A Slightly Different Underworld - (1)
I rode the chariot with Demeter and crossed the threshold into the Underworld. It felt just a little different from what I remembered.
“I’ve only heard stories, but is that the famous steel ship of Charon…?”
“Demeter?! What brings you to the Underworld?”
I met Charon too, the one who was paddling his arms wildly on the River Acheron while ferrying souls across.
Krrrk. Grrrr?
“A monster carrying Typhon’s bloodline? There was something like this in the Underworld?”
“I infused it with my power and turned it into a divine beast, so it’s safe now.”
I also saw Cerberus, who guarded the entrance to the Underworld.
“Hey, pick up that parchment that just floated by!”
“Damn it. The number of souls has skyrocketed because of that Gigantes attack recently.”
“We’re already short on living space…”
Demeter watched the Underworld administrators suffering from overwork and let out a deep sigh before turning to me. Her face was etched with profound worry.
“How on earth is my little Kore supposed to live in a place like this…?”
Together with the deeply concerned Demeter, I returned to the place where Persephone was staying. Surprisingly, my niece was behaving quite demurely. Unlike the mischievous energy she usually showed me, she was calmly weaving at a loom.
The moment Demeter spotted her, she rushed over and wrapped her daughter in a tight embrace.
“Kore! How lonely you must have been in this cold, dark Underworld. Now that I’m here, let’s go ba—”
“I wasn’t lonely at all, Mother. I keep telling you not to treat me like a child…”
“How could you stay in this gloomy Underworld when you’re still so young…”
“I ate the food here, and I want to live with Uncle Hades in the Underworld.”
Persephone pushed Demeter away with a pout. Still, she was a goddess of considerable rank. Demeter’s overprotectiveness did seem a bit excessive.
“Haa… That’s because of Eros’s arrow. The feelings you’re experiencing aren’t normal—”
“I swear on the River Styx that nothing has changed! Even before I was hit, I already wanted to marry Lord Hades!”
“W-what did you just say?!”
“Haa…”
Demeter whipped her head around to stare at me. A Styx Oath, no less. No matter how powerful Eros’s arrows were, they couldn’t create memories that never existed. The true power of the golden arrow was to make the exact moment one fell in love crystal clear in one’s mind.
Therefore… what she said was the truth.
If someone already in love was struck by the golden arrow… perhaps it would make that love even more solid, or allow them to hold onto a love that might have otherwise faded with time?
In other words, she hadn’t fallen in love because of Eros’s arrow, but that brief flutter of the heart had transformed into an eternal, unchanging love…!
Demeter looked at Persephone with an expression of utter devastation. Her daughter quietly embraced her mother.
“K-Kore… of all people, why did you have to give your heart to the Lord of the Underworld…”
“Because… I was being strangled by a Gigantes, and he saved me.”
“Strangled by a Gigantes? Are you alright now? So it was during that attack on Mount Etna…!”
“Geez, Mom. Uncle Hades saved me right when I was in danger, okay?”
Demeter poured divine power into Persephone’s body to check for injuries, her eyes full of worry. I supposed it was time to sort things out properly.
“Arrows and love aside… you ate the food of the Underworld, so by its laws, you must remain here…”
“Hades…!”
“However, Persephone, aren’t you the goddess of spring and seeds? If you stay here permanently, it will create an imbalance in the world’s cycle.”
The laws of the Underworld existed from the beginning to maintain the balance of the world. If the goddess of the seasons became completely bound to the Underworld, the world above would be in danger.
“Uncle, do you hate me? I swear it’s not just because of the golden arrow…”
“The oath you swore on the River Styx must be true. Since you’ve already eaten the food, you must live in the Underworld… but do you understand how important your role is in the world above?”
“Ugh… Y-yes, but still…”
“Think about what I told you before. You are the goddess who governs one of the four seasons and the seeds.”
Her eyes drooped slightly as she answered in a small voice.
“…I understand. I can just go up to the surface occasionally, right?”
That was a relief. Though she said “go up to the surface” rather than “go down to the Underworld”… it sounded like she intended to spend most of her time here.
“I’ll only go up when the world above needs me as the goddess of spring.”
“Huu… Of all the male gods who covet beauty, Hades is probably the better choice, but still…”
Fortunately, it seemed spring would not disappear from the world above.
I gathered all the gods currently in the Underworld into the conference room. I needed to inform them of the results of the Olympus meeting and also properly introduce Persephone. Many of them had already seen her, but a formal introduction was still necessary.
“…And so, Persephone will be staying here on a regular basis.”
“Hehe. Let me reintroduce myself! I’m Persephone, and I’m going to marry Lord Hades!”
My niece really was something else…
“We’re already swamped with work, but a new goddess is always welcome.”
“Tsk tsk… She seems so young to be tied to the Underworld. Love really does make people lose their minds…”
“M-marriage?! Who gave permission for a marriage?”
“Setting Persephone aside for now, I will inform you all of the results from the Olympus meeting.”
I relayed the decision to connect the outskirts of the Underworld with the world above and entrust Chiron with the education of heroes. We had even obtained the Omphalos stone for this purpose.
“It aligns with the prophecy and seems like an appropriate solution.”
“We’ll need to impose strict restrictions since we must control the information of the hero candidates…”
“But who will be in charge of this? Does anyone have the time?”
“We should erect a barrier around the valley where the heroes will be trained so they cannot wander freely through the Underworld.”
Since dead monsters and Gigantes would also come to the Underworld, there would be more than enough training partners for the heroes. Fighting monsters that wouldn’t stay dead even when killed would surely forge strong heroes.
“However… will humans be able to withstand the energy of the Underworld?”
