Hell was never silent.
Even in its deepest pits — where time twisted and the air tasted like burning iron — something always moved. Something always watched. Something always waited.
Delta stood at the edge of the obsidian cliff overlooking the First Abyss, his cloak snapping in the sulfur wind. Beneath him, the rivers of molten stone pulsed like the heartbeat of an ancient beast.
His hand rested on the hilt of his arm blade. Habit. Instinct. Memory.
He breathed in.
"I forgot how loud this damn place is."
A chuckle echoed behind him.
"You say that every time you return."
Delta didn't turn. He already knew the voice. Smooth. Cold. Amused.
Hades.
The King of the Underworld stepped beside him, tall and calm, a man carved from midnight. His eyes glowed with that same quiet fire — the kind that could burn worlds or warm lost souls.
"You look troubled, Delta," Hades murmured. "Even for you."
Delta's jaw tightened. "Something's wrong. I can feel it."
"Oh? The Guardian of Hell gets uneasy and suddenly I'm supposed to panic?" Hades smirked. "Relax. Nothing escapes my domain."
A tremor crawled through the earth.
Delta raised a brow.
Hades' smirk faded.
"…Fine. Almost nothing."
---
THE DISTORTION
A crack in the distance split open — not in the ground, but in reality itself.
Dark light poured through it. A distortion. A ripple. A wound in the world.
Delta's eyes narrowed. "It's getting worse. The barriers shouldn't bend like that unless—"
"Unless someone powerful is trying to get in," Hades finished, voice suddenly low.
A shriek ripped through the sky, shaking the cliff beneath them. Flocks of shadowed spirits scattered, panicked.
Hades stepped forward. "I placed five seals on that barrier. For it to crack means—"
"That your seals aren't enough," Delta said. "Or something ancient woke up."
Hades glared sideways. "Remind me, who's the right hand here? You or me?"
Delta shrugged. "I guard. You think. Good system."
Hades groaned. "Infuriating child."
Despite himself, Delta smirked.
---
THE SUMMONING OF THE THREE
A horn sounded in the darkness — deep, rumbling, shaking the air.
Hades straightened. "They're already gathering. Come."
With a flick of his hand, the world twisted. The cliff dissolved. Their bodies dissolved. Reality folded like paper.
When Delta's vision cleared, he stood inside:
The Throne Hall of Shades.
Enormous. Gloomy. Lit by torches of blue flame that devoured light instead of giving it. Souls drifted through the walls like smoke. The ceiling disappeared into endless void.
At the center, Hades' throne — a colossal structure of bone and obsidian — pulsed faintly with ancient runes.
Three figures waited before it.
1. Morvanna — The Warden of Torment
A tall woman clad in barbed armor. Her voice was a rasp wrapped in silk. The air bent slightly around her, reacting to her authority over pain.
2. Varkos — The Beast General
A hulking creature with curved horns and molten cracks in his skin. His breath alone could melt steel.
3. Selene — The Whispering Judge
A pale, quiet figure with ink-black eyes and a mask shaped like a crescent moon. Her voice could command truth itself.
They bowed as Hades approached.
Selene spoke first. "My lord, the rift widens. Something presses against it from the Void Beyond."
Morvanna hissed. "Let me march the torment legions. Whatever wants in, I'll flay it before it breathes."
Varkos stomped forward. "Or let me devour it."
Delta raised a hand. "Relax, muscles. We're not trying to start a war we don't understand."
Morvanna scoffed. "Says the man who killed three gods in one afternoon."
Delta shrugged. "They started it."
Selene tilted her head. "Do not provoke him, Morvanna. Delta acts because he must."
"Because he chooses," Hades corrected softly, eyes on Delta.
Delta ignored them all, staring instead at the reflection of the barrier in the hall's mirrored floor.
The crack was bigger now.
A lot bigger.
---
THE FIRST SIGN
A whisper — soft as ash — slithered through the hall.
"Delta…"
He froze.
The others looked at him.
Hades frowned. "Who called you?"
Delta didn't answer.
The whisper came again.
"You… finally returned…"
Not a voice from Hell.
Not a voice from a god.
Not anyone he knew.
A voice from the outside.
A presence touched his mind — cold, ancient, almost… affectionate.
Delta staggered backward, hand gripping his blade.
Morvanna: "Guardian? What is it?"
Hades stepped toward him, eyes narrowing. "Delta, who did you hear?"
Delta swallowed.
"I don't know. But it knew my name."
The hall fell silent.
For the first time in centuries… Hades looked afraid.
---
WHEN THE SKY BREAKS
A deafening crack tore through the entire Underworld.
The torches extinguished.
The throne cracked.
Souls screamed.
The barrier — the one that protected Hell from the Unknown Beyond — finally shattered.
A fountain of dark light erupted, twisting, spiraling, forming a shape.
A silhouette.
A woman.
A presence so colossal and overwhelming that even the generals dropped to their knees.
Her voice echoed through every layer of Hell at once—
soft, gentle, terrifying:
"Found you…"
Delta's heart stopped.
He recognized that voice.
The cosmic whisper.
But before he could react—
The woman stepped through the broken barrier, her form cloaked in swirling shadows and starlight.
Her white eye glowed.
Her dark blue eye swirled like infinity.
It was—
**Noctis.
The Eternal Night.**
Her gaze locked onto Delta.
Her smile was soft.
Playful.
Possessive.
"Come here, my sweet Delta."
Everyone froze.
Delta whispered,
"…Noctis?"
Hades whispered,
"Oh, shit."