*Two Days Later*
Romulus glared at his brother. “Why are you doing this?” Thanatos, looking through his files, remained silent. Whipping him around, Romulus's eyes burned white, “You really can’t be this stupid Thanatos. Please don’t tell me you didn’t learn the first time.”
For the last two days Thanatos avoided Evie, he couldn’t look at Kore without thinking about the thing that he’d become in front of her.
“STOP IGNORING ME AND FUCKING ANSWER ME!” Romulus screamed at him. His eyes flickered black but immediately turned their natural hue.
Tugging at his shirt, he lifted it and sighed, “It…It stopped growing, but it won’t go away, and I-I can’t let her see this Romulus. You didn’t see the way she looked at me.” He would never forget the fear in Evie’s eyes. “She looked at me like I was a fucking monster…I scare her, and I-I don’t want to scare her.”
Romulus sighed, “I won’t lie…from what I heard, it was terrifying, especially because we don’t fully understand. Derricks powers, Adams abilities, Kore bringing you back…and you…” He trailed his voice off.
“I became evil. I felt evil and I-I almost didn’t stop. What if I go too far? What if I hurt them? I don’t even know what it was, but I still hear the whispers, still have the dreams…they beg me to let them out...and every day I fear that I will.”
“I know you’re afraid…but you need to talk to her. You need to get to know your daughter. Do you know what she calls you?” Thanatos shook his head. Romulus smiled, “Look like me.” A lump formed in Thanatos’ throat. “Your daughter is already attached to you, even if you can’t salvage things with Evie…at least salvage them with her.” As Romulus turned to leave, he called over his shoulder, “I-I’ve heard some rumors.”
“What kind?” Romulus gave a small smile.
“That mom-she made it. She’s with Angelica.”
“I have to go to-”
“I know…but first talk to them okay? Dad’s soul can wait-but those two waited long enough for you.”
Thanatos shook his head. He would work up the courage to talk to them, even if it meant being turned away. The veins bubbled on his chest and he covered them with his hands. He muttered, “What’s happening to me?”
“Ohhh, I can answer that.” Whipping around, he saw him. Hair to his shoulders, ivory skin, he smirked at Thanatos. “Let me guess, you were expecting an old crone like Apep?”
Thanatos’ eyes cut into slits, “If you’re here it’s not for a good reason.”
Hades threw up his hands, “I promise, I come as a friend.”
Thanatos laughed, “If you’re a friend, the world most certainly thinks I’m a sin.”
“Aren't you? Be nice Grimm Reaper. I’m the only one that can tell you what’s happening, and I’d start by suggesting you mend that little family of yours.”
Thanatos body stilled. “If you go near them-”
“I told you, I come as a friend. I didn’t come for them anyway I came for you.” Standing, Hades walked over to Thanatos, and as he stood, Hades shook his head.
“You’re definitely much taller up close.”
“What do you want from me and don’t lie and say it's to help. You all fucking watched Apep and you did nothing.” Hades crossed his arms.
“I ordered Zeus to kill Apep, he should have never been created.”
Thanatos scoffed, “And yet he was.”
Hades poked Thanatos's chest, and the reaper winced, “They’ve already imprinted themselves to you.” His eyes grew serious. “I’m going to die Thanatos; all the Gods are.”
“Wha-”
“Little Adam and Kore…they were never meant to exist. Romulus was the original reaper; I bore him some of my powers just like Zeus gave some of his to you. There is an order for everything, the same applies to you two. Romulus was to be soul tied with Mag-Derrick which would make their powers balance. You with-”
“Evie.”
Hades shook his head. “Life and Death, with Life and Death…but because of Apep’s trickery, you four are not balanced. Life with Life and Death with Death. You’ve created two beings whose powers are beyond anything…even our own.”
Thanatos stared at him, “They’re just children.”
“So were you once.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
Hades closed his eyes. “I’ve already seen what’s going to happen, your children will kill the Gods, but Earth can survive without us. That's why we gave some humans powers...a failsafe in case one of us was to die…but we never made a plan for something that should never be. We were never meant to all die at once... and we never planned for you. You Thanatos…you will destroy Earth.”
