Lord of The Underworld)

Haze's eyes fluttered open slowly.

I'm alive? He thought to himself.

He raised his hands and saw that his body was indeed tangible and he was not a spirit or ghost.

Great, I can't do anything right, not even kill myself.

Haze blinked repeatedly, trying to remember the events that led to him waking up at that moment.

I killed my bullies, then I jumped off a cliff.

He looked around him to see if he was still on the rocks but there weren't any rocks, only a soft mattress and a slightly large bedroom.

Where are the rocks and where is the cliff?

He sat up on the bed and looked around him again, he wondered why he was in a room and not the cliff.

Ding!

There was a bell sound and a holographic screen appeared in front of his face.

What's this? Haze thought.

The screen booted up and words appeared on it.

[Welcome to Hades System]

Hades system, what is that? Haze thought, just then the words faded off and was replaced by another text.

[You have been chosen by our lord Hades..]

It faded again.

[…To be his heir]

Who is Hades and why am I his heir? Haze wondered. How did he choose me? I'm supposed to be dead.

[Do you want to check your profile]

Haze didn't know what that sentence meant, he didn't know what a 'Hades system' was, and he most certainly did not know which profile he had to check, so he ignored the message.

He decided to explore the room, to see if it would help him figure out where he was. He got off the bed and started walking round the room, he noticed the mirror in the corner and went to check it.

His reflection seemed normal, his face was the same, body was the same, his hair was still white, everything looked alright yet he had a feeling something was wrong.

Then he realized suddenly, his body was perfectly normal, he just threw himself off a cliff so his body should be battered and bruised, bloody and broken beyond recognition or repair. Yet he was perfectly normal.

"I'm definitely dead", He said out loud.

"No you're not", A voice said from the door.

Haze turned to see who the voice belonged too, it was a short pudgy man. The pudgy man closed the door behind him and walked towards Haze.

"I know you have a lot of questions", The man said.

Haze nodded.

"Firstly, you're not dead", The man said.

"So I survived the fall?", Haze asked the man.

"Oh no, you didn't", The man said.

"You died, but Hades brought you back", He thought about for a while and chuckled.

"I guess one could say you're dead".

Haze didn't find it funny. "I died", He repeated. "Who is Hades and why did he bring me back?".

"Hades is the lord of the underworld", The man replied.

"Like the Greek god?", Haze asked in amazement.

"Yes, the Greek god", The man replied. "But before all that, don't you want to know my name?"

"Oh right, sorry what's your name?", Haze asked even though he couldn't care less about the man's name.

The man smiled and adjusted his collar. "My name is Gatti".

"Okay Gatti, my name is…", Haze started to say but Gatti interrupted him.

"You're Haze, I know", He said impatiently. "Now we need to get moving or we'll be late", He grabbed Haze by the arm and started dragging him out the door.

"Wait, I still have a lot of questions", Haze protested.

"I'll answer them on the way", Gatti promised and Haze stopped struggling.

Gatti led him out the door and they moved through a long narrow hallway, draped in red and filled with paintings which hung on the walls, sat on the floor and even hung from the ceiling.

"Hades is an art lover huh?", He muttered.

"Oh, this is my apartment not Hades" Gatti said with a chuckle. "Now what are your questions again?"

"Where are we going? Why did Hades save me and if I died and came back to life, what does that make me?", He asked.

"Phew, so many questions", Gatti exclaimed. He opened the door and they stepped out to see a beautiful garden. The trees whispered to them as they walked past.

There was a gate at the end of the garden, as soon as they stepped through it, the garden disappeared and they were suddenly in a dry dusty cave. Agonized moans filtered through the walls of the cave and Haze looked around apprehensively.

"We're in the underworld", Gatti said as they walked through the cave. "And we're heading to Hades' palace. To do that, we need to cross the river Styx", He groaned. "We'll go in that bastard Charon's ferry".

"I see you don't like him", Haze noted.

