Chapter 3

Hades

I descended smoothly down the stony road into my kingdom. I had nearly forgotten how gloomy this place was compared to the dazzle of Olympus.

The stables came suddenly into view from the darkness. I pulled back slowly on the reins, stopped, and left the horses in the care of my silent servants. As I walked to my palace, the whole place seemed unusually quiet after the endless cacophony of Olympus. I loved it.

In some ways, I was almost grateful to Zeus for his deception that had forced me to rule the Underworld. But still, I sometimes wondered how it all would have turned out if things had been different. Maybe… No. It was no use going down that path. I was irritated enough as it was.

I came to my palace. It was the largest building in the Underworld. It stood on a cliff, overlooking a dim expanse. Down below, rock formations spiked the ceiling and ground and gave the impression of a many-toothed animal. They were lit by tiny pinpricks of light from distant torches. That light was reflected and scattered by millions of gems that were embedded within the bitter stone. It twinkled like stars in the night sky, though perhaps not quite as brilliantly.

It was because of these gems - diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires - and the easily found gold and silver that I was also called the god of wealth. I didn't care what price others put on these jewels, because I valued them for other reasons. The bit of beauty they brought to my world was priceless to me.

All of this created a world so vast that I could almost forget it was underground.

My palace was made of enormous stone blocks, with columns surrounding it like the temples that mortals built for the other gods. When I first came here, it was a plain building. A boring place, really. Over the years I had commissioned deceased stone workers to make it larger and artists to add detail. They worked well and the labor was cheap; all I had to do was promise to reconsider their eternal sentences.

I found a humorous sense of irony in the fact that many of the workers had built temples for other gods and goddesses. They had spent their lives pandering to the Olympians, but now the god they hated the most was the only one that truly mattered.

The whole building was covered in intricate designs, some beautiful, others horrifying. I suppose that being around the dead so long had given me a morbid sense of beauty, because I loved the most hideous figures best. One in particular was my favorite. A terrifying monster with huge bat-like wings knelt and lifted one hand up towards the Heavens. His wrist had broken bonds hanging from it. His other hand supported him. His head was raised, pleading. Behind him, a monster more cruel and twisted than he beat him with flaming whips. The soul of the man who carved this figure had been sent from Punishment to Elysium as a reward for his work.

I gazed at it now, running my fingers over the image. I wondered, as I often did, who the monster was? What was his history and what was it that had led to his torture? The stone carver hadn't told me when I asked. All he said was, "There are the monsters inside, and the ones outside. I showed both." I came out of my introspection with a slight sigh and went to the door.

I pulled the giant double doors open with ease and strode through the entryway of my fortress. It was well-lit compared to the rest of the Underworld, though not to Olympus. Too many lights meant very little shadows. Without shadow, there was no place to hide.

I walked to one of the many alcoves on the side of the building. Hidden in shadow, I opened a secret panel hidden in the wall and went down the winding stone hallway that it had covered. My black leather shoes made the only sound as I went. Flickering torches kept the corridor in a constant state of twilight.

I went down farther and farther beneath the ground. I knew that there were many things that I was supposed to do, but I could feel the tension building in my chest. I had to get away from everything and clear my head. Olympus had exhausted me. I craved solitude.

I was going to a room that I kept from everyone else, including servants. Within was the hearth that Hestia had been referring to. Her words were the reason that I chose to go to this particular room. Hestia was a wise woman and her advice was always worth following. If she thought I needed to be near my hearth (which had been blessed by her personally,) then I should be.

Finally, I found myself in front of a plain door with no handle. I placed my hand over the center and murmured a word in the ancient tongue. The word broke the seal I had set on the door, and the door opened with a creak.

I entered a small, comfortable room. The hearth was burning with a low fire that cast the room in a warm, red light. A sleek lion pelt covered the floor and a sunken black armchair faced the fireplace. Other than that, the room was empty. However, the shadowy light revealed murals on the walls and ceiling - each one a scene of the world above. The once bright colors had faded over the centuries, and water leaking in from underground lakes distorted the images.

I lowered myself into the armchair and exhaled slowly through my teeth, releasing the tension in my shoulders. As I was about to close my eyes, the fire flickered and caught my attention. Though nervous about what I would see, I watched as the flames formed themselves into images.

A battle being fought between two mighty armies. Harder and harder they fought, louder and louder their clanging swords rang, brighter and brighter the flames grew. All at once, a flaming eagle swooped down and crushed its enemies between its claws. Three figures rose above the rest. One figure rose even higher. Even in the indistinct flames, I recognized the determined set of the shoulders and the proud confidence of the flashing eyes. It had been many eons since I had been that man. Once again, the eagle swooped down and toppled the man. As he fell, the fire crumbled to ashes.

