Hello what and all! I have returned and not alone. Please warmly welcome our newest editor for Kintsugi, ShadeKing666. Both they and Will S. LaVi worked hard for this chapter to bring it to you at its best! I hope you enjoy. Please keep in mind that this is part 1 of a 2 part special! This chapter totalled to around 18,000 words. So, I cut that in half and released two chapters!
Also, thank you to the reviewers that have posted about the timeline mishap. That's entirely my bad. As some of you know, this story has been in the works for a while. The first of my stories to actually be planned and not just write as I go. As such my earlier chapters were written sparsely over the years. Guess I didn't go back and aligned everything that I thought I did.
I've since gone and fixed those errors in chapter 3 and 5.
So please, read and enjoy!
Kintsugi Chapter 12 (The Underworld Part 1):
It was an assault on all fronts.
The smell of blood.
The subtle tears of flesh.
The shattering of bone.
The underworld was home to horrors beyond human ken, but this small entry way was far from the depraved depths of Hades' realm.
Whatever prey these beasts had hoped to find, it was far from it. The smell and stench of a godling was a sweet thing indeed. Enticing, overwhelming, a scent filled with a promise for power.
CRUNCH.
SHINK.
How sad it was, they found no purchase. As blade tore through skin, colored blood splatter across the shadowed halls. A screech cut short, another monstrous hope was severed at the cord. Every step brought Hephaestus deeper into the annals of EMIYA's memory. No, deeper into the depths of his OWN memories. He had long discarded the idea of who was more in line than the other. He was them, they were him. He could feel it, like a nail scratching at a wall. Just a little deeper, just a little farther, and perhaps what was firmly just EMIYA's may yet be adapted to what they had become.
May yet be adapted to HIM.
Sadly…the underworld's adversity was found lacking.
This was no simple battle. Human warriors would fall into the depravity of the creatures around them and the average God would just obliterate them.
To Hephaestus?
It was a butchering.
An arm was stretched, only to be shattered between knee and elbow.
An opening, only to be filled with a spinning blade, driven to the skull.
As the creature fell, the blade fell into hand once more, tearing across the chest of a hellish hound.
Its whimper was cut short, as a metallic foot crushed its skull.
The light for the end of this tunnel was still so far away.
"…Enough," he whispered.
His body shimmered for but a moment, before a wall of steel screamed from him. Blades of countless make and quality shot out. Bodies were speared to wall and ground alike. The sudden halt a deafening echo, a deathly whisper even the monsters of Hades would hear.
He could hear the faint scurrying of a few. This wouldn't be the last of them, not by a long shot. But…bearings needed to be assessed. He peered down the way. The faint light was his only guide…well, his only visible guide. He could feel the hand of Styx within him, keeping him orientated like true north.
Yet, even with such a clear move forward, he turned. It wasn't visible to the naked eye. In fact, it was seamless within the shadows of this place. But he moved to grab the strange substance, feeling the smokey residue covering his hand.
It was like he had reached within the shadows beneath him. But in his hand was unmistakably an ore of some kind. A broken fragment of the very gate he had destroyed on his way in. Any thought of retribution or possible collateral was absent from him.
The world he had come to know was currently being buried in ice and snow. Whichever God took offense to his next actions…well, they could respectfully shove it. This needed to be dealt with. NOW.
So, he tossed the substance within his reality marble. He was slow at first, walking at an even pace, ready for anything. But as he approached the light, he got faster, moving into a full sprint. He wasted no time admiring the damning view of the underworld. This cliff was towering over the riverbank he was most familiar with from time past.
With a heave, his body launched with great strength, the musk of this strange place pushing into his face as he fell.
So great was his leap, that what awaited him was not land, but river. He entered with nary a splash. There was no resistance, though the acidic qualities remained. He could feel the way Styx's divinity seeped into his blistering skin, only to be rejected as he swam through her waters.
It had been easy enough thus far, after all while Hades ruled the underworld, his actual authority over the realm was segregated by the five rivers of the underworld.
To put it simply, his true domain lay on the other side of this river. A domain in which his will was law. His hand reached out of the water and crunched firmly into the banks of Hades' realm. He could feel it, an overpowering divinity. It attacked his senses for a time, the feeling of nausea brought the taste of vomit.
A burst of his own power was enough to offset it. Yet, it hung there, like a macabre specter. Poking, prodding, eying for a weakness to fully ravage and evict him.
"HADES!"
He bellowed out the name. He wasn't here to hide…but that doesn't mean he was here to just ransack a realm. There was more here, and it didn't take the stories and history of another world to gauge that much. After all, Hades entering Demeter's domain without invitation and "stealing" Persephone were ludicrous. If Demeter wasn't so distraught she would have seen the same.
