The evening started out perfect. The sun was low and there was a cool breeze blowing as I walked to the park to watch the sunset with my boyfriend, Tristan. I walked through the gate that leads into the park, and saw Tristan sitting on a bench near the lake. I could tell he was nervous because he kept running his hands through his thick blonde hair.

'Hey!' I said giving him a kiss.

'Oh'hi, I have to ask you a question'um' Maybe you should sit down.' He stood up gesturing the bench. I gave him a quizzical look, but did as he asked.
He started to pace in front of me and said, 'I've been trying to do this for months, but it never seemed like the right time.' He stopped pacing and smiled at me. I smiled back feeling utterly confused.
'I love you, I've loved you since the first time I saw you,' then he knelt down in front of me, pulling out a small black box. He opened the lid to reveal a ring with a gold band and a small diamond. 'Ava Grace Madison will you marry me?' He asked as he slipped the ring on my finger.

Tears filled my eyes, but they didn't spill over and somehow I managed to whisper a simple, 'Yes'. We both stood up and I wrapped my arms around him and kissed him.
We watched the sunset and when the sun was no more, Tristan asked if I wanted to walk awhile and I said yes.
Tristan stood up, smiled a reckless smile, held out his arm and said, 'Shall we?'
I laughed and said, 'We shall.' Taking his arm and letting him guide me through the deserted park. Everything was going great until someone snuck up behind us and grabbed me around the waist, breaking my grasp on Tristan, and put a gun to my head. Tristan turned around with a puzzled look on his face, which quickly turned to horror.
'Don't move!' The mysterious man threatened.
'Okay I'll do anything you want, just don't hurt her,' Tristan pleaded in a shaky voice, 'Please just let her go.' The man ignored Tristan and spun me around to face him, while keeping the gun pointed at my head. He had dark hair and beautiful gray eyes. He looked like he was about the same age as Tristan; he was as tall and as muscular as Tristan. I knew Tristan would have been able to take him if it wasn't for the gun.
The man then smiled a sinister smile at me, leaned down and whispered in my ear, 'I'll be seeing you soon.' That's when he pulled the trigger.

