3. Chapter 3
Chapter three
Theron
T heron trudged into the cavern deep within the belly of the labyrinth. He avoided the eyes of his mentor, whose gaze burned into him as he tapped one long, gnarled talon against the arm of his onyx throne.
“Ah, there you are, my loyal pupil.” The gravelly words fell from the deity’s mouth like boulders crashing down on his apprentice. Theron quickly stepped to his place at the foot of the throne, kneeling and bowing his head before speaking.
“What do you require of me today, master?” he asked, trying his best to steady the tremble in his voice. He hated that, truly detested it. That tremble. That slight tremor in his voice that never went away whenever he had to come before Thanatos like this. It didn’t matter how many grueling years he’d spent building resistance against the deity before him—how many missions he’d gone on and how many lives he’d stolen at the River Styx.
Everyone on Mt. Olympus was said to fear him—the dark and powerful Hades—and every wretched soul in the Underworld cowered at his presence. So why was it that no matter how many times he knelt before Thanatos, he trembled like a child?
A long chuckle rolled from Thanatos’s throat. Theron flinched, hoping his master didn’t notice.
He did.
“Why are you so nervous, boy?”
“I’m not,” Theron said, his low voice echoing across the cavernous chamber.
“Then look at me,” he hissed.
Swallowing sharply, Theron adjusted his face to show no fear and looked up into his master’s eyes. He forced a deep scowl on his long face—a look that apparently appeased his master. For now, at least.
Thanatos sat back. “That’s better. Now, the reason you are here. I have a new assignment for you.”
His apprentice squared his shoulders and stood up, his cape curling around him like a curtain of shadow. “What is it?” His voice was steady now, but his master eyed him carefully. Theron fixed his eyes back on Thanatos, skeletal and ominous on the throne that would one day be his. The enormous being’s crooked, malformed mouth smirked. “You are to go to the world above. Just for today.” Theron bristled. His steady breaths faltered. A-above?
He'd never been allowed to leave the Underworld. He was brought here at thirteen and hadn’t left for twelve years. What would it be like to step back into the sun? “Why?” he tried to sound indifferent, but the surprise was too potent.
Thanatos’s eyes narrowed. “I’ve noticed something disturbing recently,” he said, his beady eyes still burning into his apprentice’s skull. Theron tried not to look, opting to keep his head bowed instead. “Have you noticed that there has been a lack of human souls as of late?”
On a typical day, they received around two hundred souls. How many had there been lately? “I haven’t noticed a sizable decline,” he concluded. “There have still been well over a hundred a day.”
His master’s hand curled against the arm of his throne. The talons on his withered hand scratched against the stone slowly, deliberately, the grating sound scratching against Theron’s eardrums. “Yes,” Thanatos said through gritted teeth. “But we should be getting twice that at least.”
“I understand, master.” Theron’s gaze flickered up before quickly falling back to the floor.
“So, we need to find out what is happening. I suspect it has something to do with this new round of Great Ones coming of age on Olympus.”
Theron looked up. “New round of gods?” Thanatos’s mangled face contorted as he pounded a fist against the throne.
“Are you stupid, boy?” he hissed. Theron’s eyes darted back to the floor. “You’re one too, aren’t you? You’re twenty-five years old! How do you not know your place?”
The young Hades swallowed hard, summoning any ounce of his powers he could to help his limbs stop shaking. “I know my place,” he tried to say firmly, but the words came out weak. “My place is here.”
“That’s right,” the deity hissed. “And just as you are reaching your prophecy’s fulfillment, so are your counterparts above.” Theron nodded, though he wished he could say what was really on his mind, but he guarded the words in his mind so his master wouldn’t know. That he should have been crowned the ruler here five years ago. I’m sure he has his reasons , he told himself. He’s looking out for me. As he always does .
“So you remember that the gods such as Zeus, Demeter, and Poseidon—and many others—had been created by the Titans first, and you and the others your age came from them. Correct?” His words oozed with patronizing disdain. Of course Theron knew the tale. Everyone did. There was a first wave of gods, and from them, more came. Some of these first gods’ offspring were Great Ones, and each one was given a prophecy at the appropriate age so they could do what was needed of them when the time came.
