A Fate Exactly Like Death

[Mickey Mouse]

Backstory

The following posts come from another Disney forum I was once a part of and when I first joined there was a Meg and no Hercules. The person playing Meg had Hercules and her break up as a result and being the canon-loving person that I am, when I joined as Hercules I plotted out a story with Meg's roleplayer to help bring the pair back together.

I roleplay the Fates in this, Hades was provided by another, and Pain and Panic were provided by our very own Emma! (It should be noted that Hades had a Persephone [wife] on this board, although he was very Disney Hades aside from that). Since the last forum was public, republishing a portion of the story here should not be an act of plagiarism.

[Mickey Mouse]

A Fate Exactly Like Death

The eye which sees all slowly descended into the outstretched fingers of the tallest of the three. Her ancient fingers curled around the sphere, trapping it as if it were in a cage. The Fates had had a vision. The old crone peered down at her sisters through dark eye sockets and sniffed haughtily.

”Well we expected this didn’t we?” she stated.

”They’re not going to be happy about this one bit,” croaked the stout creature called Atropos. ”What do you propose we do, Lachesis?”

The gnarled hand of the third Fate and sister to the other two, closed around Lachesis’ cold, blue wrist. The Fate’s fist unclenched and the other snatched the eye away, inserting it into her right eye socket, hissing out a cackle. The one who stole the eye was named Clotho, whose skin was the colour of green mould.

”Yes, Lachesis, what do you think we should do?” An unsettling sweetness was etched into her tone, making her sound like some sort of twisted grandmother. While waiting for a reply, she approached an odd looking device from which extended a large tapestry. With the aid of a distaff she plucked a thread from it and began to spin, while the other two sisters took positions around her.

”Do?” Lachesis repeated, straightening her lean frame and staring longingly at the eye. A deep frown creased her face and she issued a gesture at Clotho with an open hand, motioning her fingers back toward her. ”We will do nothing. Just like mortals, they don’t deserve to know.”

A long whine of discontent slipped out of Clotho’s mouth, the worms she had for hair squirming wildly. Pinching the eye with two long fingers, she pulled it away from her face, a string of slime extending as she did so. The eye came out with a pop and she tossed it to her sister.

Lachesis’ reached up to catch the orb, and then shoved it into her own eye socket. It rolled around inside her head for a bit, before focusing on a thread before her. The hooked-nosed hag squinted and then brushed her hand along the fibre as if she were measuring something. The ancient beings worked briefly in silence before Clotho’s voice broke through.

”But why not tell them? It might be fun! They’ll find out anyway.”

”Not if you keep your trap shut!” answered a reluctant Lachesis.

”We could at least tell Hades,” insisted the green hued sibling, twisting a worm around her finger.

Lachesis rolled the eye. ”You’ll come up with any excuse to see that God, won’t you?”. Clotho merely replied with a toothless grin, wringing her hands in an innocent fashion.

”We might as well.” Atropos blindly waddled towards her sisters, holding out her palms with a long thread sitting ceremoniously in her ugly hands; the tapestry behind her slowly unravelling. Wicked grins flashed across the other two faces and they each took a portion of the thread. Atropos yanked Lachesis’ robes, pulling the towering figure down and then slapped the side of her face, causing the eye to leap out of its socket. She positioned it in her single eyesocket, making her look like a Cyclops. As the twisted sisters lifted the thread, Atropos chuckled darkly and raised a pair of aged scissors.

”He’s got company coming.” With a single snip, the life line snapped. Somewhere up on earth a mortal slumped dead against her bed.

The three dread sisters’ cackles were still echoing off the chamber walls after they disappeared into the Underworld.

[Mickey Mouse]

He hated this.

All of this.

The darkness, the souls, the creatures, the rivers....all of it.

Hated. Hated. Hated.

It was amzing, really, that after hundreds of thousands of years, Hades hadn't even begun to adjust to the Underworld. It was still the disgusting pit that it had been when Zeus had first shoved the job in his face. And it would probably always be a disgusting pit to him.

