Falling.
It's not as fun as it sounds.
Especially when you're free-falling straight into Tartarus—the cosmic trash bin of the universe, where the worst monsters go to rot and the gods pretend doesn't exist.
Yeah. Not exactly my idea of a good time.
The air was thick. Wrong. Like I wasn't just dropping through empty space but sinking through something alive. It pressed in on me, clinging to my skin, whispering in a thousand voices I didn't understand.
I tried to steady my breathing, but it was like trying to inhale cement.
I wasn't just falling.
I was being dragged down.
The deeper I went, the darker everything became. The Underworld had its own eerie glow—rivers of fire, fields of silver mist, an occasional lost soul screaming in the distance. Tartarus? Not really. Only darkness. A huge black hole that will swallow anything that comes near. Below, something screamed. Not a person. Not even close. It was a sound that made your blood run cold. You began to wonder if it would have been wiser to go back instead of jumping into a situation full of suffering.
But it was too late for second thoughts.
The walls of Tartarus weren't normal. They shifted, twisted, like the inside of a giant, living thing. The deeper I fell, the more it felt like I was being devoured. Like this place wanted me here. Like it had been waiting for me.
I clenched my fists, feeling my power coil under my skin, waiting for something—anything—to attack me. Because let's be real, I wasn't about to make it all the way down without something trying to eat me.
Then—
The darkness thinned.
Not into light, exactly, but into something worse.
I could see the ground now, or what passed for one in Tartarus. The terrain was jagged and broken, like shattered bones jutting from the earth. Rivers of silver and black pulsed through the cracks, filled with drifting, ghostly figures. Lost souls, trapped forever.
The air stank. Like burning stone and rot. Like something ancient and powerful had been festering down here for too long.
And at the center—
A gate.
It was massive. Ancient. Made of iron so dark it seemed to drink the light around it. Symbols I didn't recognize burned along its surface, pulsing with faint golden energy, like the last dying breath of something divine.
And standing in front of it—
A lone figure.
I barely recognized him.
His back was to me, but even through the flickering shadows, I could see the weight pressing down on him. His shoulders, broad and unmoving, were tense—like he was physically holding something back. His hands were braced against the gate, fingers digging into the metal, shaking from the effort.
The air around him crackled. Shadows curled and twisted at his feet, like they were alive. Like they were hungry.
A low, guttural growl rumbled from behind the gate. Not loud. But deep. A sound so heavy it felt like it was pressing into my chest, making it harder to breathe.
I swallowed, my mouth dry.
"…Dad?"
Hades didn't move.
Didn't even flinch.
He just pressed harder against the gate, his jaw clenched, his entire body trembling under the strain.
The air smelled like lightning and ash—like something massive was waking up behind that door.
Then, without turning—
His voice came, rough and low.
"You shouldn't be here, Kael."
The gate shuddered.
Something on the other side slammed against it.
Something huge. Something angry.
A gust of heat blasted against my face, carrying the sharp scent of burning metal.
And suddenly, I knew.
I knew exactly why my father had come here.
And why he had never left.