Where The Dead Forget — Chapter 6: Guilt
Hades Gameverse Memory Loss AU | Achilles/Patroclus | E | Chapters: 6/22 | Words: 60,353 (Ch 6: 9,450 words)
Chapter 6 Summary: Achilles reflects on his reunion with Patroclus and has bad dreams. Hypnos demonstrates his abilities as an ASMR youtuber. Patroclus tells a story. Achilles has a better dream.
Excerpt:
Achilles enters his bedchamber, his mind as cluttered as the room before him. The sight of it at once makes him weary, and he sinks onto his pallet with a heaving sigh.
Why won’t you just… forget about eternal glory? The both of us together… don’t you see? We are already glorious.
On the journey home, Achilles had turned the pages of his memories, rereading them all with fresh eyes. The low simmering sense of revulsion in the pit of his stomach had only grown more acute as he traveled lower into hell, and now, back in the depths of Tartarus, he feels deserving of its darkness and its isolation more than ever.
There is no one in the world who loves me more than you, is that not so? So then… why not let me be the one who loves you the most?”
“Indeed,” he mutters aloud into the silence of the room. “It is a question I should have asked as well. Why couldn’t I have allowed myself to be the one who loved you the most, in turn? Glory be damned.”
Achilles has realized he is even more of a fool than he thought. How could he have forgotten Patroclus’ words at this crucial moment? How could he have not even listened?
Time and again, Achilles has always only been thinking of what he himself wanted for the two of them—never compromising, never considering what would make both of them happy. Has Achilles ever truly seen Patroclus as his own person? Or has Patroclus always been simply an extension of himself in his own mind, someone Achilles could not fathom to separate from his own ego?
Lord Hades had even made the suggestion for both of them to enter Asphodel together—it could have been their second chance at the modest, peaceful existence Achilles had eschewed in favor of a life of glory. How careless he had been to immediately reject it out of hand.
And now, here is the consequence. Patroclus was left with no choice, and so he drank—the ultimate act of defiance—in order to reclaim his agency once and for all. The nature of his memory made it apparent that this was an extraction with all the precision of a surgeon’s knife, wholly himself but for that one missing piece: the metastasized part of Patroclus which had drained the vitality of his very soul, slowly killing even his eternal self. Even then, it seemed, it had been too late, with Patroclus left completely spiritless and despondent. But perhaps in his mind, it was better to be miserable and alone by his own choice, rather than to be tormented by the memories of a man who did not truly honor him the way he should have.
Read the rest here:
https://archiveofourown.org/works/43292178/chapters/132992266
Previous Chapters: 1. Drown | 2. Grief | 3. Grace | 4. Weakness | 5. Together
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berserk tiger - i. inception
Pairing: Min Yoongi x Kim Seo-ah (OC)
Rating: PG-13
WC: 1.7k
CW: mentions of stalking, threatening
A/N: I have very little plotted out for this series. It's gonna be random and sometimes I'll post non-chronological pieces. No beta so feel free to point out typos or give concrit. Compliments are always nice. Moodboard photos are taken from Pinterest, edit is mine.
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Taglist (open): @bangtan-famiglia-net @bangtanwritershq
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap tap.
Tap tap tap.
Tap tap tap tap tap.
The quick tempo of his footsteps sped up even more as she glanced behind her. He was gaining on her quickly. Practically running, she ducked around the corner, coming face-to-face with a man in black.
Gasping out a quick apology, she made the executive decision to ignore the stranger danger signs blaring in her mind. She was in enough danger from non-strangers as it was–besides, most crimes, especially violent ones against women, were committed by people the victim knew and were close to. Statistically, she was safer with this random guy she’d found all in black in a dark alley where no one else was around…wow, she wasn’t safe anywhere, was she?
Ignoring everything but the fact that so far Random Guy hadn’t pulled a knife on her, she cleared her throat and widened her eyes pleadingly, begging him to play along.
“Babe, I was waiting ages for you! What took you so long to come get me?” she exclaimed, taking his hand in hers, unwilling though he was.
He stepped out of the alley into the street and saw who she was running from. His gaze flicked down to her, then back at him.
His grip tightened on her hand.
A black car came gliding to a stop at the curb in front of them, and a man in a black suit climbed out of the driver’s seat to open the rear passenger door.
Random Guy handed her in with the grace of one born into a chaebol family, then closed the door and turned to face her pursuer.
She glanced through the smoked glass to see what was going on, surprised that she could barely hear any noise through the car.
The driver flashed a bright smile at her through the glass, blocking her view. Wow, he was really pretty.
The smile disappeared and he opened the door, letting Random Guy get in. She scooched over, tugging the hem of her dress down, aware she didn’t look her best at the moment. The interior light showed his gelled hair, soft features, onyx-sharp eyes, and a faded scar running down the right side of his face.
He studied her silently in return, making her uncomfortably aware of her wind-blown hair falling out of her braid, the perspiration beading on her body, and her rumpled clothes.
Putting a bright smile on her lips regardless, she extended her hand to him. “I appreciate your helping me get away from him. I sincerely thank you.”
He shook her hand, his large one dwarfing hers, his long fingers cool and clean. “You’re welcome. What is your name?”
“Oh, right. Kim Seo-ah.”
“Min Yoongi,” said the man just as his driver got in at the wheel. He threw him a startled look, glancing between her and her rescuer with an unreadable expression on his face.
The car started with a barely-there hum, and Min Yoongi turned to her again.
“Could you tell me what was happening back there?”
