WELCOME TO ORIENTATION!
After Hades told her what her job would be in the Underworld, Pain and Panic showed up to give her the ID and take her for a medical check-up.
She followed the imps to the exit of the throne room, but before leaving through the hole, she glanced back at the lord of the dead. He had sat back on his throne, but this time he was hunched forward, holding his head in both hands. Unlike what she had seen so far, the god looked exhausted, as if carrying a great burden.
She didn't give it much thought, since this god had brought her to the Underworld to be his servant for all eternity. "Why feel sympathy for someone who probably hates her?" Eri thought as she shook her head to push away those thoughts and left the throne room, following Hades' two subordinates, who were animatedly talking about what her orientation session would be like.
As soon as the trio left, Hades let out a sigh. He really felt tired. Ever since he had escaped the vortex of souls, he had come to the surface to track the girl, and he had barely slept. But whenever he closed his eyes, his mind brought back memories of being surrounded by souls—slimy and cold. They were far from pleasant sensations, especially because all those souls had dragged him away from the surface, scratching his skin, biting him, and blaming him, The suffering we endure is your fault. "His fault? No way," Hades thought. The dead ending up in the River Styx was their destiny; what did it have to do with him if it wasn't comfortable? But he wasn't going to let 17 years trapped in that filthy prison torment him.
Fortunately for the king of the underworld, he had managed to trap the daughter of his nemesis in his realm. "This brat will help me blackmail her family. And her grandfather? I might even try that." Hades' thoughts were interrupted by a scent that had recently become familiar to him—her scent—and for some strange reason, he felt calmer, more at ease. Nonsense, but his nightmares from the vortex disappeared as soon as he breathed in her scent again.
Erianthe passed her medical check-up, but with a few warnings. A skeleton that resembled Charon took notes on her height, weight, and the other tests they did. The little demons were with her the whole time, except when she had to lift her tunic to check her breathing and heartbeat. At that moment, they blushed deeply and turned around to give the girl privacy.
"Well, young lady, I have to say you're in pretty good health, but you're under your ideal weight. You need to eat a more varied and rich diet, or you could get sick. But you're fit to start working," the skeleton, who reminded her of Hippocrates, told her.
"Noted, Agapios. We'll figure something out about that later. The important thing is that you're cleared to start working. Well, Eri, follow us. We're going to take you to the orientation room, and here, this is your Underworld employee ID," Pain informed her.
Erianthe grabbed the ID. She knew very well that she was underweight. Her ribs were visible, and she often felt weak or dizzy, something she didn't mention to Agapios. She just wanted to pass the check-up and not give Hades more reasons to hold anything over her. She had already given him her soul and freedom; she wasn't going to give him anything else.
Likewise, she looked at the ID, a rectangular piece of stone with her name engraved on it and her employee number: 1,229,001. "A million? How many employees are there?" She also noticed that her face was carved into it, and they had done an excellent job in such a short time.
"Follow us to the orientation room, where we'll provide you information about the Underworld, schedules, and finally, we'll take you to your quarters," the little demon continued explaining.
"I have a room?"
"Of course, miss! We're not barbarians. The boss runs a respectable operation, and it's clear that he ensures his employees are accommodated if they have to live down here. He's very responsible about that," Panic replied this time.
Eri honestly hadn't imagined the Lord of the Dead as so proper and responsible in that regard, but she had to admit she only knew him from what little she had seen and heard. So she could not really judge what he was like as a boss.
They arrived at a dark room, like most of the Underworld, lit by torches. There were several chairs facing a larger table. The setup reminded Eri of when she used to go to school as a child. "What memories." She thought nostalgically. She really missed school, where she met with friends and learned new things. Not only that, but she loved it, as it gave her a chance to learn more about the world. But now, here she was, in a classroom in the Underworld, learning about the realm of the dead.
She hadn't noticed at first, but hanging behind the table was a banner that read, Welcome to Orientation. She sat in one of the chairs in the front row and was going to be the only person there, along with Hades' two henchmen. "Great, a private class."
"Well, Erianthe, welcome to orientation. Here, on this scroll, you'll find the schedule for the cafeterium, public baths, and the basic rules of the Underworld, such as:
1. No feeding Cerberus, unless you want him to tear you apart.
2. No bathing in the River of the Dead unless you want to become a permanent resident.
3. No talking to the souls, and don't pull them from the river.
4. No eating the food of the underworld, or you'll be permanently bound to this world and won't be able to return to the land of the living.
5. No entering Tartarus without supervision.
6. No going to the Elysian Fields.
7. No bathing in the River Lethe, unless you want to lose your memory.
8. No entering Hades' quarters. If he catches you there without permission, he'll literally fry you.
9. No entering the Underworld library; it's for Hades' exclusive use.
10. No escaping the Underworld. You can only leave when the boss gives you permission.
"So many rules…" Erianthe muttered to herself.
"Better follow them if you don't want to get into serious trouble," Panic suggested. "Oh! And you can't use the boss's hot springs either, just the public baths."
"By the way, if I can't eat anything from the Underworld, what am I supposed to eat?"
"Don't worry about that. There's a menu for mortals, or if you prefer, you can cook for yourself."
"Oh! Really? I like cooking, so yes, I think I could make my own food."
"Great! Now that we've gone over the rules and schedules, let's move on to the history of this place."
