The Terrors of Tartarus
AUTHOR'S NOTE - - Because I have just seen this episode, I doubt the ending words will be accurate. By that, I mean the words that Hercules and Hades share before Herc jumps into Tartarus. Anywho.... Here goes!
*---------------------------------*
"No, I can't let you just put people in Tartarus just for what they are!" Hercules yelled at his Uncle Hades.
The Lord of the Underworld was silent. Who was his nephew to tell him what to do?
"The only way to save Sarah's soul would be for someone else to go in her place." He said.
"Then take me," The young demigod demanded.
"No one sacrifices themselves. No one shows that kind of courage anymore." The God said.
The young blonde stared at his uncle defiantly until he caved.
"Fine, then go. But once you do, you can't come back." Hades pointed to a portal that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It swirled fiery red and orange.
The young warrior hesitated, not sure what to do. Now that the choice was right in front of him. Iolaus would kill him if he ever found out. The demigod chuckled grimly at the thought of the blonde whirlwind of energy barreling down into the underworld, demanding Hades to let him go.
And Jason, what would he do? His mother would be heartbroken at Hercules choice of fate.
Nevertheless, Hercules leapt through the portal, cringing as the flames crackled and singed his skin.
"NOOOOOO!!!" there was a scream, but it was too late, Hercules had already disappeared. *~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ The demigod closed his eyes against the heat as he flew though it. This was it. The beginning of the end of his life. Sarah HAD saved his life once, but he couldn't do the same for her. The thought gnawed at him. It was almost painful.
The ground suddenly became solid and he fell to his knees. Opening his eyes, Hercules saw waves of heat rising from the pits of blazing lava pits. There was a blade of green grass that immediately shriveled and died at his feet, a symbol of what was to come... The sky itself seemed to be on fire with the hellish inferno. It was bleak, very bleak. The ground was made of rocks, heated until they were painful to walk on.
"It was not your time!" someone nearby moaned, pain laced the voice.
"You!" a gruff, new voice came, along with a rough shove to his feet. "You are Hercules, are you not?"
The young demigod looked into the deep crimson eyes of his captor and nodded. Seeing the scarlet colored skin, Hercules came to the conclusion that he was a demon.
'Puh, of COURSE it was a demon! What else would it be?' the blonde thought to himself furiously.
"I am known as Zealer. Your semi-divine powers have no use here, young Hercules, "the demon said, tightening his hold on his shoulder. "You are here for all eternity."
The demon led Hercules towards a forest he hadn't noticed before.
"Where are you taking me?" the boy demanded.
The demon looked down his abnormally long nose before answering his hostage.
"To the Forest of Fire and Doom. It is a place of suffering, agony and sorrow. There you will be torture to insanity and be forced to perform slave labor to build a new prison for all the new souls."
"Great..." Hercules groaned, trying to shrug the massive gnarled hand off of him.
He tried to ignore the shrieks of pain, the screams of misery, as they walked towards the forest.
It didn't look like an ordinary woodland. The trunks of the trees seemed to glow with devious energy. The bark was not brown, but ruby, glittering with a ability all it's own. The leaves weren't green either. They were glistening drops of blood, suspended by unknown power.
"Why is it called 'The Forest of Fate and Doom'?" Hercules asked, dreading the answer.
"There, your fate will be decided by those higher than I. They will decide what you are good for," Zealer replied.
"Oh," was all the young warrior said.
They continued to walk, the cries of anguish bombarded Hercules' ears. He wouldn't be able to stay here for all eternity. He could already feel his strength fading with each step closer to the Forest. Soon, he'd be like any other mortal.
It seemed to take forever to reach their destination, but in reality, it only took around twenty minutes. He was in a small cavern of trees, closed in by the demon behind him.
The great demon leading the demigod shoved him suddenly and he landed hard on his knees.
"Oh, Great Ones, please tell this lowly human his instructions," said Zealer.
A voice that was like an echo could be heard the instant Zealer finished his sentence, making the demigod look up into the pale faces of the immortal ones.
