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𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐰𝐨: 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐓𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰

SHORES OF THE RIVER STYX

THE UNDERWORLD

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MELAINA FOUND IT EASIEST TO DESCRIBE THE UNDERWORLD AS ITS OWN COUNTRY. A vast hellscape of seething flames and blackened ash, filled with the glimmering silver souls of the deceased. A kingdom ruled by Hades (and currently herself in his absence) filled with loyal subjects that did nothing but exist in their own tormented reality.

But the path to the Underworld was quite a complicated process.

To reach the Underworld, one needs to die (obviously), and this death is procured by none other than the Moirai, otherwise known as the Fates. Every decision, every pathway, every action taken by man are decided by the Moirai. And no matter how hard they tried, mortals can never outrun the Moirai's spindle of thread, the string that represented their life.

When their spindle is cut and their lives come to an end, their souls are then collected from the mortal realm by Thanatos, Melaina's brother and the God of Death. Thanatos would place his finger on the chest of the deceased, his touch soft and welcoming, not holding any malice or arousing any fear. And through this touch, he would bring the human's soul from their body and lead it down to the entrance of the Underworld, starting its journey down in the hidden bowels of Olympus.

The souls are then guided along the River Styx by Charon, the resident ferryman of the Underworld and another one of Melaina's brothers. Charon was tasked with bringing the souls across the shores of the living realm and into the Underworld, forming the official barrier between the living and the dead. Charon, the greedy little bdelyròs, charged a hefty fee for his services. And all those unfortunate ghosts who couldn't afford to pay his expenses were forced to wander the shore, half dead and half alive, bound to live out a pretty miserable existence for the rest of eternity.

Once the ferry had reached the banks of the Underworld, the souls entered the gates of the Underworld that were guarded by Cerberus, Hades' personal guard dog. Cerberus was a mighty hound, leering over the entrance to the Underworld with his three heads, ensuring that all those who entered never left. The beautiful beast stood as tall as some of the rolling hills of Olympus with his shining sienna coat of fur, roars pouring past his lips that scared even Melaina herself. But when Cerberus was angry, the entire realm quaked in fear, praying that his elongated fangs were kept at bay by his owner's command.

If the souls passed Cerberus (who was known to devour a soul or two if he was feeling a little famished), they then appeared before the 3 judges of the Underworld. King Rhadamanthus, Minos, and Aeacus were the judges of the souls' previous lives, determining where their past actions and deeds would send the soul. Whether they lived heroic lives, worthy of praise and privilege, or a sinner's life, deserving of punishment and torture.

From the Judges, the souls ended up in one of three places; Elysium, Asphodel Meadows, or Tartarus. Elysium was where all the valiant and the truly virtuous went, a moon bathed heaven of pure celestial beauty. It was the Olympus of the Underworld, a reward for all those who had led pure lives, a place where they could live in peace and serenity for all eternity.

Then there was the Asphodel Meadows, the home of the mortals who led primitive lives, doing nothing worthy of accolades or condemnation. A place where the souls wondered the ashen fields of the Underworld, enduring in a realm of utter neutrality. Just merely existing.

Or they went to Tartarus, the vast saffron desert of raging heat and eternal torment. Tartarus was the deepest gulf beneath Olympus, housing only the cruelest of cruel. Mortals that were too far gone for redemption, deserving of infinite punishment for their actions. It was also home to the Titans, Melaina's comrades who had lost the war and continued to suffer for their rebellion. Whenever she stepped foot down in Tartarus, she could hear their harrowing pleas for freedom, the ocean of misery that flooded from their symphony of voices. But she never saw them, she was forbidden from seeing them ever again.

As such, the Underworld was a colossal place, filled with many gushing rivers and dark corners crawling with hideous monsters aching for conflict. And on any given day it was overflowing with deceased mortals, some already living their new warped reality or some beginning their journey to the end of their life.

And if any souls got lost anywhere in between, it was Melaina's job to collect them.

Which was why she was scouring the shores of the Underworld trying to find the boatload of misplaced wraiths that Charon lost because his boat began sinking. His boat, the boat that had never capsized in its entire existence. On the very day that Melaina would be handing back Hades' kingdom.

And oh what a wonderful gift this predicament would be if she left it for Hades.

But she wasn't that much of a monster.

