Young Writers Society

"Yes, actually." Hades with a smile that didn't suit his face. Cold smiles were a thing that his brother put to good use, but this situation certainly called for him to be using one. "I do believe her. She attacked me with one of those ghosts earlier, and tried to strangle me."

He gestured at his neck, though it had returned to normal because of his healing ability. "Besides, she's not the only one you need to worry about. James is currently the only normal human in this room right now, and Jeanine is the only other human. The rest of us are probably worse than that dragon demon."

He walked in between Jeanine and Alex, still giving the latter of the two the same cold smile. "Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. My name's Hades. I'm a god of the dead, and if you don't comply, I can make your afterlife a living hell."

It was one of the biggest bluffs he had ever pulled. Though he could get Alex to serve a bit of prison time for his crimes, it would be nothing major at the moment. Even that would be tricky - he doubted that Alex worshiped his religion. It would require possibly some bribery on his part, and the biggest load of paperwork he had to complete in a long time.

"So," Hades said, crossing his arms and tilting his head ever so slightly, "are you ready to answer our questions now?" The darkness around his feet had grown so it was up to his knees, and he made some of the tendrils make a grab at Alex's legs. It was nothing too serious, but he was sure it was the effect that he had been going for.

[spoiler]Sure![/quote]

Raven, return home. I do believe I can handle this alone. I will recall you when I need you to open the rift.

Yes, Master. And she was gone.

"You see, Alex," he says in a low purr as he walks over to him, feet making no sound on the floor. "Even if Jeanine couldn't do as she claims, the rest of us can do many things...some worse." Those predatory eyes are boring into Alex's now, mere inches from his face. "Don't challenge us. He is a god and I am much more than a mere mortal," the man subtly gestures to Hades.

Alex simply listened and observed as the threats came at him from left and right. He looked over to James with an expression that seemed to say that Alex was impressed by the new friends James had aquired. Alex sent James a small smile of approval discreetly for but a second, and his attentions were back on the three before him. He put up his hands in the universal sign of surrender, and shrugged.

"Okay, okay. I know when I'm beat." He replied with what looked to be genuine remorse - but his tone quickly changed. He scoffed.

"Ha! Yeah, you think this isn't my first time facing a bunch of supernaturals and sh*t? See ya later, kids." As the last four words left his mouth, he snapped his fingers and every candle in the room went out. Almosr simultaneously, he flipped backwards and leapt out the open window behind him.

James rushed to the window and looked down from it with urgency, concern, and frustration. They were on the second floor for goodness sakes! As he looked below he saw no sign of the obnoxiously evasive and clearly problematic man that had been standing in the hotel room (allegedy sick) only seconds ago.

"... Well now at least we know who's responsible for all if this." He quipped.

Upon seeing Alex flip out the window - which was a move that he hadn't expected - he rushed after James and peered out of it as well. He had expected to see the man sprawled on the floor two stories below, but it appeared that the man had somehow disappeared into thin air.

"I think we also know that he's in league with that dragon demon," Hades pointed, looking around to see if there was either sign of the two of them. When he saw none, he turned his attention back to the occupants of the room. "If he wasn't, he wouldn't have been able to jump out that window and suddenly disappear. The dragon demon probably grabbed him and then flew off with him."

"Wait, dragon demon? Jumping out the window?" a voice called out from the entrance to the room. A very confused Sarah pushed through the group assembled and walked over to him. "What on Earth did I miss while I was gone?"

"Sarah just came back," he informed James, knowing that the man was unable to see ghosts. He didn't want to confuse him.

Then he explained what had transpired as briefly as he could before asking, "So what were you up to?"

She gestured out into the hallway. "I was trying to see if I could find anything that would help us figure things out. But I couldn't find anything, so I guess that you were the more successful of the two of us."

Hades nodded.

He looked back over at James and then at the rest of the group, thinking for a quick moment before addressing them instead of Sarah. "How should we go about finding him? Is there a place where he would be most likely to go to on the grounds?"

Cornyx looks down, black eyes hard as the man fingers that onyx knife. He could chase him, and he could probably catch up, but it would make the game so much less...fun.

"So," he murmurs. "The hunt begins." Turning to the others, he slips his weapon into his pocket.

"I'll find him," Jeanine promises. "Sarah, come with me. I'm going to need your help. Cornyx, everyone else, hunt for DeeDee. Sarah and I will get Alex and have him tell us what's going on." She leaves the room.

