Hades

XVIII

Hades' point of view

I reluctantly shut the door and headed down the passageway towards my office. Jason and the other warriors were waiting for me, that much I knew. Yet I took my time strolling lazily through the castle. 

I wanted so desperately to keep my Ella safe and I hoped that this meeting provided me with the insight I needed to do that. However, I did not want to attend, my mind and soul were occupied with the lady that sat quietly inside the library. 

I knew deep down that I had to be the king that I was born to be, my rightful place was on the throne of the Underworld and I intended on keeping it that way. Father had always bathed in the idea of controlling my world. 

Controlling the underworld and all that reside within it. It was a dangerous thing to meddle with fate. The power he sought and hoped he could obtain by taking what was mine was not something to play with. The people here did not deserve the torture he would impose. 

I could not help but stop in front of a large window just down the passage from my office, the doors were in sight now but my eyes were too focused on the land before me. 

From up here, you could see past the large garden that surrounded the castle and out onto the land and village below. I smiled as I thought of those below, my people. 

I had made sure only the good souls live here with me, the ones that did not meet the high standards of Asylum but were just regular people. 

Elysium was a special place where only a handful of humans got to go. It was the heroes of the mortal planet that got to enjoy eternity in comfort.  They lived out their days in a similar way to the gods in Olympus and, that was the incomplete denial of the hardships around them.

I laughed at them, the idea that they sat there on their mountain despising those below them. They had chosen who they believed were worthy and did not plan on changing their mind, their opinions were set in stone. 

A part of me hoped that maybe I would lose enough control and show them who held the greatest strength. I thought about the prophecy and how Ella was meant to save everyone from me. 

She was meant to calm the darkness that raged war within me and dull the never-ending desire to let go and let the darkness win. 

I thought of the gods' faces. How shocked they would all be if Ella was not there to calm me, to ease the deafening blackness. A ghost of a smile adorned my lips as I thought about those above. 

A part of me wanted to climb that mountain and show them the destruction I could cause; the destruction I was aching to cause. My senses were heightened and I could not help but relish in the feeling of the flickering flames of onyx. 

They encompassed my entire being and willed me to do just that. 

Yet, it was when I remembered my Ella sitting unknowingly in the library, I pushed back the thoughts that had swarmed my brain. Her light dulled the ache and brightened the onyx. The flames that flickered and danced to their own devilish tune died down. 

My being stilled and my attention focused back on what I was meant to be doing. I stole one final glance out at the rugged beauty of the land before me, before turning and walking down the corridor. 

As I drew nearer I could see the figures of Jason and the guards. They stood calmly outside of my office door, talking about something I was not bothered to listen to. They caught sight of me walking towards them and the guards stiffened, their heads subconsciously turning towards the ground. 

Jason stood tall at the head of the group, he was unaffected by my power. He had been with me for far too long to be stumbled by my presence. He, however, knew his place. He knew who his king was and his loyalty belonged to me.