"Evie." Hades greets me with a curt nod. "What are the three rules to follow when judging a troubled soul?"

I blink. "Well, hello to you too."

Hades ignores my quip. "What are the three rules?"

"My refreshing break was thought-provoking, thanks for asking." I reply cordially. "How was yours? Find any horrifying new ways to torture people? Realise a horrifyingly obvious truth about any of your close friends?"

Kezia snorts from the background. Hades sighs, his impassive expression wavering for a moment.

"Evie, I have only been gone a mere few hours. Do we really need to exchange superfluous pleasantries?"

"Believe it or not, I actually enjoy the 'superfluous pleasantries', Hades. It helps me get to know you better." I respond with a small smile. "I like getting to know you."

"Ugh, way to be gross, Evie. Why would you want to get to know him better?" Kezia mimes gagging, turning a blind eye to the scowl Hades throws in her direction. "I mean, have you met him?"

"Okay." I groan, purposefully moving in front of Hades before he steps forward. Kezia smirks unashamedly, wriggling her eyebrows impishly at Hades. I give her an exasperated look. "Stop being snide."

"Snide?" Kezia gasps in mock offence, laying a hand on her chest. "I don't know what you mean. I'm never snide. Hades is just icky."

"Kezia."

Kezia grins, holding her hands up innocently. "It's not my fault you can't handle the truth."

I roll my eyes and turn back to Hades. "Let's go."

Kezia barely has time to finish singing "that's what I thought!" before we've blinked out of her cottage and into the throne room.

"Well, that was rude. You could've at least said goodbye."

"I think we can both agree that, between Kezia and myself, I was not the one who was acting rudely in that interaction." Hades turns to me, his expression austere. "Now. What are the three rules?"

"Wow, no rest for the wicked, huh?" I joke. No response. My joviality sobers up. "Okay, not in the mood for joking. Got it. There will be no more jokes. I will be jokeless. What is a joke?"

"Evie." Hades stops me with a bemused look. "You are rambling."

"You're rambling." I retort childishly. The look on his face deepens into utter chastisement. My nose wrinkles. "Alright, fine. The three rules we must follow when judging a troubled soul are reassure, reason, rectify. The three 'R's."

Hades raises an eyebrow. "Those aren't the rules I told you."

"I know. But the words you used when you explained it all to me were so big and superfluous," I give him a pointed look. "That I completely forgot them and came up with a much more exciting way to remember the rules."

"Exciting?"

"Oh, don't act like that word isn't in your vocabulary." I grin unabashedly up at him when his eyes narrow slightly. "I'll prove it to you. The three 'R's. The first: reassure. Reassure them about their death and where they are, but be aware that everyone adjusts differently. The second: reason. Listen to their reasons for wanting their specific elysium with an unbiased and open opinion. And the third? Rectify. Rectify their elysium and be confident in the decision you make."

Surprise lights up his expression. A smile twists up his lips. "I underestimated you. You do remember them."

"Of course I remembered them. It is literally my job to remember them." I reply with a laugh. Then my grin grows. "Plus, I like surprising you. I like making you smile."

Hades' smile grows in response, and I almost swear his cheeks redden. He clears his throat and ducks his head. "Are you ready?"

"Ready for what?"

Hades steps back to gesture at the couch standing proudly behind him. "You are going to judge your first souls."

The blood freezes in my veins. I gape at him. "You're not serious, right? I'm not ready for that!"

"Evie, you have been preparing for this for the last two months." Hades reminds me. "There comes a point where my advice remains just that: advice. I cannot provide you any further guidance until you believe in yourself. I will be right here with you the whole time, I promise."

I hesitate, pinching the inside of my elbow. "But I don't want to be the reason someone doesn't get the Elysium they deserve."

"I highly doubt that your judgement will be anything but just." Hades gently takes my hands in his and squeezes my fingers. "You do not need to be nervous, Evie."

"Me, nervous?" I laugh nervously. "Why do you think I'm nervous?"

Hades smiles, somewhat ruefully, and unfurls my fingers to reveal several red, half-moon crescent indentations in the palms of my hands. "You pinch your elbows when you are nervous."

