On the hanging fortress of Hades, where black stone walls gleamed with an otherworldly luster and golden chandeliers burned with ghostly flames that never dimmed, a grand dining hall stretched vast and imposing, its ceiling high enough to vanish into shadow.
At the center of the long table carved from obsidian, the King of the Underworld sat in his quiet majesty, while on either side of him rested the three goddesses who had bound themselves to his fate—Aphrodite, Hera, and Hecate.
Divine spirits, their forms radiant yet subdued, glided silently across the hall, balancing trays of delicacies, pouring shimmering wines into golden goblets, and setting platters of meat roasted to perfection upon the table.
Aphrodite, in her usual manner, could not let the silence linger.
