Phaethon's Story - (1)
This is the Underworld, the place mortals fear most as the inevitable destination after death. It is also the domain of Hades, one of the three great gods who rule over parts of the world.
"Hmm..?"
Because of this, all sorts of things happen here. Unimaginable events unfold that humans could never dream of, but—
Flash!
"What the—!"
No one could have imagined the Underworld would suddenly be bathed in light.
"Hades! Hades! Light has flooded the entire Underworld!"
"I'm seeing it too!"
Lethe bursts into my chambers in a panic. I hurriedly throw on my clothes and step outside to assess the situation.
"What... what is this?"
"Has Lord Apollo descended upon the Underworld..?"
"Nonsense! This could never happen without Lord Zeus's thunderbolt striking the Underworld!"
"That can't be right! Where is Lord Hades?"
The souls were panicking like vampires caught in sunlight, something straight out of a 21st-century creation from my previous life. And for good reason...
The Underworld lies so deep that no light ever reaches it. Hestia's hearths provide some illumination, but only faint, meager light. Most of the Underworld remains dark, pitch-black, and cold.
"This must be Lord Apollo's wrath!"
"Maybe Lord Zeus is fighting Lord Hades!"
The entire Underworld descended into chaos in an instant. Souls ran about while the administrators tried to calm the situation, all while searching for the gods. But were the gods themselves calm?
"What in the world is happening!"
"Hades! Have you quarreled with Lord Zeus?"
That wasn't the case either. The gods of sleep, Hypnos, and others rushed to my office in a frenzy. No, it was Lady Styx.
"I've never done anything like that..."
"Only Lord Zeus could possibly cause something like this..?!"
Well, first things first—we need to resolve this situation quickly.
"Morpheus, go down to Tartarus immediately and check if the Titans are still properly imprisoned!"
"Y-yes, sir!"
Next, I ordered the Underworld administrators to calm the citizens as much as possible. Since no other anomalies besides the light could be felt, I dispatched a lesser god to the mortal world to investigate whether something was wrong there...
"Gah! Lord Hades!"
....?
I'd just sent someone to check the mortal realm—why were they already back?
"L-Lord Hades! The sun... the sun is close!"
What nonsense.
* * *
The lesser god who had gone to investigate the mortal world returned with burns all over his body, ichor dripping from his wounds. The sun is close? What in the world was he talking about?
"Lord Helios is driving the sun chariot too close to the earth! The mortal world has already become Tartarus!"
"Helios would never do that... Is this Apollo's doing again?"
Helios. Son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia, he holds the divine authority of the sun. Because he alone can drive the sun chariot—a task even Zeus cannot manage—he maintains his position as sun god alongside Apollo. Of course, during the Titanomachy, he, along with his sister Selene, goddess of the moon, and Eos, goddess of the dawn, sided with us. But regardless, Helios has never once stopped driving the sun chariot.
"But this is clearly not Lord Apollo's power! The sun chariot's horses were running wild!"
The divine horses, always wreathed in flames, were running rampant? I had always trusted Helios's ability to perfectly control the sun chariot. Had Helios been bewitched by Aphrodite... or attacked by a Gigante... or what else could it be?
Fortunately, not long after, the darkness—no, the light—that had covered the Underworld began to recede. As the Underworld returned to its usual gloomy state, both souls and gods breathed sighs of relief.
"The light is finally fading. What on earth was that about?"
"Should we send a messenger to Olympus to find out?"
"The situation has calmed down for now, but..."
"No need for that. I've brought the culprit."
The gods who had been discussing the matter turned toward the deep, resonant voice. There stood Thanatos, the black-winged god with a fearsome expression, holding a soul who appeared to have just died.
* * *
That soul was the one responsible for brightening the Underworld? As everyone's gaze focused on him, Thanatos frowned and continued speaking.
"...A soul struck by Zeus's thunderbolt and fallen from the sun chariot."
"First... Mnemosyne, bring water from the spring of memory."
The soul was a young man who looked to be in his late teens or early twenties. He had striking golden hair... and somehow resembled Lord Helios. Could it be?
"Hah! W-where am I? I was just..."
