Chapter 25

Orpheus walked through the double-door entrance to Hades”s receiving hall with the most bravado than any of the other times he”d entered.

The braziers that lined the door were fully ablaze, causing Orpheus to break out in a sweat as he approached the dais. Hades regularly appeared in the receiving hall to speak to the citizens of the Underworld; it functioned much more similarly to a mortal kingdom than others would realize. Orpheus didn”t take the time to set up an appointment or forewarn Hades of his arrival even though it would”ve been the polite thing to do.

Orpheus was arriving with another goddess after all.

Hades was sitting on his black throne, carved from bone and dotted with gemstones embedded into it. He consistently wore the same thing, his thick hair curling down towards his shoulders and heavy black chiton nearly sweeping the floor. His face was pulled down in a tight scowl, and even without the crown on his head, he would”ve exuded nothing but dominance and total control. If Orpheus didn”t have another Olympic deity on his side, he would”ve been far more anxious strolling up the carpeted aisle.

”Orpheus?” Hades turned his attention to the poet, and his scowl deepened. ”I had rather hoped that you wouldn”t ever grace my halls with your presence again. I certainly don”t understand what else you could possibly want.” Hades”s voice was tense, and Orpheus broke out in a sweat. He didn”t know if it was the blazing braziers at his back or the intensity of Hades”s un-approving gaze, but he didn”t wait around to find out. He shuffled his weight between his right and left foot, clearing his throat before he spoke.

”I come with someone else to speak with you on the matter of how you”re running your kingdom, Lord Hades.” Orpheus tried to input a sense of calm and authority of his own into the words, but his voice still shook as he said them. He watched as Hades sat up straighter, his brow furrowing as his lip curled. He slammed his fist down on the arm rest.

”You wish to speak to me about how I”m running my kingdom? You”re fucking lucky I run it the way that I do, or my adherence to the ancient rules of Lethe would”ve been broken to tell Eurydice what you”ve done.”

The floors shook when Hades spoke, and Orpheus tried not to drop to the floor in fear. Thick, black clouds of smoke started to congregate around Hades”s feet, his power rising as his agitation with seeing Orpheus again grew.

”I don”t come to speak to you on the matter of Eurydice,” Orpheus managed to say. ”I wish to discuss Pan.”

”Pan?” Hades grumbled, leaning forward in his seat as he evaluated Orpheus, taking delight in how he squirmed under the attention. ”Should Pan be here for this? If you are to speak ill of him, then everyone deserves their chance to speak out against the charges.”

”N-no.” Orpheus shook his head. ”I want to speak to you regarding...” Orpheus swallowed thickly, his anxiety more apparent as he got closer to revealing his plan.

”I don”t have all day,” Hades sneered, his voice sounding as slick as oil. He had reclined in his seat ever so slightly, which was an insult in and of itself. Hades was posturing; he was proving to Orpheus that he didn”t find him a threat. Except it was hardly posturing when it came to Hades, the god who arguably had the most power in the entire pantheon and the eldest of the three brothers who ruled their world. He truly had no reason to be intimidated by Orpheus, and Orpheus knew it.

”Why is Pan allowed in the Underworld?” Orpheus nearly vomited out the words. ”He”s not a creature of the Underworld, and even Hermes, his father, doesn”t live here all the time...”

”Hermes lives wherever he pleases. He is the god of messages and a psychopomp. There is no place in the world that is off limits to him,” Hades interrupted sharply. ”Do not lecture me on the positions and jobs of my family.” Hades”s voice dropped an octave. ”I know them and all their movements well.”

The color drained from Orpheus”s face, and he took a deep breath, trying to summon what little courage he needed.

”So why is Pan allowed in the Underworld?” Orpheus pushed again. Hades rubbed his hands together as if he was using all of his strength not to get down off his dais and punch Orpheus clear across the face.

”I don”t take well to dead mortals asking me why gods are allowed in my realm.” Hades cracked his knuckles. ”But if you are perturbed over his presence, he is allowed here because he is a god of forests. The Underworld has forests. Hermes brought this to my attention, so special permissions were given to Pan to allow him to cross through the gates of Hell. Does that answer your question, poet?” Hades”s words were clipped, and his mood was growing more sour by the minute as evidenced by the growing clouds of smoke that were now trickling down the dais and towards Orpheus.

