Reborn (Lady and Blair)

It always seemed cold at the manor house, not exactly beause of the snow on the ground, but that bone chilling cold that would steal your breath with each moment spent outside. Walking through the field at the upper reaches of the estate grounds, the man they called the reborn hades glanced towards the mansion that he'd been calling home. Even if they called him hades, he preferred the name his mother had given him at birth, Alcide. It wasn't as weird as the greek god's name, though Alcide wasn't exactly normal either. Pulling the shirt he was wearing over his shoulders a little tighter he sighed, smiling at the sight of the small dog bounding towards his feet.



While the pup was going to be fierce looking as a adult, right now the small bundle of fur was nothing more thn a hairball that followed him around. Of course, considering how easily he lost his temper and his usual brooding nature, his family kept telling him it was a good thing he had Styx, otherwise he probably would never smile at all. Bending down he scooped up the small pup, tucking him under his arm as he surveyed the home below him. Standing on the trail overlooking the home below him, Alcide watched the smallish figures walking into the home, high enough they looked tiny. Sighing softly he tucked Styx under his jacket to keep the puppy warm."Well.Time to go back in."He said sounding depressed at the idea. Time inside meant meeting with the new person they were bringing in, not to mention the other gods and goddesses they'd already found.



Heading down the mountain until he reached the backdoor he paused as he slipped inside, looking for his mother, wanting to make sure the woman wouldn't catch him dripping snow onto her tile floors. While the woman wasn't one of the goddesses currently living in her home, his mother was perfectly capable of scaring the bejesus out of the older teenagers/early 20s group of kids living in her home. Toeing off his shoes he set styx on the ground, smiling slightly as the pup took off towards the family room he paused outside the doorway, tilting his head listening.

Alcide smiled slightly, listening long enough to learn that there was something... odd about this retrieval. They had gone after the girl just the girl, and yet as he stole a glance into the room he saw not one, but two younger people waiting for the dr. almasy, the researcher that had found and brought them all to this home to gather the gods and goddesses together. while Dr. Jake Almasy was none of their father, and had only allowed Alcide's mother to remain with him because she offered the family's manor house as a home base, they all called him father.



Starting as a hand landed on his shoulder, he glanced at his best friend-even if she annoyed him most of the time- Katra. "Hovering, cide?How very unbecoming."Katra scolded him a imtimation of his mother's voice, the woman was a skitler for manners, and demanded all of them behave. The reborn artemis smirked at alcide as he glared at her, amused that he seemed so annoyed that she'd ruined his eavesdropping.

"Seeing as they know we're out here, we might as well go in.And styx's already making friends."Katra snickered a little as she stepped into the family room, amused at the sight of the small wrinkly puppy sitting at the girl's feet, a paw resting on her foot as he tried to get her attention.

Dr. Almasy lifted his head to look up at the door way. "Alcide, it's nice to see you've returned," he murmured, smiling a bit. "Your presence is so rare these days..." He nodded to him and waved him to come into the tea parlor that he and a few other members of the house were sitting. "I think that it's better to tell you the news now before the rest of the house hears."

A girl who looked like she had barely graduated highschool was sitting on the couch, back turned to Alcide. She turned her head to look over her shoulder at the person Dr. Almasy was speaking too. She looked over whelmed, her eyes a little glassy from all the news and information she was receiving...



"Alcide, this is Grace. She's our newest member of the family," he murmured, "And she's a person whom you knew very well in a previous life." He smiled, though it look edged with nervousness. Alcide never had a predictable temper, and while Dr. Almasy was very sensitive to the other man, nothing could really calm Alcide down once he was angry. It was why he always encouraged the man to take his walks and hikes through the mountains with Styx.

"She's the reborn Persephone," Dr. Almasy explained, nodding to the girl. Grace smiled, oblivious to the meaning of any of this. She knew very little about Mythology... Turning her attention to the poppy -who seemed oddly interested in her-, Grace scratched him behind the ears.



Next to Grace sat her twin brother, Alec, who was the... moodier of the two siblings. He sat slumped in the chair beside her, looking irritated to be here. However, he stayed silent, even when the other people in the room tried to talk to him. Grace shot him a glare, even through her nervousness, trying to get him to be somewhat nice.

