"What?" He glanced down and saw that his suit had disappeared. In its place, he now wore a dark black robe with gold coating the inside and gold trim with black sandals. His blue hair shinned brightly in contrast to the dense fog around him.
"Oh yeah. That happens." He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head subconsciously.
Kore linked their arms and waited for him to take the lead.
"It's not that bad." She kissed his cheek. "Just caught me off guard. Now, let's go."
The pair set off towards a cloaked figure on the riverbank.
The fog around them dissipated as long as she kept a grasp on Hades arm. As they drew nearer to the figure, Hades nodded in his direction, and the figure removed his hood. Kore glanced around her wide eyed. There were so many different flowers that grew all around her. Shades ambled mindlessly around her, never looking or acknowledging her presence.
With his hood down, the figure's red brown hair was visible, along with his scraggly beard. He was tall, and held a ferryman's staff at his side. His brown eyes held a sadness that could only be given by age.
"This is Charon." Hades gestured to the figure. "He is the son of Erebus, who you will meet later, and Nyx."
"I know Nyx." Kore smiled at the memory of stories her mother had told her about Zeus and Nyx. "So Charon is the one who ferries souls to the entrance of the Underworld?" Kore paused and waited for Hades to correct her.
"Close." He smiled down at her. "Watch closely."
Charon took a coin from shade after shade. When the coin landed in his hand, a boat would materialize on the river. He would help the shade board the boat and then turn to the next shade. Kore watched on in amazement.
"Are we already in the Underworld?" She looked up at Hades.
"We are in the Fields of Asphodel, sometimes called the Asphodel Meadows. Souls that haven't done anything particularly evil or good end up back here to wander for all time." Hades gestured around.
"Do they know who they are?" Kore tried to reach out to touch a Shade that walked by her.
"No, they don't. Well not usually. Some remember over time." Hades pulled her arm to him, to keep her from touching the Shade. "It will all make sense in a while."
"Excuse me." Charon cleared his throat. "May I ask who you have brought with you Lord Hades? It's not often that we see someone with you."
"Oh, um, this is a friend of mine." Hades moved slightly in front of Kore.
"How rude of me." Kore pushed out from behind Hades and held out her hand. "I'm Kore, Goddess of the Spring and Daughter of Zeus and Demeter. "
"Oh." Charon eyed Hades suspiciously. He took Kore's hand. "We've heard all about you."
Hades silently muttered a curse.
"Well there is still a lot to see on this tour of my domain, so we really must be going." Hades pulled Kore away from Charon and boarded a boat of their own. The boats weren't anything fancy or ornate. Only simple canoes.
Hades sat with his back facing the palace. Kore sat opposite him. She tried to look around but the dense fog had returned, she could hardly even see Hades. The canoe floated down the river at a leisurely pace. Kore tried to suppress her disappointment as the fog continued to cloud her vision. Hades watched as Kore's face slowly fell, and she stopped looking around with wonder. He smiled softly, reached out and rested his hand on her knee. The fog slowly crept away from the canoe. Although, Kore couldn't tell if the fog actually left or if she could simply see into it now.
"Thanks." Kore said softly, and placed her hand over Hades' hand.
"There is not any point in a tour if you can't really see anything." Hades chuckled. He watched amused as Kore looked around again, like a puppy that had been uncaged. The Fields of Asphodel stretched on as far as the eye could see. The flowers in the field occasionally glowed. The canoe drew closer to the mouth of the cave entrance to the obsidian palace. Kore leaned back to try and see up the side of the giant mountain. Gold dripped down the outside walls, starkly contrasting the dark smooth obsidian. Torch light glinted up the side of the mountain.
The entrance to the palace was a massive cave. There was a piece of obsidian that jutted out from above the entrance to the cave. On top of this jutted out rock sat an unmoving body. The body was that of a giant dog. Kore felt eyes on her, and looked up to meet 6 glowing eyes. The faint hiss of snakes could be heard echoing around her. The canoe slowed as it entered the cave.
"We should have just passed Cerberus." Hades broke Kore out of her trance.
"That was Cerberus?" Kore glanced nervously behind them, towards the mouth of the cave. "Yeah. He isn't too bad." Hades chuckled and nodded.
Their canoe continued its slow descent down the River Styx once again. It came to rest in front of three figures. Hades gestured his hand and the canoe shifted off to the riverbank and into an outcropping in the cave. He disembarked the boat, and then turned to help Kore. Their hands remained locked as Hades led them down a passageway into the cave wall. Kore held a hand out and ran her fingers along the side of the wall. The cave wall was warm to the touch, and rough. Their steps echoing around them. The pair came to rest at a circular spot in the cave. They stood on a platform. Hades pulled Kore into another embrace and more smoke forced up into a different chamber. Once they rose past the floor level, the ground closed beneath them.