”By that logic...other gods whose territories also exist in the Underworld should also be allowed to come and go as they please, correct?”

Hades”s eyes narrowed as he stood to his full height, coming down off the dais and crossing the distance between him and Orpheus. Orpheus couldn”t help but fall backward in a desperate attempt to put more space between them. Hades looked as furious and vengeful as he had ever seen him, his expression stone cold and power radiating off him.

”Why do you meddle in the affairs of gods?” Hades demanded, his voice plummeting into its lower register. The rafters and walls shook with the force of his power as the dark smoke began filling up the receiving hall.

”I”m only following your logic, Lord of the Dead.” Orpheus bowed his head with a mocking tone of voice. ”You wish to follow the rules so closely. There is another god who intends to take advantage of your benevolent ruling.”

”Then let them speak for themselves,” Hades growled, his bident appearing in his grip out of thin air, ”and do not show up here speaking of games that you do not understand, foolish poet. Remember that you are nothing but a shade in my kingdom of shadows.”

”I have arrived to speak for myself,” a disembodied female voice filled the hall. ”You know I always like to send my messengers ahead of me, Hades.”

Thick, green smoke started to pour through the windows, and it began mixing with the black clouds scattered across the floor. The entire room was almost immediately completely obscured by the foggy displays of the gods, their power made manifest. While Hades”s power smelled of smoke and cedar, this new, invading emerald magic smelled of rotten vegetables and mildew. Orpheus found himself coughing and covering his face with his arm as he scrambled backwards towards a far corner, hoping to find a pocket of fresh air.

”Demeter!” Hades bellowed, his rage exploding out of him like a canon. Orpheus heard one of the windows shatter from the force of his anger. All the black smoke evaporated from the room in an instant. Hades was now dressed for battle, the edges of his bident dipped in flames and armor strapped across his chest and arms. Orpheus started shaking, his face nearly frozen in fear. He would”ve never brought this loophole to Demeter’s attention if he knew it meant seeing Hades”s anger unleashed.

”How dare you even set foot in my dominion!” Hades growled, sending another shockwave over the stones. ”Show yourself, you precious bitch.”

The green smoke in the room started to coagulate and twist upwards, forming a tornado of clouds as they spun faster. Moments later, they parted, revealing Demeter standing in her physical form in the middle of Hades”s hall. She was swathed in shades of green and emerald from head to toe, and her himation was accompanied by an additional shawl. Her body was tall and lithe, without an extra curve on her. She was hauntingly beautiful but looked as though she might blend in with the stalks of wheat she so watched over. Demeter”s hair was so dark brown, it was nearly black, but it glimmered in the firelight when she turned her head. She wore no circlet but had a laurel made of wheat stalks tucked into her hair.

”Oh, Hades,” Demeter cooed mockingly as she held her arms out wide, ”is that any way to greet your mother-in-law?”

”You don”t deserve the right to call yourself a mother,” Hades spat. He pointed his bident towards her. ”What are you doing here? It”s bold of you to cross the Styx, knowing what I told you I”d do to you if I ever saw you again.”

Orpheus might have been out of his mind with cowardice, but he could swear he heard the river Styx answer from beyond the palace windows, its currents picking up speed in protest.

”I”m simply here to take advantage of your generosity.” Demeter offered Hades a half-bow that was more mocking than respectful. ”If Pan is allowed into the Underworld to visit his forests, surely, I must be granted those same rights to visit the fields of Asphodel.”

Hades turned his head slowly, his eyes fully black and glowing with power. Orpheus trembled when Hades”s gaze landed on him.

”I see,” Hades nodded once, studying Orpheus, ”I have to admit, this is rather well played. You told Demeter about my bargain with Pan, it seems.”

”He most certainly did.” Demeter offered Hades a warm and patronizing smile. ”If you are going to allow Pan access to the Underworld”s forests, then certainly, you have no issue allowing me access to what is mine.”

Orpheus thought he might pass out as another ripple of palpable power tore free from Hades. It was clear that Demeter had meant Persephone when she referred to ”what is mine,” and Orpheus suddenly found himself wishing he hadn”t played the games of gods.

