Chapter Fifteen

I stood by Ambrosius's crib while he slept.

He wasn't very small anymore. He looked like he was maybe a year or so old. He lay on his back in his black and blue designed crib that was layered heavily with gold ornaments. A black snake toy was held tightly in his arms while he slept. He was dressed in blue with a little black hat on his head. He definitely looked like the Son of Hades.

And it made me ill.

Something in me told me that this child would not end up like his father, and yet... I couldn't help, but wonder. My powers reached into his future, but not that far. All I saw was a dark looming shadow, outlined by a desert sun. Every so often, I swore I saw a pair of yellow eyes, but it was gone in a flicker, so I wasn't sure if I was actually seeing it or if it was just my pessimisim having an affect on my visions.

Either way, I was still stuck, trapped. It didn't matter what kind of powers I had. Hades was trapping me into a deal I didn't really want to take, and even if I wasn't cursed, I'd still have to take it because he was threatening Dorean. Granted, he still gave one a single favor, but it didn't change that he was holding an axe over Dorean's head.

I kept that from Dorean. There was no way he could know that Hades was using him to threaten me. Dorean would be crushed. I didn't want to diminish his sugar sweet smile whenever he saw me. I didn't want him to hate me for something I couldn't help. I knew he wouldn't hate me, and yet, the feel was still there, like a dark shadow at the back of my mind.

I didn't hate Ambrosius, I thought as I watched the baby slumber. So far, he wasn't like his father. He giggled and kicked his feet. He loved the sound of the birds Malachi had sent him as gifts. He snuggled on the snake plush toy that Theo had sent him. The cradle was forged from the most expensive gems of Tartarus, a gift from Zelios. His blankets and several of his outfits came from Cain and Abel. A gold mobile hung over his crib, decorated with puppies and dragons and phoenixes, a gift from Cerberus. A couple of his toys, his favorites being the ones that lit up orange or played gentle lullabys, were gifts from Charon and Alexion.

Blaine was not allowed anywhere near him.

After awaking from the anesthetic, Blaine had had a panic attack and tried to leave the bed, but he was still weak from surgery. Cerberus had taken him home, and Blaine locked himself in his room for weeks before finally coming out. He didn't speak about Ambrosius and he didn't go anywhere near the palace, even when Hades summoned him. Hades had to go to him.

And try to make another so called "perfect heir", but Cerberus wouldn't have it.

"Give him a fucking break," Cerberus had snarled, "You just took his child!"

"He's my child. Without Persephone's womb, Blaine wouldn't be able to have children anymore. He should be kissing my feet that I allowed him such a luxery."

"You son of--"

"Don't you swear at me. I could easily just take Blaine back and keep him here for eternity. I could make a whole army of children, but instead, I'm only asking for six."

"Fuck. You."

It was a frequent argument. Finally, after an intervention from Persephone, they agreed that Blaine could heal for three months before Hades came to him again. I wasn't sure how Blaine felt about it. I hadn't been there for the argument. An argument over Blaine's body that, even while he was free, he had no control over. It was pitiful. I truly felt sorry for the fae. It seemed, even after he got his happy ending with Cerberus, doom still followed at his heels.

This had all happened last week, when Ambrosius was born. Now he had already grown to look like a year old baby, going on two. He was playful and, sadly, didn't know that his father had a dark heart. It was so hard to watch Hades come visit Ambrosius. He did love Ambrosius, and that was obvious in the way he was acting, both around everyone else and Ambrosius himself.

Hades would visit Ambrosius at the same time every day, and cradle him and play with him. Ambrosius loved him too. Hades would hold him and tell him stories of great warriors and how he would one day command his own army of warriors. Ambrosius, still an infant, would only giggle and clap his hands.

He had no idea Hades was signing him up for a battle he was most likely going to lose.

"How is he?" I frowned, turning to see Persephone coming in the room with Ambrosius's bottle of nectar that glittered in the bottle like liquid gold. I said nothing to her, just inclined my head and her smile faded. Her strawberry blonde hair was braided together with lilies, draped over her slender shoulder. Her pale pink and black designed dress trailed along the floor behind her as she approached the crib.

