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𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞: 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞

THE PALACE OF NYX

TARTARUS

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AFTER 1000 YEARS OF SLAVERY, HOME SEEMED LIKE A FOREIGN CONCEPT TO MELAINA. She was unsure whether her home was the looming obsidian chateau belonging to her mother in the Underworld. If after so long of being amongst the violent saffron flames and blackened soil, her place of slavery, constituted a home. Or if her home was back up on Olympus, amongst the rolling jade hills and living in the ethereal castle that was the Palace of Olympus. Spending her days with her brethren and laying in the golden oasis with nothing to do but relax.

But it did not matter, she was finally done with her servitude in the Underworld. No longer being the Shepherd of lost souls, the harbinger of darkness, the personal messenger of Hades. She was finished, her liberty awaiting her.

And here she was, not for the first time in Melaina's very long life, parting with her parents. Saying her final goodbyes before she would ascend to Olympus, appearing before the Olympian Council and be freed from her punishment for 5 short years. A break that she wished would last longer.

As soon as Melaina's parents had appeared in her spacious bed-chamber, Nyx's eyes gleaming with bittersweet happiness whilst Erebus watched in complete indifference, she had known that it was time to say her goodbyes.

"Goodbye, φεγγαρι μου /my moon." Nyx murmured as she pulled Melaina into a tight embrace, hands furling over her daughter's slender figure. Letting her overwhelming aroma of sun drenched lilies and cinnamon invade Mel's senses, thawing her toughened resolve. "Look after yourself for me."

"I will, mother. Don't worry about me." Melaina replied, releasing her mother and clasping their hands together, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"I always worry about you, darling." Nyx smiled lovingly, with an underlying undertone of truth lingering in her words.

Returning her mother's smile, Melaina realized just how much she would miss her mother. How much she would miss her reassuring words, her delightful banter, and her warm chocolate eyes. The side of her mother that so many people never witnessed. The warm, comforting, and teasing Nyx, not the Goddess who inspired fear, was known for her harsh brutality and unforgiving temper. The side of Nyx that scared even Melaina whenever she was exposed to it.

Because the Goddess Nyx and the maternal Nyx were two starkly different people.

Turning away from her mother with one last bittersweet smile, Melaina looked over to her father. Who's dark eyes bore into hers coldly, void of any emotion as a silence enveloped the trio. Suspending them in a moment of awkward stillness.

"Father." She eventually spoke,

"Melaina." The words blasted from his lips, loud as a clap of Zeus' thunder. A predatory smirk curling on his thin lips as he regarded his disgraced daughter. "Say hello to your siblings for me."

"I'll make sure it slips my mind." She retorted

"Melaina." Nyx interrupted, a warning for her to stop provoking her volatile father.

"Relax, I'm just kidding." She piped up, her impish grin faltering as she watched a brutal snarl encapture Erebus' features.

"We thought you were kidding around with Atlas. But look how that turned out?" His words sounded like they came from a serpent, fangs sinking into her fleshy outer organ, teeth coated in a thick layer of deadly poison.

His words had slipped past her reinforced armor, piercing a hole in her delicate skin. But Melaina was not so easily crushed. So she quickly returned to the offense, swept up in a hurricane of rage and fury and attacking with violent force.

"My relationship with Atlas was less of a joke then you saying you had moved on from my mistakes." She growled murderously.

Erebus' eyes flashed with burning animosity, his features contorting into pure anger as he took a threatening step towards his defiant daughter. His fists coiled by his side as he resembled the molten flames of Tartarus, flickering with vehement force, the kingdom that he ruled.

But before he could lash out and let his words spew from his lips like a torrent of flames, Nyx grasped ahold of his forearm in warning.  "Erebus, that is enough."

As soon as her hand had grasped around his, he had shrugged it free. Smoldering obsidian eyes glaring at Melaina intensely, somehow without words communicating with his daughter his disappointment. And within the blink of an eye, he disappeared into the shadows. Vanishing from sight without a farewell.

"Mel—"

"Don't."  Melaina sighed, cutting her mother off. "It's alright, I'm used to it."

"I know you will do us proud up there." Nyx whispered, trying to ease her daughter's residual anger. To take her thoughts away from her father that left her wishing she was adopted. "But, do say hello to your siblings for me please."

"Of course." Melaina nodded, giving her a soft smile.

Turning down to her ebony Hellhound that sat curled up across her bed, Melaina let out an adoring chuckle as she let her fingers ruffle through her thick charcoal coat. Watching as Dee's crimson eyes stared up into her own wistfully, somehow knowing that this goodbye wasn't like others

"I'll smuggle you up there somehow. Just give me some time." Melaina cooed sadly, knowing that she was probably going to miss her pet more than anyone. Because who wouldn't?

