For Persephone

Chapter 43 – Revelation (2)

“That day?” Hades’ face slowly stiffened.

Hermes, who had thoughtlessly blurted it out, felt a belated awkwardness and blinked. Hermes couldn’t tell whether Hades was deliberately making excuses or if he really didn’t know what he was talking about. If it were the former, it wasn’t worth the headache, but then he wondered what would happen if it were the latter.

For years, Demeter cared for her daughter and kept her hidden on a secret island that no one could reach. The fact that the goddess of that place, where only Hermes and Notos could pass to and from, entered the underworld wasn’t a good look.

However, Hermes usually gave up to care enough for trivial circumstances that he didn’t know, so he stopped worrying over it. Hermes, who tapped the back of his neck with his cane head, tilted his head slightly.

“It was Persephone. That girl.” Hades clenched his jaw.

*

Hades, again, looked Sisyphos in the eyes.

Sisyphos was smiling with torn lips like he had been given a second chance, and Hades was silent because of the arrogance that fumed off of him. Sisyphus said in a very excited voice,

“If I tell you, sir, will you send me back up to my wife? Even for just one day?”

“The truth will come back and bite you in the ass.”

“Swear to the Styx River, sir.”

The oath to the Styx River, the emotion it evokes, wasn’t awe but contempt and anger as the ruler of the faithful underworld.

“Because a human placed in front of a god doesn’t have any respect or humility. You scoundrel.”

“That’s just what my father used to call me. My strength is choosing wisely at any time without forgetting where I am. On top of that, my destiny is so amazing that no king from any kingdom will be able to touch it.”

“….”

“If otherwise, would I have gotten a chance to look this good in front of the underworld’s king like this now?”

A human who dared disrespect the Styx River with such a foul mouth was totally unacceptable. How dare the little bug of a man. Anger from a deep pit reminded Hades of another oath.

“I do love you. I have no choice but to. I knew that from the first day we met. I swear.”

-Walk to that river.

-Forever, with Styx as my witness.

A super easy oath. She didn’t hesitate for a second, so it had to be true; it was a whisper of affection that wouldn’t make sense to doubt its truth. The sensation of her fingers tapping on Hades’ chest was already nowhere to be found, so it was only blurred like a faint memory.

-No matter what happens, you will love me and swear, with Styx as your witness, that you will never betray me.

-Will you forgive whatever I do?

In retrospect, there was a reason for the requests on that day: her gestures, words, and everything else seemed to be filled with affection. Oh, how heavy that oath was. She must have tried everything in her power.

Hades’ oath was now in shackles.

“I’m not telling you to let me live. I just want to slap my wife’s butt, who couldn’t give me a proper funeral after my death. After that, I’ll willingly return here, sir. Hermes, I like Hermes quite a lot, and he enjoyed running around with me, so why don’t you put him on lookout duty? Merope, she’s gonna be eating up my kingdom. I’m sure of that. So please, Hades. Sir, I have regretted all my faults.”

The three tongues between Sisyphos’ thin lips were like slithering snakes.

“… I’ll do that. Speak up, now.”

“This is what I’m saying, sir. What happened that day was…”

Sisyphus recited the full story of that day without stopping to breathe as if he couldn’t bear the thought of not telling it.

His tone was exaggerated and seemed to be more blatantly inflated, making it less realistic. Hades just quietly stared at him until the end of the bogus story that seeped into his lungs like a thick fog.

It wasn’t long before Sisyphos’ tongue got twisted.

“—It’s all true, sir.”

Hades stood up and turned around. Everything became clear now: From how a nymph was able to leave Hades’ realm without permission to how she could love him so blindly.

He trusted women, and only after he trusted them did he reflect on why he did so easily. It was his blindfolded heart.

He felt an unworldly confusion, betrayal, and deceit. He couldn’t tell whether it was the tongue of a human or the tongue of a goddess that shattered him to pieces now.

Loving one of Nyx’s children, the god of lies in Greek mythology, couldn’t have been so miserable.

*