four

“-dy, milady? Are you awake?” Maybe it was the unfamiliar voice, or the fact that it sounded female, or that they were gently shaking me awake that made me sit up abruptly in bed. Vertigo hits me and I sit there feeling dizzy before I finally focus on the voice that had been calling me.

I look around to see a woman standing by my bedside, a look of concern on her face. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a carefully braided style, her white and silver trimmed dress reaching down to her bare feet, secured at the waist with a rope-belt. I have definitely not met her before, and the first words out of my mouth are, “Who are you?”

“I am one of the Cocytiae, daughters of the river god Cocytus, brought here to attend to you, milady,” she replies, dipping into a curtsy.

“Brought here?” I ask, “By who?”

“Lord Thanatos asked us,” she says, now moving to pull my covers away. Sehun is more thoughtful than I imagined him to be. “Come on, let us help you get ready for the day,” she ushers, pushing me towards the bathroom where I am met with several other women, all equally as beautiful as the woman now tugging on my arm.

“What’s your name?”

“We don’t have names,” she replies. There’s nothing on her face that gives away the fact that it was strange to not have a name.

“Then I’ll call you… Tia,” I say. She nods and before I know it, I’m being stripped down, pushed into the bathtub and scrubbed at by the other women until I felt more clean and raw that I have ever felt in my life. They rubbed scented oils on my skin and in my hair, and before long, I looked like I had just stepped out from the biggest makeover I have had in my life.

I turn to Tia and pose the question that had been sitting in my mind while all the women worked on me. “Why am I suddenly being dressed up like this?”

Tia raises a delicate eyebrow and looks at me through the mirror as she fixes pins into my hair. “I believe every lady should always look her best, and there is a gathering to be held here in the palace tonight, milady,” she smiles, “I believe you’ll be meeting the other residents of the Underworld, so I’ll make you look beautiful enough to rival the goddesses.” Her smile grows into a conspiratorial grin. I’m starting to like this woman more and more.

Once Tia deems my look is completed, she brings me out into the courtyard, where a table was laid full of food that looked absolutely divine. Who are the people making the food? Most of the time, Sehun has been the one to bring me my meals that usually consist of sandwiches and fruit. He said he couldn’t cook, and the best he could do was pick fruit and buy groceries from the living world. He really went out of his way to fill the palace with people. When did he notice that I was lonely?

I stand there gaping at the luxury of the food; freshly baked bread, dips, fruit cut up into fancy shapes, cereal and a jug of milk, honey, ham and crispy bacon. I couldn’t help but drool at the sight. It looked like a feast fit for a king.

Tia pulls out a seat for me, and I sit, wondering what to start eating first but then if there is so much food laid out, am I the one to eat it all? What of Kai? I look at her, “Are you sure I can eat any of this?” I ask.

She giggles, “Of course. After all, who else would be eating it?”

“What about Kai? Doesn’t he eat?”

“Lord Hades is... busy. He takes his food while working,” she replies, but the way she looks away nervously must mean that Kai didn’t want to join me. I let out a sigh and begin eating, picking up the nearest food I could reach.

The rest of the day is spent assisting the rest of Tia’s many sisters with the preparations for tonight’s gathering. Or as Tia so cheerfully points out, “It’s a gathering to welcome you to the Underworld, dear.”

***

That evening, the influx of guests that enter the palace fills the place with a lively atmosphere. Tia makes me stand at the entrance, where all the deities who resided in the Underworld greeted me with cheer and goodwill, despite how frightening some of their appearances are.

Even some of the souls who now reside in Elysium have come to join the festivities, their almost-human, ethereal forms seen mingling with the other residents. There were all sorts of characters that I could only have imagined before, where now I could see them with my own eyes.

I walked around once I figured that most of the guests had arrived and went to learn the names of people, deities and the occasional mythological creature. It feels surreal and several times I pinch myself to remind my brain that I am not dreaming. Tia trails along behind me, helping me learn everyone’s background.

I think I meet a few of the minor gods of the Underworld as well, but it’s all a blur because of the constant stream of guests continually moving about.

Sehun doesn’t seem to be around yet, and neither is Kai. Though I didn’t really expect the latter to be showing up at a welcoming party for me, the substitute Persephone. He wasn’t even the one to organise it. Sehun was from what I asked of Tia, though the way her eyes darted around every time I asked about it seemed suspicious.

I look around, standing idly in a quiet corner as I observe everyone. It certainly looked to be an enjoyable party for everyone here. Tia is off somewhere to bring me some snacks, so I just smile at anyone passing by and simply observe. It is beginning to feel more like I really do not know the Underworld as much as I should the longer I watch, the unfamiliarity of everything weighing down my heart.

I am the stranger, the outsider. I don’t know anyone, and I don’t think they really know who I am either; they are all here just to enjoy good food and wine.

Just as I am starting to feel down, the lights in the room suddenly dim, someone controlling the flames in the sconces and making them dwindle down to only flickering candlelights. I glance around like every other guest, wondering what on earth could be happening when a spotlight focuses on the centre of the room.

There, stood the man I was least expecting to see.

Kai, dressed impeccably as always, this time in a black dress shirt and matching black slacks, sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a goblet of wine in one hand, raises it to catch the attention of everyone. Not that everyone’s eyes weren’t already on him. At once, they all dropped down into low bows as they welcomed their lord.

“Welcome,” Kai greets, his voice quiet yet easily reaching m