Reincarnated as a Phoenix

Chapter 173 – Hades

"I'm sorry but, I've got to mention the elephant in the room. Or gigantic puppy"

"Uh huh, please can we pet him!?"

Having just arrived at Hades's palace, actually being teleported here by the furies oddly enough, we arrive inside a grand hall and ahead of us is a gigantic throne and much smaller one, both of which being occupied by the owners of the Underworld, that being Hades and Persephone.

Persephone is a blonde-haired woman full of smiles, there is an air of a sinister vibe especially with the black and red dress making her look like a leader capable of great atrocities. As for Hades himself, imagine a grumpy looking dark-haired man, with a beard full of flavour and an aura like he is about to explode at any moment. It is weird how his muscles seem to bulge out of those red robes though.

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The architecture around this place is definitely... unique. It has a usual fancy palace theme except with a mostly blood red colouring, the uniqueness come from the art and décor around. We're talking paintings of armies of undead, statues of naked people and even the odd relic or artefact as well. It makes me feel like we're in museum rather than a palace.

Of course, me and Ariza care about none of this because in the corner of this hall lies something big, cute and adorable on a rug.

"Allow me to get this straight, we invite you into my home and the first thing you want to do, is give Cerberus a head pat!?"

"Don't be like that husband, can you really blame them with how cute Cerberus is?"

"Bah, this is why I stopped dealing with you living. Cerberus should be fine with it, just avoid his back end otherwise he may accidently kick you"

"Woof!"

Oh, should probably mention both Asmodeus and Dionysus have to wait outside. Apparently, it's bad etiquette for Gods and demons not associated with the Underworld to enter the house of Hades, at least that's what the furies said before arriving.

Anyways, getting the confirmation we need, me and Ariza rush over to the three headed dog and start the human instinct of petting everything. Sure, he looks like he could devour us in one bite, but that cuteness of his overrules everything.

"Uh, who's a good Cerby?"

Have you ever heard about that kid's program with the big red dog named Cliff or something? Cerberus literally looks like him! Except with having three adorable heads instead of one, as if we could ever turn down such a prime opportunity to pet him!

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---Imagine this but way redder and one body. AI wasn't working how I wanted and this is way out of my area of expertise to edit it in lol.

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"Who's a good dog? How comes you weren't guarding the entrance big guy?"

Smiling over to me and Ariza having the times of our lives, Persephone happily answers to us while Hades seems to be sulking now.

"Cerberus only stops the dead from leaving so he has no interest in stopping the living... make sure you scratch his stomach on the left side, he really likes it there"

"Bah, you're all spoiling him"

While we're doing this even getting smiles from the rest of our party, Petra thankfully enough is capable enough of asking the needed questions. We would all like to know why we're even here, despite the pup who is a perfectly acceptable distraction. He really loves his stomach scratched it seems.

"Heh, while those two are getting that out of their systems, would it be okay if we converse? It really is a pleasure to bask in your brilliance, how would you two like to be addressed though?"

'Look at Petra trying to lap up to the Gods'

"You really don't have to do that mortal, me and my husband despair at anything formal"

"Yeah, my dear Persephone is correct. We already get enough backtalk from our boy so at this point, formalities feel unnatural"

"You two have a son?"

Despite me still petting Cerberus, that information was unknown to me so I've got to ask.

"Bah, don't even get me started on him, probably out ransacking the realm or off sleeping with Megaera again. That disappointment of ours always finds something annoying to do"

"Hades dear, if you call our boy a disappointment again, I'm withholding you know what for the next decade or so"

"Bah... I'll drop it then"

I'm pretty certain Persephone was referring to withholding sex? I mean, this should've been obvious who holds the pants in this relationship even before speaking, you don't woo the God of the dead without being strong enough to withstand his anger. If anyone could tame the beast that is Hades, then it would be her.

That thing about a son is actually a myth I'm unsure on, mostly because I'm sure the son of Hades and Persephone is supposed to be dead? Eh, did always say not all myths translate well, maybe we'll come across him? Who knows...

"Heh, I'll be more causal then. What reason did you want to speak?"

Petra asks that almost taking after me a little, it sounded way blunter than it probably should've been. At least that means we can get a little more serious, should probably leave the pup alone as well now. No chance Ariza will, she'd bring him back with us if she could.

"I invited you here personally, to ask why you have come down to such a place to rescue a God of all people?"

"I mean, I could respond by asking why Dio is imprisoned down here in the first place? Last time I checked, you and Zeus aren't on the best of terms yet you allow him to use a prison in your world"

Properly joining in the conversation, that seems to take both the Gods back a little. Being a complete Underworld nerd works in my favour this time around.

