A/N: …after all those hectic days like I was being chased by a rabies dog (a.k.a. deadlines for my assignments), FINALLY, weekend! OH GOD, I LOVE WEEKENDS. I thought I was going insane! I wrote this chapter just so I can FINALLY relax that at least I've updated one story this week. Last week I was too busy I couldn't write a thing at all. TT-TT But I was cheered by the fact that I could still draw since I've gotten myself a DeviantArt account! :D Updated news about American Wife's Doujinshi and my other doujin projects, including a still-developing fan-made game will be posted there. The link is on my profile page (woot! Met several friends from FF, really glad to meet and chat with them up there too) :D
August… I'm waiting for you with excruciating impatience! ;A;
Rating: M for language and suggestive themes.
Main Pairing: USxUK
Side pairings: GiriPan, RoChu, FraNada, GerIta, SpaiRoma, DenNor, SweFin, and others.
Ares-Arthur/England
Heracles/Hercules-Heracles/Greece
Zeus-Francis/France
Apollo-Vash/Switzerland
Artemis-Lili/Liechtenstein
Athena-Elizaveta/Hungary
Dionysus-Feliciano/N. Italy
Demeter-Katja/Ukraine
Poseidon-Ivan/Russia
Hermes-Lovino/S. Italy
Hephaestus-Berwald/Sweden
Hestia-Natalia/Belarus
Hades-Lukas/Norway
Warnings: M-rated contents, and language. Some stuff are made-up, plots based on Grecian myths. This story is purely fiction.
Chapter Twelve: Underworld
This was not good.
That statement crossed his mind over and over again, as Mathias panted slightly, wiping the drops of sweat that gathered on his sweaty temples. He hung his head, his chest heaving up and down. He had a hand clutched at the rather damp, rough surface of the cave wall to support his tired, bent back and knees, trying to catch up his laboring breaths. His eyes were shut, white steam came out of his parted lips at each gasp of air he took and blew out.
Slowly, he opened his eyes and lifted his chin. What he saw was the exact same room he had waked himself into God knew how many hours ago. The room with exact height and width, the same numbers of spiky stalactites that hung dangerously fragile in the ceilings, the same numbers of stalagmites nearby the cave walls, the same numbers of unknown, hollow corridors, as well as the same eerie noises it made. He had somehow managed to get back there again, even though he had tried to search for an exit - or at least get a gist of where he was.
But not only he had gotten absolutely nothing about his own whereabouts after walking around for approximately hours - he couldn't tell the flow of time there - he had managed to return to the starting point again, for the fourth time in a row after four attempts he had made by venturing four different corridors but always ended up in the same place, in which meant his exhaustion and struggles had come in vain. He was not getting anywhere at all. Mathias let out a frustrated growl, as he panted, glaring holes at the silent, hollow cave and its eerie corridors. He bit his lower lip and shivered at the increasingly freezing, damp air seemingly came from those corridors.
Where in the world was he?
This was definitely not a dream, but surely a nightmare turned reality. He did not know how and why he get in such a place, he didn't even remember how he ended up there! The dane sighed exasperatedly. He felt so exhausted and irritated and anxious and angry, even a bit scared. He had absolutely no idea where he was, and after all that searching hinted nothing about it. He neither found an exit, nor an entrance.
He couldn't even find sunlight anywhere, even the tiniest hole that let the warm sunlight peek inside, although it was supposedly still daytime. Nothing. Only the spine-chilling darkness and the dim light those strange mosses that grew all over the cave walls emitted. Otherwise, it was like some endless maze-like corridors that led him into the same place all over again. Only this place was completely shut out from the outside world, like an underground bunker without any escape route. Completely shut in.
Mathias had come to a horrible conclusion that he might have been trapped within this godforsaken place.
And he was not calm about it.
The dane gritted his teeth, straightening his bent knees and back. "Like hell I'm gonna be trapped here any longer."