--

"I can't believe you got yourself caught," the demon says underneath Alex in Alex's great-grandmother's voice."You utter moron. Cornyx isn't stupid, you know. And the girl who picked you up? I don't think you should mess with her either. And why didn't you call me in the first place? Seriously!" She continued to rant about how stupid Alex was, occasionally including an insult in there.

James watched Jeanine leave the room after ordering them all around. He had no objections to her plan besides the fact that the dragon demon and Alex might be together, but if that were the case, whoever found them would find them all. Which could be good or bad.

"Well, I guess that's our cue to go." He turned to Hades to answer his previous question. "We can check the basement first. Because, you know, Alex doesn't like to stray from stereotypes." He explained sarcastcally, thoufh he was serious about checking there first. He looked over at Cornyx, noting he seemed to be enjoying the unbalanced powerplay at hand.

--

Alex simply shrugged off the insults. "I wanted to see what our competition had to offer. And I wasn't about to spill."

Sarah glanced over at Hades after Jeanine said for her to follow. She hadn't seen him in decades, and she hated having to keep leaving him. She wanted to treasure their time together, but she hadn't even gotten a chance to truly spend it with him.

But some things seemed to be more important than that. If Jeanine had a plan and needed her help, she would have to help. She couldn't ignore someone asking for assistance. She might not know what the girl was thinking, but, if worse came to worse, all she had to do was escape from wherever they were and go running back to Hades.

She started to leave the room, only to run back over to him and throw her arms around the startled death god. He hesitantly returned the gesture. Then, only moments later, she broke free and ran off towards the hallway. "I'll see you later, Uncle Alexander!"



Hades watched the ghost dart into the hallway and after Jeanine, still surprised by the sudden hug that she had given him. He wished that it could have lasted longer. It had been so long since they had gotten to spend time together, and there was so many things that he wanted her to know. (Like how his his friend "Percy" was actually his husband Perse, and that "Thomas" had been Thanatos all along.) But there was a threat loose, and dealing with that came first.

"The basement sounds good to me," Hades agreed.

Where is Discord when we need him? Cornyx asks that voice inside his mind.
We don't need him, Guile, but I'm sure he'd enjoy it. Why don't we just come out on top in this scramble for power? The other answers; how typical of him.
Or we could just pull out of Masaaki's book and throw some distrust here and there and then watch everything...fall. The man's ebon eyes are unreadable as he holds this inner conversation.
Considering it's your body, you get the final choice, brother, but you do have Corax.
We'll see how things pan out.

"Deedee..." Where to find it? He could start back at the tree, see if he could get a trail from there. He gives a slight nod to the rest of the group before slipping out the door and heading back to the severed plant.

The demon rolls her eyes at Alex.

--

"Can you get the rest of the ghosts in that room?" Jeanine asks Sarah, pointing to am empty suite.

James nodded to Hades, noting how Cornyx slipped out of the room on his own, presumably to seek after Alex and "DeeDee" on his own. James had no issues with it, however, since Cornyx seemed more than capable. James left the room with Hades, locking the door behind them.

"...So did you really mean all those things you said about sending Alex to hell and making it worse for him there?" He asked as they began to walk down the hall.

-

Alex only fluttered his eyelids and rolled his eyes back in return. Though he was sure that, if he were a ghost who'd been waiting for revenge all these years, he'd probably be just as moody too.

Sarah thought for a moment. "I guess I could try," she slowly said, "but I'm not sure where they are or how easy it to be. One of them is easier than the other to talk to, though both should be eager to help if they hear what the situation is."

She rushed off to find the two other ghosts that normally occupied the hotel, too intent on her search to notice if Jeanine had followed her or not.



Hades gave a nervous laugh. "Kind of?" he admitted to James. "Greek mythology isn't the only religion that exists. So the afterlife he would go to is the one of his religion, save for if he's atheist, deist or agnostic. Then he'd get to choose which one."

He hoped that his explanation wasn't going over James' head, though he had a sneaking suspicion that it might be. He hadn't to explain how everything worked to a mortal in a long time. In fact, the last one had been Perse, and that had been countless years ago.

"'Hell' for him, if he was Christian, would basically just be prison for his crimes," he further explained. "I would have to talk to whoever is in charge of that afterlife if I really wanted him to suffer. The Greek mythology one is Tartarus, but it hasn't gotten any new inmates in a long time."

Jeanine waits patiently.

--

The demon lands in the woods at a crudely made shelter. "Home sweet home."