…at least Hephaestus hoped she would.
He walked across the bank, coming across a large stone arch. It was of standard Grecian architecture. Solid in its build, but the maker was obviously lacking creativity. Yet, even the most profound artist would find time to critique the work. After all, it was manned by a beast of renown. When Hephaestus thought of the legendary Cerberus, he considered many appearances. A dog of three heads was expected.
Said dog being mired in flames was not. The pale blue fire that sputtered from the hound of the dead was a cold and lifeless thing. Just as Ifrit was his divine animal, so was Cerberus Hades'. The flames, the immense sense, and possibly even the three heads were all reflections of Hades in some form.
Perhaps this was the form the hound took when facing an enemy? It was easily the size of a house, snarling away with eyes pitch of a purplish hue. Each head was identical, colored in the same shadowy spikes.
Akin to Doberman, the limbs of the beast were wide with muscle and strength. A ravenous howl burst through the maw, its very voice scratching away at his skin. The divinity pulsating from the dog of Hades was clear.
GET OUT!
So, he kept walking. With every step his nerves cracked, his temper flaring ever so slightly. The disregard for everyone involved was disgusting. But as he stared at Cerberus, he felt himself wilt. This was an animal simply doing its job.
The other beasts did not hold the sentience Cerberus did. It growled at him, ready to stand against him no matter the cost.
"Such loyalty," whispered Hephaestus, "I know you stand by your master Cerberus, but even you must realize that I am not here to fight, only to set things right. I will not rampage and destroy your master's kingdom…please let me pass."
He knew better…but the words needed to be said. Instead of obedience, the loyal hound roared, the wind blasting away at the robes Hephaestus wore, buffering the hair from his face.
"So be it."
There was still one more option before violence. So, he drew from deep within him. A blade unlike any he had conjured thus far bar one.
Once more a noble phantasm shuddered into the world…and Cerberus knew fear. Enhanced entirely by the divinity that Hephaestus exuded and his nature as a craftsman, the blade he conjured forth shone even brighter than its peak! The blade pulsated, a ravenous hunger echoing in the underworld. The gashing teeth of a relentless hunter kept pulsating. For there was no longer just a single hound any longer.
But two.
"Hrunting".
The hound of the red plains, a sword that had feasted on the blood of legendary beasts and more. Grendel, Dragons, and even unspeakable Leviathans from the depths. This sword knew battle, further honed in its ascension to legend.
Hephaestus raised the sword, surging the Noble Phantasm to the point it began to crack. What had started as a mere howl echoed into distorted malice. A blade that had been born and honed in the blood and flesh of beasts. Not just monsters, but true legends. Perhaps at his peak, Cerberus would stand tall…but today was not that day. Even as it struggled against its own instincts, Hephaestus felt impressed.
The fear was obvious, but still the hound remained steady. He felt almost felt bad, using Cerberus' fear as a distraction. The poor dog whimpered a bit, having lost track of Hephaestus for only a moment, unable to stop the God from surging forward using Mana burst.
Hephaestus grimaced, feeling the bolts within his legs beginning to wane. There was only so much stress they could handle before maintenance. The nature of his augments effectively made reinforcement a temporary measure at best.
But it would hold. He ignored the howls of Cerberus behind him, running into the temple that it had so desperately sought to defend. The spirits gawked at him, but he cared little for them. Now was not the time to worry about the dead.
Besides, it was obvious that Hades was done playing games…for the realm shifted to bring the young God before the very King himself. Clad in a seemingly simple black toga, the king of the Underworld was a presence already. His farm held no jewelry, no flagrant displays. He had no need for them, for his very presence alone ensured no one would mistake him as any sort of pauper, divine or otherwise.
Seated on a throne, Hades at least resembled the size of a mortal man. Standing above six feet, the king sat on an inky throne mired with skulls and whimpering souls. Black hair, purple eyes, and an impassive expression, lord of the dead indeed.
There was also the suffocating atmosphere, Hades' divinity clawing at every opening Hephaestus had, beating on his mentality with every waking moment. Perhaps for a younger god, this would have been insurmountable, leaving him a quivering mess.
Yet another boon of EMIYA's experiences. He glanced to the left. Persephone, oh how she had changed. Her once blonde hair was now brighter, shining a ghastly bone white. She stood a little taller, her body ever so fuller. Wrapped around her was a purple chiton that matched the hue of Hades' eyes. When he first met her, she seemed at the cusp of adulthood. Now? Now she stood every bit the matriarch her mother was. Her confidence was only marred by the furtive grimace as their eyes locked.
"Lord Hades, Lady Persephone," bowed Hephaestus.
Hades remained stoic, but the volatile nature of his divinity only increased.
