The Petition

By Lessa

This story contains scenes of an adult nature, including sex between a man and a woman. If you are under 18 or if this is illegal where you live, please go somewhere else.

This story is not intended to violate any copyrights held by MCA, Universal Studios, Renaissance Pictures or any other entity involved in the making of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys or Xena: Warrior Princess.

Kalyca quickly ducked into Aphrodite's temple to place her petition in the pile of scrolls at the center of the room. Not that she expected a busy goddess to pay attention to a simple village girl, but it wouldn't hurt. She wasn't very good at writing, but hoped the goddess would excuse her. What she'd learned of script was by watching her father surreptitiously. Aphrodite had to grant her request, she just had to!

A few days later Kalyca was startled to find a woman tap her on the shoulder. She tried not to gape as she saw a figure draped in a garment she'd never seen nor imagined. The long blond hair on the woman cascaded to her breasts, which were barely constrained in a pink thing, her private parts were covered by a second pink piece of cloth, and she was wearing a see-through robe over that. All the essentials were covered, but wow! Kalyca wished she could look like that for one moment in her life.

"Are you this Kalyca chick who left me a petition?" The woman asked in a strange accent.

"Yes, I'm Kalyca. Who are you?" What could someone want with her, well other than to ask her to help in the fields. She'd been told over and over she was no good at anything else.

"I'm Aphrodite, didn't you look at my statue at my temple?" The goddess frowned for a moment. "Never mind. I haven't gotten a request like this in ages! Why him? Lay it on me." Aphrodite pointed her hand at her side and a golden chair appeared. She made herself comfortable and settled back for Kalyca's answer.

"You're so beautiful!" Kali couldn't help but compliment the goddess. She saw Aphrodite flick her hair back and pose for a moment. "I thought that the only man I could attract was one who had no other options. I want to help him; I've never heard anyone say anything nice about him, it reminded me of me." Would that be clear enough for Aphrodite?

The goddess laughed until she cried. "Oh, that's good. So you've never seen him? Never talked to him? Never heard anything about him other than where he lives?" The girl was amusing to say the least.

Kali hung her head. "You think I'm stupid, just like all the others. No, I don't know anything about him, but he's got to be better than the old man my father wanted me to marry. I know I'm not pretty, and I don't have many skills, but I'm willing to learn. Can't you help me?" Her voice shook, if the goddess didn't grant her petition, what would she do?

Aphrodite sobered. This was more than the normal simple requests she received daily. Most women just wanted to meet and enjoy the attentions of a man. Obviously this girl wasn't treated very well, and thought her only option was the one on the scroll. And she said wanted to help him, that was interesting. "Very well, I'll get back to you. I've got to talk to him first; I can't just send you down there, not without his permission."

Kali brightened a little and ran over to hug the goddess. "Thank you! No one listens to me, and no one's ever tried to help with anything I ever wanted. I'll be good to him, you can tell him that." She spun around in delight and went back to work humming a cheerful tune.

Aphrodite noticed that none of the other workers had noticed Kalyca talking to thin air. They all seemed to ignore and avoid her. Poor baby, she didn't have an easy life. Aphrodite tried not to get involved with mortals and their problems, but this was sad. She hated being sad.

Aphrodite popped in on Kalyca at various times during the next week. After she was satisfied with what she saw, she brought the gentleman in question. He felt sorry for the girl, as she'd expected, but he didn't want Aphrodite to grant her petition. The goddess argued in favor of Kalyca and finally wore him down. He agreed to let her come visit him "temporarily" and he'd make his final decision after that.

Aphrodite took Kalyca down to visit the man she'd chosen via her petition. She expected Kalyca to be shocked or disgusted at the place in which he lived and to ask to be immediately taken back home. Kalyca surprised her by looking around in wonder instead.

"He lives here? There's so much space." She kept running ahead of the goddess and occasionally spun around, making herself dizzy. She giggled and laughed and if Aphrodite hadn't been so tired she'd laugh herself at the joy on the girl's face.

