Reflection of an Absolute Power

by Jyggilag

This is another story that came about from my explorations of the CYOA genre. But rather than being a geek power fantasy, the entire thing failed before it even began and instead allowed Hades, God of the Underworld to gain a new vessel for his soul after the death of his body, and access to an entire multiverse of unsuspecting worlds. Plus a harem of beautiful women and Servants.

1. Prologue: Part 1

Author's Note: Yet another new story, how come? Actually, this is the result of the themes I've been developing in my most immediate previous stories. As I saidwhen I first released my CYOA after my brief Hiatus, I had taken the time to explore the subject after reading several stories by other author's in this place. GothicJedi and StreamingViking being my main focus for the most part. Never expected to take an interest in the subject to tell the truth, but after first being introduced to streamingviking thanks to his Saving the World 101 Fate Grand Order story, I decided to check his profile to see if he had other stories.

Did not expected the sinkhole of depravity that I found in there, completely caught me off-guard, but his profile did allow me to eventually come in contact with GothicJedi stories. So, after researching the subject by myself, going out of my way to find those CYOAs online, I decided to try my hand at it which resulted in the multidimensional harem story. But to tell the truth I think I posted that story way before time since I've still been exploring much more other ideas and themes that I wish to develop.

One of them being the premise for this story… We all know how these CYOA are usually supposed to begin, a random individual is chosen by a ROB or space alien bat to become the protagonist in a game, he chooses his lures, perks, equipment, picks the members of his harem and goes of gallivanting on to the multiverse. It's all pretty part and parcel of the genre.

But then it occurred to me… What will happen if the CYOA failed in its execution? What if, due to his initial choices, the randomly chosen protagonist ended up overreaching beyond the system's actual means to enforce such pickings? If in his willful ignorance the random protagonist tried to mess with powers that shouldn't be trifled with in the first place? If in their boundless arrogance, the entities behind the CYOA underestimate the true level of threat of the beings they tried to shackle and enslave under the protagonist's control, dismissing them and believing them beneath their notice when in reality it is them who are meddling with forces beyond their understanding…

There is such a thing as grasping beyond your reach, failure is actually a real possibility. Most authors tend to ignore this fact or implement it so poorly that you can clearly see it is just a formality to create false tension, just an illusion of danger.

That's where the idea of this story takes form. Someone tried to possess the body of a god and steal his powers for themselves. Hades, from Saint Seiya. A Cosmic entity capable of threatening entire multiverses and a known enemy of humanity, and someone thought it a good idea to try and download their own personality at the moment of his defeat and overwrite his psyche, only for the process to fail and allow Hades to gain a new body with which to cheat death… And access to all the material that would have belonged to the CYOA protagonist, including the capacity to travel to other realities that up to that point were unknown to him.

And that's when I began to have ideas…

At any rate, this story was a long time coming, why Saint Seiya, you may ask? Why Hades in specific? To tell truth I wanted to write a Saint Seiya fanfic since I began my first forays on fanfiction… Without a doubt, Saint Seiya is my number 1 favortie Anime/Manga. Unsurprising considering I'm Mexican and Knights of the Zodiac have a strong following in Latin America and Europe.

And Hades being the big bad, I felt it would he would be appropriate for the thematic of this fic, especially considering how well he could be mixed with the elements of the Nasuverse. I chose to put this story under the Saint Seiya x Fate crossover label despite being multi-crossover pseudo (not quite) CYOA in theory due to the fact the main core of the cast will be composed of characters from these franchises.

So for those of you who don't know Saint Seiya I suggest to google the game Saint Seiya Awakening and type the following names afterwards:

Hades

Divine Athena

Divine Shun

Hashun

Pandora

Hypnos

Thanatos

Just so you can have an idea of what the characters look like. With that said, let's begin already.

Disclaimer: I own nothing; copyrights to the different series and/or franchises that appear in this fic belong to their respectives owners.

THIS CHAPTER IS UPLOADED ON THE 12/08/2021

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Prologue

Part 1

IN THE COMPANY OF THE DEAD

"Athena, you too who are a goddess, sooner or later will realize this love you speak so much about… Is nothing more but a fantasy that the humans have created in order to deceive you. In reality, no one truly believes in this intangible eternal love, for it is something you cannot see and thus it doesn't exist…."

These were the last words of the master of the underworld, the king and ruler of the dead, the ancient Olympian god Hades. With his death at the hands of the goddess Athena and her saints, his ambitions for the complete eradication of mankind were at an end. The eternal great eclipse he had brought about with his very will alone to plummet the Earth in endless darkness was broken, and all the aligned planets of the solar system were free to move back into their orbits once more.

The Underworld, Hyperdimension and the Elysium fields began to collapse now that the spark of his life was no longer there to sustain them. As the Dimensions toppled upon themselves, the Lord of the Dead's final hope was for Athena and her remaining saints to die in the ensuing singularity. What a shame it was that he didn't even had the opportunity to employ the Dunamis of his father, the God of time Chronos. If he had been given the chance to shake off the stupor of centuries of slumber, he would had surely ended the life of Athena in an instant.

But no matter, there is no point in lamenting over what could have been. Better to face the final death of his body with all the dignity worthy of a God of his prominence. His body might die, his soul might be destroyed, but his essence will linger still… And even if Athena were to seal him away, one day he will return and have his revenge upon everyone who dared to defy him.

Athena, her saints, and all of humanity that she so much loves… They will all pay dearly for every insult, every injury inflicted upon his body.

These were the thoughts swirling inside his mind in his last moments, as he felt the end approaching a dimensional breach suddenly opened behind him, dragging his broken body towards its interior. The last he saw was the incredulous expression of Athena as the dimensions collapsed and his body disappeared inside the breach before he felt himself being displaced somewhere else.

!

He smashed upon the floor of an unknow place, his precious Ichor, the divine blood of a god pouring into the ground from the wound in his chest. Hades couldn't think what good will do to him to have been whisked away from the destruction of the dimensions if he was still going to die nevertheless by the wounds that Athena inflicted on him.

He was in a dark place with barely any light to see, there were bodies sprawled on the ground all around, he could sense each of them to be dead and without life. How appropriate for him to die surrounded by those subjects he completely ruled over. Hades resigned himself to his fate, however, as he was finally going to breathe his last something caught his attention.

In front of him, a still living body laid sitting upon a throne, dressed in the robes (and most importantly) wearing the pendant on his neck granted to those who were selected to become his blessed Yorishiro. The chosen vessel for his spirit to inhabit and exert his will on Earth, so that his divine self would not have to leave the safety of the Elysian Fields. To his immense surprise, it was the very same mortal he had chosen to become his blessed host during the current era. It was the very same Saint whose soul was the most innocent and purest in this age, the very same Saint whom Athena managed to wrestle from his control and break the possession he had established upon him. The very same Saint that dared to defy him alongside the rest of his comrades inside the heart of his own domain.

Currently, the boy appeared as if asleep, completely blind to his surroundings as the only reaction that could be seen from him was the subtle rising and falling of his chest as he breathed. There didn't appeared as if there was going to be any kind of resistance from the green-haired teen, leaving himself completely open to the designs of the God of the underworld.

Hades didn't know how this was possible, but he wasn't going to waste the chance to continue influencing the mortal plane and survive the destruction of his body. He wasn't simply going to lay down and die when an opportunity to keep striving on his quest for revenge was laid in front of him; he was going to survive by forcing his Divine Will to inhabit a new vessel.

And that's exactly what he did. As his Divine body breathed his last, the malicious spirit of the God of the underworld escaped from the confines of his coil and took refuge inside the body of the boy asleep upon the throne. As his spirit took possession of its new vessel, the soul of its original occupant began to stir, and mystical contingencies activated in an attempt to shackle Hades' essence.

Mental commands tried to imprint upon his mind, soul anchors tried to chain his spirit, even great magic was called forth to try to seal Hade's consciousness away. With contemptuous ease, the spirit of the God of the underworld swatted all attempts to enslave him aside, as there exists no mortal method; mystical, technological or otherwise, capable of withstanding against the will of a fully awakened god. He took a particular sadistic enjoyment in crushing the boy's soul into nothing, breaking it into a thousand pieces that would fade into the Aether, incapable of sustaining themselves. Ensuring no one would dare to contest the ownership of this body from him. The agonizing death screams from the boy's soul were music for Hades' ear, too bad they suddenly stopped into silence once he asserted complete dominion over his new vessel.

It seemed this body had a certain set of memories and knowledge imprinted into its very core, independent from the soul he had now destroyed as if a second consciousness was lying dormant deep in the background. From his examination, Hades speculated that something had subsumed the personality of the Athena's saint whose body he now occupied long before he attempted to take it for his own, he ignored this odd discovery for now, concentrating instead in the task of fully claiming his prize.

From the outside, the unconscious boy began to spasm violently as a pitch-black malevolent haze filtered inside of him from every orifice. Once the black cloud had finished entering him completely, all erratic movement stopped suddenly. For a moment everything was peace as if time itself had stopped, but then a distinct change began to take place on the boy's features. The color of his hair began to change, from vibrant green to deep scarlet red, starting from the tips and making its way to the very roots until not a single strand of green remained.

That's when the boy opened its eyes, revealing a clear aquamarine gaze. No trace of pupils whatsoever, just a wide Iris surrounded by a small sclera, evidencing the total control that Hades now had over his new vessel. The boy was no more, only the god remained.

