90: Banquet

Zagreus walked around nervously, never had anyone seen Zagreus this nervous before... He always faces his problems head-on with little to no thought about it, just like that time when he was challenged by Thanatos to kill the Lion of Nemera that was on the Underworld after it had died at the hands of a Demigod and was ready to be sent back to the Upperworld, Zagreus fought the lion for a few good minutes and he never backed down! Always hitting the lion head-on with his sword till he died. Zagreus, not the lion.

There were also all the times that Zagreus fought against Hades to leave the Underworld too, he could use tactics to fight against the Lord of the Underworld but he decided to attack head-on and most times lost, times he would win and go out. So in reality, Zagreus attempted to escape the underworld more times than he got out. Hades was very surprised to see his son so nervous for the first time in his life, neither his wife nor his son would explain to him who was coming to the Underworld as a guest. They were just both a little nervous about first impressions (Persephone) or were nervous about everything! Decoration, food, drinks, and others... This banquet would be hosted in the Halls of Hades, the palace of the Underworld, where the royal family lived.

All the friends and family of the royal family were also there, such as Achilles, Patroclus, Thanatos, Hypnos, Orpheus, Eurydice, Nyx, and others.

Zagreus once again checked his attire, it was a golden robe, plain golden with some red lines that formed a heart pattern on his chest, and a rose pattern on his back. This robe was weaved by Persephone using golden threads, which were also enchanted to be super comfortable and clean itself when dirty. Zagreus still wore the same golden lead crown in his head, this one, however, was not entirely golden as it had black gold leaves added to it too. Zagreus was barefooted as ever since his foot would burn through most shoes he had and he also felt ir was natural for him to be barefooted.

Zagreus groomed his hair again and looked in the mirror to see if it was good enough, he had never been so conscious of his looks before! Persephone, who was wearing the same golden robes but with no floral pattern and a simple golden crown ot leaves on her head, sighed and said: "Zagreus, relax. You are perfect as you are, if he doesn't see it, then he is completely blind." However, it didn't lessen Zagreus's worries as he continued to look around and see if everything was perfect. "Who is this guest that Zagreus, our local muscle head, worries about every single little detail?" Questions the ever so sleeping Hypnos, who miraculously was awake and wearing fancier clothing than his normal attire... Even though his normal day-to-day attire was very fancy, he decided to wear something fancier.

"Oh, that is a surprise..." Nyx smiled, she had met Klein when he visited Chaos, so she knew about him. "Oh, here he comes." Persephone smiled as soon as she saw Charon's boat in the distance, soon all those who came to welcome Klein per the queen's request quickly assumed their formal position. Hades stood tall by Persephone's side as she took him a few steps back from the port where Klein would step out, right by the port, a few steps before husband and wife pair was their son, Zagreus who was stiff and having an internal nervous breakdown as he started to check his own body for anything weird. Sighing and taking deep breaths to try and calm himself down, Zagreus forced himself to smile which resulted in a stiff smile and waited as Charon's boat arrived.

Every single God could feel the Divine Energy around them, it was something they knew very well, Hades soon remembered someone who had the same overbearing Divine Aura, which is released unconsciously by Gods, and depending on how powerful they are, the stronger the aura is. This aura reminded Hades of his father... Chronos. Overbearing, powerful, confident, cold, cruel... They all watched as a man stepped out of Charon's boat. He was wearing black Greek robes that also had golden and red patterns that formed three skulls, he was wearing robes similar to Zagreus's robes. When his feet touched the floor of the port and he looked at Zagreus, the pressure was gone, as if everything they felt was a pure illusion.

Persephone walked forward and hugged Klein tightly while saying: "I'm so glad you accepted the invitation! Also, I see you're wearing the clothes I sent you... They look good on you now." Yeah, Persephone took one of Zagreus's attire and remodeled it, and gave it to Klein, asking him to wear it to the banquet. Klein smiled while hugging Persephone and said: "Well, someone wanted me to come." His words were directed at Zagreus, who finally snapped out of his daydreaming and smiled while approaching Klein to give him a warm welcome to the deepest pit of the world... Second deepest pit, the first one is Tartarus. Nyx soon came and entered the conversation and soon the four began talking like old friends that haven't seen each other in a long time.

After a few minutes of talking, Persephone coughed and apologized: "I'm sorry for keeping you out, this is a banquet and we should be inside the palace, eating, dancing, and talking... Not out here." Soon Klein was guided by Zagreus to the palace, where he got to see every single plant on the Underworld Gardens of Persephone that she took care of, it was such a beautiful place! The banquet was amazing too! Orpheus and Eurydice had a duet and sang a lot of other songs, Klein was interrogated by Hades who wanted to know his 'intentions' with his son, to which Klein was sincere and told him he considered Zagreus a child but that he is waiting to see if Zagreus can change that mindset of his and enter his heart just like he so wants to.

He swears the best part was meeting Cerberus... The three-headed dog was very intimidating but so adorable that Klein could not resist but to hug his heads and play with him alongside Zagreus... Persephone wanted to play with Cerberus as well, but it was her son's moment so she let him shine. Zagreus took Klein to several places in the Underworld, and in the end, Klein had to stay to train Zagreus in controlling his Divine Energy! After all, if they do that on the surface, Zagreus will wither and die before he gets to enjoy the feeling!

The feeling of controlling one's power.