Akashic_Tales Originals
Hades, Inc.: The Billionaire God of Death's Chaotic System
Chapter 15: Brunch with Chaos (1)
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Sunday morning dawned bright and clear over Seoul, the kind of perfect spring day that seemed designed specifically to lull mortals into a false sense of security. Kyra Moon stood before her apartment window, watching sunlight glint off distant skyscrapers while contemplating the surreal turn her life had taken.
On her bed lay the outfit Madame Hye had provided for today's occasion, the elegant pantsuit that shifted between deep green and soft gold depending on the light. Beside it sat the snow globe they had purchased as an offering for Chaos, its miniature Seoul cycling through endless possibilities within its glass confines.
Kyra had barely slept. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw fragments of what had happened at the Transcendence Foundation, the gyroscopic structure spinning, reality bending, Dr. Voss's perfect face cracking to reveal something inhuman beneath. The Mediator. A being neither fully divine nor mortal, but something in between, harvesting soul fragments to build an unauthorized afterlife realm.
And now, in just a few hours, she would be having brunch with Chaos himself, the primordial entity who had existed before creation, father of Hades, grandfather of existence.
"Just another Sunday," she murmured to herself with gallows humor.
Her phone chimed with a text from Haiden:
*Good morning. How are you feeling after last night's adventures?*
Kyra smiled despite her nerves and typed back:
*Like I've had my entire understanding of reality rewritten. Twice. But otherwise fine. How are the soul fragments?*
His reply came quickly:
*Stable. Luna and Aria worked through the night to contain them properly. We've identified 347 distinct soul signatures so far. Restoration will be complex but possible.*
Another text followed immediately:
*Are you having second thoughts about today? No one would blame you for sitting this one out.*
Kyra considered the offer for a moment. It would certainly be the safer option. Dining with a primordial entity was well beyond what any reasonable person would consider an acceptable risk. And yet...
*Not a chance. I'm seeing this through. Besides, I already have the perfect outfit.*
She could almost sense Haiden's smile through his response:
*I expected nothing less. I'll pick you up at noon. Wear the iron bracelet. And try not to worry, my father is chaotic, not malevolent. Usually.*
That last word did little to ease her anxiety, but Kyra was committed. She had faced down the Mediator and witnessed a forced realm convergence. Brunch with Chaos was simply the next logical step in her increasingly illogical life.
She showered and dressed with care, noting how Madame Hye's creation seemed to adjust itself perfectly to her body, the fabric flowing like liquid silk while maintaining its structure. The color-shifting effect was subtle in normal light but became more pronounced when she moved, creating an impression of constant, controlled change, appropriate for meeting the embodiment of Chaos.
At precisely noon, her doorbell rang. When she opened it, she found Haiden standing in the hallway, looking both regal and slightly apprehensive. He wore a perfectly tailored suit in deep charcoal gray with subtle patterns that seemed to move when viewed from the corner of the eye. His tie was the exact shade of shifting gold-green as her outfit.
"Madame Hye's coordination," he explained, noticing her glance. "She insisted we should present a unified appearance."
"For what purpose?" Kyra asked, gathering her purse and the carefully wrapped snow globe.
"With my father, it's best not to question such details," Haiden replied cryptically. "Are you ready?"
Kyra took a deep breath and nodded. "As ready as anyone can be to meet the grandfather of creation over mimosas."
Haiden's lips quirked in a small smile. "That's the spirit."
Instead of heading toward the elevator, Haiden led her to the end of the hallway, where a maintenance door stood slightly ajar. Beyond it should have been stairs or perhaps a utility closet. Instead, when Haiden pushed it open, Kyra found herself looking at a garden path winding through lush greenery beneath an impossibly blue sky.
"We're not in Seoul anymore, are we?" she asked, stepping cautiously through the doorway.
"Not exactly," Haiden confirmed, following her. The door closed behind them and vanished, leaving only more garden in its place. "My father doesn't reside in any fixed location or dimension. This is a... transitional space. A pathway to his current domain."
The garden was unlike any Kyra had ever seen. Flowers bloomed in colors that shouldn't exist in nature, their petals occasionally rearranging themselves when she wasn't looking directly at them. Trees bore fruit that changed variety from moment to moment, apples becoming oranges becoming something alien and unrecognizable before cycling back again.
"It's beautiful," she said, genuinely impressed despite the underlying strangeness. "In a reality-bending sort of way."
"My father appreciates beauty," Haiden explained as they walked along the winding path. "He just has his own interpretation of what that means. To Chaos, constant change is the highest form of aesthetic."
As they walked, Kyra noticed subtle shifts in the environment. The path beneath their feet changed from gravel to cobblestones to wooden planks and back again. The sky cycled through different times of day, though the lighting somehow remained consistently pleasant. And in the distance, their destination kept changing appearance, sometimes appearing as a classical Greek temple, other times as a modern glass mansion, occasionally as something that defied architectural categorization entirely.
