AN ETERNAL TORMENT?

Hades looked with satisfaction at how Hercules' daughter stared at him in fear after his words. "Good, I've managed to scare her a bit more," he thought.

"As we agreed yesterday, you're going to work for moi, doing whatever, whenever, and however I decide. You can't oppose it, you know that."

Part of Erianthe regretted being so impulsive and accepting Hades' deal without really thinking things through or considering better alternatives. But it was too late. Unfortunately, she found herself at the palace dock of the Lord of the Dead, in the underworld, without knowing what that god had in store for her or what torture awaited her.

"I remember, so don't drag it out any longer and do what you have to do. Torture me all you want." Erianthe blurted out unexpectedly, as if her words were challenging Hades, though in reality, it seemed like she was trying to hide the fear she was feeling at that moment. "Better to get it over quickly," Eri told herself.

"Ha! Do you want me to scorch you? For that, it's better if I take you to Tartarus. Yeah, on second thought, I'll lock you up there so you can suffer more than you've ever suffered in your short life. What do you say?" He looked at her, searching her eyes for the terror mortals felt at the mere mention of Tartarus. But instead, all he found was a look of resignation, as if she accepted that this was her fate. "This girl has guts, but she's so naive."

"But you know what? Before you end up in Tartarus, I want you to do some other things… for me." His gaze shifted to a more unsettling one; he was toying with her, and the King of the Underworld loved it. "Boys, you know what to do."

Erianthe didn't understand what had just happened. She had gone from facing eternal torture in Tartarus to who knows what. She looked at the little demons, who had conjured up two wooden boards and bone-shaped pencils out of nowhere. "What on earth is all this?"

"As we said before, welcome to the Underworld," Pain said.

"We're going to introduce you to your new life down here, and first you'll go through," Panic added.

"The Underworld Orientation!" they both exclaimed at once. Eri looked at them with a face that said, "You must be joking." But no, the two little demons looked at her seriously, so she glanced over at Hades, who was watching her with a mocking smile. "He's messing with me. What an idiot," Erianthe thought, feeling slightly relieved that she wasn't going to Tartarus just yet, but also nervous about what kind of job they had in mind for her.

"Well, miss, to begin with, you need to fill out the Underworld employee form, but since we're short on time, we'll ask you the questions as we head up to the throne room. That way, we can assign you your new job right away," Panic informed her.

"Alright, go ahead," the girl replied. The imps started climbing the stairs, and Eri followed them. Behind her, Hades trailed closely, curious about how Meg's daughter would answer.

"Alright, let's start," the green demon continued. "What's your name?"

"Erianthe."

"How old are you?" this time the purple demon asked.

"I'm 15."

"When is your birthday?"

"March 20th."

"Oh! Pisces. That fits with what we saw yesterday, yes, and a change of season too," Panic noted, scribbling it down. Erianthe raised an eyebrow. "Is he talking about horoscopes?"

"Your parents' names?" The girl glared at them a bit, since they clearly already knew who her parents were, but she decided to play along.

"Hercules and Megara." She felt a pang in her chest when she said her parents' names. She missed them and thought about how her mother might have reacted to the note in the kitchen.

"Where were you born?" Pain interrupted her thoughts. "More questions?"

"Thebes."

"But you don't live there anymore?"

"No, now I live near the village of Thivaiki, which they now call the agricultural district of Thebes."

"Districts?"

"Yes, the new king decided to divide the region into districts, with Thebes as the capital."

"And how come you're living in that district? Your father made enough money to live somewhere else, didn't he?"

"Five years ago, the king expropriated many families from their homes, looting all their wealth. But moreover, we were accused of treason, so they burned our house down while we were still inside."

At that statement, the little demons stopped and stared at her, horrified. "What? So, five years ago, his nephew's whole family almost died?" Hades was partially pleased they hadn't died, as he could ensure that the family would suffer a worse fate later. But when he saw the girl's expression, something stirred within him, and it wasn't his stomach.

"Treason?"

"I don't want to talk about it now, guys. Can we move on to the next question?"

