For who could ever learn to love The One who doesn't know love?
By Asso
Chapter Twenty-Six
Up there.
And down there.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
In the icy silence of the immense room, only interrupted by the freezing breath of the wind; in the cold never felt before that now enveloped the hall; in the whirlwind of those incomprehensible white and icy flakes that whirled everywhere; strong, clear... amazed, Poseidon's voice rose.
"What do you mean, brother?"
It seemed that the very strength of the waves echoed in that voice.
"Do you mean that it is the chill of the world of the dead that is pouring on the world of the living? That..." Poseidon's voice lowered a little. It hesitated, perceptibly, as if it were about to say something it didn't want to say. And Poseidon didn't say it, in fact. He did not pronounce that name. His name. The name of their tenebrous brother. "... that it is the cold bite of the world of our dark brother who is biting into our world?"
Poseidon fell silent for a moment, then resumed talking vigorously, the incredulity vibrating in his words.
"But it's not possible! This would be..."
The voice stopped again. It resumed, hesitantly.
"This would be... would be... against the very order of the world!"
Poseidon's voice rose again. It dominated the deafening howling of the wind.
"Against the order that he himself, the Lord of the Underworld, accepted it would everlastingly exist at the time he agreed our pact!"
Zeus watched Poseidon with a grave look.
"I did not mean this when I said that it is in the Kingdom of the Dead that the origin of this pandemonium must be sought. The cause is there, but it is here, in the supernal world, that upheaval originates."
A puzzled and confused look got drawn on Poseidon's face.
Zeus sighed.
Almost with difficulty he spoke.
"Demeter. She is who's making this shambles."
For a moment Poseidon could not even speak.
His voice came out choked, at last.
"Demeter?"
"She is the Lady of the weather of this world, Poseidon. She dominates weather of this world just the way you dominate the sea. The weather of this world is her element. And nobody, not even me, can interfere in what she does with her element."
"And... and is it her who would be making... such a mess?"
"Yes".
"But why?"
"This is the why you must seek in the Kingdom of the Dead."
Confusion, misunderstanding, perplexity.
Everything this together on Poseidon's face.
As well as on the faces of all those present.
Except one.
That of Hera.
On that, fear.
Fortunately unnoticed by all.
Then, abruptly, Poseidon's expression changed.
Sudden understanding.
And disbelief.
He advanced towards Zeus. He stopped a few steps away from him.
"Is it there that Persephone stands now?"
His voce was low, and yet it sounded loud.
"In the Kingdom of the Dead?"
Zeus didn't answer.
His gaze answered for him.
Poseidon advanced further.
His face was as severe as his voice.
"So her kidnapper is..."
Zeus answered, finally.
And he pronounced that name.
"Hades."
Zeus straightened in all his imposing stature. He turned his proud look all around, letting it slide on the astonished crowd of goddesses and gods who were watching him with open mouth.
The roar of his powerful voice dominated the tumultuous hiss of the wind.
"Persephone is in his hands."
Hades' hands moved in a broad gesture.
Pressed to his side, Persephone turned her gaze to embrace the immense horizon that the sweeping movement of his arms was showing her.
They were still.
In the still chariot, hanging in the still nothingness.
And, below them, what Hades' hands were pointing at.
What her astonished eyes were looking at.
His Kingdom.
Persephone breathed deeply.
Her chest swelled unwittingly.
In awareness and pride.
Her Kingdom.
"The Kingdom..."
Poseidon's voice was a murmur.
"The Kingdom of..."
And he said, finally.
He pronounced the name that nobody wanted to pronounce.
"...Hades."
Zeus nodded gravely.
"Yes, brother. Persephone is there. He is her captor."
The King of the Gods turned, his hands folded behind his back.
"I could never have imagined that our lonely brother could have laid his eyes on her. The thought that he could be her captor not even remotely touched my mind."
Hera held her breath.
Still a trick.
The Lord of deception was deceiving again.
"Remote, distant, cold, insensitive, detached from any kind of feeling. How could I ever have thought he were Persephone's kidnapper? That he were capable of harbouring any kind of soul urge within himself? A wish, a desire? Even merely a basic instinct?"
Zeus suddenly turned. He folded his arms over his powerful chest. He looked at Poseidon intently.
"And this also explains why on earth I have not been able to track down the kidnapper."
Zeus sighed heavily.
"You, Poseidon, my brother. Me. And he. We are the greatest gods. I have the highest authority, I govern everything. But you two, you and him, are at the top together with me. And your power, yours as his, is such that, by my own will, I cannot and do not want to dent it. It would be like denying my own will. I command everything and everything I can know. But not what you or he don't want me to know, because since forever this has been my will. The will of the King of Gods."
It was true.
Poseidon was well aware of this, like everyone else.
And Zeus' explanation was impeccable.
But then...
"But then, brother, how did you come to know? And Demeter? What has she to do...?"
"It is Demeter the one who revealed it to me. She discovered who the kidnapper was."