I woke up on a comfy bed. I blinked a few times before remembering everything that happened, but it all seemed like a dream. I sat up and looked around the room for the first time and I didn't recognize anything. The walls were made of concrete, there were lamps on the walls that gave off a sickening green light, and there was a wooden table to my right with little foldout chairs. The only exit was a door on the other side of the room, so I walked over to it. I tried to open it, but it was locked from the other side. I knocked on the door and tried to call out to someone to let me out, but no one came.
I tried to figure out what could possibly be going on, but was so confused that my head felt like it was spinning, so I went to sit down on the bed and put my head in my hands. I sat there like that for about five minutes when there was a knock on the door.
'Come in,' I said automatically and looked at the door. My eyes widened as I saw the man, who shot me in my dream, stepping through the door.
I started to back away from him, and he said, 'Its okay.'
'Okay? You SHOT me!' I exclaimed.
'Just calm down,' he said soothingly.
'CALM DOWN!' I shrieked.
'Listen I need to talk to you.'
'No I'm not going to stay here and talk to you!' I got up and walked past him, heading towards the door, but before I could walk through it he grabbed my wrist and pulled me back into the room. I kicked and screamed, but none of it fazed him. He only rolled his eyes at my feeble attempts. He shoved me on the bed and sat down next to me, holding me down. He waited until I tired myself out, then he released me, and started talking again.
'I need to explain something to you. After I killed you-' he started.
'I'm not dead.' I interrupted.
'Don't interrupt, it's rude,' he scolded. 'And yes you are dead. I shot you in the head, it's not like you can live through that and not even have a headache,' he laughed.
'This is not funny.' I growled.
'Whatever,' he said rolling his eyes. 'Anyway after I killed you your soul came down here to the Underworld and-'
'The Underworld?' I asked.
He let out a sigh and said, 'I thought I told you to interrupting people is rude.'
'So is shooting people in the head.' I contradicted, and he just laughed. 'Now what is the Underworld?'
He gestured all around him and said, 'This is.'
'What is it though? Some sort of club or store?' I questioned.
'It is where everyone's souls go when they die.' He explained. 'Now can I continue?' I only nod and he continued by saying, 'I killed you, so we can be together for-'
'WHAT?! What do you mean 'so we can be together'?' I exclaimed.
'I really wish you would stop interrupting me.' He stated.
'ANWSER MY QUESTION!' I yelled.
'I chose you to be my wife,' he casually stated.
'What do you mean your WIFE?!' I inquired.
'I mean you me holy matrimony,' he joked.
'Why would I want to marry you?' I sneered.
'Why wouldn't you want to?' He queried.
'First of all there's the obvious you SHOT me!'
'You know once we're married you're going to have to forgive me for that.' He joked. 'And besides your life was almost up anyway.'
Shocked I asked, 'How long did I have left to live?'
'Only sixty-four years not long at all.'
'Sixty-four YEARS?!'
'Give or take a month.'
'That's like a whole lifetime! I could have gotten married, had kids and watch them grow up and have kids of their own! I could have finished college, found a job, and retired!'
'Well look on the bright side, you don't have to worry about dying.' I was paralyzed with anger. I wanted to kill him. I tried picturing myself killing him, but he interrupted the thought by saying, 'Anyway, are there any other reasons why you wouldn't want to marry me? Or was shooting you the only reason?'
At first I just glared at him, but he just sat there tolerantly, until I answered. 'And secondly I don't even know your name!'
'I didn't tell you? I'm sorry. It's Hades and I'm the God of the Underworld.'
'You're a God?' I asked suspiciously.
'Yep and soon you will be my wife.'
'No I won't.' I challenged.
'Yes you will.' He sang.
'No I won't. I don't care if you're a God or whatever you are; I am not going to marry you. I'm marrying Tristan.'
'That mere MORTAL! I could do things that he would never even dream about doing!' He yelled.
'That may be true but at least I LOVE him!'
'Is that what you're worried about? That you won't love me?' His voice softened.
'NO,' my face scrunched up as I said it. 'I will NEVER love you.'
'In time you will, love.' As he said this he caressed my face with his hands and I jerked away from him. His jaw locked and he straightened up, 'Anyway you don't have a choice.' With that said, he left.
I sat there completely befuddled. I had no clue what his problem was, but I did know I was not going to marry that creep.
I sat in the room by myself for about three hours. I go so bored that I fell asleep and was awakened by a knock on the door. As I sat up a girl about my age entered the room. She had long curly blonde hair that was pinned to her head in an elegant way and she was wearing a dress that seemed to be from colonial times.
'Hi I'm Elizabeth and I'm here to show you around.' She said holding out a hand for me to shake.
'Hi I'm Ava.' I said hesitantly taking her hand.
'I know. Hades has been planning your arrival for months now.'
'He has?'
'Yep and now he wants me to give you the grand tour.' She smiled walking towards the hallway. I stood up and followed her out the door and down the hall.
'This is the sleeping area, where all souls go at night.' She informed me.
'Souls sleep?' I questioned.
'Yeah, even the Gods sleep.' She said, like I was supposed to know that.
'So was that my room?'
'It is, until after your wedding, of course.'
'Oh,' I said disappointedly. 'Um' exactly when will the wedding be?'
'The date is unknown at the moment.' She said. Instead of answering I just nodded.
We walked in silence for a long time until the hallway branched off into three different rooms, so we walked towards the door to out right.
'This is the entertainment room.' Elizabeth said as she opened the door. The room was colossal, but it was just the right size for the amount of people in it. There was an arcade, with all kinds of games in the back. There were at least fifteen TV's and couches scattered through out the room, separated by glass cubicles. And there were computers lined up along all the walls.
'So what do you think?' She asked.
'It's amazing!' I exclaimed.
'I know, it is pretty cool,' she said causally.
Elizabeth showed me the room. And as I looked around the room I noticed everyone was dressed up like they were from a different era.

'I don't mean to be rude, but why is everyone dressed weird? I mean is there a costume party going on?'

