Demeter sat on the window ledge with her legs drawn up to her chest while looking out into the ocean despondently. It was almost as if a black cloud was visibly raining on her head with the way the shadows played on her face. Her eyes had sunken, her hair and nails had turned brittle, and her skin had started to crack and look scaly from her self-imposed starvation. The goddess of harvest didn't look like her usual plump and jovial self but a dried up prune of an old woman instead – like a piece of parched land unfit for farming.
Poseidon continued to coax her out of her deep depression. He tried to entertain her with his childish water shows (to which she clapped rather unenthusiastically almost painfully patronizing). He tried to tour her around the most beautiful coral reef formations in the sea, showed her the lair of the rarely seen mermaids and requested them to sing soothing songs for her – absolutely anything and everything to cheer her up.
But all of his efforts were futile. Instead, he was forced to watch her fall deeper and deeper in her isolation. It had come to a point where she already ran out of tears. With each passing day, she would speak less. Her complexion would turn even more ashen than the day before. She became thinner. She would stare into nothingness for hours on end, just sitting and not moving if she were left alone. If she wasn't sitting, then she was sleeping a lot. It almost frightened him how dead she seemed. As if all her life was sucked right out of her and she was nothing but a moving corpse.
The Upperworld reflected her state. The fields, which had been lush a month ago and almost ready for harvest, had been attacked by locusts without Demeter's protection. Those that weren't consumed shriveled up under Apollo's sun. Because famine had never struck Hellas for more than five hundred years (largely attributed to Demeter spoiling them), the mortals had become complacent and lazy and forgot to store sufficient grain in their sheds and barns.
Moreover because of Kore's disappearance, the god of the north wind, Boreas, was in the mood for the worst frost Hellas has ever seen for more than two hundred years.
Poseidon walked inside the room with another tray of food. He was getting frustrated and weary of trying to cheer Demeter up. Out of all his siblings, she was the most stubborn (Zeus and Hera comes close second); and she had stubbornly dedicated herself to remain dark and gloomy and dead.
"Demeter," Poseidon said softly almost like a dire plea or a prayer. "Please eat." He set the tray of food on the window ledge, across from her curled form and pushing it gently towards her.
Demeter didn't shift. She didn't even acknowledge Poseidon's presence, let alone the food. She just continued staring out the window.
That was the final straw.
"Eat or else," Poseidon threatened. But she wasn't moved at all. She just remained silent and detached. Why couldn't she just snap out of it?! He thought. So he grabbed her arm and threw her on the bed, wanting to shake some sense into her. She bounced twice but she didn't make a sound. She just lay there like a broken rag doll.
"I try. I try really hard Demeter. But you are not helping me nor are you willing to help yourself and that has been pushing my patience to the limit," he said as he crawled on top of her, pinning her alarmingly thin wrists above her head. "This is not you! Do you want me to force feed you?!"
"My daughter is in Hades," she croaked with an unused voice. "She is practically dead. I cannot enter the realm of the dead because I have neither Hades nor the Fates' permission."
"She is not dead! She's merely lost! You just need a little patience and she will come back! Can't you believe in your daughter?"
"I believe in my daughter!" she said angrily. Her outburst brought a relieved smile on Poseidon's face but it was short-lived. "I just don't believe Hades or Zeus would ever let her go," she continued listlessly. "I'd rather cease to exist than continue on without her…"
She closed her eyes like how a mortal resigned to dying would, like she was about to enter an eternal slumber with only those as her last words (and they did sound like last words) echoing in Poseidon's mind.
No you can't! You can't do this. Not to your daughter…not to me!
He had to make a decision. With his heart pounding in his chest, he quickly descended and crushed her lips with his.
Please wake up!
She started to stir but he wouldn't relent until she could push him away completely. He locked both her hands with one grip and pinned her legs with his own. He knew he was going to do something that might completely destroy his relationship with her but he didn't care if she cursed him or hated him so long as he could bring her back to life.
When he started to hitch her skirt up, she started to fight and push against him.
