Close Combat

I landed on my bed in Olympus, scaring the shit out of Blaze and a few other people who had previously been practicing with their musical instrument.

"Oh, don't mind me, I'm just... Crashing" I mumbled, blinking to get my vision to re-focus properly.

"Ah, Blair, that's my roommate, Elektra" Blaze said, pointing towards me. I waved in their general direction before gripping my head to make it stop spinning.

"It's nice to meet you, I'm Blair, Blaze's twin. I'm the lead guitarist. So, I heard that you have an epic signing voice?" she asked, coming to sit with me. By then I had readjusted to the gravity and my head had stopped spinning. I felt a blush creep up my cheeks, no doubt coloring my face red.

"Well, I'm not that good..." I mumbled, giving Blair a small smirk. She rose an eyebrow back and I knew that she knew that I knew that I was way better than I let on. I knew my talents and I was proud of them. However, I had other things to do at the moment. Like, going to speak with the wife of my new boss.

"Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I need to exchange a few words with an insufferable brat of a Goddess. Now, if you'll excuse me," I said, getting up and making my way towards the door.

"Elektra?" I heard Blaze call me from back in the room.
I paused at the door.

"Yes?"

"You might want to change," he commented. I looked down and realized that my clothing were quite shredded.

"Hm. Point taken." I said and went back inside, looking through my drawers for a proper outfit. I spotted a ring on my dresser. It was black and it was of two snakes intertwined, so I decided to put it on along with the rest of my outfit.
With my clothing in my arms, I went to the bathroom to change.

When I came back out, the rest of Blaze's band was staring at me.

"Hi, I'm Elektra, Blaze's roommate, and I'm leaving now" I waved slightly and high-tailed it out of there.
I bolted through the halls until I reached Demeter's room. I entered it without knocking and looked around the incredibly huge fields of wheat and corn.

"Demeter?" I called out. I saw some movement in the corn maze and soon saw the Goddess stroll out in the open in front of me.

"Yes? Does Hades have anything else to tell me?" Demeter asked. I smirked at her.

"Nah, I do, however, need to have a chat with your lovely daughter. Where's Persephone?" I asked nicely, letting a glint enter my eyes.
Demeter narrowed her eyes at me.

"Why do you need to talk to Persephone?" the Goddess demanded. I chuckled a bit before answering her.

"Underworld business. I'm the official messenger," I said, crossing my arms over my chest. She just sighed and nodded before walking away. I only had to wait a little moment before Persephone came out without her mother.

"What's this about?" she demanded.

"I'm Hades' official messenger messenger now. He said to get yourself a pair a balls because you're going to be assuming your duties from now on instead of bumming around and lamenting your unfortunate decisions," I said, grinning at the infuriated Goddess. Any normal person or creature would have crapped their pants but I couldn't be bothered.
The bitch didn't scare me, especially with all my new powers.

"What are you talking about?" she hissed at me. I rose an eyebrow at her. Was she that stupid?

"You're the supposed Queen of the Underworld. It's about high time you act like it, serve your husband too. You are the one who married him, after all," I said, feeling the strong need to punch her in the face.

"He tricked me! I don't have to do shit!" she raged. I huffed.

"Fine, if you're not the queen then, you still have to obey your King whenever you're down there" I said, mocking the bitch. She glared at me.

"I am the Queen," she bit out.

"Then act like it," I growled, vanishing and dropping back to my room.
I landed on my bed again, and the dizziness wasn't as bad as it was the last time, it only lasted half as long.

"Elektra, how and when did you get that new power?" Blaze asked me as I stopped his band practice for the second time that day.

"Ah, sometime during the day, I made this deal with this guy and anyways, I'm the official messenger of the Underworld now" I said, rubbing my face as I remembered the things the deal meant. Like, the kiss for example.

"Wait, the Underworld? What the hell were you doing down there?" Blair asked, putting her guitar down and coming to sit by me again. I eyed her carefully.

"Playing with that huge three-headed freak of a dog. Got in a fight with it, Hades saved my ass." I grumbled, realizing that it was the least I could do to have transfered that message to Demeter. Come to think of it, he could have simply used it against me without giving me a prize at all. Curious.

"Cerberus? Why would you do that?" she pushed, confused. I shot her a look, but she didn't seem to notice it.

"Because I seem to have somewhat of a death-wish" I grumbled before getting up and grabbing the microphone, looking up at Blaze. He was looking at me oddly.

"What are we playing?" I asked.

"Ah, Don't damn me by Guns N Roses" he said. I nodded and closed my eyes, remembering the lyrics.
The music started, the sound of the guitar making my very bones vibrate. Then, the bass came in, followed by the drums and then I started signing (more like shouting) the lyrics.

"Don't damn me
When I speak a piece of my mind
'Cause silence isn't golden
When I'm holding it inside
'Cause I've been where I have been
An I've seen what I have seen
I put the pen to the paper
'Cause it's all a part of me

Be it a song or casual conversation
To hold my tongue speaks
Of quiet reservations
Your words once heard
They can place you in a faction
My words may disturb
But at least there's a reaction

Sometimes I wanna kill
Sometimes I wanna die
Sometimes I wanna destroy
Sometimes I wanna cry
Sometimes I could get even
Sometimes I could give up
Sometimes I could give
Sometimes I never give a fuck

It's only for a while
I hope you understand
I never wanted this to happen
Didn't want to be a man
So I hid inside my world
I took what I could find
I cried when I was lonely
I fell down when I was blind

But don't damn me
When I speak a piece of my mind
'Cause silence isn't golden
When I'm holding it inside
'Cause I've been where I have been
An I've seen what I have seen
I put the pen to the paper
'Cause it's all a part of me