"I'm not sure how much you know about human anatomy Hades, but I can tell you that my hands are not my elbows."

"You also tend to resort to sarcasm and mocking remarks." Hades replies dryly, and I grin sheepishly. He leads me over to the couch and pulls me down next to him. "You will be fine, Evie. I will be with you the whole time."

"But I'm scared, Hades."

"It is only natural for you to be scared of something you wish to excel at. That just shows you care." Hades covers my hands with his and squeezes. I try to ignore the warmth that tingles through my body when he meets my gaze. "You can do this, Evie."

I take a deep breath and clench my trembling fists. "Okay. Okay. Okay."

"Okay?" He teases. I nod with a shaky smile. "Then close your eyes. When you open them, the first person will be standing before you. I will remain silent unless I need to step in."

I stare at him fearfully for a moment longer, unable to move. Hades smiles at me, squeezing my fingers again. "Trust in your intuition, Evie. I do."

I swallow back the lump of fear in my throat and close my eyes, slowly counting to ten in my head. When I next open my eyes, a young woman is standing in front of me, looking more terrified than anyone I've ever seen. She barely graces 5'0, and doesn't look any older than seventeen. Her caramel skin pales as she shrinks away from my scrutiny, her chocolate brown eyes widening as she hides behind a thick ebony curtain of hair.

My gaze flickers over to Hades and he nods imperceptibly. I turn back to the girl and set my shoulders determinedly.

Okay. The steps. Go through the steps. The first 'R'. Reassure. Address the spirit, tell them where they are. Comfort them.

Almost as if on cue, the young woman stammers, "Where am I?"

I construct a smile that I hope is reassuring. "Where do you think you are?"

"I... I don't know." Her young face crumbles, and my heart breaks. Her Latino accent thickens with anguish. "I was in the forest, and then I felt an awful pain in my side, and then I... I woke up here."

I stay silent as realisation visibly dawns on her face. Horror contorts her expression.

"I'm... I'm dead, aren't I?"

"Yes, you are. I'm sorry." I nod soberly. All of a sudden, as I'm looking at her, without even asking, I know her name. "Do you know where you are, Flora?"

"I... I don't know." Fear fills her gaze as she stares at me. "Who are you?"

"My name is Evie, and this is Hades. We look after everyone once they die." I reply kindly. My heart thumps loudly with every word that comes out of my mouth.

I hope I'm saying the right thing.

"Okay." Flora frowns as she mulls my words over. "Where am I then? Is this heaven?"

Right. Second 'R'. Reason. Hades says the only ones who appear before us are conflicted about their elysium, or are expecting one that they don't deserve. So, I need to ask them for their reason behind wanting their specific elysium.

"Not exactly. We prefer to call it Elysium. It's like all the different concepts of heaven and hell you can think of, all mixed together to make Elysium. Does that make sense?"

Flora nods hesitantly. "Am I in the heaven or hell part?"

"Well, that's what we're here to talk about." I reply gently. My eyes flicker over to Hades for validation, but he only responds with silence.

Well, I guess that's encouraging.

I return my attention back to Flora, who's watching me with confusion in her eyes. I smile at her. "The reason that you are standing in front of us right now, instead of in your elysium, is because you're confused about what you deserve. Does that sound like it might be true?"

"I... I don't know." Flora stammers, twisting her fingers frenetically. Her eyes dart from side to side. "I— I don't..."

"You don't what?"

"I don't know what I deserve!" Flora cries hysterically. "I— I tried to stop them, I tried to save him, I tried, but..."

She bursts into tears, cutting herself off.

I frown, shuffling forward in my seat. "What happened?"

Flora ignores my question, wrapping her arms protectively around herself as she blubbers. "They— they came out of nowhere! I tried to save him from them but I couldn't. I should have stopped them from hurting him, he was my responsibility, and now it's my fault he's dead, it's all my fault."

"Flora, hey, it's okay. They can't hurt you anymore." I soothe. "Take a deep breath and, when you're ready, tell me what happened."

