Escape, to Tartarus (5)
Escape, to Tartarus (5)
After slipping away from the island of Gaia, we headed for the underworld—Tartarus—with the goddess Tethys's aid.
"In the beginning there was Chaos, and from Chaos were born four ancient gods, each speaking their own name: Gaia, Nyx, Erebus, and Tartarus."
On the deck.
I continued recounting to my gathered sisters the history of the world as I had heard it from Metis.
Why?
Because our destination was Tartarus.
"Is Tartarus a Titan deity, like Lady Gaia?"
"You could call him a Titan, or you could call him the origin of the Titans."
"Brother, didn't you say Tartarus was Hell? Then wouldn't it be a landform, not a person... no, a world?"
"I was told he is a god, a landform, and a world all at once. Just as Lady Gaia is the earth itself and the goddess of the earth, Tartarus is the Abyss and at the same time a single deity."
Tartarus, I explained, was the underworld and a divinity all in one.
"So the name of Hell is Tartarus, and the deity of Hell is also Tartarus. Like how we call this whole land Gaia."
"Then is Tartarus... on our side?"
"That's ambiguous. I don't even know if he... or she is a he. Lady Gaia herself said it has been an immensely long time since she last saw Tartarus's 'true form.'"
Tartarus was a world, yet it was said that no one in particular ruled it—that it wasn't an environment where anyone could declare, "I am the ruler of this place!" to begin with.
The very bottom of Hell.
"If there were a five-story prison, that place would be like the sixth basement floor."
"Five stories but a sixth floor?"
"A space that must not be known... or is so dangerous that even mentioning it is shunned, something like that."
"That's about right."
Tartarus was said to be a place where hellfire like molten lava flowed, where not a single trace of life existed, and where one could not even die amid eternal thirst and suffering—only endure torment forever.
Whether that was true or not, we would have to enter and confirm for ourselves.
"...It's nearly time to enter."
Shaaaa.
Before we knew it, the ship had arrived at a sea completely shrouded in white mist.
And then we met her.
"Who are you?"
A white-haired woman without the faintest trace of color in her complexion.
Her hair, her eyebrows, her irises—all a single shade of white, to the point that it raised goosebumps.
But she was a beauty.
"Are you Lady Styx?"
"You recognize me. Impressive. Yes. You are... that rumored child. And the women behind you... are they your concubines?"
"They are my sisters."
"...I have been rude."
Styx gave a light bow to Poseidon and the rest of my sisters.
"The way your sisters look at you, young brother, so much resembles the gaze of lovers that I misjudged. It only proves you cherish and love your family all the more. I will acknowledge my error and grant your request as an apology. However, if it's something like 'kill Cronus'..."
"That is my task. Goddess, all we ask is that you open the path for us to visit the Underworld."
"The Underworld?"
Styx alighted softly onto the deck with bare feet.
"What business brings you to the Underworld?"
"We intend to go to Tartarus."
"...The living go to Tartarus? Huh. That place would certainly be somewhere Cronus could not pursue you. But—"
"We will free those imprisoned there."
"...Mm. I see."
It seemed this woman had a bit of a misconception.
Did she really think we were fleeing Cronus to go live in Tartarus?
If so, she was mistaken.
"Lady Gaia's children, trapped in Tartarus, have been imprisoned without any crime. Those who guard that place are also Cronus's underlings. We will defeat them and free those prisoners."
"I see. ...But do you understand what it means simply for me to open the path for you?"
Styx pointed at the sky.
"I could inform Cronus of this at any moment."
"...Brother."
Hades and the rest of my sisters immediately readied themselves for battle.
They showed open hostility toward Styx, poised to fight her even if it meant the ship was wrecked and they were forced into the River Styx itself.
"Goddess, please make a wise choice."
I was no different.
"Should I defeat Cronus and seize victory, I will not forget the favor you grant us."
"Hoh. You mean to draw me in by offering merit and rewards in advance? Very well. On what terms? I have a fox of a husband and rabbit-like children. Even at the risk to my own household, what benefit do I gain by supporting you?"
The moment she started discussing benefit, she was already halfway won over.
I became certain the path to the Underworld would open.
"Honor."
"I already enjoy great honor as a goddess. And you offer honor?"
"'I swear by the River Styx.'"
Raising one hand upright as if taking an oath, I declared:
"I, Zeus, do promise that any vow sworn upon the River Styx shall be kept, even at the cost of my life and power."
"...Hoh."
Styx's eyes began to glint.
"For example?"
"Let us suppose there is an exceedingly beautiful woman, and I am desperate to violate her. And to win her favor, I swear upon the River Styx to grant her any request. Then, if that woman says, 'Please do not violate me,' I shall obediently give up. Why? Because it is an Oath on the River Styx."