This was not funny. There was no way he would be trapped there alone without any sustenance or a compass, even if it was just a bad joke his teammates might've been trying to pull on him. If that was the case, although Mathias didn't know why they did this to him, but they had gone too far with their jokes. This was no longer funny if it was a matter of life and death, something for some reasons, or for the lack of maturity or intelligence in his teammates' minds, that they didn't seem to know when to quit.
Really, how many times had Mathias refused to join in their 'little games' and ended up saving another poor kid who was locked inside a locker, or when they decided it would be 'funny' to leave some oblivious junior underclassmen deep within the forest during the summer camps? How many times he and Alfred had to sneak in the middle of the night with only flashlights in hands, trying to look for those kids before they froze to death? No matter how much he tried to stop them, they never stopped. And now, Mathias might be the next target, perhaps because he was always disagreeable to them.
If that was the case, they should think of a better plan.
Although he had quit for the basketball team, he was once an active member of the Diverventure club, a club where dare-devils gathered together to venture into the wildest forests and wildernesses, hike the tallest, riskiest mountains, and canoe down the most ferocious rivers. He had been a member since a young age of twelve, together with his more masculine dad who was the founder of that club. Since he was young, his dad had taught and trained him how to survive in the nature like a true Viking (for his dad was a Scandinavian Vikings-fanatic), as well as the knowledge needed to survive.
Once, when he was fourteen, Mathias got into an accident that had caused him and his dad to split from the rest of the group in an expedition. Both of them got lost within the thick rainforest of Sumatra, without even having a compass or food in hand. They survived by hunting down rabbits and eating edible plants and roots before the team found them a month later (his more feminine dad was there too, crying his eyes out while embracing both of them tightly).
In those days, his dad had thought him a lot of important things no school could teach him, that if he ever got lost again in a forest but alone at that time, he should always be calm and keep his head held high and alert for the things that would come for him. Yeah, this was not the time to be pessimistic. He had to use his brain and think of a way to get the hell away from here.
Mathias walked further into the big, empty room, throwing his gaze around and about. He gazed at the entrances of the four corridors where he had left some arrow signs made of the rubbles on the cave floor, in which he realized there a sign he arranged himself at his feet, and a letter '1' made of the rubbles next to it. He glanced at the entrance of the fourth corridor he entered just a while ago and the number he added beside it, noting that it led to the first corridor he had entered.
There were several forks along the first corridor, in which he had also tried each of them, and all led to either the fourth corridor or the third. The second corridor, the forks led to either the first corridor or the fourth. The third corridor's forks led to either the first or the second while one way only went around in a circle, while the fourth led to first or the second. So, he concluded those corridors were indeed, a maze.
And they strangely seemed designed to confuse people who just might not have enough composure or mental strength that they might lose their calm and go on rampage within the suffocating darkness and the strange, chilling wind that made eerie noises along the corridors, seemingly whispering something to the ears and causing them to look behind, where no one was there. And the harsh, endless dark mazes only increased paranoia and anxiety. Ordinary people would lose their sanity after a while, possibly died from starvation or accidentally killed themselves. The fact that Mathias saw the remaining of bones and skulls along the dim paths only proved that theory was right.
Mathias gulped.
No, he mustn't think so pessimistically.
But he couldn't help but to think he was being thrown into such a wrong, wrong place. Not to mention the strange and frightening aura he felt lingering in the thin air that the stank of damp, rotting flesh. He could hardly think anyone would survive this nightmare embodiment. It was unlikely to think anyone could live in such a place for long. And… and what if the two remaining corridors proved that there was no exit after all? That he would be trapped there to starve to death, or lose his sanity and die in the darkness like the rest of the skeletons he found?
A drop of cold sweat trickled down his temples, and he clenched his fists.
"There's only one way to find out."
He took a step forward and another, and he eventually made a beeline towards the two corridors he hadn't venture in yet. The dark gaping entrances were next to each other, while Mathias stood in between them, several feet away. He had to choose, the left or the right. Mathias could hear his heart beating loudly in his ears and sweat soak his back. He felt a bit scared despite his determination. But he had to choose and embrace whatever fate it would bring him bravely, just like what his dad taught him. His adoptive parents didn't raise him to be a coward.
