How-not to be an Olympian God!

Persephone turned to Hades to inquire his opinion on the matter.

Hades answered her reluctantly "I'll...let it pass this time. I just can't have Olympians enter my domain whenever they see fit in the future..."

"That's dealt with then! Have you seen the entirety of the facilities of the House?" She asked them.

Prior to coming here, they were indeed guided by Elana and explored most of the House but there was still much left to see so he shook his head.

"Then, can I show you how this place works?!" Persephone demanded excitedly.

Alex was fine with it, but Crista seemed to want to stay with her sisters and rubbed her head, as she felt conflicted since the person asking them wasn't the average mortal or even goddess, but Persephone herself.

She was fidgeting and opened her mouth to say something but no words came out.

"Queen, if I may ask, can Crista stay with the nymphs?" Alex took the lead on behalf of her.

"Of course! I suppose you have much to catch up to with your sisters? Don't be so formal and stiff around me! We're both women, and we seem to have a lot in common, let's get along in the future, cutie, alright?" Persephone stated with a bright smile while facing Crista.

Upon hearing her words, Crista blushed and nodded repeatedly.

"Thank you, Queen." She thanked her honestly.

"Call me Persephone!" She exclaimed in response.

"P-Persep-phone" Crista stuttered a bit but clearly now felt more comfortable around the former.

Alex thought it would be extremely helpful for Crista to have a mentor figure like Persephone. The latter had similar personality traits to her and she was even the ruler of one of three realms. He hoped they would get along much in the future.

"Now then, Elana, take care of Crista and show her around, will you?" Persephone calmly spoke to Elana, who nodded fervently and turned to face her younger sister with a smile that the two shared.

Crista, who was surrounded by both her family and friends, was smiling from ear to ear and Alex felt happy for her as he knew the feeling of reuniting with your family, and he felt bittersweet at the same time as he probably wouldn't experience that anymore.

The night he had a dream about them, he promised to himself as he looked to the sky 'I swear that I will remember your faces, your voices and everything we've shared. Mom, you've made me who I am and Alexander, you were the best brother I could ask for.'

There were no stars in the Underworld, or a sky for that matter, but he would keep his promise.

Alex was woken up of his nostalgia moment by none other than Hades "Grand-nephew, would you please speed up? I, King of this domain, have much to attend to and will not babysit you, even at the demand of My Queen."

His face flushed in bashfulness. He's been spacing out a lot these past few days.

Persephone then also told him "We're going to the Outer House's meeting room, we have certain duties to attend to. Would you like to see how our administration works? Not to brag, but we're ruling this realm far better than any of you Olympians rule the Earth."

'How they administer the Underworld? Sounds interesting' Thought Alex as he nodded and omitted the last sentence she said to divert the damage from his thin skin.

He bid his goodbyes to Crista and left the throne room along with the two rulers.

As they were walking towards the direction of the Outer House, however, Persephone whispered something to his ear "Can you take a lead over us and tell the souls in the Outer House to leave the place as Hades is coming? He doesn't really know souls hang out in the House and he can be a bit strict when it comes to these kinds of things."

He nodded, and under the intimidating glare of Hades, he advanced at lightning speed towards the exit of the Inner House and left the opulent halls, entering the lively Outer House.

There were 'people' everywhere and they all engaged in various activities, though most of them were just talking and gossiping.

"I heard that Elana regularly goes to Achille's living quarters for 'musical practice', could there be something between them????"

"The Queen apparently snuck out of Olympus to come here???"

"There are allegedly two living beings that entered the House of Hades???"

He heard some senseless gossip, and some true events, showing the plurality of news and people's curious nature even after death.

This hall was the most crowded of them all, so he cupped his hands to his mouth to amplify his voice and screamed "Hades is on his way to here!"

As if he screamed 'fire' in a crowded theater, chaos immediately surged in the hall as the people all ran towards one of the corridors and dispersed.

"Hehehe" Alex giggled. It was a very comical scene, with both human figures and ghosts pushing each other and causing a stampede in the wide hall.