'It was what they were wearing when they died. Like me for instance I died in 1791, so I wear this.' She said twirling around in her dress.
'Oh,' I said.
'Well we better get moving we still have two rooms left before we go to breakfast.' Elizabeth said dragging me out of the room.
When we walked out into the hallway I asked, 'Souls eat?'
'Yes, and that's what I'm going to show you next.' She said walking to the door in the middle.
'This is the cafeteria.' She said as she opened the door.
We both walked in the room. It was just like any other cafeteria I've seen. The only difference was that it was about ten times bigger than a normal cafeteria. There were long tables all over the room and there was a buffet stretched across the far right wall.
'There's not much to show you here, so let's go to the last room I need to show you.' Elizabeth said.
'Okay.' I said following her to the last door.
'This is the insight room.'
'What's that?'
'I'll show you.' She said opening the room.
The room had light blue lights instead of the sickening green and the floor looked like it was grass. I bent down and picked a piece and found that it really was grass. The walls were made of stone with ivy growing through it. In the middle of the room was a well.
'Now if you could see anyone alive, who would be?' She asked me as she walked to the well.
'It would be Tristan.' I answered following her.
'Okay. I need you to stand by the well and picture Tristan.' She instructed.
I stood in front of the well and did as she said and then I heard his voice. Stunned I looked around the room expecting him to be right beside me, but he wasn't.
Confused I looked at Elizabeth, who was leaning up against the wall. She nodded her head towards the well and I looked in. Tristan was dressed in all black and was sitting next to my parents, who were also wearing all black and I could see a casket in the background. That's when I realized that they were at my funeral.
'I can't believe she's gone!' My father cried; I've never seen him cry before.
'She was supposed to bury us, not the other way around!' My mother wept.
'I'm sorry! We shouldn't have been out so late. It was completely my fault! I'm so sorry!' Tristan cried putting his head into his hands. My parents went on telling Tristan it wasn't his fault that he didn't know what was going to happen. Then there was a drop and the picture rippled. That's when I realized that the drop was a tear; I was crying. Elizabeth came beside me and was saying everything was going to be alright.
When I finally stopped crying, Elizabeth took me to the cafeteria to eat breakfast. After I ate I went back to the insight room. I spent the next several hours listening and watching Tristan mourn over my death.

Someone from behind me cleared their throat wanting me to notice their presence, but I was too preoccupied with Tristan crying as they buried my body.

'Elizabeth told me I'd find you here.' It was him, the one who was the cause all of this. I didn't answer so he ignored my rudeness towards him and stated, 'I was wondering if you would accompany me to a party.'

Instead of telling him I would never want to go anywhere with him, I gave up and said, 'Whose party?'

'It's my older brother Zeus's.'

'I guess.' I sighed.

He looked pleased by my answer and said, 'Great!'

'So where is it at?' I asked.

'Mount Olympus, of course.' He said imperturbably.

'Okay. What time?'

'Well actually we should leave in like ten minutes.'

'Okay. I guess I'm ready.' I said looking down.

'Well' I kinda'bought you a dress to wear there.'

'Oh'' I said completely taken aback. 'Okay.'

'Here,' he said handing me a box. I opened it and held up the dress. It was a long black satin strapless dress with a red ribbon tied around the waist. In other words it was stunning.

I smiled at him for the first time and said, 'Thank you.'

He smiled back and walked me to my room so I could change. When I was done I stepped out and modeled it for him by twirling around.

'It looks really good on you.' He smiled, 'But anything would look good on you.'