Flora sucks in a shuddering breath, and it takes her several attempts before she can speak without sobbing.

"They came for us in the middle of the night. Took my brother and I right out of our beds as we were sleeping; our parents never heard a thing. They shoved us on a truck, tied us up, and drove us for hours with barely any food or drink. There were at least thirty other people in the truck with us; it was so hot and squashed and smelly. They told us that they were going to sell us off, make my brother a slave and me a prostitute, so when they accidentally left the back door open, we tried to escape with a few other people and..." Flora's voice trembles as the memory fills her eyes with tears. "We ran, and we ran, and we ran, but they found us and just attacked us. With guns. I tried to protect EJ, but they just pushed me out of the way like I was a fly and started beating him. And they didn't stop. They just kept kicking him, and punching him, and beating him with their guns, and he wouldn't stop calling out for me. But when I tried to push them off him, one of them aimed their gun at me and everything went dark." Flora pauses, choking up for a moment. She covers her face with her hands. "They killed me before I could protect him. It was my responsibility to protect him, and I left before I could save him."

Flora takes a deep, but shaky, breath, and lowers her hands. Her gaze drops to the floor as her voice barely comes out above a whisper.

"EJ was six. And I killed him. His own sister. I deserve to be punished for leaving him behind."

My heart breaks as I watch her shoulders slump. It takes all my inner strength not to leap forward and pull the young girl into a hug. Instead, I sit on my hands and soften my tones.

"It wasn't your fault, Flora. You never could have predicted what happened to either yourself or your brother. You did the best that you could to protect EJ."

"But I was in charge of him! I was all he had, and I failed him."

"Flora, you did not fail him. You protected him as much as you knew how to, and I cannot think of anyone who could have done any better in your situation. You did your very best for your brother, and you do not deserve to be punished for that." I tell her firmly. "You're barely even an adult, and your situation was far worse than any sane adult could have ever fathomed. You did your best, Flora. I know it, and your brother would know it."

"You really think so?" She says falteringly.

"Of course I do." I smile at her. And now, for the third 'R': rectify. Time to rectify her elysium. "You don't deserve to be punished for your actions, Flora. You protected your brother right up to the moment you died, and I know that he'll be forever grateful for that. You shouldn't continue to punish yourself for what happened, Flora. You should rest, knowing you did your best."

"Really?" Flora whispers. A spark starts to flicker in her eyes, one looks a lot like tentative hope.

"Really really." My smile grows when her face lights up. "You deserve eternal happiness, Flora. Don't blame yourself for another's terrible decision."

"I'll—I'll try." Flora takes a deep breath and smiles shakily at me. The edges of her small frame start to shimmer and waver as she whispers, "Thank you."

She bows her head and steps back, a feeling of peace washing over her features as she softly fades from view. I lean back against the back of my chair with a deep sigh.

"Wow. That was..." I let out another long breath, massaging my temple with my fingers. Somehow, the mental exhaustion from that one conversation is already setting in. "Wow."

"You did well." Hades comments. I slowly turn to look at him. Pride shines out of his gaze as he smiles at me. "That was a difficult case to begin with. Well done."

"Did I do it right?" I ask anxiously. Hades frowns, but nods. "I didn't screw it up? I didn't just ruin that poor girl's afterlife?"

"Of course not. You were kind, patient and fair towards Flora, and you did everything I would have done when you dealt with her incertitude. You were perfect, Evie." I snort derisively, causing him to reach over and squeeze my hand. "I mean it, Evie. Did you really think I'd throw you in the deep end without the confidence you'd succeed?"

"I don't know! I guess I thought it would all be psychopaths and crazy killers and I'd be completely floored by the first person I met?" I laugh weakly. Hades simply smiles and squeezes my hand again. "I mean god, that was hard! The way she died, all the horrible things she suffered through in her short life... it was awful. How do you do this every single day and not get involved in their stories?"

Hades shuffles closer to me and wraps an arm around my shoulders. I smile and lean into him, relishing in the reassurance of his embrace as I rest my head on his shoulder.