"And they wonder," Hades muttered bitterly, eyeing the bloodied corpse of a creature lying upon the ground, several harpies tearing at its flesh, "why I want to live on Olympus so badly. Sheesh."

It was always in the spring when he really 'noticed' how horrible this place was. Spring's arrival meant Persephone's departure and with her gone, there was nothing for him to do but notice. And complain. To anyone who would listen.

Truth of the matter was that he hated being alone even more than he hated being in the Underworld. Persephone was gone. Macaria was....was wherever she was (he had stopped trying to keep track of her a long time ago, it was too aggravating). Pain and Panic were skittering about, 'playing' with the three-headed drool machine called Cerberus.

So he was alone.

Hades felt like exploding, right then and there, letting loose, covering the entire Underworld with a few more layers of ash.

A mortal's shade spiraled down from Earth, screaming as he went and Hades regarded it with a scowl and a fireball to it's transparent body.

He was extremely close to screaming out (and erupting like a volcano) when the presence of someone caught his eyes.

Correction. Three someones.

Half turning around, Hades wondered whether he should go talk to them. Because if they were in the Underworld, that meant they had something to tell him, and he was partly curious to know what it was.

But then again, that last prophecy they had given him--the one about the planets aligning (ever so nicely) and releasing the titans and ruling the cosmos--had worked out just so greatly, hadn't it?

Hair flashing red, and eyes narrowing, Hades stomped over to the three sisters.

"I'm in no mood," he hissed, "for fooling around. So tell me what you wanna tell me without the cute little riddle. Please"

[Mickey Mouse]

When the Fates entered the Underworld, they knew that Hades would not be particularly pleased to see them, though they had given him fair warning that all might not work out as planned in regards to usurping Zeus on Mount Olympus. It was hardly their fault that he had lying whelps for minions and that he could not handle the spunk of a teenaged Demi-God. And so he was stuck forever in this pit of gloom, a world where only death thrived. Hades’ unwanted predicament brought no emotional response from the Fates, not even the besotted Clotho. In fact the Fates were highly affronted at the disrespect shown towards them. Blank stares from hollow eyes could not disguise the feelings of displeasure and annoyance and Atropos fixed Hades with a particularly nasty glare.

“His mood is not going to improve,” she clearly stated to her siblings, her eye never leaving Hades for a second.

Lachesis was still not comfortable with revealing the future and the God’s attitude only soured her mood. With a smooth flick of her wrist, the ancient bones cracking at the movement, a long and boney finger was directed at Hades. “You’ll listen, my foul tempered Lord. Believe me, you’ll listen.” Twisted, all knowing smiles grew on the other sisters’ faces and eventually the same eerie smirk found Lachesis’ cracked lips as well. How terrible it would be for Hades when he learned all; the price of trusting the Fates.

The haggard creatures smoothly surrounded the Lord of the Dead and Clotho was the first to approach, a withered hand, clasping his muscular arm, running her spidery fingers teasingly up it.

”How grim it must have been to watch your plans crumble around you. How disgusting it must have felt to be bathed in a pool of death.” She pulled away as Lachesis approached him, surveying him over her long nose with an eyeless gaze.

”Deserving underlord, you lost not only an unfair war, but the control over a lowly mortal who denounced the power of a God in favour of the love of a mortal.” She too slunk away which drew Atropos forward.

“History is ever changing,” she grunted. ”The elation you found when you learned that Hercules and Megara were no longer a couple was premature. This is the truth.”

The Fates approached a table of stone and Atropos removed the precious eye. The omniscient organ hovered in thin air, centering itself over the table. The trio took turns speaking in verse to explain the images which now appeared.


From Cronus came six
And five were devoured.
The defeat of the Father
Was the sixth’s finest hour.
From up on high the immortals ruled without fear
But the future demands a new course be steered.
The union of two
Will present a son
Whose heir can change
That which will come.
Armies unknown
Will form in the West
No mortal or God
Shall have any rest.
The victorious vision of Constantine
Will eradicate immortality.
This power of one will rule them all
And bring about the Olympians fall.
Our message here is very distinct
Reunite Hercules and Megara
Or become extinct.[/i]

Instead of rudely disappearing like they had the last time they exposed the future to Hades, they waited for the eye to fall into Atropos' hand (which she then placed into her socket) and turned towards Hades, awaiting his reaction. The vision revealed plenty: the birth of six of the Olympians, the marriage of Hercules and Meg and the child which was produced as a result. So too did it show the Roman armies with their own beliefs marching forth, the crushing defeat of them as Hercules' descendant led the unified Greeks into battle. Finally, the vision revealed the awful consequence of what would happen should the Demi-God's son not be born and the Romans entered Greece.

