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The Immortal Heart	By : amandalee Category: 1 through F > Clash of the Titans (2010) > Clash of the Titans (2010) Views: 7819 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: We do not own Clash of the Titans or the characters portrayed in this story, and we make no money from writing this.

Chapter List
- 17
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- 19
Chapter 18

After Hades’ initial reaction to the ergot poisoning, which, to Hera’s great disappointment did not result in the loss of his child, the jealous goddess realized that attempting the same thing all over again would be too much of a risk on her part. If Hades experienced similar symptoms, it would doubtlessly arouse suspicion, and for now no one knew that she was responsible for the incident, and Hera wished to keep it that way.

Instead of giving her brother a large dosage of the ergot, she conveniently added small amounts to spike his food or drink whenever she was responsible for serving dinner, and though Hades occasionally complained about bouts of nausea or dizziness, he did not suffer another attack. His offspring, however, did not appear to be affected in any way whatsoever, and exactly one month after the initial poisoning, Hera considered switching to a stronger, more potent poison.

She had absolutely no qualms about killing Hades along with his unborn child, but her siblings were far from stupid, and Hera knew that passing it as something natural would be virtually impossible, as gods, even pregnant ones, did not simply lie down and die.

The Olympians had previously used helmet flower, also called wolfsbane, to poison wolves and other predators that intruded on their territory, but the symptoms of wolfsbane poisoning in a god would be far too recognizable, and Hera patiently kept browsing her list of known poisons, confident that she would eventually find something that would end the life within Hades.

*

Hades was well into the third trimester of his pregnancy when he one morning woke up with an aching pain in his lower back. It did not start out as anything bad enough to cause worry, so Hades remained in bed, hoping he could simply wait it out. As the day went on, however, the pains gradually became more and more severe, and when he discovered a large stain of fresh blood on the mattress just beneath his bottom, Hades knew that he had to consult Demeter right away.

Sluggishly getting himself dressed, he wished Zeus were here with him. Though the leader would quickly become worried in such a situation as this, his presence would have at least been of some comfort. The pain flew through the lower half of his body like a flame as he stood, but he would sooner endure the agony before remaining bleeding in his bed any longer.

Hades had not traveled thirty feet from his living quarters before he had to stop. He was sure that if he walked any further he might collapse on the floor and not get back up. Conveniently he had stopped at a balcony and he edged closer and closer until he could place his hands, white with clenched pain, against the rail. The wind felt good against his sweating brow.

“Hades?” a curious female voice called from behind him. Hestia hurried forth when she was close enough to realize something was very wrong with her brother.

“Hades! What is wrong??” she asked, hand instinctively rubbing at his back. She took in the horrible sight of the god’s hunched figure, white knuckles, and pained expression, staring into nothing. Hades could barely speak in his dread and discomfort, but he managed one word.

“Demeter…” he rasped.

Hestia took off instantly, shouting their sister’s name. Hades remained where he was, and the pain began to diminish, but only enough that he felt he would not faint should he move so much as an inch.

“There,” he heard Hestia as she came running down the hall toward the balcony. She had been speaking to Demeter, who reached their brother first.

“Brother,” she addressed him, arm around his shoulders in case he might fall. “You are in pain…?”

Hades nodded. “It awakened me… in my back… down here…” He lifted one hand from the rail to wave towards the small of his back.

“Are you feeling contractions?” Demeter asked. It was the only logical question. If Hades was experiencing such, his child’s birth would be upon him. Demeter was uncertain if the child had dwelled long enough within the god to survive if born now, but it was a better chance than over three weeks ago.

“… I don’t think so…”

Hades glanced up at his sister and a cold feeling gripped his heart when he saw confusion in her eyes. That doubt chilled him utterly to the bone. He only felt worse when the doubt was replaced by sorrow.

“Hades, when was the last time you felt your baby move?”

The question took Hades aback. Now that he thought back to it, the last time he could remember feeling movement was almost a day ago, when Zeus had paid him a visit before bedtime and paid special attention to his stomach.

“I… yesterday, I d-don’t know…” he managed to say, and before he could continue, tears welled up in his eyes and his voice cracked into a series of pained sobs. “Demeter, please tell me what is wrong!” Hades pleaded, already fearing the worst. “What is wrong with my baby? Tell me there is something you can do!”

