Chapter 6
The days have flown by, the entire kingdom in an uproar as they prepare for Dan’s coronation and wedding. Hades is spending his last days as king ignoring everything but the wedding and focusing entirely on making Phil suffer. He’s figured out by now that by hurting Phil just enough, Dan can feel it too. He uses that to his advantage, using it as a cruel form of punishment whenever Dan acts out. Dan quickly catches on and tries his best not to antagonize his father, but it doesn’t take much to set Hades off anymore.
Dan is curled up on his bed, feeling like he’s had the wind knocked out of him and he can’t catch his breath. There’s a deep ache in his back from what he can only assume is metal rod or something similar being used to beat Phil senseless. He’s still lying there before anyone finds him, Persephone walking into his room after he missed dinner, the pain slowly ebbing away but still rendering unable to move more than a few inches. Persephone rushes over to him, gently pulling him into her arms and carries him out to the gardens. She sets him on one of the stone benches and starts gathering as many herbs and flowers as she can that can help. She quickly gets to work, trying not to panic as she listens to her only child cry out in pain and heartache. She starts with a tea first, sitting next to Dan and putting his head in her lap.
“This’ll take the edge off the pain long enough for me to get something stronger made. Then I’m going to kick your father’s ass,” she vows, gently encouraging Dan to take sips of the tea. She lets out a sound akin to a sob once he finally relaxes in her arms. She helps him sit up, the vines that weave through the garden coming to life at her command and helping him stay upright as she works on something else that’ll be stronger and last longer. Her hands shake as she cuts up various ingredients, her voice trembling as she whispers the words to the closely guarded spells she spent years perfecting, but one thing never wavers: her determination to end all of this pain and suffering her son and his mate, who she has come to see as her son as well.
Hades eventually stops torturing Phil, smirking in satisfaction as Phil doesn’t even attempt to move. “You can thank Dan for that. He decided to skip out on two of his interviews today and leave Elpis to be interviewed alone. Hopefully that was enough to teach him a lesson. Good luck healing from that,” Hades says with a chuckles, leaving the cell and locking the door.
Phil lays there, in more pain than he’s ever been in his entire life. He stares at the wall, all hope of being saved slowly leaving. How could he survive this hell for the next three days?
-------------------------------------------------
Persephone finally finishes the potion and gives it to Dan, helping him drink it as he still isn’t strong enough to lift the cup himself. She saves some of it for Phil, putting it in a small corked vial to give to him when she visits him after Hades is asleep. The potion slowly works its magic and Dan is feeling good as new, well, at least physically. He doesn’t say anything as he stands, hugging his mother before he makes his way back to his room.
Elpis is in his room, tending to the plants as she was the taller of the two of them and the poor things have been neglected due to the hell everyone has been going through for the past two weeks. Dan walks in, hardly sparing her a glance as he sits by the window and stares out at the forest. This certainly wasn’t the first time Hades had hurt Phil bad enough for Dan to feel it, but he had never drug it on for hours like he did this time. The only reassurance Dan got was the fact that the pain had stayed in his back and hadn’t moved to his chest to tell him that their bond had broken. Phil was still alive, but no one knows how close he is to just letting go.
Elpis walks over to Dan, resting her hand on his shoulder in hopes of offering some form of comfort.
“Is… He’s still alive, right?” She finds herself asking, worried that Dan’s silence was caused by Phil’s death. She lets out a sigh of relief when Dan shakes his head.
“My father used his pain to hurt me again… It lasted for hours, Elpis… Even with the stuff my mother gave me, I can still feel the memory of the pain. Phil is still feeling it at the same intensity as I was before the tea and potion. How is he going to make it through these next three days? My father is getting worse and worse and I doubt he’ll let up…” Dan tears his gaze away from the window to look down at the ring on his finger. He tears up, but doesn’t let the tears fall, tired of crying. “We didn’t even have the chance of getting married or starting a family… Now he may die in a dark, cold, dirty cell because he thought I was worth risking his safety and life for. It’s not right. He doesn’t deserve any of this,” Dan says, barely holding back a whimper as he thinks about all of the things they may never get to do. Elpis does her best to comfort him, leading him away from the window and to the bed so she can hold him as he cries. It’s become normal for them to do this at this point. After interviews and meetings and bouts of intense pain caused by his father beating Phil senseless, Dan needs a shoulder to cry on and more often than not, it’s Elpis.
Dan is just starting to calm down when a crash shakes the very foundation of the castle. There’s the unmistakable voice of his father yelling and his mother yelling back. Dan shoots up, racing through the halls and trying to follow the sounds of their voices. Elpis follows close behind, almost falling when there’s another crash, this time followed by a cry of pain.
“Mom!” Dan cries out, running down into the dungeon where his parents are fighting. Persephone is pulling herself up when he finally reaches the bottom of the stairs, growling and lunging at Hades. He quickly moves out of the way, Persephone hitting the wall. Fighting had never been her strong point, but there was no way in hell that she’d go down without doing a number on the piece of shit standing before her.