Hades' two minions looked over at their master, seeking his permission to either press further or skip that part. The god nodded; they would dig into what had really happened with his nephew's family five years ago later.

"Alright," Panic said, "do you know your height or weight?"

The girl blushed. She understood that her current weight was far from healthy.

"N-no, I don't know. It's been a long time since I've had a check-up. Aside from today, I haven't seen a doctor in years, but I feel perfectly fine."

The three of them observed the girl. As beautiful as she was, it was obvious from a mile away that she wasn't eating as well as she should. Erianthe noticed they were scrutinizing her.

"What? It's true. I feel fine. Sure, I should probably eat more, but you've seen how things are up there. I eat what I can afford," she replied, annoyed. Suddenly, the silence was broken by the growl of Eri's stomach, and her face turned even redder than before. "It's just that. I haven't eaten breakfast," she said in a small voice, embarrassed.

"Mm, well, we can give you a check-up today. That way, we can see just how fine you are, and we'll show you where the canteen is too," Pain said. "Let's see. Next question: What's your education level?"

"I only attended school until I was eight. Then I was homeschooled by my mother," the girl answered more calmly.

"Until you were eight? You didn't even graduate from basic education, miss."

"It's not my fault! Two years after the war started, they closed the schools. They said that the teachers were putting ideas in our heads that didn't help the state, so they shut them down and killed any teachers who refused."

Again, another decree from the King of Thebes. Hades no longer had much interest in knowing him—he seemed like a ruthless barbarian. Hades was at least cultured, and he would never dream of denying mortals an education.

Throughout the entire journey, Hades watched his new subordinate closely. He was so curious to learn more about her that he listened to the entire ridiculous interview, something he had never done before. He hated bureaucracy, but hey, he ran a business and had to keep things in order. That's why he left these tasks to his underlings.

He didn't quite understand why, but something about this kid intrigued him, while at the same time, it annoyed him. From her answers, he could tell she hadn't had an easy life. He had seen it in the way she responded to the questions, and he had witnessed it when he spied on her the day before. And yet, she still smiled. More than that, she radiated a light he had never seen before—a light that seemed to come from a spirit that refused to give up.

They had already reached the doors of the throne room when Hades spoke:

"Guys, I think you have everything you need for the report. Finalize her employee pass, and then take her for the medical check-up. I need to finish speaking to her."

"Oh! Are you going to give her your personal touch, boss? That works great with the newcomers," Panic said.

"Go get her, boss!" added Pain, and they left, off to wherever they were going to make Erianthe's ID.

Hades was irritated and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Those two can be worse than sitting next to Trivia at a banquet."

He turned to see the girl, who was staring at the throne room door, mesmerized. The door was massive, made entirely of black marble, with countless skeleton-like figures carved into it. It was macabre, but to Erianthe, it seemed magnificent. She touched the door, expecting the polished feel of marble, and indeed, it was perfect. Too bad it was covered in a thick layer of dust, and part of it was missing, with a huge hole beside it.

"Ahem!" Erianthe snapped out of her trance. Hades was standing next to her, eyebrows raised. "It's the first time I've seen someone so fascinated by this door," he thought.

"Sorry to interrupt your curiosity about the door, but we have business to settle, and I'm a very busy god, so I don't have all day." He gestured. "Follow me. Watch out for the rubble from the hole. A certain hero came storming in on Cerberus and destroyed part of the entrance to the throne room," the lord of the underworld added with a hint of irony.

"My father? He did this?" Erianthe was surprised. Her father had come down here 17 years ago to save her mother.

"Oh, right! He told us he entered the throne room riding Cerberus, but he did not mention that the underworld's dog was giant or that he left such a gaping hole when he came in." She looked at the hole again with fresh eyes, imagining the scene in her head. For a moment, she thought, "I wish he were here to come and rescue me."

"Your father did that, and it will be expensive to fix everything and make it look like it did before. Not to mention, I'll need to hire more people for the reconstruction."

