In Pursuit of Madness

Thanatos sat on top of a wall, one leg tucked underneath him the other hanging off the side of the wall swinging back and forth. He was observing Melinoe as she crouched, observing a mortal woman. It was the wife of the man Melinoe had loved, Lydos. The mortal woman was telling her sister of the nightmares she had been having, and was accusing the radiant Goddess that stood hidden from them of providing the garish scenes. Melinoe, of course, had provided these nightmares but they were only a taste of what she was about to do. He shifted, his large black wings rustling and causing a small noise. Her gaze flicked up to meet his eyes. She had been aware of Thanatos sitting on the wall behind her, dangling his scythe next to his swinging leg, staring at her and waiting to see what move she was going to make. After Hades had gifted Melinoe with the control of Ghosts Thanatos had started paying closer attention to the younger Goddess He wanted to see how exactly she would use this power, especially since it meant a lot more work rounding up listless souls, but so far she hadn't unleashed the power. There had been a few stray mortals that she had been focusing on and there had been plenty of children that were scared of their nightmares but from what he'd heard, none had been as gruesome as those that she was giving the wife of the late Lydos.

On the first night that the woman started having nightmares, Melinoe had composed something mild in comparison for what she was preparing. That first night the woman simply dreamed that she was in the dark, and the only thing that let her know it was a dream and not just plain sleep was the loud growling coming from... somewhere? Everywhere.

The second night, she discovered the source of the of the growling when she came face to face with one of the most terrifying beasts in the Cosmos. In front of her, alternating between breathing heavily and growling but always baring his teeth, stood Cerberus with eyes as red as blood. All six eyes where staring at her with hunger, as if she was standing in front of him trying to break into Hades. From there the dreams progressed into variations of being chased by Cerberus into various places. The latest had taken place near Ixion's wheel, adding his tormented wails to the hungry growling of Cerberus.

"You know Thanatos," Melinoe began. "You don't have to stalk me, if you have a question for me just ask."

"Oh I'm just wondering when you're going to fill my days with work. Until then, I'm more than happy to spend them leisurely watching a beautiful Goddess work." He quipped. Rolling her eyes she stood and turned to face him.

"What do you want, Death?" she asked, not in the mood for his games.

"What Princess? Can't we just catch up?" he teased her lightly. Melinoe was still licking the fresh wounds of Lydos' death and knew that Thanatos had a reputation of being a philanderer.

"Alright then, let's catch up. How's work?" She asked.

"Oh you know, harvesting souls from bodies, reigning in the ghosts you release, skinning children for their pelts." Melinoe's eyes widened at the last phrase. "A quip, Princess."

Melinoe sighed heavily, that was always the problem with dealing with Thanatos; full of quips that were more worrisome then funny. She had to admit, sense of humor aside, he had a good personality. He was also attractive, when she could see the flesh on him at any rate. Most of the time in the land of the living he didn't appear as much more than a skeleton with with a pair of wings shrouded in an intimidating black cloak. Today, where he was sitting in the sunlight, he was drawing on his strength to preserve the form Melinoe was accustomed to seeing. He was tall with hair as black as night and eyes that twinkled like the stars. His body rippled with taut muscles covered with pale skin that stretched over his frame. Yes, Death was attractive. She was musing over this when he caught her attention again.

"You know," he started, "I'm thinking about settling down. Getting married, stop playing the field, committing to a woman. You interested?" he asked, a teasing lilt to his tone.

She shook her head at him incredulously.

"Ah, well." He shrugged and slid off the wall. "I'll see you around Princess, duty calls."

With that parting he opened the ether and stepped through, leaving Melinoe alone with the thought of how he had basically asked her to marry him. Thanatos made his way back to the Underworld in search of her father. Hades, he knew, was giving her time to grieve over the loss of the man she'd loved, but Thanatos wanted to get his foot in the door on asking for her hand in marriage. It was obvious that she wasn't ready yet, but someday she would be and Death wanted her for his own when she was.

That night, Melinoe finally devised a nightmare that brought the mortal woman to her knees with insanity. She was walking down a street in Athens when suddenly all the people that should have been there seemed to disappear. Actually, they had never really been there, but in the woman's perspective they just stopped being there. Then, the sunlit streets of Athens morphed into the dark bank of the River Styx where she stood alone, waiting for something to happen. It was near the river that her late husband appeared to her, decaying and crying, screaming about how he would never reach the Field of Asphodel. He claimed that it was because she refused to place the coin on his lips and when she accused him of lying because Melinoe had done it, he told her that Charon refused to take the payment from the Princess of the Underworld lest her Father's wrath be brought upon him. Charon, Lydos had told her, had no choice but to leave him by the River to rot because his wife refused to pay. It was her selfishness that stopped her from paying the price. The next morning the woman was wailing and screaming and refused to remove herself from bed. In the end, she stopped eating and drinking, depriving herself of the necessities that her body needed and dying in the wake of madness.