Melaina and Dee had spent the entire morning searching the banks of the River Styx, rounding up the many lost souls like shepherds. Strings of curses falling past her rosy lips as she walked along the ebonized earth, with Dee's charcoal coat of fur glimmering under the faint moonbeams.

They had already passed both Cerberus (with Dee very much enjoying his brief company) and the 3 judges of the Dead, who also offered no assistance. Decked out in their invaluable jewels and glittering crowns of gold, the three men each pointed in different directions when she asked for their assistance. Bickering over which King was right, they then ignored her pleas for help and returned to their quarreling, one of the many reasons why the line into the Underworld extended further than the naked eye could see.

So, with an untapped fountain of molten anger brewing beneath her olive skin, she continued her search, heading deeper and deeper into the depths of the Underworld.

"Stupid Charon." She seethed, emerald eyes swirling with outrage. "Oh, how I wish to sever his balls like Uranus."

By her side, Dee let out a menacing grow, sensing her master's anger. Recognizing the volcanic magma of wrath simmering in her veins, bubbling with relentless brutality. Hellhounds were intelligent creatures, understanding their owners more than any mortal animal could. And after so many centuries of being by Melaina's side, the two shared thoughts as if they were one being, their souls entwined.

"How many have we got, Dee?" Melaina asked, irritation dripping from her voice like sickly tar. The pair had already spent hours finding the stray souls that her cretin brother had lost, the very same brother who had the nerve to blame her for his misfortunes.

Dee let out a loud bark, a clap of thunder that effectively pulled Melaina from her murderous thoughts.

"Two more! Holy Zeus, I want Thanatos to kill me." She complained, throwing her head back in despair.

"Hades is going to murder me if he finds out about this." She murmured to herself, kicking the blackened soil as she motioned for Dee to take off ahead of her, using her enhanced scent to try and find the shimmering wisps of smoke that were plaguing Melaina's existence.

"Now why don't I go jump in the River Lethe and forget about this treacherous morning." She grumbled again, watching as the ebony beast took off ahead of her, darting between the dead charcoal-colored trees and into the bleak haze of the Underworld.

But then a familiar baritone voice boomed behind Melaina, immediately leaving her stomach lurching in fright as she whipped around with the speed of Hermes.

"Now, darling. That's a bit rash." Her father commented, eyebrows cocked darkly.

Right before her very eyes stood Erebus, in all his ominous glory. His ivory skin contrasted with the heavy aureole of darkness that enshrouded his body, oozing pure murdered light. Dark eyes boring into hers, he gave her a satirical smile, instantaneously prompting wariness to howl inside her like a hurricane.

Melaina and her father had a rather strained relationship. After the Titan War, he regarded Melaina with potent disappointment and acrimony, beyond irate that his daughter would embarrass him in such a way before the Gods. All because her fall from Elysium tore a gaping hole into his reputation. Leaving him to endure the stigma that came from having a traitor for a daughter.

And he never got over the residual bitterness.

"Father." She spoke, an impish grin pulling at her full lips. "What a surprise to see you here."

"You are in my realm, Melaina. Or have you forgot?" The words blasted from his lips, roaring like thunder.

Much like her friend Hades, Erebus also reigned over the Underworld. He ruled over Tartarus, the raging inferno of nefarious heat that housed the Titans. That would have housed Melaina if her mother hadn't got involved. But her father, he was nowhere to be seen at that negotiation, because quite simply, he thought she deserved it the same punishment as the traitors.

"I could never, Father." She drawled.

Ignoring her facetious tone, Erebus clicked his fingers. At the action, two hauntingly scary shadows appeared by his side, a nebula of flickering smoke. Swirling dark clouds in the silhouette of a human, two black noxious gases that looked like mutated mortals. And shackled by these deadly shadows were two incandescent souls. The souls that Melaina had been searching for.

"I see you found Hades' lost souls." She piped up, watching as the God of Deep Darkness and Shadows lips twisted into a derisive smile.

"You are ruling in Hades' stead which means they are your lost souls." He spoke, Melaina almost wincing at the words that were coated with a thick layer of potent poison.

"Legalities." She shrugged, forcing her mocking facade to withstand his scornful words. "What kindness captivated your cold heart to bring me these poor lost souls?"

