Apologize Not

Chapter 1:

       The screams of the damned echo through the halls and into the conference room. At this point, I've grown used to their screams and the excessive temperatures. I don't know how Father did it. Mother never explained how she got used to the complete opposite of her element. I sit in a cold conference room with Rhadamanthus, Minos, and Aeacus, the three judges of the Underworld.

      "There's been a decline in souls coming in the last three decades. Azora's activity has–"

       "As long as Thanatos doesn't complain, I don't care." I interrupt Minos. Minos shakes his head, glaring at me in disapproval.

      "Thanatos is on Azora's side. Nothing she does will change his mind on her." I smirk.

      "We all know Azora maintains more order than any of us would in her place. The decline is only the decline of chaos."

      "What if no souls come–"

      "That is not going to happen, my friend. She has been keeping more balance in four centuries than Zeus had in his entire lifetime." Rhadamanthus says.

       "Even then, she is an enemy that must be eliminated. After all, she has broken a variety of rules that have been reinforced in the Underworld since day one." Elektra says, walking in and sitting down beside me. She's wearing a blue dress with pink flowers decorating her braided brown hair. Her green eyes glow mischievously.

         "As long as Styx, Acheron, Cocytus, Phlegethon, and Lethe don't say anything, she hasn't broken any rule." Minos grumbles.

        "Keep in mind that we remain neutral in this case." Aeacus adds.

        "Neutral? Didn't you have problems with her at one point?" Elektra says with a smile. Aeacus frowns.

         "That was my fault. No one else's."

         "Should I remind each of you what Azora has done to each one of us? She killed Achilles, participated in the fall of multiple civilizations, and–"

         "She did her part whereas we judged. While her actions are beyond the reason for her creation, she is even more of a queen than you will ever be." Rhadamanthus growls.

          "That's quite enough." I grumble and stand. Elektra smiles ominously, her fangs flashing and the white of her eyes becoming black. Elektra's everything I hate while Azora's everything I love. I still wonder why I took Elektra as my wife and hurt Azora the way I did.

       "She's too broken. Too used." My demon coos as I turn and leave.

        "And yet, she holds more ground than any other immortal to ever exist." I mutter. My demon laughs.

        "She's getting consumed each day. No matter how much she tries, she will never be free of it."

         "She doesn't even try. She just does her job." I point out. My demon huffs and becomes quiet. Calling it by name will bring him out. Even by thought, it's best not to call him by name. Each time I use his name, a part of me becomes his. He already owns forty-five percent.

          "Where are you going?" Elektra asks as she appears beside me. The smell of flowers assaults my nose. I force myself not to twist my face in disgust. All those flowers are poisonous.

          "Out." I answer as I head towards one of the major rivers.

           "Where out?" Elektra hisses. Styx and Elektra don't get along at all. Styx strikes Elektra everytime she gets close. No one messes with Styx. Styx holds a bit of a grudge against me. But under Azora's orders, she leaves me more or less alone.

         "Just out. Away from you." Elektra blocks me, her arms spread out pleadingly.

          "I know what you want! You want this." Elektra pulls her dress down to reveal her breasts. I glance at them before glaring at Elektra in disgust.

          "Cover up." I say and walk around her.

          "Amorious! I thought we could be like Hades and Persephone! Why can't you see that?" I stop and turn my head to glare at her in further disgusting.

          "My mother..." I turn around and leave. Elektra cries out my name. Annoyed, I teleport towards Styx's home. The defensive wards around her home keep me out. I need permission to go in. Elektra's angered scream echoes in the distance. It's quickly followed by soft laughter. Sitting in a rocking chair, a woman with long black hair, equally black dress, dark blue skin, and void black eyes, smiles at me.

         "What a wonderful way to gift me today." She greets, bowing her head slightly.

         "I want passage to the Overworld." Styx smiles, revealing white teeth that seem to glow.

         "You could easily emerge up there and fight against me. And yet, you come here peacefully. I must ask, though. What business do you have up there? Don't tell me you intend to spy on her again."

           "Not Azora specifically." At my response, Styx laughs.

           "Your daughter?" I nod. Twelve years ago, Elektra gave her daughter to Azora to raise despite her hatred against her. Apparently, Elektra thought I'd slay the child upon first sight. The kid has no fault in the business of the adults. The child looks too much like Elektra for me to be fooled into believing she belongs to Azora. Besides that, Azora's infertile.

       "The reason Elektra gave up her child was to protect her from you." Styx says, her smile washed away.

         "Since when did you agree with Elektra?" Styx shakes her head.

          "I don't agree with Elektra. I agree with the mother." I bow my head. Azora had said the same thing so long ago when I first found out about my daughter. I had stormed in and had demanded for the kid. Azora responded calmly.

         "Azora's considerably a lot more dangerous than me." I point out.