Swallowing the spit that gathered at the back of his throat, Mathias turned right.
He shivered when a chilling, ghostly-sounded breeze went past below his ears as he stepped into yet another darkness. This time, there weren't any dim-lighted mosses to let him see a gist of what was in front of him, and a rather thick, cold mist had replaced the dim space, so Mathias trailed his hand along the damp, spiky cave walls and walked slowly in the blind murkiness. There was nothing but uncomfortable silence and occasional unearthly whispers of the wind, also the freezing mist that seemed to get thicker and colder at each step he took.
Mathias could feel his body shaking and shuddering under the deathly, sinister air, all the more because his clothes had became slightly soaked from the dampness of the cave air. There was nothing that protected him from the bone-chilling temperature. He stopped for a while after about ten minutes of walking to breathe in, blowing white steam as he breathed out. He lifted his chin and glanced over his shoulders while turning his body half-way around, spotting a very small source of light at the end of the tunnel.
Compared to this creepy darkness, he would rather go back there, where at least he could see his own hands right before his eyes. He even considered to go back. But he knew that would accomplish nothing. If he did return, he could only hope for something that probably wouldn't come.
So Mathias gritted his teeth and continued onward.
After a couple more minutes of walking blindly, it was unexpected that he found no fork so far, unlike the other tunnels he had been before that had many forks that eventually led to the same place all over again. It was only a straight, sometimes crooked way so far. But the mist had certainly thickened, and it rendered him a bit hard to breathe, as it stank damper and colder than before. He began panting slightly. The darkness certainly had something to do with the sudden suffocating feeling he got, and his heart rate increased wildly, as if trying to get out of its ribcage.
In the darkness he could see nothing. He didn't know what was in front of him but the threads of fog. He could only feel the cold air that bit into his skin, and the rough texture of the cave walls and floors. He could hear nothing but the sounds of his own breathing and the wind that seemed to whisper something to him, sometimes sounded like a soft laughter, sometimes a growl or an eerie howl.
And he was alone. Alone to fend for himself. When he looked over his shoulders, no light existed anymore. Darkness, only the darkness. The suffocatingly cold, sinister darkness. If he had been a lesser man, Mathias was sure he would've gone mad, if he hadn't already.
He tried to hard to keep his mind calm, to be level-headed, as he went on, dragging his hand across the rocky walls. But that was very, very difficult to maintain. He was only a kid. A teenager, not an experienced, infamous adventurer like his dad, who had survived many things, including the wars in the Middle East. He was young and inexperienced. He was only Mathias, not a superhero extraordinaire like the ones he saw on Alfred's collection of comics. He had been lost in the forests several times before, but never within a cave. He could think of ways to run away from predators or fight them if absolutely necessary, but he had no idea how to fight things he could not even touch, like the wind, the darkness, or the cold air.
Mathias admitted he felt scared.
After a while, he encountered some forks, deciding to go left this time. He encountered a couple more, then decided to try different paths. But so far, he found nothing worth mentioning. There was always the identical-looking tunnels, the same cave walls, the same ghostly fog, the coldness, the darkness, he couldn't tell them apart at all. He couldn't tell where he was. He couldn't tell how many hours had it been since he had entered the hole. But he assumed a mere couple of minutes would seem like forever in such a place.
He stopped on his track and looked back into the dark passageway, and saw it was too late to go back now. Mathias didn't remember the way back, nor did he put some signs. He was too engrossed in his anxiety and paranoia to be able to think straight. Mathias cursed under his breaths, clamping his eyes shut. How could he be so stupid? He had forgotten to put the signs on, when it was one of the basics of survival his dad taught him!
Always put signs when you were lost, so you could go back to your safe point. Always. And he chose to look for the exit by himself when he knew he was supposed to wait in the same place, so the search team could find him faster, instead of going from one place to another. Although it was a long shot, Mathias could try it, who knew someone would come and get him if he had stayed in that room. Dammit! He felt so stupid!
