After Hecate left, Mineekas flung herself onto her bed and bawled into her pillows for over an hour. What was she going to do? She'd never thought her life would be this complicated now that she'd become a full-fledged goddess.

Maybe she could have accepted her Purpose if it wasn't so harsh to mortals. In all her predictions about what the Fates would bestow upon her, Mineekas had never considered a cruel Purpose. She couldn't bring herself to harm a mortal. Often, she'd chastised the staff for the way they treated the spirits.

Why had the Fates chosen her for this? Did they want her to fail? Could her dilemma bring them joy? Would the Fates act so childishly?

A knock on her door drew Mineekas from her misery.

"I'm fine!"

The knocking continued.

Mineekas sighed and crawled out of bed. She went to her door, now curious who would be so adamant about seeing her. No servant would unless it was Admasan, but she was staying with an old friend, a harpy who lived in a cabin by the Lethe on the edge of the Fields. Admasan wouldn't return to the palace until next week.

Could Hecate have returned? If she had, it wouldn't be to apologize. She'd have come to teach Mineekas a lesson, no doubt a curse that would plague Mineekas until Hecate's anger cooled.

At the door, Mineekas considered not answering. Hecate wouldn't hurt her, at least not do anything that would leave permanent damage. Yet whatever the Magic Goddess had planned would make Mineekas wish she was dead.

But if she ignored Hecate, her punishment would be worse.

Mineekas sighed again and opened the door.

Fortune smiled on her. The Magic Goddess didn't stand beyond the threshold. Though the individual Mineekas encountered could be just as fearsome.

From the look on his face, she knew she wouldn't enjoy this meeting.

"Father?"

Hades inclined his head. "May I enter?"

If she refused, her father would respect her wishes. In her short years, neither of her parents had visited her room often. They only did when they felt they absolutely needed to, and, always, Mineekas had granted them entry.

This time she hesitated, but for a second. Hades noticed, though, and frowned even as Mineekas stepped aside. "Of course, Father."

Hades marched inside; the dark, imposing robe he wore over the jeans and collared shirts he preferred whispered across her werewolf fur rug. He pointed at her desk chair (still in the middle of the room), and Mineekas nodded. Her father sat while she reclaimed her bed.

Mineekas couldn't meet her father's intense gaze. "What do I owe this visit?"

She already knew, but she didn't know what else to say. Mineekas hated that her father had felt compelled to leave his work. While the Underworld could function without its king for twenty minutes, no one liked the hiccups that always occurred when he stepped out.

"I hear you're having difficulties wielding your Purpose."

Mineekas almost laughed. By no means had Hecate described their failed training session in that way. Not that Mineekas minded her father's revision. He made the sting more manageable.

"Yeah," Mineekas replied as she picked at her blankets.

"You could have had better behavior dealing with Hecate."

"I know, but she...She won't stop pushing me."

"Like your mother and me, she just wants the best for you."

Mineekas frowned. "There is no 'best' with my situation. I'm screwed."

Hades regarded her for a minute. "Many gods aren't happy with the Fates' verdict."

"Can that be said about you?"

"There are days I struggle."

Her father's Purpose wasn't as bad as hers, though. Oh, boo, his powers dealt with the Earth's valuables. What was the worse he had to deal with? Demands for priceless gems?

"You didn't want an Underworld Purpose, did you?"

Mineekas jumped. Why Hades' bluntness continued to surprise her, even though he'd displayed it all her life, she couldn't say? He was one of the few gods who respected the truth enough to state and face it.

"Well, I..."

She considered lying to him. He may not have been made of the Underworld, but Hades belonged here. He'd expressed many times the few things he missed about the Upperworld (like the sun and the rivers with non-punishing water), yet Hades had stressed how he couldn't imagine having made anywhere else his home.

What would Mineekas gain by being insincere, though? She'd made her opinions clear over the years, even if she'd never stated them out loud. Hades may not have spent as much time with her as he'd wished, but her father had excellent observations skills.

"I just don't want to be here all the time."

"Your Purpose does encourage interaction with mortals. You'll have to leave the Underworld to do so."

Mineekas stiffened. "Sometimes..."

"I'd wager you're more upset about the distress you're encouraged to inflict on mortals."

"Yeah..."

Hades settled back in the chair. "It's uncomfortable to perform necessary ill towards others."

Mineekas shook her head. "How is inflicting terror on mortals while they sleep necessary?"

A soft chuckle escaped Hades. "Maybe I should have let you into the judging chamber a time or two."

"Why?"

"The spirits you've interacted with have either lost most their memories or only chose to focus on their dreams. It's not until they're being Judged do they realize how their nightmares shaped them."

"For the worst."

"In some cases, yes, but many find their nightmares aided them, even if they can't admit it until after their deaths." Hades smiled. "You have the opportunity to improve mortals."

"I don't want them to hate me, and they will."

Hades rubbed his chin as he thought for a silent five minutes. As he did, Mineekas watched him, and her heart hammered. What ideas swirled around his mind? She knew his unhappiness with her hadn't faded much during their talk (no thanks to her whiny tone), and she worried he devised the best way to discipline her.

When she'd been a godling, he'd sometimes joked about sending her to Tartarus for a few months to work alongside the daemons that doled out the eternal sentences for the spirits who'd been the most horrible in life. Could he settle on that decision now? Would Hades feel it worthy treatment of a reluctant goddess?

Mineekas' terrified curiosity reached its cusp just as Hades finally straightened and looked at her. No emotion contorted his features, and his eyes were oddly vacant. Mineekas' breath caught.

"Y-yes?"

"I want to make you a deal."

A/N: Okay, so I lied. This is going to be a three-part story. I just wasn't expecting it to go quite the way it did, not that I'm complaining.

I know I'm posting this a day early, but this weekend might turn out to be insane, and I didn't want to miss uploading in all the craziness. I hope you guys enjoy this.