I knew what the images were and the story they told all too well. Why had the fire decided to show me images from my own past? I wanted to forget those days more than anything else. I couldn't.

But the images from the fire didn't haunt me as they might have once. Instead, I found my thoughts wandering back to her.

As if it had read my mind, the fire came to life and took on the form of a dancing woman with the black coals as its eyes. The fire-wraith laughed as it danced. It's freedom mocked me. I gritted my teeth and buried my face in my hands. I wanted that freedom more than I had ever wanted anything. I wanted to possess it, hold onto it.

I sat like this unmoving for what seemed like an hour, but the passage of time was almost imperceptible in the bleak room. Somehow in my frenzied mind, freedom became inseparably connected with Kore. To want one was to desire the other. To have one, I would need the other.

I needed Kore.

Eventually, I had to get up. My muscles were stiff from lack of use. I stretched the knots out of them and left to do my daily duties.

I went back up the passageway to my throne room to pass judgement on the newly arrived dead souls. I groaned as I noticed a long line of them, nearly ten times longer than usual. I must have been gone for longer than I realized. I sat on the hard throne at the head of the room and motioned the first soul forward.

It was a young woman with mournful eyes and a bleeding serpent's bite on her arm. That had probably been what had killed her. She ducked her head down and her long hair fell in front of her face in cascading waves. Its ethereal movement reminded me of….

Stop it, I told myself sharply.

A servant began reading in a dry voice from the Scroll of Life the deeds of the woman during life.

"Name: Eurydice, nymph of the Oak Woods. Wife of Orpheus and daughter of..."

My attention strayed, and I found myself thinking about her. I started from my thoughts when I noticed that the room was silent and everyone was staring at me.

"I apologize," I said as graciously as I could. "I have many pressing matters on my mind. Please start over from the beginning." I addressed the last sentence to the servant.

The servant did so, and was halfway through when I realized that I hadn't heard a word.

"Stop!" I commanded. The servant looked up in surprise. "Send the young woman to Elysium." The servant looked startled. I hesitated. Had the young woman done anything awful in her life that I hadn't caught? I was usually harsh in my judgements, but at that moment I couldn't bear the thought of sending her to any place worse. Not with the fire-wraith still in my mind's eye. Once again that laughter echoed through my head.

I stood up abruptly and made to leave the room.

"And the rest, my Lord?" The servant called after me.

I considered the dead souls. The spirits were still. Silent. None of them had the energy or light that Kore did, none of them could possibly understand the elation that came of love, and they would all be wasted on Elysium.

"Asphodel," I commanded. The dullness of such a fate was suiting for such a dispassionate group. With that, I left.

My thoughts consumed me again as I passed through the door into the dark hallway. After wandering around for a while, I came back to myself and decided to do something else to occupy me. I might find myself going mad otherwise. I quickly got changed into my battered working clothes - a black jacket, boots, and sturdy trousers - and left the palace.

With a piercing whistle, I summoned my horse. The beast came, and I swung up into his saddle easily. But what should I do now? There was always so much to do in a place like this, but nothing seemed interesting enough. My horse paced back and forth a few times before I decided I would inspect my kingdom to make sure that it was still running smoothly.

Somehow, everything I saw made me think of her again. The lifeless souls reminded me of her passion. The shadows made me think of her light. The ugliness contrasted her beauty. The dead stones wanted her life.

This wasn't working.

I circled my horse around and rode away without another word.

What I need, I decided, is sleep. So, I retired to my bedchamber. Not even bothering to remove my boots, I threw myself on the smooth covers and closed my eyes. That was a mistake. Those flashing black eyes and the shining, flowing hair were there. The image was burned into my memory.

I opened my eyes with an exasperated sigh and ran my hands through my thick hair. I knew how to ignore what I wanted. After all, I had lived thousands of years trapped underground, away from the clear skies and sunshine I had once loved. Why could I not ignore the feeling growing within me? It was almost an obsession, pushing me towards the brink of insanity. After all this time in the Underworld with only the dead for company, somehow it was this one quiet girl who was finally driving me mad.

I sat up on the edge of the bed. I had to see her again, see if she felt this same pull that I did. But how? Demeter obviously disapproved of my talking to her daughter at the feast. Knowing my sister, she wasn't going to leave her only child unattended long enough for me to talk to her. I dragged my hand over my face in frustration.

Think, Hades, think.

In the end, I could only think of one thing to do: consult the Fates. Even the thought of it made me shudder. They knew everything about everyone: dark secrets, bitter struggles, forgotten pasts, and whatever dark end awaited them. This made them powerful and extremely uncomfortable to speak to. But I was starting to realize that I would face much worse than the Fates just to speak to Kore again. I screwed my courage and went to visit them.