Hera could hardly stand still.
Her consort... her consort was passing the sign!
He was joking with fire! If his game had been discovered, his authority would be undermined. Of course, he would continue to be the King of the Gods, but his credibility would come out greatly diminished.
And this certainly wouldn't have been a good thing.
Neither for him nor… for her!
"D... Demeter?" Poseidon was stammering. As much incredible as that was, he was babbling. "But ... but how ...?"
Zeus raised his eyebrows, covered with a white that was not their own white.
"How? I tell you right away, brother! She dared to draw Helios out of the world of night and day!"
"Helios? She has ...?"
"Yes! She did it! She entered the world of Selene and Helios and forced Helios to reveal to her and then to me what he had seen. Nothing can escape the gaze of the solar chariot driver. And, therefore, he had seen everything!"
Poseidon almost roared in response.
"But why didn't you do, brother, what Demeter did?"
A real roar was Zeus' reply.
"I do not subvert the order of the world that I myself have established, brother!"
Poseidon fell silent.
Difficult, not to say impossible, to find words able to counteract efficaciously Zeus' statement. All he was finally capable of saying was a miserable "Sure."
Zeus understood that he was going to win, to get out of his awkward situation.
And he pressed on the accelerator.
"I should have punished her, but she is already punished enough. Her beloved daughter is in the hands of..."
At that point, Poseidon insurrected vehemently.
"But she is also your beloved daughter, brother! And loved by all of us!"
"You don't need me to remember, Poseidon!"
The tone of Zeus' voice was harsh.
Violent.
Then the tone softened.
It became sore.
"Persephone is the daughter I always wanted. Beautiful, radiant, sweet, innocent. Carrier of a new light on the world."
Sore.
"Do you think my heart didn't go to pieces when I learned that she was in the grip of darkness?"
"So then? How did you react, brother?"
If first the tone of Zeus had been violent, then Poseidon's was now even more violent.
Violent and wrathful.
"If the pattern follows, I mean if, as you say, what is happening is the consequence of Demeter's wrath, this means that you have done nothing to take away Persephone from the clutches of darkness and that for this very reason our sister is fidgeting in ravings!"
Perfect.
Within himself Zeus exulted.
It was going as he wanted.
He adjusted his tone.
It became solemn.
"You have hit the mark, brother. Demeter is literally delirious, blinded by rage, and she is acting to make me pay, and the entire world together with me, because I have done nothing in order to bring back to us - to ours, to my affection - Persephone."
Poseidon started to reply.
He couldn't.
Zeus did not give him time.
And his words did hurt.
"Tell me, brother. How would you have reacted if I had used my power and my authority to take away Amphitrite from you? And yet it would have been right of me. In hindsight you didn't act differently from Hades. He abducted Persephone, but you too made so that your dolphin could reach Amphitrite to bring her to you and then you forced her to join you."
Poseidon almost gasped.
Zeus, however, gave him no peace.
"Oh I know, I know. Amphitrite is not Persephone, she is not my daughter. That's what you're thinking, isn't it?"
Zeus straightened up in all his majesty.
"I am Zeus, brother! I am the virtual father of everyone! Amphitrite is my daughter the same way as Persephone! Oh sure, Amphitrite is not blood of my blood, is not the fruit of my seed, as Persephone is. And you, Poseidon, you are not certain Hades. In you there is the darkness of the ocean depths, certainly not the darkness of the underworld. But if it is true as it is true that I, as Zeus, must embody supreme justice, could this be sufficient to justify any difference in behaviour on my part regarding you and Hades? Both of you my brothers and both of you dominating the universe together with me?"
Was it strange? No it was not. It was not strange that Hera felt her heart swell with pride.
Was Zeus, her husband, a liar? A deceiver? Yes he was! But he was great at this! Great as only Zeus could be!
And she let herself be carried away by his words in the same way as Poseidon.
In the same way as everyone.
"And, to resume my opening words, how would you have reacted, my brother, if I had hindered your union with Amphitrite? You are powerful, Poseidon, and aware of your might. Would you have bowed to my will? Let me doubt it, brother. You would have rebelled. And so Hades would have done. And it would have been war. Both in your case and in the case of Hades. "
Zeus stood silent for a moment.
It seemed that even the whirlwind of the wind subsided, as if to allow his words to sound clear and strong.
"I don't want a fratricidal war, brother. And you?"
Poseidon was speechless.
Just so.
The impetuous and talkative Lord of the Sea did not know what to say in the face of the stringent logic of his brother Zeus.
But on the other hand - and he was aware of it - if Zeus was Zeus, that was not without reason.
In the end Poseidon roused himself.
"So, if I understand correctly, the reason for the wrath of Demeter and her will to reduce the world in this state lies on the fact that you denied her your intervention to take Persephone away from our brother's clutches."
Zeus nodded gravely.
"She went away angrily from here, when I told her that I did not want a fratricidal war and that, therefore, I would not have intervened against our brother Hades."