"This is Alec, Grace's twin," Dr. Almasy explained, "We are not sure of his exact origin, but we sense he is at least a demigod of some kind. Considering Grace and Alec shared a womb, we are going to keep a watchful eye on his to see exactly what he received in his rebirth..." The doctor looked a little flustered at that, for he'd never had twins in the mix before. It would take plenty of research...

Alcide stared at the doctor or a long moment as he figured out what the man meant. The light woman was beautiful if he didn't think bout how very young she looked. Even then, he ouldn't stop seeing how beautiful she was, even if the idea of having his...wife..retirned. even the idea made him shudder.

"Good afternoon Grace."He said after a long moment tilting his head a little, for once able to stop from snapping out at her.While the man was known for snapping out and snarling at the people around him, for some reason the overwhelmed look on her face had the usually nasty tempered man want to take care of her."I'm Alcide.This is Katra."

Katra looked curiously at the two smiling slightly as she nodded hello tilting her head a little as she thought about a demigod, a smile brightening her face as she looked at the moodier man, before looking at alcide, not about to leave Alec alone to his own broody self, when she didn't leave the somewhat violent alcide alone. While the man struck out against everyone around him, alcide had never hit her, so following the idea of that she wouldn't be really hurt she teased alec.

"Well.It looks like we have another moody person around."She said smiling as she pushed her hair over her shoulder, tilting her head a little, looking slightly worried, knowing Alcide's mother JJ, would be down soon enough if they didn't take of them, and would yell if she thought their guests were not well treated. Which made her son's temper even worse, when his mother was so very gentle."Would you two like some food"

Grace looked at the older, intimidating man. She swallowed hard, unable to deny the sheer danger and attraction between the two of them. She felt like a moth to a flame. All she wanted to do was get close, but she knew it would end with her burned. She swallowed, nodding to him and attempting to give him a soft smile. He scared her, yet he intrigued her. "Nice to meet you," she murmured, blushing a little. Much like Persephone, Grace had a very overprotective, sheltering mother. She was not as strict with Alec, for he was too much of a rebel to keep pinned down, but Grace was an extremely sheltered young woman. Their mother was a little... obsessive over keeping Grace in the house and away from people. She promised her daughter she was just protecting her, that their were people who would take advantage of her innocence and beauty...

Alec perked up at the sound of food, nodding. "I'm fucking starved," he said, standing up. Grace glared at him, shaking her head in disapproval, then nodded to Katra. "Food sounds good... But, I really... I really think we should be going... Our mother would be worried."

Dr. Almasy frowned. "Grace... You and your brother will be staying here for a while. With us." He patted her knee for comfort, but the look of shock and saddness in her eyes was nearly blinding. Alec stiffened as well.

"You mean to tell me we are stuck here?" he said, his eyebrows furrowing. "No, we refuse. Grace as university, and I have a life... We can't stay here. Grace, come on. We're leaving."

He grabbed his sister's hand, pulling her from the couch. Grace bit her lip, shaking her head. "Alec... We need to find out what's going on. He can tell us... Maybe we should stay." She shrugged a little, and a Alec huffed with irritation.

Alcide smirked a little, for all his brooding intensity, it amused him that there was another man just as moody s him. It was going to be bad, to watch them together, even if he had a feeling that him and alec weren't going to get along he was going to try. He always tried to be nice to the new arrivals, but alcide was to scathing, to intimiditing for most and usualy drove people away within days of meeting them. Everyone expect katra, katra had stubbornly refused to leave him alone."let's get food. Then we'll talk."He said looking at dr. almasy, knowing that this was going to bad if the younger man refused to stay. While they tried to be nice about it there was going to be no way they would allow them to return to their lives.

"You have a life?"Amusement flashed through Katra's eyes, teasing the brooding older man, a few years younger than alcide, she couldn't help but be the annoying, reckless younger sister. Which probably was the only reason the reborn death god was kind to her, that she needed someone to watch out for her.

While alcide tended to watch out for the others, he had no one to watch out for him besides KAtra. It was a good thing that grace was there, she'd make sure he was okay, even if he would fight the immediate attraction he had felt for her with everything in him It wasn't in him to give in easily, and he refused to have anyone tell him what to do, even a 3000 year old destiny to love her.

