"Reeeekekek! A Messenger from Olympus has arrived and requested an audience with you, My Lord – rekek!" The muffled voice of another Fury from behind the door caught the attention of everyone in the throne room.
Hades frowned, knowing that it's probably a message from Olympus. He was about to dismiss the visitor by dissing the Fury with an angry refusal, but Persephone caught the hem of the sleeves of his himation, and pleaded with him to "Please, let's hear out the messenger." He can't do nothing with those eyes.
So, with another wave of his hand, the trio of Julius Rexis and Corinna were thrown down to the floor. They thought they will be smashed flat into the solid granite, but just before impact, the ground opened up and swallowed them whole. Apparently, they were trapped inside the shadow casted by the biggest pillar in the room. In that way, they cannot be seen by anyone else who enters the chamber.
Hades wanted to prolong opening the door, as he usually does, but he snapped upon hearing the chirpy voice of the visitor, saying, "Hey, uncle, dad's got a message for ya!"
'So it's not just any minor deity who was sent here to deliver the message. It's that brat himself, tch.' He finally unlocked the door, and then came forth the Messenger God of Olympus, with his winged sandals and two-serpent coiled staff, dressed in his immaculate white chiton, the one and only, Hermes.
The God didn't even blink in his presence, which confirms his theory that he is no longer recognized as one of the Guardians of Olympus. "I came to negotiate in behalf of all Olympians and mortals from the surface."
Hades raised an eyebrow on that straightforward opening sentence. He surmised that the God of Trade and Commerce is on his business mode too right now. He was about to consider hearing him out, when suddenly, the serpents coiled around Hermes' staff began dissing his kingdom.
"Ssssssooo dark here…. can't sssssee….. no connection to light, maybe?" The male snake said.
"Thought this place is sssssupposssed to sssscream wealth….I'm not impressssssed." The female one added.
"Uh – sorry. Imma mute them now. Shut up, you two." Hermes said to the snakes and the their mouths were immediately shut from letting out more hateful comments. This gave Hades the silence he needed for him to make a comeback at the messenger.
"I have no interest in dealing with you anymore. I'm no longer an Olympus Guardian, so I no longer have to abide by the standards of that council of Gods. I rule and operate independently now, so leave and tell my brother that." He said firmly, with conviction on every word he just uttered.
Hermes wasn't fazed. "Oh, but this concerns you as well. You see, this will stress you out in the very near future."
Hades didn't reply but his look demanded more information. So Hermes just continued. "As of now, many people are dying. In the next few days in the mortal realm, if this crisis won't be solved, there will be a huge influx of new deaths that will happen, and the queue of souls to be judged upon entry will be so long you will no longer be able to monitor them in the best possible way. And from that, these souls may escape death. I know you hate souls who escape death, like that poor chap you punished with a boulder."
True, the line towards the Fields of Asphodel for the ordinary deceased mortals is already long enough as it is. If more deaths were to happen, who knows how long that queue can get. And it isn't as if labor is so easy to find in the Underworld. He only had very few capable workers who are barely even able to keep up with his demands. And as mentioned before, that stupidly long line always irks him.
Hermes didn't stop yet. "And in case you're wondering about their COD, it's mostly famine. Mortals can no longer find source of food coz Lady Demeter is destroying everything as we speak. The earth no longer bears fruits. That's the wrath of your sister. She's so mad at you for taking away her daughter without her permission. I mean, you could have at least told her you like Persephone! Hi there, cousin." He waved at her.
Persephone put her hand on her mouth. So what the mortals from earlier said was true. Her mother is indeed taking out her anger with the rest of the innocent people on the surface. Once again, she begged Hades.
"My Lord, please – please just let me see my mother! She needs to stop this."
"But…" Hades started. "I can't afford to lose you."
--
Meanwhile, unseen from the Messenger God, the three persons who were trapped inside the shadow banged on the invisible wall that was separating them from joining in the conversation. Hades released them from their binds, but being inside this trap didn't appear to be any different from being bound after all. The only consolation is, they can hear and see what's happening in the throne room.
"Hades! Let us out! Hear out some sense, come on!" Julius said as he continued to pound on to the wall. Corinna and Rexis were doing the same.
Rexis: "Do you recognize that man who just entered?"
Julius: "I'm not really familiar with the whole myth, especially what happened after Hades abducted Persephone. Not sure who's that, but I think, from that staff and those winged sandals, it can only be Hermes, the Messenger God."
Corinna: "Another Guardian of Olympus…."
Julius was getting frustrated again. He was so near – so near to already accomplishing this mission. If only they can get Persephone now, they finally have hopes of coming out from this Domain, through Hermes. If they can hitch a ride with him, the escape will no longer be a problem. He's positive that the guy will hear them out and listen to their valid reasons.
