Leon POV
"Any of you guys ever thought of escaping?"
"Yeah, at first." Sasha answered, "But I was a murderer who betrayed a person's trust, I deserve this, I plan on riding it out."
"Say, on the list there...getting Therapy can help reduce your sentence?"
"I mean if you want to, but it's more for mental health reasons than for reducing your sentence. At least there are a lot of tasks down here, but Mining is the best, trust me, since you'll also get coins along with the time spent, you can use them at the shop."
"Yeah, I'll go mining for now, and I'll relax tomorrow with the therapy thing."
"Why?"
"Might as well experience it...just a question, is there a way to get in contact with Hades or something?"
"You can purchase that in the shop, but I wouldn't recommend it." John answered
They then led me to the shop, a large white building that stood out against the scorching landscape of the underworld. As we approached, I could see people inside, some working, others browsing the various items on display. You could apparently request nearly anything: a TV, food, clothes, even luxury items. But, of course, there was a catch, everything had to be bought with coins.
It's like a super large wholesale supermarket of sorts. Shelves lined the walls, stocked with all sorts of goods, and a counter at the far end was manned by mostly skeletal figures who seemed to be the cashiers, of course, there were regular people as well, and by regular people, I mean like demons, elves, and all sorts...The coins down here were gold in color with no carvings or symbols on them, just simple gold coins. As we moved through the shop, John handed me a small, seemingly ordinary pouch.
"Everyone gets one of these," he said. "It’s a spatial pouch, but its only function is to store your coins. Can’t use it for anything else. You're gonna have to work for it...and if your escape somehow works, the coins can also be used outside."
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After leaving the shop, they took me to the mines. The path there led us deeper into the underworld, where the heat grew more intense, and the air became thick with dust. Eventually, we arrived at the entrance, it was this wide, jagged opening in the rocky landscape. Inside, I could see others at work, chipping away at the walls and sifting through the debris.
The task was simple, mine the rocks and see if you could find anything of value. Minerals, rare ores, anything could be hidden within the stone, but it all depended on luck. You were given a backpack, and whatever you found, you had to bring it back. Stealing from others wasn’t allowed; the gods only valued hard work. If you came up empty, it was just another day of labor, but even just the rocks themselves were acceptable if no valuable materials were found. But they won't reduce your time by much.
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"Just dig and see what you can find," John instructed as he handed me a pickaxe. "You might get lucky and find something valuable—diamonds, iron, maybe even something rarer. But don’t count on it. The gods want you to work for everything, and that means no shortcuts. That also means no donating to others, you won't be punished, but they won't be counted and just be a waste of time."
"How do they know?"
"Magic, I don't know, anyway, get mining, we can talk later."
"Before we start, is there a way we can like...get an enchanted pick or something? To mine faster."
"The shop."
"A literal horsetail?"
"Shop."
"A human skull."
"The shop."
"I once asked for a lizardman's arm...I had to pay for it too, no refunds, and once the orders got accepted, you have to cancel within like 10 hours, I did it as a joke and ended with that for a couple of minutes before I burnt it." Sasha chimed in
"Fun."
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3rd Person POV
Lux sat in the dimly lit chamber of the judges, scanning the documents they had handed her more carefully. As she flipped through the pages, something caught her eye that caught her eyes earlier...a detail about Leon that made her pause. According to the papers, he had been adopted, his birth parents unknown. It was the kind of mundane, human record that wouldn't raise any alarms. But Lux knew better.
The humans who documented his life had no way of understanding his true origin. As she continued reading, her suspicion was confirmed. A sample taken by the guards before they threw him into his cell had revealed something extraordinary—he possessed the blood of a god. This wasn’t just any mortal and he was someone she determined with potential to be a hero as well, despite him not having the attitude of one.
All those chosen would have their life interfered with and brought to one place to be whisked away, their personalities and potential are almost always properly checked, the heroic qualities are their personalities, as strength could be given, people Like Leon aren't uncommon, some do gain those heroic qualities later down the line...but Leon...he wasn't fully human. Someone with that kind of power didn’t belong among the "safe" prisoners, he could easily cause chaos if provoked.
"A hero with the blood of a god shouldn't be placed among the safe," she said aloud, "He could be dangerous, a threat to the entire balance down here."
The judges, however, seemed unfazed by her concerns.
"We can't help you with that," Minos responded dismissively, "We're judges, not wardens. Our priorities lie in judgment, not in managing prisoners. Sure we have certain authorities, but we rather not focus on them right now as there seems to be a large volume of souls to be judged."
"You might want to find someone else to handle that. We're busy, and frankly, it's not our concern." Aeacus agreed
"Is...is there a way we can confirm his lineage better? To specify who his parents are?" Lux asked
"You might want to ask Hermes, he can get you to someone who has access."
"I see...I will do that...thank you for your help."
"Why do you care so much about this? You're not going to get in trouble for sending him down here. Even if he escapes, there won't be any punishment for you." Rhadamanthus asked
"Because I take my job seriously. I want to prevent such shame from happening in the first place." Lux responded
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Leon POV
As I walked back from the mines, I could feel the stares of the other prisoners on me. Their eyes seemed to follow every step I took, sizing me up as if I were some kind of anomaly. Sasha and John, who had been with me the whole time, started whistling and exchanging glances.
"Well, well," Sasha said with a smirk, "Looks like someone hit the jackpot."
"I’ve been down here for years and never seen luck like that." John agreed, "You should tell me where to mine after you submit all of this, I got only rocks so far."
I glanced back at the backpack I was carrying, overflowing with shiny, rare materials, diamonds, gold, and ores I couldn’t even name. It was hard to believe that I had managed to find all this on my first day.
"Beginner's luck, I guess."