Chapter 19

Hades

It was time to face the consequences of Persephone's actions. I had put it off for as long as I could. If I left now, though, the Furies would just come and take Persephone. They wouldn't care about our deal, but they demand payment from me anyway. Facing them now was the only I could still save Persephone from that fate.

Everyone has a deep, secret fear, whether or not they acknowledge to themselves. It is the duty of the Furies to find out exactly what that fear - that horrendous nightmare - is so that they can torment the soul that has done wrong. They are a heartless, unholy trio who afflict those who come into their power with madness and torture.

So, it was with great trepidation that I descended to the Furies lair. It was located in the underbelly of the Underworld. Here the skeletons of buildings, animals, humans, and civilizations had sunk to crumble into oblivion. Thick layers of dust and slime coated every surface, and, from the putrid stench, I realized that the slime was rotten blood.

I passed a fresh corpse that lay face up. Its limbs jutted out at awkward angles and one of the legs was missing entirely. What little skin that was left on its bones was charred black, all except for the face. That was left in perfect condition so that the look of absolute terror could be preserved. And it wasn't the only one. Similar corpses littered the ground around my feet.

As I continued on, it became darker and darker until I came to the ancient archway that marked the point of no return. Once I passed this gateway, no laws existed but the Furies. I took a steadying breath and stepped into the Furies' home.

It was a foul place, even one used to the murk of the Underworld as I was. The darkness was thick and tangible. I could feel it clinging to my skin. I raised my torch, lighting a tight ring around my feet, squinting to see my surroundings. The darkness pushed against my small circle of light and tried to extinguish its glow. At the sight of my torch, a hissing screech greeted me.

"Show yourselves, creatures," I commanded into the blackness. The swirling mist solidified into three figures in front of me.

"We have been expecting you, Lord Hades," they whispered eerily on all sides of me. One stepped closer and said, speaking to the others, "It has been too long since we have entertained a god, hasn't it, sisters?"

The others hissed their agreement.

"Tooooo long, sisters," she repeated, stepping and leaning in close enough that her snake hair tickled my cheek. The hairs on my body stood on end as a chill moved up my spine, almost paralyzing me. She knocked the torch out of my hand, allowing the darkness to overwhelm me. My eyes adjusted quickly, and I could still make out their images around me.

"Step back, Megaera," I commanded softly, careful to keep any sign of intimidation out of my voice.

That only made them laugh, slow, haunting laughs. They knew that I couldn't command them while I was in their power.

Megaera spit in my face before returning to her sisters, just to prove how much power she had over me. I wiped the burning spittle off my skin disgustedly, causing Megaera to laugh at me.

"Tisiphone, Alecto, shall we begin?" Her tongue darted out of her mouth and licked away a spot of blood from the corner of her cracked lips.

Tisiphone lashed her scourge a few times in excitement, while Alecto sat still, but intense, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

I closed my eyes. I wished I could prepare for what was coming next, but I had no idea what to expect. I took a breath in and let it out. Nothing happened.

Another breath in and out, faster this time.

Nothing happened.

After a few minutes went by, I finally cracked my eyes open. A whisper came through the murky dark.

Hades. Hades.

My head snapped towards the source of the sound. All that greeted my eyes was black mist.

Hades.

I gritted my teeth and crept forward.

"Hades." There, sitting on a rock, looking just as I remembered her, was a woman. Her auburn hair shone softly in the dim lighting. Her hands were folded gracefully in her lap and a heavy shawl was pulled around her shoulders. Her face was stern, and her eyes were cold and dark.

"Mother?" I asked cautiously. She turned and looked at me, seeming confused. My breath choked as it hit me that it was indeed my mother.

"Hades? What are you doing here?"

"You called me, Mother. Don't you remember?"

"Nonsense," she said, looking past me. "I was calling for Zeus. Where is he? Where could he have gone? Zeus? Zeus!" She pushed past me and wandered into the darkness.

"Mother!" I cried, going after her.

I caught up to her and took her by the arm. It felt solid under my hand. I looked into her wild eyes. They focused on me, but I could see no recognition within them.

"My son, where is my son?"

"I'm here, Mother."

She grabbed my head in her hands and yanked my face close to hers, searching it for something. After a moment, her expression hardened. Her long nails dug into my skin.

"No son of mine. Zeus is my son, my only son." She let go of my face and walked away.

"No, Mother, I'm here. I'm here. Mother. I'm here..."

I had no time to recover when I heard the sound of a whip, followed almost instantly by a searing pain across my back. I jerked my head around, hoping to stop the next attack, just in time for a frayed end of leather to catch my cheek. My face throbbed. I could feel trails of ichor dripping down to my chin. I ducked and raised my shoulder, thinking to escape the next lash. This one got my upper arm, slicing straight through the thick leather of my jacket and deep into my skin.

Another scourge joined the first, and soon I was curled up on the ground, enduring the worst beating of my life. Every time a lash fell, jagged metal cut through the skin to the bone. Sometimes, one of my bones would snap from the force of a blow, sending new waves of agony over me. Being a god, my wounds closed up fairly quickly. That just meant that the Furies could be even harsher with me.

Eventually, that phase of the torture did stop. My wounds had been closing up slower and slower, and now they seemed to be closing at the agonizing rate of a mortal's. I lay, gasping in anguish for an eternity of pain.