Slowly, tentatively, The Olympic God began to feel with his new body. Taking firm hold of the arms of the throne to push himself to his feet and take his first steps in a mortal vessel. A few steps in front of him laid his dead divine body, Hades approached and stared down at his now expired former coil, feeling a deep rage and resentment the longer he looked at it. How dared those mortals to defy the will of a god and slay his divine existence!? The mere thought fills him with the desire to wipe their entire pathetic species and consign their souls to Tartarus forevermore. No trial for their sins required.

But enough of that, Hades required to ascertain were in the whole of creation he was. Pressing both of his hands to his face and rubbing his eyes in order to calm himself somewhat and diffuse his anger, the Lord of the dead took notice of a strange glowing marking beneath the sleeve of his left hand. Pulling it back to inspect his limb better, Hades took notice of strange mystical seals he had never encountered branded on his skin, from the back of his hand and down all the way to his elbow. Thanks to his divine insight he could tell they were supposed to form a connection to… Somewhere, something, someone…? The seals weren't active yet, but they glowed with a pulsating shine at the ready of being triggered within a moment's notice.

Putting the matter of the seals aside for the moment, Hades went back to the task of trying to discern his whereabouts. Looking around the throne room, there was nothing that could clue him in where he was. It was a spaciously wide chamber worthy of paying homage to a god, but almost everywhere was plunged in an almost impenetrable darkness. Not that something like that bothered him who had ruled over the eternal sunless realm that was the underworld. But he needed a way to determine his exact location.

He was about to expand his senses when he took notice of the bodies in the floor around the throne, most of them female, except for the occasional male here and there. Some of them looking as beautiful in death as they were in life. And that's when he had a thought, why should he bother trying to figure out where he was when he could either simply ask one of his subjects or send them to look for the answer on their own? That's what they are for after all…

He approached the nearest corpse, it was a beautiful woman: Blonde, pretty of face, wide of hips and heavy of bosom with long enticing legs, her hair was done in an elaborate style tied on the back of head but with two long curls that framed her long elegant neck and fell all the way to the top of her breast. She was dressed in a red corset with golden embroidery, a red skirt made of a single length of cloth wrapped around her hips and fastened with a brooch that leaved her mid-riff exposed. A long pink cape made of a fine see-through material was set upon her bare shoulders and tied by the front right over her navel with a golden ornamentation as the cloth circled her impressive bust to accentuate her assets. She had high heels over her feet and was wearing jewelry in the form of golden wristbands and a golden chain around the top of her head from which a single small ruby hanged and rested right in the middle of her forehead. Lastly, a purple sash was wrapped around her sternum beneath her breasts.

She looked so alluring and peaceful despite lying in rest with her hands and arms crossed atop her chest inside an open casket. Without doubt she was one of the most beautiful women Hades has ever seen in his eons-long life. Even in death…

The God of the dead simply stared down at the body of the dead woman and with a banal application of his will, the woman breathed again among a fit of coughs and rose from her coffin. "(Cough)W-(Cough) What!?" The blonde beauty exclaimed in confusion as she had trouble in taking notice of her surroundings, focusing more in the mystery behind her resurrection. "I… I am alive!? (Cough) How is this possible!? (Cough) (Cough)"

"Human… Cease your useless blathering and get out of that casket! Your lord commands you…" Hades spoke in a voice not of his own but still capable of conveying the immeasurable disdain he felt towards mankind.

The woman turned in his direction in a fright. "Ah! W-Who… Who are you!? Are you the one who – (cough) who brought me back to life!?"

The handsome, overly effeminate face of Hades' vessel twisted in a scowl of scorn. "You dare ask…? How can you not recognize the work of he you should be thanking on your knees for allowing your pitiful miserable existence to return to the world of the living? It was a simple thing to do with my power over the dead… Such ungratefulness, I am starting to believe it was a mistake bringing you back to life… Perhaps I should send your soul back to the abyss I plucked it from…" He declared with the most boundless arrogance ever to be displayed.

A new wave of terror began to take hold of the woman as she began to remember the manner of her death. "Are… Are… Are you a god…?" The blonde beauty asked visible afraid of uttering the question.

There was no visible reaction as Hades answered the question. "Yes… Can you not tell, mortal…? You are addressing Hades, the King of the underworld and ruler of the dead. Your lord and master…"

That answer was enough to cause the woman to scramble into action immediately, struggling in her attempt to get out of her coffin with great difficulty as she tried to clear her legs over the casket and only succeeding in falling to the ground flat on her face. "Ouch!" She exclaimed as she began to rub her injured side, but instead of getting back on her feet she took the opportunity to start begging for her life from her low position despite the pain she was in. "P-please… my lord, forgive me for my ignorance. I didn't realize who I was speaking to! I didn't mean any insult! I am forever your humble servant, I swear!"

Hades simply stared down at the groveling woman at his feet… It seemed this female at the very least did indeed knew what her place was, unlike much of the rest of humanity, which caused his impression of her to minutely improve. He supposed he could overlook her transgression against him just this once. It was not in Hades' nature to be unnecessary cruel towards his own subjects no matter how much he might detest them as a species. Everyone was equal in death after all…

"Enough! Get up! I have some questions for you mortal…" Hades commanded, stopping the shameless display of boot-licking and offering a hand to help the woman back on her feet for etiquette's sake.

The blonde beauty stared at the provided limb in incomprehension for a moment, not knowing what she should do. But a look at the quickly displeased look on Hades face told her she shouldn't be wasting time lest she gives some offense. So, she took hold of the offered hand and let herself be hauled back to her feet. "I—I am not worthy…"

"True…" Hades simply stated as he easily pulled the woman back up. "But you are all that I have available at the moment…" He said as she let go off the blonde once she was on her feet again.

"Now… Are you well enough to answer my questions…?" Hades began to make motions with a hand towards the woman, gesturing for her name.

The blonde was quick at the uptake this time and performed a curtsey the best she could while introducing herself. "My name is Aleria lord Hades… I… Am pleased of making your acquaintance…" She added, correcting herself after hesitating.

Hades didn't visibly react to her introduction and carried out with the conversation without a pause. "Very well, Aleria… Do you recognize this place we are currently in? Have you any idea of how you arrived in here…? He questioned as he signaled at their surroundings.

The blonde beauty began to look all around the darkened throne room, not recognizing their location. Her anxiety rising with each passing moment as she feared Hades displeasure at her inability of answering his question. She could offer nothing but a shake of her head in a negative. "I am sorry, milord. But I do not recognize this place. Least of all know how I got here. All I remember is the moment of my death before awakening once more into life thanks to your benevolence. Please forgive me for not being of any use to you…" She pleaded by lowering her head.

Hades simply waved a hand in dismissal. "No matter… Wasn't expecting much from a human in the first place to tell the truth…" Aleria flinched at the cutting tone of his voice. "At the very least, I have confirmation that it is very unlikely for the dead in this place to know anything of relevance…"

"What do you mean by that milord Hades? Is this not the realm of the dead? Am I not here because of my passing? Am I not to be judged and punished for my sins in life?" Aleria asked with obvious perplexity, understandable considering all she knew at the moment were the instants of her death and her resurrection.

"Sadly, this is not the Underworld, so I'm afraid I am unable to render judgement upon your soul at the moment. You will have to forgive me for such oversight, but just like you I found myself being brought to this place against my will, and for reasons I will not disclose my spirit now resides inside this mortal vessel you see in front of you. I suppose I could give you a free pass for now due to my inability to fulfill my duties by taking you under my service as my retainer since currently most of my usual servants are… Unavailable…" Hades explained, becoming a little sour by the end at the memory of all of his one hundred and eight specters having been defeated and sealed away by Athena and her Saints.

The blonde beauty was smart by showing the proper amount of deference to such offer. "To be under the service of such a mighty god capable of bringing the death back to life… It would be such an incredible honor unworthy for someone as low as I…" She declared, dialing it up a little in the flattering.

"Yes, it is… Be grateful mortal…" Hades warned, but then brought the subject back to the matter at hand. "As for how you got here, it pains me to admit I am unaware of the manner in which your corpse, alongside the rest of the death that I can feel all around us, made their way to this place…"

"So… You do not know where we are Milord Hades…?" Aleria dared herself to ask in the most conspicuous manner possible, not wishing test the patience of the self-declared God of the underworld.

Hades suddenly stared down at his newly acquired servant with unkind eyes. Aleria became frightened by that. "No, I do not…"

The blonde beauty gestured with her hands for leniency. "Peace milord, I only wished to have an accurate image of our situation as to know how to best serve your Excellency… So, if none of us know where we are or how we arrived here, what are we supposed to do now, Milord? I assume a god of your stature must have a plan for his next course of action already underway…" She stated, trying to look the most inoffensive she could.

Hades sighed, trying to rein his temper since he knew the newly resurrected woman had a point. "If only I had my generals with me, I would send them to investigate this place and report their findings. Not even my main attendant Pandora is with…" The Lord of the underworld suddenly cut himself midsentence, turning to a seemingly random direction as his gaze became distant. Aleria became a little startled by the abrupt change in demeanor.

"M-milord…? Milord Hades!?"

"I can feel her… She's close, near this place…" It was all that Hades said as he kept gazing at the distance.

"Who, Milord? Who are you feeling close?" The blonde beauty inquired.

"Pandora… My most loyal follower, my right hand… The ambassador of my will and commander of my armies… If she is near, then it will simply be a matter of calling her into my presence. All I have to do is give the command…" Hades said before closing his eyes and seemingly entering into a trance. 'Pandora, come… Your master beckons you…' The lord of the underworld declared as he projected his thoughts into the distance, calling for his wayward attendant.

