A Touch of Death
An Akusai Hades/Persephone AU written for @flickrxsh in the @khsecretsanta exchange!! Hope you have a Happy New Year, and it was the best thing being your Secret Santa! Hope you enjoy!
In the time of gods and men, there was a nymph named Axel-- a herald of spring, whose subsequent job was to prepare the earth every year. That meant every flower had to be blessed to bloom, every river unfrozen, and every tree renewed. And this had to be done Every. Single. Year.
It was a monstrous bore.
“You ever think why we even bother having winter?” he loused one day, perched on the branch of a tree that had icicles still clinging to the boughs. “I mean, it’s an awful lot of work for something that’s just going to die again next winter.”
Roxas sighed, adjusting the closed bud of a forget-me-not and turning towards Axel with the all-suffering expression of someone who has heard this same complaint dozens upon dozens of times. “Don’t you ever pay attention to that speech they give us every year? Or did you manage to sleep through that again?”
“Guilty as charged,” Axel shrugged, a small smirk playing on his lips as he idly picked at the crown of leaves and branches in his hair.
“I swear, Axel, you sleep like the dead,” Roxas sighed, smiling despite himself as he turned towards the next flower bed.
“You’re just jealous that you couldn’t sleep through that tedious speech. It’s just as boring as everything we ever have to do. Spring dies, but then what? We’re stuck on the shelves ‘til the next year.”
“Well someone’s being morbid.”
“Call it a force of habit.” But then a certain gleam got into Axel’s eyes-- one Roxas had learned to dread. “But you know what would be really interesting for once?” he said, jumping down from the branch leaning against Roxas.
“Axel, don’t even--”
“Sneaking into Old Man Death’s kingdom,” Axel murmured conspiratorially, happy to try and persuade Roxas for the umpteenth time. “C’mon Rox! ‘The path to the underworld is easy,’ but the real challenge is coming back! Now that sounds like a good time.”
“You’re being ridiculous,” Roxas scoffed, brushing off the arm Axel had slung over his shoulder.
“And you’re being boring! It’s a challenge!”
“For idiots. Which, unfortunately, you fit the criteria.” Roxas sighed, finally turning around to face Axel. “Sneaking down into the underworld isn’t causing some minor mischief among mortals. Even the gods themselves must answer to the ruler there.”
“Which is exactly the sort of excitement we need! C’mon Rox… You gotta admit, this isn’t exactly the most glamorous job. What if we did something real? Something cool! Something that mortals would remember us for. Doesn’t that sound at all exciting to you?”
Roxas paused for a moment, and Axel could have sworn he had him then… But then the blond nymph sighed and merely moved onto the next meadow. “Nothing is worth the touch of death. Not when we are meant to bring spring and life into this world. Find me when you calm down, alright?” he added softly, leaving Axel to stand alone under the tree.
Thin lips twisted into a grimace, and Axel crossed his arms and huffed out a sigh. “Figures,” he mumbled, moving to lay against the trunk. “So much for that.”
“... So much for what?” came a quiet voice, not too far from Axel.
“Huh? Who’s there?”
“Just an observer,” the voice murmured, almost crooning with the creak of the branches. “Nothing to be frightened of.”
“What a creep... “ Axel muttered, sighing out through his nose. “Why don’t you bother coming out where I can see you, huh? You don’t sound exactly trustworthy hiding in the shadows like that.”
“If that is what you wish, then of course.” And from the shadows came a cloaked figure-- its hood obscuring most of its facial features, save for a lock of blue hair standing stark from the darkness of his robes. “Is this better?”
Axel gave a noncommittal noise at that, still not quite set at ease by the odd figure. “Whatever. There something you want?”
“Something that I want? No, no… But I did catch that there was something you desired.”
Green eyes snapped open at that, and Axel turned more towards the cloaked figure now. “I’m listening.”
“You desire immortality. Or to be more specific, to be remembered for your deeds. I can give that to you.” Extending a pale, deathly white hand from the folds of his cloak, the man snapped his fingers as a ball of fire encompassed his hand, flashing bright then leaving a vibrant fire lily poised in his hand. “My gift, to you.”
The nymph found himself strangely entranced by the flower, unable to tear his eyes away from it. “... What is it exactly? Looks like any old flower to me.”
A deep, amused chuckle emerged from the hood of the cloak, and Axel could imagine that for a second he could catch a glimpse of thin, bloodless lips. “It is so much more than that. This flower is a symbol of the possibilities that lay in wait for you. Drink from its nectar… and you will become so much more than you ever dreamed. More than a mere nymph… A hero. I see the thought pleases you?”
Quickly, Axel wiped off the dreamy look on his face and instead attempted to look passably nonchalant-- and absolutely not tempted by such a notion. “A pretty promise,” he sneered. “But that definitely doesn’t sound free. What’s the price for your second-rate daisy?”
“Very astute of you,” the figure smirked, managing to sound respectful and condescending at once. “My price is not anything you would miss. A trifle, really.”
“Quit beating around the bush and tell me.”
“... Allow me to witness what you become. Give me that, and you shall have your flower and the dreams that come along with it.”
Axel scoffed, smirking in satisfaction. “Some kind of bargainer you are. Fine, you can witness all you like, but that’s it alright?”
“Then we are agreed,” the figure nodded, “Come then, and claim your prize.”
With a prideful smirk, Axel sauntered over to the figure and plucked the flower from his grasp. “You know, I almost feel as if I’m cheating you,” he chuckled before letting the lily’s nectar drip onto his tongue. However, as soon as the liquid fell past his lips, Axel felt his legs buckle underneath him as he immediately fell to the forest floor.
Watching the crown of leaves and branches fall from the nymph’s head, the figure stepped closer as he watched the potion’s effects take hold. “I’m afraid that’s quite impossible,” he murmured, bending to scoop Axel into his arms as his hood fell back-- exposing blue hair and golden eyes. “For no one can cheat death.”
And so the god of death stepped back into the shadows-- eager to claim his consort in the kingdom of the dead.
