The dragon answered truthfully, as he knew no other way. “I am not entirely certain of even where here is…”

The giant was taken aback. “Brother, do you truly not recognize the first layer of the realm I am charged with administering…?”

“Asphodel…” whispered the dragon.

The giant looked on him for a moment, his eyes blazing brightly. However, the gleam soon died, and that dour face softened. Though this tiny fragment of his brother was alive, he existed in a confused manner similar to the dead. There was clearly a reason for him to be in this place.

The female voice spoke up once more, “Oh, he’s injured! We should take him home, dear.”

“Injured?” the giant man gazed at the dragon then nodded. “Gravely, at that.”

A slight feminine form alighted from the chariot. Not even as tall as the dragon, the hawk-winged figure rushed over to the dragon and began to fuss about.

The giant coughed into his hand, then sighed. His dear wife was the soul of kindness. Was there truly a reason to fuss and bother over the broken remnant of one of a multitude of their brother’s variations? Though, in all honesty the giant did allow his gaze to linger on the injured party. A semblance of concerned cross his face.

The angelic woman bumped her forehead against the dragon’s forehead and looked into his eyes. She giggled sweetly, then wrapped her arms around him and promised him that they would take good care of him.

“Persephone, dear one, remember when we discussed this before…” said the giant.

“Hmm? A discussion?” she asked, her arms still wrapped tightly around the dragon. Her cheek pressed against the dragon’s cheeks, she pouted up at the giant. “I have no idea what you mean, Hades.”

The giant rolled his eyes and released an amused snort. “No. Of course you don’t…”

“Anyway, let’s get him back to the house… he could use a proper meal. I swear he’s wasting away!” said Persephone. She glanced over at the wisp who hovered nearby and noted that she seemed concerned and nervous. “and bring his little friend…”

“Of course,” said Hades. “If he wishes to accept the invitation.”

A message window popped up in front of the dragon. It was an invitation to enter that abyssal palace of Lord Hades. However, there was also one other bit shown.

“Your rent is past due?” asked the dragon curiously.

Hades suddenly stood even more upright than before and made a slight choking noise. “That…”

Persephone giggled into her hand then winked at the dragon. “Now that was worth coming all the way out here to see.”

The dragon and his somehow talkative wispy companion climbed up onto the chariot and they all rode off down the meadow. Soon, the horses took to the sky and flew across it like some sort of hellish mockery of Santa and his sleigh. Perhaps Hades spent the holidays moonlighting as Krampus? One could never be certain.

They flew across the sky so fast and so fiercely, that the wind that whipped around them created streamers of light. Something within the chariot’s construction cause that wind not to assault the riders, but they were clearly moving faster than anything the dragon’s fragmented memories could recall having ever seen.

Even so, the trip took quite some time. The castle of Hades proved to be an intensely foreboding structure. Black steel spires mixed with ancient gothic architecture, and an entrance way shaped like a titanic skull, that the dragon’s sensibilities told him probably did not quite jive with the idea of an ancient Greek sounding deity. Still, it was an impressive edifice.

A fiery river flowed around the place as it continued from one end of the horizon to the other, and even the horses could not seemingly fly into the area as they were made to land in order to cross a large stone bridge.

Flames shot up in pillars as the chariot rumbled across the bridge, but soon the chariot came to a halt as a tremendous beast appeared. A three-headed rottweiler taller than a school bus glared menacingly at the chariot.

“Away with you, beast,” said Hades imperiously.

The dog scented the air and growled again. He took a step toward the chariot.

“I was concerned about this…” Hades glanced down at the dragon. “Cerberus has noticed your scent.”

“My scent?” asked the dragon. He looked at the big dog, rather what his brain wanted to call a Three-headed Pickles. It slavered and glared menacingly the whole time.

“Yes. I rarely bring anyone else home. He no doubt wonders at who you are,” said Hades.

His entire existence at this point was one akin to a waking dream-state. Like in any dream, the mind accepted things at face value. In a dream people would do things they would never do when awake, and solely because they operate on something akin to a more basic logic. A dusty corner of the dragon’s mind regurgitated an analogy. At the moment, his brain was booted into safe mode with a DOS command prompt.

As such, he was uncluttered by all the memory files one would normally have if his operating system were fully functioning as normal. At least, that was what his dusty fragmented memories claimed.

He ignored that, because he had been given important information. This Pickles was angry because it did not know him. His brain spat out a simple method to let a dog get to know and trust him.

The dragon hopped out of the chariot and walked forward calmly. Hades was immediately alarmed, but strangely Persephone merely looked on expectantly.

“Brother… that might not be a good idea,” said Hades.

The dragon walked up to the angrily growling Pickles and lifted his hand lightly upward. Cerberus drew back slightly and growled at him with greater aggression. The dragon did not move. He merely continued to hold out his hand.

Slowly, a certain shimmer came to the dog’s eyes. All six of his ears perked up slightly then folded down. He leaned one head in and lightly snuffled at the dragon’s hand.

The effect was electric. The dog suddenly barked excited then tackled the dragon to the ground. Two of his heads barked happily while the third licked the dragon’s entirely body in one great slurp.

Cerberus bounced back rocked from side-to-side and then turned in a giant circle. All three heads barked happily while his tail wagged with excitement. He bounded around like an excitable puppy, the entire bridge shaking with his movements.

“Ah. Seems he remembers you after all, brother,” said Hades. His dour face split apart in the grim parody of a smile. It was nice to see old friends reunited.