Alec looked at his sister Grace, making sure she was okay with staying, then sighed. He nodded a little. "Fine. We will stay. Only because I want to know what the fuck is going on," he murmured, staying close to his sister in a protective stance as they moved toward the dining hall. Grace stayed close to him and sat next to him while their food was being served along with water and wine. She was a little surprised at the fancy dining experience, not used to such things.

"I... I don't know much about mythology. Honestly, I really don't know who Persephone is," Grace admitted, blushing every so gently. Dr. Almasy frowned. "I'm more of a... Victorian Literature person." She smiled a little at that, then shrugged and looked into the food on her plate.

Dr. Almasy turned to Alcide, a frown in place. So the girl had no idea about her past. She had no idea that she was previously a girl who was kidnapped, raped, and turned into the Queen of the Underworld; a girl who was in love with a very dangerous man.

"You will learn everything with time," Dr. Almasy said with a smile.

Alcide glared back at the doctor as he was looked at, hoping that he was not looking at him to explain things. He had no interest in getting married, or ths girl. He had no interest into being forced to be with someone. dangerous in no matter what incarnation he was, maybe even more danger tihs time around considering he wasn't restrained by the lonliness that had driven him to kdnap persephone the first time, or felt the need to try and get alone with any of them, even if katra tried her damnest to make him do so

"I think I'd prefer victorian than this crap. At least that I don't hear all the time.Or deal with things I have no desire nor need to fuck with."Alcide said after a moment feeling the need to fill the silence, just because he knew that they were all going to fuss over him once they realized that persephone was indeed here.

Katra frowned at her friend, trying tofigure out what the hell was wrong with him. Alcide was tempermental,dangerous, and most of the time, just caustic to everyone in the room with him just for trying to be in his presence. And here he was saying that victorian literature was okay?She wondered if the man was high.He could be occasionally pleasant if he was high/ Shaking her head a little as she started to eat she glanced at the twins."You came at the best time.We're only holiday break, with christmas in a few days."She said after moment because the first few dys with someone knew was always awkward,even for her.

She just knew whatever Alcide was going to be talking about next was going to be nasty and annoyed, because if she was feeling awkward, he was feeling even more so. "With break going on, we can go through the mythology books,instead of being stuck doing like schoolwork."She said wrinkling her nose. While they didn't attend school, Dr. Almasy did have them taking courses online if they wanted to, hera and zeus both young enough to still be in high school while her and alcide had just started taking some of the college courses they wanted to.

Grace smiled at Katra, nodding to the other woman. "Yes, that would be nice... I guess, I should get educated," she murmured. Alec scoffed and shook his head. He felt like all of this was bullshit. That they were in the middle of fucking no where with a bunch of people who needed to be admitted to the asylum. However, he could tell Grace was interested in what was going on, and while he thought it was stupid... Well, he could never tell Grace no. He always felt guilty for how strict their mother was with his sister, so he couldn't turn her down on a life that might be a little less sheltered.

Dr. Almasy nodded, content with Grace's interest. "I bet Katra wouldn't mind meeting you in the study later to go over some basics," he suggested, nodding toward Katra. "I don't think it would be fair to tell you any of the others' origins before you know the stories behind them." He smiled a little at that, then looked over at Alcide.

"Oh, I'd love to play study with her, doctor."Jason Vestari purred as he stepped into the room. While he had a steady girlfriend, the dark blond couldn't stop from being the charming seducing player that he'd always been.Even if he had no intention of sleeping with anyone else, he couldn't stop himself, even if it did get him in trouble with his girl. Like the god he was the reincarnation of, he just couldn't leave the girl's alone.

Alcide rolled his eyes as he focused on his food, ignoring them all as he ate. Espcially as jason's girlfriend came in after him. Though he'd allowed his mother to let the reincarnated goddess live here, her very presence was part of what drove him out of the house so much. Jason Vestari was Alcide Anthony's opposite in every way, charming where he was vicious, beautiful where he was just cute. Like Katra had once said, not realizing that he'd overheard her, Jason could charm the birds out of trees into a cat's waiting jaws, while Alcide's as charming as a pit viper and twice as likely to bite.