The goddess wished so badly that she could say there was, but she did not want to give her brother any false hope if there was none.

“Have you done anything to exert yourself in the past few days, Hades? Any heavy lifting?” she asked, even though she already knew that Hades knew better than to try anything that might endanger his and Zeus’ offspring.

“N-no, I don’t think s-so, sister…”

“Let’s walk you back to your room,” Demeter decided and carefully maneuvered Hades’ arm around her shoulders so that she was able to give him the support he needed in order to walk. “You must try to rest, and I will give you something for the pain. We will figure something out, brother. Do not despair yet.”

Demeter already knew deep down inside that it was hopeless, but she did not have the heart to tell Hades this. She had been wrong before, perhaps this was one of those occasions… However, despite her profound knowledge of all that grew, the goddess did not know of any medicine that would start a baby kicking once it had stopped.

Hestia followed close behind and stayed with her brother once he was in his bed and Demeter had hurried off to find medicine to ease his pain. However, Hades could not rest, and he refused to try. He was frantic now and demanded two things: one, that someone tell him what was wrong with his child; and two, that Zeus would tend to him.

Unfortunately Zeus was absent from the fortress, as the gods had been running low on their storage of meat, and he had no choice but to join Poseidon in the hunt – after all, Poseidon would need the help of an extra hunter if so much meat was to be procured. It was with a great hesitation that Zeus had left his eldest brother that morning, and he would be returning home as soon as possible, but for all Hades and his sisters knew, that could be hours from now.

By the time Demeter had returned, the look on her face was of grim resignation. She knew she could only treat her brother for the pain, and give him what might be the worst news of his life.

“Hades,” she quietly said, entering her brother’s bedchambers. Hades looked up, and his tears flowed anew when he saw his sister’s visage.

“Just tell me,” he cried. “Tell me. I have realized it on my own, so tell me.”

Demeter did not immediately answer. Instead she walked to her brother’s bedside, put down the medicine she had brought, and placed her hands against her brother’s stomach, round and ripe with his and Zeus’ child.

Please, please, she begged wordlessly as she focused… but she felt nothing. Not movement, not a heart.

“I am sorry, Hades,” she said. Hestia gave a sobbing gasp behind her. “All I can do now is give you something for the pain.” She picked up the small jar, but it was struck from her hand.

“I DON’T CARE ABOUT THE PAIN!” Hades screamed. “WHAT DOES IT MATTER WHEN MY CHILD IS DEAD?!”

“Please, brother,” Hestia said tearfully. “Please, don’t—”

“Don’t what??” Tears came down Hades’ pale face in tiny rivers. “My child is DEAD. Ohhhh it’s…” His shouting became a mournful cry, and his sisters had to hold his wrists in order to restrain him as he thrashed about in his grief.

“Be still, brother,” Demeter gently advised while trying to calm Hades to stop him from causing himself further harm. “All we can do now is wait for your labor to start, but you must calm down, dearest. Your body is under a lot of stress already.”

Hades ceased struggling against his sister’s hold and sagged against the pillows, feeling as limp and powerless as a boned fish. He would not accept that his child was dead; he simply could not.

“Zeus…” he said in a small voice, hoarse from all the screaming and crying. “I want Zeus… Where is he? Why is he not with me?”

“Zeus is out hunting, dearest,” Demeter replied. “I wish he were here too, but he might be out for hours still. We might have to do this without him.”

It pained the goddess to give Hades such news, and she could only imagine how the Olympian leader would react when he returned home and found out what had happened during his absence, but Demeter could not prevent the birth of Hades’ stillborn child anymore than she could stop herself from breathing.

“I will wait until Zeus gets here,” Hades said, his resolve strong despite his physical infirmity. “The child is his. He must decide what will happen with it.”

Demeter sighed, wishing there was some way to explain to her brother that not even Zeus could will the child to live again, but instead she just gave a weary nod, squeezing Hades’ hand reassuringly.

“Then we shall wait, brother.”

The hours passed, and though the bleedings continued, Hades’ cramps did not pass on into contractions, and Demeter was getting worried that her brother’s labor would not start naturally.
When asking Hades if he wanted something that would help him on the way, he frantically shook his head, insisting that he had to wait for Zeus.

Almost six hours had passed since Demeter was first alerted of her brother’s condition when sounds out in the hallway signaled the return of Zeus and Poseidon. The two gods’ cheerful laughter made it even more difficult for Demeter to go out and give them the tragic news.