"You are uninvited."
His voice was like velvet, a spinto whose tones carried with them a heaviness that belied his promise. For every word echoed the very air with it…the promise of violence. It was likely the only reason Hades kept himself contained was equal parts the God's own personality and his curiosity of how Hephaestus was even here.
"I know," he said.
He remained kneeling for now, but his divinity was not idle. Countless blades remained ready to form, and fire should he need to. Any chance of diplomacy ended the moment Hades allowed Demeter to fall as she had.
The goddess was not free of blame in any way. Even with what little he could see, it was obvious that Persephone was more herself here than with her mother. Yet, actions had consequences, consequences these two knew of.
"Leave."
The room echoed with the force of his word. Hephaestus wasn't entirely certain what Hades was after here, but the order wavered over him, shuddering as it forced its way past him as if he wasn't there at all.
"Your word may be law," said Hephaestus rising, "but I am not here for power struggles or petty politics. I am here because your actions have interfered directly with the mortal world, the consequences of which reached even my home."
Hades blinked, narrowing his eyes.
"You act as if Demeter's tantrum has affected you directly? We both know it has not. Your qualm against me has no place here."
He felt his teeth grind as he struggled to maintain face. Lashing out here would achieve nothing. With that said, even the patient had their limits.
"So even a king of your stature would debase yourself with such excuses."
Hades gripped his throne tightly, the first physical act of his own annoyance, but the lord of flames was far from done.
"You and I both know that Demeter's actions only affect the mortal world for now. The imminent future will change, abruptly. Only a fool would ignore the very real power Demeter has at her fingertips and the authority that comes with it. It may not be now or even in the near future, but her retribution will come…or are you seriously depending on the hope Demeter's tantrum will force the other Gods to quell her?"
The use of divinity went silent. Hades sneered, staring right into Hephaestus' eyes.
"…ironic that the child she detests was born with her aptitudes."
…what?
It floored the younger God for a moment, wondering what he was on about. It didn't take a genius to understand what had occurred. Persephone was old enough to be her own Goddess. What little Hephaestus cared to know of divine development, one only needed to be tethered to their parents for a few decades to firmly develop their core fully.
It was why Leto and Hera went through the trouble of developing the pocket dimension that twists time. Persephone had been with her mother for a much longer period, stuck in her domain, a goddess in full that could only bloom outside of the shadow she was forced under.
Hephaestus didn't care to gauge how much of that was enforced or envisioned, but it was obvious that she sought to get out. However she did it, Persephone met Hades, fell in love, and wanted out. Demeter would never permit her daughter to marry anyone, much less Hades.
This left Persephone one avenue.
If the mother would deny her, then the father might let her. It was simple. The clean up would be someone else's problem since Persephone was married with permission and Hades' kidnapping was not a kidnapping at all.
It was a clever plan…if one was an idiotic child. It was entirely built without a care for the consequences and those that would suffer them. Complete selfishness. It burned at him, eating at his restraint just thinking about it.
Still, Hades' comment did bring a thought to his mind.
"Do they think I have Hera's foresight?"
It wasn't that far of a stretch in truth, but it was still wrong. It was funny to Hephaestus that Hades thought he had done something to him. The pain of Hera's rejection was fresh, yes. Much as he hated to admit it, it affected him far more than he would like.
But…it was different when it came to others. Whatever they said, or inferred, meant nothing to him. He felt nothing. It was a relief honestly, for a time he had worried that the barest mention of her name would make him irrational, a notion he was thankful to be dissuaded of.
"I've tolerated your presence enough," growled Hades standing.
"Have you now," muttered Hephaestus.
Enough was enough it would seem. Fine then.
His own divinity surged. The plants, what little of them were around, burst into cinders with a loud pop. The room grew in temperature as Hephaestus' power grew unrestricted. The aura of the king of the dead was pushed back from him, giving Hephaestus free movement, and the look of shock on Hades' face.
"You will tolerate me," stated Hephaestus, "for I will not leave until this matter is resolved. You have my word that I will not force anything on anyone here. But the matters above must be settled quickly, or your realm will be home to far greater numbers than now."
"So?"
The ground cracked, steaming with volatile magma rushing upwards.
"So?"
Golden eyes glowed in ever rising fury. The walls around him cracked, the friction of Olympic power crushing the surrounding area.
"SO? Is that all you must say? You kidnap a woman rather than face her mother, causing an eternal winter and you respond with SO!? Is this the so-called wisdom of a king!?"
"Insolent Bastard."
The words struck like ice, laced with a piercing desire.
"Enough, the both of you!"
The king blinked, turning to his wife with a raised brow as Persephone's own strength sputtered them apart. Her eyes were calm as she looked between them. Her own hesitance a forgotten memory.