Pain began recounting the history of the Underworld, so Erianthe started taking notes. Nearly three hours later, they moved on to the next topic—safety regulations, which took another two hours. Erianthe had lost track of time, but her legs were numb from sitting so long. They also showed her which areas she'd need to clean most frequently and how to navigate through all of them.
"I have a question. How do I clean the areas that are off-limits?"
At Erianthe's question, the two imps exchanged glances, realizing they hadn't thought of that. Without Hades' authorization, they couldn't answer.
"I'll be your supervisor." Everyone turned to see the god of the dead leaning against the door. "When it's time to clean the library, the hot springs, and the vortex of souls, the Elysian Fields don't need cleaning—they belong to Olympus. And Tartarus—well, it's fine as it is. It's meant for tortured souls and monsters that are better off never seeing the light of day again, so there's no need. Unless, of course, you'd like to live there." Hades smiled.
"No, no, I'd rather clean the rest. I don't need a tour of Tartarus," Eri quickly replied.
"Good. So, what's left, guys? You've been here almost all day."
"We're almost done, boss. Just the palace tour and showing her to her room," Pain informed him.
"You still haven't done the tour?" Hades asked, surprised. Even though he couldn't see the sun, he knew that it was almost sunset on the surface.
"We're sorry, boss. It's just that the girl has asked so many questions—look, she even took notes!" Panic pointed to the scroll Eri was holding. Hades walked over, and sure enough, the girl had written down a lot about the Underworld. He was both surprised and proud. Until now, no one had ever shown interest in the Underworld, and it had to be Hercules' daughter who broke that rule. "How ironic," Hades thought, but he wasn't going to soften up, not in the slightest.
"Very well, I see you're a diligent student. But I'll join you for the tour myself, just in case it takes you a week." Hades added a hint of mockery.
The two minions showed Erianthe where the baths were, the restricted library, and the cafeterium. Overall, everything seemed pretty dead—pun intended—but Eri noticed there weren't many employees. The ones she did see were skeletons, like Charon or Agapios, or a few other little demons, like Pain and Panic. "Where are all the monsters?" she wondered. Her mother had told her Hades had many monsters under his command, but so far, she hadn't seen any.
As for the food being served, it seemed to consist of bugs, worms, and eyes. Fingers? "By the gods, is this part of the menu?" Erianthe thought in horror. Hades noticed the disgusted look on her face.
"Relax; you're not going to eat any of that." But he noticed another concern in her expression. "Oh, that." He added, "And no one's going to sneak into your room, dismember you, and put you on the menu. Don't worry."
"Are those… human remains?" Eri asked.
"No, not at all. They're animals or other creatures. We're not cannibals here, I assure you. Scout's honor."
Erianthe didn't seem entirely convinced but decided to drop the subject. She began hearing whispers.
"Have you seen? She's a mortal."
"Yeah, and a pretty one."
"What's she doing here?"
Those comments started to make Hercules' daughter uncomfortable. She wanted to hide, feeling everyone's eyes on her. Hades noticed how she lowered her head, trying to blend in. "She always wants to go unnoticed. She doesn't even realize how beautiful she is. Wait, did I just think she was beautiful? By the River Styx, Hades, you're getting old and thinking things you shouldn't." The god was lost in an internal debate, but thanks to the intervention of his minions, he snapped out of those silly thoughts.
"Come on, miss, we'll show you where the food for mortals is and where you can cook it."
They led her through a back door to a small pantry full of food from the surface, and not far away, the kitchen. When the girl saw so much food, her eyes widened. It had been so long since she'd seen so much food in one place that her stomach betrayed her, growling in complaint from not having eaten all day.
"Wow, are you hungry?" Pain asked, and the girl nodded, embarrassed. "Well, grab some fruit; remember what the doctor said."
Erianthe didn't hesitate to grab some fruit. The imps then told her they'd show her where she would sleep, while Hades followed behind. He imagined what the doctor had said—you didn't need to be a genius to see that the girl needed to eat more, but given how things were up on the surface, she probably didn't have much choice. He found it amusing to see her so happy over a piece of fruit; it was something he could get used to—seeing her smile. "Again with these damn thoughts."
They arrived at her room, and Erianthe was surprised to find it was a spacious place, complete with a bed and a wardrobe… it had everything, even new tunics.
"Well, Eri, we'll let you settle in. Remember, the cafeterium will be open for a couple more hours, and so will the baths. See you later for dinner," the demons said their goodbyes, and Hades simply turned around and vanished.
Not sure what to do until tomorrow, she took the chance to unpack the few belongings she had brought, except for her father's medallion and a drawing of her family, which she placed on her bedside table. She was so tired that when she sat on the bed, she immediately laid down and fell asleep.
Pain and Panic informed Hades that the girl hadn't shown up for dinner. Annoyed, the god went to her room to find her. On top of being hospitable to her, she wasn't even grateful. She was going to hear about it. He entered the room without knocking and found her lying there, asleep. Instantly, his anger subsided. She looked so peaceful and relaxed. He approached to get a closer look. She really was beautiful.
He was about to leave when he noticed a golden medallion on the nightstand—the medallion of the gods, the one given to Hercules at birth. "She has it?" Then, he saw the drawing of her family and noticed it was signed by her. He was surprised by how well it was done. "She draws very well."
This girl was full of surprises, but tomorrow she would face what the Underworld was truly like.
"Sleep while you can. You'll see what awaits you tomorrow." Hades whispered before leaving the room.