Earlier, he already tried to escape this invisible prison using his space magic, but it seems that it doesn't work in this particular scenario, no matter how hard he tried to concentrate. Even Corinna and Rexis connected several fire punches and hits to the wall too, but that doesn't seem to work as well.
'Dammit! Let us out!' He too punched the wall, and they heard a crack. 'Oh.' Julius smirked, and the others understood him.
"It's breakable. Let's hit it with our best shot."
--
Persephone fell silent upon hearing those words full of hurt from the Lord of the Underworld. She recognized the genuine and raw emotion from the God from his voice alone. He might be a little rough around the edges when it comes to winning over the heart of someone he loves, but he was no liar. His sincerity is pure.
Hades continued, "If I let you go, I will never know, what my life would be holding you close to me."
She blinked at that and asked, "But what about everyone else? The mortals?"
"I don't care about the mortals. I don't care about the headache ahead of me when many of them will die. I don't care about Zeus and the rest of Olympus. I only care about you – to be with me. If you stay with me, I will make you the happiest. I will give you everything you ever wanted. With you by my side, together we can be unstoppable. So long as you have me, you will have everything. Everything."
Now that's a catch. Persephone, like her father, loves to get what she wants. This is definitely a tempting offer. Maybe the Lord of the Underworld isn't so bad to become her husband after all? A Queen – she always wanted to be like that. To have everything under her power and control. Maybe….just maybe….
"Erm –" Hermes audibly cleared his throat. "Did I mention, that if you return Persephone, you will be reinstated as a Guardian of Olympus? And Father also concedes to your absolute rule in the Underworld – we can no longer interfere with whatever you want. See, it's a win-win situation for both parties. A compromise, you could say. Return Persephone, and the world will return to normal. You will also become even more absolute."
Hades heard him but he really couldn't care less. He knows there's a caveat to everything that his brother tries to negotiate with him. Non-interference? Sounds too good to be true. As if Zeus will ever concede to that. 'And return Persephone?' He thought. 'As if I'll ever be satisfied with that. Drop it, Zeus, I hold the upper hand here. I shall set the terms, not you.'
He could see that Persephone was clearly considering him. 'Yes, say yes.'
Hermes' confidence is dropping, because he too can see that Persephone is torn between these choices. What in the world has happened ever since Hades abducted her? Has she already developed some feelings for him too? The Goddess of Love must be enjoying this drama. Then, Hades said:
"No. My answer will always be no. Your terms carry no benefit and advantage to me. You can't call it a compromise when one of the parties get nothing at all."
'He's sharp.' Hermes thought. 'Guess I have to use my trump card. Father said to only use this when uncle is being unreasonable. Since when was he ever reasonable?'
"Then I guess we shall change the terms." He tried to put on a smile on that. "How about a bet?"
'A bet?' Both Persephone and Hades thought. What could they possibly bet upon?
"We shall both select a champion who will battle against each other. Whoever wins will be the bearing on whether Persephone stays here in the Underworld or not."
'A champion?' Hades wasn't expecting this. Sure, he can select from the pool of heroes from Elysium to be his champion and win over this thing. He is confident with the lucky souls whom he placed there. But who could the side of Zeus possibly send?
His question was answered by a loud crack from the ground to the sides, where the shadow of the Doric pillar from his chamber was behaving. From the ground, three mortals emerged, one in particular immediately disappeared and reappeared in front of Persephone. He barely kept up with the speed of that assault, and he successfully created a shadow barrier between his beloved and the young man from earlier.
Julius gritted his teeth from Hades' fast reflexes on creating the barrier with prevented him from getting Persephone. So before the God of the Underworld can catch him in shadow binds again, he stepped back and returned to where his friends were.
Hermes smiled and whispered something inaudible to his staff. The snakes immediately coiled out from the thing and extended in length, until they formed a circle around their master, and the three mortals who just emerged from the shadows.
Actually, Zeus heard from the Vision Replay (Demeter meeting the so-called 'Helios' before she ascended to Olympus - the mortal girl from the footage mentioned about a certain 'Julius' who plans to save Persephone in the Underworld) that a mortal was able to follow Hades and Persephone to the Realm of the Dead.
He used this to his advantage and relayed the information to Hermes, in case he meets the concerned mortal during his visit and Hades will continue to say 'no.' He was part of Zeus' elaborate plan. 'Assist him, and he shall become our champion.'
Shadows crept in the floor upon Hades' command, but they cannot cross the boundary that was created by Hermes' serpents. The Messenger God then said, "I temporarily rented this territory. You cannot harm anyone who is inside this protective circle, uncle. This young man right here, is our champion. Please send in your representative too. They shall fight fair and square." As if on cue, the snakes on the ground began to hiss at the shadows that were approaching.
The trio, who had no idea of the context because they were busy destroying the wall, only showed a 'HUUHH??' expression painted in their faces.