”Everything in the Underworld is mine!” Hades exploded, black flames pouring out from his back and underneath his chiton. He leaped forward in the blink of an eye and pinned Demeter against the stone wall, pressing her against the stone with his bident encompassing her neck.

”Everything, everyone,” Hades growled, his lip curling, ”in the Underworld is mine.”

Orpheus thought for a split second that Hades was going to murder Demeter right where she stood. The color drained from her face, and her bravado dissipated. Demeter swallowed thickly and forced another smile on her face.

”It is your honor on the line, dear Hades. What chaos would erupt if the gods discovered that their eldest, the powerful ruler of the dead, wasn”t playing by the rules he so closely cherishes?”

”Fuck honor!” Hades shouted, slamming his fist against the stone, dangerously close to Demeter”s face. ”I”ll release the titans and turn all of Greece into the Underworld before I let you anywhere near my wife again.”

Demeter stuttered, the fear apparent on her face. ”Y-you know how many innocents would get caught in the crossfire if you did that, Hades.” Demeter”s voice quivered. ”You wouldn”t allow that to happen.”

For a tense moment, Orpheus was convinced that Hades was indeed going to go ahead and murder Demeter on the spot. He squeezed his eyes shut and prepared to run through the doors and flee as soon as Demeter hit the floor. Instead, Hades released the goddess and took several steps backward as though he was disgusted to be near her.

”The choice is yours, Hades.” Demeter cooed, some of her bravado returning. ”You either have to abolish Pan from the Underworld or allow me to enter of my own freewill. As often as I like.”

Not a single sound could be heard in the receiving hall. Orpheus finally dared to look directly at Hades, who was staring at Demeter and looked like he was imagining all the ways he could kill her. When he finally spoke, his voice was like stone. It was cold and calculated, and the air around them reverberated with every syllable that came out of Hades”s mouth.

The fires in the braziers suddenly went out, casting the room in darkness. Orpheus tried to scramble further into his corner, hiding from Hades”s wrath. He could barely see anything through the shadows, only the gleaming fury in Hades”s eyes as he spoke to Demeter.

”No one shall enter the Underworld except through me. All the gods of Greece, the deities of the pantheon, and immortals of heaven, all must seek me out for admission to the land of the dead. The titans, the fates, and the shades have more rights than the Olympians between the boundaries of my realm.”

The entire Underworld started to shake with the force of Hades”s declaration, his power and magic making it celestial law as soon as the words left his lips. Black and blue flames erupted from the braziers, casting little to no light but filling the room with the heat of the fires of hell.

”Anyone here who is not of my flesh, born from my power, or shares my bed, if they have immortal blood, shall perish upon their entry to the Underworld without my explicit permission. I revoke all visitors forthright, lest they plead their case to me.” Hades”s voice morphed from being full of gravel and brimstone to sounding like silk and oil. ”And they shall plead their cases to me on their knees, for whether they rule the skies or the grain or the earth…” Lightning and thunder started to crack and roll from the ceiling above them. “they all become my subjects in the end of their days.”

A massive cracking noise shattered Orpheus”s eardrum as he rushed to cover his ears, curling up into a ball. A huge flash of light accompanied it, and then there was silence. Orpheus waited for a few precious seconds to see if he was still in one piece, but then he finally opened his eyes out of morbid curiosity.

Hades was sitting on his throne, looking as cool and calm as ever. He didn”t have a single hair out of place or a drop of sweat on his brow. All his armor had disappeared alongside his bident. On the floor in front of the dais, Demeter was on her knees. Her hands were bound behind her back with tendrils of smoke and another one was tied tightly around her head as a gag. Her eyes were wide with fear as she trembled before the Lord of the Underworld, all of her previous bravado gone.

”You do not have my permission to be here,” Hades cocked his head as he looked at Demeter, his expression suddenly bored. ”So be gone.”

There was another flash of dark smoke, and Demeter vanished entirely from the hall.

Orpheus leaped to his feet and ran as fast as he could out of the room, too occupied with the fear Hades would destroy his shade to realize his plan had worked.