| Mar. 25th, 2005 @ 10:36 am How it all began... |
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Current Mood:  gloomy
Something around her was soft. That had to mean that something was wrong. Nothing in the Underworld was soft. At least not where she was, in the place that she would spend eternity souls wandered lost and confused. The suicides and the dead infants lingered here. The sound of someone crying never ceased. It was enough to drive you mad, but it never did, madness would have been a welcome blessing to some, a complete break from this dismal place they were all damned to. It was bitter, those who had suffered so much in life and had sought to end their pain by their own hands were condemned to spend eternity suffering still.
But now she was wrapped in something soft. Dido opened her eyes and felt the fabric wrap around her gently. She looked up and into the face of a man. She knew instantly whose face it was, though she had never seen him before. “You are the Rich One.” Pluto, God of the Underworld, it was considered ill advised to speak his true name so as to avoid attracting his attention, Dido realized, after a moment, that perhaps that precaution was a little bit ridiculous now. “You are Pluto. Keeper of Cerberus, and employer of the ferryman.”
“Yes, yes, God of the Underworld, assisted by Charon who ferries the dead across the River Styx. I prefer Hades incidentally, Greek names were always nicer on the ears.” He looked her over.
Dido got to her feet, pulling the cloth around her, it seemed to be some manner of cloak. “What do you want?”
“It is true what they say, you don’t mince words.” Hades sat down on his ebony throne across the room and rested his chin in a hand, evaluating her with his gaze. She held herself with the bearing of a queen, even in this tormented state. He was impressed, though he did not show it. She hadn’t even flinched at seeing him.
She stood watching him impassively. She noticed as she stood that her clothing was slowly taking on more vibrant color and her hair became more lustrous than it had been since she arrived here. She tried not to show her surprise.
“Don’t be alarmed. You see, here, in my realm, things are not always what they seem. Think of it, perhaps, as a kind of dream world. The world appears, as you would wish it. You are where you are because it is where you feel that you should be. If you believe that you should linger forever in paradise then you will. If you believe that you should be punished forever, then you will be. It is all relative. Well, most of it. I do control certain aspects. If I want you here... then you are here. As you are now.”
Dido took this in stride and then pushed her hair over her shoulder. “I ask again, what do you want with me?”
“I’ll come to the point, my pretty queen. I have no loss of love for my brother Zeus, Jove to you, and it would seem that Juno, Hera...”
“I know the greek names. You need not translate.” Dido interrupted him.
“You are bold.”
“What have I fear now? I have lost everything already. What you could do to me would never overwrite the things I have allowed to happen to myself.” She said defiantly.
Hades raised an eyebrow and then continued. “Hera has taken a fancy to you. You honored her in life and she was quite furiously angry at what Aphrodite and her issue were allowed to do to you. Your destiny was cut short by my brother, Zeus. What I am offering you is an exchange. I will give you back a life unfettered by their meddling.”
Dido watched the god very carefully as he spoke. “And what am I to offer in exchange?”
Hades pressed his fingertips together. “I was hoping that you would ask...” |
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