"That's right, kid. This is the Underworld. Did you drive the sun chariot in Helios's place?"
"Th-the Underworld! Then...!"
"Tell us exactly how you ended up here. Every detail, including why you fell from the sun chariot."
The soul, who had been dazed for a while, finally opened his mouth at Thanatos's urging.
"I... I am Phaethon, son of Lord Helios..."
We listened to the story he told. Phaethon, who had grown up only with his mother, never knowing his father. When he came of age, his mother revealed that his father was Helios, the sun god. After leaving home, Phaethon traveled far and wide until he found his father. Overjoyed at meeting his son, Helios swore upon the River Styx that he would grant Phaethon any wish...
"The River Styx... ngh..."
At that point, Styx, standing beside me, let out a groan as if she had figured something out. Most of the other gods seemed to have realized the cause of this incident as well. I gestured for Phaethon to continue.
"Yes... I made a foolish choice. I asked my father, who had sworn upon the Styx, if I could drive the sun chariot."
"What?! You mad fool..."
"Hah! That's a chariot even Apollo or Lord Zeus cannot control! How could someone like you—"
"Did you listen to Dionysus's whispers or something?"
The horses of the sun chariot could only be handled by Helios. There was no way Phaethon, raised as a human despite his divine blood, could manage them. What happens when the sun gets too close to the earth was obvious. The mortal world must now be filled with charred corpses and withered trees. If Zeus hadn't struck the chariot with his thunderbolt, all life on earth might have perished...
"...And so the horses went berserk, and the earth was completely... In the end, I was struck by a thunderbolt from the sky and ended up here."
Phaethon sniffled quietly, as if at a loss for words. To finally meet his father only to lose his life over such an absurd request—what a truly tragic fate.
"Hah... I'll hold off on your judgment for now. Wait over there."
But that was a separate matter... The sin of plunging countless lives into suffering must be paid for heavily. Since souls who died in the mortal world were pouring in endlessly, I sent Phaethon aside. His fate would be decided shortly.
* * *
A short while later, in heavy silence, Phaethon knelt with his head bowed, awaiting judgment. Before him sat Hades, the god of the Underworld, at a large desk. A low voice flowed from the gloomy male god and pierced Phaethon's ears.
"...I will pass judgment."
While the other gods watched in complete silence as the judgment of a sinner who had greatly affected the mortal world was delivered, only Hades spoke of his crime.
"The damage you caused to the mortal world through your reckless actions is immense. Rivers dried up from the heat of the sun chariot you could not control, countless villages and cities burned, and innumerable lives were extinguished."
Helios's son, head still bowed, could only shed tears. He offered no defense.
"Ignorance is not a sin. But the responsibility that comes with that ignorance must be borne."
Phaethon had braced himself for severe punishment. He himself had witnessed countless lives dying on the earth below while riding the rampaging sun chariot.
"Aaaah! Lord Apollo! Save me!"
"It's too hot... my flesh... it's burning..."
"Water... water..."
"Lord Zeus... why..."
Just from what he had seen, hundreds, thousands of people had begged for their lives as they were roasted alive. That didn't even count the plants, animals, nymphs, and other forms of life. Even though he hadn't been able to imagine such consequences when he took the reins, he still had to pay the price for taking so many lives.
"I sentence you to hard labor at the outskirts of the Underworld for several hundred years. This is the karma for extinguishing countless lives."
At least several hundred years—Phaethon's lips pressed tightly together. But it didn't end there.
"Furthermore, you will not be allowed to reincarnate, and even after your labor sentence ends, the blessing of Lethe will never be granted to you."
The blessing of Lethe, overseen by the goddess Lethe, is essential for mortals whose minds have limits. No mortal can bear the endless accumulation of memories. The gentler-hearted gods around us looked somewhat sympathetic, but even they thought Phaethon's punishment was appropriate. However, Hades's words were not finished.
".....However, considering that your father, Lord Helios, neglected you..."
Huh...?
"And taking into account that you had no malicious intent, as well as the fact that he rashly made a Styx Oath, I will show some mercy."
Phaethon, who had been in despair, unconsciously raised his head to look at the Lord of the Underworld. Mercy... he said?