Prologue

A tall and pale man walked away from the dissipating body of his father. He had a handsome face with black hair and two differently colored eyes, his right one red, inherited from his father, and his left one green, inherited from his mother.

His muscular upper body was bare and filled with wounds, which were already healing up as he slowly walked away. Below his waist, he wore red pants with a brown sack attached to his waist, and grey boots that reached up to his knee with skulls at the top of them.

In one of his hands, he held a large round shield with three blades coming out of it in the form of a triangle, and an ominous snake skull positioned between them.

In the other, he held a wide broadsword with the upper part of the sword being red and the lower black. From one end to the other, the blade was filled with greek runes, and the crossguard was an ominous skull.

Both weapons started turning into a blood-like liquid before flowing into his body. This was something he learned how to do a while ago when he formed a deeper bond with the Infernal Arms, and since then, he had always carried all six of them with him.

Zagreus, the one and only son of the ruler of the Underworld, reached his destination, a crystal clear river. He had a satisfied smile on his face, proud of besting his father in combat.

It wasn't the first time Zagreus had achieved that. In fact, he had beaten Hades numerous times before, but he needed the blessings of his extended family, the gods of Olympus, to defeat him.

This time, however, was different as he did it with his own powers. Granted, he didn't have much of a choice since they stopped providing him their blessings after they found out the truth about him and his mother.

Zagreus was a bit hurt at that, but he had expected that from them in a way. Still, that wasn't a bad thing since he was finally able to learn more about himself and his domain.

Zagreus didn't know how long he believed he wasn't the god of anything, but that wasn't the case. He had just been unaware, even though his father had repeated it uncountable amount times to him. That didn't change the fact that he still considered Hades a shitty parent.

The winds blew in his face as he enjoyed their gentle touch while waiting for the sweet embrace of Styx. It always came a bit after he managed to defeat his father. After all, it was his fate to never walk the lands of the living.

Zagreus waited for a minute, which turned into two, three, and soon a dozen.

"What?"

Zagreus looked around in confusion. This wasn't supposed to happen. He was supposed to start feeling weak before shortly dying and returning back to the Underworld. That has happened countless amount of times before.

So, why wasn't he feeling weak? Why wasn't he dying?

Zagreus had no answer to those questions, but he decided to make the best out of this situation. A long time ago, he had promised his mother to take care of her house and garden when he successfully managed to escape the Underworld. Might as well make do on that promise.

His memories were a bit foggy as it's been such a long time since he last went to his mother's house. In the Underworld, they didn't measure time, so a thousand years might as well have passed.

Zagreus managed to spin the rusty cogs in his head and remember the path. He wasn't known for his intellect, and usually, he only used his brain for fighting and not much else.

After walking around like a headless chicken for some time, Zagreus found the way. Or at least what he believed was the way as he relied on sensing the blessing of his mother in that area.

When he reached the place, the Zagreus found the small cottage his mother had built. It was a simple wooden house, which was surrounded by numerous vegetation.

Zagreus looked at each and every vegetable and fruit there with interest. In the Underworld, the only fruit you can find was a pomegranate. He didn't know why or how, but if he had to guess, it was because of his mother. He didn't necessarily need substance to survive, but he enjoyed eating the sweet fruit, and he was sure the ones here will be just as tasty.

"Delicious!" Zagreus exclaimed after picking up a red-colored fruit and taking a bite of it. He continued walking around, tasting any new fruit or vegetable he found while also making sure all the vegetation was taken care of. Not that he knew what they actually needed, he just tried to look the part.

Zagreus then entered the house and explored inside it, but there was nothing of value there. His mother had already taken everything she needed from there, leaving only the furniture. That was fine since he didn't need much else.

After checking everything, it was time to decided how will he spend his remaining time here. After all, Zagreus didn't believe he will be able to stay on the surface for an extended period of time.

A few days passed, and he started getting used to the day and night cycle. It was a novel experience, one which he liked. Zagreus enjoyed bathing in the warmth of the sun. And just as much, if not, even more, he enjoyed spending the night in the embrace of Nyx.

The goddess he considered his second mother there wasn't there physically with him, but Nyx was the personification of night, so he was sure she was looking after him. She always has.

Day after day passed, which turned into week after week until Zagreus had stayed for three months at his mother's old cottage, yet he still felt as healthy as ever. He didn't feel physically ill and weak, and it finally dawned upon him. He wasn't going to die and return to the Underworld this time.

Now, the only question was, what was he supposed to do?