"He's a crook", Gatti said bitterly but he left it at that.

They got to the river and Haze observed that Charon didn't look nearly as bad as he expected. He requested for three coins even though the sign clearly stated one coin per person, Gatti grumbled and gave Haze an 'I told you' look before paying and entering the ferry, Haze followed suit.

Charon wordlessly rowed them across and Gatti fiddled with his collar again.

"Hades saved your life because you're his heir", He said eventually.

"I am what?!", Haze exclaimed.

"His heir", Gatti replied calmly.

"What does that mean? Hades has a heir?", Haze was bewildered.

*Yes, and it's you"

"But how?", Haze asked.

"Haven't you ever wondered why your hair is white and not black like your dad or late mom?", Gatti asked.

"Haven't you ever wondered why your life has been filled with despair and misery? It's the mark of Hades that caused those two things, it's been on you since birth".

Haze quietly pondered the information he was getting, after a while he asked. "So why are we going to meet him now?"

"Because Hades needs his heir, as you will soon find out" Gatti replied.

"What does he need me for?", Haze asked.

"Ask him yourself, we're here", Gatti said.

The ferry stopped at the shore and they got down, Haze looked up the marvelous structure before him, the palace of Hades. The door to the palace was massive and decorated with skulls that Haze could only assume were real human skulls, he quickly looked away.

They walked up the stairs and stopped at the door, Gatti knocked on it in a pattern the single door split into two halves which slowly swung open.

Haze could feel chills running up his body as he stepped through the door, it was as if death itself was in the air and seeped into his skin, he shuddered and continued walking behind Gatti.

They walked the red carpet till they got close enough for Haze to see the lord of the underworld.

Hades was nothing like what Haze expected. He was slim and his tall body filled out the throne, his hair was identical to Haze's own in colour but instead of being spiky, it was long and packed into a ponytail. The hair framed a strikingly hansdome face that was adorned by two dangling earrings.

He sat on a large throne that had skulls as armrests and two green torches were mounted on top of the throne. Haze wondered how Hades' hair hadn't caught on fire yet.

Hades looked at Haze and Gatti with a bored face. Gatti immediately dropped to a bow and pushed Haze to do the same.

"I've returned my lord", Gatti said.

"Let the boy come closer", Hades replied in a bored voice.

Haze stepped forward till he was standing directly in front of Hades. Hades looked at him from head to toe.

"Not bad", Hades said. "I'm sure he told you why you're here".

"Yes, I'm your heir", Haze replied uneasily.

Hades smiled, even that seemed like too much effort for him. "One of them at least".

Haze blinked. "I don't understand".

"You don't understand what?", Hades asked.

"What do you mean one of them?"

"Well, you're one of my heirs", Hades said simply.

"So you have more?"

Hades nodded.

Haze turned to Gatti who looked down guiltily. "You lied to me!"

"I had to get you here somehow" Gatti explained apologetically.

"Now, why I need you" Hades cut in.

"There's a tournament coming up, between ten of my heirs and you're part of the ten. The winner gets to be my permanent and only heir".

Haze looked in confusion and Gatti stepped in to explain.

"See, my lord has a problem. The other gods have been pressuring him to get a heir for a very long time since he's the only one without one, my lord has searched and tried multiple times but no one has ever been worthy", Gatti stopped to adjust his collar.

"But recently they've been more adamant on my lord getting a heir so he finally decided to make things easier and conduct a competition, the winner would obviously be someone strong and smart enough to be his heir".

"So I'm here to be part of an experiment for you", Haze said.

"In a way, yes", Hades replied, mischief glinted in his eyes.

"Then I refuse, take me back home!".

"Home?", Hades asked as if he was confused.

"Yes back to the world above, world of the living", Haze replied.

Hades burst into a laugh. "There is no going back, this your new home".

"What?!", Haze yelled.

"You're never leaving here, go and have a nice rest, the tournament starts tomorrow", Hades said in a bored voice and turned away from them, they were dismissed.