Welcome to Babel - Chapter 1
„Heh, didn't I say I'd get out of here?" - For a long moment Zagreus stared at his reflection in the blood. In the background he heard the last words of Lord Hades fading into Tartarus
"Thy, attempts are in vain. Believe me, there is no escape for any of us"
"Maybe but you never know what fate has planned for you" - replied Zagreus slowly rising from his knees.
"Despite the prophecies of the Daughters of the Night, I am still here. Having defeated the king of the underworld, holding proof of my encounter with Lord Chaos" - mumbled Zagreus to himself
He stood up and moved to face the inevitable. Looking at his bloodied torso, he knew he did not have much time left. He and every other inhabitant of the Underworld had one and the same fate. Eternal service, regardless of rank or position. Not even death could release you from that fate.
["The King of the Depths will defeat you, freeing you from your immortal duties. The egg of chaos will, by a stroke of fate, give you what you desire but not what you seek. The price will be blood, and blood will be the key"]
One activity that gave him peace whether in Tartarus, Elysium or the hot rivers of Asphodel was undoubtedly fishing. Without boasting, more than one could say that he spent more time on this activity than the anglers. Of course, such a comparison would be unfair to all mortals, if the prince had a chance to meet one.
It should come as no surprise, then, that when he saw the sparkling water to his right, he set aside his faithful spear Varetha and pulled out his fishing rod.
"I can't wait to see Nyx's face when I tell her that her daughter's prophecy didn't come true." - Zagreus smiled.
At that moment Zagreus felt more and more resistance on the rod. He knew that in order to catch a fish he had to pick the rod with a quick sure movement.
He stiffened his grip and pulled... In the air, he saw the shimmering scales of a Chinook.
As the fish came towards him, he remembered a passage from the book's description.
["Chinook - commonly referred to as king salmon, when it is nearing spawning time..."]
"King of the depths" exclaimed Zagreus, at the same moment the fish decided to consolidate its position by selling him a right hook with its tail.
When Hypnos finds out about this I will be the laughing stock of the entire underworld. - thought Zegreus, taking the fatal blow.
"I will be the laughing stock of the underworld, Ekgh..." said Zagreus, whom the underworld was dragging back to itself.
If there had been an all-seeing narrator watching over Zegreus, he would have noticed that at the same moment when the blood was taking the prince to the underworld, the egg he had received from Lord Chaos fell out, shattering and mixing with the blood.
['...The Underworld is best known as the domain of death, but it is also the domain of countless wealth and riches, sent into the River Styx along with the deceased. The purpose of such coin is mostly symbolic, but there are those who value it in a manner more traditional, especially the boatman, Charon.']
Zagreus emerged from a pool of blood, as he did every time. His sight was obscured by a red veil. He walked ahead in thought, trying to find a way out of this horrific situation of losing to "King of the depths" .
Following his father's example, in the case of losing, the best way was to pretend that nothing had happened. The household played their part and didn't say a word. However, as we know ghosts talk, especially when they have eternity and nothing to do. Sipping nectar with Megaera myself more than once, I managed to pull out some interesting secrets.
"I don't recall grass growing near the pool exit. On the other hand, since Mother returned to the underworld a lot has changed, and for the better." - Zegrus finally lifted his head to face Hypno, partly hoping that he wouldn't interrupt his nap this time.
Zegrus had expected many things, but not what he saw.
Instead of being greeted by a queue of waiting souls, or even looking into the eyes of shame, he found himself in a large grotto, nothing like Tartarus or Asphodel. After countless attempts to escape, ekhm fulfilling his duty - both before and after they were officially sanctioned by his Father - he knew that this place was definitely neither, even considering how the landscape of the Underworld constantly shifted and changed every time he passed its walls.
Scattered around were bodies of… mortals? Blood was pouring into the lake he came from. Lightened by blue lights from crystals scattered from the rooftop.
"In the name of Hades, where is this place?" he muttered under his breath.
All that could be heard was the sound of blood flowing from his cheeks. But it wasn't just the view and the place that was different, he sensed something in the air that defied his nature. Zagreus felt as if he were taking his first steps again into the land of the Greeks, but without Styx trying to return him to the underworld. It felt wrong.
"Hmm I suppose it would be dangerous to stay in this place without weapons" - Unfortunately, as every time the rivers of styx returned him to the underworld the infernal weapons returned to their place in the armoury.
Zagreus looked around among the corpses for something to defend himself with. He leaned over a silhouette resembling a scantily-clad she-warrior whose attire would surely have pleased Artemis and grabbed her spear.
"As Thanatos would say, you won't need it where you go" he thought."
Suddenly he heard a bang behind his back. Turning around in such a way that his hair would wave for dramatic effect. He saw something closer to his heart. A ten-metre tall Colossus, which, most importantly, he had not yet given a nickname to.
"What about Bigfoot?!" - said Zeagrus
"Arggh!" - exclaimed Monster, swinging his fist at him with a velocity disproportionate to his height.
"No? Don't worry I will find something good for you" - Zeagrus turned back, missing his fist by a blade of hair.
"Whoh, slow down buddy!, In the name of Hades I command you to stop" - Whatever the prince expected, it can be said to have had the opposite effect as Goliath redoubled his efforts to raze him to the ground.
"Bigfoot" began to draw in the air. His experience of traversing the underworld had taught the Prince that when an opponent stopped doing anything it never ended well for him, 235 times to be precise.
As if on cue, a white death ray came out of the monster's mouth. The prince jumped back at the last moment and this time he realised that it was dangerous.
"It's time to end it." - he grabbed his spear, unleashing himself, he used it like a pole and leaped towards the colossus. In the next instant before the monster knew it, colossus had lost his hand.
"Well done!" - The prince almost high-fived himself as he saw the smile on "bigfooot's" face and his regenerating hand.
"I reckon it's going to take some time." - Zeagrus declared curving his lips slightly.
After twenty minutes of gruelling and indescribable fighting. Zeagrus held a large dark crystal in his hand.
"At least, everything is the same in this regard."
In the kingdom of the underworld, it was correctly called darkness
['...Born of Chaos, the Underworld is a domain of pure and utter darkness. Those that are born of this realm gather that essence, growing stronger all the while. That darkness, having taken root within, manifest in crystal form, connects the bearer to the Underworld, makes them inseparable.']
Zeagrus collected the crystals and turned towards the fallen adventurers. After the battle, none of the weapons or armour lying around were usable. The spear he had picked up earlier shattered at the last blow, dissolving into particles of light.
He leaned over one of the bodies. On the remains of the cloak was visible the symbol of the bow and the moon. The mark of Artemis.
There were about 20 of them, more or less. All women, armed with bows or javelins. What happened here was a slaughter, how would a mortal stand a chance against this monstrosity? As if thinking about it now, holding the spear he felt the power as if it were one of Arthemis' boons.
The prince, as he did not like to remain indebted, in gratitude took out an obol and put it in the corpse's mouth. - "May Charon lead your soul in peace to Hades."
Zagreus turned around and decided to do what he did best. He grabbed the broken blade from the ground and started heading upwards towards the exit.
['...The Underworld is best known as the domain of death, but it is also the domain of countless wealth and riches, sent into the River Styx along with the deceased. The purpose of such coin is mostly symbolic, but there are those who value it in a manner more traditional, especially the boatman, Charon.']