Meanwhile, in the Underworld, everything was continuing as usual. Hades, who was twice the size of Zagreus, was sitting on his throne while dealing with all the new shades. To his right rested a large and red-furred three-headed dog, who looked vicious and scary unless one knew how much of a softball he was.

A blonde woman with green eyes and dressed in a black dress walked up to him. Next to her was a black-haired woman also dressed in a black dress.

"Zagreus has been away for a very long time," Persephone, the Queen of the Underworld, said to her husband.

"Hmpf, that good for nothing son of ours, finally beat me with his own powers, without relying on the blessings of others. He..." Hades took a deep breath, not believing what he was about to say, "deserves this freedom for now."

Persephone let out a sweet laugh as she held a hand over her mouth, "You are just as good at expressing yourself as you were thousands of years ago. I don't need to have seen the fight to know you didn't fight Zagreus with all his might."

"As I said, good for nothing. I had to go easy on him. Otherwise, Zagreus didn't stand a chance even though he was trained by Achilles," Hades said, trying to sound disappointed with his son.

And in a way, Hades was dissatisfied with Zagreus. Mainly in the fact that it took him so long to realize his own power. If it wasn't for the idiotic gods of Olympus that liked to meddle in what wasn't their business, Zagreus might have learned about his powers way earlier. At least he did gain something from their blessings, even though they stopped providing them to him.

"Do you think he will be okay?" Persephone asked, worried about her one and only son. She didn't think that Zagreus will come back the normal way since, quite frankly, he didn't know it. The last time, Charon had to ferry them back home, and he didn't even know how to open the doors.

"He is a god! There shouldn't be anything in the mortal world that could harm him! But knowing him, I won't be surprised if he comes walking from that pool sooner or later," Hades said before returning to doing his paperwork, clearly done with talking about his son.

"You will watch over him, right, Nyx?" Persephone turned to the woman next to her.

"I have and will always follow him during the night. I consider him one of my own and love him as such. But as Hades said, there shouldn't be anything in the Mortal World that could endanger him, and he can also learn a thing or two from the mortals," Nyx said, and Persephone smiled happily at her.

In the meantime, Zagreus was walking in a random direction he had chosen. He had a destination in mind, but he had absolutely no idea where he was, so he hoped to find some mortals to help him with that.

After walking for some time, he started hearing something unusual, so he started moving in that direction.

"What are those?" Zagreus stopped in place and asked in surprise.

In front of him, there were two large roads on which large metal carriages were moving at high speeds. Zagreus had never seen anything like that, and for a moment, he thought they were like the Nemean Chariots that roamed the fields of Elysium.

However, due to his incredible eyesight, he was able to see people inside them. Zagreus was quite a distance away, but due to all the blessings he had received from Artemis, his eyesight was good enough for him to spot that.

Zagreus marveled at them for a moment. They were alike, but at the same time, they were all so different. He wondered how they were even able to move since no oxen or horses were pulling them.

After watching for a bit, Zagreus looked around while thinking about how to get their attention. However, he then spotted a building that he assumed was a tavern where he saw a few metal carriages parked there.

"That should do." Zagreus nodded to himself and started walking there.

Two black-haired women who looked very similar to each other had just parked their car at the gas station, wanting to refuel, grab something to eat, and pass by the WC.

"I'm going to grab some coffee and a sandwich. Do you want anything, Alexa?" One of them asked while looking through her bag, making sure she has everything she needs.

"I will..." Alexa paused mid-sentence and took a deep breath, "oh my god! Daphne, look!"

Alexa pointed at Zagreus, who was making his way towards them. Not only did he have a handsomely chiseled face, but his different colored eyes made him even more exotic looking. Zagreus also still didn't have anything covering his upper body, and they got a free view of his muscled form.

Finally, here was this otherwordly charm that drew their attention to him. It made Zagreus feel pleasant to the eye and also made him look more approachable, like someone you would easily trust.

"Hello, ladies," Zagreus greeted them with his deep and smooth voice.

"Oh, I, um, hello?" Alexa said in a fluster, her cheeks starting to redden while her eyes roamed from his body to his face, not knowing which one to stare at.

Zagreus smiled as the woman somewhat reminded him of Dusa, the ever dutiful maid of House of Hades and his best friend. He hasn't seen her for three months, and he was already missing her.

Sometimes you don't know how important is something to you until you don't have it anymore. Zagreus wanted to see Dusa and his mother again, but he also wanted to explore the Mortal World and visit Olympus before that.

"Could you ladies please point me in the direction of Mount Olympus?" Zagreus asked them.

