Pegasus looked down towards the ground with disappointment. “Stay here,” said Hercules softly. “I will be back.”
Then Hades led Hercules forward into his dark, cavernous underworld. “Let me give you the grand tour of my underground palace! I have created a magnificent world here, even in a place where light does not extend!”
The cave into Hades’ mansion was full of jagged rocks and massive, elegantly carved rock pillars. Before him was a great hallway. The hallway was at least thirty feet wide, a hundred feet high, and seemed to be miles long. Along the sides were torched that came out of the wall. All of them were lit.
After several minutes of walking Hercules began to see something that frightened him greatly. There, in the cave, as Hercules passed, he spotted many sad workers who held long black pick axes in their hands and chiseled away at the rock. Others looked at Hercules insidiously or with great sadness. The workers all had skin that looked crinkly and old, and hair that was almost entirely gone, or wet, soggy, and frayed.
“As you know I am a man of deals,” said Hades. “This is, after all, how I got all of this.”
“You got all this by doing deals with people?” asked Hercules, slightly in shock.
“Any Gods have the ability to make covenants with mortals Hercules…even me the God of the Underworld! People here are those who have made deals with me, deals to work in my great underground labyrinth! It is not by strength of arms that I won all of this Hercules, for unlike you I was not born with great talent or ability. No, instead, I had to work at it. You see, let me tell you the story of the three brothers!”
Then Hades began telling him a great story, “There were once three brothers, so named Zeus, Poseidon, and myself, Hades. These three brothers were the first people on earth, and were originally wanderers, wandering over the cold, hard plain. The one who sent us down to earth and released us in this wasteland said, “You may each choose the pathway that is best for you to follow, and to that pathway shall your inheritance be. So we wandered through the land for a long time, but eventually each parted our own ways. We could not agree on where to go together and were too different to remain as one. In the end of our travels Zeus ended up at Mount Olympus, where he was given the heavens. Poseidon ended up at the ocean so he was given the great waters as his inheritance. Then I ended up at a cave, a land of the dead in the dark abyss of the world, a land people call the underworld. So I was cast out here, given this wretched land as my inheritance. But it was in this land, that I found, paradoxically, new life. Death fascinated me. I remained here and began to understand the power of death—something that Zeus, Poseidon, or any such God on Mount Olympus couldn’t understand. Why? Because they were immortal! Eventually humans were placed on the earth, by the very same being that placed us on the earth. Humans, unlike Gods, were familiar with death and that gave me, the great King of the Underworld and Master of Death, so much more advantage over them! Don’t you understand Hercules? Death is something that you must understand if you are to truly be a God of Mount Olympus! This is something that Zeus could never understand! Oh to be a God on Olympus how ignorant you must truly be! You see Hercules, I know much more about people than you do.” Hades smiled as he said. “Death is the ultimate champion. Everyone fears death!”
Hercules did not agree. “Some come to embrace death, to look forward to what future may come after it.”
Hades laughed. “Not many.”
Hades then continued leading Hercules forward. There in the abyss, amidst the charcoal rock and rivers, were dark figures. They were entirely cloaked and wandered amidst that dark labyrinth without direction. Hercules felt a dark presence, such as he had never before felt.
“These are wraiths and were once humans Hercules, humans that feared death so much I gave them a way to avoid it! Oh the terrible sting of death did afflict these people—people who would in their heart of hearts seek for any way to avoid it. So what did I do? In my kindness and mercy I gave them a way to avoid it! I let them sell their soul to me and I, as master of death, gave them the ability to be immortal! These are they who have gone too far away from the light, who have become wraiths, barely even human. They have lost all direction because for so long they have been away from the light. They do not have much memory of their life as mortals and do not remember their own parents. This is all they know now and they only obey me, as my servant. Now they have little hope and all because your parents, Zeus and Hera, used all of their strength to create you. In essence, your parents abandoned these people to this fate because of you…you are the reason that these people wander so amidst this dark place.”
He didn’t say a word. Instead, he felt terribly sad. He could picture these wraiths as once grand and noble beings, beings that he now could not change, no matter how much he wanted to.
“It was not my parents fault and it is not my fault,” said Hercules.
“Very well,” said Hades. “You may think that now, but in time you will come to see what people are truly like without a God to come to their aid, and without someone to support them.”
Hades then led Hercules to the “grand arena,” as Hades called it, of his underworld. This was, by far, the most massive underground room he had ever seen. It was hundreds of feet wide and at least a hundred and fifty feet tall.
The room was, for most part dark, except for the torchlights that lined the outside of the cave. How the torches were able to be lit Hercules did not know, but he figured there must be some kind of air in this dark cave.
In this place Hercules saw far more pain and suffering than he ever wanted to see. Thousands of servants lingered in that room, each carving away at their own small tunnels, that like spider-legs, each jutted off into a different direction. Each servant saw Hades come into the room, and each one looked woefully up at him. Hades smiled, and raised his staff. “Come my servants! We must welcome the great Hercules, who has come to pay us a visit!” Hercules noticed that each servant had two shiny silver bands around their arms.
