Hades looked down at his eleventh month old daughter, Electra, who was playing with a pile of bones and gemstones at the base of his throne and babbling happily to herself.
"Lord Hades," a voice said from the entrance to the throne room.
Hades looked up to see his ferryman standing there. "What is it?"
"I wish to ask you something."
Hades nodded for Charon to approach praying, was it even possible for gods to pray and who did they pray to, that what Charon wanted to ask had nothing to do with a pay raise. The Ferryman for the Underworld knelt in front of his Lord's throne. Hades would've raised an eyebrow at that had he been anyone other than The Lord of the Dead as Charon didn't normally go for such reverent displays.
Charon heard the babbling of a baby and looked over at her in shock. Hades almost sighed. He'd thought that those that worked for him would've gotten used to Electra being there since she had between there ever since her mother died a couple hours after giving birth due to complications in her pregnancy. Then again gods weren't supposed to have contact with their children, damn Zeus and his laws.
Hades turned his thoughts away from his bigheaded younger brother and asked Charon what he was doing there.
"My Lord," Charon said looking up at the god of the dead from his kneeling position. "I have served you faithfully for millennia, ferried billions of souls into the Underworld, and kept all those who were not able to pay passage until such time as there was space for their souls."
Hades looked at Charon waiting for him to get to the point.
"I feel that I deserve a raise for all of my hard work," Charon finished after a couple more minutes.
Hades was on the verge of groaning and if it wasn't for his image would've. He was about to give his answer when a small voice said, "No," and then started giggling.
The Lord of the Underworld looked down at Electra to see her looking up at the two immortals grinning widely as she giggled at the looks of shock on their faces. "What was that Electra?" Hades asked quietly wondering if he had heard what he thought he did.
"No," Electra said raising her little arms to be picked up.
"There's your answer Charon," Hades said. A look of irritation flickered across Charon's face before he bowed slightly and left the throne room. Hades picked his daughter up and set her on his knee. "Thanks for dealing with Charon for me, dear. You have no idea how tedious he gets when he starts gong on about pay raises. Persephone won't be happy that she missed you saying your first word. She's never taken to one of my children like she has with you."
He stood up and held Electra in his arms. "Come on let's go tell your mother and uncle the good news." Electra just giggled and poked the faces of the souls that made up his suit.