Chapter 32 : State your business

Melia looked out at the large office building she had become a bit too accustomed to, 'Underworld Corp', the dwelling place of the god who was slowly plunging her into madness.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to,"

Arethusa said. "I know the last time you and him met, it wasn't peaches and rainbows. We can try and find other ways to get a hold of her."

The siren thought back to all the moments Hades had cast her aside because of this little Persephone girl. If she hadn't been in the picture, she would have been having a late breakfast in one of his T-shirts back at his apartment right now.

"No I need to do this," Melia responded, her eyes fixated on the building ahead. "Getting that floral little princess out of the way won't just solve my problems, but yours as well. Doesn't Tekos have a thing for her? Last time I saw a picture of them together looking pretty cozy."

Arethusa's grip on the stirring wheel tightened as jealousy infused rage coursed through her veins. What exactly was it that this Persephone girl had that she didn't have?! Why was every male in Olympus patty in her hand?!

"Get in there and get that number.." Arethusa hissed through gnashed teeth.

The Siren half chuckled as she got out of the car and walked towards the doors of the building. Whatever it was that Hades was doing to her, it was high time he stopped before she made a complete fool of herself.

As she was about to walk through the door. A tall man wearing sunglasses and a uniform stepped in front of Melia and crossed his arms.

The siren took a step back and glared at the big security guard feeling annoyed. "Please move out of my way," she demanded and tired to walk past the big man.

He unfolded his arms and used one to block the woman from proceeding any further. "State your business here.."

"Excuse me?!" Melia exclaimed in surprise. "State my business? Do you have any idea who I am?!"

The security guard did not budge, in fact, he grabbed Melia's shoulder and gently pushed her away from the door.

"I said state your business here," the man repeated himself. "If not, then I suggested you turn around and go back to where you came from."

Melia was in utter shock. Since when did Hades have security here?! And why did they not know who she was? The siren would have expected that blue buffoon to at least make mention of her in case she wanted to visit him at her office.

"I need to see your boss," Melia replied curtly and tried for the door a third time. But the man in front of the door did not budge. "Did you not hear me?!" The siren yelled. "I need to see Hades right now!"

"Do you have an appointment?" The guard asked. Making Melia feel even more infuriated.

"I am practically your boss' girlfriend! Do you know what he will do to you if he finds out that you treated me in such an unruly way?!"

The security guard pulled down his sunglasses slightly and studied the woman. She did not match the description that Hades had given him of the one woman he could let into the building no questions asked. This one must have been another poser, desperate to get a hold of the boss' money.

"Sorry ma'am," the big man apologized to Melia before crossing his arms again. "No appointment, no entry. If you like, I can bring you the paperwork necessary to make an appointment with lord Hades, and if you're lucky, you can be able to have an audience with him in three to six weeks."

"Three to six weeks?!" Melia felt her strength leave her limbs. She could see now that this man would not bend no matter what she said. She would have given this man a middle finger and left, but today she was desperate, she needed access to Hades' phone and computer.

"Okay look," Melia spoke. Her voice was much gentler now and the arrogance in her tone reduced to zero. "I have no appointment but I desperately need to meet Hades, and I can't wait six weeks, the matter I have at hand is of utmost importance."

Melia inched closer to the man and have him a pleading look. "If you could just tell him that it's Melia, I'm sure he will make an exception."

The guard's stern look softened up a little. The woman did in fact seem like she had something very important to discuss with Hades. Maybe she was a different girlfriend from the one Hades had mentioned before. I mean these gods were known for their promiscuity, this could be one of those instances.

"Alright let me get the boss on the phone," the guard finally agreed.

"Thank you.." The siren sighed in relief.

"What did you say your name was again?"

"Melia… he'll know me."

*

'Who?' Hades asked over the phone. He sounded genuinely confused when his secured guard had mentioned the name.

"Melia my lord," the man repeated himself. "She is a siren."

