Her Forever

Gwen’s POV

I was nestled softly, feeling warmth instead of the cold that I fell asleep in. The phantomtails had either lit their tails back to life while Cerbrbus was sleeping, or Hades had found me, and I was at home in bed. I preferred the latter, but I’m not that lucky.

Opening my eyes, I was in a small log cabin with a fire roaring at the hearth. I was sleeping in a pile of hay with large blankets on top, it was literally a nest I was sleeping on, and I didn’t mind. The fresh forest smell floated in through the window, and small chatting could be heard outside the large wooden door. The area around me felt so real; I wondered if this was a dream at all.

“It’s a dream,” the voice spoke with a hint of a melody in her voice. It was quiet, barely audible, but I noticed it. Turning my head to my right, next to the fire was a woman with a beautiful face. Her bright blue eyes shone like moons. Her glowing hand came from the rags she wore. The hood covered most of her dirtied face as she touched my hand.

Speechless, I let her touch me as she pulled me from the nest-like bed. “We don’t have much time,” she whispered. “Just know your mate is just fine,” she smiled.

“S-Selene? The Goddess Selene?” I tried to kneel down in front of her, but she just made a little laugh. “No, child, no need for that.” The other hand appeared, now holding my palm close to her.

“I’m happy that Hades finally woke up and claimed you; I was getting worried.” Confused, I sat on my knees to kneel at her to listen. “I don’t have much time, I’ve been captured, and I cannot match souls, and if I don’t find my way out quickly, I may not be able to reverse what Nero is planning to do.”

“Nero? Who is Nero?” I whispered. The whispers became yells and cheers outside as she gripped me tighter. “He has us both, Hectate and I, but I fear he is working for another.”

“Another? Who is the other person?” The scene around us started to blur, and the hard thuds at the door became louder.

“Parisa!” Selene grabbed me harshly and had me look into her blue eyes. “Find the Sphere of Souls,” she rushed, panicking. “It is at your favorite hiding spot as a child. Listen to the voice inside you!” Selene hissed. My head started pounding. “You are Parisa!” Selene’s voice faded as my body rocked back and forth. A loud whooshing howl swept the room, and the fire was extinguished. I was left in the dark with the moon rising above the window as the shaking became more gentle. The bed started to fade along with the other furniture in the room; Selene’s chair left nothing but a crescent moon on her seat.

My eyes instantly closed and fluttered open again to be welcomed by the cold cave. Hades was knelt down, stroking my shoulder gently. “There’s my beautiful soul mate,” he purred as I jumped from Cerebrus. His clothes were changed; he had a dark pair of slacks on along with a crimsons dress shirt that was rolled up his forearms. Black flame tattoos traveled up his arm while a few rings twinkled as Blaze sat with his tail bright.

“You’re okay!” I wrapped my arms around his neck as he chuckled into my hair. “Of course I’m okay; I’m the King of the Underworld!” Hades pulled me back and swept a thumb pad over my cheek. I’m sorry if that scared you; I wasn’t expecting company. It’s been taken care of you, and you will not see them again.” Hades smoothed out my hair as I held onto him tightly.

Hades had been working tirelessly on that missing person report that Niko kept bringing up this week. Now there wasn’t one but two people, and with a dream I just had, at least I thought it was a dream, I knew they were connected. I’m dealing with gods and goddesses; I’m sure some magic is coming into play here because I’m not just an ignorant human anymore.

“Selene and Hectate are the ones missing, aren’t they?” I word vomited him as Hades eyes widened.

“How did you know those names?”

“I’ve read about Selene and the other gods in books while you work in your office. That’s beside the point,” I rushed while waving my hands about. “Selene visited me just now! I prayed for her to help you, and she came to me in a dream!” I gushed. Even the rags couldn’t disguise her beauty; I couldn’t imagine Aphrodite be any more beautiful.

“W-what did she say? This is really important Gwen,” Hades held onto my shoulders.

“First of all, my name isn’t Gwen; it is Parisa! That name I keep hearing from my dreams, it is my name!” My excitement woke up the phantomtails that were all growling in annoyance while Cerberus stood up and shook them off. Little chatters filled the room as Hades pulled me to his chest. “Parisa,” he whispered.

I felt a shiver run through me; it sounded right. This was my name. Gwen always felt foreign on my tongue but honestly, saying that Parisa was my name felt good; it felt like home. Now that I knew it was my name, I wanted him to say it all the time. “Parisa,” he tilted my head back and planted a k**s. “Forever, my Parisa.”

…

It took us just a blink of an eye to returning back to Hades’ palace. Next time he should just blink me to the cave instead of making me ride Cerebrus. No offense to my doggy friend, but riding a galloping canine while dealing with your lady time wasn’t fun.

Ares and Vulcan joined us in the office as I spilled my guts about the dream I had. I spent more time describing her and how beautiful she was. Her blue moon eyes and light hair covered by nothing but rags were still stunning. Vulcan continued to smile as I said once she vanished, a crescent moon was left on her seat.

“We need to find the Sphere of Souls, correct?” Vulcan interjected. “Not only that, Gwen-I mean Parisa is the only one that can do that.” My heart sank. How was I to remember my past when I couldn’t even remember my name.

“It will be fine, Parisa. One day at a time,” Hades tucked my hair behind my ear as I sat on his lap. Pulling me to his chest, he had me listen to the steady beat of his heart. “It looks like Parisa is more tangled up in this mess than we thought. Selene has her involvement in it, and now I wonder why Hecate wouldn’t remove some of the spells cast on Parisa. Hecate must have foreseen this and needed to buy time, but time for what?”

