The Underworld yawned widely, impatiently, and at the same time gleefully, to accept its new sovereign. Hades descended down to the depths of the earth for the first time. He walked through the cold, damp darkness, passed some wandering shades along the way, to the edge of the large river Styx. The river was very wide and deep and a boat – no, a ship – waded through its dark waters. The ship was big enough to carry an army of Spartans, built for bulk transport. But of course it would be highly inefficient to have a small two man boat to carry a lot of souls since humans die every day.

Besides the ship approaching, another figure sprinted towards him. It was the silhouette of a woman clothed in a star-studded black mist, larger than any titan he had ever seen yet strangely the closer she got, the smaller she appeared. When she reached him, she was just a little larger than him.

"Aidoneus!" she said in what Hades recognized as Nyx's voice as she tackled him to the floor and proceeded to smother him in a tight embrace. "Oh child how I longed to hold you like this for the longest time!"

Nyx wasn't content with just hugging Hades with her arms. She had to wrap her large, black star-studded wings around the god. At first Hades was petrified, his reflexes warning him to attack the woman yet at the same time his heart repulsed such an idea. It's the after effects of a prolonged warlike state of mind, Hades concluded. There was absolutely no danger in being suffocated by this goddess.

Just as his face was beginning to turn blue, Nyx let him go and pulled him to his feet. "Come, Erebus!" she called. "Come and greet our son who has at last come home."

"Son?" Hades repeated.

"Why of course, child, what else would you be? Erebus and I had been watching over you and teaching you while you were imprisoned in your father so it is only natural that we look at you as our child." Nyx resumed holding Hades in a more relaxed embrace, an embrace which reminded him of the days when he was young and all alone in the comfortable darkness. Well more importantly, at least he could breathe this time. "We've watched you grow up to become a responsible and dedicated young man. Not to mention, very strong and very handsome."

"Your mother wouldn't stop cheering for you as you fought those titans," Erebus, a dark skinned, dark haired, dark eyed, dark clothed… dark everything (as fitting of the god of darkness), appeared beside Nyx. "If I didn't stop her, she would have fought right beside you," then he mumbled quietly to himself, "not that her participation would help."

"I'm sorry," Hades bowed his head apologetically when he at last placed a face on the two disembodied voices that accompanied his childhood. "I did not recognize you at first."

"Oh that is quite alright," Nyx said finally letting him go but still held him at arm's length. "I have never shown myself to you because you were stuck in such a cramped space that the most I can do was send you my voice. I am the goddess of night after all. I couldn't fit inside my nephew Cronus; same with Erebus. We could only send our presence from afar, child."

"My love why don't we show our son to his new kingdom?" Erebus interrupted.

"Oh that is just glorious," Nyx clapped. "Aren't you excited? I made sure my daughters assigned you as the king of the Underworld. I shiver at the thought of either Zeus or Poseidon getting their hands on the largest and most powerful of the three realms. Come, we must show you to your new home." Nyx rambled as she towed Hades around the Underworld.

"Where we are right now is called Erebus, the upper layer of the Underworld," Nyx looked lovingly at her husband. Even after all this time, the first married couple of Creation was still deeply in love with each other. When they became married, Night and Darkness became one and inseparable. "This is my husband's layer in the Underworld. Here you will find that most of the souls just sit back and enjoy the afterlife wandering aimlessly. And below him is our brother Tartarus, where you and your siblings imprisoned the titans. I must say, those Hecatoncheires are doing a wonderful job as prison guards dear. Tartarus had a glad day handing them his favorite whips and chains."

"That is your castle," Erebus pointed to the massive and grand structure in the middle of the Underworld. "The Underworld had been taking notes of your preferences during the last ten years and built that place to suit your tastes. I hope you find it to your liking. It even made sure your palace is five times grander than the castle on Mount Olympus. Since you now hold all the colorful stones and metals of the earth, it is only right to reflect that status. That is the gift of the Underworld to its new king."

"Isn't it wonderful dear?" Nyx sighed dreamily. "You are getting more special treatment than I ever had when I was a ruler."

Hades nodded. He was grateful but at the same time speechless. When he first came down, he didn't know what kind of reception he would receive. He was very surprised to be given gifts the moment he set foot in the Underworld but he also figured that the main reason the palace can be five times larger than the one in Mount Olympus was because the Underworld had an infinitely bigger land than the peak of the tallest mountain.

"Did you know the Underworld never had a ruler?" Nyx continued. "You would be its first and only ruler. Do keep in mind that it has been waiting for you almost like a lover for a long time – since the time of Creation I believe."