"Done you research there, girly? Whatever business that goes down between me and that cretin is none of your business"

"Hades, the mortals ahead of us aren't enemies so best we do this on equal terms"

A stern look is given to him by his wife as well as that statement, clearly Persephone is that rational voice in his ear that keeps nagging until he calms himself down. This is honestly exactly what I was expecting.

"Bah, fine then. That backdoor he accessed, the one the demon knows of as well is impossible for me to defend when Zeus travels down here personally to imprison a being. I may despise my brother but I'm not suicidal enough to face him head on like that... yet..."

It should be obvious Hades despises his brother as much as the rest of us, the way his face scrunches up like that shows it all. At the end of day if you follow the myths, he did get screwed over when it came to deciding on who rules what but not going to go too heavily on that. Zeus got the land, Poseidon got the sea and Hades got the dead.

"...Now, I've answered a question so you do the same. Explain why you're even down here?"

"Actually Hades if you don't mind me interrupting, I guess I'm the reason. My Lord was in danger and Jarl Denver gave us the information to help. Everyone just offered to help"

Priestess is the one to answer, I guess we can be pretty open with the God if he's planning to take down Zeus as well. The enemy of my enemy is my friend and all that.

"You're the child he adopted and Hephaestus is now involved? Huh, interesting..."

'I'm still unsure why Nathan gets a little weird with Charlotte being referred to Dionysus's child, it's the same sort of reaction once again'

"...I assume Dionysus and the demon told you what needs to be told? It doesn't matter if they haven't yet, we'll be getting involved regardless further down the line"

The way this sounds, Asmodeus has been swaying over the Gods of the Underworld as well. We're going to get thrown right into the middle of this now, I know that we want to defeat the God but it feels like we're going straight into the deep end and have no idea how to swim. Eh, it'll probably be one of those things where we'll know a lot more when we speak to Asmodeus next. We're still going to kill him someday though...

"They haven't told too much yet. Is it safe to say you are in an alliance with Asmodeus then?"

"..."

Instead of getting a response from Hades himself, all I get is him grinding his teeth and looking at me like I'm an idiot. They definitely aren't in an alliance it seems.

"The word alliance will send my husband mad so let's just say we're acquaintances for now. When the day comes our suppott is needed against Zeus's tyranny, that and our faith will be given to you all"

'Ah, so this is what this mainly is then. When the day comes all-out war happens, the Underworld is saying they'll help?'

About this time, I notice the three furies arrive into the palace almost as if they've been listening in to the conversation around the corner. Pretty sure Hades wants to scold them but he might just be like this to everyone.

(Alecto) "Continue on your journey and when the time comes, we'll also be there to assist"

(Tisiphone) "There's way more stronger people down here to give a hand when needed than just us! Lenard could've helped as well if you didn't kill him..."

(Megaera) "Just make sure it's not on a weekend, holiday or when it's nap time in the Underworld though"

"So, to summarize. This meeting was basically just to say you'll help us out, when it's needed? You understand how vague that is, right?"

A smile appears on the woman's face once again but Hades just looks his usual grumpy self. He's definitely like this to everyone.

(Persephone) "Fair point, but it'll all make sense someday. Your black-haired partner in particular is the key to this whole thing after all"

'Wait, Petra's the key?'

"Me? You do understand Ikarus is the most powerful of us all, right?"

(Persephone) "You'll understand someday, it's not our place to intervene just yet. The fates will decide when you're ready"

Sighhh, thought we long past the days of there's information to be known but shall not know of it yet, what's the bet the prophecy gets brought up again soon?

...

Ah, the beautiful awkward silences that our party seem to attract, it appears both sides have no idea on what to say next so I'm always perfect for such a situation.

It is strange how silent the others have been through this though, Zeki and Nathan have been as quiet as a mouse. I'm pretty sure Mr obnoxious is still sulking at the fact we haven't attacked Asmodeus yet, maybe the knight is just happy to listen along? Eh, it doesn't matter that much really, they'll talk if they want to. Ariza's still off giving Cerberus the time of his life. We need to buy her a puppy or a cat someday.

"So, do we leave... stay or continue speaking? I'm not sure if there's anything else left to ask, unless anyone else has anything they wish to ask?"

...

Complete silence from my party, guess that means we can move this along now?

"It's entirely up to you, the furies can guide you back outside if you already wish to leave but the guest bedrooms will need a little preparation if you want to stay a night or two"

"That... may be a little ill-advised dear wife. We both know the living aren't supposed to spent any longer than needed down here, it's unnatural to the order of things"

'Eh, Hades can come across as a bit of a dick but there's no real point in staying any longer than needed I suppose'

Before setting off though, it actually turns out one of us does want to ask something.