In another chamber at an unknown distance from the throne room, a beautiful maiden of long plum hair lying placidly in the peace of death suddenly awoke from her eternal slumber. "Milord Hades!"

'Pandora, come to me… I have need of your loyal service…'

As he thought of his most devoted and steadfast servant, a set of memories embedded deep inside the brain of his new vessel came to the forefront of his mind and Hades was able to see the myriad of struggles and hardships her loyal commander had to endure under his service. Starting with how she became alone after being reborn into a caring family in the modern era thanks to Hades inadvertently killing every single living thing in the premises of her family's state with his Cosmo after he sent his spirit to be reborn on Earth as Pandora's younger sibling for the search of a new vessel to enact his will on the mortal world, something that caused seeds of resentment towards the gods to grow inside Pandora's heart at having her happiness being taken away from her so that she could be used as a pawn in the upcoming holy war. Moving on into the years of solitude she had to endure after being thrown out of hearth and home and all the abuse and torment she had to endure under the twin gods Hypnos and Thanatos, who treated Pandora worse than the lowest of slaves. And finalizing with her death under Thanatos' will after she realized Hades intentions of annihilating humanity which caused her to betray her lord by giving her precious collar to the Phoenix saint, whom she admired for refusing to kill his own brother after he had become Hades vessel during the current Holy war, so that he could travel through the Hyperdimension safely as to reach the Elysian Fields and be able to confront Hades in his own domain.

Hades felt a myriad of feelings after this revelation, intense anger and outrage at Thanatos and Hypnos for how they treated her since although he could understand their disgust towards humanity in general they had no right to lay a finger on Pandora or treat her the way they did since she was his subject and thus she belonged to him and him alone. She is his ambassador and the appointed representative of his will on Earth and so any insult made against her is an insult made against him. He felt deeply betrayed at Pandora's treason and willingness to aid his enemies into reaching his inner sanctum so that they could protect humanity from his wrath, but at the same time he also felt immensely sad and ashamed for his actions that drove her to betray him in the first place.

This new body of his told him he had been unkind towards her and that she hadn't deserved all the suffering she had to endure in his name and therefore he shouldn't be surprised that she had finally decided enough was enough. He had to agree; in all the long millenniums she has loyally served, this is the first time Pandora has actively decided to oppose his designs, it disturbs him the fact they had reach his stage in the first place. What had gone wrong with his plans…? After all, even though he detests humanity and would want nothing more but the lot of them to go extinct, he has always prided himself to be a just king and ruler over his subjects, unlike his brothers…

There is no point in dwelling in past mistakes, what's done is done and therefore out of his hands, there will be a lot of amendments he will have to do in the near future in order to fix his relationship with his most nearest and dearest follower. There's much that needs to be done, to make up with his… Sister…

As the lord of the underworld was busy with his own thoughts the blonde beauty he had recently recruited into his service took the opportunity to size up her new lord, which eventually led to her start admiring his facial traits and features. Even though there was still much she didn't understand about her new situation and lot in life (New life? Unlife? Second life? Whatever) And that the self-proclaimed ruler of the dead intimidated her greatly as to make her feel a deep dread and fear churning inside her when near his presence, Aleria had to admit that Hades was indeed pretty handsome. She wouldn't be wrong in saying he was the most beautiful man she has ever met, with soft, dainty and lean features that gave him an effeminate appearance but with a hint of aloofness due to his cold demeanor that made him so attractive and pleasing to the eye.

Aleria shook herself out of that train of thought and began to blush at realizing she was staring, it wasn't her fault to become enthralled by her new master, if anything it is HIS fault for being such a pretty boy. It was in this moment of woolgathering that Hades came out of his thoughts and turned towards the blonde beauty, if he took notice of her blush and frazzled semblance, he made no note of it. "Aleria… I have a task for you…"

"M-me, my lord! Wh-Wha~ what would you require of me…?" She asked with some embarrassment.

"I need you to go fetch Pandora for me and lead her back to this throne room…" Hades simply commanded without missing a beat.

"B-but how would I recognize her in the first place if I've never met her nor been told how she looks like? Also, how am I supposed to find her if I'm just as lost as you are Milord about our whereabouts?" She asked not unreasonably despite her alarm, she indeed didn't had a leg to stand on regarding their current predicament as to be sent to look a person she's never heard of.

"The answers to both of those questions are simple enough for a god such as me…" Hades declared matter-of-factually before placing a hand atop Aleria's head, much to the woman's shock. Immediately, an image began to invade her mind about a beautiful pale but cold-looking long plum haired maiden in a black dress. Without a doubt, this was the Pandora that the lord of the underworld wanted brought into his presence.

Hades placidly released the blonde beauty from his grip after imparting his knowledge into her mind and proceeded to point to a big set of double doors barely visible in the gloom at the opposite end of the room from which the throne occupying the center of the hall stood. "From where this throne room stands and outside those doors, head straight to the southwest and you'll eventually stumble upon right into Pandora… Do not stray from the path I'm signaling to you and make sure not to tarry, less you earn my displeasure…" He commanded without the barest hint of sympathy.

All that Aleria could do was stutter on her own words in lieu in an answer, not really wishing to be sent on her own in an unknown place but knowing there was no way she could oppose the orders of a god capable of commanding the dead. "I-I…"

"And do not object, you swore you'll serve me and follow my orders… Do not forget, because if you were to stoke my anger then I will simply take from you the very life I've returned to your body. It would be a simple thing, for that which the gods can give in their generosity, they can as easily take in their wrath… Now, go…" Hades commanded, not a single trace of emotion in his dace as he pointed at the set of double doors.

Aleria shivered on her feet at the threat, not wishing to experience a second death so soon after her resurrection. Therefore, there was only a single thing she could do if she wished to remain alive. She gulped, and bowed with her head low towards the incarnated deity. "As you command Milord Hades… I will do as you say…" She declared before retreating from the God's presence and heading towards to double set of doors.

As she approached the enormous gates, Aleria suddenly began to have the frightful suspicion that she was not going to be capable of opening such big heavy set of doors on her lonesome. And when she tried to push them open, she was unsurprisingly unable to move them a single centimeter. Awkwardness ensued, but knowing that disappointing her new lord was not an option, Aleria braced herself an attempted to carry on with her task despite the obvious futility of the endeavor.

Hades, said nothing as the sounds of the woman's pitiful struggles could be heard echoing throughout the room. Finally after a few more minutes of useless exertion, Aleria gave up and turned towards her new lord still patiently awaiting her departure. "Eh! Excuse Milord Hades but the doors are closed shut, I'm afraid I cannot open them on my own… This is a little embarrassing for me to ask, but do you think you could give me a hand if it's not much trouble!?" She asked with obvious hesitance.

All of a sudden, a gust of wind swept across the room and struck the doors in full, slowly with a big screech of wood, they both began to open completely as if pushed by an unseen force. Aleria reared back in surprise at the unexpected development but as she took notice of the light starting to flood inside the chamber, causing her eyes to wince at the sudden sensorial overload, she knew straight away who she should be grateful for this assistance.

She turned back towards the waiting god, still standing in the same spot. "T-Thank you Milord Hades! You are a true gentleman…! … ! … I will be going now, so don't turn impatient in my absence, I'll be back before you know it…" She declared with an awkward smile as she raised a finger for emphasis.

"Go, Now!" Commanded the God of the dead, having enough of the antics of his new servant.

"Y-Yes Milord! At once!" Aleria replied in a startle, bowing several times quickly before making herself scarce. As she exited the throne room into the light of the outside, the blonde found herself in a spherical courtyard surrounded by tall pillars of marble. Glancing behind the way she came, Aleria discovered that the throne room she just exited from was in reality the first level of a tall imposing tower lying in the center of the courtyard.

Taking a moment to assess her surroundings after gasping at the sights, the blonde beauty had to admit this place looked quite appropriate as the dwellings for a god, everything appeared grand and magnificent though the sky looked a little queer in her opinion. Shaking her head out of her thoughts and knowing she had a task to complete that she couldn't afford herself to fail, Aleria proceeded to search for the exit out of this courtyard.

Following the marble path she was standing on to its end, she passed through a small cope of trees bordering the courtyard until she found a marble arch marking the exit from the place. As crossed underneath the archway, Aleria found herself gasping in surprise for a second time, as underneath her she could see an entire city of marble buildings stretching all the way down as if built on a hill and covering all sides of the tower's courtyard lying at the top like a small inverted funnel. A sudden apprehension began to grow inside Aleria as she realized she would have to check every single building standing in her way if she wished to find this woman Pandora…

Letting out a sigh in resignation, the buxom beauty determined there was no point in complaining and might as well get on with her chore already. At the very least, Lord Hades pointed out to her the direction she should head towards; Southwest… Luckily for her, there was a carving of the cardinal arrows engraved in the marble arch right where she was leaning with the courtyard's tower representing the top north. So, she simply turned in the direction the arrows where pointing and walked in that direction into an alleyway, beginning to feel quite good with herself after her stroke of luck, things seemed to be finally looking up for her.

!

Back in the throne room, Hades was contemplating his next course of action. He couldn't decide whether to explore the rest of the building where the throne room was located, attempt to detect anything else noteworthy enough with his senses or raise the rest of the dead inside this place if only to have someone else to speak to and stave off boredom.

