Chapter 5: THE SON OF HADES

"Aubrey?" My eyes began to change color slightly, could it be that the person who gave the kid this name is the owner of the goblins, after all, only a name scares the elves? Demigod? I've heard numerous legends of demigods, incredibly bold and aggressive people who inherited their heavenly god parents and were more strong than mortals. The ancient monsters were all eliminated by competent demigods, but in the end, demigods were just half-humans, half-gods, and they had to live samsaric lives, not everlasting like gods. Only truly outstanding demigods can be made a minor deity and become immortal.

"Enough of that, you’d better go home," said a voice that made both Aubrey and me turn around. The guy approaching was tall, dressed in a loose robe with a big hat that hid his entire face, and he came slowly towards us, each step causing the earth around him shake and appearing to be frozen everything he touched. Isn't this Thanatos, the god of death in Rome? "Your father requested me to find you since he can't travel to Rome."

"Things have changed, Thanatos," Aubrey remarked, his voice frigid. "If he truly cared about me, he wouldn't have abandoned us on the street and left us to starve to death, which would have indicated that he's as frigid as his name."

"Stealing a death book isn't going to save your mother or sister's lives, Aubrey. That notebook, once labeled with someone's name, can never be removed, and neither can his mother or sister. Before your father goes on a rage, you should accept your fate and return to hell" ,Thanatos kept a cool posture as he carefully removed his broad hat, revealing a smiling visage. Any female will swoon when he stares her in the eyes. It is true that love and death are only separated by a thread. "Are the elves having fun here, too?" ,Thanatos said gently, his eyes glistening with malicious hatred “If you've finished the assignment, I believe you should leave to minimize more damage."

I'm now irritated by this god's scorn; no matter how strong a god he is, he shouldn't talk like that. I wrapped my fingers over Aubrey and drew him to my side, my eyes becoming brilliant red with blood. "God Thanatos is in a good humor today to deal with other people's problems, and this youngster was picked up by my goblin. Okay, Aubrey, let me take the you back to hell. If it hadn't been for my assistance earlier, this youngster would most likely be dead, therefore who should be held accountable?"

Thanatos' demeanor began to alter, his eyebrows arched in displeasure, causing the wayside stones to instantly ice eventhough the weather was in the summer. I'm ecstatic that I've enraged this cold-faced deity; at least he won't dare to attack a goblin like me, and I appear to have protected another outstanding character. Thanatos coughed and grinned somewhat crookedly. "Then, goblin, please assist me in bringing this youngster back to Hades to manage; tell him his son is making problems in Rome, and maybe he'll be here to clean up this mess."

After then, the deity vanished, leaving behind the scorching air that should have been an Italian summer. I stared at Aubrey, who was approximately fifteen years old, with a confused face, yet he was the son of Hades, the greatest god of the underworld, who could make Thanatos blush beacause of annoying. Aubrey saw my reaction and grinned as he drew me forward. "Let's go home, goblin; I'm very exhausted today; kindly arrange for a bedroom for me."

"Do you believe I should send you to hell right away? Your father... no, Hades would be furious if he knew you were here with me," I grumbled.

"He won't come here; this is Rome; he doesn't want to come here simply for his lost child; he's content with his family," Aubrey explained. "See, Thanatos intended to put that life-and-death book to death, so he unleashed his favorite monster to murder me; thankfully, with him, I escaped death thanks to you. The notebook was also burned, don't you find Thanatos' angry expression funny?"

I watched the back of the demigod boy, he was not like the legendary demigods I knew, he was simply an old T-shirt and a pair of shorts, he didn't look like him at all, like the son of Hades, or rather, perhaps Hades had forgotten that he had this son, I chased after him to keep up with the boy's footsteps and said softly, "Why steal the death book, and then climb to this distant Italy? I heard that madman say you want to help your mother…”

Aubrey's eyes were sorrowful, as if he was going to cry but was struggling to keep the tears from falling out. Aubrey groaned and wiped his runny nose with his fingers, "This is my hometown, I was born here, grew up here with my mother and sister. We were intended to enjoy a very good existence until our uncle Paul vanished, employment ceased, and we were forced to travel the streets of Rome begging. We ultimately perished of starvation, and while I was dying, a old man arrived and took me away. That's Hades, my lousy father."