Dee let out a soft whine as Melaina retracted her hand, unable to stop the tear in her heart that the Hellhound was making with her sad eyes. Eyes that usually blazed with hostile flames and jubilant glee, now merely flickering in gloom.

"I'll be back before you know it, baby." She murmured, bending down and pressing a light kiss on her forehead.

Right as Melaina turned back towards her mother, another figure appeared in her bedroom. Initially thinking it was her father ready to enact his reprisal and erupt in his torrid rage, Melaina took a wary step back towards Dee, who also prickled at the sudden approach. But upon recognizing the greasy dark locks and satirical glint of her best friend's eyes, her lips immediately curled upwards into a grin.

"Mel, I'd never thought I'd see the day that you would leave here again." He smirked, his dark chiton bellowing as he made his way towards the pair.

"Why? It was bound to happen." She rebuked playfully.

Cocking his brow at her, Hades crossed his arms over his chest, pulling taut the muscles that lie beneath his ivory skin. "I thought Cerberus would consume you by now." He leered.

"Excuse you, Cerberus likes me very much, thank you." She argued, eyes wide in outrage before a matching smirk pulled at her own lips. "If anyone, he would do that your darling wife."

The two both erupted in laughter, the harmonious sound echoing into her bed-chamber. Leaving Nyx watching on in happiness, glad that her daughter had managed to find a friend down in the place that was supposed to be her ruination.

But she would never let Hades know that.

When the two finally settled down, Hades offered her a melancholic smile. For the first time in a long time allowing her to truly see how much he appreciated her company.

"You didn't hear me say this, but I'm going to miss you, Mel." He whispered, his dark eyes shattering with a tidal wave of despondency.

An odd stinging sensation erupted in her eyes, a warning of the emotion that stirred deep within her own jade eyes. So she hastily swept Hades up in a hug, letting her petite arms wrap around his muscular body. Nuzzling her head into the crook of his neck as she inhaled his soft scent of pomegranates and ash. An odd aroma, but one she had come to appreciate over the years.

"I'm going to miss you too, H." She murmured into his chest before pulling away regretfully.

"Have fun up there." He chuckled morosely.

"It'll never be as much fun as being down here with you." She chided, her final joke before turning back to her mother and offering her a bittersweet smile.

"Goodbye." She spoke, her throat constricting around the words and turning them into a soft whisper. And with one last smile, she flickered her wrist and let the raging flame of darkness stretch into a portal. A bright light emitted from the circle of pure darkness, flickering with the picturesque view of Olympus.

And with an anxious sigh, Melaina stepped through the blaze. Leaving behind her mother who glared a burning whole into the side of Hades' head, all whilst he stared at the ground and cleared his throat awkwardly. A king afraid of the real Queen.

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Olympus was a place like no other.

It was not like Tartarus, no silhouettes of darkness, no violent ember flames, no death. Monsters didn't lurk around every corner, it didn't house the insane or damaged, no tormented souls that infected the world like parasites. It wasn't an ugly incarceration center for the damned and sinners.

No, Olympus was beautiful.

It was a world of pure ethereal beauty, bathing in molten sunlight. Filled with mountains cradling the emerald planes of trees and pristine arrays of flora. Jade valleys haloed in light, with vibrant flowers of all colors, glimmering like a mine of untapped jewels. Reigned with pearly clouds that floated in the sapphire sky and pools of blue water that gleamed in the bright summer day.

A herd of half-human, half-horse beasts powered over the earth, muscles rippling under their sienna pelts. Their hooves creating an exquisite melody as they slammed against the olive ground, rearing in elegance.

Nymphs too roamed the land, the physical incarnations of the beauty of nature. Young and radiant women dancing by the cobalt pools of water, their glorious singing echoing into the jade forests and filling the atmosphere with life.

Creatures of all descriptions habited the land, living in a harmony that was starkly different to the environment Melaina was accustom too back in the Underworld. She thrived off discord, disarray, chaos. But everything here was the opposite, pure, refined and simple. An untainted beauty that she only got to experience for 5 short years.

But this beauty that Melaina saw paled in comparison before the great Palace of Olympus.