As if sensing her, Ambrosius opened his bright blue eyes and squealed at the sight of her, making grasping motions. Persephone tried to smile, but I could see it was strained. She reached into the crib and lifted Ambrosius into her arm. He clung to her and found her braid, pulling on the lilies in it, sniffing at them and wrinkling his nose like he didn't understand them. Persephone pulled her hair out of his little fist and pushed the bottle toward him. Ambrosius made another sound of delight and took the bottle nipple into his mouth, closing his eyes in bliss as he suckled the nectar out.

"Where is Hades?" I asked, his name like a bitter poison on my tongue. It was usually time for him to come in and take care of Ambrosius, not Persephone. In fact, now that I thought about it, this was the first time Persephone had come to visit Ambrosius.

"He went to represent the Greek pantheon in a United Pantheons meeting." Her voice sounded hollow. A frown creased my brow. The United Pantheons was made of representatives from each pantheon that had ever existed. It was to keep the harmony amongst each belief. To ensure that things were running smoothly. It was only a matter time that it would come together once again, judging from the amount of rising deaths in the mortal realm.

"And you?" I asked, watching her intently as she cradled Ambrosius, who wiggled his little feet in his fluffy blue socks and giggled before he went back to sucking his bottle. Persephone frowned at him and for a split second, I sensed a malice in her that alarmed me. She picked up on it and looked up.

"Xenon, is this my child?" She asked. I relaxed. Not malice, I realized, but sorrow and betrayal. There was a lot of controversy about whether or not Ambrosius was the child of Persephone and Hades, or Blaine and Hades. While it was Persephone's womb, it was Blaine's body. Hades flat out told everyone that it was the child of him and Persephone, but did he really believe that?

"Does he feel like yours?" I asked Persephone in return. She grimaced and I had my answer, but I could tell she wanted to talk, so I remained silent as she sighed, reaching up to brush the black hair away from Ambrosius's face and he peeked up at her and smiled, but she didn't smile back, which seemed to confuse him a little, so he just went back to drinking.

"He has Hades's eyes," She said after a moment, "His hair. Even his skin is soft."

"But he has your kindness." I pointed out. Persephone smiled sadly.

"But nothing else," She confessed, making me frown, "I don't feel motherly for him. I feel the same for him as I do all of other Hades's sons. Malachi, Theo, Zelios. Cain and Abel. Cerberus. Charon. All of them. None of them are my children, not even this one. I just don't feel it. There's no motherly protective instincts. If they were to die, I would be sad, but I wouldn't hunt them down to the ends of the earth, like my mother would for me."

"But you still love him. You still love Hades's other sons."

"I do, but not as much as they need it. They need real mothers."

"Not everyone needs a mother."

"Everyone needs a mother," Persephone said sternly, then her expression softened as she looked back down at Ambrosius, who was steadily falling asleep in her arms, so she removed from the bottle from his mouth and cradled him a while longer, "I don't know. I'm just not mother material... And maybe I'm just angry because, for all the things Hades has done to me, he can't even stay faithful to me."

"He's a god. Gods are never faithful."

"You're a god." Persephone pointed out. I said nothing to that. I would never betray Dorean. I would never, and have never, slept with anyone, but Dorean. He had become my heart and soul. I could never bring myself to look at anyone else the way I look at him. No one else shined as bright as him. He was the center of my world.

And Persephone knew that. She smiled.

"What must it be like, I wonder," She murmured, "To have someone like that. Status doesn't matter. Dorean is an imp. As far as social classes go, he's not even considered. He's... And yet, you a god, who could have anyone in the universe, chose him. You look at him like a starving man looks to food. Like the flowers reach for the sun. And while Hades did love me enough to take me away, he doesn't love me enough to keep me happy."

"Sometimes I wonder if Hades is capable of love." I said dryly. She smiled, but it was sad now.

