Yui peaked around the corner, looking back and forth down the hallway for any signs of life. Finding no one around, she carefully stepped out from the large bedroom she awoke in and stood in the hallway for a moment, taking in the large structure she was currently presented with. The hallway was long and tall, the ceiling curling up in a beige color while strips of lights ran along the ceiling. The hallway was empty with the exception of a few tables with flowers laid on them in an attempt to lighten the mood of the gloomy corridor. But the hallway was cold and dark, causing Yui to shiver.
She stepped lightly down the hallway, her bare feet freezing on the cold, white floor made of silky smooth marble. A few windows were scarcely placed around the hallway, showing the great underworld. Yui gasped in surprise as she looked out the small glass pane. It looked like a civilisation underground, large buildings scattered everywhere, so tall they touched the ceiling. Smaller buildings lay around and in between them, leaving the edges to have small houses. Many houses were carved into the walls, long paths leading up to them. The underworld seemed to go on forever, a long tunnel, perhaps a few miles wide, that never ended on its other sides.
Floating in the middle of the ceiling was a large, round bulb, glowing in the shape of a crescent. Was it supposed to be a fake moon? She wondered if there was a sun to go along with it for the day time, along with if it was accurate to real time.
Yui was so enraptured by the beautiful world as she stared out the window that she failed to notice a figure moving over to her. She jumped, gasping when a gentle hand was placed on her shoulder as lightly as possible. Yui found herself face to face with a beautiful woman with long, dark blue hair tied back with a black bow. She had gently yet slightly dull, gray eyes and a blank face. She was wearing a Greek toga like Yui, except instead of plain, her's had pink flowers weaved into it's white cloth. She wore a pair of white gloves and had some kind of prayer beads wrapped around her neck, a lighter pink than her toga.
"Excuse me, are you Yui Kusanagi?" The woman asked in a deep, mellow voice. Yui nodded at the woman, amazed by her aura. She almost looked like a ghosts in the movies, but she seemed to glow and had a more physical form to her. "Than please follow me." The woman instructed, leading her down the hallway. Yui followed the woman as she lead Yui through the corridors. She found herself unable to remember the way back to the room she was in before, since the hallways all appeared to be the same, a few of the flowers different from each other along with the number of desk in the hallways were the only way to tell where you were.
Never the less, the woman she was following seemed to know her way, leading her through hallway after hallway. Just when Yui was getting tired of walking, the woman stopped in front of the door, turning to Yui.
"In this room master Hades is waiting for you." She said, opening the door. Yui was surprised to hear Hades addressed in such a way, but nodded to her before stepping into the room. Hades sat at a long table, food scattered around on it's surface. Many seats were aligned down the table, Hades taking the one at the head. The room was large with marble floors and tan walls and ceilings. Hades looked up when the door opened, smiling when Yui caught his eye. She walked into the room, the beautiful woman following her inside. The woman bowed to Hades, who returned her motion with a bow of the head.
"Thank you Berna, you are excused." Hades said, causing the woman to bow again before turning on her heals and leaving the room. Yui watched as she walked to the door and gave her a bow of the head before shutting the large, wooden door behind her. Yui turned back to Hades, who smiled kindly at her. "Please, take a seat anywhere." He offered, gesturing to the seats lined up along the table. Yui nodded her head and pulled out a chair in the middle, seating herself quietly and looking down at her hands. "Please, do eat what you want to, Yui."
"Thank you." Yui said. She didn't know why she was acting so awkward around her friend, she knew him well. But for some reason, she felt like a stranger in the large mansion.
Hades watched her from his seat at the head of the table, frowning. He knew why she was acting that way, it wasn't everyday you learned you had died and could never go back. And after seeing millions of people wake up in the underworld, he had to guess that she was one of the 70% who had no memories on how they died. And he knew from experience that only about 10% of those who don't remember will never remember, but those who do... Hades shivered at the thought. Many take years to get over it, and a small amount never get over it. Though there were the few who get over it immediately and resume their lives in the underworld, he knew she wouldn't be that kind of case.
"So... who was that?" Yui asked, trying to lighten the mood.
"Her name is Berna, she works as a servant here." Hades explained to her.
"Why does she work here?" Yui asked. Hades went silent for a moment, unsure how to explain the situation to her.
"It's... complicated. She was, many years ago, a... sacrifice to me." Hades winced when he said that and Yui flinch back a little while reaching out to grab some food. "Of course, it wasn't something I wished for. A long time ago a group formed to worship me. At first it was pleasing to see people show some admiration to me. But when the human sacrifices started, I immediately rejected them and rid the practice from my name. After all, there are enough dead here." Hades explained, hoping she would understand. She finally took some food and nodded at Hades in understanding.
They began to eat their food in silence, Hades peaking over to Yui as often as he could. Yui was blown away by how delicious the food was and began to pick up her eating pace. Hades smiled as he watched her eat with content.
"Have you seen the underworld yet?" Hades asked. Yui swallowed her food and wiped her mouth with a nearby napkin before answering him.
"Yes, on my way here I looked out a window. The buildings are as big as skyscrapers!" Yui smiled.
"Yes, the CEILING scrapers are quite large." Hades said, a smile tugging on his lips. Yui furrowed her eyebrows.
"'Ceiling scrapers'?" Yui asked, confused.
"Well, they're not scraping the sky, rather the ceiling, so their ceiling scrapers." Hades laughed, explaining his pun. Yui gave a light laugh, smiling at Hades' bad pun. Hades kept the conversation going, trying to distract the teenage girl of her recent demise. He knew it would be hard for her to adjust to the idea of being dead, but he would help her through it the best he could. After all, she was the woman who stole his heart.
Yay, second chapter! I love writing this story already, but I'm sure I'll have to force a schedule on myself to keep the story going soon enough.
Alright, I HAD to add a bad pun as soon as possible, it's just one of the things that makes Hades so cute~ Please tell me I'm not the only one who thinks that the King of the Underworld is cute!
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