"Take him to the prison cells, we will decide what to do with him when he finishes the Trials."
Uh oh, trails. Tests. Not good. This was SO gonna be trouble with a capitol 'T'.
"Trial? I didn't hear anything about any trials!" said Hercules, nervously.
"FOOLISH MORTAL!!" one of the roared, "DO YOU QUESTION OUR ORDERS?"
Immediately, Hercules shut his mouth. There was no use in angering the head honchos here.
"Take him away!" one yelled.
Zealer took him by the shoulder again and led him out of the cavern.
"Come, young one," was the only thing the demon said, leading him away.
"What are the Trails?" the demigod asked.
"If I told you, I would be killed on the spot," said Zealer.
Herc walked in silence, guided by the crimson demon. Before long, he could see a tall, black spire. His prison...
An escort of three more blood red demons came when they got inside.
"Take him to the highest room," was the simple command. *~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~
Herc was ushered to a small room, to which the doors opened. They walked into the little place and the doors closed behind them.
'Great, I wonder what's going on n—' "WHOA!" his thought were cut off when the room suddenly began moving, pushing them all towards the floor.
The doors opened again a moment later, and a window was right in front of them. The young demigod walked to it, reeling back when he saw that they were exceedingly, overwhelming high up.
"How in Hades' name did we get so far up?" Hercules yelped.
"We call it an elevator," one of the demons said, smirking at his victim's discomfort.
'An elevator, eh?' the near mortal thought, edging back to the window out of curiosity.
He looked and saw all of Tartarus spread around him. The Forest of Fate and Doom was at his right, while a large group of lava pits were at his left. All the land appeared to be separated.
They took him by the arms again and led him to a room. When they opened the doors, the young warrior was instantly filled with dread.
In the room, there were all sorts of tools of torment and pain.
'I did this for Sarah, I can take this. She'll be going to the Elysian Fields now,' He thought, as they took his shirt and tied him to a thick wooden post in the center or the chamber. That thought seemed to fill him with comfort, and he was no longer afraid.
His bare back was exposed to them now. Hercules knew what was coming before it actually happened.
"CRACK!" and a lash fell across his back, making him cry out in sudden pain.
Another stinging blow landed. And another, another, another. Yet another stroke fell firmly, leaving another gash.
It went on like that for ages, and it may have been ages. By the time the Great Ones called for him, Hercules could feel blood oozing down his back.
The demons slashed through the ropes binding him and the young warrior slumped to the ground, exhausted and in agony.
'No, I have to be strong!' he thought, clinging to consciousness.
It didn't help for him to just THINK that, because before he knew it, the welcomed arms of darkness were cradling him and he fathom no more. *~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~
When Hercules awoke, he was in a clearing. Not a nice, lush, green clearing, but a barren, rocky one, but at least he had his shirt back.
"For your first Trial, you will face the Soul Devouring Basilisk. His poisonous fangs will melt your flesh at the slightest touch," it was Zealer that was speaking.
"Great, a basilisk. Just what I need after a nice little torture session,' the blonde though sarcastically.
Zealer threw a blade down to him, letting him know that that was HIS weapon now. The blade was his only protection, for he could carry nothing else.
Hercules gave a small nod of thanks, wincing as the action pulled at his back.
He looked in the corner of the stadium and saw the cage that held his death. The door opened and out slithered a colossal serpent. The blue and black scales glistened in the light of all the scorching fires. It slithered towards him slowly, as if sensing that its prey was already wounded.
"Okay, Herc, you can do this," the adolescent combatant said to himself, not believing a word of it.
He raised his sword, preparing to do battle. This would be over soon. He would get out of here sometime.
The basilisk charged unexpectedly, catching the demigod off-guard. He raised the sword too late and the fangs glanced off his arm, making him shriek in pain. It was like..... acid, dissolving his skin, right to the bone.
His vision clouded in as the giant serpent lunged at him again.
"Great, THAT could have gone better," he murmured, watching his killer through watering eyes.