"Your first task, as its ruler, is to provide order and structure here. There is a lot to be done here in this most neglected realm but those two are the top priorities. And from there, you will figure out what needs to be done," Erebus said sternly. Hades remembered the austere voice during lectures when Erebus would teach him about the world in general. He even adapted this tone of voice when he was instructing his siblings.

Nyx and Erebus used dreams as a mode of communication too when they wanted to show him things that cannot be put into words but strangely even in dreams, they never showed their faces. Could it be that they may be too powerful for the King of Dreams to channel in his psyche perhaps? He shook his head. Order and structure, he thought as he tried to internalize all the new information he was receiving and file them accordingly in his mind.

"I want you to meet my other children," Nyx said excitedly before gracefully pulling Hades forcefully again. "Hypnos! Thanatos!"

Two figures appeared in front of them. They looked young in their human form but Hades knew, could feel, that they were infinitely older than him, just like the two primordial beings beside him.

"This is my son Hypnos, the god of sleep," Nyx said pointing to a serene young man. He had deep blue eyes and curly hair of the same color, clad in pale blue and gold laid chiton. He nodded towards Hades in acknowledgement. Hades immediately recognized the name from the old lullaby.

"And this is my son Thanatos, the god of death," she pointed to the silver haired young man beside Hypnos, who was clad in a black and silver chiton with a pair of pure black wings protruding from his back like Nyx. His eyes, the most striking of his features, were nothing but an unblinking deep black void, no irises, pupils or sclera – just a frightening black. They were eyes the mortals fear the most.

"They are not all of my children, mind you but they are the eldest of my sons," Nyx smiled at Hades. "As residents of the Underworld, they are now your loyal subjects." She walked to her sons and gently caressed both of their cheeks and whispered softly in their ear, "He is now your supreme ruler and you will treat him accordingly. Please pass the message throughout the entire kingdom if you please." Both her sons nodded in understanding.

"Alright!" Nyx suddenly exclaimed as she turned around and clapped her hands. "Now that you've met my eldest of sons, I want you to meet the eldest of my daughters – the sisters of Fates." She grabbed Hades' hand and they were instantly transported away to a typical Greek temple-like structure in the middle of nowhere. They were still in the Underworld at least but the area felt absolutely desolate. Inside the building, three women weaved incessantly.

The three young, identical looking blonde women paused for a couple of seconds to acknowledge their new monarch before working their looms once more. Clotho held a spindle and spun threads from thin air. Lachesis held a staff and measured the threads before passing it onto Atropos who cuts them to size. The three women worked on a single tapestry that contained the intertwining destinies of all creatures. They worked as one, their fingers blurring with sheer speed.

The tapestry itself didn't paint a particular picture. Contrary to popular belief, the Fates did not control everything. All living creatures have free will and these minute changes sometimes offset the whole picture. What they can do is redirect the threads to go to where they are supposed to and if they become too troublesome or too tangled and hopeless then Atropos steps in and brings out the shears.

The threads were color coded according to specie and among them there were these golden, glowing and seemingly endless threads that continued weaving throughout the tapestry – the thread of the gods. These threads were very obvious because they glowed like no other thread.

"They live in these parts of the Underworld because they do not like to be bothered by both gods and mortals alike but I'm sure you will get along with them just fine," Nyx explained softly before turning to her husband. "Oh Erebus, I would so love to continue showing our son everything there is to see in the Underworld but alas, I am needed in the Upperworld. Time flies fast doesn't it? Would you be a dear and show him the rest please?"

Erebus nodded before smiling and pecking his wife's cheek. "Of course, my love." With that, Nyx disappeared in a cloud of dark mist.

"Well," Erebus cleared his throat awkwardly. "Would you like to meet my brother Tartarus?"

Hades wasn't even allowed to answer before he was transported to the gates of Tartarus.

"Tartarus? Are you here?" Erebus called softly and hesitantly and then waited. After two seconds of no reply he immediately said, "Well it seems he's not here so that concludes our tour—"

"Of course I'm here, my dark skinned brother. Where else would I be?" A voice rang from behind them. Both Hades and Erebus jumped in surprise and turned around. They saw a man with flaming hair, wearing a hastily put black laced chiton. He smiled pleasantly at them and Hades nodded towards him politely.

"This better be important. You just interrupted my bath in the river Phlegethon and…oh my Erebus you brought a guest?" Tartarus raised a questioning eyebrow as he noticed Hades for the first time.

"This is our new king, Hades. Though Nyx and I prefer to call him Aidon." Erebus proudly said.

"So this is the famous eldest brother of the Olympians," Tartarus gestured widely at Hades. "The poor thing that got caught between my sibling's insanity," he patted Hades' shoulders and whispered gravely, "I'm sorry for your fate."

