The Secret of Afigitis

Prologue

Hades, 2000 years ago

I look out over the fields of Asphodel from the windows in my throne room. At the field, the souls wander around and look lost as usual when they hover over the pale flowers. Far in the background, I see the tall mountain walls surrounding the Underworld and the silhouette of Cerberus in the opening.

My thoughts begin to wander to the image that's always on my mind. It's an image of a blond girl standing in a glade surrounded by firs. I've had that image on my mind for as long as a can remember, but I have no idea where it came from. It's always the same girl and background, but her clothes change as time goes. Her clothes don't matter though, because she looks like a goddess in everything she wears.

A soul hovering by and muttering the prophecy about the secret of Afigitis over and over again. "One day a woman will come and she will know the secret of Afigitis. That day you will either rise or fall."

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When I sit on my throne and look out the window, my brother Zeus suddenly pops up in front of me. All the gods can teleport so it's nothing unusual. It was scary the first times someone did that, but after thousands of years, you get used to it.

-Hi Hades, Zeus says.

-Hello Zeus. What brings you here? I ask him. It's not often any of the other gods visit me here in the underworld so I'm curious why he decided to visit right now since he usually stays at his place at the mountain Olympus.

-You have been down here by yourself for millennials, isn't it time for you to find a wife? Some nice woman to rule by your side? Zeus asks without any small talk.

-I haven't found anyone I want to have by my side, I answer because it's true. I have met beautiful women but I don't give them a second thought. The only one I think about is the girl from my mental image. Even now she is in the front of my mind. Maybe someone else will come in my future, but since I am immortal that is a long time. I understand what Zeus means because I have been here for millennials with almost only souls for company. I have Cerberus though, he better company than the ever complaining souls. You just have to look past his three heads and then he is really sweet. I could teleport up to the human realm in a blink of an eye, but feel like I belong down here. Here, in my castle with a view over the entire underworld, from the Elysium to the right and the entrance to Tartarus to the left.

-I know a lot of women I can Introduce you to, Zeus continues.

-No, I don't need your help. When I find someone I like, I will feel it, and then you will be the second to know. After her of course, I reply still thinking of the girl in my image.