Demeter glanced at Hestia, who was still weeping. Clearly her sister would not be in the proper state to give their brother’s the tragic news. “Hestia, stay here with Hades,” she said. “I will tell our brothers.”

“Zeus…” Hades murmured, hearing his leader’s voice in the distance.

Poseidon saw Demeter first as she approached the two gods, and his stomach dropped at the look on her face. Zeus continued to speak of the engaging and successful hunt, a doe carcass on his shoulder, until he realized his was getting no reply from his brother. Looking up, he finally saw his sister and greeted her.

“You should have seen us on the field,” he said, grinning. “If only we had time to go fishing. I’m sure after our luck with this deer we could have caught enough octopi to indulge Hades’ cravings for the rest of his term.”

Demeter grimaced at the notion, and she tried desperately to hold back tears which were threatening to escape her eyes. Zeus noticed and his smile vanished.

“What’s wrong?”

Twin tears rolled down the goddess’ cheeks and she shook her head. “I’m sorry, Zeus.”

“What’s happened??” he asked, raising his voice. He glanced beyond her, and before Demeter could answer him, he was pushing her out of the way and running down the hall toward his eldest brother’s quarters.

The door swung open, startling Hestia, and Zeus stormed in, shortly followed by both Demeter and Poseidon. Both of the latter looked clearly worried but Zeus looked terrified.

“Hades??” the youngest god called to his brother, immediately descending onto the bed and grabbing a shaking hand which reached for him. Hades looked pitiable as he lay on the bed, hand against his stomach, tears flowing from his green eyes. Zeus saw the bright red of the stain on the sheets and it took all of his resolve not to panic.

“Zeus…” Hades whispered, his grip tight against his brother’s hand, though weak from the pain he had endured for the past six hours.

“My brother, what has happened to you?” the younger god asked, voice sounding weaker than he could have ever imagined.

Hades shut his eyes, feeling the tears refuse to yield. “They say our baby is dead, brother.”

“What?!” Zeus roared, spinning around to look at Demeter, who stood behind him. “What are you saying? It can’t be dead!”

Demeter, though afraid of her youngest brother’s uncontained wrath, which now seemed to be directed at her, struggled to keep her calm. She placed a comforting hand on Zeus’ shoulder.

“Hades came to me earlier with severe pains and bleeding,” she began to tell him. “I felt for movements from the child, but there was none. I am so sorry…”

Instantly Zeus placed his own hand on Hades’ stomach, desperate to prove his sister wrong, but the flesh beneath his palm was still, aside from occasional trembles caused by Hades’ weeping.

“Zeus, I have to start his labor,” Demeter said, her voice unobtrusive yet insistent. “It won’t start by itself, and Hades wanted so badly to wait for you.”

“No!” Zeus snapped, still in denial despite the overwhelming proof that his child had indeed died inside his brother. “It is not time yet. Perhaps we can wait…”

“We have waited,” the goddess said grimly. “Zeus, can you please hear me out? There is something you have to understand.”

She tugged on his arm, indicating that he should follow her outside for a talk between four eyes. Though unwilling to leave Hades’ side, Zeus complied, telling Poseidon and Hestia to watch over their brother in the meantime. The two nodded, their faces desolate.

As soon as Zeus had followed his sister out in the hallway, Demeter promptly shut the door and gave her brother a very grave look. “Before I say anything else, allow me to say that I understand your pain. But there is no hope for your child, Zeus. Hades’ judgment is clouded by grief; he cannot make sensible decisions right now. But unless the child comes out, it will rot inside Hades, and he will die as well. We cannot save it. Now we must save our brother. Please tell me that you understand?”

Zeus was ready to defy his sister, ready to tell her she was wrong. But he had no words on his tongue, no proper points to argue. Demeter was not wrong. He sighed, eyes closed in defeat. A shudder passed through him as though all of his strength was being sapped from his body. Despite his virility, he suddenly looked very old.

“What in the world is going on?” a voice inquired from his left. Both he and Demeter looked up and saw Hera walking toward them, and they realized she was the last one to know about what was going on.

“Hades has…” Zeus still found it hard to say, and Demeter had to complete his statement for him.

“Hades has lost his child.”

Hera’s eyes widened at the news and she put a hand to her mouth in surprise. “Oh my goodness… say it cannot be!”