“You’re no match for me, Persephone. Just stop this so we can go back to our normal lives, baby,” Hades says, walking over to Persephone and reaching out for her hand. She looks like she’s going to accept it, but turns on him when she gets the chance, punching him as hard as she can. He cries out and stumbles backwards, Persephone steadying herself and growling.
“Have you forgotten who I am, Hades? I’m just some fragile girl that loves flowers anymore! I am the goddess of the underworld and I will not let some god that thinks he’s entitled to me and my body defeat me!” Persephone lunges at Hades again, landing one more punch before he grabs her by the throat and throws her to the ground.
Dan and Elpis watch from the staircase, Dan frozen in fear as he watches all of this unfold. Elpis feels like she’s about to be sick, covering her hand with her mouth. She watches as Hades towers over Persephone, a dark look on his face as he glares down at Persephone. Persephone is trying to gather herself, incredibly dizzy after her head hit the ground so hard. Hades goes to pick her up which snaps Dan out of his daze.
“Get your hands off my mother, you asshole!” he yells, running towards Hades in a fit of rage. All he sees is red as he starts throwing punches, Hades not hesitating to hit back. Dan fights, quite literally, through the pain, landing a hit that makes Hades fall to the floor. “Elpis! Get my mom out of here! Please!”
Elpis is quick to follow Dan’s orders, helping Persephone up and getting her as far away from the castle as possible. She settles on going to Phil’s mothers’ house, hoping it’ll be a safe place at least for now. Dan keeps fighting with Hades, managing to hit him hard enough to knock him out. Dan pants heavily as he stands up, looking down at his bloody and bruised father. He looks around, finding an empty cell and dragging his body into it. He grabs the cell keys and locks Hades in the cell, putting a spell on it for good measure. It won’t last forever, but hopefully it’ll be long enough for Dan to find Phil and break him out of here.
“Phil! Phil, where are you!” Dan called out as he walked around the halls of the dungeon. He hoped Phil was conscious enough to hear him and tell him where he was to make this a bit easier, but he’d search every cell if he had to. He wouldn’t leave without Phil.
Dan was at the very end of the hallway when he heard someone weakly calling his name. He ran to the cell he heard the voice come from, sobbing as he looked at the body curled up on the floor. Dan could hardly see the color of his pale skin due to the bruises that practically covered Phil’s body. He unlocks the door and throws it open, falling to his knees in front of Phil. He pulls Phil into his arms and tries not to put too much pressure on the bruises that litter his skin. Phil weakly wraps his arms around Dan’s neck and sobs with him, his heart coming to life and beating rapidly at the contact. Neither of them can speak, so overwhelmed with emotions that they can do hardly anything but cry.
“I--I have to get you out of here,” Dan sobs out, picking Phil up and trying to ignore how easy it is to pick up someone that’s so much than him. Dan’s tired muscles ache in protest, but he pushes through, carrying Phil up the stairs and out of the dungeon. He brings Phil to the gardens, using the knowledge he’s picked up from watching his mother over the years and making a potion that should hopefully give Phil the strength to get out of here and far away from the kingdom for the time being.
Phil lays on a bench and watches Dan move about the plants, frantically trying to get the potion made. Phil can’t help but start crying silently when he sees the ring that sits on Dan’s ring finger. He wishes he could have properly given the ring to Dan, but at this point he’s just glad he’s alive to see it on his finger. Dan rushes over to him once he finishes the potion, treating Phil like he’d break at any second as he helps him drink the potion.
“This shouldn’t take long to work. Once you feel strong enough, you need to get out of here. Stop by your mothers’ place and get the basics of what you’ll need and then stay at the house your mothers will bring you to until Elpis comes to get you. I’m going to have her stand me up at the wedding so she can go get you and we won't have to go through the wedding,” Dan says quickly, knowing they don’t have much time.
“Why… Why do you have to pretend to marry her in the first place?” Phil asks quietly as he sits up, almost afraid of the answer. Dan is silent, hesitant to explain.
“I… I wish that I didn’t have to tell you this all like this, but I guess… I guess I have no choice. I have to have someone to rule with me, which obviously means I have to marry them so they can become royalty and worthy of the throne. We had to plan the wedding to appease my father and make it possible for me to take the throne without a problem. The wedding would entirely fake so she would pretend to take the throne as queen while I used my power to banish my father and get you out of prison. Then Elpis would announce the wedding was fake and she wasn’t truly the queen which would lead to me doing this properly and asking you to rule with me,” Dan says in a rush, looking behind himself to make sure Hades wasn’t on his way towards them. Phil tries to understand all of it, looking at Dan with wide eyes.
“You… You want me to rule with you?” Phil asks softly, his voice hoarse and full of disbelief. Dan nods quickly and hesitates for a moment before dropping to one knee.
“I know this isn’t the most romantic setting and we’re running on borrowed time, but there is nothing I want more. I know I should have asked sooner and I know I’ve caused you so much pain in these past two weeks, but will you please marry me and rule alongside me for however long that may be?” Dans asks, looking equal parts terrified and hopeful.