It sat atop of the tallest peak of Olympus, aptly named Mount Olympus. It was something that an innocent child would imagine in a story of fiction, almost as if it was conjured directly from one of their stolen dreams. A gargantuan castle bathing in moonlight, made from ivory stones that gleamed even in the darkest of midnight. Rising into the cobalt heavens, standing amongst the shimmering celestial stars and pearly veils of smoke. A hallowed and ancient chateau, inspiring awe and deference from all those that habited the land below.

Melaina was left gawking at the sight, reeling from that hit of deja vu. Remembering what it was like to walk along the cobblestone terrace and gaze out across the picturesque view. A sight that she had been deprived of for so many years.

As she took in the heavenly air, the ephemeral wind that caressed her skin and the bright rays of sunlight that simmered across the supernal oasis, a high pitched scream echoed across the patio.

"MEL!"

Melaina, already recognizing the familiar melodious voice, turned around with a smile of pure happiness.

She watched as her sister, Hemera, ran towards her, her silken chiton bellowing as her tan sandals kissed the ground. Hemera had always been beautiful, with long golden hair and eyes that resembled molten stars dazzling in the galactic sky, haloed in angelic light. Maybe because she truly was day incarnate, with nothing being purer or more divine than she. But even after a millennium, her beauty was just as dazzling.

Within seconds, Hemera reached Melaina and threw her arms around her as if she was the last bubble of oxygen to alleviate her dying lungs. Squeezing her tightly, almost reducing her malleable bones to dust. Laughter erupting from her roseate lips, sounding as beautiful as a songbird in the early morn.

"Mera, it's been a while." Melaina whispered into her ear, beaming before she pulled away and gazed at her radiant sister's face.

Hemera chuckled as she rested her nimble fingers on Melaina's cheekbones, stroking her ebony hair fondly. "Oh darling, you look even more beautiful than the last day I saw you." She murmured sweetly.

"Stop, you are making me blush." Melaina chided, looking at her older sister in pure adoration.

Hemera and Melaina had always been close, the two sides of the same coin. Mel's impish and fearless nature balancing out her sister's soft and gentle essence. Like gravitational forces, they were drawn to each other. Their starkly different characteristics rendered insignificant.

Even after the Titan War, Hemera held no ill will to her sister. She was heaven embodied, the true symbol of what it meant to be a pure being, harboring no resentment or scorn to others. And after every millennium, she was always the first to welcome Melaina, to throw her arms around her sister and offer her that sibling affection she had been deprived of.

"I have missed you so much, Mel. This day couldn't have come quick enough." She spoke, jade eyes rippling with delight as she all but bounced in excitement.

But Melaina's reply was cut short by a booming baritone voice, one that left her eyes rolling and a mischievous smirk pulling at her ruby lips.

"Melaina." Aether drawled, eyeing her cockily. "Nice to see you alive."

Turning away from Hemera's affectionate hold, Melaina gazed at her approaching brother. Aether, in every way possible, was Nyx's double. From the dark onyx hair to the bronzed skin and the air of austerity they oozed, they were the same. Aether's presence demanded attention, forcing others to recognize his power, to pay him deference, just as their mother did.

He was the God of Heavenly air and Light, after all, two of the very things that Olympus was founded on.

But he had Erebus' temper, his satirical humor, and mocking smile. A combination that left many people wary of her brother, treating him with caution in fear of his violent anger that spared no innocents. But not Melaina, the had known each other much too long to ever be scared of his outbursts. And thankfully he didn't inherit Erebus' poorly disguised hatred of her.

"Aether, what a surprise to see you here." She commented, brows rising mockingly.

"How was Tartarus?" He asked, lips curling upwards as he spoke. "I heard the smoke down there isn't too great for your skin."

"Better than your noxious air." She grinned, watching as he rolled his eyes before enveloping her in a hug. Letting his silken covered body connect with Melaina's, offering her a brief act of attachment before retreating into his usual sarcastic shell.

"Mother and Father dearest said hello." Melaina drawled, the words coated with a thick layer of animosity.

"It's been so long since they visited Olympus." Hemera sighed, frowning as she ran a hand through her flowing blond locks.

"That's because they can't, Mera." Aether spoke disparagingly, friendly ridicule swirling in his copper eyes. "Is your head just filled with clouds?"

"Hey!" She shrieked, slapping his arm lightly in offense.

"You're lucky he doesn't come up here." Melaina interrupted, irritation painting her features. "He could pass as one of the Furies nowadays."

"Is he really that bad?" Hemera questioned lowly, watching her sister ruefully.

Everyone knew of Erebus' disdain to his youngest daughter, how he blamed her for the treatment he received from the Gods because of her rebellion. And despite everyone else moving on and forgiving Melaina for her actions, that happened many years ago now, he refused to do the same.

