Take me away to a heavenly place. Rescue me my love, my saving grace.

Leander lay on his stomach resting his chin on his hands looking down on the black waters of the Styx just as he had done not days before. There were differences now and it seemed strange to him that so many things could change for the better in such short a time. He’d been so used to all the negativity, just getting back up for the let down every time. He stared at the spirits of the lake not daring to touch into its depths. He was human now, no the Demi-God he had been on his last visit and he wasn’t sure what it cost a mortal to wet his fingers in the waters of the Styx. The spirits ignored him, flowing on their way mistaking him (or perhaps cataloging him correctly) for another soul that would be added to the collection. Leander was no longer the Shadow Child that might be able to save them, give them a chance to see their world again. That might be the only downside, even if he did survive the audience with his father he wasn’t positive he could cross the Styx again once he had gone to the Underworld as a human. “I’m getting ahead of myself he whispered quietly “I’ll be lucky to even get back to the shore in one piece” he smiled then despite his situation. Memories of the night before slipped into his thoughts like a firefly whose shine could not be contained even in the tightest of fists, it always managed to shine through closed fingers. Before he could wipe the smile off of his face the Kharon’s boat clacked against the dock. He hadn’t heard him with the absence of his shadows and heightened hearing but he didn’t care. He had something better now and she was sitting safe at home right now. He hoped with all his heart that he could make it back to her but if he didn’t then at least he’d had the joy of knowing what it was like to love living even if it was just a fleeting taste. Kharon stared at him through the milky film that covered his eyes.
“Humans are not allowed to return once they have crossed.” Ever since the founding of the Olympians Kharon had been the boatman for the underworld. Leander wondered if he knew anything else but the course he traveled so endlessly every day of his life. Had the man known love? Had he always looked as ancient as he did now? He shook free of these pities because the man did not in fact show any interest for the fares of the living. Leander nodded
“I suppose then that I shall be the exception.” he stepped onto the boat and sat the same place he always had, perhaps even for the last time. Kharon pried the boat off of the shores, the sound of shifting gravel echoed through the tunnels.
Once he reached the other side he paused. One more step and he wouldn’t be able to go back, but he didn’t care much for it. As long as it kept Ramsey safe then he’d die happily, he only hoped she would keep her end of the bargain. He climbed onto the shore savoring the feel of firm ground under his feet. He followed the lanterns, the curve of the tunnels, the paths his memories had laid out for him not regretting a single step except for the fact that he wouldn’t be able to spend more time with Ramsey. Finally at the gates he looked up at the imposing palace structured solely on precious metals and stones. Aiakos led him inside with an overly firm grip on his elbow, maybe he just wasn’t used to humans in the underworld palace or maybe he was doing it on purpose just to pain him, Leander couldn’t quite tell. Once inside he instantly saw his father sitting upon his throne looking for all the world like he had the headache of the century. Aiakos left him directly in front of the god and settled behind the throne with his two companions. It was completely silent for a long while. Hades was the first to speak, but it was in such a low voice that Leander wondered if he had imagined it.
“I told you to stay away from that girl.”
“You did” there was no point in denying the truth it would only stretch this out longer.
“Leander you deliberately disobeyed my direct order.”
“You are my father and God, still I disobey you so I suppose my future as a dead man does not bode well.” Leander would have missed the move if he had blinked but still he had no way to move from the blow Hades landed on his shoulder with his scepter. He crumpled to the ground in silence, it took everything in him to not make a sound but the only thing that escaped him was a sad sigh once he felt the stone against his skin. He could feel the hot blood rolling off his shoulder as if it were coming from buckets. He attempted to get up but when he put weight on his wounded right arm he buckled down again. Judging from the pain Leander took a guess at a broken shoulder blade, or fractured if he was lucky. There was a shuffle of feet and he was dragged gods only know how long into a separate chamber, the pain in his shoulder made him fall in and out of knowing but he was mostly present when one of the Keres wrapped their arms around his torso and lifted him up. He felt a cold perfectly level surface on the skin of his back guessing at glass he closed his eyes and let the coolness of it dull the throbbing pain in his shoulder. The pain was so much he could hardly even feel it anymore, he’d almost forget about it if he couldn’t still feel his blood flowing steadily from it. His shirt was ripped off allowing the cold breeze to touch his skin. There were voices around him but so much concentration was going to not making a sound, not shedding a tear, that he could hardly tell what everyone was yelling about. Suddenly his injured arm was jerked back and new pain exploded over his body through bones he wasn’t even aware he owned. Not being able to restrain himself anymore he yelled out and jerked around but both arms and legs were snapped down firmly in leather straps.
