MY FOOTSTEPS ECHOED HOLLOWLY ON THE BLACK MARBLE FLAGSTONES.

Reflections shimmered and sparkled on the surface, my figure glowing dimly on the onyx ripples.

The black mist of the halls of Hades rushed to embrace the new visitor. Obsidian coloured cosmic dust greeted me to pay homage, the darkness giving way to even more darkness.

A clouded shadow materialised in front of my glowing immortal body, the shadow of the Lord of the Underworld.

"Brother," a cold, quiet voice emerged from the sooty smoke. A clever man, this Hades, clever enough to not appear in his real form. After all, he was the Unseen One.

Aidoneus. Trophonios. Polydegmon. Euboulos. Ploutos. Many were his titles, used more often than his name itself. But whatever be the word, all of them addressed the same man.

The dreaded Lord of the Underworld.

"Polydegmon," I stiffly greeted Hades with his revered epithet. My eyes hovered around the unyielding mist with a critical glare, regarding my brother with a coldness that could rival even that of Tartarus. "Still don't have a welcome mat at your gates, I see."

"I don't have a welcome mat because I am not a liar," the dust swirled around the bronze of my sunkissed robes as my lips twitched.

Charming man, my brother.

Without word, the mist shifted and dissolved into the air, a faint light glowing dimly on the flecks of gold on his granite walls. The illumination drifted into the inner cavernous depths of the halls, silently beckoning me in.

I exhaled sharply and stepped in, the shadows circling the chamber. In and in we went, past the huge, imposing corridors carved from sleek black marble. Tasteful red draperies covered the walls, and wax pooled under the warm candlelight below the glowing candelabras.

It was in the end that I stood firmly in his huge audience chamber, rooted to the spot. The misty smoke halted too, dispersing itself as the warm pool of light melted away to iridescent silver.

"I've had enough of your tricks, Hades. Time grows short," I growled with impatience.

"My King," Thanatos materialised from one of the stone statues in the room, stepping down the steps.

He was the very embodiment of gloom, a dark, sullen god.

The God of Death.

The sleeves of his robes dripped with the agony of tormented souls as he looked at the dark smoke. An amused smile appeared on his lips.

"It seems our Lord Hades is not pleased to see you, my King," he murmured with a sliver of sarcasm.

"What pleases or displeases my brother is none of my concern," I sternly drew myself up and walked right into the smoky ruins resting near an elegant pillar.

An angry screech rose out from the floor, rumbling the stone ceilings like bones piled under dark ferns.

"Why are you here, Zeus?" Hades demanded from the shadows.

His voice traveled from everywhere. From the banisters of charcoal. From the steps of ink. From the walls of jet black. Everywhere. He was everywhere.

"I have a task for you."

"Will it involve you getting out of my home, brother?"

"Perhaps," I smirked, resting a foot on the corner of his throne. "If you agree to my wishes without getting violent."

Thanatos glided along the floor to close the gilded gates of the chamber. The wailing of souls in the distance muffled to a low hum like a symphony of cellos.

"What sort of task, my King?" he asked.

"I need Hades to... marry my daughter," I hissed softly, pausing for effect before going on. "Persephone."

My brother's mocking laughter hit the walls, echoing a thousand times over and over. His voice alone made me imagine him throwing back his head to laugh that bitter laugh of his.

"Never. I will not marry. Least of all your daughter," he replied coolly.

"You forget your place, Polydegmon. That was not a request. That was an order."

"Why have you such a strange request, King Zeus?" Thanatos inquired. Curiously gleamed in his eyes like pennies in the dark.

"I am a King, Thanatos. Aphrodite wants Persephone wedded to Hades; if not done so, she has threatened to take over the matter... herself."

"Only a god like you could truly be convinced by the cunning Aphrodite, Zeus. How many times have I told you to stay away from the charms of women?" Hades raised his voice an inch, but it increased several octaves in measure.

"You need someone to breathe some life into this... hell hole you call your home," I distastefully stared at the tendrils of the dreadful smoke.

"My hell hole and I are just fine on our own, brother, thank you very much."

My eyes angered to arrows of fury, almost shooting thunderbolts from the blue irises.

"How dare you say no?" I thundered.

"My Lord Hades," Thanatos convincingly approached the center of the mist. He stopped and dropped to a knee to whisper right into the place where my brother's ear would be. "A marriage to Persephone could strengthen your ties to Olympus."

"He's right. Come now, Hades. You always relent sooner or later."

"Never," whispered the Lord of dead. This time, his voice scraped along the edges of my senses like raw bone against raw bone. Husky and threatening, it served as a warning.

"Well then, brother," I turned on a smooth heel to make my exit. "You have one week to decide. Either you agree, or..." I smirked and ground my heel right into the depth of the black smoke. "Or you face the consequences."

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