Cerberus trotted over to the young man on the throne, laying his three heads at his feet and his tail swooshing pleasantly behind him. 

"B-but..." Jaehwan stuttered. "I-I thought this was-"

"An entrance hall?" Hades suggested. He grinned when the dumbstruck faces of the other four told him all he needed to know. "A trick I've been practicing. Wanna see?"

He snapped his finger and lights suddenly came on, showing a much, much bigger hall than what they'd assumed. The air around the throne shimmered slightly before revealing a grand throne with steps leading up to it to match. A red carpet decorated the floor, and a glass chandelier hung from the high ceiling.

"Is this...?" Hongbin murmured.

"My throne room!" Hades announced. "Pretty cool trick, huh? I've been trying to perfect it for months."

"Huh?" the words escaped Sanghyuk. This was totally not how he had pictured the Lord of the Dead.

Hongbin looked around the brightly lit throne room. "So that was all an illusion?" he asked.

Hades nodded. "Pretty neat, right?" he asked hopefully.

"Y-yeah," Jaehwan agreed.

"Now that we've got that out of the way," Hades said, leaning back on his throne and putting a leg over the other, "I take it you four have come here for something?"

Cerberus lifted his heads off his paws, setting six pairs of burning red eyes on them. It seemed that even though his master liked to joke, he wouldn't hesitate to tear them apart if they stepped even a little out of line. His low growls served to remind them that they were in the presence of a God, a God who didn't have a stellar reputation.

Jaehwan nudged Hakyeon with his elbow. "Negotiate," he whispered to the elder. "Hades seems to be in a good mood."

Hakyeon nodded before taking a step forward. Cerberus's eyes immediately darted to him, giving a small warning growl and making Hakyeon stagger.

Hakyeon may be crazy, but not that crazy that he would disregard just how fast that thing could tear into him if its owner ever gave the order, of if it felt its master was in danger.

"I want to negotiate!" he called out.

Hades lifted an eyebrow. "Negotiate?" he slowly asked. "I never said I wouldn't give you what you wanted."

"Huh?"

Hades chuckled, a deep rumble that echoed throughout the room. "You seem to be jumping the gun here," he told Hakyeon. "Why don't we discuss this over dinner? The four of you seem tired."

Hakyeon hesitated, but then Jaehwan stepped forward. "We accept."

They soon found themselves in a massive dining hall.

The table, to be honest, wasn't as long as they'd pictured, but since Hades seemed to enjoy playing with illusions, who knew how this room really looked. In fact, who knew what Hades himself really looked like?

Hades sat on one end of the table and the other four across from him. Hakyeon had elected to sit directly opposite the Ruler of the Underworld, with Jaehwan at his side for moral support. 

Hongbin and Sanghyuk glanced at the delicious spread in front of them, but hesitated to reach out and grab a juicy fruit. They also eyed the glasses of delicious looking red wine sitting enticingly beside the plates.

Damn, they were really hungry.

Hades noticed that and gestured with his hand. "Please, go ahead and eat. All this food is from your world, even the wine. Courtesy of Dionysus himself."

"Why would you have food from our world down here?" Jaehwan wondered.

Hades shrugged. "Underworld food is bland," he said simply, as if that explained everything. 

On seeing the confused looks that the humans gave him, the immortal being sighed. "To be honest, I didn't know either. But then the first words that Persephone said after she ate that pomegranate was that it was blander." He chuckled at the fond memory. "Since then, I've always kept surface world food here, and I agree, it's tastier. Cerberus at least loves it."

The four turned to the door where the three headed beast sat outside, poking his nose through the door. He'd been too big to fit through and had been forced to be left outside, which he didn't like, especially as the smell of delicious overworld food wafted his way. Hongbin could have sworn he even heard a couple of whines now and then.

Hongbin reached for a piece of meat and threw it at the door. The piece slid a bit out of the door, and Cerberus happily lapped it up.

"He's grateful," Hades told him. "He never likes being without food. He'll now respect you to death."

"Uh, great," Hongbin murmured.

"There's something else that's been bothering me," Jaehwan admitted. "Why do you look...like that?"

The other three immediately shot him looks, trying to get him to stop blabbering lest he offend someone who was not to be trifled with, but to no avail. Hades, however, chuckled.