Demeter nodded and turned away. As she looked at the grief in her brother’s eyes, Hera stepped forward, arms out to embrace him. Now was as good a chance as any to begin Zeus’ healing, back out of his mourning, and back into her arms.

“My poor, dear brother,” she said sweetly. “Do not be so grieved…”

Zeus turned away before she could even touch him. He acted as though Hera was not even present, walking back into Hades’ quarters. Hera could only stand, mouth open, as Demeter followed him. Closing her mouth, lips pursed, she would follow her siblings, but not quite yet.

Go ahead, she thought. Retreat to him. You will learn in time.

“Please, dearest, think reasonably,” Hestia was telling Hades as Zeus and Demeter entered the bedchamber.

Hades was on his side, clutching his belly and trying in vain to ignore his sister’s pleas. Poseidon, who had no idea how to provide comfort to his oldest brother, simply sat at his bedside and stroked his hair.

“It is the only way,” Hestia urged. “It cannot stay within you forever.”

“I won’t,” Hades said, sniveling. “I won’t!”

“She is right, brother,” Zeus said, his heart heavy with sorrow. “We must get it out of you.”

Hades was crying so hard that he had difficulties forming articulate speech. “I… but… I w-won’t be a-able to give you another ch-child, Zeus…” he sobbed, arms protectively around his belly, as if to keep his siblings for reaching into it and pulling his stillborn child out. “This was my only chance!”

“I know that, Hades.” The youngest god slowly approached his mate’s bedside, gesturing at Poseidon and Hestia to back away, which they immediately did. Zeus took a seat, placing his large hand on Hades’ forehead. A normally beautiful pair of eyes stared up at him, eyes ringed with dark circles, which made them look far more deep set than they were.

“You must let Demeter give you the medicine to start your labor,” he said. “You know what will happen if you don’t.”

“Perhaps it is for the best…” Hades whispered, closing his eyes and turning his face away. The rational part of his mind understood that unless Demeter induced labor, he would lose his own life along with his child. The dominant part, however, which was overcome with grief, did not care about the consequences.

“You mustn’t speak like that, brother!” Zeus growled at the grief-stricken god and almost made a motion to shake him. “Demeter, prepare the medicine! Hades will take it.”

The goddess made an affirmative sound and disappeared into the room where she stored her herbs and plants to find the most potent medicine for what she had in mind: mistletoe.

I should have made Hades take this the moment I discovered his pregnancy, she thought ruefully. I should have known something like this would happen… His body was never meant to carry a child. Now we can only hope that he survives the birth.

By the time she had returned, Demeter saw that Hera had entered the room and was sitting in the far corner, watching the heartbreak unfold. The rest of the family was gathered around or near Hades, who was still weeping against Zeus’ shoulder. Zeus was holding his oldest brother’s hand, arm around him protectively. He rambled on in whispers, anxious to quiet Hades’ sobbing, though he knew he would be unsuccessful.

“Hades,” Demeter called softly. The crying god clung tighter to Zeus, wishing it could not be so, but he knew better. He had to face the inevitable.

Demeter had to hand the medicine over to one of her siblings, as Hades’ hands shook too much to be expected to hold the small cup without dropping it. The eldest god’s face twisted in revulsion as Poseidon helped pour the herb into his mouth, partly from the taste, but mostly from the feeling that this was it: there was no turning back from this moment, although one might argue that the point of no return had come hours before, even long before Hades had fallen into a sleep which would end with him awakened by pain and blood.

Eyes shut, refusing to see the faces around him, Hades tried to retreat into his mind until the contractions would begin. His tears began to still, and others began to wonder if their unfortunate brother had fallen asleep, but he was only willing himself to feel nothing with every last inch of strength he had.

When his first contraction hit, he cried out, and his tears resumed their flow. Zeus felt the muscle on his brother’s belly tighten; a surreal, unexpected sensation.

“Zeus, keep him upright,” Demeter said the very moment she recognized the beginning of the labor. “Let his head fall forward. Hades, bear down with those contractions.”

“It’s alright, brother,” Zeus whispered in Hades’ ear. Were he able to speak, Hades would have argued that it was not alright. It never would be.

