Hellscape

Chapter 13: The Abyss

    A young man found himself alone in the darkness, plummeting down from up above. He landed hard on the ground below, flat on his aching back. He laid frozen with shock as he stared up through the hole he had fallen through. The stars shone brightly above him, glowing through a large storm cloud that had started to drift apart. A strike of lightning bolt from the cloud as a final message for the young man with dark hair and a crooked nose, from his home.

    He sat up, howling in pain into the pitch black. Frantically reaching over his shoulders and turning his neck, he searched for the purest thing about him but they were gone — taken. With tears streaming down his face, he cried into his hands and with a final sob, he threw his head back and raised two middle fingers to the sky, screaming, "fuck you!"

    From his anguish and blind rage, a fire grew beside him — burning bright and hot, illuminating the darkness. Red eyes blinked open in the firelight and soon surrounded him, swarming his feet. And birthed from his demise, were dangerous creatures.

    Tears stained his cheeks but he no longer felt the burden of sadness, anger fueled him now. The same anger that led him to turn against his own kind, to covet their power, to fight their goodness, to be stripped of his innocence, and to be cast out to this place. The shadows encircling him, asked no questions. They felt his strength, his dominance, and they followed him through the burning fire, deeper and deeper into darkness.

~

    Hades has always been an impossible enigma. There are very few close enough to know him, but even those that he keeps close have been kept in the dark. He couldn't tell them the truth. The truth would make him seem weak and childish, although that's not how he sees himself. He fears what would become of him if anyone knew the truth about how he came to find the Underworld and about who he is. He hadn't meant to lie to his family, but then, he never imagined he would have one again and by the time he did, it was too late — the stories have been told and retold for centuries and there is no taking them back. Hades may resent his past, but he owes everything he has and all he is to it.

    He may now be a grand, beloved and feared, ruthless leader — but oh, the mighty, they do fall.

    Such a descent changes a person. And as Melinoe, Charon, and Lazarus fall down the dark lengthy chamber they find themselves in a similar predicament. A small glimmer of light appears below them and as they break through the tunnel, they crash into a hanging cage. The latch atop the metal enclosure clicks as they land on top of one another, grunting and groaning.

    "Ow," Melinoe whines, "that's my hair!"

    "Your elbow is buried in my ribcage," Lazarus howls into Charon's ear.

    "That better be your arm," Charon warns, scowling into the cool grey of the human's eyes.

    Lazarus smirks, firing back, "don't flatter yourself."

    "That's actually my arm," Mel admits, wiggling it between the two of them.

    Lazarus laughs loudly in the demon's face, not expecting to be tickled. He shuts his mouth tight under Charon's murderous glare. Melinoe frees her arm, carefully twisting her neck to protect her hair as she climbs away from the pile and stands to the side. Charon jumps up, pushing himself away from the human as fast as he can, coddling his burnt hand to his chest. Scooting into the corner of the cage, Lazarus rocks the small space they find themselves trapped in.

    Melinoe's eyes jump open wide and her skin turns a pale green as the metal enclosure shakes, dangling high in the air. Her arms bolt away from her body, grabbing onto the thin metal wires and her eyes squeeze shut as she whimpers.