"If it troubles you, you may just call me Wonshik," he offered. 

"Is that the name of your vessel?" Sanghyuk asked.

Hades, or rather, Wonshik, nodded. "The war took a lot out of me, even maintaining my true form became a burden."

"So you took a mortal's body?" the words escaped Hakyeon's mouth before he could filter it.

One of Wonshik's eyebrows narrowed. "He came to me, in fact.  I make it a point not to exert myself on any mortal considering how they'll just go running to Zeus all over again," he grumbled slightly. "The boy had a hard life, rife with pain and abuse. Apparently trying to be a rapper was harder than he thought, and he had his fair share of mental health struggles. He just wanted to end it all, so he got hold of a book on the occult and summoned me."

Hongbin cast his eyes down. Technically, Zeus had done the same thing to him, created a child with some woman and cast him into that infant's body. 

He'd always known that the body he was currently in never belonged to him, it was always like he was a guest. But now, he found himself wondering what the real Hongbin was like, what the actual soul that belonged to this body was like.

If Prometheus had taken the place of Hongbin's soul, did that mean he was dead? Could that mean that he may find him wandering around here in the Underworld? The soul was entirely innocent and pure, it hadn't even gotten the chance to do something wrong. He hoped that he had at least been granted Elysium.

Wonshik raised an eyebrow when he saw him. "I know what you're thinking," he told Hongbin. "Yes, Zeus killed the infant's soul before he put you in it. He didn't need to, but you know that he has a strange sense of humor."

Hongbin's head snapped up. "So...the soul..."

"Was granted rebirth," Wonshik informed him. "The soul got another chance at life, as a mortal, without getting caught up in our petty squabbles. I made sure of that."

Hongbin leaned back in his chair, a small smile breaking out on his face. 

"What about your vessel?" Sanghyuk inquires.

"I didn't kill Wonshik, even though he wanted to die," Hades explained. "I just took residence in his body till the time I regain my strength. Once I do that, I'll grant his wish and allow him to pass onto judgement, and most likely rebirth."

"You can't allow him into Elysium?" Jaehwan asked.

Wonshik shook his head. "Sadly, I don't make such decisions, and the boy didn't live his life in the most honorable way. He'll be given a chance at rebirth, after which, if he lives well and rises above the hand that is dealt to him, he'll get a chance at Elysium." 

Silence fell upon them for a moment. Hakyeon reached out for an apple and bit into it, it tasted just like the ones he was used to. Perhaps this really wasn't Underworld food...

"Alright," Wonshik said, folding his hands in front of him and leaning across the table. "Now that we have that out of the way, let's get down to business. Even though I'm happy for some company, why have the four of you actually come down here?"

"We need a pomegranate from the Underworld," Hakyeon said without hesitation.

Wonshik raised an eyebrow. Hongbin felt that he was a bit too cool for a guy being asked to just hand over a fruit from his home. "And why exactly?"

"We need it for a spell," Hakyeon continued. "The pomegranate is a vital part of that spell."

"And what spell would that be?" Wonshik carefully asked.

"A mimicry spell," Hakyeon said. 

"Mimicry?" Wonshik asked. "Even if I were interested, what is in it for me? Why should I give you the fruit?"

Hakyeon took a deep breath. "Because I'm willing to sign a contract to become one of your servants."

Wonshik raised his eyes. "Please be more specific."

"In return for the fruit, I'm willing to join your army," Hakyeon said. "I'm the son of Zelos, I have control over the emotional spectrum. I can be invaluable to your cause. You may even use me as a vessel and allow the mortal to pass on."

Sanghyuk reached over to pat his arm. "Hyung, what are you saying?" he whispered, eyes wide with fear.

"Are you nuts?" Hongbin hissed at him. "You're willing to just give up your life like that?"

While Sanghyuk and Hongbin attempted to discourage Hakyeon from saying anything else, Jaehwan stayed strangely silent, his eyes on Wonshik. The Lord of the Dead carefully observed their actions, also noting the unchanging yet determined look on Hakyeon's face.

His lips curved into a smile. "It seems I've missed out a lot while I was recovering," he realized. "Perhaps you four can enlighten me with your tale, and I can consider giving you the pomegranate."