An hour passed, and the contractions came stronger now, making Hades cry out every time he felt one approaching. The presence of Zeus, seated behind him on the mattress with his arms around Hades helped somewhat, but the pain, physical as well as spiritual, threatened to tear him apart.

Demeter was becoming increasingly worried. Kneeling between Hades’ parted legs, she continuously checked his progress, but never having dealt with a pregnant god before, let alone a male giving birth, she was not sure what to expect. Hades’ anatomy lacked the orifice where a baby should come out, and Demeter wondered if his body would be able to adapt giving birth through his rear entrance.

Every time the unfortunate god had one of his contractions, she encouraged him to push and reassuringly rubbed his thighs while telling him that he was doing great. Despite her words, Demeter was not sure whether Hades was making any progress at all.

“Why is it not coming out?” Zeus asked after Hades had had five contractions within an hour which still had not produced any results. “What is wrong, sister?!”

“Give him some time,” Demeter replied. She simply did not know what else to tell him. “His body is struggling. It will come, in due time.”

Another hour passed, and Hades, unable to endure the pain for much longer, asked for something that would help. Demeter was hesitant; she knew of stronger painkillers, but those also dulled the senses, and she could not risk giving her brother something that might make him unable to feel his contractions.

“I will give you some willow bark,” she said. “It will help against the pain, but it will not make you drowsy.

Hades weakly consented, and when his sister offered him the drink, he emptied the cup in just a few gulps. Some of the tea sputtered from his mouth when another contraction ripped through him, and Hades made a conscious effort to bear down as hard as he could, simply wanting the excruciating birth to be over with.

“How is he? Has anything happened?” Zeus asked anxiously. “Is it coming?”

Demeter was positively surprised to notice that the shape of Hades’ rounded stomach had changed, indicating that his child was on its way out. Poseidon and Hestia came to have a closer look as well, glancing at the spectacle over Demeter’s shoulder.

“One more contraction should be enough,” she said, wiping the sweat from her own brow. She looked at her poor brother, whose face was turned away from his siblings as he wept quietly waiting for the inevitable to happen.

“Perhaps you should leave,” Demeter suggested, wanting to spare Hades the indignity of everyone in his family viewing his stillborn child. “I will guide our brother through the final steps. Not everyone is needed.”

Hestia, though greatly concerned for the wellbeing of her brother, was glad to obey Demeter’s request. Seeing Hades in such torment only made her feel worse. As for Poseidon, he felt uncomfortable in a place where he was of no use, and he had no idea who to help with Hades’ labor, so he was much more at ease waiting for the horrible affair to be over.

Hera was silent as she joined her brother and sister in leaving the room. She felt victorious in stamping out the one thing which stood between her and Zeus, but she hardly wanted to see the lifeless product of her efforts. Casualties of war occurred, but she was satisfied with the victory alone

“Just a little more,” Zeus said sweetly. It occurred to him that this could have been the welcoming of his child into the world, weeks from the present, had things turned out differently.

He had imagined himself in the same position behind Hades, encouraging him as the elder god cried out and strained to give birth, ending with tears of joy instead of heartbreak. But their child would not be crying and using its voice for the first time of its life, nor would it feed in Hades’ arms and finally be able to look upon its parents.

“Not far now,” he murmured dejectedly. “Just a little longer…”

Hades weakly cried out as he felt another contraction, and he pushed as hard as his exhausted body would allow. Demeter was ordering to keep bearing down, to not stop, not give up…

In a burst of fluids, blood, and limbs, the child came out of its mother head first. A few more pushes by the half-conscious god, and it was expelled from him completely, caught up in Demeter’s hands.

“Is it over?” Zeus asked, the emotion gone from his voice. He glanced at Demeter when he received no answer, and saw her face, white and wide-eyed as she stared at what their brother had given birth to.

The child did not look much like a child at all, at least that of a god. A wrinkled, elliptical head hung limply, with a gaping slit of a mouth at its center, and the rest of the body was a mass of motionless limbs, some quite boneless. Not only had Hades given birth to a dead infant, but it was deformed to the point of monstrous appearance. Could this situation not have gone any worse?

“Oh, Hades…” Demeter said, weeping.

Half awake and delirious from agony and fatigue, Hades lifted his head and tried to peer past his own form, but Demeter was already wrapping the tiny body in a sheet.

“Where is it…?” he moaned. “I want… to see it…”

“It’s better if you don’t, dearest,” his sister replied, fighting to keep her voice steady. “It will only give you more grief. I will dispose of it for you.”