Katra smiled nodding a little,"I would like that. Without jason."She said rolling her eyes smiling at the shy girl."This is jason Vestari, and his girlfriend, they both live here, though it is Alcide's house.But he's almost never here."

"I am to. My clothes are here." "You come home long enough to change into something warmer, than leave.Idiot."Katra scowled at her best friend, annoyed because he wouldn't let her closer, wouldn't let anyone close enough to take care of him anymore.

Grace blushed a little at Jason's words, smirking and looking down at her food. She had never been around many good looking men, especially men with any kind of charm or interest in her. Alec clenched his jaw, glaring at Jason as if he were about to snarl like a dog. "I'd watch what you say when it involves my sister, pretty boy," he snapped, his eyes cold and deadly.

Grace rolled her eyes a little and looked over at Katra. "That sounds great," she murmured, smiling a bit through her embarrassment. She hated when Alec would get over protective, but she understood why. After living with an abusive father (who eventually drank himself to death) for such a long time, he felt he had to overcompensate when it came to his sister's well being.

Dr. Almasy chuckled a bit at the twins. They seemed very... opposite. "Katra, leave Alcide alone. His time apart from everyone else is good for him," he said, defending the man he'd known so long. Since Alcide was the first person who he found, which was why his mother had opened up their house to the others, and he nearly thought of him as a son. "Jason, sit down. I believe we are having your favorite tonight," he said, nodding to the man's seat.

Claire, the reborn Hera, walking in behind Jason and scoffed at his flirting. She took a seat between him and Alcide, nodded to the other man with a curt smile, then moved in to take a sip of her red wine. "Everything his Jason's favorite," Claire said with an eye roll, "Along with any woman who walks on two legs. He's lucky I'm so... tolerant." She smirked at her boyfriend, then flipped her dark hair over her shoulder.

"I would,but I don't tend to watch myself, where there's beautiful I could watch instead."Jason said as he sat at the table already reaching for food and filling up a plate. Even at the threat of bodily harm from Alec, he couldn't be disturbed. After all, Alcide regularly threatened his life, so anyone else was just interesting.

Katra smiled a little tilting her head, blushing slightly at the scolding, before nodding at grace."We'll go up to the study after dinner."She said starting to eat, looking startled as alcide nudged her a little.

Alcide rolled his eyes a little,"It's okay."He said smiling wanely at Katra, avoiding looking at the couple. While he was tolernate enough to not kick them both out of his house, his tolerance couldn't stand up to watching Jason and Claire flirting together. Looking at grace he sighed softly, already knowing that katra was going to demand he stay to. So he'd offer and just save her the effort of trying to convince him."Well.Seeing as I've known the longest, I'll just stay the night and study to."He said ignoring the look that Katra was giving him. Him?Willing to stay in the house without being bribed to do so was a rarity. He rolled his eyes a little at claire's words, for once looking up at her, meeting her eyes even if the smile he gave her was wicked and amused."Don't limit Jason's perversity to just one gender dear, you know he likes them all."

"I do not. Alcide,stop being such a whiny little bitch.Are you sure you're male?Cause I'm pretty sure you're whining a awful lot." "Shut up Vestari."Alcide snarled before slumping a little in his seat starting to eat again.

Katra smiled slightly at the twins, blushing slightly as her eyes flickered over alec. Despite spending almost all her time with alcide and jason, she was amazingly dense over just how beautiful they were. But alec was cute, and new around."Ignore them, they can't stand to be in the same room for longer than a few minutes without sniping at each other."

Grace snorted a little, nearly spitting out the food in her mouth at what Alcide said about Jason. She laughed, then blushed and avoided eyecontact with the fuming men. The doctor smiled a little, interested in Grace's pure innocence compared to those around her. Alec looked a tad amused as well, a smirk even playing at his lips. He turned to look at Katra, his blue eyes glittering with humor. "I can tell," he murmured, nodding. He pushed his chair out from the table, noticing everyone one else was finishing with dinner.

Dr. Almasy stood and nodded to the others. "I'm going to my office," he murmured, "Katra, I trust you will see that our guests to their rooms and the study? Everyone, please behave." He grinned at that and left the room.

Grace looked over to Alcide with interested. "This is your house?" she asked with raised eyebrows, having wanted to ask about it since she heard. Biting her lip, she looked around the fancy dining room and remembered the large house she was escorted through not moments ago. What did someone have to do for a living to own a place like this?

