The same empty throne room echoed with Kyungsoo's footsteps as he paced back and forth in front of the throne. He had been waiting for a full 5 minutes and still his father had not come. He was getting impatient and a black smoke-like substance began to form around him. Shadows of the Dead were what they were calling it. It was like something that followed him around, a perk of being the child of Hades, and that could take many different forms. It really was convenient turning into whatever weapon he needed, protecting him in a bubble, attacking others on thought, and even taking form of animals for when he would get bored. (The dragon was his favorite; he liked to have it ride his shoulder.) But it also came without his control or consent in such times of distress, anxiety, or irritation. This was how the Shadows protected him; they sense his discomfort and ready themselves should someone try to attack.

The Shadows swirled as he paced and occasionally turned into a cat or bunny hopping about on the lookout for danger. Kyungsoo stopped pacing suddenly and checked the time. Six minutes had passed since the moment he arrived and his father was still nowhere to be seen. He huffed sticking out his bottom lip and moodily stepped up to the throne and sat down with a plop.

The demi-god's posture was slouched in the chair and even though he was all grown (16 years old) the throne still managed to swallow him whole. The difference was that instead of silk pajamas he was wearing black jeans, boots, and an oversized maroon sweater and instead of a smile he wore a pout or as Kyungsoo would like to think, a scowl.

"Pouting again are we?" Hades stepped into the throne room and strode down to the throne where his son sat slouched.

Kyungsoo jumped up at the site of his father. "Six-, seven minutes now! I've been waiting for seven minutes! Your one and only son comes to visit you and can't even greet me properly. I took out so much of my time to come all the way to the underworld and then I have to wait seven minutes just to see you." The Shadows curled around him showing his annoyance.

Honesty any other god would have smite their child on the spot for both sitting on their throne and addressing them in such a manner, but Hades could only blame himself for Kyungsoo's behavior and therefore couldn't reprimand his child for it. It wasn't as though Hades wanted to spoil him; it just turned out that way and it wasn't as though Kyungsoo didn't respect him, because he did, it was just that he showed it in a different way.

"I'm terribly sorry, son. But as you know I do have business to attend to since I'm, you know, a god and all that jazz." Hades stopped in front of Kyungsoo, "Now turn that pout inside out!"

Kyungsoo scoffed, but it was more of laugh. "I don't think that's right." He rested his face against his father's chest. "So what was the meeting about?"

"Just some more god things that don't include me, or you." Hades said. He added the 'or you' for the unspoken question. "But, and I'm deciding this on my own, I do think its time."

Kyungsoo lifted his head and stepped back. "What do you mean?"

Hades sat down in the throne and sighed. "You can't keep staying between here and the human world. You need to be with others like you. You need, I don't know, other friends…"

The demi-god's Shadows thickened and curled around and out. "But I like this. I'm fine with this and you were too! What really happened at the meeting? They said something right? Or something's happening! What's happening?"

"Kyungsoo calm down." Hades talked in a soothing voice. "I know. I know you don't want to go and I know that it will be hard and you won't even have your own house, but right now things are stirring and the other gods want to make sure you have nothing to do with it."

Kyungsoo scoffed. "So they're sending me to their little camp so they can baby-sit me and make sure I won't do something stupid like betray the gods."

Hades tried to retort but couldn't find anything to say. He sighed. "You're right. I really can't put it any better, but that's my fault. They initially wanted to lock you down but I told them you couldn't choose your father."

Kyungsoo's face softened and he looked down. "Sorry." He mumbled.

"Come here." Hades smiled as he held out his arms and patted his lap. "Come on just like the good ol' days."

The demi-god rolled his eyes but went anyways. "Are you saying that I'm worse now that I'm grown?"

"Yes that is exactly what I'm saying."

Hades hugged his son and inside he felt a guilt that he couldn't control. He knew having a son would be harder for the son than for him, but the selfishness that overtook the god was too strong for him to consider the consequences of his actions. It had been many years sense he last fell for a human and when he met Kyungsoo's mother, Dohee, he couldn't help but want a child. He met Dohee in Hollywood where she was an actress starring in a new movie. Her beauty was enough to draw him, but it was her charm, the way she laughed and smiled, that kept him. Hades was more than delighted to learn that his son had inherited her heart-shaped smile. He appreciated the smile even more when Dohee died; her smile would live on through her son.

It would be a lie to say that Hades had never went to go see Dohee. He never made interaction though; the god of the underworld knew when it was time to let go. Besides he had Kyungsoo and he was enough to fill in whatever loneliness the god might have felt in her absence.