[Mickey Mouse]

Hades could see (it was very obvious; they made no move to disguise their discontentment, a fact that aggravated him even more) that they were upset at his attitude, and he was tempted to dissolve into smoke right then and there and go sulk on his throne.

The three crones were hard enought to deal with when they were in a good mood. Previous events had taught him that they were IMPOSSIBLE to deal with when they were annoyed.

Hades' mouth twisted into a sarcastic smirk. "The only thing that would make my mood better is if you put me atop Mt. Olympus right now, threw a laurel wreath on me and called me King of the Gods. And since all four of us know that's never going to happen anytime soon..." He closed his eyes and made an annoyed groaning sound. "I have nothing to lose, do I now?" Listen, yup. Because the last time he had listened, well, everything had turned out simply spectacular. Spectacular, sheesh.


His upper lip curled up in distaste as the three circled him (he wanted to jump away and yell 'EWWW' when Clotho touched him), but he felt himself freezing in an automatic listening stance when the three started to speak.

Okay...the first part was clear enough. His hair flashed red at the mention of his, er, unusual childhood and his big brother's huge triumph.

The second verse's meaning wasn't as flat out as the first, but Hades deciphered most of it. So a couple would have a kid, and some army from 'the west' would burst in. Wars were a good things. Wars meant deaths and deaths meant good busines.

And the third verse--

He felt the yellow orbs he had for eyes widen and his entire body froze up--something that was hard to do when one's head was on fire.

And all he could do was repeat, in a whisper, the last word of the Fates' prediction.

"Extinct?" Hades' eyes grew wider. "Extinct. Extinct. The gods...the Olympians...and ME...we're gonna go...extinct?!"

He began to pace in a furious circle, his hair flashing red and blue, as if it wasn't sure about what he was feeling. Truth of the matter was, he wasn't sure either.

"Extinct. You're kidding. Extinct! We're gonna die out...unless...unless..."

And then he burst into red flames, his eyes wider then ever. "I gotta bring Jerkules and NutMeg back together?! Their breakup was the best I could hope for!"

And he had thought the first prophecy was bad.

This one was ten times worse.

[Mickey Mouse]

”Even immortality has its limits,” warned Lachesis. ”A forgotten God is as good as dead. And when the mortals no longer need you..” she added curling her fingers in then quickly unfolding them, each stretching out in a different direction to mime a miniature explosion.

Clotho struggled with Atropos in order to claim the eye and when she won she fixed it in place, pushing the heel of her hand against it to secure it; Atropos’ wide eye occasionally stretched it out.

”You are not responsible for bringing those two love sick mortals back together,” she told Hades with a hint of disgust, for true love made her skin crawl. ”We only showed you what would happen if they are not together. It affects us as well, you know- Lachesis clipped Clotho round the back of the head because she was revealing much more than was necessary and the eye flew out of her head, rolling across the floor. The sister had been hit so hard, one of the worms on her head came loose and it wiggled across her scalp to get back in place.

While Lachesis chased after the rolling eye, Atropos approached Hades. She was the only one of the three sisters who seemed willing and able to level with him; Lachesis despised him and Clotho had an eerie crush on God, which meant the plum shade one was left to deal with him simply as immortal to immortal, no strings attached. Ironic, considering the line of work they were in.

”Hercules can produce the line meant to save you,” she explained. ”Centuries will develop before this comes to fruition, but what is time to an immortal?” Her gums stretched wide in a smirk and she chuckled. ”If you have questions, ask and speak fast, for our work is never done, the threads must be spun.”

[Mickey Mouse]

Hades winced, realizing the full impact of what she was saying.