"Careful, Melaina. Don't forget who you are talking to." He warned, brows sloping downwards disdainfully.

But Melaina quickly fired back with a retort of her own, chin raising stubbornly. "My apologies, I forget you were no fun."

Erebus chuckled disparagingly with a glint of animosity in his dark eyes. "You do never learn, do you?"

She recognised the lingering animosity, the harsh and unforgiving tone that coated his words like venom. Puncturing past her mask of indifference and destroying her toughened resolve.

It was always about that, the war, her tragic love affair. Her unconditional devotion to Atlas that resulted in her ultimate demise, falling between the ranks of the Gods like a comet shooting through the galactic sky. Falling, falling, falling until it collided with the harsh reality, reduced to thousands of insignificant smithereens.

And with her fall from the heavens, so did his notoriety. And that gave credence to his petulant malice towards his daughter. The daughter that shared his powers, his obsidian locks, and ivory skin. The daughter that was the spitting image of him, that used to make him proud.

Plastering a fake smirk on her face, Melaina tried to ignore the pain that stabbed at her fragile heart, the wilting organ she tried so hard to protect. Fending off attacks with sarcastic comments and shielding it behind an apathetic demeanor.

But nonetheless, her defenses weren't always successful.

"Well, I'll just be taking these souls then and be off." She replied, stifling the ache that burned in her chest. "Thank you, for this lovely chat."

She flicked her wrist and watched as the lustrous wraiths disappeared into a void of darkness, their onyx shackles disappearing as they rejoined the elongated queue of souls waiting to find peace in the Underworld.

At the disappearance of the mortal souls, the darkened silhouettes standing at Erebus' sides also dissipated from existence, dying with a soft pop. Leaving Erebus standing in front of her with a cruel smile lingering on his pallid lips.

"Hades is asking for your presence."

"Ah, wonderful. I'm so glad he is back!" She replied, feigning excitement. "He doesn't know of the—"

"Charon has already complained to King Hades and asked for your punishment to be extended." He answered, derision swirling in his darkened orbs.

"That little bdelyròs." She sneered, hands quaking with unadulterated rage. He would not be the reason that she has to endure her punishment for more than what was due. Not if she had anything to do with it. "I will murder that little lowlife."

"He is your brother." Erebus warned, cocking a brow challengingly.

"Not by choice, let me assure you." She growled.

"Well, you best be off. Hades did appear to be in quite a mood after Charon's visit." He grinned cruelly, voice dripping with satire.

"I am going to drown him in the River Acheron. Let him feel the sorrow and pain of all the souls he leaves on the shore of the living realm." She grumbled beneath her breath, turning away from her father without bothering to utter a farewell.

"You did feed Cerberus, didn't you?" He called out mockingly.

"Of course, what monster do you think I am?" She bit back, glancing back at him briefly.

"Well, you better tell him to stop eating the mortals' souls then." He smirked, watching as her face contorted into one of frustration.

"Ma Dia." Was the last thing Melaina said before she disappeared into one of her portals, leaving her estranged father sighing ruefully at the ashen ground.

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The throne room of Hades' palace was exactly like one would dream a throne room for the God of the Dead to be.

Melaina's heeled sandals echoed into the opulent chamber,  colliding with the onyx marbled floor with each step she took. The gargantuan windows that decorated the room revealed the turbulent storm that rampaged the shores of the Underworld, serpentine flickers of lightning flashing with behemoth force as the dark clouds churned in the atmosphere.

Eyes gazing forward, she caught sight of Hades, in all his ethereal grandeur hunched over in his great throne. Rubbing at the ivory temples of his forehead that churned with irritation. Sitting in a chair that was carved from the darkest of obsidian, crested with shimmering jewels and decorative metals forming an elegant coat of arms, a blackened skull of the perished. The symbol of Hades.

He didn't lift his gaze at Melaina's approach, rather letting out a crestfallen sigh as he clutched at his shimmering scepter, hands tightening in exasperation.

"Hades! Oh, how I missed you!" She cooed, a smirk pulling at her features.

But Hades was evidently not in the mood, lifting his eyes to reveal the flames of seething anger that swirled beneath like a pool of blackness.

"Do you know how much it pains me to leave my Kingdom to be ruled by you for a day? It kills me, literally kills me. Because I always come back to find that you have wreaked havoc despite only being in charge for less than 24 hours!"

