'Ackkk, am I dead? Am I? How? How did I die?'

Asche was really confused when she found herself being taken away by Thanatos to the Underworld. How did she end up in this situation?

Did she do anything to offend Thanatos? Did someone murder her? Did she accidentally poison herself? What happened to her body? Why did she die? And what is she doing in front of Hades?

Why did she die this time?

'Damn it, why do I keep dying mysterious death?'

She just wanted to cry out of confusion.

"Raise your head, Nymph," Asche raised her head when she heard that voice.

Her eyes went to a big throne filled with Gold and other treasures, as soon as she raised her head, she saw a man sitting on the chair. The man had a chilling atmosphere around him, his eyes were dark as the abyss, but you could never ignore his dark charm.

There is one thing that Asche was sure of right now...

That man is Hades.

SHE IS REALLY DEAD, CONFIRMED!

Asche panicked more upon this realization. This is her second time experiencing death, but why is her death so sudden? How about Aphrodite and Hephaestus? What happened to the two?

Asche suddenly kneeled to the ground with a teary eyes. She clasped her hands before clearing her throat.

There is only one thing that she could probably do right now.

Beg.

"MY LORD! PLEASE SPARE MY LIFE!"

Hades was surprised when the nymph shouted like that, even the souls who were waiting for their judgement glanced at her drama.

From the moment the souls entered the Underworld, they've been bored to death!

Their only entertainment was when the Queen of the Underworld comes back to this place to bloom some flowers.

That's why seeing the Forest Nymph act like that greatly entertains them. Plus, it's quite rare for them to see a soul with a bright and positive colors.

Hades raised his brows while staring at the Nymph, he suddenly glanced at Thanatos who was also watching Asche's reaction.

Thanatos cleared his throat.

"Young Nymph--"

Death was cut off.

"I've got a beautiful man waiting in our house, and a... Uh... A beautiful baby girl. I can't just die, they are waiting for me."

Asche began spewing nonsense.

Hades stared at her.

"A husband and daughter?" He mumbled. Completely interpreting her statement wrong. "Surely the rumors from that Winery God is true. You married Hera's son, Hephaestus."

"Eh?" Asche was dumbfounded when she heard it. "Me? Married to...Hephaestus?"

Since when?

Asche was dumbfounded, since when did she got married to Hephaestus? It wasn't a bad idea but people in this era are so fast that they updated her status to married.

So she's married now? Is that a spoiler?

Thanatos quietly shook his head.

"My Lord where did you hear those rumors?" Thanatos asked with the intention of clearing those rumors.

He's not a fan of fallacious rumors, therefore, if a new rumors come out, he will fact check it or just completely ignore it. If the false rumors will affect the Underworld, he will gladly dubunk it for Hades.

That's why right now, Thanatos was probably the only person right now who knows the truth. He did some research before he took Asche's soul.

He knew the real relationship between Hephaestus and Asche.

The Nymph and Hephaestus were not married, but they flirt a lot.

Hades raised his brows.

"My wife heard it from Dionysus," Hades answered. "Why?"

Thanatos became quiet. He was thinking whether to correct the rumors or not.

Because if it is Persephone...

Hades is crazy about his wife, whatever she says is the truth for him.

Thantos took a deep sigh.

"The rumors are completely wrong my lord," Thanatos replied politely.

"Are you saying that my wife was wrong?" Hades asked with a serious tone.

Thanatos became silent again.

Hades stared at him before he returned his gaze to the Forest Nymph.

Asche cleared her throat.

"Uhm... Actually, Hephaestus and I were not married..." Asche corrected the rumors.

"But you had a child with him."

"She's not my child..." Asche cleared her throat. "That child, we adopted her, and I'm not in a relationship with Hephaestus, but we are a very close friends."

Hades and Thanatos glanced at each other.

'They'll become lovers in the future'

That was what they were both thinking.

The souls in the underworld were all looking at the drama. It feels like what was happening to the newcomer's soul was very entertaining for the dead. Some souls were giggling due to amusement.

Hades massaged his temple before glaring at the souls. In one instance, all of them became silent and didn't dare to create a sound anymore.

"Nevermind, married or not, that should not interefere with the reason why you were brought into the underworld," Hades mumbled before looking down at the nymph.

A scroll appeared on his hands as the surroundings began to change.

After that, Asche just found herself sitting on a chair facing Thanatos and Hades who were both staring at her with a serious face.

"I will get it straight to the point," Hades mumbled.

Asche couldn't help but to feel intimidated when she looked right into his eyes. It feels like she was staring directly at Tartarus.

"Why do you not have records in the Underworld?"

••••••••••

The Realm of the Living

Finally, Dionysus was able to track the whereabouts of the Ugly God and his Nymph. It took him many days to trace them, fortunately, the nymphs were able to give him valuable information to track them.

Dionysus calmly walked towards the door without any care in his world, he didn't even bother to knock, he just opened the door and entered the house of the craftsmanship god.

However, his trance was stopped upon hearing a numerous clamps of a heavy metals being molded into a deadly weapon.

"Get out if you don't want to die," A voice of a young woman fiercely welcomed the God of winery at the entrance.

Dionysus quickly recognized the young woman, it was 'Hephaestus' child' with the nymph. Dionysus stared at her with an amused face, this young woman was indeed beautiful.

While staring at her face, Dionysus noticed that there were trails of tears in the young woman's eyes.

"Where is your fathe---"

"Get out," Aphrodite mumbled with a low and dangerous voice. "My father was not in a very good mood right now. Get out if you don't want to get in trouble with any of us."

The winery god raised his brows.

"What happened, little girl?" Dionysus asked not caring about the threats of the young goddess.

Aphrodite glared at him, but in her fiercy eyes, there were tears forming.

Dionysus was about to speak another word, however, he suddenly felt an overwhelming atmosphere inside of that house.

He couldn't explain it, but his guts were telling him that something terrible was about to happen.

"It's done," Aphrodite mumbled before turning her back on the winery god.

"Done what?"

Aphrodite kept walking and Dionysus followed her. They continued walking until they reached the craftsman's room.

Dionysus shook in fear when he saw Hephaestus holding a large weapon in his hand. From one glance, he could easily tell what it was.

A weapon that can kill gods.

"Oi, oi, what is---"

Dionysus couldn't complete his sentence when Hephaestus pointed his weapon on him.

"Where is the nearest portal to the underworld?" Hephaestus asked.

"What do you mean..."

Dionysus' eyes went wide when he understood what was happening.

On a bed inside of the room, the forest nymph was quietly lying on the bed. Her skin looked pale and her bright green hair looked like they were withering.

The Nymph died.

•••••••

Yay, second update for this month!

Anyway, just reminding you guys again. This story is not aligned with the original version of Greek Mythology, okie? 🥺