A trip to the underworld

Alright, let's go.

I opened a portal in front of me and walked inside.

But I wasn't able to enter as an invisible wall stopped me and threw me outside the portal.

"Damn, that fucking Hades. He blocked my entrance to the underworld."

But why? The only thing I did was to resurrect a hero who had died because I would lose points otherwise. Aand maybe I almost destroyed half of the underworld while trying to do that.

But that doesn't give him the right to ban me from there.

Now what I'm gonna do?

Oh, right, I'll go the normal way. By getting on the boat with the grim reaper.

But…where was the entrance?

One way is to die, but I don't think I'll do that. Thus I guess I'll have to find another entrance.

I think I had written somewhere the coordinates for that entrance. Lemme search my memory.

These are the coordinates for that tropical island, these are for that mansion I wanna buy, … nevermind that… oh, here they are.

Alright let's do that.

I instantly got teleported inside some sort of cave. The surroundings were barely visible and the temperature was below zero. I could see the souls of the dead waiting in a line to cross the lake to arrive at the underworld.

I sneaked among them while wearing a hoodie to cover my facial characteristics.

But I guess it didn't work that well as I felt a scythe touching my throat.

"Why is there a living person here?" I heard a cold voice from behind me.

"I have some business in the underworld." I replied.

"And why should I let you pass?"

"Because as I said, I have some business in the underworld, Reapy."

"Reapy huh? I haven't heard that name in a long time, Homare." He said while moving his scythe away from my throat.

"I guess the disguise didn't work after all."

"You call that a disguise? I'm a skeleton and I would seem more like a human if I tried." He said and burst into laughter.

"Okay, okay, I got it. Stop laughing and tell me if you can take me to the underworld."

He suddenly stopped laughing and took a serious look.

"You know the price you have to pay for that."

"Yeah, I know. I'll take you out for a drink later."

"That's what I like to hear. Your treat of course."

"Yea, yea."

He guided me to his boat which was docked next to the shore.

"What happened to the old wooden boat you had?

"That piece of junk sank some decades ago. Thus I had to purchase a new one."

"Wait, you bought that boat?"

"Of course I did. What did you expect? Nothing's free nowadays."

"I-I see. But why did you buy a speedboat? Wouldn't it be more convenient for you to buy a cargo ship or something similar?"

"Ah, don't worry, the speedboat is for me. I have other people handle the transport of all those people, with a cargo ship of course."

"Wow, your budget should be high to buy all these."

"Yea, Hades gave me a lot of money. I mean I was here for more than I can remember, I should have gotten a raise till now."

"Wait, you get paid?"

"Of course I do. What, did you expect me to work for free?"

"I see. Okay, let's go."

We got inside the boat, Reapy started the engine and we started heading towards the underworld.

"So, why do you want to go to the underworld?" He asked me.

"I have to find someone's soul."

"You remember what happened the last time you did that, right?"

"Yea, I do."

"You and Hades almost killed each other for something that minor. And not only each other, half of the underworld too."

"Yeah, I know. I'll be more careful from now on. But this isn't like the last time. I have a good reason for doing that."

"Well, we are friends, thus I'm by your side. Just, be careful to not get spotted by Hades, I don't want to lose my job."

"Don't worry, I'll be careful."

The city of the underworld started being visible on the horizon. It was as imposing as ever. I guess Hades did his best to rebuild it after our clash.

Reapy docked the boat in the city's harbor and I got out.

"I wish you good luck my friend."

"Thanks."

He started the engine again and started driving away from me.

"Don't forget the drink you own me." He yelled.

"Don't worry, I won't." I whispered to myself.

Alright, time to find Ayumi's soul. But where do I start?

Is it possible to use my scan ability here? I guess it doesn't harm to try.

And to my great luck it indeed worked. I found someone who had the exact same measurements as Ayumi's body… I mean same physique.

I followed the path I had created in the map only to arrive in front of a brothel.

"Oh, come on now. Why here?" I exclaimed.

This is Hades's favourite place. But more importantly, why is Ayumi there?

I headed towards the entrance to get inside but as soon as I was ready to open the door, Hades came from inside.

As soon as I saw him I quickly hid behind a bench.

Damn, it would be a disaster if he saw me here.

But why does his look seem slightly different? His usual intimidating look is missing.

Now I'm curious as to why he's like that. I guess I'll follow him.

As he was walking through the city's streets I kept following him by hiding in the shadows.

He looked some times behind him to see if someone was following him, but he didn't detect me.

In the end we arrived at an old wooden house just a bit outside the city.

From my perspective it looked like it was ready to collapse, both the house and Hades.

He looked so miserable.

I took a peek from the window and I saw him eating canned food.

Okay what the fuck is going on here? Isn't he a God? Why does he look poorer than me before I become a God?

Reapy said that he gave him money some decades ago to buy those ships. So what happened in those decades?

Something's wrong and I can feel it.

Hades, one of the greatest Gods being like that… I want to laugh now, but this is not the time for that. Something serious has happened here, something that may affect even my world. I can't just let things be as they are now, I have to find out what happened.