Nobody had died recently, the new plague was coming along nicely, the underworld was managing itself for once. Even Pain and Panic hadn't screwed anything up lately.
Hades, forgive the pun, was dead bored.
Right now he was keeping out of sight among the trees, an easy task after Apollo had almost finished with his rounds for the day. He was near some small town at the foot of Olympus, who knew what it was called. Seemed like a normal enough place, although earlier Hades could've sworn he'd seen a donkey wearing a blue bandanna.
He paused. Was that-? Definately. Some kid was crying, and heading in his direction. Quickly, the lord of the underworld extinguished the blue flames he had for hair as the kid came closer. The fates must have been against him, because the kid- a little boy with curly orange hair- sat down on the root of the very tree Hades was leaning against. Of course, he could've just gone back to the underworld in a flash of fire right there, presumably scarring the kid for life, but something stopped him.
"Hey kid, why don't ya tell unca Hades what's the matter, huh?"
The boy jumped a little bit, having been startled by the voice, but wiped his tears away with the back of his hand and looked up at the stranger. At this point, most mortals would've run away, since a bald blue man with pointy teeth and a black toga practically appearing behind them isn't exactly a normal (or safe) occurrence.
"Who're you?" The kid asked crossly.
Hades rolled his eyes, but shook the kid's hand. "Hades, lord of the underworld, pleased to make your acquaintance. Some grip you got there. Just tell me what the problem is, I got places to be, lives to destroy, the whole evil god, um, thing."
"Nobody likes me." The boy sighed, putting his head in his hands.
"Oi, come on, kid, nobody really like me either. You learn to deal after a few millenia, no big deal. So why is the little boy so tragically misunderstood, hm?"
"I wreck everything! I'm too strong so nobody wants to play with me, and when I try to help, I just make things worse." He said miserably.
"Cheer up, you act like the whole world's against you, and I already got that gig." His tone softened. "Just keep at it. They'll appreciate you some day."
The boy sniffled. "You think so?"
"Sure, sure, why not? In fact, I bet you'll be a real hero someday."
"What's a hero?" He asked, the fact he'd been crying just a second ago completely forgotten.
"Uh, it's like some big shot who saves people from monsters and junk. Beats up the bad guy, gets the girl, yadda yadda yadda."
"Yeah! I'm gonna be a hero when I grow up!" The kid was much happier now. It was unlikely that he'd really end up being a hero, but Hades wasn't about to break it to him and risk more crying.
"Hercules! It's getting late!" Came the far off voice of a woman.
"Coming mom!" The boy shouted, getting up. "Bye, mister!" Hercules said and waved at the lord of the undead before running of in the direction of the voice.
Hercules? Hades thought before teleporting back to his own home in the underworld, Nah, it couldn't be.