"AAAAH! DAMMIT!" He growled out in frustration, his voice echoed throughout the corridor. Clutching at blonde bangs and shutting his eyes, Mathias hid his face behind a big hand and hung his head.
What should he do now? He had ran out of ideas and the little patience he had left. He knew he was getting nowhere. Would he find a way out or would he die in this deserted place? He didn't know, he knew nothing of his own future. He hadn't see this coming at all. So much for a psychic he was, Mathias sarcastically thought, leaning his back against the stony wall.
…or so he thought it was.
Instead of landing against a slimy, solid rock, instead he found his back leaning against a none existent wall he had thought was there in the blind darkness. In his surprise, Mathias stumbled backwards, losing his balance, then soon one of his heels slipped on a slimy edge of the rocky floor, down into a hole he hadn't expect to be there. Before he could fall into the strange abyss, Mathias quickly grabbed a hold on the edge in which he slipped onto, clutching at it desperately with his left hand.
He glanced down at pit, petrified when he saw nothing but another darkness beneath him. "Shit…" He mumbled, turning his gaze up, trying to hold on to his only lifeline. "Nngh!" Mathias tried to get himself back up, his right hand reached for the edge, but quickly slipped away from the slime that seemed to cover the rest of the space but the one he had his left hand on.
But it wasn't strong enough to support Mathias weigh, as he felt his fingers were getting numb and shaky from trying to hold on for too long. The Dane tried to keep his hold as long as he could, but it was in vain when a finger began sliding away, soon followed by another. Mathias was horrified, only two fingers wouldn't be able to hold his weigh for another second! And he was right.
Soon, his hand couldn't take it anymore and Mathias clenched his eyes as he fell, wanting to scream but he couldn't seem to bring it out. Strong wind blew at him from behind as gravity took control of his body, his heart beat loudly in his ears and he silently prayed, waiting with tightly shut eyes for the moment he would crash against the bottom of the pit and most likely die.
A moment later, his body did reach the end of the hole, but to his surprise, he fell head first and sank into a cold wave of what he could only recognized as water, his entire body being surrounded by wet coldness. Mathias snapped his eyes wide opened, slightly gaping his mouth in response. Water soon entered his parted lips and he closed them immediately before it filled his lungs. His widened eyes took the sight of murky dark indigo color and deep green that went to a brighter color when he glanced up. Then he held his breath.
He must've fallen into a lake or something! What luck he had today, Mathias both thanked and cursed, starting to spread his arms and legs wide and move them, swimming towards the source of light, probably the surface. "Phwaah!" Mathias let out a relieved shout when he reached the surface, taking in as much air as he could. It was a good thing that he could swim well, despite the depth of the lake. After a few seconds of gasping for air, his ears caught the sounds of screaming.
He spontaneously turned his head towards the source of the screams, feeling his face and ears growing hot when he spotted six very beautiful, very naked women at the shore, trying to cover their beautiful, plump breasts from Mathias' curious eyes with towels. He felt his cheeks grew even hotter, but it was rather hard for him not to look at them, and the fact that he found other people beside himself, after being isolated alone for hours, he couldn't help but to feel happy and want to talk with them.
But this was not the perfect opportunity to have a chat, it seemed.
"I-I'm so s-sorry! I-I was just - just…" He couldn't find the right word, staring at the murky reflection beneath him while trying to keep floating.
Oh crap, before he was just a foot away from being a madman, now he was the peeping tom.
The women didn't seem to believe nor did they hear him, as they've scooted away from the water and disappeared beyond the cave wall in incredible speed, before Mathias could say anything else, leaving the Dane boy with a stoned outstretched hand alone in the middle of the lake.
He sighed.
But he was still alive, and there were other people beside him, so he could ask about the exit to them. …once he had cleared the misunderstanding. It was good enough, Mathias looked at the bright side, looking up at the huge, gaping whole on the ceiling, then he looked at the dim surface of the water. It was the first time he had seen a real underground lake in a cave. He'd heard about it plenty of times a lot, but this was the first time he saw and thrown into one. And in such a weird way too. What an experience.