As he walked back towards the throne and grabbed one of its arms for support, his eyes fell again upon the strange markings on the back of his left hand. His new body began to send him a feeling that he should pay closer attention to them. With nothing pressing to do at the current time, Hades decided this was the perfect time to see if he could give an answer to this particular mystery.

He analyzed the markings with his senses, as before he could determine they were magical seals that were waiting for a trigger in order to be activated, their function was to create a bond with unknown creatures or individuals currently nowhere to be seen… He wasn't sure if it was a slave master bond since the markings true functions were on standby at the moment until the seals became alive, so he couldn't determine whether he was supposed to be the master, or the slave. Not that it would matter in any case…

Fearing absolutely nothings, since no mortal method existed that could withstand against a god, Hades forcefully activated the seals with his Cosmo. Immediately, there was a reaction, as the seals lighted up like a beacon and a summoning circle appeared in front of him. From its confines a heavy-chested plum haired woman appeared wearing a long black coat with red interior that looked more like a cape and dressed in a white one-piece leotard that leaved the entirety of her legs exposed. The strange woman was also sporting two red ribbons, a large one tied around her neck like a bowtie whose long ends reached all the way down to her hips and a short one over her hair, she was also wearing white gloves and red high-heels. Out of nowhere, a strange music began to be heard on every corner of the throne room.

"It's your mysterious digital demoness, all-powerful lovely space goddess and best Kohai of all time! BB-chan!" The self-declared BB-chan exclaimed boisterously, an unreasonable and overbearing happy expression plastered on her face.

"Woman! Explain yourself!" Hades commanded, suspicious of the newcomer.

"Oh? You must be my new Master!? A red-haired Bishonen!" The Plum-haired woman declared in delight at taking sight of Hades' vessel, not deterred in the least by his obvious irritation as she approached floating right to his face without a care in the world and began to check him out from head to toes. "My… My… You are without a doubt one of the cutest masters I've ever had, but still not as cute as my sempai… Eeeh…? Now this interesting… I can detect that you don't have any magic circuits on you, yet I can feel an awesome cosmic power flaring within you through our bond and anchoring my existence on this plane!" She announced annoyingly loud.

"I am Hades, lord of the underworld and ruler of the dead! Mind your manners when speaking to a god, spirit!" Hades declared in that cold tone of finality of his, surprising the oddly named BB greatly.

"Eh!? I can't believe The Greek god of the underworld is this cute! It's just not possible! But how come I can feel your body to be human, Master!? Are you perhaps being a naughty boy and hijacking that mortal body from its rightful owner in order to manifest yourself on the human world?" BB asked, showing a great deal of intuition for someone so extravagant.

Hades gave a considering stare at the strange floating woman. "Hmmmph… You're much more insightful than what first appearances might tell of you woman…" He hummed, pretty much confirming BB's conjecture.

"That's me! The all-knowable, adorable and sexy BB!" The plum haired girl declared, striking a pose while closing an eye and sticking her tongue out the side of her mouth.

"Exactly what is that you are BB, and how are you tied to these markings that I have on the back of my hand…?" Hades inquired, showing the markings on the back of his left hand.

"As I've said, I am BB! Digital Goddess from outer space and your new and lovable Servant that will both torment you with unbearable bliss until you die and cut down any enemy standing in front of you when the mood suits me! The caped girl declared with her usual chirpiness.

Hades frowned at that explanation. "I have the suspicion that the word Servant holds a different connotation to you than what it does to me? I will require for you to elaborate further on the subject." He requested in an even tone.

"Oh? Does that mean you have no idea what a Servant is? Then would that also mean you don't know anything about Heroic Spirits, Command Seals and Magecraft?" BB inquired with an overly adorable puzzled expression. All she got as response from Hades was a flat look of unfamiliarity at hearing those terms. "Right… Then I guess a quick introduction to Magecraft should be in order. You should be thankful for my generosity, master. Clearly someone as hopeless as you will be completely lost without my lovely self to guide you…" She declared before pulling out a teacher's pointing stick and some glasses out of nowhere as she began to drone on in an impromptu speech about the basics of the moonlit world.

"So, to summarize, these command seals bound you to me as a Servant and allow me to give you three absolute orders you cannot refuse while serving as the medium that permits your manifestation on the world? And servants are nothing more but shadows, a fragment from the soul of either a legendary hero or a Divine Spirit, in your case, that are anchored inside artificial vessels made completely out of magical energy and created through human sortileges and rituals?" Hades stated, surmising all the information he had just been told as he looked up at the floating girl.

"Pretty much yes… You have a gift for conciseness my master! Even though it will not hurt you to smile more from time to time…" BB declared cheerfully, pressing her closed fists over her hips.

Hades seemed less than pleased at hearing that; the confirmation of his understanding about servants, not the comment about smiling since he decidedly ignored that part. "That explains why you feel like a type of phantom to my senses. You are an untethered soul without a body of your own forced to inhabit a fake vessel against your will and condemned to follow the orders of whoever possesses these seals. I pity you greatly… To think that the humans will be so impudent as to dare to try at bringing the death back to life through their own profane sorceries!? When such a deed falls only in the domain of the gods to accomplish!? But not only that! They also went as far as to attempt to bound and shackle a divine being as their slave!? Their perfidy disgust me greatly!" He exclaimed with a sneer and no small amount of abhorrence in his voice.

The smile on BB's face became strained. "Well… I do not disagree with anything you have said my master. I do would prefer if I could be spared from being bound to a human and allowed to do freely as I pleased, like the gentle rose petal that I am scattered by the wind. But that's the way things work so there's nothing else to do but try to make the best out of a bad situation and put a brave face as they say." She declared with a string of cheerless giggles by the end that clearly told she wasn't being sincere.

Hades closed his eyes and took a long breath to calm himself down. "Well it does not matter now… As you've said. I am your master now and I will ensure to fix this travesty that the humans have brought about." He declared, before reaching with an arm towards BB, grabbing her by the shoulder and bringing her down to his level.

"Hey master, wait a minute! What are you doing!? Don't tell me you got besotted by my admittedly criminal good-looks and plan to ravish my young supple body to sate your lowly desires…" BB declared in a playful that held a hint of danger underneath. Hades hold suddenly became rough, yanking BB around with enough force as to make her feel it.

"I am not Zeus… So, be careful of never again making such an analogy in my presence…" Hades stated in a low threatening tone that caused the plum girl to consider that maybe she had gone too far with her teasing for a second. "Now kept quiet! I need to visualize the task at hand; it will be a matter of just a moment…"

"Eh? What do you mean master? What are you try—" BB suddenly became quiet mid question as a dark aura began to emanate from Hades' body and she started to feel the limitless power of the god of the underworld enter her body and forcing changes through every single particle of her anatomy, down to her very core. She could feel a complete metamorphosis taking place, starting from her base atoms and spreading through all of her pathways and conduits. The makeup of her body transmuting and synthetizing into something else entirely.

It was an experience that only lasted a few seconds, but BB was well aware that some fundamental changes had taken place. She stared at her hands in shock, and took off her gloves to begin to feel the differences made with her own skin. "My… My body… It is now real….! A real body of flesh and bones! I am no longer a copied soul trapped inside a Prana container, but a fully incarnated Divine Spirit brought back to life…!" The plum-haired girl turned and stared at Hades with a look of pure awe. Without a doubt, an expression that was a first time for her. "You have turn me into a real living and breathing person!"

"It is but a simple task for a true god like me to raise a spirit back from the dead…" Hades simply replied as if he had performed an insignificant task, releasing his hold from the stupefied plum girl! "Thanks to my Divine Will, all atoms and matter in the universe are uder my beck at call and nothing is beyond my reach. Time and space bend at my word and the planets themselves must bow to my commands… As I've already stated, to rule over life and death is a domain that belongs exclusively to the gods…" He declared with undeniable certainty, as if a universal truth had been uttered.

But BB wasn't hearing him anymore, as she began to jump and holler around in delight. "Yahooo! I'm a real girl! Thank you, thank you, thank you master! You're the best! You truly are a kind and generous master! It seems all the stories about you being a just god are true! I'll never be able to repay you for this gift. Mwaaah!" She declared before all of a sudden pressing her lips upon Hades' own in a quick peck and moving on to continue with her revelry throughout the throne room.

Hades was left stunned for a moment as he hadn't expected such a reaction from the plum girl, placing a hand to his lips for a moment. The experience hadn't been unpleasant at all, it actually had been quite enjoyable despite the fortuitousness of the action. Her lips had felt so soft and tender like gummies, and her scent had been so enthralling to his nose…

Hades shook his head, banishing such thoughts. The novel sensations that his new body allowed him to experience were quite distracting. Now was not the time for such… Frolicking.

"Enough of this buffoonery…" He commanded suddenly, bringing BB's carousing to a sudden halt. "So, BB. It seems my little gift has been much to your liking…?" Hades stated, gesturing at the Plum-haired girl with a hand.

BB nodded quite frantically in confirmation. "Oh, you bet I am quite pleased with having a real body of my own. It will be a blast to actually be alive and not just a simple shadow of my true self materialized through magecraft. I can barely contain myself from thinking in all the ways I'm going to torment my little piggies. It's going to be lots of fun!" She declared with a nefarious smile as her eyes began to glow red.

Hades simply nodded in acknowledgement after such declaration. "Very well, then all that's left is disposing of these disgusting command seals. The sheer idea that there exists a method that can shackle a divine existence into following the orders of a human is a great Anathema to my sensibilities…" He declared, raising his hand to reveal his command seals.