"This is a step too far."
"….."
She turned to the younger God, sighing.
"Hephaestus, you have overstepped. Your words I will allow, if only in respect to your circumstances and our…friendship."
He felt the awkwardness of that. They spoke barely between each other. The confidence she exuded also made him think he was dealing with someone else entirely.
With Persephone being a goddess…it may very well be. It wasn't unusual for God's personalities to shift as one aspect of their being became more pronounced.
"Regardless, you do not belong here. I am asking you to please leave. I do not wish to return to the surface, not now."
"Or ever," he muttered, "if that was your plan."
Without her mother, Persephone proved to be much darker than he thought. Her face and eyes took on a whole new depth. Her name was aptly put as her own divinity filled the space. If Hades was a wretched grip around your throat, then Persephone was like a toxic drop. Just as her divinity could blossom with life, it shuddered with death, watering around his skin like a wilting flower dripping poison.
"Please. Leave."
"I have already stated I am staying…with that said I am adamant I will not force you, and I mean that with action or words. I seek to resolve this as fast as possible, nothing more nothing less."
He stepped forward, ignoring the Hades for the true authority of this ridiculous debacle. He stepped up the stairs until he stood between both Hades and Persephone.
"Besides, I doubt your husband would stand idle if I attempted anything. The only reason his hand is stayed is due to how his actions have affected my home."
Divine law was clear. Retribution for his incursion into the underworld must have been mitigated by the very circumstances that brought him here, hence Hades' unusual patience.
He shook his head.
"Still Lady Persephone…or should I say Queen Persephone?"
She took the matter with grace.
"Queen."
"Understood. Queen Persephone, you know as well as I that things are growing ever worse above. You cannot seriously consider what's happening to be okay?"
"My mother's actions are not mine," she answered coldly, "the sin of those actions is hers to bear."
"True, if not for the subterfuge that caused her madness. Her actions are her own, but do not take me for a fool. His kidnapping of you is nothing more than a faux play. A means to drag you from your mother's clutches. She assumes you've been kidnapped. Even if she does realize it is all a hoax, she may very well use the justification of Hades entering her realm without permission to further escalate things. It doesn't matter if you gave him access, when the access wasn't yours to give. His trespass gives her the means to force a confrontation or something of the sort."
"Demeter has no power here," stated Hades firmly.
"Of course she doesn't. We both know in the underworld you are unmatched."
Hephaestus wasn't a fool. In his own territory, the idea of victory against Hades was an impossibility. But then again, Hephaestus' conditions for victory differed from the Lord of the Dead in this circumstance.
"Yet, that does not mean you're untouchable."
Hades narrowed his eyes.
"You assume a weakness of mine? Truly whelp?"
"If Demeter were to force the Olympian council to drag Persephone out, could you stop them?"
"Of course," muttered Hades, "she is the queen of this realm, Zeus would not invite the war between our Kingdoms, nor the fracturing of the council."
"I'm no fool," said Hephaestus. His glare galled the God even further, but the festering of that annoyance soon died.
"We all know that the truth of your confidence is because you sought Zeus' permission to marry his daughter and he gave it. There's no reason for him to push matters against you when he allowed it in the first place. But there are ways to force our kind to fight one another. Oaths, promises, whatever tool she needs, she'll use it….or are you truly so foolish to believe that Demeter is without her own authority?"
They looked at him shocked. He carried on. If they genuinely were shocked he pieced this together, even after thinking he shared Hera's foresight, then that was just insulting. Though, that did indicate even Hera has a limit to her knowledge.
"You cannot fight Zeus and Poseidon together if they face you in full…Persephone, if you truly wish to be free then confront your mother."
The very mention of being near her caused Persephone to dawn an even greater persona. Her skin took on a more galling tone, lines not unlike that of a leaf or petal flowing across her arms. The color was soon dyed an eerie black, the white of her eyes slowly delving into a shadow.
"She'll just trap me again!" she growled, "don't you see! That's all she wants! I'm just a flower stuck in her Garden, never to leave, never to bloom! Spring is not eternal!"
Hephaestus came to two realizations, one was that winter was apparently a concept Greece had never experienced till now. Shit. Two, that Persephone was a lot stronger than he anticipated. He wasn't going to force her up regardless, but it was obvious to him now that she was on par with any of the younger Olympians.
Which made it even more confusing.
"She…forced you to stay?" asked Hephaestus.
"Of course she did!"
"Really?"
She paused at his quizzical tone, the disbelief of it.
"Persephone, look around us."
She hesitated but narrowed her eyes.
"Yes, I see my plants Hephaestus."
"...plants in the realm of the dead? Life? After I burned them?"
