"This is a really bad idea, Gajeel!" Levy said nervously as she followed the Iron Dragon Slayer down into a wide crevice in the ground. Gajeel ignored her as they entered the dark tunnel, and Levy nearly slipped on the damp, slick ground. The walls were black, and it wasn't long before the two wizards were engulfed entirely in the smothering blackness.

     "So this takes us to the Underworld?" Gajeel's voice echoed eerily around the tunnel walls, and Levy shivered.

     "Yes, I'm pretty sure," she nodded, "But that doesn't mean we have to go!"

     "I never told you to follow me," Gajeel grumbled, "If you're gonna get scared, go back already. I ain't got time to deal with you and the lord of the Underworld."

     "This is the worst idea you've ever had," Levy frowned in annoyance at him, crossing her arms, "And I'm following you to make sure you don't do anything stupid!"

     "Like go to the Underworld? Because you're doing a wonderful job."

     "It's not my fault you don't listen to me! Seriously, Gajeel, can't you challenge a minor god or something?"

     "I already told you, I ain't just gonna be a normal god when Sparky's taken over Olympus. I'm gonna be the king of the Underworld." Gajeel told her firmly, and Levy sighed. there was no arguing with him.

     "Fine," she relented, "But you at least have a plan of attack, right?"

     "I do have a plan."

     "Okay, what?"

     "Find Hades, kick his immortal butt to Hawaii, and take over the Underworld. Simple," Gajeel shrugged.

     "That's not a plan!!! That's a summary of what you want to happen! I meant like an actual plan, that actually will help you," Levy said exasperatedly.

     "Yeah, I ain't got one of those." 

     "You're doomed."

     "Natsu beat the god of war, I can beat the god of dead people. You're just over-reacting." Gajeel said, taking a turn down the tunnel, and it opened up into an enormous cavern, so massively huge that they couldn't see the edges of it. Beneath them were very long lines of transparent people just standing there, waiting to be judged on their past life. Farther along was a huge pit of lava bubbling in the ground, stretching off in the distance. Souls writhed around in the boiling rock, and their screams could be heard, as loud and terrible as nails over a chalk board. The sound made the hair on the back of Levy's neck prickle uncomfortably.

     "Wow..." she stared out at the distant grounds of the Underworld, "It's huge."

     "Now how the heck do we get down?" Gajeel peered off the edge of the cliff they were standing on, "We gotta be at least several hundred feet off the ground."

     "Charon," Levy told him.

     "Gesundheit."

     "No, Charon, the boatman!" Levy said, "He's the one who ferries the souls to the Underworld, and he's right over there!"

     Sure enough, in the direction she was pointing, there was a man standing in what looked like a very old, broad canoe. He was carrying a boat paddle, and was ushering recently deceased souls into the long boat.

     "Great, let's go," Gajeel stepped forward, but Levy grabbed his arm, saying, "They won't let you on, you have to give him a drachma."

     "Are you making up these words?"

     "You're an idiot, did you know that?" Levy face-palmed in exasperation, "A drachma is a Greek coin used for payment. You have to buy your way onto the boat."

     "Or I could kick Charon off the cliff and steal the boat."

     "It doesn't work like that! Charon isn't expendable, and you don't know where Hades is." Levy told him, sounding more and more annoyed, "You know what? Just follow me." she dragged him towards the boat, positioning herself beside a woman dressed in fancy clothing.

     "If you want to find Hades, play along," she hissed, and said loudly, "I can't believe we weren't buried with a drachma! I guess our parent were too poor... but now we'll be stuck here forever!"

     "Don't be stupid, we ain't dea-" Gajeel started, but Levy stepped on his foot.

     "You two don't have a drachma?" the woman standing next to them looked over at them, "Are you two siblings?"

     Gajeel was about to shake his head, but Levy said hastily, "Yes, we are." She tried to sound downcast, and apparently she did, because the woman gave her a sympathetic look.

     "You poor dears," she sighed, "How'd you die?"

      "Um, car crash. Mom already went ahead, so we're all alone," Levy sighed, "Oh, I wish we had two drachmas!"

     "I have a few spare," the woman said, "I was lucky enough to be buried with five drachmas, just in case. Would you like two?"

     Levy's eyes lit up, "You'd do that? Thank you!!" she accepted the drachmas as Charon swept his dead-eyed gaze over them. She thanked the woman again, then shifted through the crowd, stepping onto Charon's boat. Gajeel followed her, and they gave the money to Charon.

     Charon's eyes flickered, as if he could tell something was different about them, but he didn't say anything. The dead ferryman accepted the money, shoving them in his pocket, then moved on to the next person.

     Levy sat down, winking at Gajeel, "See, it's better to have a plan then just making it up as you go along."

     "Whatever, And I thought you didn't even want me to go to the Underworld." Gajeel shrugged, and she frowned.

    "Yeah, why did  I help you? Argh! Now you're going to fight Hades!" Levy threw her hands in the air.

     "You wish to see Master Hades?" Charon turned his dead eyes upon them as the last person boarded the boat, "What for?"

     "Pressing matters," Levy said calmly, "Could you please take us to him?"

     "Maybe..." Charon's voice was hollow, and sounded as if it rattled in his chest, "If you are willing to pay..."

     "Pay what?" Gajeel frowned.

     "A soul. Perhaps of one of you..."

     Gajeel glanced at Levy and she scowled at him, "Not on your life!"

     "Fine. Chiron, I'll give you whatever you want."

     "Did you seriously just call him Chiron?" Levy gave Gajeel an incredulous look, then put a hand over her face, "Oh my gods, Gajeel."