BB suddenly became rather alarmed at that and gestured for Hades to stop. "Woah! Hold your horses for a moment master! I wouldn't be so quick at getting rid of the Command Seals if I were you… They are quite the useful tools with more functions than just mere tools of control, you know…"

"What do you mean by that BB?" The lord of the underworld inquired.

And thus, BB gave him a small account of all the varied uses that the command seals may grant. From amplifying a servant's strength and other physical attributes to close wounds in an instant and allow a servant to keep fighting despite any number of lethal wounds, to even break the time and space continuum so that an order might be fulfilled. By the end of it, Hades was looking at the seals in his hand with a consideration that wasn't there before.

"I see, they do indeed sound quite handy… But if you are counseling me from discarding them, does that mean you are willing to the idea of being bound to me and joining your destiny with mine for all eternity out of your own initiative…?" Hades questioned in perplexity.

"Oh, master! The things you say!" BB exclaimed with a blush, giggling prettily as she pressed her hands to her face in faux embarrassment. "I only have one true love in the form of my senpai, so even if you were to become madly in love with me and confess your feelings towards BB, I'm afraid you'll never be able to catch my heart. So, it is futile to try, I've said it as such to many other suitors in the past. That is… Unless you are willing to become my new senpai? Your gift to me has certainly left me in a good enough disposition to deign myself in entertaining the idea for a moment… But I should warn you… My pure gentle maiden heart is quite like a vast deep ocean during a storm. Calm and sunny sometimes, but violent and treacherous at another. If you are not careful, you might end up sinking to the bottom and drowning in my love." She said with an impish smile as she kept acting like a schoolgirl in love.

Hades frowned heavily at that. "What is this about love? How such a worthless thing enters in the equation? Don't tell me you believe in that false illusion propagated by humans to deceive one another…?" He declared with obvious distaste.

His response was certainly something that BB was not expecting, and her expression reflected that. "Master! Please don't tell me you don't believe in love! How can that be!?" She exclaimed, pressing her hands to her cheeks in shock.

"Love is simply a lie that humans created to bind others to do their bidding against their own interests. They preach about and extol the beauty of selfless everlasting love, and yet they are so quick to betray and act behind the backs of those they say they love more than any other thing in their lives. This is because in reality, no one truly believes in the existence of a pure eternal love since it is a thing that can neither be touched with your own hands nor cannot be seen with your own eyes. And therefore, since no one has been able to prove that love is a real thing, they are simply deceiving themselves and pretending it exists. But it is nothing more but a dream, an invention that exists only inside the minds of humans…" Hades stated in a voice of pure, calculated and cold fact.

BB pouted cutely at that answer. "Then I know now what my duty to you will be master! It will be BB-chan's task to teach you the meaning of love!" She declared grandly, pointing at Hades with a finger. "And these commands seals will signify the bond that exists between us as master and servant, they will be our own personal red threads of fate, and nothing will ever be able to cut them apart! You will not be getting rid of me that easily, this I promise you master!"

Hades didn't react outwardly to BB's proclamation, simply staring at the plum-haired girl with a plain stoic expression. "I believe it will be nothing but a monumental waste of time for you to try to teach me about this nonexistent love. However, I will not dismiss your willingness for wishing to be under my service and thus will gladly accept your fealty as my new subject. I have always prided myself of being a just and kind ruler towards my subordinates, so I will strive to be worthy of the trust you've placed on me by surrendering your life into my hands. This is the promise I will make to you in exchange for your service…" He declared with the outmost solemnity.

"I think you are having the wrong idea about what a Master-Servant relationship entails, master. But that's okay, I still like you, nonetheless. There will be time later for me to teach you properly…" BB stated with a perverse smirk that promised great unpleasantries in the future.

Hades just nodded in response. "Very well, then I will accept this magical contract between us. I'm afraid we will have to dispense of any ceremony for later and get to work right away…" The Lord of the underworld unexpectedly became quiet, as if it were a struggle for him to utter the next words. "It pains me to admit it, but I truly am in the need of some assistance at the moment…"

"Oh Boo, you are not being any fun right now Master. Making a frail delicate girl like me work like a pack-mule, aren't you supposed to be a man…?" BB stated with a small raspberry before assuming her usual sunny disposition. "But alright… It is clear you are pretty hopeless and in need of all the help you can get. So, what can your BB do for you master…?"

The red-haired god became all business as he began to question his new Servant. "Do you have a reliable method that would allow you to discern where we are or how is it that I arrived in this place? I confess that my presence on this location was not of my own volition… I was brought here at the very moment I was slain by a perfidious enemy of mine, so I have no idea as for the reason why I was brought to this place." Hades then proceeded to regale BB of the tale of his arrival and how at the moment of death of his Divine body he was transported inside this throne room with a new vessel for his spirit already waiting for him right for the taking and the Command Seals on his hand already engraved on his skin.

BB listened with an expression of intrigue and when the God finished with his retelling, she materialized a holographic terminal into existence in front of her. "Let me see master, my interface is able to detect the presence of an operational system inside this place. Let me try to remotely access into it and see if there's any records that might be able to shade some light into this little mystery of yours…" After a few seconds of lightning-fast typing, a look of wonder appeared on her face. "Oh, this is interesting…"

"What is it…?" Hades inquired patiently, a small measure of relief being able to be discerned in his voice at the thought of finally being able to get some answers. It is a great comfort to have efficient subordinates that actually know what they are doing, he appreciates subjects like that.

"This place where we are in is not just some dark and broody dungeon straight out of a B rate Horror movie. But an entire city located within its own personal Dimensional Space that's inside a floating Cube with airborne capabilities known as the Noah's Ark. It is a powerful magical transportation device that allows whoever is in control to open doors to any location of the world. However, from what I'm reading here, someone made extensive modifications to the Ark and equipped it with a Pan-dimensional warp-drive that allows for travel into other dimensions and realities. In essence, we can open doors into any universe we might desire as soon as we get this place running, and the drive has even a set of preselected directions already loaded into it! All of creation is pretty much within our grasp." BB declared with boundless excitement in her voice as she began to salivate a little at the idea of exposing an infinite number of alternate realities to her particular brand of sadism.

Even Hades was impressed. An entire city that can travel between universes is certainly an attractive location worthy of being turned into the seat of power of a god. But before there could be any planning on how to tackle the issue there were more questions, he needed to ask to BB. "What about this new vessel of mine…?"

The Plum-haired girl began to quickly type into her interface again as she searched for the requested answer. "You are not going to like this master. It seems that new body you are rocking is a blank clone, a full-grown copy without any kind of brain activity, of the candidate you chose as your new vessel for your spirit to influence the human world during this age. Someone wanted to trap your spirit inside that vessel and either seal your personality away or have it re-written with that of a human as to allow the mind of another to take possession of that body and have access to all of your power for themselves!" BB exclaimed with actual shock, as the notion of a mortal stealing the power of a god is by no means an easy feat. The sheer balls, or utter disregard for their own lives and lack of self-preservation one must have in order to entertain such a plan and believe it was a good idea simply boggles the mind.

"So that's what all those magical contingencies that I swept away were…?" Hades declared with obvious contempt. "Some mortal mage was arrogant enough to believe he could steal the powers of a god…? Heresy… If I hadn't already teared the soul of the culprit into nothingness, I would raise him back to life just so I could kill him again and again for his blasphemy against the gods…" He then became pensive for a moment. "Well, at the very least, I should be thankful that in his hubris I was able to acquire a new vessel for myself that allowed me to withstand the death of my divine body…"

"For what is worth master… I am glad that whoever tried to steal your power failed in his plans, I do not believe anyone with such an ambition would have been as kind as you into giving me my own real body. Plus, a human having access to the powers of a god all of a sudden is simply asking for trouble…" BB stated, remembering that time she fused with the Core of the Moon Cell only to have her personality overridden by the ancient supercomputer and her body used as a puppet to bring about the extermination of humanity. Yes… It is never a good idea to mess with powers far beyond you.

"I appreciate the support you have for me my Servant…" Hades replied giving a nod towards the buxom girl. "And you are correct, nothing good will ever come of the humans trying to grasp beyond their lot in life… But luckily this ill-thought state of affairs is no longer of any concern. That said, is there anything else you can tell me about this new body of mine?" He asked, bringing the subject back to the matter at hand.

"Hmmmph…" BB hummed in contemplation as she kept reading the files she had dug up. "Only that whoever tried to steal your powers was very smart and meticulous in his approach. The reason as to why your new vessel already had command seals on stand-by waiting for activation was because the culprit trying to override your mind correctly predicted he would be left in a vulnerable state after the takeover was complete while his body tried to compensate for the great power that would now be contained within it… (Gasp) Your entire left arm is covered in enough seals to support the manifestation of a whooping twenty five different servants that have already been summoned and dispersed to multiple different locations across this city…" The plum-haired girl stated with surprise at the staggering number of servants bound to a single master. Then again… Hades is an actual god, so he is easily capable of handling the upkeep costs.

"Yes… I've noticed that. This human body is quite fragile and unable to withstand the full might of my godly powers without breaking down in the process. I don't know how the likes of Athena can endure incarnating into the mortal world in such a diminished state…" Hades said, dragging a hand down his face before staring at the extremity with an expression of discontent.

"Oh? I sense a story behind that, please do tell master! Regale your BB with the accounts of your past exploits!" The plum-haired girl eagerly coaxed, wishing to know more about her new master.