While the death of Hades’ child was a tragedy, Demeter was secretly glad that the grossly malformed thing had not survived long enough for her brother to have to deliver it live. She was strongly determined not to let either of her brothers see it. It was best if everyone simply believed that Hades had given birth to a normal-looking stillborn child, not something that looked like two children that had never separated properly.

“Sister… I… wish to… see it… Was it a boy or a girl…?” Hades asked, struggling to sit up but too weak to do it properly.

“A boy,” Demeter replied, unsure of the thing’s gender but knowing it was what Zeus had been hoping for. “Rest now, dearest. I will be back in just a moment.”

After making sure that Hades was not in any danger of bleeding to death, Demeter quickly excused herself, exiting the room with the small bundle in her arms. She had to destroy it before any of her siblings could see it.

Zeus had already figured that Demeter’s unwillingness to let him see the stillborn infant had to mean that there was something wrong with it. Morbidly curious despite his grief, Zeus was not one to be denied, especially not when this would be his one and only chance to see his own child. Withdrawing from Hades, the Olympian leader ignored the wailing of his brother and hurried outside to catch up with Demeter before she could dispose of the child’s small body and leave him forever wondering what his first offspring had looked like.

“See to your brother while I am away,” Demeter heard behind her.

She kept walking even though she knew Zeus was running after her. When her youngest sibling’s footsteps became their loudest, she turned to face him head on. Beyond him she could see Poseidon and Hestia were entering Hades’ quarters while Hera remained outside. If she did not know any better, Demeter might have guessed the other goddess was watching what was about to unfold.

“Demeter,” Zeus said, his resolve strong, “Let me see it.”

His sister knew this was the reason he stopped her. The lifeless body in her arms was his child too after all, and he would never back down from any demand made. Demeter knew she could not defy his order.

“Brother,” she replied, “I must warn you that your son—”

“I DON’T CARE, LET ME SEE IT.” He jerked the sheet away, revealing the dead body in his sister’s grasp.

Hera remained leaning against the wall as she watched the heated conversation between her two siblings, several meters away but their voices still decipherable in the echoes of the hallway. She watched intently as Zeus froze, staring at the uncovered corpse, his horror evident even from a distance. Demeter only stood tall, defiant of his shock, already numb to the sight of the lifeless newborn.

After several seconds of complete silence, Zeus staggered backwards, catching himself from falling with an arm propped against the wall. His back turned, his shoulder did a strange convulsive shudder, and Hera would have guessed her brother was crying if she did not see the vomit which issued from him and splashed onto the white floor. The sound of his retching filled the halls as Demeter calmly stood, observing her brother’s reaction.

“What *is* that??” Zeus got out, refusing to believe that he could be responsible for conceiving such a grotesquely deformed creature. “That cannot be… no…”

“You must not speak of this to Hades,” Demeter simply said, making no attempts to offer her youngest brother comfort. “His spirit is already so fragile. He would not be able to handle this as well.”

Zeus nodded mutely, swallowing hard. He almost retched again when thinking back on all the times when he had felt for his child’s movements inside Hades’ belly, now knowing that this monstrous thing had been responsible for the joy he had felt.

“Dispose of it, sister,” Zeus then said, his voice strangely devoid of emotion. “Burn it, bury it, do what you want, as long as you get rid of it.”

Before Demeter could answer, Zeus turned his back on her and walked away, although not in the direction of Hades’ chambers, where his poor brother was no doubt waiting for him. Rather than going back to his siblings, Zeus went to his own quarters, craving solitude like never before.

He had made a mistake demanding to see his child, he knew that now, but no matter how badly he wished he had not, it was too late to take it back. The image of the wretched thing with too many limbs, too many eyes and a grossly malformed head had etched itself into his mind, and he saw it so clearly in front of him every time he closed his eyes.

*

Demeter quickly wrapped the child’s body back into the sheet once Zeus had left her alone and went to exit the fortress. She was relieved that none of her other siblings had asked to see it, and possibly revealed the terrible secret to Hades.

Despite knowing that burning the deformed stillborn was the best solution, Demeter couldn’t help but think that a godly offspring, even a sad little thing like this one, deserved something better. She also had the option to simply bury it in the ground, but the scent of fresh blood would undoubtedly attract wolves and other predators, and the idea of wild animals devouring Hades’ child was just as repulsive as fire doing the same.

