When I had gone to bed I had assumed that I would awake back in my own bed and ready for the new day ahead and yet when my eyes opened I had found myself in this familiar world that was nothing but endless black, punctuated by tiny, distant lights that shimmered like stars. The Void. I hadn't been here since… since Chaos first brought me to meet her after I had died. Why was I here again?
"You're awake," came the familiar, amused voice of Chaos. It drifted through the darkness, followed by her figure manifesting from the emptiness like ink blooming in water. She leaned lazily against nothing, arms crossed, her endless black and gold robes swirling around her as if alive.
"Chaos," I said cautiously, rising to my feet. "What's going on? Why am I here?"
Her grin widened. "Always so direct, Hades. No room for pleasantries?"
I folded my arms. "Pleasantries are for lesser matters. Speak."
She laughed, her voice a melodic chime. "Very well. You're here because Ravanna wishes to speak with you."
The name was unfamiliar, but yet it felt like I should know who she was, as if she was someone very important. "Ah... who?"
Chaos raised a slender brow. "Have I never mentioned her before? You know, Ravanna? The Golden Mother? The Creator of all things? The One Above All?"
I frowned. "I thought you were the Creator."
Chaos's laughter rang out, loud and genuine. "Me? Oh no, dear Hades. I am a Watcher, a Guardian, nothing more. My siblings and I—Order and Abyss—we watch over different parts of all Creation, it is the job that was given to us by our mother after she created everything."
I narrowed my eyes. "And you never thought to tell me this?"
"Would it have changed anything?" she replied with a smirk. "Come. Ravanna doesn't like to be kept waiting."
Before I could respond, Chaos snapped her fingers, and the Void shifted around us. One moment, I stood on nothingness, and the next, I was in a grand marble hallway that stretched endlessly in all directions. It was bathed in a golden light that seemed to emanate from the very air. The walls shimmered as if alive, pulsating faintly with energy.
Chaos led the way, her steps soundless. As we walked, I tried to process what I'd just heard. The Creator of all things. The One Above All. And she wanted to speak to me? Why?
We reached a massive set of golden doors that seemed to hum with power. Chaos pushed them open with ease, revealing a throne room beyond that defied description. Three colossal thrones dominated the space, each carved from a different material: one of shimmering starlight, one of liquid shadow, and one of crystalline fire.
Chaos took her place on the throne of shadow, lounging like a cat. "Since you are part of my domain, my siblings won't be joining us. This matter is mine alone to oversee."
The air grew heavy, and a presence filled the room. It was unlike anything I'd ever felt—vast, ancient, and utterly overwhelming. A golden serpentine dragon coiled into existence, its scales gleaming like molten sunlight. It moved with an elegance that was almost hypnotic. As it descended, the dragon began to shift, its form morphing seamlessly into that of a woman.
Her skin glowed with a radiant golden hue, adorned with four spiraling horns that framed her face like a crown. A halo of light and shadow intertwined above her head. Her eyes—golden orbs flecked with stars—met mine, and I felt as though she was peering into the very core of my being.
"Hades," she said, her voice resonating like a symphony. "Welcome."
I bowed instinctively, my usual pride tempered by the sheer magnitude of her presence. "Golden Mother."
She smiled faintly. "Rise. There is no need for formalities here."
I straightened, meeting her gaze. "Why am I here?"
"Because your journey in your world is complete," she said simply. "You have grown way faster than we had thought."
The words struck me like a blow. "What do you mean?"
She gestured, and the air shimmered, forming images of my world. I saw my family, my children, my people. The Aidonians spreading my teachings, their civilization flourishing. The Roman Empire crumbling as the my mortal followers created the Aidonian Empire rose in its place.
I watched the images sadly as I saw my family grow older and expand as more children where born. Zagreus was crowned the King of the Underworld and Apolla the Queen of Olympus. I was not surprised when the two got married, yet I was sad not to actually be there to witess it in person, even though I saw myself hugging my son and daughter.
I could see as thousands of years passed. The Aidonian Empire would grow and expand from Greece and move west and conquering the world as I would rage war against Pantheons and took them over adding them as a branch in my Pantheon. My life... if it was even my life, I watched it all happen.
"What is all this? What am I even watching."
"What you see before you is your life, although you are here, your body continue to life. A copy of your soul was swapped with you allowing the body to continue to exist, these visions you see is what has been happening ever since you arrived here. Several thousand years have already passed, a thousand more will soon come, already you have done what no god before you has accomplished," Ravanna said. "Your world thrives. Peace reigns. Even without your direct intervention, it will continue to flourish. Wars that have become canon across the multiverse will never happen, trajec events won't happen, you know about cause and effect and now the effect has taken effect, and you yourself are no longer needed."
I clenched my fists. "No longer needed? That's my world. My family. My people. You can't just… take it from me."
"I am not taking anything from you," she replied sighing. "Your body will remain, carrying out your will as if nothing has changed. But your soul, Hades… it is time for you to move on."
"Move on to what?" I demanded.
Her gaze softened. "Like I have told you, you have grown far grander than we had thought. TI do believe you do not want your story to end here so we have a job for you. "
I blinked. "A job? What is it?"
"To travel the multiverse and save failing worlds," she said. "You will be a sudo guardian in a way, being able to be reborn into worlds as someone capable of saving it. As you travel through these worlds you will be able to keep any powers that you gain through your travel... well except."
I couldn't help but sigh. "Except that I am going to be stripped of my god power? I was getting so used to being able to do anything that I wanted."
"And yet with all those powers you were not really challenged by anyone else. You were to powerful."
"Uh... fair point." I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "So what do I get out of this, there is always some transaction. I save the worlds and in return I get what?"
"What do you want?" Ravanna asked as she raised an eyebrow.
"I want to use the two wishes that I have left to-"
"Wait you have two wishes left?" Chaos asked confused. "Did you not use them to ask for like smemory powers and the force?"
"No I didn't, I used one wish to expand my domains and asked you to keep the other's for when I want to use them."
"Oh shit, your right." Chaos looked very nervous and quilty.
"Look how about I give you the option to pick one starter ability every time you go to a world, though it will reset every world." Ravanna comprimised. "Though, I will allow you to keep any powers that you learn in those world."
Fine. I'll do it. When do we begin?"
"Tomorrow," Ravanna said. "For now, rest. You will need your strength for what lies ahead."
Chaos appeared at my side, her grin as mischievous as ever. "Come, Hades. Let's get you settled. You're going to love the accommodations."
"Yeah, lead the way." I followed her out as I looked at the visions still up. I stopped to one that showed my family laughing and hanging out at home.
"God I am going to miss you all," I muttered as I looked up at my wife. "I hope to one day see you again, my love."