The Underworld had shape, but it had no law. The dead drifted in quiet submission, awaiting the will of their new king. But Hades knew that power alone was not enough. A kingdom could not exist without order.
And so, he called upon Death itself.
A cold wind howled through the newly shaped Underworld, carrying with it a presence older than Olympus, older than the Titans. The air grew still, suffocating, absolute. Then, from the blackest corner of the abyss, a figure emerged.
Thanatos.
His form was tall and skeletal, shrouded in robes blacker than the void itself. His wings—vast, tattered, unmoving—gave the impression of something that did not need to move to reach its destination. His eyes, pale and empty, locked onto Hades with neither fear nor reverence.
"You have summoned me," Thanatos said, his voice a whisper that drained all warmth from the air.
Hades did not flinch. "You are Death. This is your realm as much as it is mine."
Thanatos tilted his head. "No. I am the passage. You are the end."
For a moment, the silence between them stretched, heavy and unbroken. Thanatos was not a god in the way Zeus or Poseidon were. He had no need for worship, no interest in power. He simply was.
But even Death required a purpose.
"Swear yourself to me," Hades commanded, his tone even, absolute. "Be my herald. Be the hand that guides the dead to their rightful place."
Thanatos regarded him with hollow patience. Then, with the slow, deliberate motion of one who had never known haste, he knelt.
"It will be done."
A shift rippled through the Underworld—an unspoken acknowledgment that something fundamental had changed.
Hades rose from his throne, his gaze sweeping over the countless spirits waiting in silence. No longer wandering. No longer without direction.With Thanatos as his enforcer, the laws of the Underworld had been set.
From this moment forward, no soul would escape Death.And no god would challenge the will of its king.This marks the first major alliance of Hades' rule! If this fits your vision, I'll move forward with Chapter 6, where Hades faces his first real challenge from the Titans. Let me know your thoughts!