She blinked.
"I'm not some weak nymph you insolent–"
"Calm, I do not wish to offend you."
If not for their brief history, he was pretty sure she would have blasted him right out of the throne room. Yet, the darkness receded, revealing her to what he saw moments ago.
"You are a match for me, and certainly in the realms of the Olympians…Demeter could not have contained you even if she wanted to. You're a fully realized Goddess…couldn't you just leave?"
It had to be asked, if only to delve further into the specifics. Yet, her voice did not expand, nor did she continue to be even more aggressive.
"She…did not bind me," muttered Perspehone, "but she would have!"
"Assumptions. Nothing more. You're also assuming the confrontation needs to be in Demeter's domain. Go to neutral territory and air your confrontation there. All I ask Queen Persephone is that you tell your mother the truth…with it, she would not be able to maintain her current path. She'd have no recourse but to stop, not with the justification for her actions leaving her to suffer."
Without Persephone's "kidnapping" Demeter would be unable to continue as she had. The consequences of the actions would allow others to take advantage in a way they were unable to at the moment. That wasn't to say there weren't consequences now, but they were mitigated by Demeter's standing as an Olympian.
Persephone hesitated, rubbing her hands together, a small habit he noticed before.
"Hades…I would need Hades…and we know he cannot remain in the lands above for extended periods of time…not without some regents."
Hephaestus knelt in front of her. Hade's scowl is beginning to grow.
"Queen Persephone, I understand this is asking you a lot. If you go to Mount. Olympus, I swear to you that I will mediate between you and your mother. Should she try to attempt in any way to force you back to her home…then I will fight her off myself."
The room remained, as the next words left his mouth.
"I swear to Styx."
The room rumbled with an overbearing thunder, the lake in the distance behind him glowing an ethereal light. Hades' scowl ran ever deeper.
"You…you swear?"
"I do my lady. Your choices are your own, and neither I nor your mother should house any sway over them. She can hate your decisions all she likes; I will ensure that you make it back to your husband's arms. I promised your mother I would get you out, I never promised her to keep you out."
She turned to her husband, a faint hand on his shoulder. His scowl softened as he gazed at her, his own smile growing tender.
"I must go…but we will do so properly. It will take some time for me to gather what is needed. Husband, will you send a word about our arrival? It should stay my mother's hand for a time as we prepare."
"Of course."
She dispersed in a shower of dead petals, disappearing deeper into the realms beyond. The room was silent, the tension palpable. Hell, Hephaestus swore he could taste it, his tongue balking at the chalk-like flavor.
He turned to leave. There was no need to further instigate anything.
He should have known better, only getting as far as the middle of the room. The shadows of Hades' domains surround them in a pocket of pitch black.
"You've intruded not once, but twice." Stated Hades.
The ground beneath him began to glow with smokey crevices, an eerie white light misting with the smoke.
"Somehow severed the river that separates my realm from the realm of the living."
He grunted, feeling hands grip at his metallic legs. The flames he could conjure sputtered as they left his hand. The weapons he had at the ready shone as they were created but fell helpless. Every string of his divinity was severed in this strange distortion. Many more hands came from the ground, gripping at his arms and thighs.
"Then, you have the audacity to judge my wife's own circumstances and force her to bend to your whims…in front of me."
His eyes glowed, the fierce shade of amethyst drilling into Hephaestus has more and more hands gripped him wherever they could. He struggled, breaking many as he did…but he still sunk deeper into this strange darkness, however slowly.
"You have your circumstances, your reasons…perhaps Persephone is right to trust those reasons…she certainly trusts you enough to defy even my displeasure…so I'll be lenient."
Hades lifted his hand, the strength of the arms pulling Hephaestus down grew even greater.
"I'll leave a door for you, that should be courtesy enough."
His voice resonated with an underlying power, his voice distracting as he spoke next.
"For the crime of absconding with a denizen of my realm, intruding without permission, and just genuinely being an audacious and unworthy youth, I banish you Hephaestus SON OF NONE…to Tartarus."
He was waist-deep now, glaring at Hades.
"Duration," he said simply, "till you escape."
His mind flew through countless means to escape now, but with his own power and authority seemingly cut off, there was little to do. So instead, he decided to mitigate the future as best he could. With a grunt, Hephaestus' eyes glowed as he used his authority in full, within himself. The gears of his reality marble spinning fast enough to whine.
The dark material within shuddered as it was forged using purely divine methods. It would do the job…but any craftsman who knew Hephaestus's work would know the truth.
His last insult as his head became buried in the shadows, the helmet plopping out as the last of his crimson hair disappeared. Hades raised an eyebrow, eyeing this non-descriptive helm.