Disappearing--or exploding?--like that would probably be painful; if not physically, then mentally. Not to mention that he was one of the more major gods--he'd be one of the last to go, and that meant having to watch as first his own daughter and then his wife vanished completely. Eeesh.

He listened half-heartedly as they talked, but when Atropos asked if he had any questions, he snapped to attention and held up his hands in a 'wait-a-second' pose.

"Wait a second," he voiced his action, "Wait, wait, wait. So I don't have to bring them back together. But...but they broke up. Even if Jerkules wants to get back together with her, I'm pretty sure she doesn't--at least right now--and if they won't get together...then how are they gonna have a kid?! Seriously?! Meg wants nothing to do with him from what I've heard, she even married another guy. There's no way--I have to do something, don't I??"

And then he paused.

"Wait a second. If this is going to affect you, then why can't you just twitch your little thread thingys and make 'em have a kid?!"

[Mickey Mouse]

He was doing quite fine on his own, really he was. The pieces of the puzzle did not fit so easily and Hades was always interesting to watch as he slowly rearranged each possible pattern until the right pieces fell seamlessly into place. And then he screwed it up. Just as they knew he would.

Lachesis’ fingers had just curled under the eye, Clotho had finished securing the runaway worm in place, and Atropos’ hollow stare was fixed hard upon the golden eyes of Hades as her other two siblings pivoted in unison to gaze upon the immortal, his asinine comment ringing sharply in their ears.

The deep toned voice of Atropos came across as threatening and sinister. ”You dare to question the integrity of the Fates?” The question hung heavily in the musty air.

”We are impartial to the affairs of mortals… and to those of the Gods. The prophecy will affect us sisters three, but that is how it must be. We make no sacrifices, and we make no exceptions.”

Clotho averted the dangerous glare of Lachesis when she spoke. ”Atropos is correct, Hades. And that is why, if the pattern is to be changed, it must be done willingly by someone else.” A sly grin snaked its way up the left side of her face.

With the roll of her single eye, Lachesis added to conversation, however she vowed to ensure that her comment would evoke only more troubles for the devastated God. ”But no matter if that someone chooses to act on information or not, there will always be consequences that follow; only time will reveal whether they turn out to be advantages or disadvantages. Immortals have been punished for misdeeds before and that can be especially excruciating when one can live forever.”

”And if one cannot…” chimed Clotho, staring at the eye her sister possessed.

”A warning, my Lord,” cautioned Atropos. ”Woven into our tapestry you may be, but you have no thread to cut. It would be better if you did.” Though the future had revealed the Gods ultimate demise, the fact that they were not mortals left no threads attached to their names. Yet that was also the very reason that their extinction would be more complicated than any human’s.

[Mickey Mouse]

Two pairs of horns peaked ever so slightly over the top of a large boulder, as two familiar imps listened intently to the conversation going on in front of them. After growing bored of Cerberus, the two minions had returned to the main room in time to see the fates arrive and out of habit, dove behind the nearest boulder in order to avoid them. Pain and Panic were not fans of the fates at all, and that whole sharing the eye thing? GROSS!

Tapping his chin rapidly, Panic tried to make sense of the verse, his voice as jumpy as usual "Reunite Hercules and Megara Or become extinct? What does thaaaat mean?"
"Uh..wait...Herc and Meg broke up?" Pain stared blankly at Panic who answered rapidly, "Yeaaah have you been living under a rock? What dose this mean? are we all gonna dieee? Iiii don't knooooww I..." Shrugging, the Purple imp turned his gaze back to Hades, who seemed to be taking the news, rather badly to say the least. "Uh...hate to interrupt but...the boss doesn't look happy". Not paying attention, Panic answered "When has he ever looked happy? Now what are we gonna do?"
"Well...I think he's kinda happy when Persephone massages his..." Panic's hands fastened quickly over Pain's mouth before he had a chance to finish his sentence "Sssshh their gonna know we're heeere..." The last thing he wanted was the attention of the fates, though had he been smart enough, he would have known by now that they already knew the two of them were there.