Thanatos looked at him like he was insane. “I WOULD NEVER DO THAT!”
Hades smirked, “You might if you can’t control your rage. You really don’t understand how powerful you are do you?”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Tell me Thanatos, where do you think the damned souls go, the ones you determine are too evil for this plane?” Thanatos mouth dried. “That’s right, they come to me. They don’t return here for a reason, I keep them. They had no way to come back to earth…until now because of you.”
Thanatos dropped to his chair and felt the pain from the veins on his chest. “That's what this is?”
“I know you can hear them. Every single evil thing, all attracted to you. All now a part of you now Grim Reaper, all begging you to set them free.”
“FIX IT!” He seethed.
“DON’T YOU THINK I WOULD IF I COULD. I’M HERE TO STOP YOU, TO WARN YOU WHAT YOU WILL BECOME! DAMNED SOULS, THE MOST EVIL, THE VILEST, NOW EXTENSION OF YOU! THEY WILL RAVISH THIS PLANE, THEY WILL DESTROY EVERYTHING THEY TOUCH. MORTALS, ANIMALS, OTHER SOULS, THE ONLY TWO THAT WILL BE SPARED WILL BE THE TWO THAT ARE STRONGER THAN YOU, BUT YOU’LL BE SO FAR GONE, YOU’LL NEVER SEE THEM AGAIN!” Hades laughed.
“Don’t you find the humor in it? The God who was made a villain, is the only one who cares enough about law and order to help the same fucking people who walk the plane that turned its back on me.” Hades was not like the other Gods, like Thanatos he believed in being fair. He didn’t use his powers to take advantage of mortal, didn’t request their praise. He might be a dark thing, but he was not going to let all the hard work he’d done be destroyed by something he’d foreseen.”
He poked his finger into the Grim Reapers chest. “That heart of yours is gone. It was gone way before Apep destroyed it. It was gone the moment he pulled it from your chest and blackened it. The only thing that card ever did was keep you alive! Why do you think they attached to you huh? Come on Grim Reaper be smart. Why do think, the very things that want to plague the Earth but couldn’t come to it, would attach it’s itself to the one that teetered between life and death.”
“THAT’S NOT TRUE!” Thanatos’ voice lowered, “I could feel it…I could hear it…every time…with Evie..” Hades laughed harshly.
“You tricked yourself into believing it was there Thanatos. WAKE UP! Do you really think a heart frozen in a card would somehow just be a return to you unscathed? You don’t love with an organ, you know that. Don’t waste my time on nonsense. APEP MAY HAVE BLACKENED YOUR HEART, BUT YOU BLACKENED YOUR VERY CORE WHEN YOU TURNED EVIE AWAY. BOTH APEP AND YOU MADE YOU INTO SOMETHING EVILLER THAN THE DAMNED! THAT’S WHY YOU CAN CONTROL THEM, THAT’S WHY THEY DEPEND ON YOUR RAGE. It was your rage that poisoned the very one who willingly tied herself to you, your rage that fed each and every soul I made sure would forever starve. This plane's only hope was that you remained alive, and now…it doesn't even have that.”
The harsh reality of the words cut into Thanatos deep. He'd sealed his own fate and the Earths. “I'm dead...”
Hades chuckled, “You already knew that…you know what Kore has the power to do.” He leaned into him, "The moment you died, and Kore brought you back, you became one of them. An evil dead thing that only keeps himself from plunging into the darkness because of the ones he wants to protect. Do you understand Grim Reaper, do you finally get it? You’re not alive anymore, you’re dead and if you don’t figure out how to control yourself, you will unleash Hell on Earth.”
Thanatos could hardly breathe. He didn’t feel the same since the day Kore brought him back but didn't want to admit that he knew why.
Hades smiled. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, I heard necromancers have it for dead things.”
“GET THE FUCK OUT!” Thanatos roared.
The God laughed harshly again. “Oh…Earth doesn’t stand a chance.” He laughed as he began to vanish. “Heed my warning Thanatos, my fate is already sealed. Control that rage dear Grim Reaper, or you’ll literally do the thing you fear. You’ll destroy everything and everyone you’ve ever loved, starting first with your very own Soul Tie.”