However, Hades was not keen about such idea. "I would prefer not to discuss this subject at this particular time…"

"Oh pooh! You're being no fun again, Master…" BB replied with a pout. "What a boring wet noodle you turned out to be…"

"You said there were others like you spread about this place?" The lord of the underworld raised a new question, decisively changing the subject.

BB just hummed in confirmation "Mhmmmn… Twenty-four other servants were summoned to become your protectors while your mortal body accustoms to the strain brought by your godly powers. But why would you need the help of any other Servant when you already have BB with you!? I am all that you will ever need for the rest of your miserable life, no other substitutes required…!" She stated in that back-handed complimentary manner of hers.

"Will you be able to recall them and lead them to this throne room?" Hades simply asked, masterfully ignoring the side comments of his Servant.

BB took a moment to check her interface before answering. "I will need to start the process of bringing the Noah's Ark back online to have access to its communication systems. Once that's done, I will be able to point anyone inside the city towards our location, Master…"

Hades became pensive at that answer. "I detected the presence of my emissary inside this place thanks to my Divine senses. I brought back to life one of the death women around us and send her to collect her. Would you be able to help them with directions so that they are able to return to me without incident?" He politely requested, trying to maintain a modicum of courtesy due to the gender of his interlocutor.

"If you were to give me their descriptions I sure could master, there are a few life signs spread across the city, independent from the Servants you have summoned. Some even from artificial lifeforms…" BB informed, focusing on her interface.

Hades nodded in acknowledgement. "Yes… I was able to detect them too. Is there anything you can tell me about those few life signs around this place? Also, something that can shed light as for the presence of so many corpses of dead females…?" Hades asked, gesturing towards some of the other bodies across the throne room.

"Well… According to this…" BB typed on her interface before her face turned red in a full-blown blush. "Eh, that's Ecchi… They were supposed to be offered to you as brides!?" She scandalously exclaimed, pressing a hand to her cheek.

"I see…" It was the plain answer from the lord of the dead.

"Moreover, even we Servants are listed to have been picked as both your brides and protectors, alongside dozens of other women from different universes and walks of life who were chosen to become your personal harem." BB continued while making further expressions of trepidation that Hades wasn't sure whether they were genuine or not. "Adding up to a number of one hundred eight in total as to represent…"

"The number of specters that comprise the total forces of the personal army under my command…" Hades interjected, interrupting BB mid-sentence. His expression clearly told he was less than pleased with this news. "Got to hand it to the mortal that tried to usurp me, at least he tried to keep it thematically appropriate. Maybe too appropriate in fact…"

BB just limited herself to nod as her face remained a cherry red. "Whoever did this certainly wanted the whole package, my master… An impressive moving base of operations, the powers of a god and a Harem of beautiful women under his control." She declared with obvious discomfort.

Hades gestured with a hand for BB to control herself. "Calm down BB! There's nothing to be concerned about… As I've already told you, I am nothing like my brothers Zeus and Poseidon. I've never been of the predilection of forcing myself upon helpless women, no matter how beautiful they might be… So, I will never lower myself to do anything to sully your chastity. You are my Servant and I will not betray your trust in me for having accepted into becoming a retainer of mine out of your own volition. As for the rest of this bride business…" At this the God of the underworld had to let out long tired sigh.

"I… As you might know… I was once a married God…" Hades stated, hesitant of elaborating in the subject further.

"You are talking about Persephone… The niece you carried off into the underworld and married in secret… You do know that does not fill me with much confidence right master?" BB commented with a frown in a judgmental tone.

That comment annoyed the God of the underworld, who scowled harshly at the plum-haired girl. "I committed no crime when I made Persephone my queen. I paid the bride price that Zeus demanded of me, and with his approval, I carried her into my sunless kingdom…" Hades' fury suddenly abated, and he turned melancholic again. "Though I admit… Perhaps I should had been more open with my intentions towards her, I certainly shouldn't have gone behind Demeter's back and dealt directly with Zeus to achieve my aims… If I had taken the time to properly court her before making her my queen, perhaps the entire debacle with Demeter could have been avoided…" He then shook his head to dissipate such thoughts.

"But what does any of that matter anymore…? She's long gone… For eons all I've had is the memory of her to make me company… It's been so long since I had someone standing by my side as an equal partner… My wife, our children… My entire line snuffed out from the Earth…." Hades stated with such immeasurable sadness that even BB herself felt physically moved by his grief.

"Master…!?"

For a moment Hades didn't seemed to have heard the plum-haired girl, but then he turned to look up at her. "Forgive me BB… It is unseemly of me to encumber you with my own personal burdens. But despite whatever it is that destiny might have in store for us, I will not force you into a relationship you might not desire. But if it ever came the day you should wish to entertain the idea… Then I suppose we could discuss the subject further as it is proper…" He said firmly with a straight face, even though his voice sounded as if it carried an unbearable pain.

BB felt herself flush at the regal directness of the lord of the dead. "I… Alright…" She simply said and dropped the subject right then and there. She kept typing on her interface for a few more moments before addressing Hades again. "I have begun the process of activating the Noah's Ark to its full functionality. The lights should be turning on right about now…"

And with that announcement light suddenly flooded into the chamber from above, revealing the entire majesty of the throne room bare and leaving undercover the total amount of corpses strewn about the place. Hades disposition became solemn as he glanced about the dead bodies across the newly lit room, taking stock of his surroundings. Most of the decoration seemed to be standard-fare, marble columns spread throughout the room, the throne atop a raised dais with a long red carpet leading to it from the set of double doors at the entrance. On one side of the room, a smaller dais stood with a great golden harp and stool lying atop it, a long trident rested peacefully on the side of harp. He recognized these as Pandora's belongings her harp that she tends to play when she wishes to soothe the loneliness of the underworld, and her trident that signifies her position as commander of his army of Specters.

He was about to approach these instruments when BB called towards him. "Master, your head-maid and that minion you sent for her are about to arrive. They are not alone as I can detect two other lifeforms accompanying them…" She declared as she continued typing on her interface.

True to her words, the massive double doors suddenly opened on their own, and in came walking Pandora, the ambassador of Hades will on Earth on the flesh. Carrying a black-haired baby of all things in her arms clothed in a small lilac dress with a yellow string ribbon on the front, trailing behind her were Aleria and a woman with long fuchsia hair that seemed to be somewhat out of sorts, her pretty lavender eyes covered by a strange red haze.

Hades just waited for Pandora to approach, and once she was a couple of arm's lengths from him, the dark violet-haired maiden kneeled at his feet with baby girl in hands who was busy making happy toddler noises. Aleria followed her example and kneeled too at her side. "Milord Hades! I've come as you commanded…" She said simply.

Hades nodded in acknowledgement. "Pandora… How fortuitous it is for you to have made your way back to my side, my emissary. It is indeed an occasion worthy of celebration…" But before he could say anything else, he was interrupted by a hysterical wail coming from the discombobulated Fuchsia haired woman, who all of a sudden took off in the direction of one of the dead bodies lying on the steps at the base of the throne atop the red carpet. A pretty long pink-haired woman wearing a white dress stained red with blood.

The Fuchsia-haired woman frantically dropped to her knees and took the corpse of the pink-haired woman in her arms as she broke in tears and cried the entire pain of her heart out loud for all the world to her. "Euphy! Euphemia! What are you doing here!? You shouldn't be here my dear sister! You shouldn't be here! You should be resting back where we buried you…" She deliriously said as she sobbed, unrestrained tears flowing down her cheeks. "Why must I be continually tormented by the memory of your death and my failure to save you!?"

Pandora glared at the distraught woman with fulminant eyes. "Cornelia! Stop such undignified display! You are embarrassing me in front of Milord Hades!" She commanded with all the cold authority she possessed as commander of the armies of the underworld.

With disconcerting abruptness, the inconsolable woman suddenly stopped her seemingly uncontrollable bawling in cold, her entire semblance going rigid and stiff before turning completely slack as her voice became an emotionless drone and a single word escaped from her lips. "Yes…"

"Okay… That was freaky to see… What is wrong with the big cry-baby…?" BB declared, completely indifferent to the pain the woman Cornelia had displayed just a moment ago.

"I don't know, BB... There's some kind of spell taking hold of her mind that forces her to comply with any order given to her, even if it is against her will. She was already like that when I found her…" Pandora said as she rose back to her feet while glancing at the now calm Cornelia.

Hades decided took note of her acknowledgement of BB and inquired about. "I see you are already familiar with my new Servant BB…"

It was Aleria who offered an answer, keeping her head down towards the Olympian God. "She spoke to us through what she called the communications systems of this Ark Milord Hades, once I had managed to find lady Pandora here and marked our way on how to get back to this tower."

"Though I'm not sure exactly what her actual relation towards your Divine person is Milord…" Pandora added, giving suspicious glances towards the plum-haired floating girl.

"BB is my newly acquired Servant… She has been instrumental in gaining some answers regarding our current predicament…" Hades stated before going over a small explanation over what exactly he meant when he said Servant.

"I see… She is the manifestation of a summoned Divine Spirit bound and meant to serve you Milord Hades. Then I suppose I have no qualms regarding her loyalty towards your Excellency." Pandora said as she lowered her head in acquiescence. The baby on her arms began to act a little fuzzy as she craved for attention, specifically Hades', as she floundered her little stubby arms around and tried to flung herself at the god of the underworld, gesturing she wanted to be held by him. Much to the dark grape-haired maiden chagrin.