Alec looked between Alcide and his sister, trying not to act too protective. She was eighteen now, and she deserved to talk to guys... If the guy touched her, it would be a different story. He turned to Katra. "I think I'll skip studying..." he murmured, "If you could show me to my room, that would be great. I think I'd rather sleep then study when it's not required."

"Since when do any of us behave?"Katra muttered before smirking a little."I'll see to it."She said amused as she stood, looking at alcide."Make sure you two get to the study, I'll be down in a few minutes."She said with a dimpled smile, sliding her red hair back over her shoulder as she smile at ale."I agree, but I don't mind studying the myths so much. And well, Cide's actually staying in the house. Which is a miracle that has to be witnessed to be believed."She said ignoring the look her friend shot her as she lead alec towards his room."There's a intercom in your room to, Alcide had them installed when he got tired of shouting for things. You'll call if you need something okay?"She said smiling at the blond as she pushed open his bedroom door.

Alcide nodded,"It is.Well, actually my mother's. She inherited it from my father after he died, and since I prefer the cabin up the mountain, I let her have this one for her collection of misfits."Alcide said smiling as he led her towards the study. "Alcide Alexander, I will not have you being disrespective to your friends, no matter how little you like them."JJ Anthony scolded from the bottom of the stairs, smiling at the sight of alcide and grace even if she looked worried to. Dr. Almasy had told her who was here, and she was worried about what it would do to her already viotile son. "Mother. I thought you were already in bed."Alcide said frowning a little as he bent to kiss her cheek, the woman barely coming to his shoulder, smiling as he looked at grace, the three of them walking towards the study."Grace, this is my mother JJ. Mother this is grace."

Alec looked around the large, fancy bedroom with the large bed. Just like the rest of the house, it had a Victorian, yet homey feel. "Wow," he murmured, raising his eyebrows. He let out a low whistle and walked inside. "Much bigger than the bedrooms in our house in Maine," he admitted, then turned to look at her. He was in thought for a few minutes, studying her... "I want to know what's the big deal with my sister being this... 'Persephone'," he murmured, "I want to know why the doctor said Alcide would know her well."

Grace blushed and leaned over to shake his mother's hand. "Nice to meet you," she murmured, looking up at Alcide. His mother and her were both petite people unlike the large, intimidating man they were standing by. It made him look even taller. "So, you grew up here?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. She shook her head in disbelief. "Wow..."

katra smiled a little looking around the room, "Yea well, Alcide and his dad are-were huge men.They had to built a house to their scale just to look normal sized."She said poking fun at her best friend even if he wasn't there, blushing slightly as he studied her. "Persephone is...was...hades' wife."She shifted a little uneasy because she knew that alcide was going to fight tooth and nail to not get involved in this. "Alcide is hades' reborn."She said after a moment before sighing."I wouldn't be to worried. Alcide has no interest in ever dating again, and doesn't spend alot of time here, even if the good doctor wishes he would."

JJ smiled ."it's nice to meet you to."She said pausing in the study door looking at the two, amused that alcide looked like a hulking giant-a beautiful one, but still a giant- next to them."Goodnight you two."She said biding them goodbye. Alcide smiled watching her go for a moment before walking into the study nodding a little."I did. At least as a teenager, before that we lived in NYC.When dad grew sick, we moved here."A dark shadow crossed his face before he shook his head to rid himself of the thought."Want something to drink?"He asked as he poured himself a drink.

Alec raised his eyebrows. "Hades? [i[Hades[i/]? As in the guy who ran the Underworld?" he said, "The guy who ran HELL is with my sister? Alone?" He shook his head and narrowed his eyes. "You better hope you're right. Because if he even thinks about touching her, I'll break his neck. My sister is supposed to end up with a nice guy one day who will take care of her, not a monster." He clenched his teeth and shook his head. "I knew staying here was a bad idea..." He knew he was not acting like a typical brother, but if someone knew the situation, they would know why he was so protective.

Grace frowned. "I'm sorry about your father," she whispered, moving to sit in a armchair close to the fire. It was hard to believe someone would move from NYC to... here. In the middle of no where. In the mountains. "Oh... Sure," she murmured, nodding to him. She pulled her legs up into the seat and sighed. "I promise I'm not a baby. I'm not naive and fragile as Alec likes to make everyone think."

