"Nico, I'm nervous."
Nervous wasn't even close to what I really was, though I didn't want to say what I was actually feeling. I was scared beyond belief, absolutely terrified, so nervous that I wanted to run away screaming. If I had been going to meet anyone else's parent, I would be just fine.
But Hades?!
"Don't worry, (y/n). He'll adore you," Nico murmured, squeezing my hand he was holding. The hand with my engagement ring on it. I had agreed to meet Hades officially as Nico's fiancée, almost instantly regretting it. It wasn't only that he could murder me with a glance, but that he could immediately hate me and take Nico away from me forever. What on earth would I do then?
The creepy boatman that had been at the first dock to pick us up didn't speak at all until we reached the dock Nico said we needed to stop at. He had a long and dark cloak on, which was crazy considering how hot it was here in the underworld. When we stepped off the rickety old boat, the man, Charon asked for his payment and Nico handed him some coins.
When I thanked him for the ride, he muttered, "Demigod filth," and rowed away. I raised an eyebrow and straightened my spine. If anyone of us was filth, it was that disturbing man. Nico held out his hand for me and I accepted it, not wanted to get lost in this fiery world of monsters. He led us to a bridge that looked to be made from bone that took us over a deep canyon of lava and fire. I could hear screams and wailing coming from inside the fires, warning me not to go any further, crying their sad stories to anyone that would listen. I shuddered at the noises, and held onto Nico tighter than I already had been.
As a daughter of Zeus, this world was suffocating. I needed open air and endless skies to feel at home and comfortable, and this world had neither of those. Every breath I took felt like swallowing hot sauce, hot and burning. There was no sky to be seen, just ragged rock formations and smoke so high that you could never dream to reach it. I wanted nothing more than to take Nico and fly out of this place, but I knew how much his father meant to him and how much he wanted this meeting to happen.
The bone bridge ended at Hades' palace: a castle of bones and rock, with full skeletons implanted into the high walls. The sight of it nearly made me puke. Nico must've seen my disgust because he looked down at his feet and loosened his grip on my hand. I hated to make him sad like this, so I put on what I hoped was a dazzling smile and marched up to the large doors of the palace, knocking briskly before stepping back to look at Nico once again. His small smile had returned, but he knew mine was fake. He always knew those things.
Just a few seconds after I knocked on the door, deep growls and snarls came from the other side that sounded like very angry, very hungry dogs. On our way into the underworld, Nico had "introduced me" to Cerberus, the three headed monster dog. At first he had been terrifying and sounded a lot like these dogs, but one smile from Nico was all it took to turn Cerberus into a sweet puppy that just wanted some love and attention. Maybe these dogs would be the same.
A woman's voice snapped at them to be quiet, and the growling stopped. The door opened to reveal a beautiful woman with tan skin and long golden hair. Nico stiffened beside me as she walked to me with open arms.
"You must be (y/n). I've heard so much about you!" Persephone embraced me tightly, and she smelled of flowers and freshly mowed grass. She let go of me and turned to Nico. "Welcome back, Nico. The dogs missed you."
Nico gave a grin and started to pet and rub the monstrous looking dogs that had followed Persephone out of the palace. They looked somewhat like deformed gargoyles, with no hair and teeth and talons longer than any household animal I had ever seen. One of them stopped licking Nico long enough to sniff me curiously on the leg. Almost immediately, the dog's vicious growl returned and he bared his long teeth at me. I felt my hands start to tremble. Nico hadn't let me bring a weapon to the underworld and I was positive my lethal lightning strikes wouldn't work down here, so I was pretty helpless to protect myself from most of the creatures down here.
