In Pursuit of Madness

In the years that followed, Lydos began to forget about Melinoe even as she watched over him carefully. He worked diligently at painting. For a few months, Melinoe was the subject of each of his pieces. It saddened her, to see him suffer as she watched over him. She would hide herself, transforming into a child or animal, and watch carefully. He found a wife that was young and beautiful, for a mortal. She bore him three children, two sons and a daughter. He grew older and the lines on his face grew more prominent. His hair that was once the color of chestnuts turned grey, and true to her word Melinoe did not age a single moment. Her youthful beauty remained, though it was marred with distress and heartbreak. Persephone was worried about her, wondering if perhaps Melinoe had driven herself to madness. She tried talking to her daughter several times to no avail. Melinoe for her part, started doing what she was supposed to. Most of her time was spent with the Cerberus, grooming his sleek coat, feeding him large chunks of meet, and observing all the spirits that passed through the realm. Sometimes she even saw her father, when he wasn't busy running the realm.

"You're making yourself sick, Melinoe." Hades had commented the last time he'd seen her wandering listlessly in the night. Melinoe had been replacing her nightly run to Athens with long, empty walks around the Underworld in which she stared at her feet and let them lead her to nowhere. She looked up at him with deep, hollow eyes and a gaze that, for a moment, seemed older than his. All he could do was turn and walk away from her with a heavy sigh, now understanding his wife's worry for their child.

After a time, she stopped watching him. When Lydos married, Melinoe found it increasingly difficult to watch over him. It was agonizing to watch him love another woman and raise her children. He painted pottery still, but he was no longer the young man that had to pay the potter if a piece got broken or was damaged. Every potter was head over heels trying to get him to paint for them. Lydos had a constant stream of work, yet he managed to find time to raise his children and love his wife. Years continued to pass, and he never stopped growing older, soon he would be paying Charon.

Sixteen years passed.

The Fates had informed Hades that the time was coming for them to cut the long string of the mortal.The God of the Underworld knew that it was time to seek out his daughter, wherever she was currently hiding, and inform her that Lydos' time was short. He searched every inch of the Underworld, but could not find her. Hades had to resort to asking his brothers to search their realms as well. Even his niece and nephew joined in the hunt. After three weeks Posieden found her, staring into the Aegean Sea as she sat on a marble bench, her black dress swirling around her. Hades walked along the beach his brother had seen her on, until finally he spotted his daughter.He approached her and stared down at Melinoe, who hadn't glanced up from the sea.

Eventually, Hades sighed and took a seat next to his daughter on the marble bench where she rested. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and stared out at the ocean with her.

"Melinoe... The Fates have informed me that it is almost time for Lydos to become a spirit of our realm..." She blinked, but said nothing at her father's remark.

"Dear One, I know you pine for him, and that you love him, but... Do you remember what happened with Artemis and Orion?" Hades asked suddenly, pointing to the man hung in the stars. "Artemis loved Orion greatly and your cousin, her brother Apollo grew jealous of her attention, because he is her twin and he felt that she was not paying enough attention to him. So one day Orion was swimming and Apollo taunted Artemis, claiming that she could not accurately shoot the floating speck of black. To prove to her brother that she was not incompetent, she drew an arrow from her quiver, strung her bow with it, and shot true. Later as his body washed onto the shore, she realized what she had done. Artemis was so distraught that she took his body and hung it in the stars. Do you know why I tell you this story, Melinoe?" He asked. She shook her head, loose curls tumbling around her.

"Lydos is like Orion, for he too is mortal. And their lives are mere moments to ours, which is why for the most part, we don't involve ourselves with them. They tend to have trivial problems and materialistic desires. Mortals can be whiny and ignorant and foolish, but every so often a God will find a mortal that seems to be worthy enough for patronage or even love." He explained softly.

"It is only a matter of time now, Little One." He murmured, stroking her hair like he did when she was little. She sighed and leaned into him a little, knowing that there had been times when her father had loved a human and had been presented with the same choice.

"What should I do Daddy?" she asked eventually. Hades stared off into the night where they sat.

"Whatever feels right Dear One, for his mortality is fleeting and yours is not." He placed a kiss on her brow and left her to ponder what he had said, continuing along the beach before disappearing into the darkness of the night.

It was there that she decided to break her word, after all what was the point of immortality if you couldn't be selfish every once in a while? As soon as her feet touched the ground she was running, preparing to pass through the ether. She was rushing, trying to beat the Fates.