'Thank you.' I said noticing how close he was to me.
He was leaning in to kiss me, and then someone interrupted. 'Sir, the chariot is ready.'
He sighed and smiled, but I still saw the disappointment in his eyes. 'We're coming.' He said wrapping his arm around my waist and guiding me though the hallway. I know it was wrong that I felt disappointed as well and I also knew it was wrong that his touch made me feel safe and warm.
We left in his big golden chariot that a black pegasus pulled. It didn't take us long to get to Mount Olympus and when we did Hades pulled the chariot in front of the gate and a valet took it away.
Hades hesitated by the back and I looked up at him and asked, 'What's wrong?'
'Well I kinda already told everyone that you said you'd marry me.' He said guiltily.
'Oh'' I said looking down. 'I guess I can say I am going to marry you, for tonight. I mean it won't kill me or anything.' I joked.
'Thank you,' he said pulling out a tiny box just like the one Tristan had given me the day I died. 'Here put this on.' He placed a small ring in my hand. The ring had a black band and a rose made entirely out of rubies and two emerald leaves on each side.
'It's gorgeous!' I gushed over it. 'Thank you!' I said giving him a hug. I could tell that he was stunned by the hug because it took him a moment to hug me back.
Instead of saying anything else Hades leaned in to kiss me like before and this time he succeeded. We smiled at each other and then he wrapped his arm around my waist and guided me through the big golden gates. Hades led me through the crowd of gods and goddesses, who all turned to look at our entrance. He led me to a big thrown where a tall man sat with a short woman, who seemed a little aggravated.
'Hades glad you could make it! And this must be Ava!' The man said in a deep voice.
'Hi, Zeus! And this is Ava, my fianc'e.'
'I'm glad you finally found someone!' He said to Hades then to me he said, 'We all thought he was gay!' He laughed.
I snickered and looked at Hades; his face turned a bright shade of red.
After an awkward pause Hades then said, 'Well I'm going to show Ava the rest of Mount Olympus.' Hades then led me away from the throne off to the side where no one was standing.
'Who was that woman sitting next to Zeus?' I asked.
'That was Hera, Zeus's wife.' He answered.
'She didn't seem too happy.'
'Yeah, she and Zeus are probably fighting. They are always fighting.'
'Over what?'
'Mostly Zeus's inability to stay faithful.'
'Oh'' I said wondering if he would be like that.
He then grabbed my wrist pulling me closer to him and said, 'I won't be like that, I promise. I love you too much.' He smiled as if he read my mind, then he leaned down and kissed me.
When our kiss broke someone came over to greet us. 'Hades, long time no see!' Said a girl with a high-pitched voice. Next to the girl there was a guy with a limp leg.
'Hi, Aphrodite,' Hades said less enthusiastically.
'Who is this?' Aphrodite asked nodding to me.
'I'm Ava, Hades fianc'e.' I said liking the sound of me being his fianc'e.
'Oh isn't that nice.'
'Ava this is Hephaestus,' Hades said gesturing to the man next to Aphrodite.
'Hi.' I smiled at him.
'Hi.' He answered.
'Hephaestus shut up and do something useful!' Aphrodite snapped. 'Anyway'' She said turning towards me, 'we better be going. It was nice meeting you.'
When they left I whispered, 'What is her problem?'
'That's just Aphrodite for you. Plus Zeus just married her off to Hephaestus, so the guys would stop fighting over her. Now Hephaestus is suck with her, the poor soul.' He sighed shaking his head. When he looked up he waved to someone and said to me, 'Come on I want you to meet someone.'
He guided me over to a short pudgy man by the punch bowl.
'Dionysus this is Ava, Ava this is Dionysus.' Hades introduced.
'Hi.' I said.
'Hi. You guys must try the punch.' He said handing me and Hades a cup. I took a big drink and almost choked on it.
'Sorry I forgot to warn you, Dionysus is the God of wine and every year he spikes the punch to create madness among the Gods.'
'Really? How interesting.' I coughed. After I was done choking I took a smaller drink. 'Can souls get drunk?' I wondered.
Hades laughed, 'You'll figure it out soon enough.'
When I finished that cup Hades got me another, and then another, until I was on my fifth cup. I found out the answer to my question; it was a yes.
I remember Hades laughing at my inability to stand without swaying and him saying, 'Maybe I shouldn't have let you drink so much.'
'I'm fine,' I said swaying away from him and he caught me.
'I'm going to get the chariot. Do you think you could stay standing until I get back?' He asked me.
'No problem.' I assured him, but he didn't look convinced.
He turned to someone beside him and said, 'Hephaestus will you please watch Ava until I get back?'
'Sure,' he answered taking my arm to steady me and Hades left.
'So where's Aphrodite?' I asked.
'She's with Ares.' He grumbled.
'What's she doing with Ares? Shouldn't she be with you?'
'She should, but she's not.' He said looking sad.
'Well let's go find her!' I said starting towards a random direction, but was pulled back by Hephaestus.
'Let's just stay here until Hades get's back.'
'There she is!' I said pointing towards Aphrodite walking towards her direction and this time I was able to shake Hephaestus's hold on me.
