Elsa POV

Hades was oddly and mercifully silent when I finally ventured out to eat. A queen must always remember her status and her duties. No matter how much I wanted to stay in my room, I had to keep up appearances. I certainly had enough experience hiding my feelings.

"So," Hades broke in after a long silence. "What's the big deal about freezing stuff?" Of course I'd expected it, but I still didn't know what to say.

"It's nothing you'd understand," I said.

"What, because you're weird? I'm blue, my head's on fire, and oh, I'm the god of death. I understand weird," he said.

"The god of death wouldn't understand someone who values life and so often destroys it," I said.

"It's not like I asked to be corpse boy, you know. Ask Zeus about that," Hades said. Whoever Zeus was, it was obvious Hades didn't like him. "Maybe I wanted to rule the sky. Heck, even the sea would be better than this."

"You don't have anyone either, do you?" Besides Anna, I was alone. So was he. That didn't excuse his actions, but it explained them. I could understand someone who, after a lifetime of isolation, didn't quite mesh with the world.

"You don't let anyone in. No one wants to be with me. So which is worse? I don't know. I'm just the corpse boy," Hades said. His flame flickered and that satisfied smirk returned.

"Want to know the worst part? Even if I got my revenge, they'd just come down here. I'd have to look at them every day," he said. There was something so absurdly, pathetically poignant about it that I couldn't help but laugh.

Anna POV

All that building had inside it was a giant throne and a giant sitting on it. What a waste of space. Like everyone in Olympus, the man was glowing. He wore a sort of white dress and he had the strangest curly beard I'd ever seen. He saw me come in and smiled.

"Hello, mortal! What brings you here? Do you seek a boon?" he asked so loudly the building shook.

"No... sort of," I said. I tried to appear like the princess I was. "Your comrade Hades has kidnapped my sister. I wish your assistance in getting her back."

"Hades?!" the man reared back and leaped off of his chair. "Has he been making trouble again? Great thunder." He stepped past me and I ran to get out of the way. He started lumbering down the steps and a darted after him.

"Wait! What are you going to do?" I asked. He turned around like he'd just noticed me and laughed.

"Oh, right. I didn't even ask who you were," he said.

"I'm Anna, princess of Arendelle. Who are you?" I asked.

"Who am I?" I jumped as lightning shot out of the man's head. "Where you raised by wolves? I'm Zeus, king of the gods!"

"I'm honored," I said as I bowed politely. "What are you going to do about Hades?"

"I'm going to march right down there... oh," Zeus said. His face fell and his ferociously upraised arm stopped still. "I'm not allowed in the underworld."

"Not allowed? You're the king of the gods," I said. This was wasting precious time.

"My brothers and I have a deal. I run the sky, Poseidon runs the ocean, and Hades got the Underworld. It's just the rules," Zeus said. He held out his hands like a toddler.

"Well, send someone else," I said.

"Great idea! But who?" Zeus asked. Like I had any idea. Luckily, someone volunteered.

"I'll go," a man called from behind us.

"There's hero boy for you," a woman added exasperatedly. I turned and saw a strong-looking man with orange hair and bronze armor standing next to a woman in a purple dress leaning against a wall.

"Thank you!" I said as I ran to the man. "May I ask your name, kind sir?"

"Call me Hercules."