There was a sudden tugging at his chest. He looked down to see nothing, but the annoying pulling continued.
Hercules closed his eyes, welcoming the death of his still-living body, finally being able to get away from the pain.
The pulling intensified, he could feel fire again. His sword was jerked sharply out of his hand, it fell to somewhere unknown. His feet left the ground and he knew what was happening.
The ground became hard again, but this time, he fought to stay on his feet and succeeded.
Opening his eyes, he saw her, Sarah, and Hades. Hercules never thought he'd ever be glad to see that particular uncle, but he was. He could also feel his divine strength flooding back to him, a most welcomed feeling.
"Hercules!" Sarah cried, joyfully, throwing her arms around him, he fought to keep from showing pain.
"Hercules, you can go back. Both of you have shown unwavering courage and loyalty to each other, a rare trait now a days. Therefore, you are free to go," Hades explained.
"Thanks Uncle Hades," Herc replied, "And Sarah will go to the Elysian Fields?"
Hercules whooped loudly at the Lord of the Underworld's nod.
"Thank you!" the demigod cheered.
"Hey, Herc. We gotta get back!" it was Jason! He'd never been so happy to hear his voice in his life!
"Okay, I'm coming!" Herc grinned at the thought of seeing all of his friends and family again.
Stealing a quick kiss on the cheek from Sarah, he whooped again, shook his uncle's hand in a warrior's handshake, then ran to meet Jason. *~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ *~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ They both blinked at the bright light. Having left the Underworld, Herc and Jason could now go soak Iolaus, who was stuck in the dunking booth at the Academy for the small festival.
"I'm glad that's over," said the future king of Corinth.
"Yeah, tell me about it," the demigod sighed, rolling his sore arm.
The poison did fade, and his wounds appeared to be healed, but it was just an illusion, so no one would worry. Hercules had just asked Hades to do that last favor.
"Come on!" Jason suddenly called, "We need to soak Iolaus!"
Hercules grinned at his friend's excitement. The wounds would fade, just like the pain of the memories.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~* ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ THE END
AUTHOR'S NOTE - - Because I have just seen this episode, I doubt the ending words will be accurate. By that, I mean the words that Hercules and Hades share before Herc jumps into Tartarus. Anywho.... Here goes!
*---------------------------------*
"No, I can't let you just put people in Tartarus just for what they are!" Hercules yelled at his Uncle Hades.
The Lord of the Underworld was silent. Who was his nephew to tell him what to do?
"The only way to save Sarah's soul would be for someone else to go in her place." He said.
"Then take me," The young demigod demanded.
"No one sacrifices themselves. No one shows that kind of courage anymore." The God said.
The young blonde stared at his uncle defiantly until he caved.
"Fine, then go. But once you do, you can't come back." Hades pointed to a portal that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It swirled fiery red and orange.
The young warrior hesitated, not sure what to do. Now that the choice was right in front of him. Iolaus would kill him if he ever found out. The demigod chuckled grimly at the thought of the blonde whirlwind of energy barreling down into the underworld, demanding Hades to let him go.
And Jason, what would he do? His mother would be heartbroken at Hercules choice of fate.
Nevertheless, Hercules leapt through the portal, cringing as the flames crackled and singed his skin.
"NOOOOOO!!!" there was a scream, but it was too late, Hercules had already disappeared. *~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ The demigod closed his eyes against the heat as he flew though it. This was it. The beginning of the end of his life. Sarah HAD saved his life once, but he couldn't do the same for her. The thought gnawed at him. It was almost painful.
The ground suddenly became solid and he fell to his knees. Opening his eyes, Hercules saw waves of heat rising from the pits of blazing lava pits. There was a blade of green grass that immediately shriveled and died at his feet, a symbol of what was to come... The sky itself seemed to be on fire with the hellish inferno. It was bleak, very bleak. The ground was made of rocks, heated until they were painful to walk on.
"It was not your time!" someone nearby moaned, pain laced the voice.
"You!" a gruff, new voice came, along with a rough shove to his feet. "You are Hercules, are you not?"
