Twisted Mythology: Three Tales of Greek Mythology Read online

  Several souls along the way did not get out of the way before Alastor trampled them. He could not wait for Charon this time, but there was a bridge he seldom used that not even the souls knew about. The stallion seemed to know that was where Hades wanted to go. The ride to the opposite side seemed to take an eternity, but when he reached the maze, the god dismounted and followed Kore’s faint footsteps through the winding corridors with Alastor close on his heels. At first he found not traces of blood but soon he saw small droplets of blood. The further through the maze the large the drops become and the more blood he saw. He followed the trail to an alcove off the main corridor; there he found a pool of blood mixed with the half formed mass of a child.

  He had seen corpses of infants before; many of the souls in his realm carried their stillborn children with them; the state of the children varied from completely formed to even less formed than what he saw here in the alcove. Hades doubted Kore knew exactly what had happened to her, else she would not have left the remains of the infant there. The god of the dead retreated to his stallion and retrieved the bedroll his horse master had stored there. He used the bedroll to pick up the corpse and carried it back to Alastor, tying the bundle to the saddle before mounting the stallion and returning to the palace. The healers waited for him outside his door. He handed the dead child to them.

  “She has been asking for you, my lord,” the male healer told him.

  Hades merely nodded and entered his apartment. He found Kore where he had left her, only she had been recently bathed and given a change of clothing and a robe to wear. A servant had built up the fire, but Kore still had a blanket draped over her legs. The god of the dead took a seat in the empty chair next to her.

  “I don’t understand what happened,” she whispered.

  “As a daughter of Zeus, you’re a prize,” Hades told her. “Any god or demigod would be honored to have you as his wife.”

  “He told me I was his wife,” she said in a shaky voice.

  “You were never that demigod’s wife,” the god snapped. “It was not his place to make that decision. Zeus has given me leave to punish him for his misdeeds.”

  “My mother?”

  Hades smiled. “She is very worried about you. She came to Olympus while I was calling on Zeus.”

  Kore looked in his direction. “But you never leave the Underworld.”

  “I leave more often than anyone realizes.”

  “Why did you go visit my father on Olympus?”

  “I had gone up once before to ask Father Zeus for your hand in marriage. This time I went up for an answer.”

  “And what did my father say?” she asked through tears.

  “He wanted to speak to your mother first before he gave me an answer,” Hades told her as he came to his feet. “But he had yet to speak to her. He had just visited the Lady Rhea to see what she might say.”

  Hades left Kore to her rest and her tears and exited the palace. He crossed the courtyard, reaching the stables as his stallions were led from their stalls to the exercise field. The god watched the immortal beasts run around the perimeter. Occasionally one would stop near where he stood and sniff the air; his lips curled up at the sight. More often than not, the stallions were treated like oversized lap dogs than riding animals, getting both treats and nose rubs when he came by. He always found the animals Poseidon had gifted him a pleasant distraction. He hoped by watching them now, he would be distracted enough to not concern himself that Hermes had yet to arrive or that he had left his brother’s daughter alone.

  He hoped, as well, that he could return the girl to her mother’s side quickly, but he knew he not only had to wait for her body to heal but to see if he could actually use the child as bait. He found the attention spans of mortals to be as short as their lives. The demigod’s attention could very well have drifted to another female. There were always exceptions, Hades knew, and he had made his plans on that fact. Only time would tell, and Demeter would never would not tolerate her daughter being from her side much longer. He doubted now that his sister would ever agree to a marriage between them no matter what sweet words Zeus spoke into her ear.

  Footsteps behind him broke his concentration. He pivoted on his heel and saw his brother’s messenger approaching. This day, Hermes had donned armor and a blade before descending to the Underworld; this was a rare sight indeed. Only once before had his nephew come to his court fully armored since he typically only stayed long enough to deliver a message.

  “I had not expected you back so soon, my lord,” Hermes said.

  Hades chuckled. “And you had hoped to wreck a little havoc in my kingdom in my absence. Fortunately for me, Kore did most of the rescuing for me.” He summarized the young goddess’s condition. “Perhaps you should speak with Zeus first. Demeter will take the news better from him than you.”

  Hermes nodded. “But I will make myself available to the lady goddess should Father Zeus leave something out.” He paused long enough to breathe. “Hephaestus will have the chair ready for the next time I venture down here. With your permission, my lord, I will take your words back to my father’s court.”

  The god of the dead nodded, turning back to his stallions and Hermes raced away. He continued to watch his stallions until a servant approached.

  The soul bowed, slowly and stiffly. “Speak,” Hades commanded.

  “The evening meal is upon us, my lord,” the soul said. “Where did you wish to take it this evening?”

  “In the great hall,” Hades instructed as he stepped away from the fence around the exercise field. “Be certain my guest is given an invitation to join me?”

  “Is that wise, my lord?”

  “No, it is not,” the god replied. “I would not be the proper host if I did not extend the invitation.”