"Worse." She grumbled, shaking her head frustratedly before she moved on. "Anyway, don't you guys have duties to be doing right now?"

"Nope, we did them all this morning so we could welcome you!" Hemera answered gleefully. "We couldn't let you come to Olympus after a millennium and not be the first people you see!"

"I didn't get a choice." Aether grumbled, ignoring the jab that Hemera's elbow made into his robed chest.

"Aw, poor you." Melaina cooed mockingly, oblivious to the newcomer that made his way up behind the trio.

"Well, hello there." A familiar masculine voice hummed as a hand curled around her waist, instantaneously arousing a wave of heat to envelop the area. "Look who finally decided to grace us with her presence."

Turning her head to the side, Melaina caught sight of none other than the infamous Apollo in all his divine beauty. The man that left people with oxygen-deprived lungs and lustful fantasies at the very sight of him.

If you asked any of the Gods, male or female, they would agree that Apollo was the most beautiful man amongst them. With his flowing golden locks that resembled streams of molten gold and eyes of emerald jewels, nobody was exempt from the overwhelming attraction that stirred within them. Even his voice, a low baritone melody that soothed even the most profound of anger, won people over.

And Apollo knew that he was irresistible, and by Zeus, he used it to his advantage.

"Apollo." She cooed, her heart imperceptibly fluttering at his touch. "Long time no see."

"It's been too long, Mel dearest." He grinned, lust stirring in his jade eyes. "I missed waking up to your beautiful face."

After the disastrous downfall of Melaina's relationship with Atlas, she turned away from love. Realizing that although its intoxicating highs filled with boundless devotion and unforgettable memories, it too featured ruinous lows. Crashes that left her heart splintered and erupting in agonizing pain. Fearing what would happen to the beating organ if it were to happen again.

But scandalous affairs, free from that emotional attachment helped ease the loneliness that she experienced. Lustful and passionate liaisons, days of pure carnal highs where she could forget about her punishment and responsibilities. Where she was no longer Melaina the disgraced, rather a woman enjoying the touch of another.

And Apollo, he proved to be quite an extraordinary lover. They had spent many nights together when she was granted her freedom from Tartarus over the years, something that was not unusual for any of the Gods. But not only that, they had found friendship in the affair, an odd but beautiful relationship that Melaina very much appreciated.

"You're not the only one." She smirked, leaning into his hold and gazing teasingly up into his eyes.

"Always so flattering." He chided, hands slipping lower along her body as he got lost in her eyes. "You truly have proved that absence makes the heart grow fonder. Because mine has been aching each minute that we have been separated."

Recognizing his usual flirtations, Melaina rolled her eyes in amusement. "Sound's like a heart attack. Deadly things they are."

"I'm not a doctor, but you sure seem to be the cure to such an ailment."

"You have always had a way with words, Apollo." She teased, used to his typical coquetries. "And with women."

"What can I say, I have an appreciation for the beautiful." He shrugged, beaming down at her.

"This is beginning to get awkward." Hemera muttered, bringing the pair out of their reverie abruptly.

"Yeah, stop flirting with my sister, hotshot." Aether glared icily, his brotherly side forcibly appearing as he watched their conversation unravel in disgust.

"Flirting's not the only thing I've done with your sister, Aether." Apollo smirked boldly, testing Aether as he stepped forward challenging.

"C'mon, did I need to know that?" He groaned, hands flaying in repulsion.

"Love, I think that's enough." Melaina warned, placing a hand on his bicep before she turned to her siblings imploringly. "Could you guys give us a moment."

"No funny business." Aether threatened, pointing his index finger at the pair as though he had the power to stop them. But thankfully, he was eventually pulled away by Hemera, who gave Melaina a teasing wink before they disappeared into the palace.

At their disappearance, Melaina turned back to the dashing god with a smirk pulling at her ruby lips, leaning against the ivory wall of the palace as she cocked a brow at him mockingly.

"So Apollo, what is it that brings you here?" She questioned, eyes gleaming mischievously as she raised her chin up to meet his towering gaze.

"Did I need an excuse to see you, darling?" He answered, stepping towards Melaina, eyes roaming over her features. Her jade eyes, the tiny freckles that decorated the tan skin of her face, and the perfect curve of her lips that seemed to taunt him incessantly.

"Apollo." She repeated, ignoring the desire that coiled inside her as she gazed at his own Adonis worthy countenance.

"I just wanted to spend some time with you, darling." He grinned. "We won't have much time after the council to catch up." Annouciating the last words with a deliberate wink.

