Disclaimer, part of the conversation between Hades and Maria comes directly -or near enough to be copywriting- from The Last Olympian (pg 207-208) and is not my own writing.

Part 1

Chapter 1

Soul

1943, Washington, D.C.

Maria di Angelo sat in the dim orange glow of her lamp, reading, while her children played chess on the other side of the room. The rich notes of an Italian opera flowed quietly from the radio in the corner.

She and her family had recently moved from Italy to escape what was sure to be a violent and dangerous war against the Germans. She knew why it was necessary, but she missed home every day. Fortunately, it seemed that Bianca and Nico were adjusting much better than she was. Their Italian accents seemed to fade a little bit with every day at their new American school. This was probably for the best- America may be a land of immigrants but that did not mean opportunities were equal for everyone. It would be best if her children could blend in with those they went to school with.

Maria bloomed with pride as she watched Nico deliver a long-anticipated strike on Bianca's queen, fatally exposing her king and bringing their game to an end. Bianca was intelligent beyond her years but Nico had a skill in strategy games that rivaled most adults Maria knew.

A shadow passed over her lamp, obscuring the text of the book she read. A familiar chill swept through the room and informed her of the arrival of a visitor. Maria looked up into the face of the Lord of the Underworld.

"Hello, amore mio," Maria said softly in a velvety voice that drew men in like flies to honey. Her children looked up at their father, a man they had only seen in passing several times in their lives. Nico's sweet young face gazed in awe, his mouth hanging slightly ajar before Bianca pushed it closed for him. Maria watched Nico's face redden slightly in embarrassment before she turned her full gaze towards Hades.

"My dear," He said, agitation clear in his voice and posture. He drew near enough to cup Maria's face in his cold hands. For him, it must have felt as if they had been together only yesterday. It had been almost a year since she had last seen him, however, and the chill of his skin made her jump as it always did after they had spent time apart. "The time I have warned you about is coming soon. I thought you would be safe away from the ancient lands and the war front, but new… complications have arisen. I fear that still you and the children are not safe."

Maria pressed her own hand against the one Hades held to her face and inhaled deeply before replying. "Hades, you are always afraid. You make up enemies when there are none and you become paranoid when you have no reason to be. Is this not so?"

"Maria, you do not understand. This time is different and my paranoia is justified. I beg of you to reconsider my offer. I will not be able to bear it if anything happens to you or the children. Apollo's wretched Oracle has spit out another Great Prophecy." Hades sneered when he said these words, and Maria was reminded of his contempt for his family and their constant use of prophecy and fates to keep the status quo. The status quo that kept Hades and his children perpetually treated as outsiders. "The Procephy has been known to us for millennia from the Roman's Sibylline scrolls, but the Delphic Oracle's proclamation now… It does not bode well for me or my children. Bianca and Nico are in danger. I fear the only way to keep you safe is to keep you with me."

"I do not see the problem. Stay with us then, keep us safe. I do not wish to subject either myself or my children to the dreary land of the dead- I know that's where you wish to bring us. Nor do I want to subject myself to that wife of yours. I understand you have an immortal love but that does not mean I wish to see her or that she would take kindly to seeing me." Maria saw the dark flames of his eyes rise in anger in response but she was not afraid of him. He loved her and promised her gifts and happiness and safety and she believed he would honor the promise he made to her long ago to keep her safe. Unlike his Olympic siblings, Hades was an honorable man.

"Please my dear, you must come to the Underworld." Maria had not heard this kind of fear in his voice before. Not even when he told her that she must take her family and flee to America. "I don't care what Persephone thinks! I can keep you safe there."

"No, my love. Raise our children in the land of the dead? I will not do this." She had already fled her home once. She was not about to do it again.

"Maria, listen to me. The war in Europe has turned my brothers against me. A prophecy has been made. My children are no longer safe. Poseidon and Zeus have forced me into an agreement. None of us are to have demigod children ever again."