  The servant accompanied him back to the palace and headed in the direction of the great hall while the god traversed the longer route back to his apartment. He hoped that by the time he arrived, his servant would have alerted the goddess to the impending meal. As he turned down the hallway where his apartment was located, he watched the servant emerge from the apartment.

  He knocked on the door to let the goddess know that she had yet another visitor. He pushed the thick door open when she welcomed him inside. He found her where she had been sitting the last time he had called on her. She was still wrapped up in a robe and a blanket. Kore smiled weakly as he crossed the room to sit in the empty chair.

  “Your servant says the evening meal is about to be served,” she said.

  “And you are welcome to join me, my lady, but I would advise you against eating anything.”

  She nodded. “I remember Athena telling me once during a lesson that anyone who eats food in the Underworld has to stay here. My mother would not like that. Would it be rude if I declined the offer?”

  Hades smiled at her. “You could refuse me anything, my lady, and I would not think it rude. The healers have commanded that you rest and the journey to the great hall may be too far for you. I can have the healers help you to the bed, if that would please you.”

  “Thank you,” she whispered with a trembling voice, “but I would rather stay in this chair.”

  “The healers would tell you that the bed would be easier on you, my lady.”

  “I know, but the mortals made me stay in bed practically the entire time I was there.”

  She covered her face with her hands and whimpered softly.

  “The healers never did say your resting had to be done in a bed, Kore. I was merely thinking of your comfort, nothing more. I’ll have the servants move the chairs around later so you can put your feet up, if you’d like. My apologies if I have offended you.”

  The goddess gave him no indication that she heard what he had said. A healer announced herself at the door, giving Hades an excuse to remove himself from his guest’s company. He headed to the great hall where he found his servants putting out the last of the evening meal. They had put out two place sittings on the tab
le.

  “My guest will not be joining me,” the god of the dead announced. “But thank you for setting a place out for her.”

  The servants bowed and back away for their master to take a seat. Over his meal, he pondered the rest of his plan. It hinged on the mortal prince wanting to get Kore back, or at least get the infant returned. Perhaps he should consider some alterations to his scheme; it wouldn’t hurt. Perhaps when Hermes returned, the messenger god might have an idea or more to help him. Hades grinned; his nephew was the trickster god after all.

  Chapter 7

  Months passed with no sign of the goddess, and it made Pirithous worry more than the weather turning cold did. She would have had birthed the child he sired on her by now. He cursed under his breath again. His arm had healed well from the break; he was grateful to the gods for that, and that it had not been his sword arm that had been broken. He would get both Kore and the child back; it was just a matter of finding where Kore had gone to hide.

  To console himself, Pirithous invited Theseus to his court. The King of Athens had accepted and between talking about their past adventures, his friend made mention that he thought it was time for him to marry again. It grew tiring listening to the same stories over and over again, but the prince blamed it on his own inactivity. Only the King and Queen knew the real reason behind his broken arm, and he intended to keep it that way.

  When he could take no more of Theseus’s endless stories, Pirithous excused himself from their table in the great hall and retreated to the private wing of the palace to his own apartment. There he found two female servants dusting and cleaning out the fireplace. He headed to his bedchamber but left the door slightly ajar. All the women in the King’s employ knew that to be an invitation to join him in his bed should they feel lonely.

  Pirithous began undressing as he listened to the women continue their gossip; they spoke loud enough for him to hear every word they said. The prince grinned; perhaps he would learn something that might entice them to his bed in the future.

  “I heard stories,” one said, “to explain why the crops are failing.”

  “It’s because the gods are mad at us,” the second said.

  “This is different, I tell you,” the first insisted. “The goddess Demeter has lost her daughter.”

  “How can a goddess lose her daughter? It is impossible.”

  “I thought so, too, but I hear that while she was playing in a field with some nymphs, the earth split open and the Rich One burst out and grabbed her.”

  “She’s in the Underworld? She must be miserable down there not being able to see the sun. If only someone would rescue her…”

  Pirithous stopped, his hands firmly on his belt. They were saying what? he thought. He listened more closely, hearing the women say that the Rich One was treating Kore like just another treasure. Like the god of the dead needed more wealth, the prince knew. He was rich enough!

  “I agree,” the second servant said. “Kore needs rescuing, but who will do it?”

  He would do it, he decided, but he knew he could not descend to the Underworld and return with Kore alone. Pirithous grinned. Soon he would have Kore back in his control and their child with her. He just needed a plan and a partner. And with Theseus desperate for both a wife and an adventure, the king would be an easy person to convince. It was just a matter of finding the right incentive.

  Pirithous pulled his clothing back on. By the time he walked through the common room again, the servants had vanished; it was almost too bad; he might have actually enjoyed them. He returned to the great hall where he found Theseus stilling telling stories of his many adventures with Pirithous to whoever would listen. The prince walked past a group of men sitting at the end of the table speaking on how they had been blessed enough to catch a glimpse of Helen of Sparta.