The camp was worse than Kyungsoo could've imagined. First of all, it was in the middle of the woods (Kyungsoo's flat in LA was nothing close to the wilderness) and secondly, they all wore some stupid camp t-shirt. The good thing about being the outcast was probably going to be getting out of wearing those ugly t-shirts. Kyungsoo stood atop the hill and peered down at the campers. They were all doing productive things like learning how to fight and ward off demons. Well, he wouldn't need that with his personal protective shield of Shadows. Maybe they had art and crafts he could do.

Dragging his luggage behind him the small boy looked even smaller. There must have been about 10 different bags and 2 suitcases, but he somehow managed to carry them all the way up to the main house, which was appropriately called the Big House. It was big, very big. Kyungsoo was admittedly impressed considering it was for a camp.

"Hello… ?" He called out as he knocked on the door. No one seemed to be coming to answer the door and Kyungsoo could see nothing when he looked through the glass.

"Oh great another camper, just what we needed."

The boy whipped around at the sound of a voice and came face to chest with a round man holding a glass of wine. He took a step back, looked the man over, and scoffed.

"A rude camper at that. Well at least you're rare." The man wrinkled his nose and began to yell out, "Sanchez!, Sanchez!"

At his call a camper came running out of the house almost hitting Kyungsoo with the door. She looked frazzled and apologized quickly.

The man half-heartedly gestured towards the newest camper and said, "New camper." Then he disappeared.

Kyungsoo looked to the girl for some kind of explanation.

"Okay, um, that was Dionysus, god of wine. He's the head of our camp, technically speaking, but he doesn't like his job." The girl explained.

Kyungsoo nodde. "Yeah, I can tell."

She stuck out her hand. "Hi, I'm Aria Sanchez. Daughter of Athena."

He nodded again and took in a deep breath. Well here goes nothing. "Do Kyungsoo. Son of Hades."

Aria's mouth dropped open. "Oh. Well, Do— "

"Kyungsoo."

"Well Kyungsoo….um I guess I should show you around… I supposed we should start with living quarters, but…" Aria looked unsure of what to say and ended up not finishing the sentence, instead just gesturing for him to follow her.

Kyungsoo sighed. He knew that there wasn't a house for Hades and even considered not saying anything about his father, but he then realized how much he didn't actually care about what the other campers thought.

Sanchez headed towards the houses and pointed out what was what when they passed it by. Most of the camp was just fields and woods without any roads of some type, which really inconvenienced the small boy carrying the overstuffed bags.

Finally, Aria noticed his plight and decided to speak up. "Would you like some help carrying those bags?"

Kyungsoo looked up from where he was in a tug-o-war with a plant caught on the wheel of his suitcase and smiled. "Yes thank you." He said as he dumped most of his carry-on bags on her. Kyungsoo sighed in relief while Aria grunted under the sudden weight of the boulder-like bags.

"This is…quite a lot you have here." Aria's voice came out muffled by the mountain she so naively brought upon herself.

Kyungsoo only hummed and gestured with a smile to show him the rest of the way.

"Right. Well its not too far now." Her smile, half-hidden, seemed to be a strained this time around.
He didn't miss the slight annoyance in her voice, but only continued to smile sweetly and follow her to the houses.

The houses were lined up side by side and then curved at the top forming a U shape. Kyungsoo figured the two houses at the top were for the or and his up-tight wify. He looked around at the rest of the houses and even though he already knew it wasn't going to be there, Kyungsoo felt a slight dip in his stomach when his thought was confirmed with reality.

Sanchez looked back at him as best as she could. "Sorry, but we don't really have a house for Hades so I guess you can sleep in Hermes house. Its where all the unclaimed kids go." She nodded in the direction of the house and Kyungsoo wrinkled his nose.

"That's fine, I'll make my own."

"What?"

Kyungsoo looked around him, they were at the other end of the U, and he nodded. "Drop the bags. I'll make my own house. Here." He said as he pointed to the ground.

Aria dropped his bags and looked completely thrown at his words. "What do you mean 'you'll make your own house'? These houses have been here for, like, ever. You can't just build a new one. Besides we don't have a Hades house for a reason."

Kyungsoo nodded his head slowly taking in her words. "So you're saying I can't build one here?"

"Of course not!" Kyungsoo thought Aria's eyes were about to pop out of her weirdly small head as she practically yelled at him. He thought this ironically.

"Alright, fine, but—get this—what if I build it some pace else?" He put on his best prince charming smile.

She seemed still shocked but then closed (finally) and looked as though she were pondering the thought. "I mean, I don't know. I guess maybe somewhere not here. Just don't make a public announcement or anything. But wait a minute, how are you even going to build one? And where will you stay until you finished building it?"