How can I ever satisfy you
An how can I ever make you see
That deep inside we're all somebody
An it don't matter who you wanna be
But now I gotta smile I hope you comprehend
For this man can say it happened
'Cause this child has been condemned
So I stepped into your world
I kicked you in the mind
An I'm the only witness
To the nature of my crime

But look at what we've done
To the innocent and young
Whoa listen to who's talking
'Cause we're not the only ones
The trash collected by the eyes
And dumped into the brain
Said it tears into our conscious thoughts
You tell me who's to blame

I know you don't wanna hear me cryin'
An I know you don't wanna hear me deny
That your satisfaction lies in your illusion
But your delusions are yours and not mine
We take for granted we know the whole story
We judge a book by its cover
And read what we want
Between selected lines

Don't hail me
An don't idolize the ink
Or I've failed in my attentions
Can you find the missing link
Your only validation is living your own life
Vicarious existence is a fucking waste of time
So I send this song to the offended
I said what I meant and I've never pretended
As so many others do intending just to please
If I damned your point of view
Could you turn the other cheek

But don't damn me
When I speak a piece of my mind
'Cause silence isn't golden
When I'm holding it inside
'Cause I've been where I have been
An I've seen what I have seen
I put the pen to the paper
'Cause it's all a part of me
Don't damn me
I said don't damn me
I said don't hail me
Don't damn me

Oooh, smoke 'em if you got 'em...
Alright, that sucked,"
When the song finished, I had the most insane grin of all times on my face and I was ready to take on the world.

"Cool, wanna be in the band?" Blair asked, glancing briefly at Blaze as she said it. I shrugged.

"Sure, why not" I said, tossing the microphone to Blaze.

"I'd love to stick around for a few more songs, but unfortunately, I gotta scram. I'll be back later," I said, waving before I concentrated on Hades and let the tingles take over my body again.

~~

I landed in a very soft place, my head barely swimming at all, and lots of noise around me.

"I see you're practicing your new powers" I heard Hades say from above me. I looked up briefly and noticed that I was extremely close to him. Like, practically sitting on him.
One quick check confirmed that I was indeed sitting in his lap, on a throne.

"Oh, yeah. Hi, by the way. I figured you should know that I spoke to Persephone and she probably wants to kill me now" I commented, looking around. I figured I'd stay on him, seeing as I could find no other place to sit.

"I see. Thank you, Elektra. Anything else?" he asked, and I felt his arms snaking around my waist. I let them, I figured it was fair game since I was sitting on his lap after all.

"What the hell is this?" I asked. There were hundreds of people, all of them completely different, and only a very small amount of them looking even remotely human.

"I'm holding Court. This isn't only a place where people go after they die, you know, this is a whole different dimension on its own" he said, his chest swelling with pride. I blinked up at him.

"Seriously?" I asked. He nodded.

"Lots of politics involved too, that part is quite bothersome," he said, looking over my shoulder to look at all the creatures that had assembled in something that somewhat resembled a line.

"Looks like my break is over" he grumbled as the first thing in line walked up to the bottom of what seemed to be a podium. Hades' throne seemed to be on said podium.

"What seems to be the problem?" Hades asked, his voice deep and powerful, quite different than the one he used with me.
This tone of voice was cold and so deeply inlaid with power that the sheer force of it threatened to drown me. It was what the voice of the King of the Underworld as it should be. And now I understood why people feared him. His mere voice nearly had shivers running down my back.

"My brother and I want the same human," the thing said. It (or he, by his voice) had a dark green skin and snake-like eyes, though his general body structure resembled that of a human.

"Which one is the eldest?" Hades demanded, and a shiver ran down my back.

"I am, my Lord"

"Then the human is yours" Hades dismissed the green man and another creature came up with their problems.
I quickly grew bored of it and rested my head on Hades' shoulder, letting my eyes slide shut. I wasn't tired, but a nap never hurt anyone.
I relaxed my body and let the energy from around me run right through me, making me aware of the tingles in my body. Again with the tingling, I noticed, like earlier. It was starting to seriously get on my nerves.

"Elektra, are you awake?" I heard a voice ask me after some time of zoning-out, shaking me out of my reverie.

"If I wasn't, now I am" I grumbled, cracking my eyes open. I was still in Hades' lap and the room we were in seemed to have cleared out.
Hades looked down at me and smirked.

"You know, there are other things to see in this place. You know, other than the caves you saw and my lap" he commented, making me me fight a rather random blush.

"I know. I just find this spot rather comfy to nap on" I snapped back, getting up and stretching. I felt my back pop into place, giving me the impression that we had been here longer than I thought.
Hades chuckled.

"What are you doing here anyways?" Hades asked, raising an eyebrow at me. I shrugged.

"Eh, I was bored. And I had that chat with your evil wife, ick. She probably wanted to hit me, I seem to have that affect on people. Except you, that is" I said, giving the Lord of the Underworld a side-ways glance.

"Ah, so how did that go? Besides her wanting to hit you, I mean," Hades said, ignoring my last comment. That most likely meant he had his moments too. Or maybe he was too busy thinking about kissing me. Ick, mental image, out, out!
I felt the tingles again and frowned.

"It went... Relatively well. When her time comes, she should storm into here and either start shouting at you, which is a step up from ignoring you in my opinion, or she should storm in and... Well, aim for either my or your throat. Still better than ignoring, so I guess it went well" I concluded, a small smirk on my face.

"Hm. I fail to see how that went well," Hades mused, looking at me with a twinkle of amusement in his eyes.
I just shrugged.

"Hey, I did my job. I consider that good. And besides, a good fight is always welcome with me, so I consider that good too. I guess it depends on perspective" I said, making up my mind. I think I just might like the Underworld better than the Upperworld and Olympus.