         "And yet Azora doesn't f**k every human she sees." Styx counters. I'm about to argue further but realize that if I piss her off, she won't let me go through for at least a century.

          "Touché. Now, let me through." Styx sighs and motions towards her front door. The dark wooden door swings open.

          "You're mother would be disappointed." She says just as I pass through.

           She would.

          Azora sits with her legs crossed and her hands on her knees. Her long light brown hair falls over her face, covering her closed eyes and scars. Her usual black robes and red rope-like belt have been replaced with a thin white shirt, ripped jeans, and hiking boots. She still has her usual fingerless leather gloves on.

          Six figures appear around her. Azora doesn't even flinch as they creep closer. Among them, my daughter moves swiftly. Her long black hair has been tied back into a loose bun. She dresses similar to Azora with her long sleeved thin black shirt, jeans, and running shoes. Her fingers twitch excited as they hold knives sharp enough to cut a hand off like butter.

          A hatchet flies towards Azora. Azora's eyes fly open as she catches it and whirls to her feet. She throws it, missing by an inch of the throwers head. I hide further into the bush as the hatchet splinters into the tree beside me. Emerging, I watch Azora disarm her students within seconds.

         "Hi!" A girl with white hair yells and slams down her huge hammer where Azora was a second before. The ground splits and a crater forms. Azora appears behind the girl and grabs the hammer. Prying it from her grip, Azora spins the huge hammer and hits the girl. The girl yelps and slams into two of her comrades.

          "Anne!" Another girl with brown hair and a stop watch stitched into her left eye yells. My daughter smiles and slides under Azora's swing. She disappears in a puff of smoke and appears above Azora. The girl who yelled her name exposes her own knife only to get it shot out of her hand by a boy wearing a yellow hoodie and black mask.

       "Guys!" Anne yells. Azora has her by the throat with one hand and the huge hammer in the other. With a sigh, Azora sets Anne down.

        "You two need to start working together. All of you need to work together, damn it!" Azora says. Anne rubs her throat but says nothing.

        "You were supposed to shoot by surprise!" The girl with the stop watch grumbles. The hooded boy shrugs.

        "I don't follow orders from human timers."

        "Clockwork! Hoodie!" Anne protests. Azora sets her hand on Anne's head, silencing her. Azora's considerably taller than all of them. The hooded boy being about six feet tall, Azora towers over him by two more or so.

         "Until all of you can work together there will be no patrol. Understood?" There's multiple groans. Azora's multi-colored eyes darken to a muted orange as she walks away. As soon as she's out of ear shot, the girl with white hair speaks up.

         "She took my hammer!" Anne shrugs and sits on the ground.

          "It's either that or hanging upsidedown for twenty minutes again." Clockwork says.

          "She never let's us do patrol." Anne mutters in defeat. The hooded boy sits beside her and inspects his gun.

          "She's never satisfied, Anne. Besides, we screwed up last time we went on patrol." One of the students the whitehaired girl crashed into hisses. She has reptilian features. Black scales, red slitted eyes with equally red hair, and a white chiton.

          "You guys did. I didn't take part in slaughtering innocents for the f**k in it!" Clockwork shakes her head.

          "Keep in mind that we're alive because of Slendy. Otherwise, Azora would've killed most of us off by now." She says.

      "Most. My mom abandoned me, remember? My dad's still a no show and–"

       "That's you, Anne. You've been with Azora a lot longer than the rest of us. Forget about your parents–you've got Azora!" The reptile girl hisses.

       "Yeah...Do you guys know who Maryse is?" Everyone looks at each other and then back at Anne.

        "You don't really know much about your past, do you?" A girl with auburn hair and ghost white eyes asks. Anne bows her head and shakes it.

          "As we all know, Azora can't have kids. But she's adopted multiple kids and raised them as her own. Maryse happens to be one of the few adopted ones to have an incredibly high role in Azora's first death. The kid was later killed by either Elektra or Amorious. Azora never said." Clockwork says.

          "I suggest we don't speak of this in presence of Azora. She might get upset." The reptilian girl says.

         "Upset is too kind of a word. She nearly killed Slendy when he tried using that against her." Hoodie says. Everyone but Anne shudders.

        "She must've been hurt pretty bad to have gotten so aggressive. Elektra and Amorious sound like monsters." Anne says.

        "They've done worse. Elektra's a b***h and Amorious's a motherfucking traitor who can't keep his f*****g d**k in his godsforsaken pants!" The girl with white hair hisses. I silently place her into my death list.

         "Yeah. I guess." Anne says with a nervous laugh. Together, all six students head back. Anne trails behind, dragging her feet. She stops and turns to stare in my direction. She scans the area for a bit before leaving. Her green and black eyes felt like they've been burnt into my forehead.

         "I suggest you return to the Underworld, Amorious. Stay away from them." Azora hisses in my head. I creep back and look around. I sink into the ground and return to the Underworld. I'm not in the mood to argue with Azora.