The Prophet Prometheus - (2)
I knew that even if I stopped Prometheus's punishment, he wouldn't help me. His resentment toward Zeus had built up far too much for that. He would likely say nothing about Gaia's intentions or his own prophecy, offering only mocking laughter instead. Whether his love for humanity outweighed his fury at Zeus was anyone's guess.
After returning to the Underworld, I moved quickly and left the citadel. Emerging from the pitch-black fortress and heading toward the outskirts, I soon found myself on a quiet path. If I went a little farther... to the northern end of my citadel, where hardly any souls ever ventured...
I walked for a long time along a narrow trail wide enough for only one or two people before a small house came into view. A soul emerged from it—a beautiful woman whose appearance could rival that of most goddesses.
"Pandora. Would you listen to what I have to say?"
"...Why have you come all the way here, my lord?"
She was the first woman created by the gods. The pretext Zeus had used to punish humanity with the great flood. The one whose fleeting curiosity had unleashed the roots of all evil—disease, calamity, and wrath—upon the human world. This was Pandora, wife of Prometheus's brother, Epimetheus.
I was led inside Pandora's house and took a seat.
"What business could the Lord of the Underworld possibly have with a lowly human like me?"
"The first human woman to receive blessings from countless gods should not call herself lowly. Never say such a thing."
Her husband, Epimetheus, was an immortal Titan and currently lived in seclusion on the surface. But Pandora had met her death during the great flood Zeus unleashed. Upon arriving in the Underworld, she had despaired upon realizing she had been used. Though much time had passed and her resentment may have faded, at the time she had crossed the River of Forgetfulness yet still retained her memories.
I had pitied her situation and offered to erase those memories, but she had chosen instead to live on the outskirts of the Underworld without reincarnating, keeping her memories intact. The way to persuade someone like her was...
"I intend to end Prometheus's long punishment."
"...I see."
"But I need a reason that Zeus can accept, at least to some degree. That's why I need your help in persuading Prometheus."
I told her everything—about our enemy Gaia, the mother of the Olympian gods, and how I planned to free Prometheus and convince him to lend me the power of his prophecy.
After listening to my story, Pandora let out a small sigh before answering calmly.
"Lord Hades has always treated me well, but I still have no desire to do anything that would benefit Olympus in even the slightest way."
I had shown her kindness by occasionally delivering news of her living husband, Epimetheus, and the reverse was true as well. Though the two could never meet, I remembered how they had both been overjoyed whenever they received word of each other. Epimetheus wandered the world in seclusion, making him difficult to locate, but messengers had told me how happy he became upon hearing news of Pandora...
"Wasn't the very reason the gods created me to punish the humans who had received fire...?"
"I won't deny it. The reason you were created was likely because Prometheus giving fire to humanity had offended them greatly."
The many gods who had bestowed all kinds of blessings upon Pandora when creating her had done so ultimately as a stepping stone to destroy humanity. In short, it was a trap.
"Why should I help Olympus—the very ones who used me and once tried to wipe out humanity?"
Pandora spoke flatly, her expression unchanging. As the first woman, she cherished and loved her descendants, the humans. She had given birth to a daughter, Pyrrha, with Epimetheus, and that daughter had married Deucalion to become the progenitor of a new human race. If one were to analyze it, her hatred was a mixture of resentment toward the gods who had nearly destroyed humanity and guilt for having been their tool.
"Who is to say that it wouldn't be better for humanity if Lady Gaia and those things called Gigantes seized control of the world?"
"The Gigantes devour humans. They even kidnapped people from the city where my temple stands and used them as sacrifices."
"...Is that so."
She was listening to me with the attitude of someone willing to hear out the words of one who had granted her many conveniences, but being persuaded was an entirely different matter.
"A great flood like that will never happen again. Even if Zeus tries to destroy humanity once more, I will stop him."
"...You, Lord Hades, would stop Lord Zeus?"
"If it is not a justified destruction, but something as petty as punishing them for receiving fire simply because it offended his pride."
At the time, Olympus had been in its early days when the authority of the King of the Gods needed to be established. Only after Pandora's box had been opened and evil spread throughout the human world did we learn that she had been artificially created and sent from Olympus... So I had merely expressed concern out of respect for Zeus, without voicing strong objections. And Zeus, respecting me in turn, had not prevented Pandora and Epimetheus from keeping in contact. He had also turned a blind eye to the conveniences I provided her in the Underworld.