"I certainly struggled not to get caught up in their lives at the beginning. Their stories, what they had to suffer through or caused others to suffer through, are difficult not to get tangled up in, particularly when you compare it to the exhausting complexity of my family. But over time I learned to distance myself emotionally, for my own preservation." Hades softly thrums my shoulder with his thumb, his touch almost feather-light. "You will find it harder to distance yourself from their emotions to start off with because you were human, but with time, you will learn. You just need to learn not to let their stories affect you. There will be some that are tragic, some that are unfair, some that may even be abhorrent, but that will never change. Those storylines will never stop playing out. That is both the blessing, and the curse, of humanity."

I smile a little into his shoulder and shake my head.

"Well, I guess that's the difference between you and me, then." I say softly. Hades' brow furrow questioningly as he looks at me. "I'm sorry Hades, but no matter how much you think I'll get used to hearing the stories of their lives, I know I'll never not get emotionally involved. I'll never be able to fully distance myself from people because that's the kind of person I am. I think with my heart, not my head."

"You do not need to apologise for having a kind soul, Evie. Your empathy and kind heart is what makes you so special and so suited for this job. You balance me out." Hades smiles. My heart warms in my chest, burning my cheeks red. I duck my head, hiding behind my hair. "Are you ready for the next one?"

"No rest for the wicked, huh?"

"Or for the judges of the dead." I push my hair out of my face to throw him a dry look. Hades chuckles and raises an eyebrow. "So it is alright for you to make a joke, but not so agreeable when I do?"

I narrow my eyes jokingly. "Who are you and what have you done with the Hades from the past two months?"

A shadow flickers through his gaze, and his shoulders stiffen. He abruptly gets to his feet and moves to stand behind the couch.

"We must continue."

Internally, I kick myself. Way to put your foot in your mouth, Evie. "Hades wait, I didn't mean—"

Hades cuts me off by raising his hand and gesturing forward. "Continue."

I open my mouth to argue, but he gives me a pointed look and gestures forward. When I begrudgingly follow his gaze, there's an old, weathered man standing in front of me, and I instantly forget all about my faux pas.

The old man is soon followed by a young woman with bloodstained handprints all down her front. Then a young man, with a small, circular hole in his chest. Then a little, six-year-old boy called EJ. Then an older woman. Until, finally, I find myself in a heated argument with a raging, red-faced middle-aged woman.

"So... You did what, exactly?" I frown in confusion, massaging my throbbing temples. Hades has since moved to stand behind the oblivious spirit, his arms folded across his chest as amusement creases his features.

"Do I really have to explain it to you again?" The lady demands, glaring hotly at me. "Who put you in charge, exactly? You look barely old enough to brush your own teeth! Who says you get to determine my fate?"

"I do." Hades says sharply, suddenly appearing next to me. The woman flinches, her face paling for a moment at the look he gives her. Then she squares her jaw, and the fury returns to her eyes. "We are the deities in charge of determining your fate, and we will not hesitate to be heavy handed if you provide us with inaccurate evidence and an attitude."

"Hades." I shoot him a stern look, before returning my gaze back to the lady. "Look, you can be angry at me as much as you like, but if you're only going to get angry at me for being younger than you and in charge of determining your Elysium instead of giving me concrete evidence as to why I should grant you the afterlife you think you deserve, then I'm going to make a rash decision and I really don't think you are going to enjoy that."

"Fine." The woman snaps. "Look, I paid my dues, you hear me? Yes, I killed that young boy when I was thirty, but I made up for it! I paid tribute to that boy, provided his family with support and regretted it for the rest of my life."

"But did you kill him on purpose or by accident?"

She purses her lips, giving me the stink eye. "If you were wantin' to get technical about it, I guess I would have to say I killed him 'on purpose'."

"There's no 'getting technical about it'." I retort bitingly. "It is a yes or no answer. Did you, or did you not, deliberately decide to end that boy's life when he was only sixteen years old?"

"He was threatenin' my son with a gun! I did what every mother would do in that situation!" She exclaims.