ONE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS – THANATOS / AUREA

Set about 1001 nights after Thanatos and Aurea’s secret wedding in How I Fell For Death. It just happened that it coincided on a Valentine’s Day. This is also within the time period of their honeymoon.

I just set the dates to be like that. Please don’t calculate and berate me for the timelines being wrong. If I really calculated the dates, it won’t fall on a Valentine’s Day. So just take my word for it because I wanted the date to be Valentine’s Day and I wanted the setting to be 1001 nights after they were married.

February 14, 2031
The Great Hall
The Underworld Palace

“You have everything?” Eros asked my twin brother, Aidon.

“Yes.” Aidon smirked.

“And the shade agreed? You sure she’s the best one to do this?” Eros asked.

“Yes, she did. She’s the best in illusions! Cut it out, Eros! I did my part already.”

“Is he ready?”

“Yes. But he’s hesitant about our plan. Our reputation precedes us. But I told him it’ll all work out.”

Eros laughed. “Well, we’ve caused so much mischief that we’re known for it.”

“I’m not complaining.” Aidon replied with a huge grin and both of them laughed once more.

I heard the two gods conversing from afar. I couldn’t help but feel a bit fearful and hesitant after hearing their conversation.

When Eros and Aidon were together, things really go wrong.

Also, I couldn’t help but feel that they were talking about me.

I emerged from the shadows of the Underworld Palace and glared at both of them. The two of them jumped back and the expressions they wore was similar to a child with his hand inside the cookie jar caught by his mom.

The feeling of dread inside me deepened.

“What are you plotting?” I hissed.

“Nothing.” They answered at the same time with their heads bowed. They looked guilty as hell! And I wanted to find out what they were plotting.

I summoned my powers so I could peek inside my twin’s mind.

“Gotta go!” Eros shouted. Then, he grabbed Aidon’s arm and before I could seek the secrets behind my twin’s mind, they both vanished.

Several Hours Later
The Fields of Elysium
The Underworld

“I think that’s about it. We’re done for the day,” I told Thanatos after glancing at the Book of Souls. This was a book given to us by the Fates. The list of strings they cut were here.

Those deaths that were destined, we escort the shade into their afterlife in the Underworld. Deaths that were not planned, those that died whose names weren’t in the book were another matter. First, we check if the soul is good or bad by weighing their hearts in a scale. If the shade is good, it’s offered another chance at life. If it’s bad and doesn’t want another life, we escort it to the Underworld.

“You sure we’re done? I think there’s one more,” Thanatos replied.

Maybe it’s one of the unplanned deaths. Only Thanatos can sense it and I trusted his instincts. So I took his hand and he embraced me tightly. He jumped and with a mighty flap of his beautiful, white wings, we were soaring through the air.

We landed inside a dark, quiet room. Two male bodies lay on the floor.

The shades stood beside the bodies. We approached and I asked them their names. Then I checked on the book if their names were there.

“This is one of those unplanned deaths,” Thanatos whispered.

Thanatos stepped closer, away from the shadows and the moment that he did, the eyes of the shades lit-up and their mournful expressions were replaced by joy.

“Are you an angel?” One of them asked in an awestruck tone. I frowned for there was something about him that was familiar. I looked closer but I haven’t seen this man before. But there was just something about him I couldn’t quite place my finger into.

“He is! Look at those gorgeous wings!” the other shade replied.

I swore I heard Thanatos snort.

But when I looked at him, his face was the calm, expressionless mask he always wore when he dealt with shades.

“Take us away then! We’d like to get started on our afterlife!”

I frowned. “You don’t want another chance at life?” I asked.

They both shook their heads. “It’s only full of suffering! Now we get the chance to start a new kind of life!”

“Alright then,” Thanatos replied. He waved his hand over them and the tether from the soul and the body vanished. They stood up and followed us as I opened a portal to the Underworld. We were with them as they walked through the tunnel, got ferried by Charon across the river and into the Hall of Judgment.

We waited for their names to be called and their souls to be judged. I smiled when they were given a ticket to the Fields of Elysium.

Thanatos and I escorted them into their afterlife.

“Alright, so here’s where you’ll be staying. This is Elysium. You can have whatever kind of afterlife your heart desires,” I explained.

I brought them to the nearest shade and suddenly, we were sucked into the shades’ afterlife. This particular shade only wove a simple peace of heaven for his afterlife. He had a small farm where there were no fences. The animals were allowed to roam free.