'Does she have yellowish skin, dark hair, and dressed rather indecently?' Hades asked

The guard turned to Melia who was waiting eagerly for him to get off the phone. She was wearing what he assumed was a dress but was as short as a shirt. The little number was sheer and generously displayed all her under garments.

"Yes she is…"

The guard heard his boss sigh heavily before continuing to speak. 'Let her in just this once. The next time she comes over tell her I'm out of town for meetings or something of that sort.'

So he was right. This was the boss' girlfriend. Less liked obviously, but there was no question about it. Maybe it was one of those girlfriends who he wanted to let go but she just refused to oblige. He couldn't blame her though, lord Hades was a powerful man, being one of his little toys probably came with a number of perks.

"Alright boss, I will let her up."

*

Persephone sat down at a bench near the food court while she waited for Eris to join her for lunch. As the term was wrapping up, their schedules became less and less aligned so the only times she could really spend time with her friend was after school. So during the few moments their lunch breaks aligned, Persephone was always excited.

"Booo!" Eris scared the red haired goddess making flowers sprout spontaneously around the entire beach.

"Eris!" Persephone squealed as Eris chuckled. "You startled me…"

"That was the point Persie duh." The goth goddess sat down next to Persephone and sipped her boba tea excessively and sighed. "Man, I love my program and all, but it's really starting to take a toll on me."

"I can see that," Persephone spoke while sipping her own strawberry milkshake. "What is it you guys do exactly in uh…"

"Sorcery and divination,"'Eris responded excitedly. She put down her boba tea and sat up straight. "Watch this.."

The dark haired goddess chanted a few inaudible words and swung her finger to the right, and with that gesture, the shadows of the couple walking past them began to move independently.

"Wow.." Persephone gasped in awe.

Eris moved her finger around and the shadows began to dance around in accordance to her will. When the couple turned around and noticed what was going on, Eris snapped her finger and the shadows returned to their original positions.

"We learnt that in today's class," Eris spoke proudly. "It called umbrakinesis."

"It's amazing," Persephone responded in wonder. For some strange reason, the goddess had been finding herself intrigued in the things Eris would show her from her classes. The kinds of things they learnt seemed much more interesting than what she did. Her entire course was practically about plants and nature, pretty boring as compared to the ability to control the darkness.

"Speaking of amazing," Eris spoke with a sly smile. "Let's see it.."

"See what?"

"Oh come on Persie I saw your friend request on facepage," Eris whispered. "You used your black card privileges to get yourself a new phone didn't you?"

Persephone smiled nervously. "Oh that," she mumbled. "Well not exactly. If I used any of the money my mom gave me to buy a phone she would be furious. The phone that I have now was a gift from someone."

Eris' smile widened even more. "Oh Persephone you bad girl! You let some man get you a device? Now you have to show me, is it expensive? I bet it's really expensive.."

"It's not!" The goddess responded. "He actually said it didn't even make a dent in his wallet, it was just a gesture of goodwill, I promise."

"Well then let's see this 'gesture of goodwill' ," Eris teased as she pulled out the phone from Persephone's pocket. "What do we have h-"

Persephone panicked a little when she saw her friend's face go white. "Eris?…"

"Persephone? Who exactly got you this cellphone?" The dark haired goddess asked in a jittery tone.

"Umm… a friend?"

"And you said this phone didn't put as much as a dent in his wallet?" Eris asked, her eyes fixated on Persephone's phone as if it was some sort of rare gem.

"Well, that is what he told me," Persephone responded. "Why? Does it really look that cheap?"

Eris turned to the redhead and bent her neck slowly to the side. "Cheap? This is the phantom phone 14 pro max.."

"Soooo… it's not cheap?"

Eris handed Persephone back her phone and took a deep breath before holding her hand gently. "Persie, sweetie, let me put it this way. There's only ten of those phones in existence, and you have one of them in your hand right now. This phone… it's worth more than both my kidneys with a side liver. This phone.. could pay all of my tuition fees with change. You could buy a house with this phone."

Persephone gulped. "So it's really expensive?"

"Yes Persie, it's really fucking expensive…"