Once I was sufficiently healed and my pain retreated some, I struggled to my feet. With apprehension, I inspected the damage. My clothing was reduced to tatters, a bone in my shoulder was still shattered, and a cut that stretched from the outside corner of my eye to my lip that was refusing to heal.

Not too bad, I thought, trying to be optimistic and forget that this was only the beginning. I felt my shoulder bones knit together. After I was fairly certain that the shoulder was fit enough to move, I rotated it a few times in a circle.

I looked around hesitantly for my next torture. I didn't have to wait long.

My eyes widened when I saw Persephone standing in front of me looking lost and frightened.

"Hades," she sobbed, when she caught sight of me. Her white face appeared spectral in the ghostly smoke.

"You monsters!" I bellowed into the emptiness. "We had a deal! You were to leave her alone." Echoing laughter was the only reply I received.

At the sound, Persephone started and cried harder.

"Hades!" She pleaded, holding her arms out to me.

I rushed to her, taking her in my embrace….. Only to have her stiffen at my touch and collapse. I knelt, staggering slightly, as she dropped to the ground, and still cradled her in my arms. The color drained from her skin until it was the greenish-gray of a corpse.

The truth I had refused to acknowledge earlier forced itself on me.

I had killed her.

My hands were the hands of a murderer. All gods had a gift, the power that made them gods, and killing was mine. Killing of the body and soul. The ultimate death.

I stared in shock as Persephone's body dissolved into dust and bones. Even the stark white skeleton crumbled in my arms. I, for the first time in my life, truly wept as I realized that I would truly destroy everything I loved. In fact, I already had.

Even as the sobs shook me, as the agonized groans tore from my lips, I knew that what I had seen had only been an illusion created by the Furies to taunt me. But in a truer sense, it had been real. My touch had begun the process of death for my wife. As I had witnessed so much before, once it started there was no stopping it.

When I came to myself, I was curled up on the ground with my knees hugged to my chest. I released the tension from my cramped muscles slowly and got up, feeling weak. I rubbed my eyes tiredly. My hands came away wet with tears, blood, and sweat.

My mother, too, had to have been an illusion. I was going insane. Literally. The Furies were inflicting madness on me, and I honestly couldn't tell fact from fiction while in this state.

Mirthless laughter filled the abyss around me. I wondered vaguely what new torture was in store for me.

"For all his cryptic glares, the Great Lord of Darkness is nothing more than a crying child," Alecto's voice taunted me. "And its mother doesn't even want it. How does it feel, Hades, to know that there is no way Persephone could ever love you, when your own mother couldn't? And who could blame her? You've ruined her like you've ruined everything else."

I put my hands over my ears to block whispers, but the sound penetrated into my mind and heart, resonating there.

"Isn't it ironic," her voice drawled on, "That the only two women you have ever loved are the ones that hate you the most? Poor Hades. Poor frail, pathetic, stupid Hades. You're just never quite what people want, are you? You're weak. Women want strength in a man, but you don't have any. All you have in your heart is selfish cruelty. So, go ahead, coward. Beg for mercy. You can stop the pain and save yourself. It's not like you have any real pride left anyway." Her voice dissolved into a laugh and all went silent.

My breath was coming out in strangled gasps, fast and shallow. I wanted this to stop, this hell. It was tearing me apart from the inside out. I was about to give in and beg the Furies for mercy. Then I remembered Persephone. Innocent Persephone, who didn't deserve to go through anything I had inflicted on her. These were not her sins I was paying for, but my own. I couldn't let her take this when it was I who had earned it. It was the very, very least that I could do.

"Come, you hags of the night!" I screamed into the void. "Do your worst! Don't stop your tortures now. I'm ready. Come ON!"

"As you wish."

With that, the ground beneath my feet erupted into fiery coals, and rapidly burned through the soles of my boots. I howled in pain and ran. The blaze followed my steps. I tripped and fell on my knees, my shins knocking against the ground. The heat licked around my legs. I jumped to my abused feet and stood on them as long as I was able.

Against my will, I found my feet giving out from under me. I fell on my hands and knees and screamed. It was all too much.

NO! A part of me demanded. You are Hades, Lord of the Underworld. You were born to be a king and you will not give up.

Exerting more strength than I ever had in my life with a primal roar, I rose to my feet once more. They barely deserved the name, so scorched and blackened were they. I could see the bare bone where the skin had burned away completely in places. Those areas grew wider and the pain grew more intense. More intense than even I, who was one of the mightiest of gods, could endure.

I surrendered to my fate and collapsed to the ground.

Pain became my world. The constant, scorching, burning pain. Was there ever a time when the pain hadn't existed? To my numb mind, it didn't seem so. I couldn't fall unconscious, and so I had to bear every instant of the merciless torture.

How long had gone by? Hours? Days? Eons? I no longer knew when the pain finally receded and my blackened skin began its healing.

"We are done, My Lord." Tisiphone's voice sounded almost respectful, but I could barely understand the words.

When I did finally grasp their meaning, I dragged myself away from that hellhole at a pace that would have made a snail pity it, until I came to what must surely had to be the most beautiful sight I had ever laid eyes on: my rundown little garden. I fell down under the wilted leaves of the pomegranate tree, completely spent.