SPEAKING OF THE DEVIL

9 years later…

In the darkest place in the world, a dark figure emerged from the depths of the waters of the dead.

"Damn! You filthy, stinking souls. I'm free at last!" The dreaded god of the dead, Hades, had broken out of his prison and was really furious.

"Pain! Panic! Where are you?!"

At the sound of their master's voice, Pain and Panic looked at each other with horrified faces. For years, they had done what they wanted in the underworld. Yes, they did their duty to the souls; otherwise, the purgatory would have collapsed. Plus, Charon would be on the verge of a nervous breakdown and would threaten them with a strike or even retirement.

"Coming! Your most lugubriousness," answered Pena nervously, running through the corridors together with Panic.

"Oh no, we won't get out of this one, Pain. He'll mutilate us!" said an agitated Panic, who always feared the worst.

When they reached the bank of the river of the dead, they saw the lord of the underworld, tired, gaunt, and angry.

"Boys. I see you are glad to see me," said Hades in a sarcastic tone. "Tell me, how long have I been in the river?"

The two little imps looked at each other with wide and frightened eyes, for they did not know how their cruel master was going to take the news.

"You see, your malevolence…" began Panic, hesitating what he was going to say. "Time is very relative…"

"Yes, it's not as much as you think," added the always-recurrent Pain, "just a few years…"

"How many years exactly?" The god cut them off impatiently. The minions swallowed hard before saying it in unison.

"Seventeen years, sir" they answered in a whisper, trying not to be heard by their master, but a god cannot be fooled so easily, especially not the lord of the dead.

"Seventeen years!" he exploded with rage. His flames turned completely red, burning everything around him, including Pain and Panic. "And what did you do that you didn't get me out of that pit of filth?"

"Sir, we tried! But it was useless" lied Pain, on his back he had a hand with his fingers crossed.

"The good thing is that we took care of the souls," added Panic quickly, to ease the god's anger.

Not pleased, Hades advanced to the throne room. Everything was still the same: the hole that Cerberus left when he entered with Hercules on his back, all the destruction he had caused out of rage when he lost everything because of Nutmeg and her stupid, noble actions to save Wonderboy. In addition to all that, there was dust accumulating everywhere and paperwork unsigned by him.

Although they hadn't lied, those rascals, at least all the forms were filled out. Also, he noticed that on one side of the throne was a mountain of mail, or more likely, missives from Olympus.

In conclusion, the underworld was a pitiful mess. He needed someone to sort it all out, everything, but first and without leaving the main subject: What had happened during all this time?

"Well, well, guys, I see that at least the business is still going on. Nevertheless, I will be mutilating you until I get tired every day." The two little devils looked at each other, scandalized by the punishment that had befallen them, but at least it didn't send them to Tartarus.

"Well, where do we start? Ah, yes, boys, what has become of my dear nephew?" Hades told them as he sat on his throne and materialized a cigar, which always calmed his nerves.

"Sir, Hercules, and Meg got married, and years later they had a girl and a boy, but best of all, Greece is at war with the Persians." Panic began to tell him. "Yes, yes, and he was recruited to fight!" added Pain.

"Oh! Are you trying to tell me that Jerkules is dead?"

"Mmmmm, no, sir. At the moment, his soul has not yet arrived, nor has that satyr's." At that, Hades became annoyed and continued. "The good news is that the death rate has gone up quite a bit." To that comment, the lord of the dead paid more attention and indicated his subordinate to spill more details. "Yes, yes, not only on the battlefield, but all over Greece!"

"That's excellent, guys! If I'm not mistaken, are mortals starving?" said a smiling god of the dead.

"Yes, sir. Besides, there are many more catastrophes and monsters." At that, Hades was surprised that his nephew was not there to prevent it, which was a wonderful thing. But what truly amazed him was that the other gods abandoned the mortals to their fate without caring a little bit.

"More catastrophes, more monsters?"

"Uh, yes, sir, the monsters after trying to take over Olympus." At that, the god began to light up, so the little imps tried to pass the subject as quickly as possible. "Dispersed throughout Greece, not being in command by anyone, they attack wherever they want," said Panic a little hesitantly.

Pain continued with more news: "The catastrophes are arising because the gods of Olympus are paying more attention to the war that is happening in Persia than to what is happening in Greece". Very typical of them, thought Hades. "It is said that Zeus does not stop controlling what is happening."

"So you are telling me that they have left Greece unattended?"

"That's right, sir," nodded the two minions of the god of the dead at the same time.

"This is great. Do you know what this means, guys? That I have complete freedom to do whatever I want to Meg and her offspring", said the Lord of the Underworld very enthusiastically. "Moreover, there is a matter that was not completely solved. It is time for us to pay a visit to our dear Meg, don't you think, boys?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Very well, bring me my invisibility helmet. First, let's go and see what's going on up there." With that in mind, Hades smiled, as he hadn't done for a long time, for his revenge had just begun.

And here is the second translated chapter. I hope to be able to translate a third chapter this weekend, but I also have to upload the new chapter in Spanish, so I'll have to figure out how to do it.

Leave me comments to know what you think. I hope I wrote the character of Hades as it should be.

Even though I'm translating it, I had to rewrite some parts, so if you see something wrong, don't hesitate to tell me. English is not my mother tongue.

Thanks for reading!