"No… Settle down, don't tell me you too are getting insolent like Cornelia…" Pandora said with a less than pleased expression as she struggled with the baby in her arms. Hades simply stared with an impassive face.

"Where did you find that baby girl, Pandora and why are you carrying her?" He asked with understandable confusion, looking down at the happy baby girl cooing and reaching towards him.

Pandora just gave him a pointed look. "I think you will find it to your interest Milord Hades to pay closer attention to this baby…" She simply said before holding the baby girl aloft for Hades to take her. The toddler making happy noises as she was held closer to his person.

Hades gave a strange look at his emissary before turning back to the joyful child, seeing no other recourse, the god of the death finally took the baby girl from Pandora's arms and held her in his own. The little one letting out a string of cheerful warbles at finally being in the embrace of the lord of the dead. Finding such behavior odd, Hades simply stared pointedly at the toddler.

"Oooh?" The baby girl cooed, returning Hades' stare with a curious one of her own. Hades trying to discern what was the matter with this child, there was a certain familiarity in the back of his mind as if he should already know the identity of the baby. As he kept staring, the toddler granted him a small innocent smile as Hades' planetary symbol suddenly appeared, glowing in the middle of the baby girl's forehead. And it was in that single moment that Hades knew exactly the identity of the child and was left completely stunned at the revelation.

"Makaria… Sweet daughter of mine… You've returned to the realm of the living and made your way back to me…" The Lord of the underworld exclaimed as tears began to flow freely from his eyes and he hugged the baby girl close to him, who began to gurgle rather pleased at the development. "H-How? How is such a miracle possible?"

BB began to furiously type into her interface to find the answer that Hades requested. "All I can find inside the Ark's systems is that baby girl's name being Hotaru Tomoe and that she's supposed to be a Goddess of Death that somehow reincarnated as a human. Eh? So, no summoning or possession? She's a natural occurring incarnated Divine…! Oh well… The reason as to why she's inside the system, is because she was listed under the label of pet… ! … Someone must really have had quite the sick tastes to do something like that. I feel as if I should be calling child services right about now…" She commented with a rather awkward timbre in her voice since even she knew that there was a good chance for Hades to take the news rather poorly.

And she wasn't disappointed, as a dark aura suddenly enveloped the entire throne room and began to smother all who were in there with its intensity, even the lights dimmed for a moment covering the chamber back in darkness for a second. But the feeling quickly passed, and Hades regained control of his emotions, clutching a hand to his chest in exertion. Baby Hotaru kept warbling happily, unaffected by the small display of deadly dark power.

"It does not matter how it is that my daughter was returned to me… All that matter is that Makaria… Hotaru is safe and sound once more, and in my presence for me to watch over her again. Pandora… You have done me such a tremendous service that I will never be able to repay you. Words fail me to express how much grateful I am to you for this kindness…" Hades stated with outmost certainty as he turned towards his seneschal.

Pandora did not know how to respond to the thankful words of her liege and god. "I… It was nothing Milord Hades. I really didn't do anything worthy of praise. I just found your daughter in the same place you raised me back to life and decided to bring her with me once I discerned her identity… There's no need for you to show such gratitude towards me." She humbly declared with a bow.

"Oh? But you are mistaken my dear Pandora, for I do need to show just how grateful I'm truly am at your continued loyal service during all the lifetimes and long millennia you've acted as my ambassador and right hand..." Hades declared as he patted the head of his newly-returned daughter, earning some giggles from the baby.

Pandora seemed a little apprehensive at the words of the Olympian god but tried to conceal it with false modesty. "… ! ... There's really no need for thanks, Milord. I am only happy to serve under you." She said lowering her gaze from Hades.

"No, you're not…" Hades simply replied, knowing already what true feelings lurked inside Pandora's heart. The violet-haired maiden suddenly began to feel quite nervous in the presence of the lord of the underworld, her body becoming tense and a few beads of sweat forming at the top of her forehead, but she concealed her unease the best she could and tried to maintain an air of serenity.

"Milord…?" She inquired pretending ignorance.

Hades approached the kneeling Pandora until he completely loomed over her, covering her entire profile in his shadow. "You forget my dear Pandora that as a god, no secret can be kept from my sight. I know exactly at all times what transpires on every corner of my Domain… And I'm always aware of the actions taken by every single of my subordinates…" He stated, pointedly staring down at Pandora.

By this point the black-dressed maiden could no longer contain her frayed nerves as a chill began to run down her spine, causing her to visibly shiver in the presence of the God of the underworld. However, with a swift motion, Hades gently placed a hand atop Pandora's head in a reassuring manner, trying to calm the girl's mounting anxiety. "It is alright Pandora… I do not hold any ill-will against you for your betrayal. On the contrary, it is I who should be asking for your forgiveness…"

That declaration had been so unexpected that Pandora couldn't keep from jerking back in surprise from Hades' touch, an expression of utter bewilderment on her face. "Whaaaaat!?"

Hades simply kept speaking, unmindful of his emissary's outburst. "Pandora… It has come to my attention that I've been quite neglectful in my obligations towards you as your lord… You have sacrificed a great deal in your service under my auspice: Your freedom, your happiness, your family, your very life, they all have been forsaken in the pursuit of my ultimate victory in the Holy Wars. And for all your staunch support towards my goals, the only things you have earned in exchange are constant loneliness and misery as your companions… A poor deal in my opinion…" The lord of the underworld hesitated for a moment, but quickly found the resolve to say the words that needed to be said. "I should had been more mindful over the treatment that both Hypnos and Thanatos put you through my dear Pandora; it was never my intention to cause you so much pain. I have been a terrible master for all these centuries… Little wonder that you decided to rebel and betray me in the end…"

Hades then knelt beside Pandora and seized the still perplexed maiden in a one arm embrace. "But I swear to you, from this day forward all of that will change. If you were to forgive me for my negligence, I promise you I will do whatever it takes to secure your happiness and make sure neither sadness nor heartache ever threaten to darken your days again. No more will I make the mistake of taking your loyalty for granted and always will I strive to show you how much I appreciate your dutiful support… You were the first among my subjects to accept my authority and thus it is proper of me to acknowledge your due place at my side and proudly proclaim to all that your position as my representative and right hand will forever be secure. For there's none other than I would like to be the agent of my voice and will on Earth. So please, forgive me… My dear Sister…" He declared as he pressed Pandora further into the hug.

The violet-haired maiden simply couldn't believe the words she was hearing, just lying there unresponsive and letting herself be held as tears began to brim in her eyes and shedding down her cheeks. There were simply too much emotions warring inside her for Pandora to show an appropriate response, grief at the memory of the family she had lost, sorrow for all her years of loneliness, but also great happiness at hearing her sacrifices being acknowledgement by her lord; that everything she endured was worth it in the end. Which in turn also caused her to feel a great shame for having dared to betray Hades' designs.

In the end the dam broke, and Pandora became a sobbing mess as she cried inside the embrace of her liege. "I-I'm sorry my lord Hades (sob). I shouldn't have ever dared to betray you… (Sob) You've always been a kind, merciful lord towards me… (Sob) Towards the rest of your specters. I should have known you were not blind to my suffering, that you would make everything right in the end. Please… Forgive me for having broken my faith in you…!" She declared mournfully as she wept in Hades' arms.

Hades simply remained kneeling impassively as he held Pandora's head to his shoulder all let her release the entire agony inside her heart, even baby Hotaru took pity of the hapless maiden and patted her several times in the head. Hades couldn't keep a small smile from reaching his lips at the sight. "It is alright, my dear Pandora. As I said, there's nothing for me to forgive. Now come… Rise Pandora and take your rightful place at my side as my emissary. Let no one doubt you hold my complete trust and confidence…" He declared as he slowly rose back to his feet and assisting Pandora in doing the same.

Once back on her feet, the young maiden wiped her tears off in the most dignified manner she could and gave a nod of acknowledgement to her lord. "As you command Milord Hades. I remain forevermore your humble servant…" She declared without hesitation with a little curtsey.

"And here you were getting on my case and putting my loyalty towards Master Hades into question when it is you who's been faltering in her devotion in the first place… Talk about a two-face Hypocrite…" A less than enthused BB saccharinely commented, causing Pandora's ears to turn red in embarrassment.

"What was that you scantily dressed skank!?" Pandora exclaimed turning towards the laid-back floating girl, unable to contain her outrage as no one has ever dared to speak to her with such impudence. Every single one of the Specters in Hades' army, even the judges of hell themselves known better than to try her patience…

"You heard me Judas! Just how much of a lowly squirming maggot you must be to blame other people for the failings you yourself commit? Clearly you must be human through and through to do something like that… No wonder lord Hades forgot all about you for all those centuries you were his chambermaid…" BB declared melodramatically with a huff as if pretending to be insulted in the most condescending tone ever.

Pandora said nothing, a vein began to throb on her forehead as her cosmos started to rise, pushing her long violet hair aloft as a noticeable stifling force began to expand throughout the throne room. The very air burning due to Pandora's mounting power, making it feel as if a small star was blazing inside the chamber.

BB was both surprised and intrigued by this development. "Well… It seems you actually have some edge behind your claws…"

Hades put a hand upon Pandora's shoulder, immediately brining the strange phenomena to a halt as he sapped all of the young maiden's indignation with a single touch. "That is enough Pandora, control your feelings. BB apologize to Pandora's in this instant. She is my appointed representative and any insult thrown at her is an insult thrown at me…" He commanded with all his divine authority.

