The Tale of Phaethon - (1)
This place is the underworld, a realm that mortal beings dread the most, where they must face the inevitable death.
It is also the dwelling of the great three deities who rule a part of the world, Hades.
"Um...?"
Because of this, all sorts of events truly unfold here.
Incredible happenings occur that humans cannot even imagine...
Whoosh!
"What is this...!"
No one would have thought that the underworld would be illuminated so brightly.
"Hades! Hades! Light has entered the entire underworld!"
"I see it too!"
The goddess Lethe hurriedly bursts into my chamber.
I quickly put on my clothes and stepped outside to assess the situation in the underworld.
"What is... what is happening?"
"Has the god Apollo descended into the underworld...?"
"What nonsense! Such a thing could only happen if Zeus's lightning struck the underworld!"
"That can't be! Where is Lord Hades?"
The souls were flustered, like vampires under the sunlight, a sight only seen in Hades's past life or in the creations of the 21st century.
Naturally... the usual underworld is so deep that no light reaches it at all.
There are Hestia's hearths placed here and there, and while their flames can be seen, they are very weak.
Most of the underworld is dark, gloomy, and cold.
"This must surely be the wrath of the god Apollo!"
"Zeus might be fighting with Lord Hades!"
The entire underworld was thrown into chaos in an instant.
Souls were running about, and the overseers were trying to calm the situation while searching for the gods.
But were the gods calm...?
"What is happening right now!"
"Hades! Have you had a quarrel with Zeus?"
That was not the case either.
Starting with Hypnos, the god of sleep, rushing into my office...
No, Lady Styx.
That has never happened...
"Only Zeus could cause such an event...?!"
Well, for now, we must quickly resolve this situation.
"Morpheus, go down to Tartarus immediately and check if the Titans are well imprisoned!"
"Yes, yes!"
Next, I commanded the overseers of the underworld to calm the chaos among the people as much as possible.
Since there were no other abnormalities besides the light, I instructed them to send a lower deity to the mortal realm to investigate if there were any issues...
"Ugh! Lord Hades!"
...? I just sent someone to check the mortal realm, why are they already returning?
"H-Hades! The sun... the sun is close!"
What are you talking about?
The lower deity who went to check the mortal realm returned with soot all over their body, dripping ichor.
The sun is close? What on earth are they saying?
"Helios is driving the sun chariot close to the ground! The mortal realm is already like hell (Tartarus)!"
"That can't be... Is it the doing of another sun god, Apollo?"
Helios.
He is the son of the Titan gods Hyperion and Theia, and he holds the title of the sun god.
He drives the sun chariot, which even Zeus cannot control, allowing him to maintain his position as a sun god alongside Apollo.
Of course, during the Titanomachy, he sided with us along with his sister, the moon goddess Selene, and the dawn goddess Eos.
In any case, Helios has never stopped driving the sun chariot.
"But this is definitely not the power of the god Apollo! The horses of the sun chariot were rampaging wildly!"
The divine steeds that are always on fire?
I have always trusted Helios's ability to perfectly control the sun chariot.
Could it be that Helios was enchanted by Aphrodite...?
Or was he attacked by the Gigantes... or what could it be?
Fortunately, not long after, the dark clouds... no, the light that had covered the underworld began to recede.
As the underworld returned to its usual dark state, the souls and gods let out sighs of relief.
"The light is receding now. What on earth was that?"
"How about sending a messenger to Olympus to find out?"
"Well, the situation has calmed down, but..."
"No need for that, I have brought the culprit."
The gods, who were exchanging opinions, turned their heads toward the deep, resonant voice that echoed in the hall.
There stood Thanatos, the god of death, with a recently deceased soul that looked like it had just died.
Is that soul the culprit who brightened the underworld just now?
As everyone's gaze focused, Thanatos frowned and continued to speak.
"... This is the soul that was struck by Zeus's lightning and fell from the sun chariot."
"First... Mnemosyne, please bring water from the spring of memory."
The male soul appeared to be no older than his late teens to early twenties.
With his splendid golden hair... somehow, he resembled the god Helios.
Could it be?
"Ugh! W-Where is this place? I was clearly..."
