I burned my hand again. Not screaming, not dropping the pan. Just a hiss, a sharp sting, and my fingers screaming.
Perfect. Just another night in the life of Alex the broke Greek student with no prospects.
Lean from walking everywhere, dark hair falling into my tired eyes, I continued working as the chef said without looking up once:
"Wrap it. Finish the shift"
Cold, demanding, stupidly efficient.
When I was done with my shift, I finally left the hell that was "Marconi's Pizza", the only place close to my apartment that would hire me,winter air hit like a slap from a world that didn't care.
My phone buzzed. Rent overdue. Internet cut. Assignment due. Everything piling up, as always.
My balance? A beautiful 83 cents.
I walked home. My sister, Eleni, lived with me. Cute, stubborn, and entirely reliant on me. She trusted me to keep us alive. And I was mostly failing.
Thankfully I had a plan... ish
I was a programming student by day, kitchen helper by night and an unpaid intern of life's hardships.
But that programming degree was my ticket out of poverty.. or so I thought before the massive growth of AI...
Now I am not sure even this will help.
The apartment was dark except for the bathroom light when I entered.
"Eleni?"
No answer.
She had been coughing all week, dry and stubborn, like life itself had decided she wasn't worth keeping around.
I should have insisted she see a doctor. I didn't.
I had chosen work over her, because money comes first.
It always comes first... when we were back in Greece the world taught us that...
When we survived by eating bread... when we didn't have the money for the expensive private hospitals to help our dying parents...
Money. Comes. First.
A cold? That's gonna heal by itself in a few days...
The bathroom door was open. Light spilling onto the tile.
She was on the floor. Phone cracked. Eyes closed. Cold. Pale.
"No." My voice was broken, flat. "No. Eleni."
I shook her, touched her neck. Nothing.
My world collapsed. I screamed until my throat burned.
"Come on! Get up!" I yelled, tears coming down my face.
"This... This can't be the end... not like this" I whimpered.
I rocked her small body in my arms, whispering every apology I'd ever wanted to say. None of it mattered now.
Paramedics arrived. Words like "preventable chain of events" and "untreated condition" bounced off me. Bunch of bullshit...
Everything boiled down to "You should have gone to a doctor moron." Stupid... STUPID!
Hours passed. Time stopped.
The apartment felt enormous and empty, filled only with the echo of her absence.
My rage swelling up...
IT WAS MY FAULT
The words just kept popping up in my head...
Then the air changed.
Pressure behind my skull. Flights flickered. White. Black. Letters appeared floating before me:
[Conflict threshold exceeded.]
I laughed, bitterly. Hallucination. Exhaustion. Trauma. Something.
[Loss registered.]
[Mythic compatibility: Hellenic — confirmed.]
[System authority: INSUFFICIENT.]
I staggered into the bathroom mirror. Pupils ringed with shadow. Wrong. Everything wrong.
[Initialization… incomplete.]
I vomited.My knees buckled.
And then I felt it—a weight behind the walls. Beneath the floor. Watching me. Watching everything.
A figure stepped out of the shadows. Tall. Coat black. Presence absolute.
"You should have gone to a doctor," the man said.
I froze. My chest constricted. Breath shallow.
My sister was dead. And this man, this immortal presence, was here.
"Who are you?" I croaked.
"Among other things. Hades."
My stomach dropped. Hades. The god of the dead. Not calm. Not indifferent. Absolute. And now, terrifyingly real.
I didn't hesitate to believe him... For some reason every cell of my being screamed he was telling the truth.
"Why me?" I whispered.
"You had nothing left. And your blood remembers."
I shook, voice breaking. "No. This isn't real. This can't be real. She's dead. I… I failed her."
Hades' gaze didn't shift. "You barely triggered the system. It tried. It failed."
I fell to the floor. Hands pressed to my face. "I don't care about systems. I just… I just want her back."
"Your sister's soul is in my domain. Inevitably, once the sequence completed."
"No. Give her back!" My voice cracked. Panic clawed my chest. But fear kept me from jumping at him...
"Demanding outcomes from forces you do not understand is… inefficient."
I whimpered. My knees dug into the tiles.
"Please. I don't care what you want. Anything. I'll do anything. Just… please. Bring her back."
Hades' eyes darkened. Absolute.
And then, calm. "You will accept my terms. Or she remains lost forever."
I whispered, shaking. "Anything. I accept. I don't care. Just… bring her back."
The air snapped. Shadows thickened. My first pulse of power surged. Text appeared in my vision:
[System activation… beginning.]
I swallowed hard. My hands shook. My chest felt like it might burst.
He said nothing.
Just… nothing.
The silence pressed down on me. Not threatening. Not cruel. Just infinite, unknowable. I couldn't measure it, couldn't argue with it. My stomach churned, my breath caught, my limbs frozen.
The shadows folded around him. Then he was gone.
I sat on the cold tile, hands trembling, heart racing...