The Voice of the Dead

Trip down under

*Lea*

I stood between Horatio and Asteria as the doors leading to the underworld opened. A huge, burning circle in the ground.

"Okay. Hop in." Horatio said and I looked at him terrified.

"Just like that?" I asked with a doubtful voice.

"It's alright. I'll catch you at the right time." H reassured me. I took a deep breath and stepped forward.

The world started to swirl in front of my eyes. I couldn't see or hear anything real, just a parade of colors, smoke and screams?

Oh, gods. What did I get into?

After what felt like an hour, I started to slow down in my descent and I saw…

It's hard to describe.

I knew it's Underworld, Hell as others call it but it looked… normal? Almost like earth. But the air was different, more dense and you could smell smoke and ash swirling around. It looked like a day, but the sky was reddish, not blue and the light was dim, heavy.

And when I looked down I saw a palace!

An actual, huge, black palace with a garden surrounding it. A sea of multicolored flowers and trees wherever I looked.

It was beautiful.

And it looked like we are going to land directly in front of the grand door.

I felt a hand grabbing mine and saw smiling uncle H next to me, his mate, Darius on my other side, holding my hand.

"Don't get scared." Horatio simply said and a huge pair of wings sprouted from his back. Bat-like, thick, black wings!

This is getting crazier by the second!

We landed softly on the ground and his wings hid back into his body.

"You didn't tell me you had wings?!" I whisper-screamed and Horatio just laughed.

"It never came out in conversation." He winked as he stood back straight, looking towards the huge doors.

Asteria and Alex landed gracefully right next to us, Lycan's huge form towering over all of us.

The doors opened and we all looked at them.

I got a glimpse of two people walking down the stairs and I immediately hung my head low, afraid to look at them.

Darius and Horatio started to walk first towards them. Asteria grabbed my hand and smiled, reassuring me. Alex stood by my other side and we followed the Vampyrs.

I wanted to look around badly, but was too scared to rise my head.

Finally we all stopped and I heard Horatio talking.

"My Lord, my Queen. It's good to see you again. Thank you for your time." He said politely, both he and Darius bows their head with respect.

"It's good to see you well Horatio." A man's voice, surely Hades's, said with authority but fondness. He seemed genuinely happy to see H, like an old friend.

"And we talked about calling us like that, didn't we?" Persephone said, her voice warm and cheerful. Almost like Asteria's.

"Old habits die hard." Horatio chuckled. "I hope you don't mind I brought Darius with me. You never got a chance to meet him, he is much younger vampyr. Darius is my soulmate, Selene's gift to me."

I could hear love in Horatio's voice when he talked about his mate. It put a small smile on my lips.

"It's an honour." Darius said, bowing his head even lower.

"Of course, I'm glad we finally can meet your partner. How long have you two been together?" Persephone asked.

"Over 3 millennias." Horatio answered and my jaw dropped.

Excuse me, what?!

I didn't realize that they are that old!

And Horatio even said that Darius is much younger than him.

How old is he actually?

"That's a nice start." Hades said amused and my jaw hang even lower.

Asteria walked closer, pulling me with her. From that stress, I almost forgot how to walk properly.

"Hades, Persephone, it's nice to see you. Last time we met I was still a teenager." Asteria said playfully and the couple chuckled.

"You sure were." Hades said. "I'm sorry for what my brother wanted to put you through, he was never the brightest one."

Did he just called Zeus dumb?!

Alex laughed, making a growling sound making Hades and his wife look at him.

"Horatio sure wasn't lying, a Lycan. It's been thousands of years since I've seen one, apart from Tartarus." Hades said, now even more amused.

"This is Alexander, my soulmate. He was a werewolf before marking. As we mated, he changed into a Lycan, also gaining immortality, I believe. Just like my father became God after mother's marking." Asteria explained calmly.

"Selene's powers in this department are sure extraordinary. When she gained the ability to match people, we never thought that the marking bonds could be so powerful." Persephone said, her voice showing actual interest.

"I'm actually very interested in how you took down Ares. That was impressive." Hades smirked.

Alex shifted and Asteria charmed clothes to appear on his body.

Convenient.

"Thank you, I can happily tell you about it. but long story short, he was overrated." Alex said with blunt honesty, chuckling. "It's nice to meet you, Selene and Horatio spoke very highly of both of you."

"And there is your little girl, I assume." Persephone said and I shivered. "Come closer, let me look at you sweetheart."

I looked up at Alex and he nodded with a smile. I took a few steps forward and lifted my head.

"How charming. You look like minie me!" Persephone said with a genuine, wide smile.

In front of me stood a tall, rather slim man, with black hair and eyes, and very light, almost white skin. On his right stood Persephone, almost as tall as he, with fiery red hair, freckles and green eyes.

Just like me! How bizarre.

"She sure does." Asteria giggled.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Lea, thank you for finding time to see me." I said quietly and politely.

"Of course. I'm happy to answer all of your questions. But first, come on in. I prepared dinner." She said and led us towards the palace.

"So, Lea. I understand that you are not Asteria's daughter?" Hades asked as servants took away our plates and put platers of different cakes.

I sighed and nodded.

"Yes, I was born somewhere else. Alex and Asteria took me into their home after I… I was exiled from my birth pack."

Alex growled involuntarily and Asteria put her hand on his arm, smiling sadly at me.

"Exiled? From your pack? How so?" Persephone asked with a frown.

How am I supposed to tell her that it's because of her gift?!

"Lea, do you want to share your full story? If you are not comfortable, it's okay, we would tell only as much as you feel." Asteria looked at me.

I closed my eyes for a second and took a deep breath.

"I want to share everything. It's okay. I know I'm now safe and all of that is behind me." I said, determined.

"We didn't hear everything either. Are you okay with us here?" Horatio asked with a sympathetic smile.

I smiled back at him and nodded.

"Asteria trusts you two so I am as well. You are family." I said.

"So I'll start." Asteria sighed and continued. "Over a month ago I had a very vivid, terrifying dream about a young girl running from a rogue wolf. It was very life-like so after I woke up, I asked my brother, Jonathan, to take a look inside my mind to help me understand it."

"Brother? I didn't know Selene had another child." Hades raised an eyebrow.

"Have you ever encountered a soul that won't stay in the underworld?" Asteria asked and the Hell couple exchanged looks.

"Yeah, two actually. The only souls that are in a constant loop of rebirth. They have a power of reincarnation that I don't rule over. Which is surprising and frustrating. Usually it's me who grants a chance to be born again and it's not happening often." Hades said, his brows furrowed. "How do you know about this?"

"I believe that's Jonathan, originally named Jasper by my parents and his mate, named Dora in this life. My mother had a miscarriage but after that happened, she and dad encountered their lost son in their dreams. He told them that they'll meet again in another life. We weren't sure at first, but now we believe that my brother is a God of Reincarnation and has some power over sleep as well."

My eyes got wide.

I knew uncle Jonathan is Asteria's brother somehow, even though he is a human turned werewolf, but I didn't expect this.

"That would explain a lot. Neither of us could reach the rebirthing souls, they are out of our jurisdiction if you will. Now i know why." Persephone chuckled and took her husband's hand. He then looked at her with love.

It's clear how much they love each other.

"Jonathan was able to read my dream and he realized that it was a premonition. We were able to transport ourselves to the location where it was about to happen and luckily, we were just in time to rescue Lea." Asteria explained.

"How did you end up in the middle of nowhere?" Persephone asked gently.

I blinked and sighed.

Finally ready to tell them my story.