"He is," She said, her voice certain, "The way he looks at Ambrosius... He would never look at me like that, never look at his other sons like that. Theo comes close. I always wondered what made him so special, but even Hades's affection for Theo could never beat how he feels for Ambrosius. There's something special about this one, Xenon... And I'm so incredibly jealous and I hate myself for it. Hades loves this child, wholly. He would give Ambrosius anything and everything. Spoil him rotten with love and trinkets. Ambrosius will never ask for anything. And yet..."

"And yet?" I asked. Persephone shook her head.

"I'm jealous of an infant."

"I'm sorry."

"Me too," She admitted, then went to the crib to carefully place Ambrosius inside, "I know it's a stupid thing to worry about. I mean, if Hades and I were to have attempted for a child, it would be cursed by Prometheus and killed. And Prometheus, no matter what we do to him, will not relent the curse. I'll never be able to give Hades something to love as much as he loved Ambrosius." I didn't know what to say to that. I just watched Persephone stroke the baby's head before she left the room.

As soon as she did, a cloud of depression fell across the room and Ambrosius woke up to wail. I sighed and reached into the crib, lifting him out. His cheeks turned red with how hard he screamed, tears streaming down his face. Despite having grown, he still felt incredibly small in my arms. I could practically hold him in one hand. I held him against me as he wailed, making grasping motions, but my presence wouldn't soothe him. Not like Hades's.

Not even Persephone, his supposed mother, could calm him, nor did she want to, because even as Ambrosius screamed and wailed, she didn't come back to the room.

My head was starting to hurt, ears ringing in pain at Ambrosius's screams. I couldn't shut him up and I had no idea what to do. I'd never been around babies, at least, not enough to know how to shut them up. I stood there, cringing in pain at his high wails.

The door opened and I turned, hoping for Hades, only surprised to see Dorean come inside. He wasn't supposed to be here. He was supposed to be in Styx with Adrian, shopping for gifts to get Ambrosius. His tail was the last thing to come into the room before he shut the door. He wore a loose white tank top with a low cut collar and snug jeans that were bedazzled. His white hair held back from his face with a black skull designed headband that Cerberus had bought him a few days ago.

"Why he sad?" Dorean asked, unaffected by Ambrosius's screams. How could he not be crying himself? I was on the verge of tears and I didn't even cry. Ambrosius's wails were just that horrible. I didn't say anything and just looked at Dorean helplessly before he grinned and came over. He made gestures for me to hand him the baby. I was a little afraid to at first. What if Hades walked in? How would he react to having an imp hold his child?

But Ambrosius's screams scrambled my brains and I gave up the infant.

Dorean took Ambrosius into his arms with a skill that surprised me. His wings fluttered, signalling his excitement at holding the baby, but his expression remained soft and gentle as he cradled Ambrosius in his arms.

"Sssh," Dorean whispered, making Ambrosius stop to sniffle and choke on sobs, looking through teary blue eyes at him in confusion, "No more cry. You'll make Xenon cry. You hurting his ears and that's not very nice. You be quiet, okay? Crying don't get you nowhere." Ambrosius looked like he actually understood what Dorean was saying and became quiet, just staring up at him like he was awed. Dorean beamed.

"Look, see? Everything okay. No more crying, okay? Not less you hungry or sleepy or need changing, yes?" He asked. Ambrosius just blinked widely. Dorean smiled even more. His tail came around and tickled Ambrosius's cheek. Ambrosius squealed excitedly and clasped the tail, hugging it to him tightly. Dorean smiled, then looked up at me.

"See, all quiet." He said to me. I sighed in relief, sticking a finger in my ear to wiggle it around and get that ringing out of my ear.

"How did you do that?"

"Lots of masters had babies that needed taking care of and masters was so busy that they told Dorean to do it. I mean I. No, me. Told me to do it. Yes." Dorean scrunched up his nose, frustrated, then shook his head and went back to playing with Ambrosius, who laughed gleefully and snuggled with his tail.

"What happened to Adrian?" I asked. Dorean rocked Ambrosius a little, shrugging lightly.