That's right. Get mad, get angry! Fight me, bite me, anything! Just don't give up! His hands roamed up to slowly untie the knot of her girdle, buying her more time to gather the necessary energy to fight his grasp.
Unknowingly, Poseidon's actions were triggering one of the most horrible memories in her and fear started to fill her. She remembered how helpless, used and discarded like trash she felt on that day and she was about to relive it. When she opened her eyes, blue hair was replaced with gold, the scent of salt with rain, and calm turquoise eyes with gluttonous gold.
She started to thrash beneath him and it took her three attempts before she managed to successfully push Poseidon away from her and followed it with crisp slap on his face. She wiped her lips vigorously as she sat up, her expression a mixture of anger and hurt.
"You bastard," she breathed. "How dare you!"
He licked the inside of his cheeks. "That had been my goal all along," he said coolly, inwardly cringing on his words. "One would think I could have a little payment for all the trouble I went through for taking you in."
Demeter felt a crushing weight on her chest. "I trusted you," she whispered as she balled her fists. "I ran to you, sought you out in my darkest hour and yet you do this to me?"
Poseidon gaped as he watched fresh tears fall on her cheeks. What had he done?
"I thought you were different. It turns out you are just like them. I hate you, Poseidon. You hear me? I hate you! I swear on the river Styx that I will never talk to you again." As soon as she uttered those words, her mouth shut. An oath on the river Styx was the most powerful oath in the pantheon and it bound her to silence. With nothing else to say, she turned and ran away.
But she didn't see Poseidon's devastated expression nor did she see him silently reach out to her.
888
"Are you really sure you want to save her?" Erebus inquired while he and Hades watched Kore fasten Daisy's harness on the chariot. The three of them stood at the starting line of the oval race track in the massive coliseum-like structure built at the edge of the Asphodel fields near the river Styx, waiting for the nymph who issued the competition to arrive. Nymphs filled the bleachers that stretched along the length of the building. On the north of the coliseum, six boxes protruded from the general audience. One box, the largest one, was designated to Hades and the Protogenoi and the five smaller ones were directly below Hades' box, designated for the judges of the race, which were the five chthonic river deities.
The nymphs quietly watched the interaction between the two powerful gods and their new young queen though none of them could hear their conversation. Of course no one pointed out Hades' obvious favoritism for one competitor due to common sense.
"Yes," she replied in a determined voice as she adjusted with the straps.
"Hn. I still don't understand your reasoning despite your explanation. I believe you are simply feeding your ego," Hades said as he crossed his arms.
Kore smiled at him. "I'm not feeding my ego, Aidoneus. I just don't want anyone to suffer because of me." She held up the bit in front of Daisy's head. "Come on, Daisy open your mouth," she cooed before she inserted the fireproof, acid, and venom proof metal in the Chimaera's mouth. "There you go. Very good! Good boy!" She patted the lion and the goat simultaneously.
"And that is what I call egocentrism."
"No. It's called compassion. The thing I was supposed to teach you and now I'm trying to teach by example." She giggled.
"You call sparing your enemies compassion? You might show them mercy now but once you turn around they will never hesitate to stab your back and they will smile while doing it too," he continued rather bitterly, his fist balling unseen under his sleeves.
"Aidoneus." Erebus laid a hand on Hades' shoulder then shook his head.
"Hmm," she straightened up and mused, tapping her chin thoughtfully with a finger. "I don't know about backstabbing but you see if ever that happens to me, I will simply forgive them again and give them another chance."
Hades stared at her. "Why? They don't deserve it. It's not just! Every action has a consequence, good or bad. How can there be righteousness if the line between punishment and reward is blurred? There could only be lawlessness and chaos with such a system."
"But sometimes there's an unknown intention behind it. You never know!" She smiled.
"Oh? So you believe that the end justifies the means?" Hades smiled, feeling triumphant by the way she contradicted herself. "You believe in wrong actions if there is a good intention behind it? You think that pushing someone to Tartarus if it served a good purpose, purpose measured against a personal opinion and not some higher omniscience by the way, is righteous?"