"Before we leave, there is something that must be said. Being the rulers of the land of the dead, you presumably might know where a specific soul resides? The one belonging to the oracle"

'Wait, Petra wants to know if her mother is down here or not? Please don't tell me she's looking to make amends or something, that dragon doesn't deserve it'

"Apologies mortal but the souls of the oracles are always lost upon death. The person you seek would be around here somewhere but it would be like searching for a needle in a haystack. You could spend thousands of years and still never being able to find the soul"

"My dear Persephone is correct. There's only so much documentation we're able to keep up with so the likelihood is that soul would be listed under anonymous. It just simply wouldn't be noticeable regardless of species"

Petra seems less concerned by this that I thought, maybe it wasn't about making amends then? I'm going to blame her for this though, I had no questions I wanted to ask but she's now set me off.

"I've got a question or two now though, how does this place and the souls even work? Time seems weird since my abilities refuse to recover down here"

My questioning really seems to annoy the God, I'm starting to think Hades isn't a huge fan of curiosity.

"Bah, you really want me to go into explicit detail on how the soul discards the body, makes its way here and then settles down? Or on the reason it makes no sense to leave power unrestricted inside here? I've already tried stopping Zeus entering this place but even that doesn't work"

"I don't think that was what she was asking Hades, maybe she meant what the souls do when they die? It's just a state of bliss, calm or agony depending on how you were during life, each soul gets determined separately and some can even end up together if they can't be disconnected. There are some noticeable exceptions though"

That... really wasn't what I wanted to ask but I guess it's kinda cool knowing what happens when you die though. Judging by the way they do things here; I'm guessing it's safe to assume these two would have no idea how we came into this world then? This place is the land of the dead and we technically didn't die crossing over into those eggs if you believe what we've been told before.

(Ikarus) "What noticeable exceptions are they?"

(Persephone) "With beings that don't belong in this word, like with what happened to the blue mortal"

"Uh, me?"

Ariza's responds looking a little confused, pretty certain Persephone is referring to the time she died? I remember something was said about how she remembered where she went after death and that she was in line for something.

(Hades) "You obviously forget much from when you visited this place last mortal. It's a good thing you were revived since we wouldn't have known where to send it..."

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(Temporary Perspective Change)

"Bah, are you sure it was okay to share that much my darling Persephone? We haven't made a mistake meeting those mortals in person, right?"

Finally alone after continuing the conversation about the blue phoenix, me and my husband Hades are a little exhausted now, more down to mental fatigue rather than physical.

That situation regarding the blue one's travelling soul wasn't that difficult to fix since we only really laid eyes upon her for seconds, it's just that the phoenix goes against all natural laws regarding this world or any other. Once you start messing with biology mixing different species from different worlds, you start getting corrupted beings capable of deciding the fates but in turn are unable to do the simplest of things, like fertility for example.

I'm actually a little surprised more questions weren't asked, maybe they've had enough of the land of the dead already and just wanted to leave? Even just something about how they came into this world wouldn't have been stupid, would've been difficult to give them a straight answer but we could've at least tried.

"Honestly Hades, thought we didn't share enough. You can stop it with the act now"

"What act?"

"Return to being my adorable blushing man now, would you?"

"Bah, it's pure madness how you stole my heart back then..."

He's always been a little rough around the edges but that's what I've always liked about him, our first meeting actually goes against the norm with this sort of thing considering we met in a meadow. Yes, a meadow, no bloodshed, killing or kidnapping, just two Gods falling in love at first sight. It would've gone better if we had mother Demeter's blessing but I fell out of love with the rest of the family ages ago.

"...Now that moment has passed, where do we continue next?"

"There's not that much to do yet dear except keep the denizens willing and ready to go. On the day the message is sent, that's when we'll finally reveal our faces to the Gods back in Olympus"

The demon Asmodeus has already explained the details of the future he's aiming for and how to go about getting there, albeit in his own mischievous vague way. Despite how he appears and his affiliation, he's the only demon that truly isn't evil at heart, at least it seems that way if you look down into the depths of his soul. His past will come back to haunt him someday though, that's a guarantee considering what he's aiming for...

"What about the birds dear? You think they'll hate us after finding out who's responsible? It had to be done but we do hold some responsibility for it"

"That's why you're grumpy? Because of that?"

He grumbles as if I don't really know my husband's heart deep down. He was always the most caring of the three brothers despite the persona he puts on, Zeus and Poseidon have always been evil when compared to my Hades.

"It's inevitable it'll come up someday and if they feel the need to turn to violence, then we'll unfortunately have to perish. They may not even blame us though; Hephaestus was the one who started this finding souls from another world thing..."