"He was annoying me." He answered. I arched a brow, perplexed.

"Oh?"

"Yes, oh. He was saying things about how I should move back and how Xenon not a good person, but he don't understand. I find it unfair. How come he can have Malachi and I can't say bad things about him, but now I have Xenon and he think he can say all those mean stuff? He's just grumpy cuz his mama's gone." Dorean stopped instantly and paled. I frowned.

"What?" I asked. Dorean looked down nervously.

"I wasn't supposed to say nothing."

"Dorean, you can trust me." I assured. Dorean paused for only a moment before nodding and looking back up at me.

"When I told you that Adrian leave once a week? He always went to go see his mama. He hid his mama when all the other Titans ran away. Well, Adrian tell me what he and his mama talk about and last time he went, his mama said no more coming. Said it was too dangerous. Where she hiding is lots of dangers and she don't want Adrian to get hurt or take risks. So she told Adrian to go away and Adrian been sad and mad ever since. He even mean to Malachi sometimes. He also kinda mean cuz he and Malachi don't touch."

"Why don't they touch?"

"Adrian cries and screams every time. He says he can't help it. He get scared when people touch him. Even I can't touch him sometimes. Sometimes my hugs scare him, so I don't do it unless he ask me to. He says it's cuz he broken. But I think he can be fixed. He just scared to be fixed."

"You're probably right. Adrian hasn't had an easy life."

"No," Dorean agreed, then frown a little, "He don't even like the closet. He made Malachi take it out after he went in and someone shut the door on him. He was screaming and hiding in the back. Malachi called it something, but I don't remember. It's where Adrian forget he here and thinks he somewhere else."

"I see... I'm sorry Adrian is like that. I would say tell him I'm sorry, but he wouldn't care."

"Probably not," Dorean admitted, then shrugged again, "But he gonna be okay. Malachi love him. Malachi won't give up on him." I nodded in agreement. Malachi was stubborn, like his father. I had no doubt that he would be there for Adrian, during his good times and during his bad times. It's what made them such a compatible pair. Adrian brought out Malachi's tender side and Malachi was Adrian's light at the end of the tunnel. It would definitely take time for Adrian to abandon his past and look toward a future, but that was all right. He had time.

"Oh," Dorean said, making me frown and look at him, "Something else! Theo's evil mama is dead."

"Oh yeah?" I asked, trying to appear casual. Dorean, ever oblivious, just nodded, his silver eyes wide.

"Yes! Was thinking Theo would make big funeral for her, but he just gave his mama to Hades and Hades put her in Tartarus. He told Zelios and Noe to keep her there forever and ever and be really mean to her. Because she was really mean to Theo. Theo don't say nothing about her, though. Adrian and I stopped to see him and he back to his own self... By that, I mean, he's being mean to people again, but I guess that's okay. I think. Theo is weird."

"Very weird, but I guess that's what makes him Theo."

"Yes," Dorean agreed brightly, "And it make him happy, especially Sept. They really happy. It make me happy too, even though Theo was mean to Dorean for a while. But he's getting better."

"How so?"

"He bought me a present, but he won't admit it came from him."

"How do you know it's from him?"

"Because Sept brought it to me and told me Theo got it for me for being nice to him when his mama was being mean to him."

"That was very nice of you, Dorean."

"No," Dorean said, shaking his head, "I just being normal. Being nice should be normal. Not special. Though... I think Theo being nice is special. Cuz it hardly happen, and that make it special. Niceness is different for everyone." In an odd, child-like way, that made a lot of sense. I just smiled, warmed by the fact that somehow, I had been lucky enough to have Dorean. Lucky enough to have his affections. Even when I wasn't around to hear the gossip about myself, Dorean was right there to defend me. Even when I knew there was darkness in me, Dorean saw past it and saw the light that I had forgotten existed.

That's what made Dorean special. His ability to see light in dark.

"How's Blaine?" I decided to ask after a moment of silence. Dorean frowned a little, cradling Ambrosius and the baby leaned over his shoulder to pull on his wings. For a moment, I thought it would hurt, but Dorean didn't even notice.