As the subject of threads arose in the conversation, Panic let out a wheezy gasp and grabbed hold of his chest, hyperventilating. The thought of placing Hades in charge of the life threads almost gave him a heart attack as he dropped to the floor and began to rock backwards and forwards. In a puff of dark sparks, Pain transformed himself into a brown paper bag and placed himself over Panic's nose and mouth. "Ok annnnd breathe..." Clasping the Pain bag in one hand Panic nodded and began to inhale and exhale gradually slowing down.

[Mickey Mouse]

Completely oblivious to the fact that his (extremely annoying, yes) imp-henchmen were hiding behind a rock and listening in, Hades scowled as the Fates spoke.

He had to resist the urge to zap them, knowing it probably wouldn't go over too well with them, and instead, he pouted slightly and snapped, "Better if I did have a thread to cut. Yup. Because my life--or 'death,' in light of this...exciting new information--is so worth surviving for." He rolled his eyes.

But then he hissed, "But alright, I can see what I can do to bring 'em back together. Because that's what you're trying to get me to do, isn't it?" Not bothering to wait for his question to be answered, he went on, "But, ya know what, when I screw this up more than it evidently already is, and you all--" He imitated the motion they had done earlier; the curling and unfolding of his fingers, "--I'll bet you'll be wishing you had done something earlier."

He simple refused to believe that someone could be so...so unselfish, as to remain impartial even when their own lives were in danger. It was unbelievable, and it infuriated him. Hades folded his arms with a nasty scowl.

[Mickey Mouse]

”We didn’t say that,” the sisters interrupted together when Hades assumed that they were just using him to fix the problem. He would never truly know however for the Fates had no intentions of correcting him.

Two of the twisted sisters clucked their snake-like tongues disapprovingly as Hades passionately predicted the failure of his future plans, but Atropos’ tiny nose caught a scent. And even before she detected the smell, she had already sensed the intruders. Slipping away from the frustrated ranting by the Underworld Lord, she hobbled her way towards a grove of stalagmite which would lead her in a circle towards the boulder where Pain and Panic were hiding. The large rocks shielded the heavy-set crone and on silent feet, approached the spying minions from behind. She tapped the hyperventilating Panic on the shoulder, leaned forward and said,

”Boo.”

While Hades brooded in silence, Clotho and Lachesis looked as if they had drifted elsewhere. Even the omniscient eye possessed a distant look. Without warning the ancient creatures turned and clasped hands, their knuckles cracking loudly in the chamber. A pregnant pause was held as the two stared at each other and then suddenly, Clotho snapped her hand back, shoved it into her sister’s empty eye socket and pushed the eye out from behind, catching it in her outstretched palm. Lachesis had started in surprise but made no move to try and win the eye back, for something wonderful had just happened.

”Hades,” she croaked. ”Your nephew is on his way to see you this very moment.”

[Mickey Mouse]

He cast a quick, questioning glance in Atropos's direction as she went off somewhere, but he said nothing. Who cared? It wasn't directly affecting him, and, as far as Hades was concerned, therefore it wasn't important.

Hades blinked several times as his mind registered what Lachesis had just said.

"I--he--coming--now?!" he stammered, blinking once more, then shaking his head.

"Great. Wonderful. Peachy. Just the thing I need to brighten my mood. A visit from Jerkules." He gazed around him at his kingdom, sarcastically adding, "Dear me, the place is a wreck, hardly presentable to my dear nephew." He tilted his head, eyes narrowing.

"Y'know, when you ah, implied that I had to bring 'em back together, you didn't mention that I'd have to start, like, now."

His eyes blinked, and closed. After a second (completely unaware that they were right there, listeining), Hades screamed, "PAIN! PANIC! HERE!! NOW!!"

[Mickey Mouse]

"What are they saying noooow?" Panic whispered as he flitted around like a mosquito, leaving it to Pain to eavesdrop "Uh...I dunno...something about...not saying something....AAAHHHHHAAAA" The appearance was so sudden that both Imps jumped a mile high, quickly shapeshifting into a Terrapin and a Snail, hiding in their shells as they bounced back to the ground and once more returned to their original forms, tails and bodies in a contorted mess, eyes rolling around their skulls.

