Designed Destiny

2. #neverseenthiscoming

Cerberus stopped walking as his tail spoke, "you're gonna bleed out if I don't look at that wound," it licked its fangs. "Lemme just...cauterize that," the tail hissed and then lunged, biting back into his shoulder only this time it breathed fire. The wound shriveled up as Persephon screamed hysterically; his scream tapered off quickly as he fainted from the tribulation. "Fiiiinally," the tail spat him out again. "Got thisss one to shut up, let's go." It slithered under the demigod's arms and tightened its hold around him as Cerberus resumed the trek to the Underworld.

***

Planet: The Underworld

The obsidian castle of Hades was built like a crown upon a floating island with the Melinoe Lagoon surrounding it peacefully before the silky black waters plunged over the sides of the levitating land. It then formed a dramatic curtain of mist in the center of the enormous junction encompassed by jagged black mountains. The mountains cast a different shadow at every angle, perpetually shrouding the lagoon with mysterious darkness. Each mountain far below the floating island was molded into a grim skeleton face with features chiseled out by the countless ghosts and spirits that had slithered over the surfaces for eons. The gaping maws of the skulls steadily drank in the rivers that pooled beneath the castle.

High above the haunted hills, in a gondola that calmly drifted through the rippling lagoon closer and closer to the overhanging waterfalls, was Hades himself, the lord of the Underworld and the God of the Dead. He was stoically staring down at his reflection; the youthful face of the gorgeous, robust beast of a young man in his prime staring back at him did not match the weathered, forsaken, and afflicted soul he felt trapped within.

He supposed looking twenty-one forever was yet another curse he had to live with. But it certainly wasn't one of the worst ones.

His silvery pale flesh had the faint, sempiternal effect of light bouncing off water in the dark and had shiny mirror-like eyes that could capture the soul of any mortal and make them fall head-over-heels dead. Yeah, he was a lot to taken in at first glance. He had long flowing snow-white hair that would constantly float around his sculpted shoulders like smoke on a battlefield if he didn't keep it constricted within the plates of a braid daily, and yet some of the untamable locks still indigently managed to spring free from time to time.

Everything about the God of the Dead was full-on fierce and point-blank intimidating, from his stunningly dramatic looks to his sinister black body-armor that was covered completely in genuine human bones. Gold-tipped fangs studded the knuckles of his black fingerless gloves; thick stacks of chains coiled around his throat like layered chokers and, from a hefty chain stretched across his broad chest from spiked pauldrons on his shoulders, were amber cocoons with never-to-be-born baby monsters frozen inside of them. A pair of heavy black dragon wings studded in golden quills formed two long capes that trailed after him and a radiant red crown fashioned entirely of blazing fire wrapped around his head. Strapped across his back by a golden chain baldric was a reaper guard staff; the long sword weapon was fused with a scythe on the other end of the glowing red skull pommel.

"What are you doing with your life?" He asked himself for not the first time that century.

The non-existent reply was suddenly interrupted by the toll bell: another soul had entered the planet. Great, more work for him. He was just starting to get caught up again too. He hadn't realized how close his gondola had drifted to the edge of the lagoon that fell to the dark lake below, so he quickly summoned his command over minerals and made the stone boat race back to the black sandy shore the castle was perched on top of before he hastened up the beach.

He no sooner settled in his towering golden throne (the rising back of which was comprised of burning torches) when the front doors of the manor were shoved open and in strode Cerberus, his loyal hellhound that he shared a telepathic bond with. "Cerberus, what's up with the toll bell? It rang like it usually does when a soul arrives, but I haven't sensed any death cross the threshold, so... Know anything about it?"