The young demigod looked into the deep crimson eyes of his captor and nodded. Seeing the scarlet colored skin, Hercules came to the conclusion that he was a demon.
'Puh, of COURSE it was a demon! What else would it be?' the blonde thought to himself furiously.
"I am known as Zealer. Your semi-divine powers have no use here, young Hercules, "the demon said, tightening his hold on his shoulder. "You are here for all eternity."
The demon led Hercules towards a forest he hadn't noticed before.
"Where are you taking me?" the boy demanded.
The demon looked down his abnormally long nose before answering his hostage.
"To the Forest of Fire and Doom. It is a place of suffering, agony and sorrow. There you will be torture to insanity and be forced to perform slave labor to build a new prison for all the new souls."
"Great..." Hercules groaned, trying to shrug the massive gnarled hand off of him.
He tried to ignore the shrieks of pain, the screams of misery, as they walked towards the forest.
It didn't look like an ordinary woodland. The trunks of the trees seemed to glow with devious energy. The bark was not brown, but ruby, glittering with a ability all it's own. The leaves weren't green either. They were glistening drops of blood, suspended by unknown power.
"Why is it called 'The Forest of Fate and Doom'?" Hercules asked, dreading the answer.
"There, your fate will be decided by those higher than I. They will decide what you are good for," Zealer replied.
"Oh," was all the young warrior said.
They continued to walk, the cries of anguish bombarded Hercules' ears. He wouldn't be able to stay here for all eternity. He could already feel his strength fading with each step closer to the Forest. Soon, he'd be like any other mortal.
It seemed to take forever to reach their destination, but in reality, it only took around twenty minutes. He was in a small cavern of trees, closed in by the demon behind him.
The great demon leading the demigod shoved him suddenly and he landed hard on his knees.
"Oh, Great Ones, please tell this lowly human his instructions," said Zealer.
A voice that was like an echo could be heard the instant Zealer finished his sentence, making the demigod look up into the pale faces of the immortal ones.
"Take him to the prison cells, we will decide what to do with him when he finishes the Trials."
Uh oh, trails. Tests. Not good. This was SO gonna be trouble with a capitol 'T'.
"Trial? I didn't hear anything about any trials!" said Hercules, nervously.
"FOOLISH MORTAL!!" one of the roared, "DO YOU QUESTION OUR ORDERS?"
Immediately, Hercules shut his mouth. There was no use in angering the head honchos here.
"Take him away!" one yelled.
Zealer took him by the shoulder again and led him out of the cavern.
"Come, young one," was the only thing the demon said, leading him away.
"What are the Trails?" the demigod asked.
"If I told you, I would be killed on the spot," said Zealer.
Herc walked in silence, guided by the crimson demon. Before long, he could see a tall, black spire. His prison...
An escort of three more blood red demons came when they got inside.
"Take him to the highest room," was the simple command. *~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~
Herc was ushered to a small room, to which the doors opened. They walked into the little place and the doors closed behind them.
'Great, I wonder what's going on n—' "WHOA!" his thought were cut off when the room suddenly began moving, pushing them all towards the floor.
The doors opened again a moment later, and a window was right in front of them. The young demigod walked to it, reeling back when he saw that they were exceedingly, overwhelming high up.
"How in Hades' name did we get so far up?" Hercules yelped.
"We call it an elevator," one of the demons said, smirking at his victim's discomfort.
'An elevator, eh?' the near mortal thought, edging back to the window out of curiosity.
He looked and saw all of Tartarus spread around him. The Forest of Fate and Doom was at his right, while a large group of lava pits were at his left. All the land appeared to be separated.
They took him by the arms again and led him to a room. When they opened the doors, the young warrior was instantly filled with dread.
In the room, there were all sorts of tools of torment and pain.
'I did this for Sarah, I can take this. She'll be going to the Elysian Fields now,' He thought, as they took his shirt and tied him to a thick wooden post in the center or the chamber. That thought seemed to fill him with comfort, and he was no longer afraid.