  The prince returned to his seat next to Theseus and let him finish his lengthy tale how they had helped hunt down the Calydonian Boar. It was a tale that Theseus told with such exquisite skill Pirithous sometimes wondered if his friend was a son of one of the muses and not of Poseidon.

  “You have returned, my friend,” the King of Athens said. “Grew lonely in your apartments, I gather?”

  Pirithous grinned. “I am never lonely when you’re around, my friend.”

  Theseus returned the grin with a bigger one. “I have seen that look in your eye before. What adventure is on your mind this time? It had better be a good one; my people are in dire need of their king.”

  “It will be a tale we can tell our children and grandchildren when we’re old,” the prince promised. “We both need wives to warm our beds and bear our children.”

  “That is true,” Theseus agreed. “The task is to find women worthy of us.”

  “We both are sons of gods. Daughters of gods are the only women worthy of us.”

  The King of Athens laughed. “That is also true, but they are all well hidden or spoken for.”

  “I never say this would be easy. Just think of all the stories you can enchant an audience with.”

  “Are you saying my stories are boring? I would hope not.”

  Pirithous laughed. “One more won’t hurt.”

  “More wine,” Theseus bellowed. Once his goblet had been filled, the King took a long swallow and returned his attention to Pirithous. “This is an adventure I can handle, and the more difficult it is, the better the story will be. My sword is yours. Listening to that chatter at the end of the table has given me the identity of my bride: Helen of Sparta. I hear she is a daughter of Zeus.”

  The prince grinned. “A good choice, my friend. And for me: Kore, a daughter of Zeus as well.”

  Theseus chuckled. “And how you expect to find her? I hear her mother keeps her hidden where no one can find her.”

  Pirithous leaned forward. “But I know where to find her.” He related to Theseus what he had heard the servants saying in his apartments. “I say we take Helen first. We can plot our descent into the Underworld along the way.”

  “And give that arm of yours more chance to heal,” Theseus said.

  The prince agreed, and they spent the remainder of their evening planning their voyage to Sparta. Within days they had set out and when they reached Sparta, Theseus used his skills with words to convince the King of Sparta to allow them to stay a few days. Over the evening meal, Theseus enchanted the Spartan court with how he defeated the Minotaur.

  During those few days at Sparta, both Pirithous and Theseus joined King Tyndareus for a hunt that sadly yielded nothing and attended him at council. The King of Sparta wanted his advisors to hear how it was not only his people who suffered since the gods had begun punishing their mortal children. Every free moment they had, they both learned the layout of not only the palace but the city as well. Pirithous worried that they might not be able to escape the city walls for the Spartans were known for their skills with weapons.

  Five days after their arrival, Theseus encouraged them to get Helen and run that very night. Pirithous could not argue with his friend for he too wanted to be gone. The sooner they left Sparta the sooner they could rescue Kore from her dark prison. They waited until the palace to retire for the evening before they quietly entered the women’s quarters and pulled the sleeping Helen out of her bed. They carried her from the palace to the stables located near the closest gate to the palace where they had boarded their horses the previous morning. At dawn they saddled their horses and bribed the guard to open the timber door for them to make their escape to Athens.

  They made good time to Athens; they left Helen in the care of Theseus’s mother and began plotting their journey to the Underworld. Pirithous remembered during their journey to Sparta that there was an entrance to the Rich One’s realm behind a hill near his city. After two days of rest, they headed towards the entrance. At the base of the hill, they found a family struggling to hunt and find food. They stayed with the family that night, offering what food they could out of their own packs, staying there that night.

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p; At dawn, Pirithous and Theseus slipped out of the barn and traversed the short distance to the other side of the hill. Over their small rations, they examined the door and all the markings on it. Theseus also noticed a set of footprints heading towards the door.

  “This person was not wearing sandals,” Theseus said, squatting down to take a closer look. “And from the size, I suspect it may have been a woman.”

  Pirithous hid a grin; perhaps Kore had come this way after all. But he could not be so certain, he scolded himself. She had been gone months and those footprints could belong to anyone. He had never seen any tracks stay that pristine for that long. Perhaps, though, since she was a goddess, it might have some effect on how long lasting on their footprints in dirt.

  “At least, we know we’re on the right track,” Pirithous finally said. “Someone has been through this door. I don’t see any tracks walking away.”

  Theseus nodded. “Now it’s just a matter of opening this door.”

  “Yes, and I think have an idea how,” the prince said. “While all of these markings are worn, there are some that are more worn than others.”

  Pirithous raised his hand and touched each of the most worn symbols on the rock face. To his surprise, he heard the door open with a rumble. He chuckled; that had been too easy, much too easy. And here he had always thought that the god of the dead had wanted to keep the living out and the dead in. He would have to make this trip to the Underworld more often. The prince took a step inside with Theseus close behind him.

  It took his eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness even with several torches lighting the wall. Theseus quickly grabbed a torch and they descended deeper into the earth. They hadn’t needed the torch as their path was well lit, far better than Pirithous had thought prior to entering.