"Is that where we're going?" she asked, nodding toward the shifting structure.
"Yes," Haiden confirmed. "My father's current residence. He changes it based on his mood and interests. Last time I visited, it was a replica of a 1950s American diner. Before that, a floating palace made of crystallized time."
"And you grew up with this?" Kyra asked, trying to imagine a childhood surrounded by constant cosmic flux.
"Not exactly," Haiden replied, his expression growing distant with memory. "I was raised primarily in the Underworld by my mother, Nyx. Father visited occasionally, bringing gifts that usually caused minor disasters and lessons that rarely made sense until centuries later."
There was something in his tone, a complex mixture of exasperation, respect, and a very old hurt, that made Kyra reach out and briefly touch his arm in silent understanding. Haiden looked surprised by the gesture but not displeased.
"Family is complicated," she offered. "Even without the cosmic power and reality manipulation."
"Indeed," Haiden agreed with a small smile. "Though I suspect my father's parenting style was unusual even by divine standards."
As they neared the structure, it finally settled into a form, a beautiful Mediterranean villa with white walls, blue accents, and a sprawling terrace overlooking what appeared to be the Aegean Sea, despite them having started their journey in Seoul.
"He's feeling nostalgic today," Haiden observed. "That's modeled after a villa in ancient Greece where we once had a particularly memorable argument about the nature of fate versus free will. It lasted seventeen years."
"The argument or your stay at the villa?" Kyra asked.
"Both," Haiden replied with perfect seriousness.
They approached the villa's entrance, where no door stood, just an open archway draped with flowering vines that seemed to bloom and wilt and bloom again in rapid cycles. Before they could step through, a figure appeared in the opening.
At first glance, he appeared to be a distinguished man in his fifties, silver-haired, tan, with laugh lines around eyes that changed color with each blink. He wore a casual linen suit in white, open at the collar, with no shoes. But the longer Kyra looked, the more she realized that his appearance was constantly, subtly changing, features shifting slightly, height adjusting, even gender briefly flickering before settling back.
"Son!" the figure exclaimed with genuine delight. "And you brought your detective! Wonderful, wonderful. I've been looking forward to this all millennium."
"Father," Haiden greeted with a formal nod. "May I present Detective Kyra Moon of the Seoul Metropolitan Police."
Chaos turned his kaleidoscope gaze to Kyra, and she felt the full weight of his attention, like being simultaneously observed through a microscope and from across a vast distance.
"Detective Moon," he said, his voice somehow containing multiple tones at once. "The mortal woman who walks with Death and does not falter. How delightful to meet you at last."
Kyra recognized the exact phrasing Madame Hye had used, which raised interesting questions about the couturier's connections.
"The pleasure is mine, sir," she replied, falling back on formal politeness in the absence of any protocol for addressing primordial entities. "Thank you for inviting me to your home."
Chaos laughed, a sound that made flowers bloom around his feet and small, impossible creatures briefly manifest in the air before disappearing again.
"So polite! I like her, Haiden. Much better than that Persephone girl you were so hung up on. All pomegranates and seasonal depression with that one."
"Father," Haiden said with the long-suffering tone of someone who had endured such comments for eons, "Detective Moon and I have a professional relationship. And we've brought you a gift."
He nodded to Kyra, who stepped forward and presented the wrapped snow globe. Chaos accepted it with childlike enthusiasm, tearing away the shimmering paper with abandon.
"Oh!" he exclaimed, holding the snow globe up to the light. "A possibility sphere! How thoughtful."
He shook it gently, watching the miniature Seoul cycle through its infinite variations. "And focused on the very city where all the interesting things are happening right now. Perfect. Simply perfect."
He tucked the snow globe into a pocket that shouldn't have been able to accommodate it, then gestured expansively. "Come in, come in! Brunch is ready, and your siblings are already here."
"Siblings?" Haiden repeated, suddenly tense. "You didn't mention others would be joining us."
"Didn't I?" Chaos replied with innocent surprise that didn't quite ring true. "Must have slipped my mind. Just a small family gathering, you, me, your detective, Jinx, and a few others who happened to be in the cosmic neighborhood."
He turned and walked into the villa, leaving Haiden and Kyra to exchange concerned glances.
"Is this bad?" Kyra whispered.
"Potentially," Haiden admitted quietly. "My father rarely brings family members together without an agenda. And some of my siblings are... difficult."
"Difficult as in 'awkward dinner conversation' difficult, or difficult as in 'might destroy reality if they get upset' difficult?"
"Both," Haiden replied grimly. "Stay close to me, and whatever happens, don't make any deals, accept any gifts, or eat anything my father personally offers you without checking with me first."
With that ominous warning, they followed Chaos into the villa.