"He is. Though I wouldn't say that to his face. Alcide likes to think he's evolved from underworld to wall street."Katra said snickering a little before sighing."I am right. I can count the times he's lived under this roof on one hand since Claire's been living here."She said bristling a little."He's NOT a monster."she growled annoye at him before shaking her head."I better be going downstairs. With alcide's luck he's made her cry or something by being his usual rude self."She muttered before turning to walk out, pissed at him for not even giving them a chance.

Alcide nodded a little before smirking."The mountains are better.Quieter."He said, despite how rude and vicious he was still, the 23 year old was way calmer here in the peacefulness of the mountains than compared to what it had been when downtown NYC. "But you look so very breakable.Smaller.Fragile. Like a pretty glass bird...I mean... its nice. After katra... you seem quieter."Alcide stopped talking after that, realizing he was just making the whole thing worse, slouching into his seat as he handed her one of the mythology books sitting on the coffee table."Here."He said abruptly, because he was so bad at conversation he had no idea how to take back what he'd said without offering more insult.

Alec huffed and moved toward the door way, looking at her as she was starting to walk away. "Look, my sister is all I've got," he said, his tone fierce but his eyes soft. "I don't have a good feeling about any of this. Not this house or the reason we are here. However, my sister is intrigued by it. I can tell. She wants to stay because she wants answers, and I won't be the person to rob her from the little freedom she's been allowed to have. On the other hand, I won't let her get caught up in things or men that will only cause her harm. And that Alcide guy? He's bad news."


"I'm not... breakable," Grace snapped, rolling her eyes. Maybe she was, but she'd never be the one to say it. She could take care of herself if her mother or brother ever allowed her to. She was not an idiot or a sheep in a lion's den. She was intelligent, even if a little... inexperienced. Looking at the book, she tilted her head to the side, trying to hide the fact that the man beside her was different than any man she'd met, any man she read about... He was different, and she wasn't sure if it was in a good or bad way. "So what was Persephone the goddess of?" she asked, flipping through the book. She found a very short passage on Persephone, however she got distracted by the picture... It looked so much like her, as if she were looking at a picture of herself.

Katra sighed shaking her head a little.Frustrated with him because he wasn't even giving them a chance, even if alcide was bd news, or at least would probably be the reason for some tears. If only because he was a idiot who had no idea how to interact with people, despite his mother being the nicest person in the world."I'll give you that. But he wont hurt her,and he wont tell her he's hades."She said looking amused slightly because she knew that alide wouldn't tell her until he had nother option.

Alcide flinched at her snapping nodding a little as his shoulders slouched a little, looking lke a scolded child,"Persephone was the queen of the underworld, daughter of demeter and zeus, and wife of hades."He said hesitating only a moment because he had no way of avoiding mentioning hades, but he could avoid telling her who he was. "When she was kidnapped by the lord of the underworld, her mother raged at her absence and the seasons became unbalanced. So Zeus struck a deal with his brother, allowing persephone to return from the underworld for six months of the year, returning to olympus for six months ,and six months spent with her husbnd in the underworld."

Alec looked at her suspiciously. "Eventually she will wonder. Grace is a smart girl. She'll figure it out...," he murmured, his tone sounding slightly offended. As if he thought she was assuming his sister was too dumb to put the pieces together. "I won't tell her... But I also will not let him make her feel safe in his presence. It would be a lie. I don't trust him... Not at all." With that, he turned and went into the room, shutting the door and locking it. Alec is what most people would call a "stubborn, hot-head", and he didn't do a very good job at proving them wrong.

Grace tilted her head to the side, listening to him as if she were listening to her mother read from a book. Her eyebrows scrunched together. "So basically, she was forced to either stay with an over protective mother, or a man who kidnapped her?" she asked, shaking her head and looking at the book. She traced the picture, looking at the girl that looked so much like herself. She knew it was it was like to have a sheltering mother and sibling. It felt like she had no freedom of choice in her own life... So was she destined to always have that? Destined to either be sheltered by her mother or stowed away by a man who "claimed" her? "Did she love Hades? I mean, did she want to be with him at least?" she asked, desperate to know that Persephone (or herself) had some choice in the life she lived.