"No I do not believe the end justifies the means," she said seriously. "But I believe in redemption. I believe in change, more precisely, positive change brought by feelings of kindness. You never know if a person would stab you in the back or shake your hand instead."
"You believe Menthe would 'shake your hand' after this?"
"I'm very optimistic," she replied before returning to her previous task, securing the reins around Daisy's mouth. "It might not have been mutual but in my mind she was and still is my friend. I hope this time around we could really get along! It's nice to have friends instead of enemies, don't you think so?" She chuckled as she circled Daisy and inspected her handiwork.
"I will never want to shake hands with my enemy nor will I ever forgive him. Do what you want!" was all Hades said before he turned and disappeared. He reappeared later in his box with a glum expression on his face.
Erebus sighed and massaged his temple. "Ah, that boy's mask slipped. Forgive him Persephone. He wasn't always like that. It's just that after…centuries of doling out punishments on a regular basis, he has forgotten how to forgive."
There was something amiss in Erebus' hesitation. Even though Kore knew the god of darkness for a short amount of time, she had already gauged that he was hiding something and subterfuge was not his specialty. Could it be related to that incident Menthe talked about? The one who died?
A sudden loud fanfare disrupted her train of thought.
"Oh no. Trouble invited himself here," Erebus whispered under his breath.
And he was right. The ground in the center of the field suddenly crumbled inwards, creating a large deep hole a few meters away from them. From this hole, the three Erinyes emerged like heralds, flying in a graceful spiral directly upwards and moving in time with the beat of the music. The fanfare grew louder as a god with a smug look plastered on his face, dressed in blood red robes, equally blood red, snake-like eyes, and flaming hair emerged on a triple tier stone column, which was pushing up from the hole. At the bottom of the column, Menthe slowly came into sight, already on her impressively monstrous chariot with a whip poised on one hand and the reins of four large bloodthirsty-looking Chimaeras on the other.
After a slight pause, the nymphs on the bleachers finally snapped to their senses and began to cheer… (for their lives).
(This was the god who pulled the first and last public execution on Mount Olympus – someone with the penchant for flair…)
When stone column finished ascending, four geysers of lava exploded behind him, billowing his robes and moving his hair about in an erratic fashion but he looked like he didn't even notice it. It was the final touch to his over the top and flashy entrance.
(…and flares.)
Kore was dumbfounded as she watched the flamboyant, almost blinding display. "Who is that person with Menthe?" she asked. "And does he do this all the time?"
"Hmm? Oh yes. Just look at Aidon's tired expression. Though I must admit, this is one of his lesser entrances. You should have seen his entrance on the day of the Messenger Incident!" He started to laugh but then his face slowly morphed into a hollowed look as if he were remembering something extremely unpleasant. Continuing the conversation, he said, "But haven't you met him before? He was with me when you first gained consciousness after Aidon took you. Remember?"
She shook her head. The only people she remembered seeing immediately after waking up in the Underworld were Nyx and Hades.
"No? He was most prominent in your wedding. He started the merrymaking."
She shook her head again. That was when Erebus remembered how he plugged her ears during Tartarus' turn to protect her innocence.
"Oh…" He scratched his nose sheepishly. "So you've never seen him before?"
She shook her head for the third time.
"Well he is —"
"Be prepared Erebus!" the god on the stone column yelled, pointing his finger commandingly at the god of darkness. "I, the most glorious, eternally awesome and feared master of the bottom layer of the Underworld have finally graced you maggots with my most revered presence! The great being that I am shall have my personally trained champion, Menthe, crush yours and Eros' chosen and win the prize that is Aidon!" he said as he shifted his finger to the box where Hades sat and cackled his signature maniacal laugh.