His bare back was exposed to them now. Hercules knew what was coming before it actually happened.
"CRACK!" and a lash fell across his back, making him cry out in sudden pain.
Another stinging blow landed. And another, another, another. Yet another stroke fell firmly, leaving another gash.
It went on like that for ages, and it may have been ages. By the time the Great Ones called for him, Hercules could feel blood oozing down his back.
The demons slashed through the ropes binding him and the young warrior slumped to the ground, exhausted and in agony.
'No, I have to be strong!' he thought, clinging to consciousness.
It didn't help for him to just THINK that, because before he knew it, the welcomed arms of darkness were cradling him and he fathom no more. *~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~
When Hercules awoke, he was in a clearing. Not a nice, lush, green clearing, but a barren, rocky one, but at least he had his shirt back.
"For your first Trial, you will face the Soul Devouring Basilisk. His poisonous fangs will melt your flesh at the slightest touch," it was Zealer that was speaking.
"Great, a basilisk. Just what I need after a nice little torture session,' the blonde though sarcastically.
Zealer threw a blade down to him, letting him know that that was HIS weapon now. The blade was his only protection, for he could carry nothing else.
Hercules gave a small nod of thanks, wincing as the action pulled at his back.
He looked in the corner of the stadium and saw the cage that held his death. The door opened and out slithered a colossal serpent. The blue and black scales glistened in the light of all the scorching fires. It slithered towards him slowly, as if sensing that its prey was already wounded.
"Okay, Herc, you can do this," the adolescent combatant said to himself, not believing a word of it.
He raised his sword, preparing to do battle. This would be over soon. He would get out of here sometime.
The basilisk charged unexpectedly, catching the demigod off-guard. He raised the sword too late and the fangs glanced off his arm, making him shriek in pain. It was like..... acid, dissolving his skin, right to the bone.
His vision clouded in as the giant serpent lunged at him again.
"Great, THAT could have gone better," he murmured, watching his killer through watering eyes.
There was a sudden tugging at his chest. He looked down to see nothing, but the annoying pulling continued.
Hercules closed his eyes, welcoming the death of his still-living body, finally being able to get away from the pain.
The pulling intensified, he could feel fire again. His sword was jerked sharply out of his hand, it fell to somewhere unknown. His feet left the ground and he knew what was happening.
The ground became hard again, but this time, he fought to stay on his feet and succeeded.
Opening his eyes, he saw her, Sarah, and Hades. Hercules never thought he'd ever be glad to see that particular uncle, but he was. He could also feel his divine strength flooding back to him, a most welcomed feeling.
"Hercules!" Sarah cried, joyfully, throwing her arms around him, he fought to keep from showing pain.
"Hercules, you can go back. Both of you have shown unwavering courage and loyalty to each other, a rare trait now a days. Therefore, you are free to go," Hades explained.
"Thanks Uncle Hades," Herc replied, "And Sarah will go to the Elysian Fields?"
Hercules whooped loudly at the Lord of the Underworld's nod.
"Thank you!" the demigod cheered.
"Hey, Herc. We gotta get back!" it was Jason! He'd never been so happy to hear his voice in his life!
"Okay, I'm coming!" Herc grinned at the thought of seeing all of his friends and family again.
Stealing a quick kiss on the cheek from Sarah, he whooped again, shook his uncle's hand in a warrior's handshake, then ran to meet Jason. *~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ *~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ They both blinked at the bright light. Having left the Underworld, Herc and Jason could now go soak Iolaus, who was stuck in the dunking booth at the Academy for the small festival.
"I'm glad that's over," said the future king of Corinth.
"Yeah, tell me about it," the demigod sighed, rolling his sore arm.
The poison did fade, and his wounds appeared to be healed, but it was just an illusion, so no one would worry. Hercules had just asked Hades to do that last favor.
"Come on!" Jason suddenly called, "We need to soak Iolaus!"
Hercules grinned at his friend's excitement. The wounds would fade, just like the pain of the memories.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~* ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ THE END