"I got him a present, cuz I heard he wasn't feeling well. He said thank you and was all smiley and trying to act normal, but he's really sad. Cerberus is trying to make him happy too, but he still sad. It makes me a little sad too. Blaine is a good fae. And he did what I always wanted to do." He admitted with a shrug.

"What's that?"

"Be free." Dorean murmured.

My heart clenched, and as I watched Dorean play with Ambrosius, I realized what I had to do.

"Dorean, could you watch Ambrosius?" I asked. Dorean looked up at me, confused. He nodded slowly, shifting Ambrosius in his arms as Ambrosius rubbed his cheek on Dorean's tail.

"Why? Where Xenon go?" He asked. I smiled reassuringly at his worried expression. I leaned in and gave him a kiss on the forehead, to which Ambrosius made a cooing sound and made grabbing motions for me. I just touched his nose and he giggled before I withdrew and teleported from Ambrosius's luxerious nursery to Hades's throne room.

For once, the sight of all the flora didn't relax me. I appeared in the room while Hades was standing nearby with some soldier dressed in his steel black armor. Hades looked up, then glared in irritation. He waved the soldier away and he vanished. Hades turned to me, coming down the steps of the platform where his and Persephone's thrones were.

"You better have a good reason for abandoning my infant, Atlantean. Oh wait, there is none." Hades tacked on venomously. I glared at him, eyes narrowed.

"Cut the shit, Hades. You told me you'd give me one favor if I did this for you. I have a two in one deal you better take."

"I don't think you're in a position to threaten me."

"No," I agreed, then paused, "But I can take Dorean and we can go somewhere you can't get us."

"Oh yeah?"

"Hell." I stated. Hades's eyes flared. Granted, I couldn't guarentee Dorean's safety in Hell either. In fact, I was bluffing, and judging from Hades's reaction, he believed me. Thank the gods.

"Lucifer won't let you stay." Hades challenged past clenched teeth, but I waved it off dismissively.

"But if you step foot on his soil, he'll see it as an act of defiance."

"You--"

"Agree to my terms and I'll protect your infant."

"What're your terms?" Hades sneered. I met his eyes, invading his personal space and watching the hatred flare and crackle in his eyes like the hottest part of a house fire.

"Free Dorean from his slavery, and guarentee him protection from anyone." I stated. Hades curled his lip.

"He's an imp! Giving him freedom will--"

"Then tell that to Ambrosius. Oh right, he'll have his throat slit before he reaches adulthood." I said with a careless shrug. I stepped back and Hades waved his hands for me to calm down.

"Wait," Hades snapped impatiently, "Wait. Just... Goddamn it, an imp? Really? It couldn't be a fae?"

"And you just had to have a fucking kid, didn't you? My thoughts exactly," I sneered, "Dorean was born in your domain, so unfortunately, only you have the power to free him from slavery. Do it. And guarentee his protection."

"I can't protect him if he's my leaverage."

"I'm not saying protect him against you. I'm saying that if your war with the other gods launches into a full out battle, you are not to touch him at all whatsoever. Because if something happens to him and I find out that you had something to do with it, I will not only gather as many allies as I can, but I will kill your infant in front of you." Another bluff, but Hades didn't trust me. Not when it came to his own child. He twitched and I could tell he wanted to just kill me right on the spot, but he knew better. While I was sure our powers were matched, that didn't mean we couldn't kill each other. In fact, in a battle where we both attack each other at full force, we would kill each other. Our last battle had come close to it, but Hades's children had managed to break the bond in time so we could stop.

"Okay," Hades said past clenched teeth, "Fine. But the moment you stop serving as Ambrosius's bodyguard, Dorean becomes a slave again and he'll not be treated as kindly as he is now."

"Fine." I replied stiffly. A moment of power launched between us.

But it was a bitter and cold power.

One that I would never regret.

Because Dorean now had what he always wanted.

He was free, and he would be the first imp to receive freedom. Ever.