Arpious of the Planes

They didn't say much, but from what I saw, they were extremely kind and hardworking… all the way until we reached the lower levels, where I saw a few familiar faces.

"Ah… Mistress… is that you?" One of them asked monotonously, yet her face still held a bit of a tired smile.

I quickly healed them with my golden flames, but before I could ask them anything, they led me into an underground part of the castle, which I assumed was added after Hades rose to his throne.

"Thank you for the healing…." A few of them spoke up, slight tears running down their faces as we picked up the speed.

What the hell is Hades doing?

I was led deeper and deeper into the castle, going further down than I had initially built the place, and then, as soon as we reached the final floor, we approached an office.

It was cold and musky, and an aura of death practically radiated from the place, filling up the hallway and imprinting its mark into the surrounding atmosphere.

Clang Clang

I slammed the circular handle against the door twice, knocking on it before pushing through into the next room over.

"*sigh*... Let's get you up," I muttered, dragging the young man with slight stubble off of his office chair while shifting the empty alcohol bottles away from me.

He was completely passed out, but his face honestly hadn't changed much from when I first saw him.

The only thing I was disappointed in was that he had become a complete drunk and let his toxic aura leak from his body uncontrollably.

He had long white hair, unconscious turquoise eyes just barely shimmering with a bit of life, pale white skin, and a black tattoo running up his chest and to the very top of his neck.

"Goddammit… where is Aika?" I turned to Yin, but all of a sudden, I was greeted by a pale face and turquoise eyes so cold you'd think the woman in front of me was dead.

But, the eyes shifted from a cold nature to a bit of a warmer one as they recognized my face, two arms slowly wrapping around me.

"Welcome back," She muttered, exhausted and beaten by life.

"I-I'm sorry…."

"It's not your fault we ended up this way. We may still be ruling over the entire plane, but chaos has spread yet again. Your little pets are slowly slipping out of our grasp… and some are even working together to overthrow us,"

"I see… well, let's get him to his room. We can discuss more in a bit," I smiled at the woman with long white hair and now beaming turquoise eyes.

She was excited to see me but didn't want to be over-enthusiastic, as if she was scared it might frighten me away or something.

But that is what I loved about her: that undying energy that seems to never disappear, even in the direst of situations. Though it seems she can still get exhausted from time to time.

As we brought Hades up to his room at the very top of the castle, there was an awkward silence between us.

But just as we reached the very top, I opened my mouth and tried to rid of the awkward air just by myself.

"Where did Yin go?" I asked, slowly laying Hades down and then sitting on the edge of the bed next to him, slowly stroking his pale face.

"To go prepare some things for us. I was planning on having a nice chat over a sweet dinner. How does that sound?" Aika asked with a gentle smile, sending a blush down my face and neck.

"That sounds nice," I lightly chuckled, but we still waited for our son to wake up as Aika slowly began to work her way next to me, still timid about getting closer.

"*sigh*... You're as beautiful as always," I smiled, laying my head sideways on her lap and staring up into her slim turquoise eyes.

The sclera was still pitch black, making them creepy to most, but I found them quite beautiful as they let the turquoise really shine through.

There was no communication, but as we locked eyes, Aika slowly bent her upper torso and neck downwards.

I closed my eyes and felt the light touch of my wife's hand slowly stroke my soft cheek, holding me still as her lips kissed my upper lip.

Her lips then released and kissed my bottom lip, slowly working their way into my heart as we kept this slow and loving pace.

"Alright, love birds," I heard the voice of a young man and then felt the shuffling of the sheets beneath me.

Aika unlocked her lips from mine, and we both turned to our son, who had eyebags so heavy they might as well be drooping to his chin.

"It's good to see you, mother," My son weakly smiled, and as Aika nuzzled her nose against my nose just once, I sat up to give my son a long hug.

He whimpered ever so slightly but then didn't even make so much as a small sound as my shoulder began to grow wet.

Slowly, I rubbed his back with my hand, comforting him as he cried into my shoulder, gripping the sheets beneath him.

"Please, help me. I can't take it any longer… I can't take this stress any longer. I'm afraid I'll destroy the legacy and power you've established across this plane… it's eating me up from the inside,"

His shaky voice then turned into whimpers, making noise as he cried and cried until tears could no longer run from his sockets.

"I'll leave you two be," Aika muttered, giving both of us a kiss on the head and then turning away. "Oh, and Arpious, maybe take a bath when you've settled everything."

"Do I smell?"

"Just a bit," She chuckled before Hades and I split up, him unable to even look me in the eyes as he stared at the sheets below.