That was where the problem arose. A well-trained hero might manage, but how could aspiring heroes endure the power of the Underworld? The Underworld was a place that ordinary mortals could only reach after meeting death and abandoning their physical bodies. Even in the outer regions, the aura of death emanating from all directions was harmful to the living.
“Isn’t the Underworld a place where even a brief stay causes a living person to wither away to skin and bones?”
“Demigods or fully realized heroes might survive, but pure humans in the Underworld…”
“If we gods exert our power, it will only make the energy stronger… We need a god from the world above.”
“Uncle Hades, I think I can solve that problem!”
Just as I was considering ways to separate part of the Underworld, Persephone spoke up. She wanted to resolve it with the power of the goddess who governed spring and seeds?
“Do you think you can manage? The Underworld is my domain, so it will consume quite a bit of your power…”
“A single small valley should be fine!”
“Will you really be alright? Persephone, no matter whose daughter you are, you are not one of the twelve Olympians, are you?”
“…It will be too much for a young goddess like you.”
“Neutralizing another god’s territory—especially Lord Hades’s energy—is…”
“I can do it! I can’t just sit around eating and playing in the Underworld!”
If she was willing to take on the task—especially since she now had to stay here periodically after eating the food of the Underworld—it would be perfect. However, she would have to continuously emit her power in the valley, so the fatigue would be severe. Even if we tried to recruit another god from Olympus… there wasn’t a single one who would enjoy staying in the Underworld for long. The twelve Olympians all carried heavy responsibilities and could not remain here anyway.
“…For now, come with me to the outskirts.”
We arrived at the outskirts of the Underworld, the location where Persephone and the heroes would train. In the enormous canyon that stretched across the outer region, Chiron was already waiting for me.
“Lord Hades. I have heard the details.”
“Good. As you know, I want you to train heroes here.”
“Hmm… I never imagined I would end up training disciples in the Underworld…”
“So, is it impossible?”
“On the contrary, there are advantages. If we use the monsters who have already met death, they will make excellent teaching materials.”
The monsters who had died and come to the Underworld had received the blessing of oblivion in abundance and become as gentle as lambs. Some had become divine beasts similar to Cerberus and now served as guards throughout the Underworld…
“The Python that Apollo killed is also living comfortably here.”
“You mean the giant serpent who was the original master of Delphi.”
The great serpent Python. One of the monsters born when the Earth Goddess Gaia lay with Poseidon, it had been the original ruler of Delphi. Possessing the power of prophecy, it had foreseen that Apollo would kill it and seize its position, so it tried to kill the young Apollo but failed. Later, when Apollo had grown into a god, he fired thousands of arrows and slew Python. Python’s wife, Pythia, surrendered willingly, so Apollo spared her and made her the priestess of the Delphi temple.
Of course, the reason Apollo had been able to kill Python, a child of Gaia and Poseidon, was…
“Poseidon, Gaia is now our enemy. Her monstrous children are, of course, included…”
“Hmm… It was their fate to die, but still…”
“The god of prophecy must be on our side.”
It had only been possible because the gods who opposed Gaia had turned a blind eye.
“There is Python, the Gigantes who were slain, the Sphinx that Oedipus dealt with, and the sea monster that Perseus killed…”
“At this rate, I’m worried the heroes will complain that it’s too difficult. Hahaha!”
“Um… Uncle Hades. Shall we begin now?”
It was time to neutralize the energy of the Underworld. After telling Persephone to start, I had Chiron step back.
Rumble…
First, I used my power to separate the canyon as much as possible. I disturbed the energy to reduce Persephone’s burden as much as I could. When I nodded to her, a bright light burst forth from the body of the goddess of spring and seeds.
Whoosh—
At the same time, I felt a warm, radiant power gently envelop the canyon. I also saw the sweat running down Persephone’s neck and the ichor dripping from her nose.
“Ugh… nnngh.”
The training ground for the heroes was now perfectly covered in the divine power of spring. The canyon, which had once felt like my own domain, now carried a slight sense of dissonance, as if something was catching. It was clear she had succeeded. But after expending all her strength, Persephone collapsed on the spot.
Thud.
I hurried over and supported her back. As I wiped the sweat from her forehead, she looked up at me and gave a bright smile.
“Are you alright? It looks like you pushed yourself too hard.”
“Haa… It’s a little tiring, but I’m fine! If I rest, I’ll recover right awa—”
Slump.
The goddess of spring, having expended far too much power, collapsed into my arms and fell asleep. I gazed down for a moment at the completely defenseless goddess who somehow still radiated a warm and lively aura.
“…Lord Hades.”
“The fact that Persephone was struck by the golden arrow… was truly fortunate for us gods.”
Chiron quietly approached. He knew the circumstances that had led to Persephone staying in the Underworld. The reason she had pushed herself until she fainted was surely because she had fallen for me. Since she had sworn it upon the River Styx… it wasn’t that the golden arrow had made her fall for me, but without it, I probably wouldn’t have even considered bringing her to the Underworld. I would have dismissed it as nothing more than a fleeting emotion from a young goddess.
“…If the goddess of spring did not stay in the Underworld at regular intervals, training heroes here would have been impossible.”
I had been deliberately ignoring it, but… it wasn’t only those who suffered from the gods’ rapes and love scandals who came to the Underworld. There were also those who loved each other so deeply they chose to die together rather than be separated, or those who greeted death joyfully on the same day.
“Love really is a difficult thing.”
“…Even Lady Aphrodite would find it difficult to clearly define that emotion.”
So that Persephone wouldn’t wake, I quietly lifted her, supporting her back and knees with my arms.