The sea. She would throw it into the sea and let the water claim it. Her instincts told her that it was the best solution, and Demeter headed for the shore, taking off at a run and welcoming the feel of raindrops against her flushed skin.

Darkness had fallen, shrouding the earth and sea alike, and the goddess stopped running. The rain that fell from the sky was as mild as the summer air, warm and gentle, and there was no breeze to stir the sea. Slowly Demeter walked onto the bridge where her brothers’ fishing boat lay tied and prepared herself to do her duty.

Though the rain fell at a steady pace, the winds remained thankfully calm as Demeter drifted in deep waters on the boat. Instinct caused her to protect the infant from the rain with her robes, even though it was not only dead, but already covered with a sheet. When she decided she had floated out far enough, she unwrapped the sheet from the tiny body and gave the infant one more look.

Perhaps it was the darkness of the night, or the glistening of the fallen rain, but the baby seemed to look more monstrous than before, and less like a god. She had not noticed before that the boneless limbs had no feet and more resembled tentacles than typical limbs. How appropriate that it should be cast off into the sea.

“I am sorry, little one,” Demeter said, holding the wretched form close for a moment in a farewell embrace. “This world just was not meant for you.”

She watched the body sink into the waters as though it were weighted down, and continued to watch until she could no longer see it. Wiping the rain from her face, which had mingled with her tears, she rowed the boat back to the shore.

Demeter was thoroughly soaked through by the time she returned to the fortress, but thoughts of her own comfort were still far away, and rather than changing her wet robes into dry ones, she went directly back to Hades’ bedchamber to make sure he was out of danger.

What vain hopes she’d had of Zeus returning to his grieving mate’s side were crushed when she saw that only Poseidon and Hestia were with Hades in his misery. Poseidon sat by his older brother’s bedside, holding his limp, powerless hand in his own, while Hestia was busy cleaning Hades’ lower body of the blood and other fluids left over from the birth. They both looked up when they heard Demeter’s entry, but Hades remained still with closed eyes, and one would have believed him to be asleep or even unconscious if not for the flow of tears steadily pouring down his cheeks.

Demeter walked over to Hestia and took a seat next to her, placing a hand on her sister’s shoulder.

“Is it done?” Hestia asked and momentarily paused in her actions.

“It is done,” Demeter replied, not going into further elaborations. “How is he?”

“The bleeding has almost stopped,” the older goddess said, indicating that Demeter take a closer look herself. “He has lost some blood, but his life is not in danger.” She wrung out the blood-soaked washcloth into the basin and then used a towel to gently wipe Hades’ groin and backside, mindful of how sore those areas were at present.

“I am deeply grateful for your help, and I know our brother is too. But you may leave now. I will tend to Hades tonight,” Demeter said, and watched in silence as her sister and younger brother rose from their seats and almost soundlessly departed from the room, leaving her alone with Hades.

“Dearest, are you awake?” she asked, stripping out of her wet robes and joining him in the bed.

Thankfully, a soft leather blanket placed under Hades had absorbed most of the blood and left his mattress relatively clean.

Hades finally opened his eyes, now bloodshot and red-rimmed and still overflowing with tears. “Where is Zeus?” he asked, and it was easy to hear the heartbreak in his voice. “Why did he leave me…?”

The truth was an ugly one, and Demeter did not even want to think it herself. Zeus had simply walked away… after throwing up in response to what he had helped to conceive.

“He is exhausted, dearest,” the goddess finally said. “I think we all are in a sense.”

“But you are staying here with me…?” Hades asked, seeing beyond his sister’s excuses. “Why would he not come back?”

Demeter sighed noiselessly, putting a hand to her forehead. As she brought it away from her face, she could still see traces of blood under her fingernails from the birth.

“Who knows what goes on in his head,” she finally mused aloud, gathering her brother close to her. Though still in pain from his ordeal, he came closer to her on his own, absently nuzzling into her warmth and wrapping his arms around her. “I am sure he shall return in time,” Demeter said, though she was not sure at all of when – or even if – Zeus would return to the place where he watched his child come lifeless and disfigured into the world.

“I wish he were here now,” Hades said miserably.

Demeter kissed her brother’s brow. “I know.”

TBC...
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The Immortal Heart