The Hades Throne

Chapter 1 - A Choice

A fleet of purple-skinned, three-armed aliens with Irish accents and stun guns could fly down and demand the recipe for burritos, and I wouldn't be more surprised.

Albert Einstein could attempt to explain string theory, the periodic table and the big bang theory, in German, and I wouldn't be more confused.

Someone could tell me that the sky is actually green and that the Earth is actually flat, and I wouldn't be more sceptical.

This can't be happening. This can't be real.

My world has just been pulled out from under me, with the revelation that the rollercoaster I have been riding for the past two months was none other than a godly, supernatural test. And, on top of that, it appears that I passed.

"No. Nuh-uh. No." It's all I can say.

Hades, the mild natured caretaker of the land of the dead, smiles at me with knowing, understanding eyes.

"It's the truth." he answers too easily. "I sent you a test, to see whether or not you were the right person to fill my position. And based on that test, you are."

I shake my head imperceptibly, reading between the lines. "Nolan. Nolan was the test."

"Yes, he was. I hand chose him to provide you with the biggest challenge. It worked out conveniently that he not only had a link to your family, but also an unsolved mystery. Sending him was a risk, but one that paid off."

"I suppose the pieces fit. His arrival was never explained very well. Did he know that he was a part of this?" I need to know this. I need to know whether or not he withheld information from me, if he knew.

"No." Hades denies, and I let out a relieved breath. "When I sent him back, I wiped his memory of any thing that would give you a short cut. I let him know only what he needed to know, when he needed to know it. The test was planned and orchestrated to a tee." Looking proud of himself, he brushes off the front off his black t-shirt.

"That explains it." I say, relating back to when Nolan described the way his knowledge came and went. "It explains stuff, but that doesn't mean it isn't crazy."

"I understand, Adalia, what you are going through. I've been exactly where you are. I, too, was once a teenager and like you, I dealt with my issues and was embraced into this strange, magical community. It's hard, I know. It's also surreal, but we have all been there."

My chest feels like an invisible hand is gripping it, squeezing it tight and locking it down in chains. I let out a long deep breath, but the jail cell my heart is in doesn't open. This situation isn't surreal, it is otherworldly, fictional, even. Something from a comic book has jumped off the page and into my life. This just can't be real.

Then my brain hooks into Hades' words. "We". He said "we".

"We? As in, there is more than one of you?" I ask.

"Yes, there is one for each of the aspects of the magical, mystical or spiritual worlds. Among ourselves, and the few who know we exist, we are called the Throne Keepers." he stops talking, and I glance up at him warily. My mind is coming around, now, touching its toes into the shallow waters of this radical idea. Seeing my expression, Hades continues. "According to myth, when the first groups of human lost touch with their magical side, the world was thrown into chaos and war. A select few, who had hidden the art of magic and passed on their knowledge in secret, understood that the universe's balance was shifted because of the loss of what is mystical. So the small group took it upon themselves to maintain the balance of nature, as keepers of all that is otherworldly. These were the first Throne Keepers. Their reign was followed by an era of peace and stability, and for this, they were even worshipped as gods by one culture."