“What was it” he hissed through gritted teeth. “Tell me before you kill me.”
“You lost the secret to reviving the dead you fool! I could have made myself invincible, RAN OLYMPUS ON MY OWN!” another painful strike landed on his skull. It wasn’t in the least the appropriate situation but he found himself laughing manically. It made his right shoulder sting and his head hurt but he laughed and laughed becoming short of breath to soon to satisfy. “You think this is funny!” he heard Hades yell over the din of his headache.
“That’s what it was? I sacrificed my own being for your selfish needs?” a hit to his stomach blew what little air he had straight out of his mouth. He wanted to curl in on himself but the straps held him in place, the muscles on his arms strained against the pain.
“I’m going to kill you.” He hissed. “And then I’ll go after her!” He looked on almost peacefully
“It was worth it to have loved.” he said simply. Hades lifted his staff to strike him down one last time but before it came down Leander gave his last breath.
***
“Allow him to pass. Allow him to pass” the voice whispered in his ear.
“No, dammed, dammed he was.”
“Sacrifice, he has made the sacrifice.” Leander tightened his right hand into a fist, there was no pain from the shoulder that had been broken. He stroked the ground and smiled. Had ha made it back? There was grass as soft as spring petals under him that held him aloft in such a comforting way. He realized it wasn’t just his shoulder that was painless but all his other wounds as well.
“There’s not a thread for this man”
“He was meant as God sister!” warm sunlight kissed one side of his face and the other was buried in the sweet smelling grass, slowly he opened his eyes and sat up with caution, still expecting his wounds to screech at him. He searched for the source of the voices and found none.
“Tell me, how did you come here?” Leander looked around still seeing no one.
“I was killed, where am I?”
“Paradise dear one. You have eluded us for a long time, you are the only man who’s past present and future we know not of. How did you come here.” Green grass and sunlight stretched out as far as the eye could see, melting into the deep blue of the sky. So Leander told them everything from beginning to end and for a long moment the fates were silent.
“If you could be given a choice, would you stay in this paradise not needing or wanting for the rest of your life or would you go back, live through the pain Hades inflicts on you and make it through a mortal lifespan with your loved one?”
“I can’t be here and not want because she is the only thing for me in any world, life or death. This paradise cannot amount to what I feel when I hold her.”
“Then we will allow you to go back. But not as a human.”
“I’ll take anything, ghost, slave, animal. As long as I can watch over her.”
“Don’t be foolish, even we can see that you’re willing to sacrifice yourself so fully and valor like that deserves reward.”
“My sister speaks true Leander Kiron, you will go back but not as a mortal or ghost. You will return as a god.”
“Yes you will be god of the thresh hold between darkness and light because you are of shadows but the light shines brightly within you.”
***
Renewed strength flowed through his body, he could feel the shattered bones in his body mending painlessly. He pulled at his bonds and they all broke effortlessly. He stepped off of the glass platform and looked down at himself. His markings were the same as those he had acquired when he proclaimed his love to Ramsey but there were new ones that shone metallic silver chasing the black lines, mimicking the moves in perfect synchronicity of silver and black. He heard a clatter and turned to see Hades and his court staring at him with dropped jaws. The transformation to god had heightened his already breathtaking features in a structure that challenged even the most beautiful of Aphrodite’s children. Shadows he had commanded before swirled around him in such a dark shade that they seemed impenetrable but they were equally contrasted with bright silver extensions of his own soul. A perfect balance just like his tattoos.
“I’ll never come back here and you won’t be able to hurt my only reason for life if you want to keep your own.” even without fully knowing what he had become he knew he was right in believing that he was stronger now than most gods and his father was not an exception. Stunned Hades had nothing he could say to him and not wanting to be separated from his other half any longer he left the underworld and started making his way back to Ramsey. Relishing every step of the journey so that he would be that much happier when he saw the reason for his existence again and forevermore.