Then he sneezed.
Finally realizing how freezing the water and how wet he was, Mathias thought he had better swim to the shore and dry himself before he caught a cold. Being able to stay alive and meet other people brought a great relief to his heart and mind, and he felt his exhaustion had flown away somewhere, replaced by a new vigor. The Dane swam leisurely towards the shore, feeling the water depth became shallower and shallower, until he could walk in the water as it now was at level with his waist.
But as he was about to reach the shore, he halted his legs when his eyes took the sight of one of those beautiful chicks earlier, a short-haired blonde beauty with dim violet eyes was leaning comfortably against a large stone with smooth surface only ten feet on his left, her body from chest down was still within the murky water, preventing Mathias from seeing anything at all (much to his disappointment). She seemed unfazed by his appearance, unlike the other five chicks. She was really cute, he noted.
Her unblemished skin was pale like the snow and seemed to sparkle although the cave room was dim. Her composed face was expressionless, making her appearance seem like an expensive porcelain doll. She was beautiful, but cute. Mathias couldn't decide which. Plus, she looked very intelligent and quiet. The type of girl Mathias would take an interest in the first sight. Looked like she realized he was staring, as those unreadable violet eyes suddenly turned to him, making Mathias feel awkward.
"Did my lecherous brother send you here too?"
…wait, why did her voice sounded so deep? And spoken with such formal, mature choice of words that seemed to show wisdom.
His question was answered when the chick suddenly rose up from the water to stand up, and the Dane's eyes went wide and he was disappointed when he saw that her chest was as flat as a board. And… and when his eyes trailed slightly down, that dangly thing was there. A guy. So that was why he didn't freak out like the rest of the chicks who got actually got breasts. Mathias cursed mentally, eying at the smaller guy up and down.
…but damn, was that guy very cute for a guy. He possessed a slim, slender body of a late bloomer who didn't seem to have hit puberty yet and very smooth pale skin. Mathias couldn't recall any girl he met had such a beautiful skin. Though when he looked closely, that guy's features did have sharp masculine characteristics, but softer than average guys. He was the perfect example of a pretty boy. And Mathias had thought that Bieber kid looked prettier than most girls. This guy apparently fell to the same category.
"…really, they were really noisy." The pretty blonde guy spoke again, pulling him from his thoughts. The smaller boy took a towel from the huge stone and wrapped it around his waist.
A sigh, then he glanced tiredly at where those chicks disappeared. "I hate noisy nymphs, I told him that. And yet he sent them here, saying he wanted to 'cheer' me up. In the end he sent me nothing but a pack of bored, hungry whores who kept begging me to fuck them every single day. It is getting quite annoying. I owe you one, young man. I really need some time away from them." He turned to Mathias again, wearing a doll-like expression and monotone voice as he spoke.
"S-sure. No problem…" Mathias scratched the back of his head. Nymphs? Did he mean those girls? He asked wordlessly, wondering why the guy would want to throw away a man's dream so willingly.
The smaller man looked at him oddly, suddenly getting close to him, staring up and down at him as if assessing. Mathias could only stare in confusion at the strange, sudden gesture.
"I thought you were a male nymph my idiot brother sent to me." He suddenly said, seemingly curious but amused in the same time. "But it looks like I am mistaken. Have you gotten lost here, young soul?"
Mathias raised a fine brow. Young soul? "Well, I think I'm lost. I don't know how I got here in the first place, and I don't know how to get out, I thought my teammates got something to do with it - oh!" He suddenly remembered. "Oh yeah, can I ask where the exit is? I think it's getting late, and my dad will get mad if I don't go home for dinner, he said he's trying this new recipe and he'll cut my allowance if I don't get home on time for taste-testing…"
The smaller blonde tilted his head. "What are you talking about? You cannot return to the world of the living, boy. For you have become an inhabitant of the Underworld."