"So," Tartarus continued, his mood shifting noticeably, "You must be confused, what with Nyx and Erebus claiming you to be their son and all that. But I heard a lot about you from them though — in fact, they wouldn't shut up about you. I tire of hearing them say, 'Oh dear Aidon is so adorable, oh dear Aidon is so precious, and smart and brave and handsome'," he said clapping his hands and raising the pitch of his voice in an awkward imitation of Nyx. And then he smirked, "So if they are your parents, does that make me your Uncle?"

Hades stared at the god dumbly.

"He claims we're insane but he's clearly much more insane than us," Erebus whispered in Hades' ear. He found it strange that Erebus didn't entirely deny the accusation though.

"I heard that!"

"And Tartarus we do not talk about Aidon…much," Erebus continued indignantly.

"Oh? So you deny telling me that this boy is so adorable you yourself, not Nyx, cursed Rhea and Cronus for not giving birth to him sooner?"

"I –"

"Or that you told me that you check on him every night because you are such a stalker and that you adore him that much?"

"Now I was teach–"

"Or that you and Nyx pestered the Fates to make sure he becomes the ruler of the Underworld?"

"Alright!" Erebus relented and turned to Hades and then without warning, caught him a tight hug. "But I dare you to say that everything I said wasn't true!"

Hades was starting to get scared and overwhelmed.

"Get away from him you doting father!" Tartarus said pulling Erebus away from Hades. "You are humiliating him." Then turning to Hades he said, "Then my 'adorable' nephew, let me give you my version of a tour to my own layer of the Underworld: Tartarus."

888

Hades found himself sandwiched between two strange, possibly insane, primordial beings, silently digesting all the information in his mind. Ever since coming down to the Underworld, he had been bombarded with information left and right. He was in unfamiliar territory with beings from the time of creation itself claiming to be his parents…or uncle, and listening to them orient him about everything in his kingdom just a week after he emerged from the Titan War. Nyx, Erebus and Tartarus were energetic beings that can give his younger siblings in their toddler years a run for their money.

"So these are my maids," Tartarus said pointing to women or at least what Hades assumed were women. It was hard to tell because they didn't look anything like him or his sisters. They had a skeletal frame, leathery wings on their backs, skin not unlike a bat, sharp fangs protruding from their wide mouth, complete with a forked tongue flicking in an out of it. That was their true form form. But as soon as they saw their master, they immediately changed appearance. They took the form of voluptuous humanoids wearing skimpy, tight-fitting leather outfits and held whips that looked like torture devices.

"What are you called again?" Tartarus inquired.

"Erinyes my lord," one of them said with a hiss-like accent.

"There you go, my maids," Tartarus replied cheerfully. "They help me come up with creative punishments for these shades. Your duty as king would be to come up with more cruel and unusual punishments during your free time." He looked somewhere beyond Hades' shoulders and yelled. "Oh yeah, whip them harder honey!" The command was followed by a loud whiplash and a sharp cry of agony. "Ah, the screams never get old!" he laughed maniacally.

"Stop that! You are scaring Aidon!" Erebus said locking Hades once again in a tight embrace this time making sure to cover his ears and eyes with darkness.

"And you need to stop coddling Aidon like he's a child!" Tartarus said crossly, untangling Hades from Erebus' grasp. And then changing his tone and attitude altogether, he said to Hades in a rather sultry voice, "Also, if ever you feel the urge to be a little bad and naughty, you can come to me anytime and I'll show you a good time. We'll have some fun playing the punishment game."

Hades froze. He can't remember ever being punished. And what did he mean by 'the urge to be a little bad and naughty'?

"Look at that! I think you just broke him!" Erebus said shielding Hades from Tartarus' line of sight with his body. "If anything happens to Aidon, Nyx will kill me!"

Tartarus burst into obnoxious laughter. "That's funny. She'll what? Send her son Thanatos to kill you? And then where will you end up? In my layer? Thanks but I'd rather not be impregnated with you!"

"That is not you being pregnant with me, that would be more like me raping y—" Erebus remarked rather innocently. But he did not get to finish his sentence before Hades fainted. Three words: Too Much Information.

"Hypnos! What did you do?" Erebus said frantically shaking Hades' shoulders while Tartarus clicked his tongue disapprovingly.

"But I didn't do anything," Hypnos replied, materializing beside the three gods.

"Ha! I didn't break him after all. You did!" Tartarus declared triumphantly. And then, much like Erebus, continued rather innocently, "And what's so wrong about punishing the shades in my domain anyway?"