Green Eyes and Blue Flames

A Ball?

Hades woke up the next morning and traveled straight up to Mt. Olympus on a mission. He made a promise to Maleficent that he would find out why she was being plagued with such vivid nightmares and he believed Phantasos would have the answers to his questions. However, when he made it to the golden gates of Olympus, the gates themselves automatically flew open for him as if he was being expected. It was odd, but he didn't think much of it, so he walked in. But he noticed a few Gods and Goddesses were hurrying towards the Pantheon at the center of the grand kingdom in the sky.

"What's going on?" He asked himself before deciding to follow their lead.

The moment he made it up there, however, Hades was surprised to see the entire place being decorated and set up for some kind of big party. Every deity in sight was practically buzzing about like bees in a hive either making decorations, preparing food and beverages, or even practicing music and singing. He wondered what they could possibly be doing, but he shook these thoughts out of his head and pressed onward.

"No, no, nope. Focus, Hades. You're here to find Phantasos." He said as he walked.

"Hi, Hades." A voice said.

Hades turned to see Hebe, his eldest niece and the Goddess of Youth, walking by and waving at him while carrying a jug of nectar; then a few other Gods noticed and waved at him and greeted him too: Astraeus the God of Dusk and the Constellations, Eirene the Goddess of Peace, and Asclepius the God of Medicine along with his wife, Epione the Goddess of the Soothing of Pain. Then after them, Aura the Goddess of the Breeze, Gelos the God of Laughter, Fortuna the Goddess of Luck and Fortune, and Koalemos the God of Stupidity said hi and waved at him from another corner of the room. He nervously smirked and waved back at them and continued walking before another voice caught his attention.

"HADES!"

The flame-headed God yelped and nearly jumped out of his skin when Iris, the winged Goddess of the Rainbow, suddenly appeared in right front of him; she was carrying a few big swatches of fabric, one black and a couple in different shades of blue.

"Iris?! What are you doing? You scared me!" He exclaimed.

"Oh! Sorry, sorry. But I'm really glad you're here. I need your help." Iris quickly replied.

Hades' eyes widened. "MY help?"

"Yeah. I wanted to ask for your opinion on something." She showed him the swatches she was holding. "I've been told to set up banners and streamers and I can't decide on a color. Blue or black? Blue is always so pretty, but it might blend in with the cloud podiums and I don't think that's very flattering. But what do you think? Which one do you like?"

Hades was taken aback; for as long as he could remember, no other God or Goddess on Olympus had ever asked for HIS opinion on anything, even when it came to important matters. Iris showed him the color swatches and Hades examined them carefully, squinting his eyes and scratching his chin in thought.

"Well, I'm no decorating expert." He started. "But if it were me, I guess I'd go with black banners and dark blue streamers as accents. But if you really want to really add some flair, try blue flame torches on the walls or podiums."

"Torches? Oh, why didn't I think of that?" Iris asked, gently facepalming herself. "But those are great ideas. Thanks, Hades!" And with that, the winged Goddess flew off to get to work.

"Well, that was... crazy."

"Hades, Hades! There you are!" A new voice shouted.

"Huh?"

It was Aristaeus, the God of Cheesemaking, Beekeeping, and Honey. He was running over to Hades and carrying a large glass jar and a wooden spoon.

"Hades, I... I need... Sorry, let me just... Phew." Aristaeus wheezed, trying to catch his breath.