     "Ain't Chiron the Greek guy?"Gajeel frowned.

     Charon did not look amused, "What... did you just call me?"

     "Chiron. You got a problem with that?" Gajeel growled into the ferryman's face, looking ticked off.

     "He's saying Charon," Levy said quickly, "He's just got... an accent. Right, Gajeel?" she gave him a meaningful glance, and he frowned.

     "Sure, whatever." he sat back, rolling his eyes.

     Charon glowered at him, then slowly turned away as another man asked him a question.

     "Still don't see the problem," Gajeel growled.

     "Chiron is a centaur. Half horse, half man. If you call Charon Chiron, he takes it as a huge insult." Levy explained, "That's like me calling you Lucy."

     "The Bunny Girl? Yeah, that's insulting."

     "Exactly, no offense to Lucy though."

     "Hey, is this boat moving through the air?" Gajeel glanced over the side of the boat, down into the screaming souls in the pits of fire beneath them, "That's pretty brutal. Do those dead guys ever get out of that?"

     "Not usually, no." Levy sighed, "That's where the sinners go. The ones who did really bad things in their lives."

     "Yikes. Hope I never go there."

      "Guess where you're going if Hades beats you?"

     "Where?"

     "There. And that's if you're lucky. Sometimes Hades comes up with more brutal ways to torture people.  Like the man who's eternally hunger and thirsty, and he's stuck standing in a lake beneath a fruit tree." Levy told him.

     "That doesn't sound so bad." Gajeel shrugged.

     "But every time he bends down to take a drink, the lake pulls back away from him. And every time he reaches up to eat, the branches of the fruit tree are lifted up out of his reach. So he's forced to stay hungry and thirsty forever."

     "I take back what I said." Gajeel stopped looking down at the souls, frowning at Levy, "Guess I'd better not lose."

     "Yeah." Levy sighed, covering her ears against the screaming.

     "Doesn't Hades have another god down here?" Gajeel asked for the sake of changing the subject.

     "Yep. His wife, Persephone." Levy said, "The goddess of flowers."

     "Fine. I'll beat Hades, kick out Persephone, and you can become the goddess of flowers."Gajeel shrugged, "That way we gan both be some sort of god. Even if Hades is way cooler. Somethin' tells me that by the time this is done, everyone from Fairy Tail who came's gonna be some kinda god."

     "Okay, thanks... I think." Levy brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, glancing over the edge of the boat as they drifted over a field of white flowers."

     "This place looks nice," Gajeel commented.

      "The Fields of Asphodel." Levy told him, "That's where most people go, if they've never really been good or bad in their lives."

     "We are approaching Hades's castle," Charon said, and the boat halted beside a tall dark castle the was level with the boat. 

     Gajeel and Levy climbed out, and slowly walked towards the doors.

     "We shouldn't be doing this," Levy said in a warning tone, but Charon's boat had already pulled away, drifting back towards the judging place.

     "Whatever." Gajeel pushed open the door, and walked inside. He was immediately greeted by a large dog, with jet black fur, dark eyes, and over-sized paws, "A hellhound!"

     "It's just a puppy," Levy patted the dog's head, "He's not going to hurt anybody. But you're right, it is a hellhound."

     Suddenly, a woman with long red hair, wearing a flower-patterned sundress barged in through another door, "Hades! I told you not to let the dog out!" she noticed Gajeel and Levy, and frowned, "Did you invite two living mortals in here? Because there are two mortals here." she faced them, "What're you two doing down here?"

     "Um, we need to speak to Hades," Levy said.

     "Hey, I think they're from that guild that dethroned Zeus!" Persephone called through the wall, "They want to see you! What should I tell them?"

     "Thank 'em and tell them that if they want to take over the Underworld, they're welcome to it for awhile," Hades himself burst into the room, "Zeus denied us our vacation, so I'm gonna go anyway."

     "He sounds like you," Levy smirked at Gajeel.

     The Iron Dragon Slayer rolled his eyes, and Hades continued, "And I need to teach him some rules, because he went and took a vacation anyway!"

     "I keep telling you, you can't just go on vacation and leave the Underworld in chaos! Can you imagine all the things that could happen? And who would feed Cerberus?" Persephone argued. 

     "Um... your mother?"

     "She's a cat person."

     "How was I supposed to know that? She's obsessed with freaking cereal!"

     "She's a vegetarian."

     "First time I've heard of it."

     "You've been married to me for centuries!!! How could you not know she was a vegetarian?"

     "I kidnapped you and dragged you to the Underworld. I have already proven that I am an incompetent husband!"

     "True."

     "Don't agree with that! Never mind! Anyway, you stay home then."

     "Absolutely not."

     "Hey, we're free, we could watch the Underworld while you're gone," Gajeel suggested.

     "The kid's a genius!" Persephone threw her hands in the air, "Yes, let's let them take our place! Were you seriously planning on leaving me here?"

     "Um... no." Hades avoided eye contact, "Right."

     "Let's just get ready," Persphone sighed, "Come on, let's go."

     "Agreed." Hades picked up the hellhound, tucking it under his arm, "Come on!" He left, and she followed him, leaving Gajeel and Levy to wonder how becoming the king of the Underworld was so easy.

     "Well... that worked," Levy said, glancing up at Gajeel, "Looks like you're the king of the Underworld now. And I'm in charge of a giant three-headed dog."

     Gajeel grinned, "Well, that ain't bad. Anyway, let's go check out my castle!"

     Levy rolled her eyes, but followed him into the castle, shaking her head.