The Skull Of Hades

Nuxs ears perked up at those words and a wide hideous grin crept up his face, scaring those around him away.

"Finally." He said.

He turned around and sped to Mr Nicole who was already heading in his direction. They met half way and walked to the center of the gathering where an altar stood.

The altar was carved out of a black stone, its circular edges were smooth and had red rubies embedded in it, mystical carvings were etched onto its surface and filled with what looked like liquefied rubies, though it looked more like blood.

At the center, there was a smooth circular table carved out of the same black stone, with a red skull sitting menacingly on it.

The skull had the same shape and size of a Human's, but on the sides of its head, there were two pitch black horns protruding from it, its eye sockets were like two abysmal black holes that sucked in any form of light that reflected in it.

Its black teeths were sharp and beast like, and from its mouth, a dark miasma was constantly being released, but became diluted with air until it was completely removed.

The skull released a pressure that weighed down on everyone's shoulders like an invisible mountain, but with a simple thought, the pressure dispersed.

This skull was known to everyone as... The Skull of Hades.

According to the world's lore, Hades was one of the gods who had made contact with them, he bestowed one of the thousands of skulls attached to his body, letting them use it as a medium to awaken a Beast Soul. Nux wasn't sure if this was true, but time will tell.

He was wished good luck by his two guardians, and he walked briskly towards the youths that were all waiting in anticipation for what was to come.

At the center, Nux was welcomed to the sight of youths of all sizes and shapes, waiting patiently. Tere was a boy who was so fat, he took two meters of space around him, but even with his weight and size, he still walked just fine. Nux was surprised by the boys sumo like appearance, but he ignored him and continued scanning the area.

The man who had exclaimed earlier, cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention, and then began to speak.

"WELCOME EVERYONE!! To the annual Beast Soul Awakening Program." Loud cheers and a round of applause echoed.

"Today, our lovely youths will be creating a bright future for themselves with the power about to be conferred upon them by the gods.

Their potential will be determined by the strength and latent talent of their Beast Souls, and they will make our kingdom proud and bring us to the top."

The grey haired man spoke with so much fervor and happiness, that the people around couldn't help but get infected with it, they cheered happily and danced around as if they were the ones who were about to awaken.

Most commoners never awakened, they were said to not have sacrificed and prayed enough to the gods to be granted a Beast Soul.

They believed that it was the gods who were granting them Beast Souls to merge with and have access to powerful abilities.

Nux didn't believe in all those crap, but there really wasn't any other plausible answer to where Beast Souls came from.

"So make welcome, the first awakener, Scarlett Yuri." The man's voice reached their ears and they all turned to look at each other, to see who was called up.

Soon, a drop dead gorgeous red haired walked towards the altar the man stood on.

Her red hair was waist length, she had bright brown eyes, rosy red lips that matched her hair, and long smooth legs that were showing beneath her long red dress.

She walked with her head a bit down, her cheeks were red with embarrassment as everyone openly gawked at her. She didn't look like the type of girl that used her beauty to get what she wanted, but the type that was treated like she was everything even when she didn't ask for it.

She reached the altar where the grey haired man smiled lovingly at her, he reached out his hands and gestured for her to walk closer to the skull.

She shivered at the sight of the abominable skull, expecting it to lunge at her and start devouring her in large chunks.

"There's no need to fear it, it's as calm as a lake in summer and won't harm anyone." The old man comforted.

Scarlett steeled herself and walked towards the skull where the man stood. She placed her hands on it on the orders of the old man, and then he began to chant in a foreign tongue.

"IN THE NAME OF THE GOD OF HADES!!! GRANT UPON YOUR DAUGHTER THIS DAY!!! THE POWER OF A BEAST SOUL!!!"

Responding to his call, strong winds began to billow around the altar, blowing up the clothes of the man and Scarlett, the skull floated high up and it's pressure beared down on them with much more potency, causing some of them to go on their knees.

Scarlett, whose hands were on the skull, was also levitating just as high, she had her eyes closed and was twitching on the spot.

Nux was among the few that were able to stand strong and push back the pressure. He stared at Scarlett with awe and amusement, she seemed to look like a celestial with her skin that began to glow and her hair that move like she was under water.

As everyone was eyeing this unexplainable phenomenon, they could see a bright light begin to shine on her chest, it wasn't seen at first by those behind her, but the glow turned so bright, it illuminated the gathering, surpassing the light of the sun.

When they thought things couldn't get any weirder, a book –as red as blood– weaved itself into existence from the light shining. The book was twenty inches in height, as thick as two full grown men's hands, and twelve inches wide.

A terrifying deep growl escaped the Skull of Hades, sending shivers down the spine of anyone whose ears picked up the sound, and as silent as a phantom, a human looking creature in blood red armour stepped out, bowing to Scarlett before turning into a beam of light that shot into the book and disappeared under everyone's astonished gazes.