He hadn't seen any of the gods since they came to visit him in the Otherworld, and his family came forth with the truth about his mother.

Demeter wasn't happy at first, but Persephone managed to calm her down. She even sends him a letter from time to time nowadays, but she no longer provides him her blessings.

The rest took it a lot better. Only Poseidon was hurt and threw a tamper, but only because his big brother hadn't shared those secrets with him while Zeus was aware of them.

"Mount Olympus?" The two girls asked in surprise. Why would anyone ask for that?

"Um, it's that way." Daphne turned around and pointed North, still confused about the question of the handsome man.

"Thank you, ladies," Zagreus said and hesitated for a moment. He enjoyed giving gifts. That was kinda his thing.

However, Zagreus didn't think he should give them what he usually gave to his close ones, but then again, he had a lot of things in his sack. He reached inside and pulled out two small green gemstones.

"Woah," they exclaimed, looking at the polished jade he took out.

"Please take this, ladies, as a token of my gratitude," Zagreus presented the shiny gemstones to them.

Carefully, the two picked the gemstones from his hand while also making sure to rest their hands on his for just a bit longer than necessary. Zagreus didn't mind it at all and enjoyed the touch. It's been a long time since he experienced the pleasures of the flesh.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, ladies," Zagreus said and gave them a bright smile before departing towards the direction Daphne had pointed.

The two were left flustered while also confused at how a stranger just gave them two valuable gemstones just for giving him directions. It took them a few minutes to realize Zagreus had left on foot, making his way towards a location that's about 150 kilometers away.

Zagreus leisurely walked towards Mount Olympus. He wasn't in a hurry and spent his time looking around, enjoying the sights of the Mortal World. To him, someone who had lived his entire life in the Underworld, everything there just seemed so fascinating.

It took Zagreus days to reach Mount Olympus. He had to ask a few more people for directions on the way just to make sure he hadn't taken a wrong turn, even though he kept walking in a straight path.

"What the hell is this?" Zagreus said when he finally reached his destination.

What awaited him there wasn't the glorious Mount Olympus he had heard so much about. The only thing he found was a mountain, a beautiful mountain, but still, just a mountain.

"This can't be right," Zagreus thought and decided to investigate the place more.

However, even after a few days of looking, no matter how much he walked around, no matter where he went on the mountain, he just couldn't find a single trace of the gods.

Zagreus started thinking that he may have been dubbed by all the people he had asked for directions. There was just no other way, but then he encountered two men with large backpacks on their bag on his way down from the mountain.

"Hello, good sirs," Zagreus greeted, hoping to get some answers from them.

The two, on the other hand, looked at him weirdly. Zagreus was someone without a shirt and no backpack while climbing down the mountain. It was just a weird scene.

"Could you please confirm if this is Mount Olympus? I think I may have taken the wrong turn," Zagreus said.

"Yeah, this is definitely the place," one of them confirmed with a nod.

"Are you sure?" Zagreus asked, not willing to believe that. "It just doesn't seem like the right place."

"No, this is definitely Mount Olympus," said the other man.

"But where are the gods?" Zagreus asked in bewilderment.

The two men blinked a few times, processing his question before bursting out laughing. At first, they thought he was joking, but after seeing his earnest and confused expressions, they realized he was being serious.

"Gods are real, mate," they said and continued their hike while laughing.

"Can you believe that guy?"

"He actually believes gods are real."

Zagreus heard them even though they were already a distance away.

'What do you mean gods aren't real? You just met one,' Zagreus thought but didn't say it out loud. It just wasn't worth it.

Zagreus had spent a few days looking, but if anything, he was stubborn to a fault. If he wasn't, there was no way he would've spent more than half his life trying to escape the Underworld. He had failed an uncountable amount of times, but he hadn't stopped trying no matter what happened.

However, his stubbornness was of no help here. Even though he searched for another week, there were just no signs of the gods. It's as if they hadn't even lived there to begin with.

Zagreus had no other option other than leaving the place. No matter how stubborn he was, there was nothing he could do in that situation.

So, the only choice that he was left was to explore the Mortal World, which was better than nothing.

Zagreus just picked a random direction and started walking while lost in thought.

Where were the gods?

Why were there no signs of them?

Why do the mortals believe that gods don't exist?

Zagreus had a lot of questions on his mind, but unfortunately, intelligence wasn't his strong suit.

Give him a weapon and tell him to fight, and he will do it with ease, but make him think about the answer to a serious question, well, if he had to do it on his own, it might just take him his entire life to find the correct answer.