The shadows that had submerged them dissipated. Persephone would not be happy with his actions, hence he wouldn't tell her. Instead, Hades lifted the helm into his hands. It was a standard Corinthian helm. It would rest on his face well enough and enhance his natural invisibility to unprecedented levels.
"Funny," muttered Hades, "if I had this, infiltrating Demeter's domain would have been simple."
A disgustingly powerful authority, one fitting for someone called "The Hidden One". It irked the Lord of the Underworld how suitable this half-assed creation was to him. Still, it did the job Hades needed it to do. That's all that mattered.
His anger was justified, that Hades was certain of. Besides, letting Hephaestus leave without some sort of punishment would just give him greater problems in his realm. He needed to be undisputed if he wanted to keep things running as smoothly as possible.
He sat on his throne, ensuring the continued work that needed to be done. The young God would escape that was a certainty. He had kept a door open there, one born of his authority. With an imperious expression, Hades donned the helm…and felt his authority grow as his shadow became ever darker, expanding even further across the realm. Already he could see and hear the areas of his realm that were once blocked to him. His eyes glowed, and the underworld shuddered.
-Tartarus-
The weight settled on him like a twisted lover. A malicious smirk, a haunting voice, all whispering in the furthest reaches of his mind. Like lips to the cusp of his ear, he could feel the raw malevolence. He wasn't keen on the sight of this place either.
Still, there was a haunting, almost gothic beauty to it all. A dull horizon circled him like a sputtering ember, illuminating the various crags and mountains of this desolate region. The dying dusk clung to the horizon, the final utterance of what little light remained, all to illuminate the world and show just how hopeless it truly was. Yet, the way the realm mingled in its darkness, the night sky above him that glittered with orange and dusky stars…it was haunting and beautiful all in one.
The creatures of this realm were few between. Hephaestus stood, eyeing what seemed like a shimmering door not a few miles away from him. It was rather easy to pick out, the eerie purple a stand-out to the rest of it.
The artist in him hated it, the way it just plopped itself there. Hades was terrifying perhaps but compared to this place he was but a whelp. Still, the atmosphere aside…this was the Greek Hell? It was…rather desolate.
A barren hellscape it may be…but it was still empty bar the whitish smoke beneath his feet.
"Stop spacing out!"
He turned, looking down at his left side.
"Styx," he muttered, "you're?"
The spirit of the river scoffed, the Goddess looking at him with an expression mired in worry. She wore a standard chiton, dyed in her husband's steel grey colors. It matched well with her skin and hair.
"I'm not here, at least not physically."
Like a mirage, Styx appeared to his vision, but was not physically here.
"You can't remain here. Tartarus will…damnit."
He followed her line of sight and came across…himself?
The child before him was an ugly thing, as any person would attest. A marred and twisted lip, lop-sided eyes, and a malformed skull that caved and expanded at differing points. A face that looked as if someone had smashed it with their hands and left the shape to settle.
His arms were fine, the child's chest stable, though the legs were cracked and still bleeding a strange bright red.
"I…just want…"
He ignored it, moving through the child variant of his past. The boy collided with his legs, popping into the white mist beneath his feet.
"I see, this place torments you with your past and anxieties. Interesting."
Without the inclusion of EMIYA's mental fortitude, Hephaestus doubted his past self would have lasted. Still….he expected more from hell.
Styx, however, was a different matter. While the effects of Tartarus on herself were bypassed entirely, she was still present. The rancid ugliness that she had saw was far from natural, no God would be born in such a way. Their physiology wouldn't allow it, by the virtue that said physiology didn't exist. They were pure energy…but that wasn't true for Hephaestus. However Hera had created him on her lonesome had resulted in some mortal pieces, or at least a hollow rendition of it.
She saw it all. The way his first memory was of his own mother disowning him, tossing him…. demeaning him as she heartlessly threw him away.
The way the words tormented him over and over as he fell.
The way the wind tore at his skin, ripping the breath from his lungs.
The thundering collision as he fell into the sea, only to be pierced by stone and impaled.
The shattering bones, the splitting of skin, left alone on spikes to cry as the saltwater poured into his open and pierced wounds. His voice cracked first, the white mist of Tartarus displaying a jagged rock pierced through a babe's eye.
She was no saint, but this? This was appalling even to her.
She even tried to grab the small child she saw, though she quickly stayed her hand. These weren't real…but they had been once.
Thetis however appeared. Hesitant at first, and strangely quiet.
She knew of this Goddess, she was kin in some ways. Days passed but Thetis did right, freeing the boy and healing his wounds.
He was saved…only to be abandoned again.
Trapped in a small home, every attempt to leave barred him beyond a certain point.