"I've got 5 years worth of time, Apollo. That's plenty of time to be having this conversation." She countered.

"Not exactly 5 years." He mumbled beneath his breath, although not soft enough to pass undetected by Melaina.

"What!" She exclaimed, mouth falling open at his confession. "Have they cut my freedom?"

"No, darling. Nyx and Hades would never let that happen." He reasoned, shaking his head.

"Then why don't I have 5 years." She questioned forcefully, eyes hardening in anger as Apollo let out a sigh.

"The council swore to the River Styx to keep that to ourselves until we are able to convene and inform you together." He regretfully told her, wishing he didn't have to take that oath that bound his word to death.

Frustration erupted inside her at his words, wishing she knew what he had meant when he said she wouldn't be getting her entire 5 years worth of freedom, the very thing she had spent the last millennia dreaming of. But Melaina knew what breaking an oath bound to the River Styx meant. It meant the death of an innocent, and although she was desperate to know what Apollo meant, she wasn't that desperate.

So she let out an exasperated sigh, lifting her hand so it grazed tenderly over Apollo's defined features.

"So you wanted to have some fun before the council meeting started?" She spoke, her words sounding like a prayer from Aphrodite.

"Something like that." He simpered, hand pushing against the wall that Melaina leaned on as he stepped closer to the angelic Goddess before him.

Eyes gleaming with lust, she wasted no time with pushing their bodies against each other, crashing her lips against him. Hands combing through his golden hair with pure fervor as his slid over the curve of her waist in a way that seemed like a sin. Lips dancing together hungrily, craving each other like lungs begged for oxygen. Too caught up in the carnal desire that stirred in their deepest cavities, coveting for that sexual high that equaled any possible drug induced euphoria.

It was a rough, brazen kiss filled with nothing but pure lust. A union solely for physical pleasure, a reprieve from the emotional loneliness they experienced. There was no thirst for anything more, no sensuality, no remnant of love. His hands didn't graze over her body with affection, they roughly tugged her ivory chiton with desire. And her lips didn't softly pucker and meet with his own, they clashed like opposing forces fighting on a battlefield.

They cared for each other, but never enough to be what her heart yearned for.

The two only parted when they were left breathless, foreheads resting against each other as their sage eyes gleamed with lust.

"I truly did miss you, Mel." He whispered, nose grazing against hers softly.

"Can't say I could say the same." She smirked, a gasp pushing past her lips as Apollo trailed his touch over the dip of her neck, placing sensual kisses along her olive skin.

"You always were so unbelievably kind." He grinned, mouth widening against her neck as his lips caressed her like she was the finest of silk.

"If you were looking for a nice woman, you wouldn't have come to me." She murmured teasingly, hands curling into his hair as her gaze turned red with desire.

"Truer words couldn't have been spoken." He chided, pulling away from her neck as his eyes met with hers, passion swirling in their darkened orbs.

But before their lustful thoughts could come to fruition, a mocking voice interrupted the pair. Pulling them from their moment of blissful utopia.

"Mel, they are asking for you." Hemera spoke, watching her sister in amusement.

With a sigh, Melaina pulled herself out of Apollo's lewd hold. "Looks like this chat will have to be postponed until a later time." She winked before she went to follow her sister.

"I'll be counting down the seconds." He called out, eyes drawn to her sauntering body, watching as she walked away like the female embodiment of Himeros, the God of sexual desire, oozing attraction and sensuality like she had it in excess.

Watching as she walked towards the Olympian Council, the chamber of Gods who would reveal their new demands of her. And he had a feeling she wouldn't be pleased with the ultimatum they were going to propose.

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Hey everyone!

So I'm sure there will be some controversy with me casting Harry Styles as Apollo and whatever. Which is fine, you guys can imagine whoever you want as any of the characters, that's your choice. But when I say blond Harry, I imagine him looking something like this:

So yeah, Melaina is one lucky bitch.

Also to my Harry fans out there, go watch The Chain cover Melbourne 2018 to see my lover look like the actual God he is.

P.P.S: Melaina and Apollo getting together is also in line with the many relations the Gods had in Greek mythology shared. So plz don't come for me bc it's not Mel and Steve yet.

P.P.P.S: HAPPY 1D DECADE DAY!!!!! May us 1d stans get clear skin, phat asses and be graced with some form of a reunion sometime soon!!

Now onto the questions!

1. What did you think of the chapter?

2. What do you think will happen next?

3. Do you stan Mel x Apollo or nah?

4. How's everyone going atm?

Until next time!

— Grace xx