Mathias paused.
"…oookay…" He laughed softly. "Okay, I love jokes as much as you are, kiddo, but you gotta learn to read the situation. Underworld or not, I have to go home quick or my dad - "
"What I meant is that you're already dead, young human." The pretty boy uttered, with a serious expression that clearly declared that he did not joke. "This place is the outskirt of the Underworld capital city, in the world of the dead. And no living being could enter the Underworld, you being here means that your soul has detached from your physical body and sent to, what do you humans call it? Ah, the afterworld. It is a world where you will live after you died." He finished in the same monotonous voice.
Mathias was about to say something to deny the strange kid's ridiculous statements, but it suddenly came down to him, that exactly before he found himself waking to a completely unfamiliar place, he was supposedly still in the school, that he fell down the stairs and hit his head hard enough to bleed. He remembered it was very painful, like he had cracked his skull or something. And he remembered his friends and schoolmates gathered around him, making a fuss over him, Alfred and Greg and…
His eyes went wide.
…and the angel of death.
A hand quickly went up to the spot on his head where the injury was supposed to be, but his head was completely fine. There was no hole, no blood, no… pain. How could he recover so fast and not wake up in a hospital bed instead of a cave floor? And he was sure that painful experience was no dream, it wasn't an imagination either. He was sure it was real. But it didn't make any sense at all! …or did it?
The angel of death said it was his 'fate' to die in that moment. And he told him he couldn't escape it. And the first thing he remembered right after he blacked out, was him waking up alone in a deserted, godforsaken place. With no trace of injuries at all. Then… then was he… was he really… dead?
Mathias gulped.
"No… way…" He whispered in disbelief, wide eyes staring blankly at his own hands. "Am I... dead…? B-but I…"
"Death is something humans could not escape no matter what they do." The boy suddenly said, looking absently into the lake. "Humans born, age, and die. It's a cycle of life. It makes no different whether they die sooner or later, so why not sooner? Humans always say living is hard, many prefer death and committed suicide. The only thing matters is whether they can enter the heaven, or be thrown in the depths of hell. And you…" He glanced at Mathias again with those deep purple eyes that seemed to reflect mystery and darkness.
"You should rejoice. Your soul is loved by the gods. You will join them in the heaven." He uttered.
Mathias was dumbfounded. "The angel of death… said that too." He mumbled softly. "But I don't get it. What's so special about me? I… I don't want to die. Not right now. I think I'm too young to die. I still have so many things I want to do. I still want to see my friends, I want to talk with them, laugh with them, study with them, play basket with them. I…" He bit his lower lip.
I want to live.
The boy tilted his head as if he didn't really understand what Mathias was talking about. "…is it not enough for you to go to heaven? Humans truly are greedy creatures." He uttered, rubbing his chin in thought.
"Normally, I would not spare a glance to a lost soul and I would immediately send them to the styx to fend for themselves, but I owe you for driving away those noisy nymphs. And it seems by the looks of it, you do not posses the necessary items to pay for Charon's ferry." He nodded to himself, looking up at the taller blonde.
"Fine then. I shall invite you as my guest, to stay at my castle. That way, I will not upset the balance, since it is still within the Underworld, and it is up to me how I would treat my guests."
"Your castle?" The Dane was taken, blinking at the smaller blonde.
The boy nodded. "It's been a while since I have a guest over other than my nephew, I prefer to preserve my privacy. But my younger brother has ruined it when he sent those nymphs. But I've gotten bored of them, I'll send them back later. Now that you will stay at my castle, I won't be alone." Mathias thought he was just seeing things when he saw a gleam of childish excitement appeared but then disappeared within those seemingly depthless eyes.
"You live alone?" Mathias asked.
The boy's eyes suddenly darkened, then he averted his gaze. "…I used to live with my wife." He uttered almost in whisper, his gaze seemed forlorn. But then it turned to expressionless and unreadable again. "But she's no longer there." Then he went silent.