Alone. For not a single soul came to visit, only packages left for him. Tools, materials…not even ambrosia or nectar. The boy's partly mortal stomach would growl and wither, his bones and muscles clung to his skin.
His only sustenance was the fish that would enter.
She turned to Hephaestus. Many words sprung to her lips, but they stalled. Died before she could even move her mouth. She expected discomfort. Some kind of reaction. Instead, his face was…calm. To her, that was the most terrifying part of it all. How…indifferent he was. Like, it didn't matter. He walked past each echo and memory, undisturbed and uncaring. Tartarus was not like other domains. It reflected those that it tormented, feeding on their memories and anxiety, distorting what it dredged up to become even more horrifying and resuming the vicious cycle over and over. The world around them would have become mired in hate, self-loathing, and an emotional turmoil that would feed everything around them to become even worse, attracting monsters and creatures of increasing intensity. Phlegethon loved this wretched place and hated it at the same time.
An ever-expansive darkness that would surround you with those just as tormented, with beasts and monsters that would feast on your fears and sins.
She hated it. Styx hated everything about this place. But she especially hated how…serene it all was. She should have known better.
Nothing in Tartarus ever stopped or ceased. It always escalated.
CRUNCH.
Like now. However much she may have hated this glimpse into her savior's past, she couldn't help but turn to the sound. At the echo. She turned to the latest echo…and wretched.
CRUNCH.
Again.
CRUNCH.
AGAIN.
CRUCNH. SHINK. CRUNCH!
What she saw, what he said. The words. The attempt. It was too much. It was too far.
More and more these…echoes popped up until she couldn't take it anymore, not after Hephaestus shut Hades' door and kept walking.
"What are you doing?" she rasped, her eyes wide, "you need to leave!"
"After."
"What could possibly keep you down here! If you are after some sort of….material, then you're insane!"
"There you are," he muttered, climbing over a small cliff.
She felt it the moment the words left his mouth. She knew this feeling well, after all she had been born beside it. Like a row of gnashing teeth, she could feel her sister's smile from here.
"Phlegethon," she whispered.
There in all its blazing glory, was the most detested river in all the underworld, feared and avoided by all. The burning waters that injected pain into every waking moment of whichever souls faltered enough to land at her shores.
"…wait," Styx muttered. Her eyes widened, "You can't be serious!? Hephaestus there are better times than now to-"
He simply jumped, his legs creaking ever slightly at the force. Hephaestus landed, the echoes around him finally ceasing. The flames were beautiful, at least to him. It shimmered in a twisting cascade, like a flurry of autumn leaves.
"You're no fun, you know that Godling?"
The voice was sultry and deep. A teasing lint tinted with a manic desire. He turned, sighing at the sight of the newer spirit. She was taller than he was, by a few inches. Her hair was exact to his own, a crimson shade unattainable by mortals.
Her body was lithe, paired with a shapely chest and long legs.
Oh, she was also nude.
"Of course she is," thought Hephaestus.
Now wasn't the time though.
Her eyes were sharp as he approached, her smile showing a row of fanged teeth. She dispersed for a moment, reappearing instantly back in her "waters".
"What brings one like you to me? I saw you close that doorway. Must have surprised old Mykrul."
"Mykrul?"
She smiled.
"The name of a faded Titan."
"So Gods could die," thought Hephaestus, "good too know."
The fiery red head only scoffed at his silence.
"No one important. Makes it easier to talk about certain Gods. So…what brings you to me."
"I made a promise I intend to keep. The chains that bind you here…I am here to absolve them."
Styx began ranting in his skull, but she was easy enough to ignore. Perhaps she had a point about timing, but truthfully there was no better time. Any opportunity to come to this realm by diplomacy would take, in a generous estimation, centuries to accomplish. As much as Hades may love Persephone, there was no way in hell Hades would allow him to return to free the other rivers.
After all, the God had sent him to hell over this very matter. So, rather than waste his time going through the exit, Hephaestus decided to kill four birds with one riot.
Free all of them and escape. It was why he punted that helm to Hades in the first place. There would be no means to call him back into the domain of the underworld in the future. He was banking on the fact that Hades wouldn't be able to say a word about his…disappearance to Persephone. The shadows were a means to obscure obviously. He'd have no choice but to be quiet. Hence, his current escapade.
"Then jump in…the water's warm."
The mirth was galling, but the pun was even worse. Though, he quite enjoyed the way she smiled even more as he jumped in.
"HEPHAESTUS STOP!"
The flaming waters tore at him in a way the Styx did not. The waters of his first tenant were passive. Acidic, most certainly, but not as potent as she could make them with a concentrated effort.
Phlegethon was a savage. A masochist and a sadist who got off on pain in the purest way. Every nerve was poked and ravaged as the flames hugged around him, the only thing visible to his eyes was the rancid expression of happiness on Phlegethon's face.
