"Perseus, my son, it is my time."
"But Father-"
"No. I cannot deny it any longer. I have tried to stay with you for as long as possible, but, like every god, my immortality has weakened and my time has come."
"What will I do, Father?"
"You will inherit my powers, become the new God of the Dead, and make this world a better place. Teach my brothers that what they have done over the years has caused great pain to everyone but themselves."
"How will I do that?"
"Become strong, Perseus, and learn. Do not hide in this wasteland like I have done all these years. Be what I've always taught you to be."
"Yes Father."
And just like that, Hades, Lord of the Dead, had ceased to exist.
And his son, at the age of sixteen, became a God.
Ten Years Earlier.
A boy ran through the thick woods of the country, the leaves falling from the trees as the ground shook.
The ground was not shaking because of a natural disaster. No. . . this was much worse. This was Lamia, victim of the goddess, Hera.
Lamia found joy in eating children.
Over time, Lamia had somehow gained the ability to cause earthquakes to help her catch her prey, but-
Perseus Jackson was a son of Poseidon. He was immune to earthquakes.
Although he didn't know that; he was only six, and years later he would admit to anyone that asked that he was a seismophobic.
But that was later, and this is now. And right now, Lamia was gaining on him.
Perseus burst through some trees to find himself standing in a clearing. One second turned into another, and suddenly Perseus was in a tree, his young body easily sliding in between branches. On his was up, a fairly large branch snapped in his hand, and he fell onto a sturdy branch just below him. He stared at the broken branch in wonder.
A weapon.
Lamia burst through the trees below him, and he held his breath. He slowly inched his way back down the tree, straining not to make any noise.
Snap.
Lamia's gaze shifted from the opposite side of the clearing to the tree above her, but all she saw was the blur of a boy. Then she was on the ground, struggling to breathe with a jagged stick protruding from her chest.
He stabbed directly into her heart, and she was dead within seconds.
Perseus backed himself into a tree, tears rushing down his face.
I killed someone.
The thought of blood on his hands caused a shiver to run down Perseus' spine. But, oddly enough, he felt little remorse for what he had done. Any other six-year-old would have lost their spirits long ago, but Perseus felt nothing beside fear.
No remorse.
No compassion.
Just fear for what would come next.
But what actually came next gave Perseus a will to live in the following years.
He found a father.
A clapping sounded from the opposite end of the clearing, causing Perseus' head to snap up from its place between his knees. A middle-aged man stepped out from the shadow of the trees, a string of dead rabbits hanging over his shoulder and a young three-headed dog at his heels.
Perseus lept up, but found he had nowhere to go.
"My my, Demigod, you have remarkable instincts," the man called out.
"Wh-who are you?" Perseus called back.
"I am Hades! Lord of the Dead! Ruler of all souls!" He raised his arms in triumph, causing the rabbits to bounce and the beast behind him to grab the whole string off his shoulder."Dammit! Cerberus!"
"Cer-Cerberus. . ." Percy whispered.
"Yes. Cerberus. Who needs to learn something about respect towards his master!" Said dog shrank back into the trees, dropping the string of meat onto the grass."Ew. I'm not touching that, just take it yourself!"
In ten seconds, everything but the rope was gone.
And Hades was appalled."Disgusting mongrel." Perseus reached down and pulled out the stick from Lamia's chest, bringing it up to point out in front of him for protection.
"Hm?" Hades raised one eybrow, gazing at Perseus over his shoulder."Ah. . . preparing for a fight, are we?"
Perseus gulped.
"Oh, no worries, child. I'm just here to ask you some questions."
"Huh?" Perseus frowned."Q-questions?"
"Yes. Questons. Like, I don't know. . . where the hell are your parents?! A kid like you shoudn't be alone, fighting a monster like her." He pointed towards Lamia.
Perseus looked down at the dead body below him. He searched his memory for anything that could tell him what happened to his mother. He knew he had never met his father, but for some reason, he could hardly remember anything besides using the stick in his hand to kill Lamia.
Lamia.
Lamia.
It was Lamia.
She had killed his mother.
Now he could remember: she had somehow gotten into their cabin miles from here, killed his mother, and attmepted to kill him too, but he made it out.
"-id. Kid. Kid!"
Perseus blinked in suprise. Hades had walked up to Perseus and was now shaking him out of his flashback."Lamia did it, didn't she?"
The young boy looked up at the man before him."Ho-how did you know?"
Hades' gaze shifted downwards."Lamia. . . has killed many innocents to get to their children. After being cursed by Hera, all she finds joy in now is killing parents, and eating their children."
"Hera. . ." Perseus mumbled.
"Oh, right. you probably know nothing about greek mythology." Hades stepped back."Hera is the goddess of women and marriage, though her marriage is completely unsuccessful. She is married to Zeus, God of Lighting and Thunder, who also happens to be her brother. Basically, Zeus tried to date Hera but failed and so he turned himself into some homeless looking bird and raped her."
"Raped?" Perseus frowned.
"Do you know what rape is, Kid?" Hades asked.
Perseus nodded.
"Ok, so yeah. Zeus raped her, she married him out of shame, but he is unfaithful and cheats on her all the time. Lamia was one of the women he had an affair with, and so Hera cursed her. You get what I'm saying, Kid?"
"Mmhm. But. . . why do I need to know this?"
Hades knelt down, looking straight into Perseus' eyes."Because, Kid, this is all true. I am the God of the Dead, brother of Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Hestia, and Demeter, and also immortal being."
Perseus poked the stick into Hades's stomach, warning him to back off."Immortal? So, you can't die."
Hades stepped back, staring at the stick with caution."Well, no. I can die, but I'll either be reborn in some amount of years-I don't remember-or I'll fade completely."
"Fade?" Perseus asked.
"A'yep. You see, every God or Goddess has an ending period. We never know when this will happen, because it can happen whenever. We could be two thousand years old when it happens, or two million. You never know. And when that happens, we have to find someone to invest our powers in, or else we will be forgotten." Perseus lowered the stick, generally curious."Take my niece's mother, Leto, for example. She was banished from Olympus and locked away on an island, and when her end came, she had no one to pass her powers on to. She has, since then, faded from existence and has been forgotten by many."
"Wait. . ." Perseus said."You said. . . you said you came here to ask questions, but all you've done is explain things."
Hades put a hand on his cheek and stared at the boy in wonder."You're oddly smart for a son of Poseidon. For some reason, Barnacle Beard always has the most idiotic kids." Hades smiled."But whatever, you're right. All I've done is give you a history lesson. So. . . let me ask you a queston.
"Since you obviously have no family, would you like to join me in the ruling of the Underworld?"
A/N: Howdi. So, I had some random inspiration and I figured, if you guys like this, then I'd continue it. I know I should be working on "Because of One Word," but, unfortunatley, I don't have much inspiration for that story at the time. And if I just write a chapter then it's going to be crap, and I'd rather not have that.
Anyway, review if you want me to make this a legitimate story. Bye.