Tartaros' Tale - (1)
Tartaros.
The lowest layer of the underworld, the realm of the abyss.
It is the deepest and most secret place beneath the ground, where the goddess of night, Nyx, resides.
It is also the prison where the Titan gods, defeated by us Olympian deities, are confined.
And now, I am heading there.
If one were to ask why I would willingly go to a prison that even gods avoid due to the thick fog...
First of all, Tartaros is close to my jurisdiction, the underworld, and it is a place where the most dangerous criminals are locked away.
Although the three brothers, the Hecatoncheires, guard the gates, I also have a duty to check on it periodically.
If the Titan gods were to escape from that hell, the primary responsibility would fall on the three brothers, but the secondary responsibility would lie with me for not responding quickly enough.
I stepped out of my chamber, wearing the Stygian sword at my waist and light leather sandals on my feet.
In the fortress of the afterlife, the officials and lesser gods were bustling about, diligently working for the people.
"The assignment of the newly arrived souls can be postponed for now..."
"Lord Moros has temporarily handed over his duties... Oh, Lord Hades!"
"I'm glad to see that more and more are choosing to stay here, refusing reincarnation."
"I'll go ahead and wait. Let’s meet for a meal in the mortal realm sometime."
"If we can avoid the blessing of Lethe, that is, ha ha ha!"
In one hand, I held a parchment scroll, while with the other, I directed the officials managing the souls.
Senior officials explaining the shift rules to the new soul attendants.
Translucent figures passing through buildings, playing tricks, and young souls frolicking about.
An old human spirit chatting with neighbors while waiting for reincarnation.
This is the ordinary scenery of the afterlife that I govern.
As I walked, more and more souls began to notice me.
Some officials and lesser gods tried to follow me, but I waved them off, wanting to go alone, when a familiar face appeared.
"Hades, where are you going?"
With weary eyes and a weak voice, she looked at me.
Her silver hair flowed down to her waist, and her attire clung to her form perfectly.
This goddess is Lethe, the goddess of forgetfulness.
Usually, she would be staring blankly at the river of forgetfulness.
What brings her here today?
It has been a long time since the great flood ended, and there isn’t much work left to assist with.
"Are you thinking about why I came all the way here...?"
Her voice, invoking a sense of drowsiness, lingered in my ears.
Her soft, elongated tone seemed to encroach upon the domain of Hypnos, the god of sleep.
She trudged over, gazing up at me with her dazed eyes.
As if asking why I wasn’t leaving quickly.
"Yawn... It seems you're headed to Tartaros. I’ll go with you."
No matter how I looked at it, she seemed more like the goddess of sleep than the goddess of forgetfulness.
Since it would be lonely walking to Tartaros alone, I nodded in agreement.
Tartaros is the very bottom of the underworld, feared by humans.
The path leading there is guarded by numerous soul soldiers I have stationed.
"Greetings, Lord Hades."
"Glory to the lord of the underworld."
The translucent armored souls, wielding spears, bowed their heads to me and Goddess Lethe.
I offered some encouragement to the guards who were diligently protecting the path to Tartaros today.
"May glory be upon Goddess Lethe as well."
"Yes. Yes... Thank you for your hard work..."
I passed by the braziers that Hestia had personally crafted and headed toward the increasingly dark area.
The path downward grew narrower, and a chilling aura began to swirl around.
After passing through a suffocating space for a while, a vast road finally appeared, revealing a fog-covered bronze fortress.
As I approached, I was greeted by the enormous bronze doors crafted by Poseidon and the thick bronze walls stretching endlessly.
The three brothers, the Hecatoncheires, who guard this place... are right there.
Each of them possessed fifty heads and a hundred hands, and they turned their gazes toward me.
With three hundred eyes staring in my direction, an indescribable feeling washed over me.
"Hey, Hades. It’s been a long time."
"Hmm? Hades has come. I thought you’d be busy with underworld affairs..."
"Have you finally married Lethe, who stands beside you?"
The many heads attached to the three giants greeted me and Goddess Lethe.
I was glad to see them again and returned their greetings.