In the middle of the farm, stood an old one-story house with a rocking-chair in the porch. There, he sat every morning to watch the sunrise and every afternoon to watch it go down. This man’s wife was still alive and I remember him telling me before that this farm was her dream. He was waiting for her so he could show it to her and they can live their dream.

“Wow… I never knew the Underworld worked like this,” one of the two shades said in awe.

I reeled and looked at him. “Underworld?” I hissed. How did he know that term?

Again, I looked at the shade and even considered summoning my powers so I can peek into their mind.

The one beside him coughed. “That’s what it’s called in Greek Mythology and Egyptian Mythology right? When we were alive, my brother and I studied ancient history. We don’t believe much in religion so we called it what it’s called in the myths. Is that wrong? Have we offended you?”

“N-no.” I replied. There really was something familiar about that guy.

“I believe you have everything you need here,” Thanatos said.

I nodded. “Just think of what afterlife you want and it will come true.”

“Will you wait as we decide? So that we can make sure we’re doing it right?”

I looked at Thanatos and he nodded.

“All right, we’ll stay.” Thanatos took my hand and we stepped away from the shade’s afterlife. We searched for an empty spot in the Fields of Elysium and waited for the two shades to weave their afterlife.

“You can’t weave one afterlife together. One of you first and then the other. If you want to be together, you would still have to petition the King of the Underworld for that.”

They each looked at each other then nodded. “Him first.”

The first shade took a deep breath and then closed his eyes. I knew he was envisioning the afterlife he wanted clearly in his mind. There was a rush of power and suddenly, the scenery around us changed as we were sucked into his afterlife.

The first thing I saw was the desert. As far as my eyes could see, there were heaps upon heaps of sand dunes. To my right, I noticed a set of tents. My breath caught in my throat for the tents were so large and beautiful.

Thanatos tugged on my hand and we walked towards the direction of those tents. He lifted the tent flap and the moment we stepped foot inside it, our clothing changed.

Thanatos wore a flowing white long-sleeved shirt that was made out of thin material to keep out the desert heat. Over that, he had on a dark vest embroidered with golden patterns. For pants, he wore white flowing pants of the same material. And then I saw his shoes were pointed.

I grinned. He made Aladdin look like a kid. Here he was a Greek god—wearing clothing that made thousands of women over the centuries swoon.

“You look like a much hotter version of Aladdin,” I whispered.

He laughed and then looked at me from head to toe.

“And you—“

Instantly, all the laughter faded from his eyes.

 It was replaced with burning desire.

He stepped closer and his eyes raked over me once more.

He didn’t finish what he was saying. Instead, his head dipped and his lips claimed mine in a fierce kiss. It wasn’t slow or tender. It was hot and it made my entire body blaze with need for him.

When he pulled back, I looked down to see what I was wearing that caused such a spark of reaction in him. I was wearing something a belly dancer wears! For my top, it was like I wore only a bra. And it was red. My midriff was left bare.

I wore see-through red pants that showed off every inch of my legs. It looked very sinful and provocative.

A golden belt dangled on my waist and it clinked with every movement I made. It also made my skin glow more luminous and enhanced the look of my bare midriff. It was like the belt screamed at whoever was looking to look at my mid-section.

I gasped at my clothing and started to summon my magic so that I could change it. But the look in Thanatos face stopped me. One moment, desire burned in his eyes. The next, when he saw that I was summoning my magic, he looked like a lost puppy.

My heart went out to him. I smiled and let him look his fill. He was my husband after all. I couldn’t deny him this simple pleasure.

I looked around and noticed the interior of the tent for the first time. It was very beautiful and lavish! Every inch was covered by carpet. There were also several cushions on one side of the tent and it looked very, very comfortable. On the other side stood a long chaise. Everything looked as though it was made of velvet and  the dominant colors were red and gold.

There were also several silk drapes scattered around the tent. It was really beautiful and exotic. It looked like it came straight out of my Arabian Nights Fantasy.

The shade wanted a weird kind of afterlife.

But it was my kind of afterlife.

I loved the Arabian Nights stories and when I was young, I dreamed that I’d be a princess whisked away by my sheikh into his desert. But he won’t have a harem. He’ll only have me.

Thanatos grinned when he saw my stunned expression.

“You like it?”

I smiled mischievously. “This was one of my fantasies,” I admitted.

The two shades stepped before me and both of them had this mischievous glint in their eyes.

“Time to turn the fantasy into reality, sis,” one of them whispered. He was the one I swore was familiar.

He raised his hand and waved it over his face. His glamour faded and I saw my twin brother smiling sheepishly at me.

“Aidon!” I hissed.