"Yes, little one. This is the underworld. Did you drive the sun chariot in place of Helios?"
"I... the underworld! So it is true...!"
"Confess immediately how you came to be here. Tell me everything, including why you fell from the sun chariot."
The soul, unable to gather its thoughts for a while, finally opened its mouth under Thanatos's scolding.
"I... I am Phaethon, the son of the god Helios..."
I listened intently to the story that the soul began to unfold.
Phaethon, who grew up under his mother without his father.
When Phaethon became an adult, his mother revealed to him that his father was the sun god Helios.
Thus, Phaethon set out from home and traveled far and wide to find his father.
When he finally met his father, the god Helios was so overjoyed to see his son that he promised to grant any wish he had by the river Styx...
"The river Styx... ugh..."
At that point, the goddess Styx beside me seemed to have guessed something, letting out a groan.
Most of the gods also seemed to realize the cause of this situation.
For now, I gestured to Phaethon to continue his story.
"Yes... I made a foolish choice there... I asked my father, who had sworn by the river Styx, to let me drive the sun chariot."
"What?! You madman..."
"Ha! That is a chariot that even Apollo or Zeus cannot control! How could a mere mortal like you..."
"Did you hear the whispers of the god Dionysus?"
The horses of the sun chariot can only be controlled by Helios.
There was no way that Phaethon, who was of great divine lineage but had grown up as a mortal, could handle it.
It was obvious what would happen if the sun got too close to the ground.
The mortal realm would be filled with burnt corpses and withered trees.
If Zeus had not thrown his lightning to break the sun chariot, all lives in the mortal realm might have perished...
"... Thus, the horses went wild, and the ground was completely... ultimately, I was struck by lightning from the sky and ended up here."
Phaethon sobbed softly, as if he had lost his voice.
He finally met his father, only to lose his life due to a foolish request.
It was truly a tragic tale.
"Well... I will temporarily suspend your judgment. For now, wait over there."
However, aside from that...
The sin of causing countless lives to suffer must be paid for heavily.
For now, I sent Phaethon aside as souls from the mortal realm continued to flood in.
His fate would be decided shortly.
A while later, in the heavy silence, Phaethon knelt with his head bowed, waiting for judgment.
Before him sat Hades, the god of the underworld, at a large desk.
A low voice flowed from the seemingly gloomy god, piercing Phaethon's ears.
"... I will deliver the judgment."
As the other gods watched in silence the judgment of the sinner who had greatly affected the mortal realm, only Hades discussed his crime.
"The damage caused to the mortal realm by your reckless actions is indeed immense. The heat of the sun chariot that you could not control dried up rivers and burned countless towns and cities, extinguishing the breath of countless lives."
The son of Helios, with his head bowed, could only shed tears.
He did not offer any defense.
"Ignorance is not a crime. However, the responsibility for that ignorance must be borne."
Phaethon braced himself for a heavy punishment.
He had witnessed the scene of lives perishing beneath the rampaging sun chariot.
"Ahhh! Apollo! Please save me!"
"It's too hot... my flesh... is burning..."
"Water... water..."
"Zeus... why...?"
He had seen hundreds, thousands of people begging for their lives as they were roasted alive.
Not to mention the other plants, animals, nymphs, and various lives.
Though he had never imagined that such results would occur when driving the sun chariot,
he must pay for the sin of taking so many lives.
"I hereby sentence you to labor for several hundred years on the outskirts of the underworld. That is the karma for extinguishing countless lives."
At least several hundred years; Phaethon's lips pressed tightly together.
But this was not the end.
"Furthermore, you shall not be reborn, and even after your labor is complete, the blessing of oblivion shall never be granted to you."
The blessing of oblivion, overseen by the goddess Lethe, is essential for mortals with limited minds.
There is no mortal who can bear the ever-growing memories.
The surrounding gods, with tender hearts, wore slightly pained expressions, but that was all.
They too thought that Phaethon's punishment was appropriate.
However, Hades's words were not yet finished.
"... However, considering that your father, the god Helios, neglected you..."
Huh...?
"And the fact that you had no malicious intent, I will show you a bit of mercy."
Despairing, Phaethon unconsciously raised his head to look at the lord of the underworld.
Mercy... is that so?