Everyone in the room stood still, all except Juliet of course. She was dam near going to keel over in relief. Paul looked green around the gills, Ringo seemed to fall into a psychosis and John narrowed his famously narrow almond brown eyes in contempt.
"Hades, please help. Kronos has George. We have no leads, no clues, nothing." Juliet threw herself to the mercy of the God of the Underworld and Hades' lips upturned into a smug smirk.
He had a feeling she'd call him back, she was only mortal. Juliet Bishop may be immune to the charm of the gods but she was still fragile, breakable. Everyone was- no matter how special they were.
Hades turned his head and scanned the room, as a god, he had universal knowledge. Being the swallowed son of Kronos, he had tastes of the future. His icy blue eyes acknowledged each Beatle in the room, he waved to each and every one of them, including the untrusting John Lennon, who happened to be Hades' favourite Beatle. However, the god of the underworld preferred Harrison's solo music.
Paul stared at the god of the underworld suspiciously, albeit feeling strangely inclined to trust him. What could the god of the underworld stand to gain by deceiving them?
"I thought you would've figured it out by now, miss Juliet." Hades said in a sing song voice, traipsing over and taking a lock of her slightly wavy hair into his long, skinny fingers. The god stood merely inches from her face, Juliet could smell his minty breath from this distance. She wasn't scared. She was only questioning silently how this was her life; how a hilariously insignificant young woman barely into adulthood that had not only thrown herself back in time, but she had the god of the underworld so close to her she could smell his goddam breath.
Hades got too close for comfort, but it was all a show. Hades was quite the showman.
"Why would my father tell you to get away from all of the boys if its just George he's concerned about?" Hades hinted once more, backing away from Juliet as his cold breath flushed onto the tip of her nose. The god of the underworld, calm, cool and collected, drew a ciggie from his black bomber jacket pocket and glanced around the room.
All three Beatles raised their hands in favor of a ciggie to soothe their frazzled nerves as Juliet pieced together the puzzle in her mind. She needed more clues, more hints. The young time traveler was grasping at friable tethers, nothing substantial.
Hades sighed dramatically and sensed Juliet's need for more encouragement, so he indulged her.
"What's so important about the boys that Kronos was trying to keep you away from?"
Juliet carded hands through her hair and scoffed, thinking of the one important thing Kronos has been after since she landed here.
"The only important thing to Kronos is the ring that I so conveniently lost."
Then it hit her, suddenly a rush of realization came crashing into her like a tsunami. How could she have been so blind? All of the clues and hints were there! Kronos wasn't trying to keep her away from George, nor John, nor even Paul! He couldn't give a lesser damn!
He was scheming to keep her away from Ringo! Ringo has the ring!
Hades could see Juliet registering the key that cracked her case wide open- Kronos was sending her on a prolonged wild goose chase for a ring that was right under her nose so that he could kill her. Kronos was hunting her, the god of time couldn't possibly allow a bloodline of blocked past, present, and futures to continue.
"Ringo! It's you!" Juliet shrieked, scrambling over to the shocked drummer and grabbed his right hand and found the ring she's been searching for months for. Well, sort of. Sitting delicately on his pinky was a purple stone set into a gold band setting. She knew that purple stone from anywhere. The stone was cut differently, but the ring glimmered in her eye and Juliet cried out. She wasn't sure if she was relieved or disappointed in finding the ring, and finding it so soon.
Juliet knew what this meant, she had to go back now. Now that she's found the ring, she must return home to her time.
"Oi! Oi! Hold on! Whattya mean?" Ringo said in a hurry and Juliet ignored his inquires and yanked the ring off of his pinky finger and held it carefully between her index finger and thumb, marveling at it for the first time since she fatefully lost it.
"Hey! Ju that's me first ring you've ripped off me!" Ringo cried out in protest and Juliet once again ignored his protests. He couldn't understand now, but soon he will.
"Wait, so yer tellin' me Mr. underworld that the answer to Juliet's knot has been under 'er nose this whole time?" John snarled, Paul rushing to his side and giving him a warning look with this hazel eyes.
"Now is not the time to be givin' cheek John." Paul hissed under his breath, steeling John with a hard squeeze to his shoulder as Hades watched the two pairs interact with an amused look about him.
For a deity as old as Hades was, he'd stopped counting after he hit 2000, the chthonic god had a youthful look about him. His pale skin, his icy looks. Juliet might've found the god attractive once upon a dream.
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Juliet spun around with hesitation to her renewed sense of hope. She had the power now- the hunt was over. Yet Kronos didn't know it quite yet. Hades smiled at her and flittered his fingers as if he were saying goodbye, but the mortal girl ran up and gave him a warm embrace as an expression of her gratitude.
"Thank you." Juliet murmured into the leather of Hades' designer bomber coat, and Hades paused before returning the first hug he's had in eons. It felt odd to be embracing such a warm creature, much more so when it's a mortal creature at that.
"Make sure when you see my father, you give him a kick to the jewels for me, yeah? You'll be sure to find him where you flew the coop." Hades indulged the young woman with another token of valuable information, feeling his heart endeared by her passionate spirit and her cherubic beauty.
They released each other from their embrace and with a last shared look at each other, Juliet bid a silent farewell to Hades as he made up a faux ceremonial bow then disappeared into a plume of black smoke.
The room fell silent once more but not for long, as Ringo's grumbles of protest had returned and Paul began to run commentary on the event that had just occurred before them.
"What in the actual bloody fuckin' 'ell was tha'? Juliet please tell me we all fuckin' saw a greek GOD right here?"
"That's not the point, you arsehole! She's got what she needs, we've gotten what we need too! We're fuckin' all away across the pond from George, we must act now!" John responded to Paul, effectively cutting him off from anymore exclamations of shock.
Juliet nodded, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. It was all ending, tonight. I don't think they realize. Juliet thought morosely as she wistfully looked at each of the boys.
I don't think they realize I'm disappearing from their lives tonight.