Kyungsoo smiled. "Don't worry about that. Can you help me find a good spot? Or rather help me carry my stuff?"

Aria looked hesitantly at the pile of bags but nodded and started gathering them.

"Okay then, lead the way."

The spot he found was just inside the woods adjacent to the U of the other houses. There was a small clearing just big enough for a good-sized house, but not so big as for people to notice it. Aria had given him an uncertain look before dropping his bags and leaving a little curious to see how he was going to build a house all on his own.

It was one of those things Kyungsoo never thought to question; he figured that it was part of the package deal he got for being a prince of the underworld. Whenever he wanted, Kyungsoo was able to summon more than just his Shadows. He could feel the rock and stone beneath the Earth's surface that trapped cursed jewels and skeletons. He could close his eyes and imagine the earth moving and shifting and the stone coming up from the depth of the earth. It would mold to his thoughts and he was able to create many things. When he was younger, Kyungsoo would bring Hades small statues that the god would display throughout his home.

Kyungsoo smiled as he closed his eyes and began to imagine the structure of the house. He imagined the foundation and skeleton, the floors and walls, and the outside layers. He imagined them all in great detail and when he opened his eyes, Shadows rolled off of the perfectly built, stone cabin. The front resembled a marble temple with its high walls and tall door that made Kyungsoo look even smaller as he passed through it. The cabin itself was a medium size, not too big but not small.

As he entered the house, he took off his shoes in the square lowered area before stepping up into the foyer. The foyer extended all the way back to end of the cabin with a tall floor to ceiling window displaying the back end of the clearing. In the middle, to the front of the foyer, stood a chunk of stone encrusted with various deadly jewels; sitting on top of the stone was a bowl filled with shadowy black water. Kyungsoo walked up to it and dipped his hands inside. The water rippled and churned at his touch, swirling and sliding on his hands almost as if it were souls begging to feel his touch. The demi-god smiled and whispered for it to send his father a message of his arrival.

The right and left separated the rest of the cabin. Upon entrance, the left held two open doorways: the first led into a kitchen that looked empty with only its skeleton (Kyungsoo would have to sneak in some appliances and ingredients) and the second led into a living area. It had a bookshelf lining the wall to the right, splitting only to fit in a stone fireplace, and a small stage to the left. Kyungsoo imagined where all his books and furniture would go when he got a hold of it and how all of his instruments would look on the stage. Even though there wouldn't be an audience he imagined himself playing and singing on his mini-stage and smiled. He couldn't think of a better way to use the space.

The right side of the cabin housed a dining room directly across from the kitchen and a master bedroom, bath, and walk-in closet or at least the making for them. Only a desk, drawers, a slab of stone that was meant for a bed frame, and a fireplace directly across from the bed furnished the bedroom. A shower, counter, and mirror furnished the bathroom and all the closet needed was his cloths and shoes to fill the empty the racks and cubbyholes. Kyungsoo yawned, it wasn't finished but it would have to do for the time being. He felt the fatigue of his trip start to creep up on him, but he pushed it back in order to unpack his things. He really hated leaving things messy and unfinished.

Finally the closet was full, his personal items were neatly placed in and on the counter, the books he could manage were stacked on the bookshelf, and the comforter set he couldn't bear to part with was laid out on a mattress-less bed. Kyungsoo wrapped himself up in it and tried his hardest to imagine he was back in his LA apartment putting off whatever homework he would have been assigned. The finality of the whole situation began to dawn on him. There he was in the one place he swore he would never go. Somehow he had convinced himself that he could live peacefully his whole life, that everything would work out and that he could be happy. His wishes were only delusions as long as the gods existed.

After all the years they spent trying to get him to be kept in this camp, they finally got what they wanted. He would be an outcast, he'd be alone, and he wouldn't even be able to leave camp to see his dad. Maybe he could manage occasional calls, but the god of the Underworld was a busy man and it always took more than a message to get in contact with him. The gods wanted nothing more than to separate him and his father, this Kyungsoo was convinced of. Zeus didn't approve of Hades relationship with him; he said it was too personal and that Hades was too attached. Just thinking about it made his head hurt with anger.

Kyungsoo shifted and the cold seeped into his blanket. He shivered once before a fire started up in the fireplace and began to warm the room. It was second nature now to not question how; he just accepted it, never even bothering to look up from his burrito-ed position. It was a gift unlike any other, his father always told him. Sometimes Kyungsoo could swear that for a moment Hades would look completely awed by his powers. It was a look that carried beyond admiration, an uncertainty lingered just below the surface and Kyungsoo occasionally wondered if his powers were something to be feared.