She exited the ether outside the house she had once been so familiar with. Melinoe placed a gentle hand on the outer wall of the window, remembering how their last night together had gone, how she had so easily slipped into the window. On this night, she walked straight in through the door, not bothering to knock or announce her presence. A woman sat in the spot so often occupied by Lydos. Time had been fair to the woman, even in her age she was beautiful but Melinoe took no notice of her. At least, not until the woman stood with a small gasp.

Green eyes met blue ones and suddenly the room, though warmed by the fire, was colder than ice.

"You're her aren't you?" the other woman asked. "Lydos never fully described you, but I know who you are. Do you think you're just going to come in here and whisk him away from me? He's my husband, not yours."

Melinoe stood tall, letting her height increase to fill as much space in the room as she could. "Watch your tone with me, insolent mortal." She boomed. "You obviously know not to whom you speak. I will only warn you once." She let the threat hang in the air.

The mortal woman, for her part, cowered back into the corner of the room; fearing the wrath of the Goddess. But Lydos, even in his old age knew the voice of the beautiful woman he had once loved.

"Melinoe?" he whispered. Her eyes flicked to the doorway of the room she knew he would be in, and slowly reduced her height back to normal size. With one last scathing look at the foolish mortal, Melinoe slipped into the Lydos' bedchamber.

"Kardiá mou," She murmured when she saw him. He gave a small smile in her direction.

"You came," he replied quietly, gladdened by her appearance, and that after all this time she still considered him to be her heart. "You don't look any different."

"Oh, Lydos." She moaned softly, moving to sit next to him on the bed. She took his hand in one of hers, placing the other on the side of his face.

"I am sorry," he paused for a rattling, labored breath. "That I am no longer the young man you once loved."

"You will always be the young man I loved Lydos." She encouraged. "Look, after all these years, you've retained these beautiful hands."

He gave a small chuckle. Gently she leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead.

"I don't have much time do I?"

"I wouldn't be here if you did Dear One. Perhaps I should leave and let you spend time with your family..." she trailed off.

"I have had sixteen long years of spending time with my family, but I only had eight short years with you. Please, give me this time to just have you." She nodded her assent and kissed his brow once more. She adjusted herself to sit beside him with her long legs, covered in her black dress, next to his. She wrapped an arm around his shoulders and stroked his hair, humming softly to fill the silence.

"I have missed you so much these last years." He murmured, his eyes drooping.

"I have missed you too." She admitted. "I watched you, for a while. Protected you from among the shadows, but once you were married I left well enough alone. It hurt too much."

"Then I am also sorry, that I have caused you pain. I only meant to do as you asked my Goddess."

"You have done well, sweet thing, and I am proud." She whispered to him.

"Then perhaps I can rest easy, knowing that I have done you proud. For that is all I ever wanted, from the moment we met." His eyes closed and his breathing was becoming heavier.

"Tell me a story?" he asked.

"What should I tell you?"

"Can you tell me... what is happening, and what will happen next?" She pondered his request for a moment.

"You might be frightened by it." Melinoe remarked carefully.

"It will be alright." He told her.

"Right now, somewhere far away, Atropos is sharpening her shears and soon she will reach for the thread of your life, instructed by her sister Lachesis that your time has come to an end. She will take the thread and cut it cleanly in half, effectively ending your life. Then your body will be washed and dressed in your finest garment. For a few days people from all over Athens, and perhaps even all over Greece will come to mourn your death. Then someone will place a coin on your lips, so that you may pay Charon and cross with him to the Underworld once Hermes has led your soul to the River Styx. You will cross the rivers and pass through the Gate where Cerberus resides, and since I cannot make the journey with you, you will most likely see me there. After you have reached the opposite shore, your life will be judged by Minos, Aecus, and Rhadamanthus. Once their desicion is made you will be placed among the souls who wander listlessly in a sort of nostalgic misery. You will be in a waking dream as you wander, it may be pleasant and it may be horrible. Either way it's likely you will be miserable, and for that I am sorry my love."

"Thank you for telling me, now I shall be prepared for all that is to come. I only hope that it is you I spend eternity dreaming of." She leaned forward and placed one last kiss on his lips, as he drew his last few shaky breaths.

He opened his eyes one last time and whispered with his final breath. "I love you, Melinoe."

Tears streamed down her face as she cried out for him, "I love you too."