She glanced down, smoothing her hem more carefully than it called for. “He’s my little sister’s ex-boyfriend, Lee Geum. He created debts in her name and decided that we needed to placate him; he thinks he’s some hotshot yakuza or something, like he’s playing at being Agust D or something,” she laughed shortly. “He’s been following me home from the pawnshop where I work for the past few weeks, trying to intimidate me into giving him our money and following me to see our new living arrangements. I’ve managed to lose him so far, but today he started getting closer and closer and I saw him with a knife in his pocket. It was a blessing that you were there.”
He hummed, uninterested. “How many men does he have working for him that he thinks he’s the next Agust D?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe twenty or thirty? He’s not a good leader.”
Min Yoongi coughed.
“Have you gone to the police and asked for their help to deal with the issue?”
“I don’t know if you noticed, Mr Min, but this part of town isn’t exactly the most protected place. We’re all too poor to require any real guarding. What valuables could we possibly have? And I did try the police, when he threatened my sister, but they didn’t care.”
The driver clicked his tongue disappointedly.
“What if someone was able to do something about it?”
“Like what?” Seo-ah glanced at him curiously.
“Sent evidence of his crimes to the police or something. Do you think that maybe they’d take you seriously and do something about it then?”
“Maybe,” she admitted dubiously.
“Are you any good at acting?”
She glanced at him suspiciously. “I’d say I’m decent. Why?”
He simply flattened his mouth into what she suspected was a half-smile but could have been a grimace. She took the hint and dropped her line of questioning.
With a gasp she realized that the car had stopped outside of a luxurious villa in Seongbuk-dong.
The driver opened her door, extending his hand to her. She gingerly took it, stepping out onto the pebbled drive as she took in her gated surroundings.
Min Yoongi’s warmth alerted her to his presence behind her.
“Er…”
“Come with me.” He took her elbow gently, leading her into the house, past a man in a suit like the driver’s, but looking considerably more dangerous.
Min Yoongi led her to the kitchen, putting a kettle on to boil for tea and pulling out two cups.
He paused, hand on a cupboard door as he glanced back at her. “Would you prefer something a little bit stronger?”
“I’m alright with tea. Thank you. May I ask why I’m here?”
“Because I’d like to talk to you.”
“Without asking for my permission?” she raised an eyebrow, dropping the formal tone.
He raised one back at her impropriety.
“You essentially kidnap me, I don’t have to add honorifics,” she shrugged, hoping to cover up the unsettling thought she’d been struck by, that she’d traded the devil she knew for the one she didn’t.
“I apologize. Would you like to join me for tea at my home?”
“I’d prefer to have you to mine as a thank you, but given your look–” she waved a hand at his suit–”and my home, this is the better option. I’d be delighted to join you, thank you for asking.”
He gave her another inscrutable, curious look as he poured the tea. “You’re welcome.”
She perched, feeling only slightly awkward and out of place, on the white leather seats at his marble island, gratefully taking the cup he handed her.
He stood across from her, his own cup in hand.
“So, from what I’ve gathered from you, is that you’re the head of a low-income household, you’re in financial difficulty, your dongsaeng’s ex is threatening trouble, and there’s not much happening to address these issues.”
She swallowed a sip of the hot tea, feeling like the words had burned hotter than her tongue now was. That was her situation, but somehow the cold way he had laid out those facts threatened to tear down the defensive walls she’d built.
“Yes, that is the state of things,” she said quietly, already feeling the fuzz on her tongue from the tea burn.
“How much debt did the ex leave you?”
She swallowed another sip. “About thirteen million won.”
As expected of a man who lived in this area, he didn’t bat an eye.
“I have a proposal for you, then.”
She nodded.
“I will help you pay off your debts and take care of this ex, and in return you will enter a contractual marriage with me for five years.”
Seo-ah coughed, expelling the tea from her windpipe that she’d inhaled in shock. “You want me to do what?”
“Marry me. For five years. What do you say?”
“Why do you need a wife? You look fairly young, you’re rich and hot and appear to be influential.”
He smirked at her list of his traits. “Business reasons. There are some things I cannot tell you until you have signed the contract, if you so agree. I’ve been looking for the right wife for a while now, and I think you’ll be splendid.”
“Could I have a copy of this contract so I know what’s expected?”
Min Yoongi pulled his cell phone out and pressed a button. “I need the papers in the kitchen.”
A minute later footsteps sounded in the hallway, then a man in a suit jogged into the kitchen, carrying a small briefcase in hand. He paused as he took in the scene, then handed the briefcase off to Min Yoongi.
He opened the briefcase and pulled out a sheaf of papers, rifling through them to collect a handful that he handed off to her.
She flipped through them, reading the surprisingly simple legal jargon. It looked aboveboard.
She was getting desperate: some creditors were already hounding her enough without Geum’s pressure, Jinah would be needing to pay for her schooling, plus the usual living expenses…Well, she could use this stroke of luck that had fallen into her lap. She was well aware that this contract, though it sounded fair, would likely end in Min Yoongi’s favour, but she would cross that bridge when she came to it. He was the best option at the present time and she would not borrow trouble from her future self.
“I’ll do it,” she declared.
The man who’d brought the briefcase handed her a pen, the clicking of the end sounding loud in the suddenly supernaturally still kitchen.
She signed her name with a flourish, watching the black ink seep into the paper. Min Yoongi took the pen from her and slid the papers from under her arm, scrawling his signature quickly and handing them to the man.
“The registration will come through in a couple days. Would you like to stay here until then?” he asked courteously.
She shook her head. “I appreciate your offer, and this opportunity, but I need to get back to my sister. I don’t like leaving her alone in our area, especially with her ex around.”
“Alright, I’ll get Hoseok to take you back. Thank you for signing this.”
She swallowed, mouth suddenly dry despite the two cups of tea she’d drunk.
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