Chapter 6:
Hecate steps into a dark room, lit with blue flames and glowing fauna. She bows low, "I am honored that you have agreed to see me."
The three Fates, Clotho, Lachesis and Athropos nod at her.
"Please my dear," they say simultaneously, "the honor is ours."
"Now," Clotho starts, "what brings you here?"
Everything comes out in a rush as Hecate says, "It's about Lord Hades. He went into Tartarus to check on something and came back severely wounded. Since then he's had a constant fever and seems to be having hallucinations…I know he's in a great deal of pain, but I've tried everything I know. The judges can only hold the Underworld together for so long, and in his absence the realm has begun to fall apart. I came to you…because I need your help." When she finally stops, she takes a deep breath and looks up.
The three Fates look down at the ground, each marked with an especially dark expression. "It is as we've feared," they say in unison.
"What is?" Hecate asks. They look up at her, "Something has been making it very difficult for us to see the fates of the gods, though we have been able to work through the fog clouding them from us with some effort. Lately, though, we've been completely unable to see Hades' fate. It seems that there is a quite a malevolent force at work, with Hades at the center of it all." The three sisters stop for a moment and look at each other, understanding passing through each of their eyes. Lachesis nods, and then asks, "You said he came back wounded. What did the wound look like? Was there any sort of mark around it?"
Hecate thinks for a short moment, and then slowly, she begins to speak, "He had a large stab wound under his right ribs…but there was something different about it. It looked as if an infection was already spreading from the wound. It's constantly shifting and moving underneath his skin…the wound has already healed, but whatever mark it left is still there…"
The Fates nod. "He's been cursed," Athropos says. The other two nod in agreement.
"Cursed?" Hecate has a puzzled expression on her face; she is the goddess of witchcraft – surely she would know if her lord was cursed. Apparently not, she thinks.
"How is the curse broken?" she asks. The Fates shake their heads, "It is an ancient curse, as old as Chaos himself. It can never be truly broken – only dulled."
Hecate lets out an exasperated sigh. "Alright, then how do we 'dull' it?"
"There are two ways," the Fates say, "though one is infinitely better than the other, but also infinitely more difficult to obtain."
Hecate nods, "Tell me both."
A/N: So what's with this curse, hmmmm? What's the thing that'll give our good ole Hades some relief? You'll have to wait until tomorrow for chapter 7 :) Again, leave reviews! :D