BB wasn't particularly pleased by this but acquiesced, nonetheless. "Tsk… Fine…! I'll apologize, but only because it is you who is asking Master Hades. See, BB can be a good girl when asked…" She turned towards Pandora. "I'm sorry for calling you a traitorous maggot miss Pandora…" She declared with rather obvious insincerity.

Even though she was less than satisfied with such an empty apology, Pandora decided to accept it rather than make a scene in front of her lord. "It is fine, just make sure to mind your tongue in the future less I command for it to be ripped out…!" She warned resolutely.

BB wanted to roll her eyes but contained herself under the gaze of the lord of the underworld. In the end she simply limited herself to cross her arms and ask. "So, what now Milord Hades? What will be our next move…?"

Before he could say something, Hades took notice of Aleria raising a hand as if asking for permission to speak. "Yes… Aleria, what is it?" He inquired with a dispassionate glance.

"I think someone should deal with Cornelia since she's starting to cry again…" The blonde suggested, pointing towards the unresponsive fuchsia-haired woman busily petting the hair of her dead sister while tears kept spilling down her eyes. It made for a rather disquieting scene.

"Oh, poor crybaby! She's heartbroken over the death of her sister. So sad…" BB commented without a single ounce of empathy.

Hades ignored the comment and decided to see what it was making one of his subjects uncomfortable. "Human! Come over here!" Hades commanded, causing Cornelia to stiffen again before slowly but surely start to rise back to her feet, though the Fuchsia-haired woman tried to struggle against the order as her entire form quivered while trying to keep hold of the body of her sister Euphemia.

"Please… Don't! Don't order me to come to you! I cannot ignore any order given to me! Please, mercy! I don't want to leave the body of my sister behind!" Cornelia cried desperately as she attempted to haul her dead sister along while her body was trying to move in another direction.

Baby Hotaru seemed to pick up on her distress, for the little munchkin turned towards Hades who was holding her close and began to point towards the distraught Cornelia with her little stubby fingers. "Goo Aaaah Ah!" She unintelligibly babbled. However, Hades appeared to understand the intentions of her daughter and released a resigned sigh before addressing the Fuchsia-haired woman again.

"Very well, Human… Remain where you are. But turn and look at me…" He ordered, walking towards Cornelia as she kneeled upon the floor again before turning at the waist and focusing her red-hazed eyes on him. Hades easily took notice of the strange feature, and once he was within arm's reach, he took hold of the woman's chin and lifted her face up as to take a closer inspection to her eyes.

A red tint had taken hold over what would normally have been pretty lavender Irises, Cornellia simply remaining apathetic as Hades turned her head in several directions. Once his examination was done, the lord of the dead stared directly into her unfocused gazed and began to ask questions, maintaining the hold he had on her jaw. "Someone has put a spell of domination upon your mind… Do you know who is the culprit that did such a thing?"

The answer from Cornelia came immediately. "My brother Lelouch… He put this spell upon me with a stare and ordered me to obey all of his commands…"

Now that is an answer that Hades hadn't been expecting, and a concerning one at that. In his own experience and considering who his close relatives are, it is never a good thing when a brother decides to take advantage of his own sister, the implications are… Disquieting…

BB's comments simply didn't help either to preserve his mind's sake. "Ooooh, Kinky…"

Hades demeanor visibly changed at hearing such response, as his gaze softened and turned merciful. "I see…" He said as he tactfully let go of his hold on Cornelia's chin and began to pat the woman on the head. For a god who wished to bring forth the extermination of humanity, Hades never had the taste for wide-spread violence or unrestrained blood-shed. He wanted to be merciful by granting a quick painless death to humans if he was able. That's the reason he wanted to complete his Great Eclipse, so that the Earth might be swallowed in eternal darkness and all humans be erased from existence in an instant, just a single moment of absolute terror before the cold sweet perpetual embrace of oblivion set in.

He never entertained the idea of either violate the minds or bodies of humans. Such barbarism was beneath his dignity. With that thought in mind, Hades brought forth his Divine Will and exerted it upon the befuddled Cornelia.

"I release you from the shackles upon your mind… Your thoughts are your own once more." Hades declared, taking his hand from the Fuchsia-haired woman. The red haze over her eyes and mind cleared, and Cornelia blinked, momentarily dazed as she suddenly was able to think straight. She pressed a hand to her forehead, trying to order her thoughts as a small migraine began to set in.

"I… I am able to move by my own will again…" She declared, rubbing her face with her hand before looking down at both of her own palms with a fascination she never had experienced before.

The lord of the dead kneeled in front of her and stared straight at Cornelia's now clear lavender eyes. The Fuchsia-haired woman quickly took notice of his intense focused gaze and meet it by locking eyes with Hades despite the fact she was still shaking off the effects of the Geass. "Now tell me… How is it that you arrived in here?" He asked with thinly veiled interest.

---

So, this is the first part of the introductory chapter, there's still a lot more I wish to show before closing the prologue and moving to the first world. I wrote this chapter in a rush because I'm going out of the city in a small two-week Holiday this weekend and I will not have the chance to write much during that time. Therefore, I wanted to have this done and kickstart the story before that.

I am aware there are a lot of parallels with other stories to the point some might think I'm stealing other people's ideas. But that is not the case, it is simply because all stories based on a CYOAs will unavoidably have a similar start. But my motives behind this story follow a completely different theme than other stories posted by either streaming viking or gothicjedi.

Just to specify, there are no such things as perks, lures, skills, etc. since the MC died before he had a chance of taking over Hades' personality. Not that he needs any of that mind you… Considering he's too stupidly OP for that. The only reason why he hasn't made the universe bleed is because his spirit is contained within a mortal coil, and as a human his body is incapable of withstanding the might of his own Cosmo. So it really does not matter what choices the MC made previous to this story since none of htem apply, all that matters are the consequences.

As I've already stated… This story is about a CYOA that failed before it even began and instead of empowering a random geek into fulfilling its power fantasy, it instead allowed a great threat to have access to the multiverse, potentially endangering countless lives in the process. Some avenues of ideas might be similar to other works but I'm working towards an altogether different outcome than those found in other stories of a similar vein. There are certain themes I want to explore, subjects that I decided to drop from my other stories and instead develop on this one.

As some of you might be able to tell, there is a certain theme the potential waifus of the now dead MC were supposed to fulfill. Beautiful women of a certain archetype to please a specific taste most of them of an antagonist bend, and almost all of them dead as to make it appropriate for them to belong to him who is the ruler of the dead. This is the reason as to why Hades is not erasing them from existence willy nilly, they are already dead, and from his point view this make them his subjects by default and their souls his property already. Others like Cornelia, well they are lucky since her predicament brings forth old memories regarding his relatives that he would prefer not to remember.

It is without a doubt a misunderstanding, but the phrasing was vague enough to raise a certain train of thought that was unwittingly to Cornelia's advantage. Ah Code Geass… I've never understood the obsession with gender bent characters, why would you want a female Lelouch when you already have Cornelia? And if she's not to your tastes you already have a wide and varied cast of female characters to choose from like ShIrley, Euphemia, Kallen, C.C., Milly, Sayoko, Viletta, etc.. So, I don't see the reason as to why you would go with such a wasteful option like that one. What is wrong with the lot of you really?

Regardless, I had to decide in a hard number regarding the number of waifus in this story and I began to have trouble deciding just how high the ceiling should be. Therefore, again decided to go for something that would be thematically appropriate, and the number 108 was what came to mind as that is the number of soldiers and underling that work at all times to enforce Hades' will in Saint Seiya. And yet even with that limit, it became a struggle to choose who would stay and who would be rejected, had to rewrite the list several times. Pretty soon I found myself lacking spots despite such high number. Realistically, Hades will not be able to get involved in a carnal fashion with every single one of these women so I will not even going to try and simply let the story develop on its own.

Pandora came as a freebie and is outside this number since she always has been Hades' emissary, right hand and the commander of his armies. Wherever he goes she follows. So she would probably fall under the label of familiar/caretaker for him.

And then there's baby Hotaru…

In any case, despite how much I like Saint Seiya, this series too fell under the cliché trope of depicting Hades as a villain when in reality he was a fair just god towards humanity and the only one among his brothers who actually was pretty much a decent person, especially for the standards of the ancient Greeks.

Saint Seiya actually shows traces of this as it notes that Hades once upon a time was a righteous god that respected humanity before growing disappointed and disillusioned and wanting to eradicate mankind as result. I will try to bridge these two takes between classical historical Hades and the one depicted in the manga/anime. Though that doesn't mean he will change his disdainful outlook towards humans right away, it will take time… And people will going to die everyime someone fails to meet his expectations.

At any rate, there's still much work to be done. I'll be off the radar for two weeks and once I'm back I'll keep working on the intro of this story, then I'll have to go back to my original CYOA story. It's been a year since my last update, where did all that time went by? From my point of view it hasn't been that long and I've been developing my stories, routinely releasing updates of my stories every single month. I haven't been idle, but kept myself busy writing new content so I can't explain how is it that so much time has passed, and after that I have to work in the next Death Battle chapter that I promised to write and work on the rewrite of the wild dovahkiin. So there's still much work to be done…

With that said, as always, leave a review and tell me what you think. Recommend this story to your friends, and visit my Pa- t. re-on if you feel like tossing a coin my way and I'll read you all next time…

By the by, Aleria is a minor villainess from an OVA of Gargantia on the verdurous planet