The five days had passed faster than the blink of an eye and finally the wedding would take place.
Hermes had already warned Zeus about the situation and curiously Odin also seemed very interested.
He didn't exactly understand why, but he was sure that gods weren't interested in anything that didn't benefit them.
Of course, that rule also included him.
He mainly gained free pass to come and go between worlds, acting as a chameleon who answered and mediated between gods and realities.
Hermes, messenger of the gods and guide of the souls of the dead to the realm of Hades, god of merchants and thieves, diplomats and merchants, fertility, magic, livestock, roads and travel... God of many, permeating through all.
He would most likely be the only one capable, besides the Moirai, of perfectly understanding the lines of destiny and, in a certain way, observing them.
It was really intriguing to watch Hela and Ina entwined like that.
Well, if no other god rebelled, that wedding would be the great event of the millennium, it was important and unprecedented.
Two goddesses from different realities were going to marry.
The nature of both was already a great contrast of infinite and finite, life and death, immortality and mortality.
There was no way to be more dramatic.
Hermes particularly liked it, it was the same feeling he felt when he handed a mere sword to Hercules or his sandals to Perseus.
The lines of fate were interesting and fantastic.
He kept his feet up as he watched the wings of his winged sandal flap, feeling bored as time didn't seem to pass and there wasn't much to be done at that moment.
One of his first activities of the day was to guide the dead and their souls to the ferryman Charon, which was almost time for that to happen.
Facing the line of souls accumulating, he was waiting for Atropos who, after cutting the threads of life, would follow her path to the entrance of the kingdom of Hades.
Only after that he could continue with his journey and finally deliver the souls to their final destination.
The underworld, kingdom of Hades, received souls every second, but not all were able to follow the path with Hermes.
Many of them needed to wait for the lines of destiny to be taken to them to finally be able to go to the docks of the Acheron River.
Atropos was one of the Moirai and she especially took care of cutting the threads and taking them to Hermes.
It wouldn't take long for Hermes to see the appearance of a female figure on the horizon.
Atropos carried with her the threads of those who had departed and around her were all the souls in weeping and despair clamoring for their threads to be reconnected.
Impossible.
Death was inevitable and inflexible.
Atropos had a mature and unique beauty, despite the weariness conquered over time, she had an enviable and enigmatic beauty.
Hermes finally stretched out his arms and legs as if preparing to begin his work and quickly grabbed the threads of life for himself.
The threads were gold and gleamed beautifully.
Atropos held her arms and faced Hermes to observe the threads and sentenced. "Destiny is fair, but people are not... Prepare those who will go so they don't get lost along the way."
The Moirai took care of the threads of life and mainly of destiny.
Born, die, luck and bad luck, gods or mortals.
Hermes looked at Atropos and smiled. "Don't worry, they'll be fine."
The woman sighed tiredly and simply turned around, not caring what Hermes was willing to do.
For her, the path didn't matter, the end would always be death.
Hermes watched Atropos walk away and turned his attention to the strands in his hand.
Souls instinctively wanted to get closer to their threads, it was as if they could feel the last trace of life that belonged to them.
Hermes took advantage of that movement so that each thread was attached to its owner's wrist.
After tying each thread, the souls felt calmer and there was no more confusion.
Hermes positioned himself a little further ahead of everyone in order to guide them.
"Come with me, let's go to the river bank... Don't forget the obol*, only those with the coin can go on the boat."
Hermes walked through the darkness and his very presence was enough to light the way.
Souls trapped by the feeling of loss followed Hermes full of expectations.
The walk was not long and in little more than ten minutes they could already see the river Aqueronte and as they approached they could see Charon leaning on his oar on the pier.
The Acheron River was the gateway for souls and the rivers that led to the palace of Hades.
Turbulent waters of the river of pain, lamentations, horrors, unquenchable flames and finally oblivion.
After leaving the boat, they would proceed to a trial and finally to the destiny that belonged to them.
