Aidoneus

The Dinner

Kore followed Hades into a massive dining hall. Their interaction at the library had been pleasant and she wondered if maybe she had misjudged the God of the Dead. He led her to the seat next to his and watched as he took his seat at the head of the table. Several various daemons were already seated. All either staring directly at her or pretending not to. She was hoping the ferryman would join but he did not. A tall handsome god with large black wings entered and sat further down the table across from her. She had never seen a god like him before and couldn't help but stare. He smiled at her warmly as Hecate appeared from behind her and sat to her left.

Then another familiar face entered the room. It was the god with the winged feet from her meeting with Zeus. "Hermes, what a pleasant surprise." Hades spoke from next to her. Hermes however, hadn't taken his eyes off her since entering the room. Was he there to take her back to the mortal world? "I hope it's okay that I join, uncle. I feel like I had a rocky introduction to this goddess for which I wanted to make right."  Hades eyed him with suspicion then gestured for Hermes to sit in the empty chair across from her. When everyone was seated Hades raised his glass. "Tonight I would like to welcome a special guest to our realm. Kore, Daughter of Sparta." He nodded towards her and everyone clapped. She did not like being the center of attention and felt a blush creep across her cheeks. "As a rare guest of the Underworld, you will all treat her with the courtesy and respect that you do to me." With that there was another round of clapping before Hades sat. She was dying to ask Hermes if he spoke to her father and as soon as Hades finished speaking she fixed her stare at him. "Hi!" Hermes blurted out at her as he was piling food onto the plate in front of him. "We weren't formally introduced before my other uncle stole you. I am Hermes, Messenger to the Gods." He said proudly. Before she could reply he continued "And you are Kore, Goddess of Sparta and mystery." He winked.

She didn't know what that meant. "Just Kore of Sparta." She politely corrected. Hades sat beside her still glaring at Hermes. Manners be damned, she looked at Hermes. "Did you speak to my Father? Are they okay? Does he know where I am?" Hermes laughed as he chewed with a large piece of bread in his mouth. As delicious as this food looked she couldn't eat till she knew. "Turns out your kind aren't exactly fond of the immortals are they?" He swallowed and smiled but saw her serious expression. "Yes, your Father and your soldiers, brothers, are fine. Are they actually all your brothers? There were hundreds of them. Your father must never sleep!" Either he had a short attention span or she was getting impatient. She humored him. "They are not my biological brothers but in the army we regard each other as such. It's an expression of comradery. Was my Father upset?" She tried to get him back on track. Hermes spoke with his mouth full of more bread, "I mean it was the first time I met the guy and he threatened to rip the limbs from my body before I convinced him I was just the messenger. I explained what happened with Zeus and he swore he would destroy every temple in Greece if harm came to you or you weren't returned within sixty moon cycles. Oh, then your "brothers" tried to stab me. I barely got out of there alive!" Kore sat back, relieved that at least her Father knew where she was. A nymph filled her glass with what looked like a wine. Relief washed over her and she went to take a drink before Hecate slapped the goblet out of her hand, splashing wine over the table and sending the cup bouncing over the table and onto the floor next to Hermes.

"Fates damn you Minthe!" Hecate road at the nymph who was already stalking out of the room. Kore sat stunned and glanced from Hecate to Hades. Hecate swung her glare to Hades. "That wine was from the Underworld!" Recognition dawned on Hades' face before anger replaced it. He looked to Kore and his face softened. "Apologies goddess. Will you excuse me for a moment?" She nodded still confused. Hades waived his hand over the table and the spilled wine and glass disappeared. Wow, what a handy skill to have. He then pushed his chair back and stalked out to the kitchen. After a moment the table resumed it's previous chatter and Hermes picked up another piece of bread. "So you're in the army. Like as a warrior?" He continued as if nothing had happened. She sat for a moment. Still stunned by the previous event. "I ummm. Yes, I am a Starategos. What just happened there, with the wine?" She posed the question to anyone. She then saw Hades re-enter the room. An angry expression on his face as he sat back down. Hermes, with his mouth now full of grapes continued on, either forgetting or ignoring her second question. "A what? A staragates?" She looked between Hecate and Hades, now both resuming their meals and listening to the conversation.

"A Starategos. I suppose it would be the equivalent of a general in most armies." She finally looked at the food in front of her and reached for a piece of bread. Hermes paused. "You? You're a general?" Normally she would be offended at the tone but given the bizarreness of the dinner she let it go. "Yes, I went through training like all the other soldiers. Did my time in battle. I had earned my rank but my father was reluctant to promote me past the rank of Taxiarhos, or for you Brigadier, for fear of being accused of nepotism. Finally, my brothers voted and petitioned for me. So now I am one of my Father's six generals." She noticed the entire table had quieted to hear her speak. Hermes laughed. "Well of course they would. You're an immortal goddess. Who wouldn't want you fighting on their side." He chuckled to himself.

Except the other soldiers did not know she was a goddess. Before Hermes could ask another question she turned to Hades. He had not stopped watching her, which she couldn't tell was sweet or rude. "So don't drink the wine?" She asked. Hades swallowed his bite. "You must not eat or drink anything created in the Underworld or else your soul becomes bound here." His voice was stern. She dropped the piece of bread she was looking at in horror. Hecate cut in. "Don't worry, we had this food brought from the upperworld so it's fine to eat." She relaxed. "Oh, ok." Was all she could get out before hesitantly picking up some blue berries from her plate. This place is lunacy. Technically she didn't need to eat much as an immortal anyway. But the smell of this food was intoxicating. She was still unsure of Hades but trusted Hecate. She took some small pieces of chicken and was given a glass of something wonderful called ambrosia. All of which both Hades and Hecate assured her were from the upperworld.

The dinner went on without much further incident. Hermes asked her a lot of questions but seemed to barely register one answer before jumping to another question. The ambrosia she learned was called the nectar of the gods. It made her feel warm and relaxed. She had wine before, but this was a much more pleasant tasting. Familiar almost. "What is in this?" She asked Hades. He smiled. "Do you like it? Dionysus made it special for dinner. It's a wine made from oranges and coconut." She would have to look up what a coconut was later in the library. "Hmm." She hummed as she swirled the glass and watched the residue cling to the side for just a moment. That's what she tasted. "Does it have melit in it?" Hades thought for minute and looked to Hecate. "I don't think I have heard of that. Is it a fruit?" Kore thought how best to describe it. "No it's like a golden syrup. Very thick and sweet. I have never seen it done but I have heard it's made from small yellow and black flying bugs." She noticed Hades smiling as she continued. "I saw the creatures once in Rome. They can float in the air and make a strange zzzzzzzzzzzzz sound." At her re-creation of the sound both Hecate, Hermes, and Hades started laughing. "Bees!" Hermes got out between laughs. She felt slightly embarrassed but Hades seemed to sense this and stopped laughing immediately. "Yes, honey is what you are thinking of. And yes, you have a good palette. There is honey, or melit as you know it, in the ambrosia." He smiled and she felt less self-conscious.

As dinner finished most everyone said goodbye to her and soon there was just a few of them left at the table. Hades looked nervous for some reason. "I know you have had a long day, would you like me to show you back to your room?" He asked with, maybe, hope in his eyes before adding "we can stop by the library so you can take some books back." She smiled. "Yes that would be lovely." She said good night to Hecate, Hermes, and the black winged god who she had come to learn was Thanatos and followed Hades back towards the library. 

Maybe this wouldn't be such a horrible stay after all.