An expression that faltered as his face remained stoic.
Sad, wasn't it? How unimaginative her ideas were. This was not something Hephaestus was new to. For divine species, even normal demigods and mortals, the pain would have been debilitating. Jumping into her waters would have left anyone else a vegetable, and a God screaming out. That was how jarring, how surprising the depths of her pain went. So deep you felt it even within the soul.
Shame they didn't have his history though. After all, Hephaestus had a strong memory of the time "Shirou Emiya" had been alive. How the boy cannibalized his own nervous system to practice magic.
In a twist of fate, how the boy cannibalized and touched his own soul in the worst of ways.
The pain before him was intense…but it was no stranger to him. Still, he could do without though. His eyes glowed as the flames around Phlegethon dispersed slightly, leaving her bare to him. He was amused slightly at the befuddled expression and the way the woman covered herself.
"Wait!"
The chains around her arms would do, then her legs. There was a strange one that was driven at her center, a pike chilled with an ocean's worth of power. The energy crept along her spine at her back, inching its way to her brain.
…It was corroding her. It affected none of her memories or power, but her sense of identity would have begun to crumble over the centuries.
It disgusted him.
She must have been the most sadistic personality he had met in this life, but he could enforce some rules, if need be, in her…tenancy. Rules she would agree with of her own will of course, but rules nonetheless. He reached toward her, her face twitching as he reached behind her back. Rather than pull the shard out, he merely altered the size and shape, reducing it with great effort. It fought against him, screaming and thrashing at his authority and power. The chains rumbled as he altered their enchantments.
The area around them began to scream, the flames churning into a brilliant azure blue. The chains cracked, and from Hephaestus' chest came a pair of arms that grabbed their sister. Phlegethon's eyes widened as she was suddenly driven into the chest of this insane God, disappearing from her waters.
The flames around him remained their azure hue, as Hephaestus climbed out. His skin had darkened a hair, steam coming off his body from the heat. The pain disappeared instantly the moment he had Styx draw her sister in. He could feel the subtle shifts of his reality marble. The image of the Phlegethon River forming opposite her sister around his mountain filled his vision. He turned; the flames no longer dull.
He eyed the shard that remained in his hands. He studied it, the way the runes around it shimmered with power. It was more flexible now, the target of its enchantments no longer within the same realm, rendering it far more pliable than it should. It was spiked, the narrow point shimmering. It was a spike of raw energy, condensed to an insane degree. Adding any enchantments to it would just break the damn thing…but there would be uses for it.
Incredible uses. For while adding enchantments to it was ill-advised, the chisel itself was an incredible artifact of power. A simple flex of his divinity showed that his power flowed flawlessly, growing stronger the more he channeled through it.
"A chisel," he smiled, "it would be perfect."
It would take a few projects to see if it would perform as needed, but he was more than happy with the result. The realm around him shuddered. The horizon that had once been a dying orange took a more azure hue.
The blue light was enchanting, adding even more to the horrific qualities of this hellscape. He really couldn't help it. The sight was enchanting all on its own, beautiful in the most haunting of ways.
"Beautiful," he whispered.
The world glitched for a moment, the sky's stars sputtering out. For the briefest of seconds…he was surrounded by pure darkness. It was as if the Abyss had just opened its eyes for a moment only to close them again.
The sky and the beautiful horizon remained, but there was an unease that wasn't there before. Well, not from the realm. Instead, with Hephaestus.
He needed to get out of here. This tranquil place was alluring in its own way for the God, and he didn't want to lose track of time. It wasn't that hard to find an exit. After all, he had a river to follow now. Each river of the underworld connected itself to Hades' realm in one way or another. Hades for instance, used the Phlegethon River to transport prisoners when need be. All he had to do, was swim in the opposite direction.
He jumped back into the painful 'waters', his own compatible divinity sending him upward.
Perhaps if he had stayed, he would have noticed the head of the primordial of the pit twisting into an expression in the "night sky". There was no form to it, for it had not yet decided on one. One filled with curiosity and surprise, the sky shifted to convey its incredulity. After all, there had never been a tenant before that their authority merely washed over. Tartarus was an ageless thing, but it seemed there was always something new to learn. A gift then. The sputtering power that called to its owner, one that attempted to flee back into the embrace of Pontus was crushed mercilessly.
An equivalent of a smile formed. The idea that Pontus' plots would sputter into nothing on this day warmed its non-existent heart. It may not have harmed its temporary visitor, but harming Pontus was always a good time. Besides, he needed to get back at that ass for shoving their daughter into his domain.
Ah, like Tartarus needed a reason.
- END PART 1 -