She winced slightly at his roar, crossing her arms over her chest in defiance as she cocked her brow.

"Now, that's a bit of an over-exaggeration." She retorted. "If anyone is to blame it's Charon, he was the one who lost the souls."

"I told you specifically that he needed his ship to be fixed before his morning ferry!" He snapped, features contorted into a mixture between anger and exhaustion, the lines so blurred that it was hard to see where one began and the other ended.

"It must have got lost somewhere between don't piss off your wife and take Cerberus for a walk after his dinner." She sneered.

After an eternity stranded in this hellscape, Melaina knew what the daily tasks were of maintaining the Underworld. She had assumed Hades' position as governor many times in her past, having learned what duties needed to be taken care of for an efficient afterlife. And never had fixing Charon's boat been one of those duties.

And Persephone, don't get Melaina started on her.

At her words, Hades let out a lethargic sigh, feeling his anger fissure into shards of irritation, easily swept away. Because although he was resentful and undoubtedly prone to bursts of violent anger, Melaina was another story. After so many years together down amongst the broken souls of the dead, they began to love each other in a way that only siblings could. A way that left them both easily provoked but understanding of each other nonetheless.

"Do you know how difficult it was to remain calm when your brother was screaming at me because you didn't fix his boat?" He exhaled, a tremble of amusement lingering beneath his words, eliciting a murderous snarl from Melaina.

"Next time send that little Hydra to me and I'll plug the hole in the boat with his—"

"Thanks for that vivid imagery, Mel." She was promptly cut off, Hades scowling slightly at her vulgar words. "Exactly what I needed to make this morning better."

"I'm not joking." She growled.

Hades rolled his eyes at her with tiniest of grins pulling at his thin lips. "Your family will be the death of me."

"Tell me about it." She murmured.

"Now onto other matters." Hades announced, pushing himself up from his seat as he stalked over towards Melaina. "Come." He demanded, brushing past her shoulder lightly.

"So you didn't call me here to reprimand me?" She interrupted, frowning at her friend.

"Mel, when has anyone been able to reprimand you?" He chided, grinning impudently.

"Good point." She smirked. "Continue."

"Obviously, I just got back from the Olympian Council." He continued, their footsteps echoing down the elongated dark hallways of his palace. "As usual it was such a bore. Zeus and Hera bickered the entire time as did Poseidon and Athena. Aphrodite wouldn't stop asking about my love life whilst Apollo inquired about yours."

"Did he now?" She grinned, ignoring the flashes of past memories that flickered in her mind, arousing a wave of heat to settle over her skin. "Interesting."

"You sure do have a thing for the troublesome ones." Hades teased, eyes shining with facetiousness as he caught that reminiscent look that resided in her own emerald orbs.

"Anyway, what did they decide?" She ignored his look, grabbing a hold of his clothed arm pleadingly, forcing him to a stop. "Am I free?"

Because that was all that had been lingering in her mind for the last 24 hours. Infecting her dreams that rampaged through her mind, tearing apart any patience she held. Infiltrating into her thoughts and leaving her unable to think about anything else. Because this was all she had wanted for the past millennium, the only thing she had fantasied about in her every waking moment.

She wanted her freedom back.

And with a bittersweet smile, Hades replied.

"You are free." He whispered. "You're going home."

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Hey everyone!

the sheer amount of research I have had to do for this story is ASTRONOMICAL

(FYI did you know Melaina actually means dark/black in Greek...)

ANYWAY,, if you guys are ever confused about a Greek mythology reference I make, please leave a little comment and I'll answer it for you!! Since this story is all very historical, I know it may not be the easiest read so I'm 100% down to answer any questions about it that you guys have.

For example, the title says "I'll need some Tyche right about now", and Tyche is the Greek God of Luck. So it really means"I'll need some luck right about now"

P.S: Buckle in because you are not ready for the next chapter ;)

And now, now onto the questions!

1. What did you think of the chapter?

2. What do you guys think of Melaina and Hades' relationship?

3. What would you like to see in the next couple of chapters?

4. Do you guys have any constructive criticisms for the book so far? Don't be afraid to be honest, I'm a big girl and I swear I won't be mean  :)

Until next time!

— Grace xx