His words struck like punches made all the stronger with the force of fear behind them. But Maria was still confused and did not see how this prophecy was so dangerous when it had been made so long after her children were born. "But you already have Bianca and Nico -" she began.

"No! The prophecy warns of a child who turns sixteen. Zeus has decreed that the children I currently have must be turned over to Camp Half Blood for proper training, but I know what that means. At best they'll be watched, imprisoned, turned against their father. Even more likely, he will not take a chance. He won't allow my demigod children to reach sixteen. He'll find a way to destroy them, and I won't risk that!"

"Certamente, amore. I understand the danger we are in. But you are a god. Can you not protect us? Stay with us here - I do not see why we must go to the Underworld."

"Maria, as much as I love you I cannot stay with you. I am immortal and have duties. I could send my guards to protect you, but I fear it would never be enough."

"There must be another way. I will not go to the land of the dead before my time and neither will my children." The children had frozen in their corner, watching the display with silent awe. They knew their mother to be stubborn but even as children, they knew the power of their father, a god. To stand before him and maintain her position was brave and perhaps foolish. Maria hoped, as did her children, that Hades would respect her bravery rather than punish her foolishness.

Respect, it seemed, won out. "I know a place in the desert where time stands still. I could send you there." Hades sounded cautious but something in his words was... hungry? Maria could not pin down the tone Hades used or why it made her so uneasy but she meant to find out.

"What is this desert place? Why did you not bring it up before?" Maria was relieved that the ceaseless pressing about the Underworld had relented but something in his tone made this desert sanctuary seem even more sinister. She did not know if she trusted Hades entirely, especially with her children. Mortals, especially demigods, are always pawns in the god's great chess game. The pawns may be cherished but even so, they were no more than a game piece.

"It is an establishment run by the Lotus-eaters. They are magicians and they have woven spells into the walls that make time stand still for those inside. Once you are inside their walls, the spells make it nearly impossible to leave without being removed by someone from the outside. It would be a safe place for the children to stay until this madness ceases."

"The children? You mean to send them away without their mother? No, simplemente no. If you truly believe that to be the only safe place other than Hell, then we will go. Me and my children. Together." Maria did not know what game Hades was playing and she was not going to allow her children to be separated from her before she found out.

"Maria, do you hear what you're saying? Do you truly wish to allow the world to pass you by while you stay with the Lotus-eaters? Your family will die and you will not even have the knowledge to mourn them."

"Hades, do you hear what you are saying? Any alternative will cut me off from the world and my family, else lead to my death and the death of my children as you seem to be inferring. I refuse to be separated from my children. I refuse to go to the underworld. That leaves the Lotus-eaters. My decision is final."

Hades' composure was outwardly calm, albeit stiff from panic and tense discussion, but behind his black eyes, a kind of victory raged.

"I have one stipulation," Maria said before her bravery -and her suspicious thoughts - slipped away from her.

"Go ahead"

"Once your brothers break their vow and have more children - do not give me that look, from the stories you've told me, the only sure way to ensure something comes to pass with you gods is to vow that it will not. Anyways, once your brothers have broken their vows, Hades, I need you to swear to me that you will take us away from the Lotus-eaters. Do not let us be forgotten."

"I swear it, Maria."

The intensity of Hades' dark eyes made Maria feel as though she had just delivered him exactly what he had wanted. She wanted to inquire more, probe him about what he was up to that he would not tell her directly but she knew it was no use. There was never any use in trying to divine the motives of the gods, particularly not one deemed The Crooked One. Maria loved the Lord of the Dead for his cleverness and hated him for the tricks that came with it. She had met Hades nearly 14 years ago now and her feelings for him matured from an infatuation in her youth and naivety to a love that came with increasing knowledge of the god and of herself. She knew from experience and from time that Hades did love her too, as well as an immortal could love a mortal, but she was not blind to the fact that first and foremost Hades was immortal. And he schemed better than the rest of them.