“Who are these people?” asked Hercules. “And what have you done to them?”
“These are mortals,” replied Hades.
“The evil ones?” said Hercules.
“No, actually these are the good ones of your world Hercules,” replied Hades. “These are people who sinned and then felt terribly bad. Because they felt so bad they went to seek out forgiveness, but, since none know where Zeus is and certainly couldn’t get to him even if they wanted to, they could not have their burdens removed. So I came to them and offered them a deal.”
“What kind of insidious deal did you offer them?”
“I offered them what they wanted,” said Hades.
“It is terrible that people be enslaved so,” said Hercules.
“You see Hercules, while you were busy growing up and trying to find yourself and who you are I was gathering souls.”
“Gathering souls? What do you mean?”
“You see Hercules, since your parents isolated themselves on Mount Olympus the poor mortals have had no true God to look to. Yes, they had the other Gods, but they didn’t have the God—Zeus. And because of this mortals have not been able to find relief from their own evil. They have been searching the heavens for a God, but they haven’t found one. So then I present myself to them and give them a way out of the spiritual pain they suffer. In short, I let them sell their soul to me and in doing so I take upon myself their sins and iniquities. This is good for them because they finally have relief and good for me because I own them until the time comes that I rise to the stature of ultimate Godhood, having an army that I can use until the end of the earth!”
Hades laughed. “I think you do not understand Hercules. Just as a God who drinks a mortal potion must become mortal and subject to the mortal world, so too must a person who sins become miserable. And this combination, mortality and sin, can make some individuals terribly tormented, seeking relief in any way they can from the toils of this mortal world. And who can provide true relief
from this burden? Not Zeus! He is stuck on Mount Olympus and can no longer provide help to these people. Instead, while you were growing up and later off on your adventures, slaying great beasts, and attempting to understand yourself and who you are, I was saving people!”
“Saving people?” replied Hercules. “How do you call this ‘saving’ people?”
Hades smiled and beckoned Hercules forward, down a long rock stairway to the grand arena.
“You see, I can give people what they truly want—without true Gods to protect them, without hope, without faith, they are left with nothing to sustain them—to keep them at peace with their world. So what do I do? I let themselves bind themselves me. They then become immortal and need not fear death.”
“But in doing so they forfeit everything that makes this life worth living,” replied Hercules. “In doing so they forfeit any hope for forgiveness, any hope for returning, any hope for joy!”
“Isn’t that what a deal is?” replied Hades. “In order to gain one thing you must give up another. And these mortals are not given much to begin with, so they don’t have very far to fall.”
Hades looked over as Hercules’ eyes suddenly shifted to his staff. On top, surrounded by four small black spikes, was a small white globe that suddenly grew powerfully bright, illuminating the entire room.
“Yes, you covet my power,” said Hades. “All my God-power is contained within this small globe on my staff. But do not worry Hercules. By divine law this globe cannot be taken and used by anyone except me. And this globe cannot be broken except by God-power, or God-magic, and since I gave you that potion you have very little of that.”
Hercules looked up at the staff and then at all the laborers enslaved under Hades’ dominion.
“Take me away from this place!” demanded Hercules. “I will see no more of this.”
“Very well,” replied Hades. “You must now come and see my grand underground army!” Then Hades took Hercules into Hades’ great armory. The room was massive, thousands of feet long and wide. Thousands of shields, swords and armor lay on the sides of the cave. Thousands marched in line and stopped and bowed before Hades. Hades smiled. In the room Hercules could see three large men approach Hades. All were arrayed in black. One held a spiked club. The other held a sword and the other a bow. “Meet Herakles, Ares, and Hephaestus—Gods and fallen heroes who, at my command, are creating enough armor and weapons for a great army to assault the world! You must behold the army that I have been creating in secret on this island—an army to defeat the Greek world and place it under my dominion. Then after that I will war my great war against the Gods and take over Zeus’ kingdom.”
After Hercules had seen the great armory Hades led Hercules onward, down another wide, but dark corridor until the hallway opened up into a large room. Then Hades began speaking flattering words to Hercules:
“You know Hercules, you are not like other heroes, other heroes that I have seen. Your foolish father and mother gave of themselves for your benefit—to make you into a Super-God, the greatest God that ever existed! Imagine Hercules, with my help, you could become a Super-God! You would have power that no other God has—a power to control all other Gods!”
“Why would you help me?” asked Hercules. “You were the one who made me part-mortal in the first place.”
“Yes, because I didn’t know whether you would side with me or not. You know, I couldn’t risk having a super-God as a villain to me, a super-God that could defeat me. You see Hercules, let me teach you something. This is one of the grand mysteries of all dark villains. All villains in the history of the world have lusted for power, and this is a lust that is quite impossible to fill, given their natural abilities. Thus it is the obligation of a true villain to allow another to achieve great power—greater power than even he possesses, so that he may show the world what a true villain can do. You see my staff Hercules, the power of my staff, the power of all those souls who gave me greatness, through me and my magic, can be brought into you—thus making you the greatest of all villains and even a super-God!”
