The decoration of the Dining Room was much more detailed than the previous times. The chandeliers had been polished until your reflection could be seen, the shine of the cutlery and plates was so strong that it seemed more like the lights that mortals use to illuminate their homes, the chairs had been changed for ones manufactured only a week ago, without any scratches.

Hades had tried a lot harder these days to make The Dinner more memorable.

And, oh! How memorable it was going to be!

The extra decoration made the Palace look much more imposing, more intimidating, as if the simple fact that a mortal deigned to breathe the air, that passed through its walls, was wrong. Everything was done coldly calculated to terrify their new guest.

Hades had thought for many weeks about whether to send the card invitation or not. He knew he now had a son-in-law —there was no way Apollo's sperm would break up with his son. He himself would make sure that if that happened, and his son ended up with a broken heart, the blonde fool was going to end up with something else broken — and family gatherings were going to have to increase, just hoped that the family would not increase for at least a few more years.

Hades was deeply saddened —well, not that deep, but the thought was there— that his daughter would not be able to attend these events; having more company to scare Apollo's brat was always going to be welcome.

"Darling, Margot is asking if she should set up the room next to Nico's" Persephone surprised him from behind - not that that was something he was ever going to admit.

"Margot..."

"Antonieta's maid, remember?" His wife sighed when he denied almost imperceptibly "You hired her to take care of the kids."

Oh.

Some time ago, he noticed the disorder that was forming in the Right Wing of the Palace, where the rooms were, especially the area where his son spent his time.

Nico's room had always been a disaster - even more so in his extreme emo goth era - and having to deal with clothes strewn in the hallways or music rackets on the sofa cushions was not in Hades' plans, so he opted for let someone else take care of stressing about it.

Margot Faure was Maria Antonieta room maid for a few years — she had good recommendations among the judges — The woman was his best choice for maintaining order in his house. Over time, she not only took care of his teenage son, but also his teenage nephews.

"No" he responded to his wife's question. "The child will see where to sleep."

The Palace had been built with several rooms for different purposes. There were main rooms, for family members, personally furnished with each person's tastes and with the finest materials; guest rooms, which weren't used much, but were there; rooms for the servants, which were also not used, the dead don't sleep — he had to designate each of them a room, tho. Hades didn't want to have an employee strike.

There were many places to sleep, everything mentioned above, the living room, the stable, the dungeons...

"Sending him to the cells is not up for discussion." Persephone crossed her arms and looked at him reproachfully.

"They have to learn to survive in all types of environments!"

"You're not going to send the child there."

"But, Persephone!-"

The smell of Ossobuco — his son's favorite — filled the entire Palace. The decorations were already everywhere, not an inch or so out of place, the servants were in their assigned positions, and Thanatos had already arrived and was crossing the front garden.

Hades had put on one of his custom-made Italian suits and the newly purchased shoes from Paris — He wasn't going to tell Persephone that those cost almost as much as the garden she had planted at the back of the Left Wing — He was tempted to put on music and dance at the rhythm of it on his enjoyment of the semi-mortal's upcoming humiliation at his hands.

"Honey, the boys are going to be arriving any minute. You should hurry."

"They are children, they are rebels, especially with that boy Jackson there. They are going to arrive late as an act against oppression."

Persephone, his beautiful wife, was dressed in a long dark green dress, accentuating her hips and waist; Her long black hair was loose and fell gracefully down her back. Every time he saw her, he remembered why it was worth having to hang on with Demeter at breakfast.

Just as his wife said, he felt the presence of living beings approaching his Palace. Hades hurriedly tied his right shoe and went down the stairs quickly. Too late he realized that he could have appeared at the front door with just thinking about it.

Hades conjured a mirror, adjusted a last strand of hair—hearing Persephone sigh tiredly—and putting on an annoyed face, he flung open the door.

His not-so-annoying blonde nephew was at the head of the group of teenagers, before the kid could give his polite greeting, —That boy did have good manners, there weren't any of those these days — he was abruptly pushed out of the way by his mortally annoying other nephew.

"What's up Uncle H?"

Hades blinked twice and sighed. He will never get used to the chaos that was being surrounded by teenagers.

Fuck it

It was the last thought that invaded his entire brain before starting what was going to be that endless dinner.