When their feet touched the ground, Hades released his hold on Kore though their hands remained connected. This floor had much better lighting, and electricity. Filing cabinets covered the walls. Hades became enveloped in smoke again. Once the smoke had dissipated, his dress suit had returned and was in pristine condition. His hair was slicked back, his dress shoes shined. Kore looked around the room bewildered by the sudden change in atmosphere. The floor was obsidian tile with gold veins running through them. In front of her stood a large cherry wood door. Kore glanced back at Hades to see if she was allowed in that room. She smiled wide when she noticed that his suit had returned.
"Go ahead." Hades nodded towards the door.
"Don't mind if I do." Kore stepped towards him, and ruffled his hair. A blush on both their faces.
"I meant you could go into the room." Hades rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand.
"I know." Kore smirked at him, and headed back towards the door.
The door opened wide into another room with a see through floor. This room was practically empty, besides a dense shadow that moved throughout it. Hades gestured down through the floor at three figures that floated in the middle of the exit mouth of the cave.
"Minos. Rhadamanthus. Aeacus." Hades gestured to each person as he stated their names. In turn, each figure nodded to Kore. Minos on the left, Rhadamanthus in the middle and Aeacus on the right. " Each of these three were Kings back in the Mortal Realm. Minos is the son of Zeus and Europa. When he was in the Mortal Realm, Minos forced King Aegeus to pick fourteen children, seven girls and seven boys to send to his labyrinth to face his Minotaur. He was the King of Crete. At least according to the Athenians, anway with the whole minotaur thing. " Hades shrugged.
"According to everyone else?" Kore chuckled lightly, and gestured for Hades to continue.
"Oh right." He paused to gather the full story. "Well he was the first King to have a Navy. To most of the rest of the world Minos was still the King of Crete, however he was also considered King of most of the islands in the Aegean Sea. This was all long before the Trojan War. He ruled Crete from Knossos where Zeus told him how to run his kingdom. Minos drafted the Cretan Constitution, and founded their naval force."
"That's….. A lot." Kore glanced at Minos. Minos had a diadem resting on top of his curly silver hair. His facial expression was one of arrogance and condescension. Minos was the first of the three judges.
The second judge went by the name of Rhamadanthus.
"Rhamadanthus is the man floating in the middle." Hades began his explanation. "He was a brother to Minos, who was exiled from Crete due to his popularity. Minos is actually the one who exiled him. As a brother of Minos, he is also the son of Zeus and Europa. Rhamadanthus tended to focus on the Islands of the Aegean Sea, rather than Crete itself. He also was a tutor to Heracles himself. The biggest things to remember about Rhadamanthus is that he is very inflexible, he doesn't change his mind, and he also was one the few people to decree that if a person commits an act of violence in self-defense that they should not have to suffer the consequences for defending themselves. " Hades turned to Kore to ensure that she was still paying attention.
"So what you're saying is that he doesn't budge easily in his opinion but he also tends to see things in a reasonable light?" Kore glanced between Rhadamanthus and Hades. Rhadamanthus and Minos both bore a resemblance to Zeus in that they both had very arrogant facial features, a well kept beard and silver hair. Though Rhadamanthus didn't have the curly hair that his brother had, his hair was very straight and slicked down. Rhadamanthus also wore a diadem, however his diadem appeared more like a warrior's helm than a crown. His face bore a more stern expression than condescension.
"I guess you could sum it up that way." Hades chuckled once more. "Last but not least we have Aeacus. Aeacus is the son of Zeus and Aegina. Aegina was a nymph of the island Aegina, which lies in the Saronic Gulf. Aeacus was the King of the island Aegina. He is the grandfather of two big names in the Trojan War, Achilles and Telamonian Ajax. Apollo and Posedian asked Aeacus to assist them in building the outer walls of Troy, after it was built three dragons attacked the walls. The only portion of wall to fall was the portion that Aeacus had built. So because of this the legends said that Troy would fall due to his descendants." Hades finished his explanation and looked to Kore to ensure she didn't have any questions.
Aeacus floated on the right side of the floodgate. His resemblance to Zeus was not quite as strong. His facial features were still severe and strong, but they lacked the arrogance of the other Kings. He wore a simple diadem, but held a strong snake scepter. A set of keys hung around his neck on a chain. A key to the Underworld, as well as a key to Hades' personal home in the Underworld. He had similar facial hair to the others, but instead of a silver, it was a dark deep black, as was the rest of his hair. His hair was shorter than the others.
"Aeacus is in charge of judging the souls that hail from the western side of the world. Rhadamanthus is in charge of judging the souls from the eastern side. While Minos only acts as the tie breaker of sorts, or the casting vote." Hades pulled Kore towards another door that she hadn't noticed before.
This door led into one last room. This room appeared to be Hades' personal office.