“Leave it to you to do something like this,” he says, using the little strength he has to pull Dan into a hug. “Of course I will. There’s nothing that would make me happier.” He pulls away from the hug to cup Dan’s face in his hands. “I love you…”
“I love you too,” Dan says softly, leaning into Phil’s touch and smiling widely. It feels like a huge weight has been lifted off his chest and everything feels so right, but the moment is ruined by the sound of heavy footsteps and yells of Dan’s name.
“Fuck. You need to get going. Get Cerberus to take you,” Dan says, standing up and calling for the large dog. Phil kisses Dan one last time before he makes he way out of the gardens and to Cerberus. Dan watches as he leaves, only turning around when the footsteps stop.
“You’ve made a foolish mistake, Daniel. I can easily kill you and replace you, yet you choose to rebel against my rules and wishes. I’m going to make you and all of the others pay for plotting against me like this,” Hades says as he makes his way towards Dan. Dan can’t help but feel satisfied when he sees how Hades limps. This would be too easy.
“I can easily kill you too, asshole. So could mom or Phil, hell even Elpis if she’s mad enough. You’re weak and impulsive. As if you’d ever be able to outsmart me,” Dan says with a confident chuckle despite the fear and dread he’s feeling. He hopes that if he plans this right, he’ll be able to win. Hades charges towards him, but Dan is faster, ducking to the side at the last moment and quickly bringing his left leg up to land a hard kick to Hades’ back. Hades growls, hardly faltering, but the pain slows him down slightly.
“Admit defeat, Daniel! You can’t win this!” Hades turns towards Dan, pulling a large dagger out of its sheath, lunging at Dan. Dan tries to move as fast as he can, but he ends up with a large gash on his side. He tries to get through the pain and makes a move to grab the knife, kicking Hades in the gut and reaching out for the knife, Hades stumbles back and drops the knife, kicking it far away so Dan can’t reach it without making himself vulnerable. Dan growls and suddenly the wind picks up, knocking an already unsteady Hades to the ground. He groans in pain, holding his head.
“I won’t let you win, Hades. Not after all the shit you’ve put me and the people I love through.” Dan focuses as hard as he can, hoping the garden will listen to him despite Persephone being there. He feels beyond relieved when the vines crawl towards Hades. Hades tries to fight them off, but they wind themselves around his limbs rendering him defenseless. Dan grabs the knife off the ground and walks towards his father, glaring down at him.
“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do this,” Dan says as he kneels down next to his father. “Do you have anything to say for yourself before I end your pathetic existence?” he asks, knife held right above Hades’ heart. One single wound by his own knife would be enough to seriously injure Hades, let alone a stab to the heart.
“I wish I knew where your mother and I went wrong with you. Are you actually going to kill your own fa--” Hades is cut off by Dan driving the dagger into his heart, making him gasp and choke on his own breath.
“Good riddance you piece of shit,” Dan says as he watches the life drain out of his father’s eyes. He slowly stands up, the adrenaline leaving and being replaced with a sick feeling of guilt and relief. His hands shake as he backs away from the body in front of him, the vines falling to the ground when Hades’ body turns to dust. Dan leaves as soon as he knows for sure Hades is dead, running as quickly as he can to Phil’s mothers’ house. Tears pour down his face as he runs, sobbing in relief when he sees the house, knocking loudly on the door. Dan is greeted by Adoni pulling him inside and closing the door.
“I killed him. He would have killed me if I didn’t kill him first so I used his dagger to kill him. I killed my father,” Dan rambles, shaking and sobbing as he falls to his knees. Persephone quickly rushes downstairs from the room she had been resting in when she hears her son’s voice, pulling him into her arms and holding him tightly.
“Shhhh… You did the right thing, Dan. You did what you had to to survive,” she says firmly, rubbing Dan’s back soothingly.
“I’m so sorry… I’m so so sorry,” Dan sobs, clinging to his mother for dear life. Adoni, Kassiopeia, and Elpis sitting with them and offering their comfort. They’re all stunned into silence after hearing the news that Hades had died at the hands of his own son. No one had expected Hades to get so violent and angry that Dan would be driven to kill him.
“Where’s Phil? I need Phil. Someone please get Phil,” Dan begs through his sobbing, whimpering when Elpis pulls away from him to get Phil. His whole body aches from the fighting and his side is still bleeding. Adoni leaves to get bandages and supplies to clean the wound. Persephone helps Dan lay down and take off the blood soaked shirt. She sits with Dan’s head in her lap, wiping away his tears and talking softly to him as Adoni cleans and bandages his wound. Phil and Elpis come running into the house just as Adoni finishes with the bandages.
“Phil?” Dan sits up quickly, crying out at the pain in his side, Phil winces as he feels a twinge of pain from Dan’s wound. He rushes over to Dan, gently picking him up and pulling him close.
“I’m here, mellītum. We’re okay,” Phil says in a soft voice, sitting on the sofa and rubbing Dan’s back. Dan curls up in Phil’s arms and cries into his chest, comforted by the sound of Phil’s heart starting to beat. Phil looks around the room at everyone, all of them sharing the same look of concern and uncertainty. The silent question hangs in the air:
What happens next?