Once inside the room, the girl was astonished by how vast it was. In the middle, there was a table—or what remained of it—covered with what seemed to be a map of Greece. At the far end was Hades' throne. She noticed that not only was the room full of dust and rubble, but it was also partially charred, as if someone had set the entire place on fire. Had it been the Lord of the Underworld himself?

When they reached the throne, Hades sat down and looked at the girl, savoring the moment of being back in his seat. He noticed that Eri was examining the entire room with a curious look and a sparkle in her eyes, something he had never seen in anyone who had visited the underworld. No one ever appreciated the realm of the dead.

"Alright, let's finish discussing business and your assignment in the underworld." He said the last part with a malicious tone.

A chill ran down Eri's spine. She had a bad feeling. If she wasn't going to Tartarus for now, what was in store for her? Torture? Prostitution? That last thought made her fear Hades even more. "What if he wanted to abuse her?" she wondered.

Her mother had never mentioned Hades laying a finger on her, but "what if she had just sugar-coated her stories and left out other things?" She didn't know what to think, but Hades seemed to pick up on her fear, his malicious grin growing. Yet, she was bound by the deal she had made with him. She was inescapably bound to him.

"I don't know what you're imagining, but I like the look on your face right now," Hades said.

"You're a sadist," Erianthe retorted.

"Me? You don't have to flatter me like that, girl." Hades laughed at her remark, thinking, "This mortal is going to entertain me a lot."

"Anyway, let's get to the point. Today, you'll finish your orientation. Pain and Panic will show you around, give you the check-up, and blah blah blah. You know the drill. Today will be full of paperwork, so tomorrow, at sunrise, you'll start working."

"And how will I know the sun has risen?" The girl raised an eyebrow, thinking, "There's no sun down here."

"Don't worry about that. You'll see how you wake up early."

The god stood up from his throne and walked over to what remained of the map of Greece. He ran a finger across its surface, and just like the door, it had a thick layer of dust.

"The Underworld isn't what it used to be, especially after your father decided to come down and pull your mother's soul out of the vortex of souls. Look at this place! And it's because of your family."

He turned to look at the girl. She was staring at him, wide-eyed, as if realizing for the first time that the dreadful state of the realm of the dead was essentially the result of her father and mother's actions.

"That's why you'll have to pay for their deeds. Besides, your dear father broke part of the deal we made: 'if your mother left, he had to stay.' In the end, neither of them stayed in the underworld. And no one cheats the god of the dead; do you understand, girl?" Hades' voice grew threatening.

Erianthe nodded, fully understanding why this god was the most feared of all. She was terrified, wanting to cry, and was almost sure she was trembling with fear at that moment.

Hades was elated. His threats were having the desired effect on the mortal. She looked desperate, on the verge of breaking down. "I've got her in the palm of my hand. Let's see how she handles what I'm about to tell her now," the king of the underworld thought with a smile.

"For now, you won't be going to Tartarus, nor will I take your soul to the Styx, but you're going to make up for what your father did. So, starting tomorrow, you'll begin cleaning and tidying the entire underworld. After that, we'll see where to relocate you."

For a few minutes, the throne room fell into silence.

"What?" Erianthe exclaimed. "I'm just supposed to clean? That's my punishment?"

"What do you mean, 'what'? Do you know how big the Underworld is? How long do you think it'll take you to clean it all?" The god was getting more heated.

"A week?" the girl replied hesitantly.

"Hahaha, don't make me laugh, kid! A week? You're hilarious. This place took more than a century to build." The god's flames returned to their usual bluish color.

"More than a century? So, am I going to spend my whole life cleaning the underworld?"

"That's up to you. Or would you rather go to Tartarus?"

"No, no, no! I'd rather clean. That way, I'll fix what my father did. I promise," Erianthe said determinedly.

"Perfect. Make this place shine, or you'll go straight to a cell in Tartarus."

Hades was going to make sure the girl's life in the Underworld was a living hell, even if it was just by making her keep it spotless.

"Now, welcome to Team Hades, Erianthe," and the god smiled with satisfaction, knowing that Hercules' daughter would be trapped in the Underworld for eternity.