Afterwards, the once chaotic hall quieted down and only a few 'people' were left, who informed him that they were here to meet up with Hades and Persephone, who by coincidence, similarly entered the hall at the same time.

Seeing the almost empty Outer House, Persephone winked at him and they proceeded to walk towards the meeting room.

They reached their destination shortly and entered the place. It was surprisingly small and minimalistic in decoration, having a giant desk in the center and two comfortable-looking chairs adjusted to the height of each of the two monarchs.

The two sat down and brought out a small chair for him to sit on, and he thanked them and sat down.

The three then heard a knock and the regal voice of Hades rang out "ENTER"

The door was then opened and beyond it he could see a ghost-like figure, meaning they were from Asphodel, entering.

"Greetings, My King and Queen and...." The ghost greeted the two and turned to me, confused.

I just waved to tell them there was no need and they resumed.

"I wish to build an herb shop on this spot in Asphodel. Humbly, here are the exact coordinates" The ghost advanced towards the desk and put a piece of paper down on the desk, which Hades grasped and then looked at.

Alex had many questions but he would leave them for later.

The god then simply stated coldly "REFUSED"

The ghost looked confused but it seemed like he didn't want to speak out his thoughts as he just turned around.

However, Persephone's voice then asked "Do you wish to know why it was refused?"

The ghost turned back to face them and nodded weakly.

"Lately, the available plots of land in Asphodel have been reduced and we can only accept proposals for more innovative projects if we don't want to run out of land"

It was concise and simple, so the ghost thanked them and then left the premises.

"Why would there be an herb shop in Asphodel? or plots of land? Isn't this just the Underworld?" Alex had this question ever since the ghost came by and voiced out his inquiry.

Persephone answered him "It was a surprising development for us too. Originally, in Asphodel, there is a form of currency that allowed you to exchange for food and drink if you worked enough, but over time, a thriving economy has developed and certain tycoons now lead lifestyles better than those in Elysium through their business ventures."

She looked really proud of this and Hades seemed to share the same sentiment, loosening his eyebrows from his usual frown into a neutral expression.

Unexpectedly, he also took the initiative to speak and further explain to Alex.

"Asphodel has just the right conditions for this kind of development. It has a high number of souls, a stable currency, stability guaranteed by us and a needy population that not only wishes for vital necessities, but also entertainment to spend the eternity in here. All of these factors have culminated in making Asphodel the most similar place to the surface in the Underworld. We act to regulate production facilities and land use."

Alex thanked the two and complimented their administration.

Then there was another knock.

This time, it was a ghost who wished to start producing and selling a new kind of medicinal plant in the shaded and humid soil of Asphodel, and his request was approved.

Following that, a ghost came in to propose a blueprint for a tool that would make mining ores in the mines of Asphodel easier, and her request was also approved.

There was no day/night cycle in the Underworld, so there was really no way Alex could describe how the time passed, but for consistency's sake, he just assumed it was the afternoon.

His afternoon was spent in here, and various people came in to meet the Hades and Persephone.

He was surprised by the fact that they seemed to have the healthiest relationship in the whole of Olympus despite the fact that it started with an abduction. Whenever someone came in, Persephone would offer feedback and Hades would give the final voice. When there was an interesting offer, the two would discuss it calmly and ask for his opinions on the matter.

Persephone was lively and kind and looked at everything through nuance and colour.

Hades was cold and strict but he also was very upfront and reasonable, though he sometimes looked at matters through a very utilitarian and black-and-white perspective.

The two perfectly complemented each other in their ruling style, and no wonder he has only seen happy faces in the Underworld, because through their rigorous administration, even an eternity here didn't seem too bad.

When they were over for the day, Persephone informed him "Alex, we're going to go back to the Inner House and have Elana show you your guest room later, alright?"

"Thank you. Goodbye." Alex said.

Both Persephone and Hades nodded at him and they left the meeting room in steady steps.

Alex also did the same and went back to the hall where he first emerged and as expected, news that Hades was no longer in the Outer House spread fast and it was once again filled to the brim with people.

He wanted to search for Crista and see what he could do to kill time in this place.

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