Ingenious Plans, Second Chances
Percy Jackson / Generation Dead Crossover
Hades was a busy, underappreciated god to say the least. He had a never-ending job, a wife who hated him – and never let him forget it, and few resources to fix either problem. Really, the underworld couldn't get much bigger, and the dead just kept coming.
And as for his wife, well, there wasn't a day that went by that he didn't regret offering her that damn pomegranate.
He'd tried – honestly, he had. He'd been the one to politely encourage the Chinese government to put a limit on how many children their citizens could have. He'd been throwing hints at the American scientists, just subtle little ways to increase the average lifespan.
But people, in all their stupidity, seemed to discover a new ways to die with an amazing alacrity.
By the end of 2011, the world's population was supposed to reach seven billion. Hades didn't currently have seven billion deceased in his domain. Where this extra space was going to come from when all these people unfortunately met their untimely ends was beyond him.
At least he could send his wife back to the living world. It wasn't as if he could just open the gates of his domain and let the dead walk free.
Wait.
Hades recalled a conversation he'd had with Charon a few weeks ago, something about the ferryman having a problem with teenagers who simply wouldn't accept the fact that they were dead. "They just sit there crying and asking if they can leave – it's pathetic, really," Charon had said.
Pathetic? Yes, probably.
But on the other hand, if they didn't want to be there…
…Hades would be more than happy to send them back.
And who knew? Perhaps his brothers would get the hint that he had by far the worst job once their living world was infected with the undead.
Now, if only he could think of something to do about that wife of his…