Aphrodite had made an agreement long ago to not use her powers here so she felt handicapped in this place. Walking was the pits! Where was that child getting her energy from? "Kalyca?" The girl had gone out of sight, but there wasn't anything or anyone here who'd try to injure her, so Aphrodite wasn't really worried.

Kalyca stopped at the sight of a somber man dressed all in black. He was leaning against one side of an wooden entranceway to a meadow and staring at the people who were playing there. He looked so sad that she wanted to cheer him up in some way. She dashed up to him and stared until he looked down at her. She expected him to recoil, everyone else did when they first saw her, but to her surprise he didn't do so. "Why are you sad? Can I help?"

He looked down at her. Few dared to speak to him, and of those none would dare mention his black mood to him. She certainly wasn't pretty, he knew that already, but from what Aphrodite had said to him that wasn't the reason behind her petition. She'd written that she wanted to help him which was the sole reason he'd allowed Aphrodite to badger him into submission. He was intrigued.

"I'm not sad, child. I'm thinking." He looked down at her with a thoughtful glance. "What exactly would you do to help me? I'm curious."

"Sit down a minute, if you please, sir." She gestured to the ground.

He obliged her and sat down against the doorway. "No, not there, here." She tried to pull him over into the middle of the doorway, so he let her. He felt her kneel down behind him and almost jumped in shock when he felt her hands start to rub his shoulders. He heard the puzzlement in her voice as she asked, "Hasn't anyone given you a shoulder-rub before? I've been told it's one of the only things I'm good at. Just relax a moment. Your muscles are tight!" He could feel her concentrating as she rubbed his shoulders and arms.

Aphrodite came upon them like that and laughed. "This is rich. You two will do just fine. I'm out of here."

Kali jumped up as Aphrodite's words sank in. She turned red and tried to apologize to him. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking. Of course you have to be Hades. I'm sorry I didn't recognize you. It's my first time in the Underworld, you know." She started brushing him down trying to get of the dirt off his pants. Her hands were shaking. Had she blown her only chance at getting to stay down here? She couldn't bear to live up in the mortal world anymore, he had to let her stay.

She looked stricken, so he tried to reassure her. "Don't worry, you had no way of knowing. It's not like I wear a sign around my neck that says 'god of the Underworld'. Come on, I'll show you around." He raised her up from her half-crouch and patted her on the back to try and calm her. She certainly was a jittery child, but from her treatment up above, he couldn't quite blame her.

He waved his niece away as he guided Kalyca into the Elysian Fields. If she wanted to live here with him and 'help' then he'd have to make sure she was familiar with the territory. It wouldn't do any good for her to get lost down here. He didn't have time to deal with finding her, and some of the inhabitants in Tartarus might take it in their heads to bother her if she wandered around in there.

Aphrodite turned and vanished. Promise, shomise. Uncle Hades could just deal with her using her powers to leave. Kalyca was in good hands, Aphrodite had never known him to be cruel or unkind to anyone.

It took a bit of effort before Kali stopped cringing every time she saw Hades. She was so worried he'd tell her the trial period was over and she would have to return to the world above. She loved the Underworld. She could always find someone willing to talk with her, and no one talked badly about her because she asked lots of questions. No one shuddered at the sight of her face or stared at her when they thought she wasn't looking. The stories they told were so interesting. Sometimes she forgot to eat when they told of battles, of children's antics, of loves. She was careful to not find her parents though, she knew what her father had thought of her, and her mother had died long ago, when Kali was injured.

Hades was surprised at her; she was here in the Underworld because she wanted to be there, no mortal had ever done that before. He was as apt to find her in Tartarus 'helping' as he was in the Elysian Fields. He felt sorry for those above who hadn't taken the time to look past her appearance to see the beauty within. The inhabitants of the Underworld weren't concerned with physical bodies anymore, that was just the shape they were most comfortable with. Kalyca was kind and generous to a fault. She cheered him up on days he was stressing over his inventory, and gave him a shoulder-rub every night. He felt younger than he had in centuries. His residents liked her too, he was called every now and again to hear them praise her. They loved talking with her because she wanted to listen to what they had to say. It was better to hear them happy than to be complaining about this or that. If one more person told him the food was bland he'd have to scream!