"O-oh…" Mathias scratched the back of his head, feeling awkward. Though a random question popped in his head about the guy's real age crossed his mind for a bit. He seemed so young.
"Sorry for that. So… umm… about that offer… are you sure that I can stay at your place?" He said, timidly glancing at the smaller blonde. He had thought it was a good deal, since he absolutely had no idea about this place. It would've been better to accept a kind offer from a local, he thoughtfully decided. Survival came first, he could mourn and gloom for his own death later.
Mathias felt a thump in his chest when he saw the blonde's expression suddenly brightened up (event though he still looked expressionless). "Of course. I owe you, young human. And I have always kept my promise." He uttered monotonously.
"Cool. But uh, my name's not 'human'. It's Mathias. Mathias Kholer. Call me Matt if you want. That's what my friends call me." He mentioned.
"Mathias Kholer? I will call you as such."
"Oh, and what's your name?"
The pretty blonde looked up at him, his violet eyes flashed a strange gleam.
"I am Hades, the Lord of the Underworld. Nice to meet you, Mathias Kholer."
TBC
A/N: Okaaayy… I know Disney and some other films make Hades looks like an extremely annoying, scheming, evil, and rather gay, asshole. But let's see the fun fact in the REAL mythology about Hades:
Despite modern connotations of death as evil, Hades was actually more altruistically inclined in mythology. Hades was often portrayed as passive rather than evil; his role was often maintaining relative balance. Hades ruled the dead, assisted by others over whom he had complete authority. He strictly forbade his subjects to leave his domain and would become quite enraged when anyone tried to leave, or if someone tried to steal the souls from his realm. His wrath was equally terrible for anyone who tried to cheat death or otherwise crossed him, as Sysiphus and Pirithous found out to their sorrow.
Because of his dark and morbid personality, he was not especially liked by either the gods or the mortals. Feared and loathed, Hades embodied the inexorable finality of death: "Why do we loathe Hades more than any god, if not because he is so adamantine and unyielding?" The rhetorical question is Agamemnon's (Iliad ix). He was not, however, an evil god, for although he was stern, cruel, and unpitying, he was still just. Hades ruled the Underworld and therefore most often associated with death and was feared by men, but he was not Death itself — the actual embodiment of Death was Hades, god of the dead, was a fearsome figure to those still living; in no hurry to meet him, they were reticent to swear oaths in his name, and averted their faces when sacrificing to him. To many, simply to say the word "Hades" was frightening. So, euphemisms were pressed into use. Since precious minerals come from under the earth (i.e., the "underworld" ruled by Hades), he was considered to have control of these as well, and was referred to as Πλούτων (Plouton, related to the word for "wealth"), hence the Roman name Pluto. Sophocles explained referring to Hades as "the rich one" with these words: "the gloomy Hades enriches himself with our sighs and our tears." In addition, he was called Clymenus ("notorious"), Eubuleus ("well-guessing"), and Polydegmon ("who receives many"), all of them euphemisms for a name that was unsafe to pronounce, which evolved into epithets.
Although he was an Olympian, he spent most of the time in his dark realm. Formidable in battle, he proved his ferocity in the famous Titanomachy, the battle of the Olympians versus the Titans, which established the rule of Zeus. Because of his dark and morbid personality, he was not especially liked by either the gods or the mortals. Feared and loathed, Hades embodied the inexorable finality of death: "Why do we loathe Hades more than any god, if not because he is so adamantine and unyielding?" The rhetorical question is Agamemnon's (Iliad ix). He was not, however, an evil god, for although he was stern, cruel, and unpitying, he was still just. Hades ruled the Underworld and therefore most often associated with death and was feared by men, but he was not Death itself — the actual embodiment of Death was Thanatos.
Taken from WikiPedia 'coz I'm lazy in explaining it myself. :P But basically, Hades is not evil. But because he is gloomy and quiet and he rules the Underworld, people assume him to be bad when he is just trying to do his job and be fair. Poor guy. :(
Reviews will definitely speed up updates! :D