“And Eros!” the man beside him added. He also dropped his magic and the smiling face of the God of Love and Desire greeted me.

The moment I saw them, dread started to fill me once more.

Surely this is not another one of their pranks?

“Relax, sis. Nothing here to embarrass you or something. I’m not really the evil twin.” Aidon shrugged.

“And it’s not really true what they’re saying in Olympus that we’re up to no good,” Eros added.

I turned to Thanatos and he just shrugged. He had this look that said that he didn’t know what they were talking about.

“What’s the meaning of this?” I asked as I rubbed my temples.

“A gift from me and Eros. We organized everything, you know. Aren’t you even amazed at what we can do?”

I rolled my eyes. “You are the Prince of the Underworld, Aidon. You can do anything here.”

He nodded. “Yeah. So I hired the service of a shade to do this illusion for you. Because I love you.” He batted his lashes at me and I smacked his arm.

“Ow!” he shrieked.

“Relax, Aurea. This is our gift for you and Thanatos this Valentine’s Day,” Eros told me.

“Yep. When we were young, I was always your sheikh, your prince. I hated every minute of it but you’d cry and tell Dad and he’d literally force me to do your bidding. Now, I think it’s time for you to live your fantasy with your real sheikh.”

My heart melted at his words.

He really did go to great lengths just to arrange this for me.

“Sooo. Here you go. Enjoy every minute of the illusion. It’s going to last until tomorrow.”

“What’s the catch?” I asked.

Aidon pretended to look offended.

“Nothing! Just that you cannot leave this afterlife until tomorrow!”

“Aidon!” I shrieked. I jumped towards him. But he evaded me. Thanatos and I married secretly and our dad, Hades, still didn’t know anything about it. He would sense this and he’d finally know.

The Underworld will literally freeze over if that happened.

“Relax! Dad will not know! He’s with mom in Paris!”

I lunged for him again but Eros grabbed his arm. “Okay, gotta go now. Bye!”

“Happy Valentine’s Day! Celebrate me and your love!” Eros shouted. Then the two disappeared leaving me and Thanatos.

When they were gone, he pulled me back into his arms. “Now… Tell me all about this fantasy,” he whispered.

His warm breath sent a shiver down my spine.  But when I realized his words, I immediately blushed and turned away. I heard him laugh and it slid through me like silk.

He guided me towards the cushions and flopped down. He stretched his length across it and placed his arms over his head. His blue-slash-grey eyes regarded me with interest and desire as he waited.

He really looked every inch the sheikh of my fantasies and my heart fluttered inside my chest.

I didn’t speak for a long time and just basked in the glory of living my innermost fantasy with the perfect sheikh. He arched an eyebrow and crooked a finger. I smiled and sat beside him.

“Tell me a story,” he said. I giggled for I remembered one of the tales in Arabian Nights.

Thanatos smiled and lifted a hand to caress my cheek.

“What has your face blushing like that?” he asked.

“You asked me to tell you a story. One of the stories in Arabian Nights is actually about a King and a woman named Scheherazade.”

Thanatos positioned himself more comfortable across the cushions and looked at me.

“Tell me this story.”

“Alright.” I cleared my throat and began.

“There was once this King who found out that his first wife was unfaithful. He had her killed but she left him scarred forever.”

“What did this King do?” Thanatos asked.

“Every night, he took a virgin as his wife. Then the next day, he had them killed so they could not repeat what his first wife did.”

Thanatos flinched. He asked me to continue and I could see he was really interested in the story. But then again, my husband was always like that. He’s the sweetest and most romantic god of all.

But I tell him that only when we’re together.

With the others, he was the fiercest warrior and mysterious god of Death.

“There was this woman named Scheherazade. She is very smart. She read so much books about politics, philosophy, legends and so much more! It was said she read thousands of books and knew the works of great poets by heart.”

“She sounds like you with your love for reading.”

I blushed even more furiously at his fierce gaze. He chuckled and placed a soft kiss against my temple.

“She was the vizier’s daughter. The vizier is one of the highest politicians. Against her father’s wishes, Scheherazade agreed to a night with the King.”

“Of course. She would have died after that night.”

“But she didn’t. I told you she was smart and she planned to outwit the King. Once she arrived at the King’s chambers, she wished to bid her sister goodbye. She asked her sister to tell her a story beforehand. And her sister did. So she told a long story all night long…”

“And she captivated the King’s heart?”

I shook my head. “No… Not right away. But she captured his interest. She told her story and stopped in the middle of it. The King urged her to continue but she told him there was no more time since dawn was breaking. The King spared her life that day and told her to come back the next day so she could tell him the rest of the story.”