Hermes finally took flight and floated towards Carote. "Today's travelers."
Charon nodded and made room for the souls to deposit their obol in a small box and enter the boat.
One by one souls entered, one after the other, sitting quietly on some seat in the boat.
Hermes needed to wait for everyone to go up so he could finally leave, but curiously that day one of the souls showed fear and uncertainty.
Charon despite the rumors was a patient and calm man, facing the little person who didn't seem very confident about what to do.
Hermes noticing Charon's gaze on him smiled and decided to act.
The fearful soul belonged to a small girl, Hermes approached the girl and knelt down so that he could be at the same height as her.
"Something happened?"
The little girl lowered her gaze and stared at her feet.
Hermes insisted. "Is old Charon scaring you?"
Charon who watched the little child's interaction with Hermes and simply turned away.
Hermes smiled and touched the top of the girl's head. "Here, don't miss this..."
The little girl had a scared look on her face and didn't understand how Hermes could have noticed, but the reality was that Hermes belonged to many things.
Hermes had a coin in one of his hands and was casually offering it to her.
He had understood perfectly well that the little girl had lost her obol along the way.
Hermes put a finger over his mouth as a sign that it should be a secret and finally whispered. "Don't worry, just put it in that box and make yourself comfortable inside the boat, right?!"
The girl, despite being shy, nodded and ran towards the boat.
Charon who had heard everything turned around and faced Hermes when he finally saw the girl sitting in one of the vacant seats on the boat and sighed.
Hermes didn't care much about it, it was just a coin.
Charon ensured with one last look if there was anyone left and when ensuring that everyone was already accommodated, he climbed onto the boat and propelled it in favor of the current.
Hermes smiled and walked smoothly for a few steps until he finally snapped his fingers and appeared in front of Hela and Ina's house.
He could smell the faintest scent of coffee and felt excited.
He snapped his fingers once more and appeared before Hela who was preparing breakfast for her and her bride.
"Good morning, Hela." Hermes sat at the table and watched as Hela poured him some coffee.
Hela nodded, she was in a good mood.
It was no surprise to her to see Hermes appear without warning, she was always alert and ready for any problem.
Hermes wasn't particularly a threat, he was just weird and sometimes unnecessary, but she didn't care.
Also, Ina liked Hermes, so consequently she would like him even more.
Hela sat down next to Hermes and poured coffee for a third cup, it wouldn't be long before Ina woke up and joined them at the table.
"The wedding should take place just before lunch."
Hermes nodded as he sipped his coffee.
"Of course, I prepared some clothes... Don't look at me that way, it's a punishment but it's still a wedding."
Hela naturally judged all of Hermes' excitement as exaggerated in the face of this wedding.
She simply kept silent, she agreed that somehow this wedding was special.
Hermes observed the house created by him and could already observe some minor differences, he felt satisfied... The changes would mean that that house was becoming a home.
"Where is Ina?"
Hela took a few seconds and could feel that Ina was inside the bathroom taking a shower.
"She is taking a shower."
Hermes smiled and raised the cup to her mouth again, but curiously, he didn't drink it right away. "Does she know what you are intending to do?"
Hela sighed.
Ina somehow knew and Hela knew that, but there was no way to prove it.
"Yea. We accept our fate without resistance."
Hermes nodded and drank some more coffee.
Hela was perhaps acting recklessly, but he couldn't interfere and he had no interest in doing so.
"Odin stands ready to offer blessings on your marriage to Ina... I hear ravens must attend the ceremony."
Hela smiled. "There are no hurt feelings, we are family..."
Hermes knew of Hela's grievances with Odin, but nothing compared to the complicated feeling between her and her father Loki.
Loki had a persona of doubtful behavior, acting in a crooked way for unpredictable purposes and although often fair, they were also selfish.
But it was a fact that Loki was the one who delivered Hela to Zeus and that in many ways seemed unforgivable.
*Obolus/ obol are coins, it is the payment for Charon to take the souls to the palace of Hades.