I staggered towards her and said, 'Aphrodite, we need to talk.'
'And who do we have here?' The man beside Aphrodite asked. I assumed he was Ares.
Aphrodite gave him a dirty look and turned to me and asked, 'About what?'
'About your marriage. You aren't being very fair to Hephaestus. I mean you're hanging around other men it doesn't give the right impression on people!'
'I think you need to be quiet, before you make me mad.'
'You know I'm right. And you, Ares isn't it?' I asked, but then went on before he could answer, 'You need to go your separate way. You need to find some other girl who isn't married.'
'I think you're right. So will you be available later?'
'WHAT?!' Aphrodite yelled at Ares. Then she pointed to me and growled, 'Mark my words you will regret this day!' After that she stormed off.
Ares smiled at me then asked, 'You never answered my question. Are you going to be available later?'
'Yep, but not to you I'm engaged.' I said and then turned and walked away from him back towards Hephaestus. Beside Hephaestus was Hades and when he saw me he looked relieved and then angry.
'Where have you been?!' He scolded.
'I was talking to Aphrodite.' I explained.
'Oh No! What about?'
'About her marriage to Hephaestus.'
He sighed. 'I better go talk to her, before she does something.' That's when he left. A few minutes later he came back. 'I don't think she'll do anything now that I talked to her, but we better get out of here just in case.'
'If you say so.' I shrugged, following him to the chariot.
When we got back to the Underworld Hades sent me straight to bed, saying he'd see me tomorrow.
The next morning I woke up from a knock on the door and a few seconds later Hades entered.
'Good morning,' he said kissing my forehead.
'Good morning.' I smiled and then noticed I didn't have a headache or any of the effects of drinking too much the night before. 'Why don't I have a headache or anything?'
He looked confused at first then realized what I was talking about. 'Because souls can't get hurt.'
'Oh'So what are we doing today?'
'Well I'm afraid I have to go to the real world to get wondering souls.' I scrunched my face into a pout and then he added, 'I'll be back by dark, so maybe we could do something later tonight.'
'Okay!' I said smiling.
He then kissed me goodbye and went off to do his job. I felt anxious the rest of the day. I couldn't wait for tonight. I tried to keep myself busy, but wasn't very successful. When it finally was dark outside I waited by the doors he would come through. I waited for hours and then I heard some people coming, so I stood up getting ready to run into his arms, but when he came in he already had someone in his arms. He had a girl, who was beautiful; she had long blonde hair, perfect red lips that turned down into a frown, and big blue frightened eyes. He walked with her right pass me ignoring me completely.
'Hades!' I called out running after him.
He turned slightly and said, but kept walking, 'Yes?'
'What's going on?' I asked trying to keep up with him.
'Persephone and I are getting married.' He answered.
'What about us? I thought you and I were getting married?' I asked.
'Not anymore. I love Persephone.'
'But'I don't understand!' I began to cry.
'It's not hard to comprehend. I am not marrying you. I am marrying Persephone. Now leave me alone!' He said slowly.
His words felt like a slap on the face and he told me dead souls couldn't hurt, well then what was I feeling then? I stood there for awhile thinking he would come back and say he was only joking, but he never did. When I finally realized that I ran to my room and fell on my bed crying. I spent the next couple days lying on my bed crying. I would still have been there today if it wasn't for Hephaestus coming and visiting me.
'Hi.' He said.
'Hi.' I mumbled.
'Ava I have to tell you something. Hades isn't really in love with Persephone, he's still in love with you, but Aphrodite put a spell on him making him think he's in love with Persephone. I'm sorry.'
'It's not you're fault. It's mine. I'm the one who opened her big mouth.'
'But you did it for me, so I told Zeus and he said he wants to try to make it up to you. So will you come with me to Mount Olympus?'
'Will he be able to fix the spell?' I grew hopeful.
'I don't know maybe.'
'Okay. I'll come.'
When we got to Mount Olympus we walked straight towards Zeus's throne.
'Hi Hephaestus. Hi Ava.' Zeus welcomed us.
'Hi.' We both said back.
'I'm sorry about Aphrodite's behavior. I tried to talk her into taking the spell off but she refused. And I was trying to think of a way to make it up to you and I knew you were engaged before with someone named Tristan. So I was going to make you human so you two could be together, but Aphrodite made him fall in love with someone else. I don't know what to do.' Zeus said.
'Couldn't you take the spell off?' I pleaded.
'Sadly no.' he sighed. 'But the spell will wear off in about a million years.'
'A million years?!' I squeaked.
'It won't seem that long. But until then you can live on Mount Olympus if you want that way you don't have to be around them.'
'Yes if that's alright.' I said as I began to cry.
'Of course it is.' Zeus tried to comfort me, but I kept crying and my tears went through the clouds making it rain.

Now every time I think about Hades and Persephone I begin to cry, making it rain all over the world.