Ares had his dagger out, sharpening it on the couch. Every little bit, he would spit on the rock as he sharpened it more. Vulcan stood in deep thought about how all these pieces of the puzzle were going to fit together.

“Who has a vendetta against you?” Vulcan finally broke the silence. Hades smirked while he chuckled.

“In my wild and free days, plenty. I’ve been fairly quiet the past 3000 years, you know this.” Vulcan hummed.

“Make a list, for as big or as minor of a problem with gods and deities alike. We can start there and go one by one. Niko can visit them unannounced and see if we find anything. We aren’t just dealing with Nero, like you said, Parisa. Someone is the head of the operation, and Nero was just stupid enough to go to the front lines.”

Niko walked into the room, popping a sandwich in his mouth. “What did I miss?” I waved at Niko brightly, who gave a gleaming smile in return as he sat down. “Her name is no longer Gwen. Her true name is Parisa,” Vulcan spoke. Niko jumped back up from the couch.

“What! You remember!” Niko came running up to the desk to congratulate me, but Hades let out a large growl.

“Know your place, demon.” I tapped Hades on his hand. “He’s just excited like me; you need to lighten up a little.” I kissed his cheek, but he still wouldn’t let me get down from his lap. Grunting, I folded my arms while pouting.

“Not going to work,” Hades pulled my l*p with his, and I flushed in embarrassment.

“Stoop,” I whined. “Demons and gods are watching,” I said, whispering in his ear. Vulcan chuckled while Niko sulked back to the couch. A large knock came to the door as I was getting ready to explain to Niko how I figured out my name. Ares stood up, baring his large naked chest and holding the dagger he was playing with.

“Enter,” Hades spoke loudly, and the pit of my stomach dropped.

Creatures, no monsters walked through the double doors. They needed both doors to open wide for their massive bodies. The red skin had boils and blisters, while some oozed a terrible stench. Black tar-covered their backs, and it dripped onto the floor, only to disappear after they had moved a few stews away. Large fangs protruded from their bottom jaw, curling upward just enough to touch their high cheekbones. The black hair on their heads ranged from short to long, and their horns were enormous, almost too big for their heads.

I literally stopped breathing in fear.

Hades POV

Parisa was paralyzed in fear insomuch that she stopped breathing. My torcher demons stood up straighter from their natural hunch-over forms and grinned ear to ear. “She is impressed,” one of them spoke as he flipped his hair back. “Yes, look how repulsed she is of our form.”

Rolling my eyes, I slammed my hand on the desk. “Go to your human forms, NOW!” The demons shook as their backs and bones began to break. Parisa shivered into my hold as she threw her face into my neck. “W-what are those things,” her voice shook so much I barely understood her.

“Demons who manage the dungeons here in the palace. I have them here for special treatment of gods and deities if they piss me off.” Parisa’s hand clutched my shirt as I cupped her face. “They won’t look like that anymore around you.”

“We impressed her so much she is shaking,” one of them whispered as they gave each other high-fives. Ares grunted as he went to the three demons and punched them each square in the jaw, respectively. “And everyone thinks I’m the dense one around here,” he mumbled as he turned to sit on the couch.

The demons sat up straight, placing their jaws back in place. “The Queen of the underworld is not who you should be scaring half to death. It is my damn prisoners. She is not of this world,” I yelled. “Do not make the same mistake again.”

The demons trembled at my voice as they stood in their human forms. They now looked like average human men, not appealing to even the most beautiful women on Earth. “We apologize for our insolence,” the leader said as they all put their foreheads to the ground. “We did not understand. We are sorry if we caused too much disturbance to our future queen.”

“Now speak, why you are here; you are tracking tar on my floors.” Parisa peeked out of my neck to see the three humans. She dared not let go but was able to look at them in the eyes.

They all stood up with heads bowed. “We are sorry, our Lord of Darkness.” s**t, when they pull that line, it means they did a major f**k up.

“What. Is. It,” I gritted my teeth while pulling Parisa back into my hold.

“N-Nero has escaped.” The whole room went into slow motion as Ares and Vulcan stood to rush towards me, but it was too late. With one wave of my hand, the demon in front of me burst into ash while the other two began to hug each other for a lifeline.

“Explain,” I growled. Vulcan and Ares stood beside me as I held Parisa’s head to my neck. I didn’t need her witnessing any of the destruction I was about to unfold.

“He just vanished! After you had brought our queen back, we searched the entire palace, and there was leftover magic residue in the cell. It was foreign and powerful, a type we had not been trained on. It was that of a god; a god must have set them free!” A deep rumble went through my chest as Parisa held me tighter.

“Hades?” her voice rode my anger like a gentle song.

“I’m sending you to our room, do not leave until I come to fetch you.” Parisa opened her mouth to protest, but she was gone in an instant. Cerebrus was already there watching her, and Blaze wouldn’t be far from her. They were both more trustworthy than anyone else.

“I’ll go guard her room,” Niko announced as he headed to the door.

“No, you stay,” I demanded as he stopped his skip to the door. Damn i***t.

“There is something else you are not telling me.” Standing up from the desk, I let my fingertips trail the hardwood surface. Passing the lamp, I swatted it to the floor as my Italian leather shoes clicked towards them. Both of them dropped to their knees, shaking. “What. Is. It? What is it that has your disgusting hearts still beating so rapidly?” Licking my lips, I grabbed the one on the left by the collar, pulling him up with one arm above my head. His dark eyes looked down as his hands tried to scrape away the rings that dug into his throat.

“My Lord,” the other one pleaded. “Nero, he took, he took the Helm.”