Katra winced at that."I didn't mean she wasn't smart enough to figure it out....he just wont use it to get her into bed."She said sighing softly before tilting her head as she studied the man.Looking slightly bemused as she headed downstairs.

Alcide stared at the fire, not answering right away, because he didn't want to consider if he had been loved or not, or if he had loved her. While he felt...drawn to the girl, he was to scarred by his power to sense death even within so much life, that he couldn't seperate things. Which, was why he needed grace, to be his gentle balance, his reflection that would tie a death god to the living."N-" "Oh shut up Cide, just because you're a cinical bastard, doesn't mean the rest of the world is."Katra said as she walked in rolling her eyes a little as she sat down in the seat next to grace."She didn't want to at first, but as time past, legend says she came to love her dark brooding husband."Katra said glad for once that hades had managed to not get his picture painted, at least not in this book. There were others,but for now, she was glad grace wouldn't get that shock to.

Grace jumped a little, then looked back down at the book. Something made her feel irritation for her meeting with Alcide to be interrupted, but she wasn't sure why. "Well, I guess that's better than nothing..." she murmured, looking at the picture. She snuggled down into the armchair she was in with the book and her drink on the table next to her. Finally, she stopped staring at the picture and began to read to article, her eyebrows furrowing a little at the information. Hades raped Persephone? How could love come from something so... so awful? She swallowed hard and closed the book, pushing it away before picking up a different one. She didn't want to read about herself -Persephone- anymore... Kicking off her shoes, she let her bare legs drape across the arm of her chair, her skirt sliding up her thighs innocently. "It seems ridiculous that the ruler of the Underworld would go to Olympus and kidnap a girl there. Didn't he have plenty of dark, brooding woman of his own?" she asked, rolling her eyes a little as she scanned an article on Hades.

Katra looked across at her slouching friend, who seemed fascinated with the skirt sliding up grace's legs, even if he would forever deny the fact that he was watching.Amused watching him sip his scotch she looked over at grace to answer her question."He did,but the women of the underworld were dead and he had no handmaidens, and persephone also had another fascination for a god who hated his brother."Katra's smirk quirked his lips. "She was zeus' daughter, a pawn in a game not of her own making."Alcide mused from his chair closing his eyes as he sipped his drink before pushing up out of the chair."I need to get some sleep. I'm sure mother will want me up early."he said heading for the door."On that note, we should all get some sleep. I have archery practice in the morning. Right?Alcide!" "I know, I heard you. Don't get your panties in a twist, I'll be there to help."Alcide said over his shoulder as he stepped into the hall.

Grace frowned a bit, not liking the sound of being a pawn. However, she didn't say anything else. She was too lost in the thought of a depressing life that she couldn't make herself comment. Her eyes stayed on the pages in the book. "I'm going to stay a little longer," she murmured, "Night." She bit her lip and looked up at Alcide for a split moment, watching as a somewhat... haunted emotion spread across his face. When she fell asleep in the chair later that night, her book fallen on the floor beside her and her bare legs still draped across the arm, she began to dream about him...

In the morning Alcide smiled slightly at the sight of grace in her chair, picking up the book he sighed softly as he crouched down next to the chair, careful to make sure that any vital body parts were out of kicking range before gently touching her leg to get her attention."Grace. Grace it's time to wake up."he said softly, trying to not startle her as he gently shook her leg, grinding his teeth to keep from following the urge to slide a hand up her smooth skin, so wanting to touch her in a way he hadn't felt since claire had destroyed their relationship.More then sex, he wanted to cuddle and hold her close, which made him all the more determined to keep this innocent girl away from him. While hades hadn't had any qualms against dragging the girl into his game with zeus, the current incarnation of teh death god had no intention of doing it.

Katra smiled as she knocked on alec'd door, smiling at claire as the girl walked out of her and jason's bedroom, which incidently was alcide's orginal bedroom being the master bedroom,but since it had been made for two people to share and a room he'd shared with the claire himself, the former death god had given it up to take one of the smallest guest bedrooms at the far end of the hall. "Morning. You joining me and alcide for practice this morning?"She asked the goddess, while she was waiting for alec.