Aubrey's tears began to fall; perhaps he couldn't keep back his feelings any longer after telling his heart. Aubrey told that his mother married a regular man and gave birth to his sister. If nothing occurs and the deity Hades comes to save his son, the entire family is overjoyed. "When I found out I was a demigod, the first thing I did was beg my awful dad if I could save my mother and sister, but he claimed the spot where my mother and sister perished was in Rome, it was not under his jurisdiction therefore it was tough to help, I knew I couldn't beg for anything, so I stole the life and death book, the only purpose was for him to move his heel to Rome to save my mother and sister." Aubrey remarked, looking up at the starry sky.

"What about Uncle Paul?" ,I asked in order to continue the story, “Is there no news from him? Humans rarely have such rare disappearances.”

"I wish I knew what happened to my uncle Paul; it was his unusual absence that brought our family to this point, but I know Paul is a nice person; he is extremely kind and love me despite the fact that I am not his kid"

When I observed tears streaming down Aubrey's little face, I was reminded of my Ancanta. Ancanta always had a large grin on her face, and her smile made me feel like I could erase the dark night of my life, but just towards the conclusion of Ancanta's life, she held my hand tightly, and tears started streaming down my shirt one by one. Right now, Aubrey, that scene is being replayed in front of my eyes, and this demigod youngster is sobbing as he recalls his tragic background and his sad mother.

I just sighed, intentionally interrupting his story, I quickly stepped forward and said, “Your father and I are not meant to be compatible, so you should find your own way back to hell, I There's no time to bring a lost boy home."

My nonchalant attitude made Aubrey laugh out loud, he probably understood my intentions so he quickly ran towards me, “Don't worry, just let me stay for a few days and then, everything will be handled as if we are no longer linked."

"Don't be such a jerk, son of Hades; I just saved your life. You would have been consumed by that monster if it hadn't been for me at the moment; I almost dropped it..."

As I grabbed into my pocket to check on Ancanta's diary, I think, I'm going to find a quiet location now to read the diary entries Ancanta left me. However, when I touched the pocket, the interior was utterly empty; there was nothing like a notepad in my coat pocket. Sweat began to stream down my brow; could it be that I dropped it as I hurried to the monster, or was it that the notebook was already gone when I was attacked by the monster? My mind began to spin out of control, and all of my senses appeared to be growing and consuming my body. I turned around, trying to find the diary to see if it had fallen on the road, but couldn't see the diary anywhere.

Aubrey seemed to notice my attitude and my haste, and he asked, “What's wrong with you? Dropped something?"

“As a small notebook, it is not too small, it is very comfortable to hold. That's right, the notebook where you and I first met, you bumped into me, did you see it somewhere near me? That thing is very important to me.”

“So it's that old notebook, you must have dropped it when you fought that first year monster. I see that notebook is worn out, looks like it's about to tear, but you still keep it? What a nostalgic thing,” said Aubrey, the boy's hands raised above his head, the gesture infuriatingly eye-catching.

My whole body is emitting blue fire, the fire of goblins can burn the body world, this is completely real. It's even stronger than the fire of hell, I don't use that kind of dangerous magic very often but right now, I want to use it to kill Aubrey. If it weren't for saving him, I wouldn't have lost Ancanta's diary, the owner of the bookstore, Ancio tried to keep it for me, and in an instant I lost it. Aubrey continued to casually move forward despite my anger reaching its climax. I used my hand to throw a fireball of goblin towards him as if to vent my anger, what good is the son of Hades? Could a child of Hades despise goblins like me?

Suddenly, there was a large split in the ground that went all the way to where Aubrey had halted, and hundreds of skeletons came from beneath the ground to form a long line to shield Aubrey from the orb's fire onslaught. I saw Aubrey holding a silver knife, the blade coated with a little of horse blood. It was a weapon steeped in the river Styx and cursed with horse blood, which scared goblins like me. I reflexively stepped away to protect, my eyes involuntarily fixed on Aubrey, and the dread in me grew to its apex. Aubrey's eyes were absolutely dark, as if they had a peculiar power, emanating from a chilly beam that was focused at me. My limbs suddenly drooped, in an instant, all the strength in me was gone. I felt as if my whole body had no strength, collapsed on the ground and passed out.