Page 46 of Seeking Hades' Ember

Opening the door, it flew out faster than I was expecting and flew right into the closet that Hades had my clothes put in. On the left were suits, shirts and pants and all of them were in black of course. On the right side of the closet, there were dresses, shirts, skirts, jeans, and anything I could think of. Every day the closet continued to grow, and I wondered where all these clothes were even coming from.

I went to a large chest of drawers and shuffled through each one until I found something to wear to bed. All of it was lacy, barely-there or silk. I curled my nose up, not wanting to even think about putting that on after the steamy session we had earlier. I shut the drawers quickly until the little fox animal started chittering again. It was scolding me! It hopped up and down and pawed at the drawer until I finally stomped my foot.

"Excuse me, would you cut it out?!" It sat back on its hindquarters and let out a little huff. I turned to the opposite side of the closet and found Hades' plain black knit shirts and boxers. Being a creep, I smelled in his scent. Mmm, smores. I wonder if I have a smell too?

I put on a shirt that reached me mid-thigh and decided to forgo the boxers. The little fox scurried out right as the bedroom door opened. Hades had a scowl on his face only to have it lightened when he saw me.

Did I really bring that much happiness to him? "Hades!" I jumped across the room and gave him a hug. He pulled me in and rubbed my back. "There is this cute little creature thing that has been bossing me around. Is he your pet too?" Hades pulled back from me.

"Pet?" he questioned. The chittering started again, and it flew up and landed on my shoulder. The fire on its tail extinguished, and only bits of smoke rose from its rear.

"This thing..." I pointed at the little critter. Its nose was pointed and full of sharp little teeth that hung over its maw. If the thing was bigger, he could really do some damage. Hades looked at the fire hamster and back at me.

"It's a Phantomtail." Hades took his finger to pet its head but it only snapped at him. It growled and started chittering again like Hades could understand every word it was saying. It continued chittering while Hades began smiling. The little Phantomtail stuck out its tongue and flew into the closet.

"What is a Phantomtail exactly, and why did he try to bite you?" I stared into the closet, waiting for the creature to come out, only to hear light snores coming from the dirty laundry. "What the?"

"Phantomtails roam around the underworld. Their primary job is to help lost animal spirits back to their humans. Shifter spirits sometimes get separated from their human counterparts and need to be led back to the Asphodel Fields to be with their humans. Phantomtails can be very protective over the animals they protect. I have known a few Phantomtails to find a human they like and treat them like their own little kit." I giggled.

"So, it thinks I'm its kit?" Hades nodded.

"What were you doing when he found you?"

"I was in the tub, but I kept falling asleep until it started to chatter at me to get out." I scratched my head while Hades folded his arms.

"That's why, you can't take care of yourself," he chided while I scoffed. "I leave for just a little over an hour, and you are falling asleep in the tub. Maybe he should follow you around. Better pick a name for him." I gasped.

"I can keep him!? Yay!!!" Cerberus walked into the room and put his nose in the air. He started growling and headed over to the closet. The chattering soon became tiny screams as I ran inside the closet to save the Phantomtail. "No, Cerberus! Don't hurt him!" I picked the Phantomtail up and pulled him to my chest while I petted his head. It purred contentedly while glaring at Cerberus.

Cerberus looked to Hades, who only shrugged his shoulders at him and started to whine. "Oh, Cerberus, you are still the bestest boy!" I scratched his belly while he groaned, but my new bestie didn't like that; he started chatting with me again. "Oh, this is going to be hard!" Hades laughed while my heart felt so warm about all of us being in the same room.

It felt like a real family, a real home to be in. I never wanted it to end, and I couldn't imagine life getting much better.

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