Erebus narrowed his eyes. He never backed down from a personal challenge, most especially from his brother. I'm sorry Aidon, change of plans! He grabbed the queen's shoulders, looked her sternly in the eye and said, "Persephone, remember when I taught you to drive slowly because of your motion sickness? And how Menthe would most likely let you win to buy her freedom effortlessly? Well toss those ideas out the window. Whenever you feel sick, just bend over the side of the cart and throw up but don't stop driving! Never stop driving and don't look back. Keep your eyes on the goal."
"W-what?" she asked nonplussed.
"And remember how Daisy can spit fire and venom? Don't be afraid to use that knowledge to your advantage because the enemy certainly wouldn't hesitate to. There is only one rule in this chariot race."
"What is it?"
"Anything goes and I mean anything. The nymphs here are the exact opposite of those above. They are very dominant and they like their games vicious and bloody. So be careful alright? You have my blessing and protection but it can only do so much against the current enemy."
"W-what's going on?" She was getting more and more confused by the second. "Why the sudden change?"
"You asked who that god is. He is my brother Tartarus." Both of Kore's eyebrows rose. "Yes. That god of insane horror stories. Worse yet, he trained Menthe without my knowledge. Please forgive me for saying this but I feel that I have you wholly unprepared for this…"
Kore touched the arm of her teacher. "It's alright Lord Erebus." She smiled reassuringly. "My desire to win is strong."
"I know," he said, laying a hand on her head and blessing her with his protection. "I will believe in you. So you must win and beat her." And in essence, him, he continued in his thoughts.
888
On the other end of the race track, Tartarus whispered to himself, "Look at that fool doing some last minute advisory." He jumped from the top of the column and landed right behind Menthe, who immediately disembarked from the chariot and knelt on the ground in perfect synchrony.
"Master," she said almost automatically.
"Very good Menthe. You have perfected the first lesson." He smiled. "Granted it took no small amount of effort but I'm glad you've learned your place."
Menthe winced, almost feeling her back burn at his words but managed to utter, "Yes Master," with great reverence just as she had been trained to do.
"Tell me again Menthe, what is your goal?"
"To show the king who is more worthy as queen of the Underworld."
Tartarus nodded in satisfaction. "That's right. Someone chosen by that spineless and shoot-at-the-back-species-of-coward Eros," he spat bitterly. "Must not be good for Aidon's health."
He looked at the queen carefully. He hadn't had the chance to exchange words with her nor had he met her in person (the first time was a glance on Hades' scrying orb – and he already didn't like her then, the next was Hades and her speeding on a chariot, then he was dragged by Nyx before he could get a closer look, and before he was put in that unspeakable chamber of horrors, she was wearing a wedding veil) but seeing her now, looking at her in the eye even from a great distance, sent shivers of extreme disgust down his spine.
Her eyes were so innocent, it reminded him of…a bunny.
"And who is your enemy?" He asked loudly, his eyes narrowing at the vision of the queen while materializing a horsewhip and snapping it on the chariot's rim.
Menthe jerked from her position below. "Kore."
"And what does it stand for?"
"Kill, Obliterate, Remove, Exterminate," she answered rather mechanically.
He smiled a scary, vengeful smile. "Good girl. That's all you have to do."
Menthe's cold eyes (no different from that of an apathetic assassin) locked on the queen's form as she rose from her kneeling position. "Yes Master."
AN: Updates (*rrgkh*) may not be regular from this point onwards (*kaughk*) largely due to schoolwork (*ahgk*) and Tartarus (*urgkah*) strangling the life out of me (*aheargk*) for designing a ridiculous weakness (*krrghek*) as his 'chamber of horror' (*ahk*) and using said chamber (*ughk*) to decrease his screen time (*mmguh*) and take him out of the much desired limelight.
"Heheheh. Take a deep breath Eufuelle. I don't want you passing out. And as for you! Don't you forget to look at my glorious picture on deviant art: www .deviantart art/Eufuelle-s-Dirge-of-Hell-Tartarus-Nyx-and-Ereb us-400871632 . Don't bother saying something about the other decoration (which is not Nyx). Just comment about me or else..." (grins)
A: (I'll try to survive for you despite real life my dear readers! Wish me luck!)