A few years passed, and although Thanatos spent more time with Melinoe he made no more mentions of their marriage. Hades had granted Thanatos his wish, saying that if Melinoe chose to marry him he would allow it. When he wasn't busy collecting souls, he would walk the world at night with her or go with her to deal out a particularly nasty nightmare. Sometimes they would sit together under the stars and recount the stories of how they had been hung in the sky. After a while, she forgot how much pain the death of Lydos had caused her and she began to let Thanatos into her heart. When twenty years had passed he brought her to her favorite spot on the beach of the Aegean Sea.

They sat together under a blanket of stars watching them twinkle in the distance. He was holding her hand, stroking the back of it with his thumb as they listened to the quiet waves crash against the sand.

"There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about." He murmured without looking at her. She turned her head, curious to hear what he wanted to say. Taking a deep breath, he stood and positioned himself in front of her. Then he continued, pouring his heart out to her.

"Princess," he started. "There is a woman, so radiant that even the stars cannot compare to her beauty and so gentle that even the waves are envious. She is kindhearted and keen, willful and wise, ageless and ancient, magnanimous and malignant, all these things and many more. Without her, it feels like Apollo has strayed from his chariot and not brought the sun back to the earth. I have spent her whole life watching her, protecting her, and I have spent the last twenty years waiting for her. I swore on the River Styx that until I had her, I would not touch another woman and after I had her I would touch only her. To those of us who do not die, twenty years is nothing but to me it has been strenuous. I stand here now, Princess Melinoe of the Underworld: Daughter of Hades and Persephone, Goddess of Madness; Nightmares; and Ghosts, not a God, not Death, but a man begging for you let me take your hand in marriage."

Melinoe sat in silent shock, staring at Thanatos. Had she been so blind that over the last twenty years she had not noticed him pursuing her? He had taken no other women since... Since when?

"When?" she asked, her voice shaking.

"When what?" he replied, his heart beginning to plummet.

"When did you swear the oath?"

"I swore the oath to your father, on the day when I first asked if you thought you could marry me." He told her quietly. She pondered this for a moment, not saying anything. Thanatos could almost feel his heart breaking as he waited for her to answer his question.

"Only me?" she questioned.

"Only you, my Princess." He bowed his head and dropped to one knee. She cocked her head and looked at him for a moment, studying his somber appearance before leaning forward and lifting his face by the chin with her fingers.

"Yes, Thanatos. I will marry you." With that she leaned forward and sealed her lips against his.

Three days later under the light of the full moon they married on the shore of the Aegean. Posiedon stood with them as well as Hades and Zeus, officiating the marriage and after the ceremony the five Immortals made their way to Olympus where the rest of the Gods and Goddesses were waiting for them. The party that followed was loud and filled with laughter and tales of old and wine and good wishes for the newly married couple. All the while there was a grin that never left Thanatos' face and demure smile that was constantly playing around the edges of Melinoe's lips. Hera presented Melinoe with a new pair of delicate silver earrings, telling her that she understood why Melinoe had sold one of the first pair, but hoping that since she was now married to Death, she would keep the second for much longer. She also offered her Divine Blessing as the Goddess of Marriage. Hades and Persephone mingled with Demeter and Zeus while Dionysus kept the wine flowing. Aphrodite came to the couple and exclaimed that she knew their love would be one that lasted many centuries. Posiedon gifted them a small house near the shore of the sea they'd gotten married on. He told them that even though they were creatures of the Underworld he thought they might want the privacy of their own small home.

Eventually, the party ended and the couple was preparing to leave. Melinoe and Thanatos thought it would be a good idea to break in the new property from Posiedon so upon leaving Olympus it was their destination. That night for the first time in twenty years, Thanatos touched a woman. They consummated their marriage all through the night and well after Apollo had brought the sun into the sky. For the next two weeks time didn't seem to pass as they spent the days wrapped in the throes of passion and paying attention only to each other. Eventually though, they both had to get back to work.

However, work did not prevent them from sneaking off frequently to engage in the more carnal acts of marriage.