Hades and Persephone

Psychopomping

When Hades woke up early Sunday morning and checked his phone for daily reminders, he found a text Persephone had sent just gone midnight.

Persephone: Happy one-month date anniversaryyyyyyy xx

Hades: Happy one-month date anniversary xx

Ah, yes, of course it was the one-month anniversary of their first date, when she had come to visit him in the Underworld for the first time. She had visited him in the Underworld three times now, with the latest time being the Friday prior to that Sunday morning. Hades did not think people usually celebrated the one-month anniversary of their first date, but he was not that well versed on relationships. If Persephone was excited about it, then he would be too. He hoped this was a good sign that she would visit him in the Underworld plenty more times in the future.

However, the elated feeling that had arose from knowing they'd been dating for a full month did not last for long, not when Hades remembered what else that Sunday had in store for him.

As god of the Underworld, Hades only thought it fair that he at least did one psychopomp shift a week, as Hecate did too. His shift was meant to be on Fridays, but since he had been with Persephone that last Friday, he had swapped shifts with Ker once again. That meant today was his psychopomp shift for that week.

As he walked to work with Hecate, his phone buzzed, and he immediately checked it, despite the eye roll Hecate gave him.

Persephone: Guess who convinced her mother to get some pomegranate juice! I'm going to be celebrating this anniversary in STYLE and she'll NEVER KNOW!

As Hades typed out his reply, congratulating her on managing to acquire some pomegranate juice, Hecate rolled her eyes again and said, "You know it's rude to text when in company of others, right?"

"That is rich coming from you," Hades said, when he tucked his phone back into his jacket.

"Yeah, but I'm me, so it's different," Hecate said, with a flick of her perfectly straight hair. "I'm the scariest bitch of the Underworld, so I can get away with anything."

"Nyx will contest with you on who the scariest goddess in the Underworld is," Hades said. Nyx was pleasant most of the time, but her wrath was not something one wanted to occur. Not even Zeus would dare.

"Okay, I'm the meanest bitch in the Underworld, then," Hecate said, and she pursed her blood red lips. "And Nyx is not scary, trust me."

Once they'd dropped Cerberus off at the main gate, so he could take up his guard duties, Hades and Hecate bid each other farewell as they split ways. Hecate headed to the main building, where her and Hades' offices were. As he was unavailable, it was up to her to manage the Underworld that day. Hades made his way to the building where the psychopomp department was housed.

Outside the front door stood two figures. The taller figure had shaved the white hair on the left side of their head, but the black hair on their right was left a little longer and stuck out at every angle possible. They never used a hairbrush, ever. Their outfit was just a chaotic as their hair, with sleeves that were different lengths, shorts that were hot-pants on one leg but knee-length on the other, and shoes that did not match whatsoever.

The second figure wasn't much better. She had black and white hair like the other, but her hair was longer than the others, at was at least somewhat brushed, though she'd missed the back of her head. She was still in her pyjamas, over which she wore a bright pink hoodie. Her hoodie, along with her pink and white striped wellies was possibly the only bright colour in the whole of the Underworld. Well, that and the bright belts the previous figure wore.