Ursula kept pacing around the room, trying to tug at every loose board, looking behind paintings and pulling out books but all were in vain. I had tried to escape before and I never succeeded. To escape from Hades's castle, you would need to have Hades's permission. The house has a mind of its own, conveniently named House of Hades and sought to please its master by ensuring that those who came in could not go out unless he wanted them to.
"I have a question, with Hades as your brother, can't you just ask him to let you go and me for that matter!" Ursula demanded.
"If you haven't already noticed, Hades and I aren't exactly like any ordinary brothers. We both loathe and despise each other and if it was up to him, he would bury me under molten lava and concrete."
"Why? Aren't siblings supposed to be...you know, siblings? Family? Blood? All that?"
"Well, we aren't family. Family requires love and neither of us possess such substance, only mutual hatred. I guess I can tell you the whole truth about our profound bond for when Hades kills me, it would be a death I would gladly welcome." I said soothingly to myself.
"But...you're death...can you d-die?"
"My dear niece, all things can die and all things will die. Its just a matter of time." I felt tired, I was too old and so tired, even Death has to have a holiday.
"Hades and I used to be the princes of the Underworld, we would rule side by side until I was promoted to the ranks of Hell's supervisor as well. I wouldn't say that it was a good job but it certainly brought me out in the field more and got me much greater rewards than just being a prince. You see, being the prince of the Underworld has its disadvantages like not being able go see the outside world at all. You're confined to your kingdom and so Hades was jealous. I wasn't exactly sure why he was, Hell was a horrific place with blood and gore. It was not a desirable place." I remembered the torture and pain I had to comment and remark on.
"Back then, I wasn't Death the Reaper and deity of death, taker of life. I was Thanatos, the prince of the Underworld and I wasn't a favorite among the gods or mortals for they complained about how I took too many lives and blah blah. I had never understood why they allowed me to be in Hell perhaps it was because I had no regard for life. Either way, Hades's dislike for me grew day by day as I rose in the ranks. He could not do anything about it as I was still a prince and to kill me were to upset the balance." I continued.
"What balance?" Ursula asked.
"The natural order of life and death of course. Back then, we were equal in power and if one of us were not able to fulfil our duties, there would be chaos in the Underworld. He couldn't touch me but he yearned it. Then the war began, the famous war between Lucifer and God. I was caught in between crossroads and was unfortunate enough to be recruited under Lucifer's army. My brother managed to hide himself away while the war happened. Have you read the bible?"
"Not really. Mummy wasn't really a believer in god. Daddy did make us say grace before we eat though." Ursula thought.
"Then you should know about that war. Lucifer lost and God locked him away and punished all of his followers. That included me unfortunately and I was striped of my title and sent back to the Underworld. Hades wasn't pleased to see me and instead poured himself in all kinda of black arts since I was gone. He had helped Zeus in the Titan War which gave him an abundance of power and struck a agreement with Styx to gain a spell that would bind me to him."
"Did you really fight for Lucifer? My friend Eve says that he's the devil."
"Yes, I fought for him but I didn't do it willingly. Nobody can deny the devil unless you have a death wish." I shrugged.
"Anyways, he made me his slave, making the prince of the Underworld do dirty work like shovel graves and feed the beasts in Tartarus and doing unimaginable things to me. It was unsanitary and frankly boring but I couldn't complain or leave for a century or millennium until I found a loophole in the spell. It said that I was bound to Hades but I didn't have to strictly stay in the Underworld so long as I had a job that required me outside it."
"Was that why you became The Reaper?" Ursula was beginning to understand.
"It was the only way I could be free from Hades. As much as I hated my job, it was the only way I could escape from Hades's wrath. As you can imagine, he wasn't too happy about my escape so I had to hide myself away and swore never to return to the Underworld. Eventually, I had lost all contact with him along with my happiness. I missed my home and that was what made me unhappy. I couldn't find pleasure in my job with Hades's binding looming at my neck if I was to neglect my job for even a second, he would have me back in the depths." I sighed.
"That was why...ohhh. So that was why you couldn't quit your Job but why did Hades hate you so much? I don't get it, you may have a better job but is he really that jealous? That's kind of a stupid reason to hate on your brother." I had pondered that question for years and years but I could never come to a conclusion.
"I suppose no relationship is perfect."
