Desolation [manxman] DRAFT

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

My dad used to live with my mother in Tartarus but he had recently moved out and built his own home near the Acheron, the river of woe. I didn't know why but I assumed marital problems to be the cause since my mother was a huge b word. Apparently even her own husband couldn't take it anymore and just left.

I decided to be polite this time and materialized in front of the front door, raising a hand to knock but the door swung open and a tiny water nymph appeared behind it, glaring at me.

"What?" He demanded, tapping his foot.

"Good morning to you, too. I wanted to talk to my dad?" I tried, confused by his attitude and overall messy attire.

"Are you unsure whether you want to talk to your father or not?" The runt scoffed, flicking a strand of navy blue hair out his eyes.

I started to like him. He was as much of a pain in the ass as I tried to be. He got some mad talent. Maybe he could teach me his ways and we could become best buddies on our way to achieve pure chaos.

"Are you going to let me in?" I asked, smirking at him. "Alternatively, you could ask him to come to the door. It won't take much time."

"Don't tell me what to do!" He snapped before throwing the door shut.

I could hear him run off behind the door, leaving me standing outside like an idiot. As I started debating to just teleport inside I could hear my dad's footsteps coming towards the door. Weird how I could still recognize his step pattern after millennia of mostly ignoring each other. He looked surprised to see me at first but it quickly changed to cautious and wary, mixed with what could be described as sorrow as he realized I was wearing my war suit.

"If I wanted to tear you apart, I wouldn't bother with courtesies first. I'd just do it." I huffed. "I wanted to ask you for help."

Erebus raised an eyebrow, before stepping aside and gesturing for me to come in. I entered a large foyer with a staircase leading to the second floor. The walls were coated with book shelves and thousands of books, he collected over the span of his life. It was obvious where I got my passion for reading from but judging by titles he didn't fancy textbooks but rather poetry and the classics.

"Do you want something to drink? I have a variety of teas." He offered.

"Coffee?" I requested, taking in the room some more.

"I don't have that. It's too acidic in my opinion." He professed one of the worst crimes I ever had to witness.

"Well, your opinion is clearly wrong." I scoffed. "Who doesn't like coffee? What's wrong with you? Actually, don't answer that."

He smirked at that before leading me to a corner of the room where two armchairs and a round table were located. Two cups of tea were set out and two books were laid out as if someone just stopped reading them. Considering I could only sense the presence of three people in this house, yours truly, my dad and the water nymph, I'd say it's safe to assume they had spent their time reading books together. It made me smirk. Erebus, the god of darkness and shadows, spend his time at his own private literature club, drinking tea. How adorable. I never figured he would be the type to do such a thing but I also wouldn't know what type he'd be considering we never talked.

"How can I be of help to you?" He asked, sitting down elegantly on his chair.

I just flopped down with absolutely zero grace and leaned back on mine. It was rather comfy. I proceeded to fill him in and watched his soft expression turn into a scowl.