Hera almost bit her lips. Truth and falsehood or, better, truth and untold truth. To achieve his purpose. Not to lose face. And to support his role in a priceless way.
Her husband was unspeakable.
If she had not known what she knew, she would have had no way not to believe his words. Indeed, even for her it was difficult not to believe it.
So logical, incontrovertible ... sincere! ... appeared his words!
"It was clear that she had in mind to do something. Something that could force me to a change of heart."
Zeus' arms moved in a broad gesture all around.
"And this is that something."
There was silence.
Only the impetuous hiss of the wind.
Poseidon finally found the word again.
"And, in the face of all this, do you intend to change your mind, brother?"
Zeus was silent for a few moments, looking intently at his brother.
Then he spoke thoughtfully.
"There are three options in front of me, Poseidon."
Everyone was silent.
Everyone was waiting for Zeus to reveal his mind.
"The first is to convince Demeter to desist and let the Destiny, which wanted Hades to appropriate Persephone, take its course."
Silence again.
"The second option logically follows the first one. But it could also be the first and the one above said be the second. Namely to convince Hades to let go of Persephone to prevent the fatal wrath of Demeter from afflicting the world. To be honest, I am sorry to say that this does not seem to be the will of Destiny, a will that dominates all of us. It would not have been possible for Hades to kidnap Persephone if Destiny had not wanted it."
Hera felt her mind almost getting lost.
Her husband's ability to be true and false at the same time was incredible!
"The third option is the consequence of the failure of the first two, whatever the order of them. I mean to say forcing Hades to return Persephone to our world and to her mother. And to me. To all of us. Well knowing, however, that there would be no intention from him to comply with such an order on my part, and knowing, moreover, he has the strength and means to oppose. In other words..."
His voice was never so serious.
"In other words, the third option is war."
Never so serious.
"The fratricidal war that I, just as you, don't want. And I'm convinced I am not mistaken in regard to your idea in the matter."
Never!
"And a fratricidal war, let's face it, with a more than uncertain outcome."
Never!
"It is Hades is the one with whom we should confront. Hades. And his darkness."
NEVER!
"Hence..."
Everyone hung from Zeus' lips. From what he would say.
From his decision.
"Hence, I will give priority to the first of the three options, in the order I have listed them. I will pass to the second if the first one won't be successful. And if the second one too will be vain, then, and only then, I will put in place the third option."
The chilled crowd of Goddesses and Gods quivered.
Zeus had spoken.
The King of the Gods had expressed his will.
"Your will, my Lord."
Hades looked at Persephone with a puzzled expression.
"My will?"
"Yes, my Lord. Your will. From where do you want to start showing me..."
Persephone hesitated. But then she resumed with strength.
And she forcefully stressed her words.
"...our kingdom?"
On Hades' pale lips the shadow of a smile got drawn, a little amazed, a little amused, a little smug.
It did not disappear, the smile, as he answered, in an amused voice.
"From the beginning, Persephone."
Persephone looked at him questioningly.
"Do you mean, my lord?"
The half smile disappeared. The voice grew very serious.
"From the entrance to our Kingdom."
And Hades struggled not to smile again when he saw Persephone's delighted expression of hearing that 'our' delivered nonchalantly by him.
"The entrance? You mean the..."
"No, Persephone. Not the forest you entered, accessing in this way the underworld. That is the border between the world above and the world below that only Gods know. It lives only in perception and in divine reality. It is a very ancient forest, which far back in time, before the advent of the domination of the divine triad of today, extended practically everywhere, covering the rocky and shapeless world of that time, fierce and suffocated in all its extent by gigantic scorching flames, erupted, in a hell of burning lapillus and lava burning flows, from myriads of giant volcanoes. It was the expression of the wild world of those ancient times. When Zeus, Poseidon and I took power it retreated to be what it is now. The extreme propagation of the nothingness that was there before, that nothingness that has remained only here, in the underworld. It is testimony to the fact that the world is one and that there are no real boundaries between the three kingdoms. Between the sea on which Poseidon reigns – sea, in fact, that can be clearly seen from the Olympus, where Zeus reigns and where there is the large and airy meadow that you crossed to reach the forest - and the celestial Olympus, indeed; and between these two realms and the realm where's what of the Nothingness of that time remains. The Underworld."
The truth of the time was revealing itself to Persephone through the words of Hades.
Her mind was invaded by it.
Intoxicated.
But even in that intoxicating elation, she remained the girl she was. The girl capable of never losing sight of reality. Of paying sharp attention to facts and words.
All right, they wouldn't have started the discovery of the Underworld from the forest. From that ... from that... false divine entrance. But...
"But then...?"
"The underworld is the abode of those who died, my Lady. Of the Mortals. The real entrance to it is their entrance."
"And you want to start from this real entrance, my Lord?"
"Yes, Persephone."
Hades' face became alabaster stone.
"And from its guardian."
End of Chapter Twenty-Six
TBC
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Its guardian?