"I will show you how your daughter Pyrrha and her husband Deucalion's descendants are living now."
It was a scene from the surface world that I occasionally observed. I briefly shared my vision of the mortals living in Thebes with Pandora.
Despite the chaos caused by King Oedipus in the past, Thebes was thriving. Thanks to the blessing of wealth I had bestowed, few went hungry. The humans spoke of the gods' grace.
"Today I'm going to pray at the Pluto temple in front of Morpheus's statue."
"Did you have a good dream yesterday or something?"
"It'd be nice if it was a prophetic dream about my business booming..."
"Thanks to the mint the merciful god Pluto bestowed upon us, the air in the cemetery smells positively fragrant."
"Come on... you're exaggerating."
"You'll understand if you ever work as a gravedigger. It used to smell so foul..."
"I came from Athens, but how exactly does Thebes worship Ha—*ahem*!—Pluto?"
"Haven't you heard about the mint? And not only that, when his worshippers are threatened by monsters, he descends in person..."
"The Lord of the Underworld... the god of mercy?"
Ahem... In truth, it felt like the humans were talking about me a bit too much... but since my name in Thebes was almost on par with Zeus's, there was nothing to be done about it.
"So many people are truly invoking Lord Hades's name. The god of mercy..."
"...It just sort of happened that way."
Pandora stared at the humans on the surface with wide eyes. What could she be thinking as she looked at those who could be considered her own descendants?
"The reason I descended upon Thebes was because of the Gigantes who follow the Earth Mother Gaia."
"......"
"One of my worshippers had been kidnapped by a Gigante and was on the verge of death. I barely managed to save him."
"Gaia's subordinate..."
"Yes. That's exactly why I want to persuade Prometheus and obtain his advice—to prepare for Gaia's prophetic abilities."
Pandora closed her eyes, sinking into thought. All I could do was hope that her love for humanity was as great as her hatred for the gods.
After enough time had passed to empty a cup of Dionysus's wine, Pandora opened her eyes as if she had made her decision. She fetched a parchment scroll and a quill pen from within the room and began writing something diligently. Then she removed the golden necklace she wore and handed it to me along with the parchment.
"If you take this to Lord Prometheus, it should help a little."
"...Thank you. Truly."
Pandora's golden necklace was a treasure that existed only once in the entire world. When she had been born, the three goddesses of beauty who attended Aphrodite—the Charites—along with the goddess of persuasion, Peitho, had given it to her as a symbol of Pandora. It would serve as proof that the letter I delivered to Prometheus was truly from her, while also expressing her resolve.
With this, even Prometheus would have no reason to doubt.
Pandora's hand, which had been offering me the necklace and letter, paused for a moment. Then she spoke quickly, as if making a final point.
"But this does not mean that the resentment I hold against the Olympian gods has been resolved, nor that I have taken their side."
"Then..."
"I simply believe that the current gods ruling the world would be better for humanity than those Gigantes monsters taking control. And..."
Pandora hesitated, her lips moving slightly.
"...your words about stopping the gods if they ever try to destroy humanity again."
I was glad I had built a relationship with her by looking after her needs all this time. It seemed I had unintentionally won over her heart over the long years.
"I will trust in the kindness you have shown me all this time, Lord Hades."
In truth, I had wanted to ask for help from her husband Epimetheus, Prometheus's brother, but he was always wandering in seclusion and would be difficult to find in a short time.
"You're choosing to trust me personally rather than the Olympian gods? Is that really all right?"
"The Lord of the Underworld wouldn't deceive a lowly human, would he?"
"...Thank you. Truly. If Prometheus is persuaded, it will all be thanks to you."
The first woman smiled faintly before me... Had she made this decision not out of love for humanity, but from the guilt of having been the one to bring about its near destruction?
"Please don't expect too much. I only wrote down what I saw, heard, and felt in that city called Thebes that you showed me."
"That will be more than enough."
I had turned the heart of someone who had realized the truth of how she had been used to destroy humanity and resented the gods. This should bring about a significant change in Prometheus's own feelings as well.
All that remained now was to take Pandora's letter and necklace and go to Prometheus myself. No matter what, I would persuade him.