had caught her interest. He gazed up into the star filled sky. In that moment he realized that even though he was a God he never took interest in the night sky. He looked back at Claire who was still looking into the sky. As quietly as possible he walked behind her and wrapped his arms around her tiny waist while resting his hands on her wide hips. He noticed that she flinched when he made contact. Once she relaxed he rested his head on her shoulder scanning his backyard making sure that there was no possible danger.

When he scanned every inch, making sure that there was no danger to Claire he closed his eyes and just listened to Claire's breathing. A shiver ran through her body; Hades immediately knew what that meant. "Come on, you need to get inside."

He watched her expression, knowing she was about to argue with him. She surprised him when she smiled slightly and walked inside. As soon as she walked into the living room people started to surround her asking who owned the place. Hades walked up behind her and put his arm around her tiny waist.

"Hector," she said after she felt his hand connect with her body. "He is the owner of this house and was so generous enough to let Stephanie and I use the house for the surprise party."

Hades saw the lust flare in her female friends' eyes. He knew that he was indeed handsome but he also knew the more attention her friends gave him the more difficult winning Claire was going to be.

****

Claire saw the lust that flared into each of her friend's eyes, when Hector had been introduced. "Well if you will excuse me ladies, I have to go check up on some things."

Claire watched as her friends paid no attention to her once she left the group and entered the kitchen. She stood over the sink trying to collect her thoughts; she knew that she wanted to be with Hector but since he was quite the handsome catch, she also knew that it was only a matter of time before one of her attractive friends tried to 'conquer' him.

Wanting to keep herself busy she wiped her eyes in order to get rid of the evidence of tearing eyes, she took a deep breath and wiped her hands down on her hips trying to recollect herself. When she turned she gasped, she had not realized that Hector was in the kitchen with her.

"Oh! You scared me; you know I really think that you should start wearing a bell." She said while trying to lift the mood, but noticed soon enough that Hector was not smiling not one inch.

"Why did you leave me out there with all those Gold-diggers?" Hades asked her without showing much emotion.

"Nothing much just refilling the punch bowel, I noticed that it was a little low before coming in here." She informed him without looking toward him; instead she grabbed the glass bowel next to her and walked over to retrieve the punch from the refrigerator. While continuing her duties, she felt Hector's eyes follow her every move. Without speaking she filled up the glass bowel, and then walked past Hector without acknowledging him. In the living room an aura of liveliness filled her senses while she walked to the now empty punch bowel. She looked at the bowel sighing heavily; she placed the empty bowel onto the side of the table, and then gently placed the filled glass bowel on the white cloth that lay underneath. Claire, in deep thought, did not notice the approach of Stephanie.