Hercules paused. “Your words are full of lies and deceit Hades,” said Hercules. “You would tempt me with great power, but power is not my main objective. My main objective is the peace and prosperity of my people. It is you who would have me as your ally, an ally to destroy the world and bring you to power.”
Hades smiled insidiously. “Oh, Hercules, you misunderstand me. Of all the great masters in the history of the world…”
“Stop your vain words,” replied Hercules. “I will never join you.”
This seemed to anger Hades, but he kept his cool. He nodded and pointed forward.
Then, towards the center of the room was a jagged hole in the floor that was over twenty-five feet in diameter. A soft, light greenish-grey smoke protruded up through the hole.
“Do not go too close to the hole,” said Hades. “For you do not want to fall in. Even the darkest of wraiths do not dare go near this place.”
“What is this?”
“Tartarus!” exclaimed Hades. “This place is the underworld of the underworld. All those truly evil and unruly souls are sent here where there is no return for them, unless someone willingly goes in there to take their place. But nobody loves the souls in Tartarus, which is why nobody comes for them. They are the lost of the lost and the miserable of the miserable.”
Hercules looked behind him and saw that Hades himself would not go within thirty feet of the pit. But Hercules was driven by his curiosity and so he went forward to just a few feet away from the pit. He looked back again at Hades, who stood in the same spot with his staff in his right hand. Hercules took a moment to look into the pit, and saw that it was deep, deep enough with the thick smoke and air to not see the bottom. Then Hades spoke: “Tartarus is a place that has enough power to kill even a God, so even I do not dare go into that place.”
Hades thought of shooting a blast of dark magic at Hercules right then, sending him down into that dark abyss, but he held back. He knew that he might miss or a hit might push Hercules too far, past the opening. So, for now, he held back.
Hades then led Hercules forward to what would be the last room on his tour—his own high council room. “Now you must come to my room, the greatest of all the rooms of this underground palace, and the place which I spend the most of my time.”
So Hades led Hercules up a long, spiral staircase up to the highest room of his underworld. There Hercules beheld a long room with a hole above that let true light shine down into his room. Hades pointed to what lie directly underneath the oculus. “This is my globe, and with it I can zoom in and see where everyone is at all times.” Hades moved his fingers over the world and with it, could zoom in and out to various places in Greece. “For example, I see your trainer Philoctetes now. He is sleeping under a tree by where you left him. He must be waiting for you to return, but got tired after all of his travels. I could send men to kill him now, if I wished.”
“Why couldn’t you find me before then, when I was a young child and was lost from you?”
“Hah, because I first must know your general location,” said Hades. “There are thousands and thousands of people in Greece. It would take me forever to search for them all and by the time I would have found you you would have appeared much different. But that is what my winged servants are for.”
“Very well,” said Hercules. “But why have you done this? Why give me a tour of your underworld? What’s in it for you?”
“I gave you a tour of my great abode. You have seen what people are like under my command. You have seen their sufferings. You have seen the labors they must perform day-by-day. And you have yet to see the true devastations that may come upon all of Greece.” Hades looked back and pointed to Hephaestus, Ares, and Herakles. “Hercules, they await my command. If you do not do this for me war will come swiftly upon Greece and all of Greece will die just like your loved mortal parents did. What I require is the same as I told you in that prison. I desire to
know the secret to obtaining her soul—the mysterious island woman. You give me that then I will give you back the souls of all these people that labor in my underworld. And you cannot take forever in this task just to delay the war. I will give you one day for travel and three days on the island, for on eve of the ending of the third day on the island I will come to you. So you must be quick! What will it be?” Hercules was still hesitant. “You did not do a deal with me before and your mortal, earthly parents died. More evil will befall this world if you do not deal with me!”
“Stop!” yelled Hercules. “I see that this must be. I will go. I will go to the island and find this woman. I will try to discover what you may do to gain her soul.”
“Excellent!” exclaimed Hades. “But you must be off swiftly. In a few hours night will come upon us and in order for this deal to be effective you must arrive at this island by tomorrow…you have a long journey yet.”
Hercules nodded and walked away, down the stairs. “Remember, Hercules,” said Hades. “I have this globe so I shall know if you leave that island without completing your mission. As soon as you do our deal will be broken and war may commence. Leave your shepherd’s staff here. That will be a sign to me that you have truly accepted my deal.”
Hercules nodded and set his staff against the wall. After this Hades led Hercules back out of his underworld, after which the gate slammed shut behind him. Hercules looked outside and saw Pegasus lying down against a large rock. He was clearly tired, but managed to get up.
“I am sorry,” said Hercules. “But we must be off again. We haven’t time to waste. We must find Philoctetes and then go to the island of Corfu, far to the northwest.”
Pegasus looked sad. He clearly was tired after all the traveling he had done. But he was tough and strong and obeyed Hercules. As Hercules rode Pegasus off to the northwest he looked towards the north and prayed he would be able to accomplish his mission soon.
The God of Olympus Page 11