But marriage? Lethe and I are not in that kind of relationship.
"It seems like it must be true, considering you’re holding hands."
"Didn’t Hades have the Stygian sword?"
"Hahaha! You look quite affectionate."
Holding hands...
What does that even mean?
I must have come down here a bit away from Goddess Lethe.
Hearing their words, I felt warmth from my left hand.
The soft and small hand of the goddess.
When I turned to look, Lethe was gazing at me with her usual dazed expression, gently letting go of my hand.
No, it seemed like there was a slight blush on her face...
"Please suppress your powers of forgetfulness a little more."
"Can’t I hold your hand...?"
Lethe, the goddess of forgetfulness, gradually erases the memories of surrounding beings without doing anything.
Of course, there are clear limits.
The more one is on guard against her, the stronger they are, the less effective her powers become.
Still, she can play small tricks and make one forget trivial things if I let my guard down.
If I move even a little away from her, I will remember everything again.
To think she would erase the memory of her slyly holding my hand... she truly is the granddaughter of Nyx, the primordial goddess.
From now on, I must stay alert.
Who knows what kind of tricks she might pull next?
As I weakly circulated my divine power, my mind cleared, and Lethe’s influence was swiftly washed away.
"You’re being too much, always keeping the Stygian sword by your side..."
"I have never done such a thing."
Though she spoke in a sulky tone, I shook my head at Lethe, who still wore her usual blank expression.
And I have never kept only the goddess of the Stygian sword by my side.
At least not the sword itself.
"Haha! Not yet, huh?"
"Hades, Zeus and Poseidon have all found their partners, but why are you still..."
"Why not ask Hera, the goddess of marriage and family, to arrange a match for you?"
Zeus's consort is, of course, Hera, the queen of the gods.
And Poseidon has wed Amphitrite, the goddess of the sea.
Of course, I was invited to the wedding held beneath the sea, where I could see thousands of sea creatures speaking like humans.
There was even a seahorse shedding tears, lamenting that his father had recently gone to my underworld.
Later, I found him in the afterlife and offered him some convenience, but perhaps this is the weight of being a god of the underworld.
As the king of the underworld, it could be seen as a responsibility or a burden placed upon me.
The increase in my subjects means that the sorrows of the living in the mortal realm also increase.
As wars, famines, and great floods occur, the power of the underworld grows stronger, but I cannot simply rejoice in that.
"That aside, tell me how things are going outside."
"Weren't you supposed to create life?"
"I wonder how Zeus, who saved us, is doing."
I conveyed the recent happenings from the outside world to them.
While one might say it could be done by sending a messenger periodically, this is a sign of respect.
Respect for the three brothers who played a significant role in the war against the Titan gods.
If I, the lord of the underworld, personally came down to speak with them, they would not feel neglected.
"What?! Extinguishing the lives of humans?"
"Ah... a great flood... Poseidon must have had a hard time."
"Prometheus has surely fallen out of favor with Zeus, tsk tsk..."
"Indeed, during the war, his prophetic abilities were quite helpful..."
The three brothers, Kottos, Briaros, and Gyes, showed great interest in the stories I shared from the outside world.
As a total of over 150 heads buzzed and chattered, the surroundings quickly filled with noise.
At that moment, a loud sound echoed from the door separating Tartaros from the underworld.
Boom! Bang!
The sound of a prisoner in Tartaros banging on the bronze door!
The three brothers, Lethe, and I immediately ceased our conversation and became alert.
Inside Tartaros, a hot storm rages that even gods fear.
And it is a place filled with the power that suppresses the divine abilities of the Titan gods, making it difficult to exert strength beyond a certain limit.
Even though there is little resistance when entering from the outside,
When trying to exit from the inside, the raging storm intensifies.
Thus, the closer one gets to the bronze door, the stronger the storm becomes, making it rare for anyone to knock on the door.
Only the strongest among the Titan gods could accomplish such a feat.
For example...
"That voice I just heard must be my eldest son, Hades! Please... please get me out of here!"
My father, Cronus, the god of agriculture and time.