He brought up her status one evening a few weeks after she'd joined the Underworld. "Kalyca, I'm not sure what to do with you. You've proven you can help and I hear from the inhabitants that they love talking with you. But there are no mortals here. There's just Charon, the dead, and me."

Kali looked at him with tears in her eyes. "Please don't send me away, Hades. I want to stay down here with you. I can help, you know I can. Don't make me go back!" She'd grabbed one of his hands in both of hers and pressed it to one breast. "I'll do anything if you'll let me stay."

Hades wasn't sure what to say or do next. Kalyca hated her life above, that was certain and he knew why, but what could he do? She really had no place here, and if she went back above, she'd probably not live much longer anyway - Celesta had told him she was slowly dying of grief - so she'd return. He signed heavily. This was not a choice he wanted to make. Gradually he became aware of her last action. Her breast beneath his hand was full and ripe and her nipple pressed back against his palm.

Kali knew what she looked like, but she didn't have anything to give him to show her sincerity other than her body. "Hades?"

"Yes, Kalyca?" Hades had a hard time talking. His attention was focused on her body. She'd mentioned in passing that few chose to spend time with him, and she was right. He never cared about physical beauty, so that didn't much matter to him. But Kalyca was quite lovely if one didn't look at the scars on her face. Her body was lush and he wondered for a moment how it would feel against his. She'd cushion him with her softness, cradle him with her body and loving spirit. Suddenly he felt a strong desire to not ever let her go from his presence.

"May I stay with you tonight?" She was being pitiful, but she wanted to stay, and she'd do anything necessary to make sure she did.

Hades deliberately placed his other hand on the opposite breast. The sensation was wonderful. She filled his hands perfectly. "Kalyca, you humble me. Would you do me the pleasure of joining with me?" She deserved to be asked in a courtly manner.

Kali was surprised. To be asked when she'd made it clear that she was his for the taking, how unusual. "It would be my honor, Hades."

She stood up and let the dress she was wearing drop to the floor, then helped him disrobe. She prepared to lay down in the bed, but he stopped her. "You've given me a shoulder-rub every night since you arrived. I think it's time to return the favor." He positioned her and began to soothe her muscles.

Hades was being deliberately gentle. She'd been ill-treated by those above, and she deserved to be pampered. Who better than he? He was attuned to his senses, he had to be in order to enjoy the minute pleasures of the Underworld. The silk and leather he habitually wore soothed his skin, and he loved the feel of it. Aphrodite had accused him of being a sensualist, and before he was through with Kalyca, she'd be one too.

He rubbed her shoulders, then moved down to her arms and back. Once she was relaxed he started rubbing her feet and legs. Kali felt her body turn to mush as Hades worked magic on her body. The smooth silk sheets beneath her and the rough silk of his hands above combined to make her feel as if she were on Olympus itself.

He rolled her over and began to kiss the scarred face. When he reached her mouth she stunned him by responding whole-heartedly to his caress. He started to rub her front as he'd rubbed her back and was gratified to see the buds of her nipples and the slight moisture that dampened the silk sheets beneath her womanhood.

He waited until she was breathing heavily and her muscles were totally lax before arranging her body beneath his and plunging into her. She moaned and squeezed him with her inner muscles. Her legs wrapped around him and her arms pulled his mouth back to hers. It wasn't very long before they both groaned their pleasure.

Hades cursed himself for moving quickly, but Kalyca did the unexpected. "Thank you Hades. I knew you were the right choice." She drifted off to sleep before he could get an answer from her.

He'd just have to keep her. The mortals above would never know what they'd passed up by treating her like an imbecile and a freak. She was a ray of sunshine into his bleak life. Aphrodite knew what she was doing when she sent Kalyca down here. He'd have to do her a favor sometime soon in return.

Kalyca's Petition: