Leg Post 67

Leg Post 67
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Information
Thread	Legends of the NeSiverse
Chapter	Greek Legends
Page	Leg Page 4
Writer	Britt the Writer
Timestamp	12:17 AM - Apr 21, 2019
Setting
Location(s)	Troy Hades (Underworld) | River Styx | Lake Lethe | Island of Hypnos
Characters	10 Years Ago Aeacus Apollo Poseidon Priam Trojan Soldiers Fire-dragon | European Dragon Wind-dragon | Aethereal Dragon Water-dragon | Chinese Dragon Present Aman Tabiz Pirithous Charon Dead Thanatos Eris Hypnos Hades The Furies
Items	Trojan Ballista Trojan Walls Tree of Oneiros | Leaves of false dreams Eris' Raft Charon's Ferry

Leg Post 67 opens with a series of notes written about the post and future posts. A short Non-Story Note by Britt the Writer explains that the inclusion of the notes was a mistake. The notes explain that Aeacus is grandfather to Achilles and Ajax and helped to build the walls of Troy before being killed by dragons. Rhadamanthus is married to Hercules' mother and was once King of Crete before being driven out by his brother, Minos. Minos sacrificed children to the minotaur as punishment for crimes against his son and was King of Crete after Rhadamanthus. It is then stated that Minos is grandfather to Idomeneus, who will be at Troy. The information of these notes is partially revealed in this post itself and in later posts for the Greek Legends Story Arc. The recently wed Aeacus, whose wife is pregnant, is stood upon the walls that he built for the city of Troy to protect it against Hattusa, from whom the city has declared its independence. He built it with the aid of the two gods Poseidon and Apollo. Apollo helped by providing future-sight to see weaknesses that would be exploited in the future and allow Aeacus to compensate for them, while Poseidon added strength and durability. Apollo leaves to find his sister while Poseidon reveals that he once had a baby with his own granddaughter, Alope, and that the boy became king of Atlantis under the moniker of Atlas. He then wants to know the personal details of Aeacus' sex life with his beautiful wife but Piyama-Radu, known as Priam in Greek, explains how this is inappropriate conversation. They are interrupted when Apollo suddenly returns with news that dragons, sent by gods of a rival religion, are on the way to attack Troy's walls. The two gods fend off a water-dragon and a wind-dragon while Aeacus attempts to bring down the fire-dragon using a bolt for the newly invented ballista, blessed by Apollo. Though the bolt hits, the dragon crashes into the humans and Aeacus is slain. Ten years later and Aman Tabiz and Pirithous are still on their quest to kill Persephone, daughter of Zeus and wife of Hades. They travel through Hades, following the River Styx, until they locate Eris, god of discord. She agrees to help them cross the river in return for bringing her leaves from the Tree of Oneiros. They use a raft that Eris has kept hidden and cross. They reach the Tree of Oneiros and sail across Lake Lethe to reach the tiny island. Pirithous creeps past the sleeping Hypnos to reach the tree and though he questions his actions in giving Eris these leaves of false dreams, he takes them. On his way back he trips but no sound is heard because of the sleep-zone of Hypnos. Once he has back on land, however, his silent thanks to the gods is still heard by Hades himself and he appears before them. The Furies, the police of the Underworld, arrest them.

Post

Aeacus & Hades

Aeacus is grandfather of Achilles and Ajax and helped to build the walls of Troy. Dragons attacked Troy and were defeated but Aeacus dies.

Rhadamanthus is married to Hercules mother, and is his step-father. He was driven out of Crete by Minos. He is unwavering in the law. King of Crete.

Minos wanted children to be sacrificed to the minotaur as punishment for crimes against his son. He was king of Crete after Rhadamanthus, his brother. Idomeneus is his grandson at Troy.

----

Non-Story Note: Sorry but the above was actually included by mistake. Those are actually my notes on the post and the characters for the rest of the Greek Legends. I accidentally wrote in those notes and forgot to remove them. For the sake of posterity, as this post has been read and continued on from I shall leave the post as it but with this disclaimer. Apologies for the spoilers contained in the above content!

----

The young architect stood upon the grand walls of the city. They were tall, proud and firm.

Mostly built of smooth, white sandstone, they were embellished with buttresses of pure gold that shone effulgently under the rays of the sunlight from above. Upon the battlements stood archers who watched the lands leading from the city to the distant beach. Some of the most experienced snipers would be able to fire straight onto that beach, despite the distance. Ships on the water sailed by lazily across the Aegean Ocean, passing by the magnificent city of Troy.

The architect himself was just fifteen. He was struggling to grow himself a dignified beard but only managed some wispy fluff. He was slim and short but tried to carry himself upright and proud as he could manage. He was famous now, after all, and had to command respect in the people of the city. His homeland of Crete lay far off and he would return there one day, but now the political climate was hostile amongst the queen’s sons and he didn’t wish to be drawn into a civil war. He didn’t care who sat on the throne of a small island in the middle of the ocean. He just wanted to impress the world with his talents.

Though a young man, he had married a beautiful Greek woman just a few months ago. He could tell already that she was pregnant and trying to keep it from him. He wasn’t sure why she kept it a secret. He believed she was afraid of getting his hopes up in case she miscarried, or he supposed she was worried he would be angry at the idea so soon into their relationship. He wouldn’t be upset in either case but he wasn’t going to cause a fuss. She would tell him when the time was right, he knew.

He adjusted the beret on his head as it blew in the strong ocean wind. Now he knew why all the archers had their helmets strapped and their quills tucked behind the ramparts. As he walked along he saw some figures further down and went over to greet them. There were three of them. Two were not even human.

Poseidon: “And here comes the man himself!”

Aeacus: “My lord Poseidon. It’s good to see you again.”

Poseidon: “My young man, the walls of Troy are a testament to the skill humans are capable of. I am extremely impressed.”

Aeacus: “I could never have done it without your help, lord Poseidon. Nor without the foresight of lord Apollo.”

Apollo just shrugged.

Apollo: “It was easy-peasy. I don’t mind helping out. But I have to go. My sister is waiting for me.”

Apollo leapt from the wall and flew off into the sky, drawing the attention of the guards on the wall. Even Aeacus, who had seen Apollo many times before, watched with amazement. It was always awesome (in the original sense of the word) to see a man defy the laws of reality. Apollo had helped Aeacus by using his future-sight to anticipate where the walls might be weakest and what attacks done on them might be successful. Then he would counter those prophesies by emboldening the walls where needed or placing countermeasures. The wall was future-proof.

But additional strength, durability and speed came from Poseidon. They were able to construct the city walls in just a year – a venture that should have taken a lifetime. Since declaring its independence from Hattusa, Troy was vulnerable to retaliation and the walls had to be up as soon as humanly possible – or as soon as god-imbued-humanly possible.

Poseidon turned to the two humans.

Poseidon: “He really loves that sister of his. I swear he’s banging her.”

The two human men glanced at each other uncomfortably.

Poseidon: “Hey, I’m not criticising. I wouldn’t say no to her either! Incest is wincest, am I right!?”

The god grinned and held his palm in the air. The humans stared at it.

Poseidon: “What? Oh, we don’t do high-fives yet? Nevermind. But seriously, that Artemis. Yum. She’s got that whole Sporty Spice thing going on, you know? Oh, you don’t know Sporty Spice yet. What about the marathon? I think there a few hundred years before that even. I’m out of analogies.”

Aeacus: “That’s okay… I think we get it.”

Poseidon: “I haven’t slept with a relative since… well, must have been Alope! She was my granddaughter. I remember that one like it was only yesterday. Except it was, like, 850,000 BC. Shame her father killed her in the end. She had my son though. Suppose he’d be my son and great-grandson at the same time!”

The humans winced at the idea.

Poseidon: “Weird I never got it on with his daughter. Well, he was voted in at the first king of Atlantis!”

Aeacus: “You’re saying Atlantis was real!?”

Poseidon: “It sure was! And my son became its first king. It was run by a council before then but the people turned to my son to lead them as king. He changed his name to Atlas too, just to cement that image. There were a lot of kings of his dynasty called Atlas after that. His real name was Toltec, but only I remember that. Proud of that boy I was. Who said inbreeding makes you retarded, eh? Mine was such a genius he became ruler of the most powerful nation on the planet.”

Aeacus wasn’t sure to even believe Poseidon. While he couldn’t think of a reason for the god of the sea to lie, he couldn’t get his head around such a tale of a fantastical kingdom and such an absurd date.

Piyama-Radu: “I would like to thank you also, Aeacus. Your success here will save this land from Hattusa and all oppressors for centuries.”

Aeacus: “King Priam, I don’t did my service as requested.”

Piyama-Radu: “You did more than merely build me a wall, Aeacus. You managed to convince even the gods to aid us and created the world’s mightiest walls. This city will stand here for millennia, I just know it. Even the legacy of Egypt will one day be overshadowed by the legacy of Troy!”

Aeacus: “Then I can only wish your people the best of luck in the future.”

Piyama-Radu: “We won’t need luck when we have your walls!”

Aeacus had no more words to say and just gave a bow of the head to the young king. He and King Piyama-Radu, known as ‘Priam’ in the Greek language, was also a very young man. He was just a few years older than Aeacus and Aeacus was certain this similarity in age made the king of Troy take the chance on him in the first place. There was some kind of kinship in their souls that spoke to each other. They had become friends in private but in public they maintained a cordial but distant relationship. Aeacus was a common man of low birth, only advanced by education and talent. Piyama-Radu was a man of high political birth within the Hattusa Empire and meant for high offices. He had led Troy to freedom against the empire and was now seen by the old kingdom as a rebel king, but in Troy is was seen at a great hero and was already a legendary figure in his own lifetime. Certainly, his name would live on in songs and poems of the Trojan descendants for all of human existence. Of that Aeacus had no doubt.

Poseidon: “Hey, kid, how’s your wife?”

Aeacus: “Uh. She’s fine. Great even. I’m very happy.”

Poseidon: “I bet! She’s drop-dead gorgeous. So…”

He wrapped an arm around Aeacus’ shoulders.

Poseidon: “Tell Uncle Poseidon everything. What’s she like under the sheets? Is she passive or assertive? Does she get what she wants?”

Piyama-Radu: “My lord Poseidon, you know talking about things like that is personal. I’ve told you before.”

Poseidon: “You humans are such prudes. Then again, not all of you. What about you, Priam? You still ain’t had any kids yet! Is she frigid? You know some women need a bit of coaxing, right? If all else fails, and you don’t want to fight, just get her drunk. Or even better there’s a good few drugs out there that’ll—”

Aeacus: “Is that Apollo?”

They turn and look to the sky to see Apollo returning. He gained a quick boost in speed and soared over their heads before he landed abruptly. He pointed back to the sky from whence he came.

Apollo: “Dragons!”

Poseidon: “Eh?”

Apollo: “Dragons!”

Poseidon: “Is this another one of your animal games? I told you, platypus isn’t a real animal. And even if it was, it wouldn’t say ‘platy, platy, platy’ like a damn Pokémon.”

Apollo: “No! Actual dragons are on the way here! I scoped them out and they’re unnatural beasts. Definitely the work of gods. I’m thinking maybe some rival pantheon got wind of our involvement here in Anatolia. They probably think we’re spreading our influence into the Middle-East.”

Poseidon: “Cheeky gits! Thought they’d smash our shiny new walls, eh? These took, like, five minutes of my time to help with. I won’t be letting some upstart gods wipe them out.”

Apollo: “Are we allowed to interfere though? They’re dragons, not deities themselves.”

Poseidon: “You said they’re unnatural, right? If they were summoned or created just to attack Troy then we get to smash them. How many are there?”

Apollo: “Just three.”

Poseidon: “A cakewalk!”

Apollo: “They’re… massive. The size of these walls even.”

Poseidon: “So we’ll break a sweat. We can still take them. I know you’re a baby god, Apollo, but you can handle it. You take one, I take one. Then I guess we’ll take the third one afterwards.”

Apollo: “Even one can bring these walls down.”

Aeacus: “We built these walls to last not just in durability but in the ability to defend them. My lord Apollo, don’t worry. We’ll protect the city!”

Piyama-Radu: “Well said, Aeacus. Soldiers, prepare the defences!”

With that the walls were abuzz as men in armour hurried along the walls to get into position. Aeacus himself aided in wheeling forth the newly created ballista. The new-fangled weapon was a mere prototype that Aeacus had worked on. Though the original idea had been conceived elsewhere, Aeacus was the first to create a working model with a great deal of ingenuity. He stood at the rear of the weapon and ordered the soldiers to aim it higher – they would not be firing onto the beach, they would be firing into the sky this day.

Apollo reached out and touched the bolt.

Apollo: “Aeacus, I have imbued this bolt with some of my power. It will strike true if fired straight at the target. But I have to warn you, it will hit but it may not kill. I don’t know if these weapons are strong enough to pierce dragonscales.”

Aeacus: “If we hit it once, that might be enough to slow the beast down for a second attempt of our own skill. Thank you, lord Apollo.”

Apollo: “Hey, what noise do dragons make? Maybe I can talk to them!”

Aeacus: “I have no idea.”

Apollo: “Do they squeak? Or is that a dog?”

Aeacus: “Dogs say, uh, woof.”

Apollo: “Oh right.”

Aeacus: “I expect they may roar.”

Apollo: “Like a dinosaur!”

Aeacus: “What’s a dinosaur?”

Apollo: “Oh, they’re these small, fuzzy mammals that everyone likes… or is that a cat? Well, I better get up there.”

The two gods leapt into the air. Apollo was surrounded by the wind element, a visible breeze around him as dust swept about like a miniature tornado. Poseidon was surrounded by the water element, which swirled around him like a whirlpool.

Then they saw the beasts.

Perhaps in anticipation, the creatures were likewise. The water dragon was a Chinese dragon that snaked through the sky, flying without wings. The wind dragon was barely even physical as its form was blurred and aethereal. The fire dragon, the most commonly seen dragon across Europe, was large, red and scaled like a flying lizard. Its wings were large and beat upon the wind to keep it in the air. As the other dragons engaged the gods, the fire dragon’s wings spread into a glide and it came straight for the wall.

Aeacus: “Loose!”

The ballista unleashed its bolt. The long shaft with the black, metal tip, smashed into the dragon’s chest just as the creature reached the wall. The beast roared.

Aeacus: “So that’s the noise a dragon makes…”

The dragon plunged straight at the wall, writhing with the bolt embedded in its chest. It crashed straight ontop of the ballista and sprayed fire in every direction like a fountain of flame. The ballista was gone. The soldiers were gone. And Aeacus himself was gone.

----------

Four decades later, Aman Tabiz and Pirithous finally found themselves in Hades. The Underworld of the Greeks was a bleak and desolate place. Above there was only blackness, an impenetrable void. The barren rock around them was grey and there was no sign of vegetation, nor animal nor even insect.

To their right they can see the River Styx and in the distance they spy the crowd of ghosts waiting for the ferry. The water of the River Styx is peaceful with a slow, steady flow, except for the disturbance caused by the boat as Charon rowed it towards the shore for the next batch of dead. Aman thought it strange that the river representing hatred should appear so calm and serene but he supposed the greatest hatred was the kind of deep-rooted hatred bred from prejudice and intolerance that rested in the mind in constancy rather than the bubbling hatred caused by rage. The kind of hate that leads to genocide.

They hurried along the river but they were careful not to be noticed by anyone there. They knew they couldn’t trick Charon, he would sense the life in them instantly, and they were doubtful that he could be bought, despite him raking in a huge commission for his ferry tolls. Pirithous had wondered what Charon needed all that money for but Aman didn’t think Charon needed the money at all, it was just one more structure of societal control. The gods demand payment of their servants, even in death.

They passed the small domains of some of Hades’ own gods, lesser gods or ‘daemons’ of Greek religion. There was Thanatos, the god of death, and Polemos, a god of war. But both were personifications and minor deities restricted to Hades. They saw Thanatos himself as he stood watching the River Styx in silent contemplation. He was a young man in some appearance but also looked much older with worry lines and a raggedy beard. He wore rugged clothing and a deep, dark hood. He looked much like a warrior-ranger of the wildlands. Not at all dark or mysterious like Osiris, nor even otherworldly as Donn. He appeared as a tired, earnest man who would aid the dead like a guide through the barren world of Hades. A man who hated his role but knew it was necessary.

But the two humans were not here to meet Thanatos so they continued on, careful not to let him see them.

Here in Hades, the powers of the gods were limited to the point of almost being null. This world belonged to Hades and was, in a sense, an extension of the god himself. It functioned only as his will would permit. Even gods who were objectively more powerful, such as his brother Zeus, would be powerless within Hades.

Aman and Pirithous reached the small domain of the god of discord – Eris. They found her spray painting a wall with ‘Eris Woz Ere 1200BC’, followed by ‘Fuck Da Pigs’. Why Eris wanted to have sex with pigs, Aman wasn’t about to ask.

Aman Tabiz: “Eris.”

Eris: “WAAAAH! IT WASN’T ME!”

She looked down at the spray can in her hand.

Eris: “Uh, it’s deodorant!”

She looked at them properly and put her hands on her hips.

Eris: “You’re not working for Hades are you?”

Aman Tabiz: “No. We’re actually here to ask for your help.”

Eris: “Huh! That’s new. I don’t think anyone has ever asked for my help before! Well, actually, that’s not really true is it. Please, Eris, ruin the life of my cheating husband. Please, Eris, ruin the life of my political rival. Please, Eris, ruin the life of my sister because I’m super jealous of her. But you guys seem to want something different… what is it?”

She had bright green hair worn long and messy and she has a full-body tattoo that went from her ankle, up the side of her body, to her cheek. Over that she wore a tartan skirt of red with blue stripes and a pair of knee-height black socks. On her feet are a pair of massive, leather Dr Martens in oxblood and with the signature yellow stitching. She has a smart, white shirt on with a lace cravat and over that she has a large, black leather jacket that is one-size too big for her. The zippers on the jackets arms and front were open and the collar was up. She had a piercing in her nose, a tint stud that was barely noticeable until it glinted in the right light, and several in both ears. She also had a tongue bar with the cap a Hello Kitty with pink background. She had a few rings on her fingers, including a skull ring in silver.

Aman Tabiz: “We want you to get us across the river.”

Eris: “Do I look like the fricking boatman?”

Pirithous: “We don’t want to be seen going over the river.”

She looked between the two of them.

Eris: “What in the crap are you two wearing?”

Pirithous: “We’re disguised as handmaidens.”

Eris snorted and smirked.

Eris: “Sexy.”

Aman Tabiz: “Sarcasm aside, will you help us? I assure you, we are definitely here to cause trouble.”

Eris: “Aren’t you supposed to assure me of the opposite?”

Aman Tabiz: “You’re the goddess of discord…”

She then grinned slyly and winked at him.

Eris: “Ain’t that the truth. Okay, I’ll help you get into trouble. But I want you to do something when you get over there.”

Pirithous: “We don’t have much time for diversions, but we’ll do it if we can.”

Eris: “Fair enough. You’ll find a tree, the Tree of Oneiros. It is the only tree in this part of Hades. In fact it’s the only living thing outside of the Asphodel Meadows and the gateway to Elysium. Find that tree and gather a bunch of its leaves. As many as you can manage.”

Pirithous: “You want… leaves?”

Aman Tabiz: “Oneiros is a god of dreams, correct?”

Eris: “This is a special tree that is connected to the Dreamstate—”

Pirithous: “The what?”

Eris: “Doesn’t matter. Each leaf represents a false dream. I can implant a false dream into the minds of sleepers everywhere and ruin everything. I’d be hilarious.”

Aman Tabiz: “Hilarious isn’t the word I’d use, but I think we can accommodate you. Do you have a way over the river?”

Eris: “We can’t use our powers here in Hades, so we’re as restricted as any mortal. But I do have a raft to get over. I use it sometimes to get over the Styx and get into the Mourning Fields.”

Aman Tabiz: “What are the Mourning Fields?”

Eris: “Where those of unrequited love go. They’re incredibly funny to watch as they wail on and on. I like to watch idiots.”

Pirithous: “That’s… kind of sadistic.”

Eris just shrugged.

Eris: “Idiocy is the one constant of this universe.”

Aman Tabiz: “Now that does sound like words of wisdom, I confess.”

Eris: “Okay. You’ll find the raft just down there. If you get caught, you never saw me! I have to go paint some dude’s house green.”

Pirithous: “Uh, why would you do that?”

Eris: “Because when he gets home he’ll be like, ‘is this the wrong house!?’ and it’ll be dead funny.”

Aman Tabiz: “Dead funny? Really?”

Eris: “Oh! Ha! I made a punny. It was an accident. Puns are beneath me.”

The humans scampered off down to the river while Eris scampered off in the opposite direction, both parties on their way to cause mayhem. The men found the raft and they stepped tentatively onto it. They had to be very careful not to touch the water itself else they would be lost and consumed by feelings of hatred.

The raft took them over the river. In the distance they could see Thanatos was still stood at the river in his own thoughts and further down was Charon with his passengers. Once they were at the opposite side they moved on. They had read tales of the landscape and had formed a mental map of the key areas. Few had ever been to Hades and returned to the living world, so Aman wasn’t sure how accurate the reports would be, even from the Great Library’s stock of tomes.

They soon came to Lake Lethe, which was fed by the River Lethe. Despite there being a lake and a river, the water of both was as still as ice. In the middle of the lake were two fountains with waters spilling from them and down into the lake water, yet there were no ripples caused by the connecting water. This created an unnatural appearance that looked illusory to the eye and so horribly weird that it actually caused nausea.

Pirithous stopped Aman and placed his finger to his lips. He then motioned. Not far from the fountains, at the centre of the lake, was a tiny island. On the island was a tall elm tree which they concluded was the Tree of Oneiros. They couldn’t see anything special about the leaves, but Aman expected a god like Eris would know what to do with them. Also on the island was a small hut. It looked like a shanty fisherman’s hut but all around it were pillows and blankets scattered all over the floor. Lying there was a man.

Pirithous: “It’s Hypnos.”

Aman Tabiz: “God of sleep?”

Pirithous nodded.

Aman Tabiz: “Is it safe to wade through this water? I’m guessing no?”

Pirithous: “It’d be the worst of all. The water of Lethe would cause forgetfulness. Wading through it… you wouldn’t even know your own name by the time you reached the island. We need that raft.”

Aman Tabiz: “I don’t like deviating from the plan.”

Pirithous: “Me neither. But I think we’d find it worse if we cross Eris. We knew she would want something before we even came down here. We get a few leaves and get back on track soon as we can.”

Aman Tabiz: “Agreed. Once we kill Persephone, there wouldn’t be the chance to get them on the way out so this is our only opportunity. Come then. The raft.”

They had to drag the heavy raft across the barren rock. They were wary of all the noise it made but resigned to the struggle all the same. When they drew near to the lake, they took it more carefully and tried to carry it by lifting from both ends. They slipped it onto the water and were repulsed visually when there were no ripples of disturbance in the lake. It looked like it was floating on space. They climbed aboard and sailed across. The oar went into the water and felt like air to Aman’s strong arm. Because the water remained so still, there was no noise to alert the sleeping god.

Pirithous clambered off the raft while Aman remained poised with the oar. Pirithous crept around Hypnos’ pillows and blankets slowly and carefully. Hypnos looked like a much healthier version of his twin brother, Thanatos. His face was the same but not marred by the worry lines and his chin was clean shaven. He rolled over with a happy smile on his sleeping face. He wore white pyjamas with Spider-Man print, a pair of Hulk slippers on his feet and a floppy nightcap on his head. He appeared to be snoring, but no sound hit Pirithous’ ears.

He reached the elm tree and plucked a leaf. As his fingers stroked it, it glowed softly and into Pirithous’ mind appeared brief images of the false dream. The ambition and idea of becoming wealthy and living a rich, lavish lifestyle by singing and dancing and being honoured all day. He put the leaf away. He took another and saw images of writing an unexpected hit poem with zero effort put in and becoming revered by the intellectuals. He tucked that away too. He plucked a third and saw a lottery and claiming that single ticket in millions that would grant unlimited wealth.

They were all dangerous things. Giving hope to people who believed they would gain success without any of the true skill or effort required to do so, as though success could simply be given away, handed to the talentless or lazy people. Pirithous had grown up on the cold, hard and uncaring streets. He knew reality and reality didn’t give freebies. But he had, in his heart, always held that false dream that one day his father might return for him. He had been busy in wars. He had been lost at sea. He had been stranded on an island. But then he came home. Those false dreams had lasted with him long into his adulthood. He looked down at the last leaf he held in his hand. Killing people was easy. Deceiving them was easy. Giving them illusions of an undeserved future was cruel.

He chewed his lip.

Then put the lead into his pocket with the rest of them and turned around to head back to the raft. One more act of evil to add to his list of crimes against his fellow man.

Then he tripped. He let out a surprised yelp and hit the floor. Except he had heard nothing. Not his own voice, not his landing on the ground. He scraped against the rock as he got back to his feet and, once again, there was no sound at all. The small Isle of Hypnos was forever silent, trapped in dreams. Pirithous thanked the gods… then realised he was thanking the very god he was trying to avoid.

He got onto the raft and Aman rowed them back to the other shore. They stepped off.

Aman Tabiz: “We should return the raft first. Then it will be in place when we escape Hades.”

Hades: “And why would you need to escape me?”

They turned.

Hades looked from one man to the next.

Hades: “I heard the thanks of a human mind. A living human mind.”

Pirithous facepalmed.

Hades: “Trespassers are surely up to no good. Come, gentlemen. Your trial shall begin immediately. Rhadamanthus serves as the defence and Minos is the prosecution. Your guilt will be determined by a jury but the affair will be presided over by our esteemed judge, Aeacus.”

Hades swept his arm in the direction of the court.

Hades: “Please come this way.”

They hesitated and Aman glanced at the River Styx, wondering if they could make it. Hades would be subject to the mortal limitations too. The god shook his head with mild disappointment.

Hades: “Come now, do you believe you are the first to come down here? Many have been caught. Our bailiffs.”

He pointed toward three approaching women. They all wore police officer uniforms of the modern age.

Hades: “The Furies!”

Notes

Britt's Commentary

"The notes at the beginning of the post were meant to help me think on the lore of the post and upcoming trajectory and how these new characters would connect to the rest of the Greek Legends. Unfortunately I forgot to remove them. The content of the post uses a lot of source material from Greek Mythology, including the daemons of Hades, the Tree of Oneiros and the presence of Hypnos near to Lethe. In the original stories, Aeacus is the assiastant of the gods Apollo and Poseidon in building the walls of Troy and dragons do attack the walls with the one dragon getting by Aeacus. The legendary character of Priam being linked to the historical figure of Piyama-Radu is also true." ~ Britt the Writer