I took a deep breath before I continued.

“She came back the next night and finished the story. Then, she told a new one and stopped again just as dawn was breaking. This story was even more interesting than the first one. She did this over and over. She did it for one thousand and one nights… Those nights consisted of one thousand stories…”

“And then?

“After one thousand and one nights, she told the King that she had no more stories to tell him. She prepared herself to die.”

“But that was not what happened?”

“Yes. For during those one thousand and one nights, the King fell in love with her. He spared her life and installed her as his queen.”

“And they lived happily ever after?”

I nodded and repeated his words, “And they lived happily ever after…”

I sighed and smiled.

Thanatos sat-up and pulled me closer once more. He waved his hand and his robe and vest disappeared leaving him in those white pants. The sight of his chest made my mouth water and I instinctively placed my hands on him.

“Tonight, I am your King and you are my Scheherazade,” he whispered before his lips claimed mine. This time, the kiss was sweet and I felt all his love for me. He poured it all out and left none behind.

And it was magnificent.

It was the type of kiss that gave butterflies in your stomach and causes your toes to curl.

Mine definitely did.

“I know the story. I’ve read it several times. But you telling it makes it even more beautiful,” he whispered before he peppered my neck with kisses.

“You know it?” I whispered.

“Yes. Actually, I am part of Aidon and Eros’ plan to give you this. You may not realize this but today marks the day of us being together for one thousand and one nights…”

My heart stopped and all the air was stolen from my lungs.

I should have said something profound but all I could manage was, “Y-you counted?”

Thanatos laughed and kissed me again.

“Of course. Each day with you is a blessing. I will continue counting even though our days together would number millions.” He sighed against my lips.

I wrapped my arms around him and closed my eyes. I heard the familiar whoosh of his wings being released and then felt the softness of the feathers against my skin as they wrapped around me as well.

Truly, it was the most exquisite feeling in the world.

“I love you Aurea, you’re my Scheherazade. I was a jaded man like the King once. But you changed all that. You made me believe in the world again. I was dead but you brought me back to life. You are my anchor to the world of the living. Without you, all this has no meaning.”

He swept his hand around the extravagant tent.

I sighed at the sweetness of his words and tightened my hold on him. Truly, I never wanted to let him go.

He’s my husband, my lover, my darling protector. His wings are my stronghold and his arms are my home.

I pulled back wiped away my tears with one of the silk cushions.

“So what now?”

“We enjoy what Aidon and Eros gave us. We live out the last one of Scheherazade’s one thousand and one nights with her King.”

“The last one? But she didn’t have any stories for her King by that time.”

I looked at him and lust burned in his gaze.

“Oh.” I whispered as I realized what he meant.

He chuckled and then flipped us over. I ended up on the cushions with his body covering mine.

“You’re mine, Aurea. Tonight and one thousand and one more nights after. Then another one thousand and one after that.”

He kissed my lips.

“And another,” he whispered as he undid the knot that held my top in place.

He lowered his head and kissed my neck.

“And another,” he repeated.

His warm breath sent heat pooling down my belly.

“And another… Until the rest of eternity.”

He went back up and claimed my lips once more. I wrapped my arms around him and ran my fingers down the soft feathers of his wings.

“I love you, my husband. My King…”

“I love you too, my Scheherazade.”

True to his words, he really spent the night making my fantasies come true. He showed me over and over again what has not been written in Scheherazade’s story. He showed me what passion was.

He showed me how much he loved me.

I responded and showed him how much I loved him too. I showed it through every touch, kiss and caress.

Throughout that night, inside the beautiful and extravagant tent, I burned for my sheikh over and over again. He took me to heights unlike any other. We both soared and this time, I had my wings too.

Now, it was no longer a fantasy but reality.

It was no longer just a story I loved but a memory of how Scheherazade, me, and her King, my beloved husband Thanatos, spent the last of that one thousand and one nights…

***********************************

What? No sex?

Yes. I wanted to preserve Aurea and Thanatos' sweetness. Besides, the last two one-shots already had sex. So get over it. Hahaha.

Remaining one-shots: Zeus and Hera, Eros and Psyche

Story that Aurea told Thanatos: One Night With The King

Hope you liked this! And please don't forget to VOTE and COMMENT! Thank you! <3

Twitter:                     http://twitter.com/AerithSage
Got questions?:     http://ask.fm/AerithSage
My Blog:                  http://aerithsage.tumblr.com
Facebook:               http://facebook.com/AerithSageWP