Such things would rarely happen in practice, but it conveyed just how powerful the binding force would be.
It was like offering someone in modern society the right to make a seal stamp and all the authority that came with it. Take it or leave it.
"An Oath on the River Styx. Yes... that has a wonderful ring to it."
Not Zeus, not Gaia, not Rhea.
An absolute covenant spanning the whole of this land—the promise of the gods themselves—made under the name of "Styx."
Had Cronus ever granted Styx such honor?
Absolutely not.
'This was something I'd already discussed and decided on with Metis.'
* * *
Some time ago, I had spoken with Metis about the River Styx.
Before the five sisters and I took the wine-tasting test on Crete, that is.
I often visited Metis and spent delightful hours with her, like a long-distance couple reunited. Metis too would celebrate my safe return by nestling into my arms.
"So your sisters wish to do it with you?"
"Because we grow stronger the more our flesh mingles."
"Even without that, isn't it simply because you're too magnificent? You'll make love with Lady Rhea the same way... any woman would feel envy. Fufu."
Fortunately, Metis did not hold a negative stance toward our relationship.
"There is no ally more certain than family. Congratulations, Jupiter. Once you've had sex with your sisters, they will never betray you for the rest of their lives."
"Why?"
"Because no matter who else in Greece you sleep with, there will never be a man who gives them sex as affectionate and pleasure-filled as yours."
She was outright positive.
"Hah... if there is one thing I've done right in my life, it's meeting you, Metis. I love you, Metis."
"Hmph, just words."
"If only I could open my heart and show you, I'd do it this very instant—to prove this desire to spend my whole life with you is no lie."
"And how would you confirm your heart to me? If you wrote it on paper, you'd tear it up. If you made someone else tell me, you'd threaten them into changing their words."
"Couldn't I just swear by some river?"
"If you say something to a river, you're bound to honor it all? Where in the world does such a thing exist?"
"...It doesn't?"
Shock!
The Oath on the River Styx did not exist yet.
"Then shall we make something like that later?"
"That sounds good. A covenant of truth that not even the chief god can break. A promise so certain that breaking it would... reduce a Titan god's authority to something less than an insect's."
So later, while thinking of how to coax Styx—who lay along the path to Tartarus—I had consulted Metis on this very issue.
"Metis, do you remember what we talked about last time? Swearing by a river. Let's propose that to Styx so she opens the path. How would it be if even Cronus were bound to uphold an Oath on the River Styx?"
"...It's almost a pity there's no River Metis."
The River Styx was not part of Tethys's domain.
So we needed Styx's help to reach Tartarus, and thus I decided to make use of the Oath on the River Styx right now.
Viva, future knowledge.
Viva, modern cheat.
"Shall we test it? I swear upon the River Styx. As long as you do not bring another man into your bedchamber, I shall love you."
"...You really are a Greek man after all. You never say you'll love only me. You can't swear upon the River Styx to love just one woman, can you?"
"I am truly sorry about that."
When Metis pressed me on it, I couldn't bring myself to say otherwise.
Zeus swears an oath to love only one woman?
That's not Zeus—that's something wearing Zeus's skin.
And I am Zeus.
"I'm truly sorry."
"...Pfft, you don't need to be that sorry. Because I can say it in your place."
Metis kissed my cheek and whispered.
"I swear upon the River Styx: I shall live loving only you. If I break that vow, I shall fall into an eternal sleep from which I never wake. Of course, the Titan blood flowing through my body would eventually rouse me again, but as it is eternal rest, I would slumber for a very, very long time."
"...You really are a lovable woman. Metis, you."
Metis laid herself over me and smiled softly.
"Promise me. Swear upon the River Styx—Jupiter's... Zeus's victory."
And that was how Metis and I devised the means to win Styx over.
* * *
And so, back to the present.
"A most excellent oath. But that alone is insufficient. You must grant me one more request."
Styx pointed toward my sisters behind me.
"If you do achieve victory over Cronus, one among you must govern the Underworld, including Tartarus."
"That...!"
"There may be brief returns above, but you will spend nearly all your life living underground. As the lord of the underworld, the king of the realm of the dead. What say you? Which of you—"
"I will do it."
The one who stepped forward before Styx had hair of pure black.
"Hades?"
It figured.
"If you, brother, are to rule the surface, then I shall rule the depths below."
Fate, it seemed, was fixed.
"Once we've hurled Cronus into Tartarus, someone needs to keep watch over him, does there not? As the ruler of the Underworld."
Beside me, Hades whispered very softly, in a voice that only I could hear.
"...The king of the surface and the ruler of the Underworld. ...Shouldn't I at least be a queen to be a wife of equal standing?"