"Good...good afternoon...hag...uh lady" Pain spoke dizzily as he tried to focus on the ugly crone now stood in front of them, his head rotating. "What...uh brings you..you three girls...here?" He asked feigning innocence as Panic, moaned and mumbled a greeting from underneath Pains backside. It wasn't long however before a familiar yell summoned them both and they grinned once before disappearing in a collection of sparks and reappearing next to Hades. Leaving Atropos stood by the rock.

"Yes Boss?" Panic asked unwinding Pain's tail from around his neck as they both tried their best to avert their eyes form the three Fates.

[Mickey Mouse]

”This was more of a recent development,” admitted Atropos as she reappeared in a swirl of grey and plum smoke. She flashed her fangs in a devilish grin at Panic; the imps weren’t the only ones who could perform such measly parlour tricks.

Lachesis stared at the stone ceiling, her forehead wrinkled in creases, eye sockets narrowed. Her head swung slowly back and forth like a dying pendulum. Meanwhile, Clotho rapidly twisted a sharp nailed finger in her ear, the eye in her head rolling up toward the surface as well. Catching on to a large chunk of earwax, she flung the sticky bit out of her ear; it landed at Pain’s feet. The old crones strained to hear what was going on up above, despite the fact that the picture in their minds was very clear.

”Time seems to be against you,” said Clotho, turning to gaze at the attractive God. ”Hercules rides fast.”

*****

Pegasus had to be left behind as usual; the trek to the Underworld had to be done alone. His first experience down here had been a trip made out of anger; he had never thought he would find a reason to come again, but the hero had underestimated Hades and foolishly assumed that the God had given up trying to destroy him. Guarding the gate to his realm was the goliath mutt Cerberus, though he posed no threat to Hercules. Ever since he wrestled the beast into submission, the hell hound had never been a problem since. Stepping off of the ferry and on to the bank, Hercules faced the triple headed, black creature with his hands on his waist.

“I’ve come to see Hades, Cerberus.”

[Mickey Mouse]

Feeling already too aggravated to zap the two of them for spying on him, Hades instead only scowled and flashed orange.

"Oy. Look, Jerkules is coming--or on his way, or here...whatever--so go. Lock doors, close curtains, put up stupid little 'Do Not Disturb' signs--anyone who sees me talking with WonderBreath is gonna get the wrong idea...and I do NOT want word getting out that I'm on friendly terms with my idiot of a nephew."

Realizing that his last statement implied exactly what he didn't want to imply.

"Which I'm not," he snapped quickly.

Hades crossed his arms, shooting a wary glance at the Fates, and then glaring back at Pain and Panic.

"I'm talking everything--block off rivers, close down Tartarus, tell Charon to put the ferryboating service on hold...I've got a reputation to keep and I'm not gonna let it get ruined. Villains don't normally team up with their arch-nemisises...and the Underworldians are gossipy."
He covered his face with one hand, muttering a quick, "Oy." of disgust.

Of course, once the two did this for him, they'd be back to listen in, which of course he didn't want...but there was too much to worry about and too little time, and he didn't have the patience to get rid of them.

To hell with it. he thought bitterly, What else do I have to lose?!

[Mickey Mouse]

Hanging around in this depressing pit of gloom just to listen in on a conversation was irrelevant, for the all-knowing hags were well aware of the outcome. Having no further business in the underworld, the ancient crones faced one another with the same thought in mind: it was time to leave Hades to his own devices; they would be of no use here.

”Much to your pleasure, it is time for us depart,” Lachesis sniffed. The spider that hung around in her nose found a new exit out her eye socket and the fate’s thin fingers felt around, until she pushed the spider back in.

Clotho went and stood beside her tall sister and waved flirtatious fingers at Hades. ”Good luck!”

”You’ll need it,” finished Atropos, before the famous Fates swooped around in a mid-air circle, their bodies connecting in a dark mist before they disappeared as one into the eye, the orb poofing back with its owners after engulfing them.

*~Fin~*

<Thanks for reading! -Kristina>