When they were twenty. When a Great One came of age, they were to take on their true identity. Theron’s, of course, was to be Hades. But he wasn’t ready yet. He was behind, so he needed to do everything in his power to catch up. Whatever Thanatos needed of him, he must do.
“Yes, master,” he managed to reply, though his own fists curled tightly at his sides.
“Well things are amiss. It makes sense, does it not? Suddenly fewer souls are passing through the River Styx when, coincidentally, many newly coronated gods and goddesses are reaching their full strengths and fulfilling their prophecies?” He shook his bulbous head. Theron watched the oblong shadow cast at the base of the throne. “I don’t like it. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth.”
“Why?” Theron winced when he realized he’d said the word out loud. “I trust your decision,” he quickly added. “I would just like to understand.”
Thanatos sighed, drawing it out longer than necessary. “The gods up there are unpredictable. Who’s to say Zeus isn’t overstepping? He could be trying to reign over the dead now, too.”
“How could he do that?” Theron glanced up. “He’s not in Tartarus, and he’d be going against what the Titans have prophesied—the way things need to be done.” If things went against the prophecies, what would happen to the state of the world?
“He may not be able to work in Tartarus, but he can help the others keep the humans alive longer. He can make things… difficult for us.”
“Wouldn’t it be better for the humans to stay alive as long as possible—”
The deity pounded a fist against his throne again. The sound roared through the room like the breath of a monster. “Have you learned nothing of your role?” he shouted, but this time Theron stood his ground and fixed his stare on his master.
“I’ve done nothing but prepare to be Hades all these years.” He kept his voice strong. “I know my role.”
“Then you know you have no jurisdiction over the souls on Earth, just as Zeus has no jurisdiction over their souls once they reach Tartarus?”
“Yes, of course.”
“And you don’t find it suspicious that fewer souls are making their way here?”
Theron paused. “No, but I will do my duty and investigate. Whatever you think is best.”
“Try to keep up, boy ,” he hissed. “And think for once. Use that blasted head of yours! Who knows what Zeus could do with his power if he gains control of the humans for longer periods of time?” Theron tried not to shiver at the rising anger in his mentor’s voice, but those burns and scarred flesh on his back throbbed.
After a long silence, Thanatos lowered his voice, leaning forward on his throne. “You know I always think of what is in your best interest, right?”
Theron nodded. “Yes, master.”
“This is something that will help you become the great leader you were born to be.”
“I understand.”
“Good.” Thanatos’s misshapen face cracked into a crooked grin. “Go to Olympus at once. Find out all you can of the new Great Ones. It would be too risky to get information out of Zeus’s men. He could spot you, and they would likely report the news back to him anyway, despite any threats or torture you inflict upon them. Go after the gods most likely to threaten us. Any source of light must be examined. Any threat against our rule over the dead. Is that clear?”
“I’ll investigate thoroughly and find any possible threats.”
“That’s my boy,” the deity croaked. He started leaning back on his throne when a thought made him stop. “Oh. In particular, look into who will be the goddess Persephone.”
“Persephone?” He’d never heard the name before.
“She is your antithesis and is being trained by Demeter to make Earth filled with life. Another goddess who may know her whereabouts is Athena. I’ve learned she is training her, too, for reasons unknown to me. Check on the young goddess, and anyone who may know her, and tell me what you find.”
“Yes, master,” he said, soaking up the information and committing it to memory . His heart raced. I can’t screw this up . He could still feel the burns from the last time he screwed up.
I can’t go through that again. Not until the burns heal.
“Good,” the deity said again, sitting all the way back on his throne. He turned to the demons standing attention around the room, each one a deformed creature of the night. Unlike those which served Theron, these ones possessed thin, but strong, bodies of pure bone, with blood-red eyes like fiery stones. When the monstrous god’s gaze settled back on his apprentice, he said, “Now, go. And do not disappoint me.”
“Of course.” Theron bowed, then quickly turned on his heel and left the room. As soon as his back was turned, he let his face fall and his mind wander. Above , he thought, walking deep into the labyrinth. Finally.