There was a time before the gods had created mankind, before the gods had created anything to inhabitant the earth. There were four animals, a wolf, a lion, an eagle and a bear. The wolf was known as Faolan, the lion known as Lupus, the eagle known as Eclipse, the bear known as Espen. How these animals had come to be was a mystery, they were known by no one, not even the gods. They didn't even hide, they were in sight all the time, yet no one acknowledged them. They never asked why they were here, they were grateful to even be on this land, however it may not be perfect but it was their land, it was their home.

"Do you ever wonder why we were brought here?" Faolan asked one day, Espen replied shrewdly,

"Who knows, either way we're lucky to have been created, obviously Zeus nor Poseidon or Hades created us, maybe it was a freak accident."

"Does it matter? We're here, maybe be we have a purpose, maybe some sort of prophecy?" The usually silent Eclipse murmured, they pondered this idea for a few moments, they were the only ones that could see each other and things didn't happen by accident, they knew the gods were very precise. Lupus pressed his paw into the dusty landscape, his pawprint remaining, he drew a circle enclosing it carefully with a single unsheathed claw. Eclipse laid a wing on his longtime friend and turned his head to the sun as it was being pulled away by Apollo, awaiting for Artemis to bring the moon out and wash the world in a silvery light.

"What if we aren't really here? Maybe we're poltergeists or a sign of something for the mortals and gods to understand?" Faolan offered, Eclipse shook his head,

"No... if the gods cannot see us then we weren't created by them. We were created by something, maybe they just didn't finish the job." Eclipse said, he closed his beak and nestled his head in his wing, hinting that he wouldn't be interested in any further conversation.

"Great... so we're basically mistakes." Espen hissed glaring at the now rising moon, in reality Espen hated the gods, he hated them with a passion as fiery as Hephaestus himself. Espen curled into a ball he too hinting he wouldn't be bothered, Lupus and Faolan looked at each other and shrugged, Espen had been known for his infamous anger and Eclipse had always been quiet and cold, never being there unless he was truly needed.

"I wonder if we'll ever know..." Lupus murmured, Faolan said nothing but looked up at the moon.

"We will eventually," He said simply, but this only made Lupus want to roar, to roar with all his might, the gods... or whatever had created them had done it for a reason! Why couldn't they just know it? Lupus coiled his tail around his massive paws and let out a long sigh making his chest rumble. Faolan spared a glance at his friend in question.

"I may not be as intelligent as Eclipse, but we've been here since Zeus became king of the gods, that was a long while ago, many many seasons. We've been here for what seems like an eternity but... even though we don't know our creator we can have our hopes, we can think and prey to who we believe created us, I personally believe Artemis created me because I always feel a tug to the moon, plus us wolves are great hunters." Faolan said, the moon was always more important to Faolan than the sun, it had made him feel comforted and at home when he needed it most.

"Whatever," Lupus said and curled into a ball next to Espen and fell asleep quickly, Faolan felt annoyance prickle in his friend's ignorance and hot-headed temper but there was nothing he could do about that. He stretched full length and rested his head on his paws and closed his eyes allowing sleep to overtake him.

"I say Olympus!" Lupus snapped, Eclipse rolled his eyes to the heavens above.

"Idiot! We must stay here! We must wait for The Creator!" Faolan growled, Espen slammed the earth with his paw.

"No we mu-"

"Hades," Eclipse said, clarifying the animal's previous squabble,

"Hades?" Faolan questioned, Eclipse flapped his wings once in annoyance at the wolf's ignorance at the obvious.

"Hades," He repeated, his annoyance trickling into his tone, "if we're ghosts, poltergeists, whatever term you prefer, then Hades and his beasts should be able to see us." He said, as if stating the obvious answer to an easy problem, in which, it was for Eclipse.

"One problem," Lupus said, his voice deflated. "Hades is miles away, it will take many, many weeks to get there."

"What other choice do we have?" Espen snapped, Lupus narrowed his eyes, the two launched themselves into a very heated dispute, the wolf and eagle glanced at each other, the four different species' different outlooks and opinions often led to arguments, Espen snapped a insult, and in return, Lupus unsheathed his claws. Though, the animals would never harm each other, they were like a puzzle, without one, you couldn't finish it fully.

"Well... we better head off..." Eclipse muttered, the bear and lion cleared through their dispute long enough to acknowledge that they too were on board with the mission.

And so, the four animals headed off.

Off to Hades.