As she fell through the portal, the chaotic feelings overtaking her again just as they had the first time. Helplessly she clung to Hades— he was less scary than the damn portal— only to be dropped on the floor as soon as it was over.

“We don’t have much time,” he said, but Risa was too busy catching her breath to pay too much attention. “He only ate one, and that is not enough energy to sustain him in the underworld.” 

It was only as he finished speaking and she felt him move away from her that his words began to gather meaning and the world started spinning. One seed wasn’t enough? For what?

Risa stood quickly, ignoring the way the world spun from her sudden movement, and looked around. Hades’ broad back filtered through her view, and it took her a moment to see what lay beyond— Ravi’s crumpled form, prone on the ground with the shrouded spirits waiting around him.

“Ravi!” Risa scrambled over to him, nearly tripping in her haste. She ignored Hades completely and fell to Ravi’s side, pulling his head into her lap as she searched for injuries. There was nothing, no reason for him to be this way; he had been fine less than an hour ago when she had last seen him. “What happened?!” She asked frantically, shaking his shoulders a slight bit as his eyes fluttered. “Answer me!” 

There was no response, and Risa felt a panic rising in . Ravi, the boy who used to help her find berries in the woods or play tricks on her sister. Ravi, the man who had protected her for years and stood by her side and had eaten fruit of the underworld to join her in her fate. She had only gotten so far because of him. 

She was curled over him when Hades strode over, looking down on the both. He let out a sort of sigh, maybe in annoyance, and then crouched down next to them both. Risa watched him cautiously as he waved a hand over Ravi’s face, pausing over his mouth and waiting for a breath to spill out.

“Can you save him?” Risa said, hardly daring to speak above a whisper. There was no one better to ask to spare a life, but it still caused a tremble of fear in her to ask even more from the Lord of the Dead.

“I can save him.” Hades responded, but didn’t move; he just kept his hand there, waiting.

“Will you save him?” She tried again, impatience giving way to courage. 

“You already owe me one favor, to make up for the seed he has eaten.” Hades pulled his hand away and rocked back on his heels, looking her dead in the eye as he spoke. The long wavy hair dangled around his face, and some part of her acknowledged the poetic justice in his appearance being that of a fallen angel. “You will owe me another to save his life.”

That was all? “Please hurry,” Risa said by way of response, gently lowering Ravi to the ground. She could hear his ragged breathes, as though each weak inhale was a struggle. She had never seen him catch more than a cold in his enter life. There was no way she would let herself be the reason he died. “I’ll do whatever you want.”

Hades looked at her for a moment, contemplating. Risa felt like she could trust him to heal Ravi, seeing as he hadn’t had him killed or taken away yet, but she didn't like the time he was wasting. “Please hurry,” she repeated, feeling the pressure of tears building in the back of as she looked down at Ravi’s pale palor. 

Hades sighed again, though this time it sounded of indulgence. He motioned Risa to move back, which she quickly did, and then returned his hand to its position hovering above Ravi.

She had forgotten about the spirits surrounding them, the six or eight dark figured, but as soon as Hades moved so did they, coming a step closer all at once. Risa jumped, startled and already on edge, and then slid a few more feet away. She could hear Hades now, chanting something under his breath, the words slowly growing louder and more fluid. It was so close to song that she wondered if maybe he was singing, but she still had to strain to hear. 

Every few beats, the spirits would take yet another step closer. The first time there was no difference, nothing to see, but by the second or third step— Risa finally dragged her attention away from Ravi to look at them. Little by little, they were no longer the shapeless beings they once were; they were gaining form, walking forward as men and woman even if they still remained in shadow. They were all past her now, looming over Hades while his voice grew and grew. The air felt as though it was pulsing, living. Risa stared at the event, unable to look away.

And then it was over. Hades stopped speaking, and everything became silent again. Ravi too one last ragged breath, loud enough for her to hear— and then was quiet. 

Risa scrambled forward to his side, pushing thoughtlessly past the spirit people to his side. She fell to her knees, watching the now-quiet rise and fall of his chest as though the world went around because of it. The spirits fell back, leaving them space, and Hades stood. 

“He is fully human again.” 

Risa nodded, taking Ravi’s hand in hers and feeling it's warmth. “And this won't happen again?” She asked, needing to know for sure.

“No. It won’t. He can’t stay here for long, however. He needs to return. And you are once again in my debt.”

Risa couldn’t find the strength anymore to look up to Hades. She nodded, letting her hair trickle over her shoulder to hide her face. Ravi was safe, and would be going home. It was the best thing that could have happened, but she was already in mourning.

“Now, come with me.” 

She was about to stand and obey when Ravi slowly blinked his eyes, looking up at her. The hand she was holding suddenly tightened its grip, and Ravi sat up with a wince.

“Ow, what the hell did you do this time? I had such a head—” He trailed off as he looked around, taking in the spirits that surrounded him and Hades looking down on them both. “Oh.”

“Say thank you,” Risa murmured, another round of relief flooding her at seeing him act like his normal self. “Hades just saved your life.”

Ravi cocked an eyebrow— he always was a smart as until he got caught— and nodded in acknowledgement anyway. “Thanks.”

Hades did nothing in response; rather, he wasn’t looking at Ravi at all, but at Risa. He was waiting. Satisfied as much as she could be, Risa pushed herself up. 

“Don’t make trouble,” she intoned to him sharply and lightly kicked him in the side— punishment for making her worry. “I will see him again?” Risa said, this time addressing Hades. He looked between them both and then nodded once, saying nothing, but it was acceptable enough. As Hades began to walk away, she turned to follow. 

“Hey! Ri! You twerp, don’t just leave me here!”  Ravi struggled to sit up but was moving slowly. Risa yelled once more over her shoulder.

“I’ll see you later. For now, rest up.”

He no longer belonged with her; he belonged in the world of the living.

Hello all!

Sorry for the slow updates, and Merry Christmas! As you can probably imagine, moving to and working in Japan has been quite a whirlwind, but I hope to continue on with this as much as possible. I got up to 30K in Nano (its all crap, but its there) so you can look forward to at least that much!

Im intending to start again on my 500 a day goal, which will put me at a new chapter every other day if i can keep up with it. Ill get on that once the holiday season ends. But, hint hint, I have a sort of sequel to Mail Order Leo in the works... and I intend to dedicate most of my attention to that.

Thank you all for all of your support, you have no idea how much it means to me. I was the happiest probably ever when doing Mail Order Leo; I hope to come back and work on that again. 

Ahh, and a special thanks to HomeHam, your support and kindness means a lot to me, thank you ^^