[IC] A Bitter End [Lady Celeste & SaltyIrishman]

[Lady Celeste]

UNDER CONSTRUCTION!

A retelling of the myth of Sisyphus from an Olympian perspective.

Starring LADY CELESTE as...

Sisyphus
Zeus

And SALTYIRISHMAN as...

Hades
Persephone
Poseidon

[Lady Celeste]

((AMBIENCE))

So this was the fledgling city of Ephyra. The regular activity seemed to run smoothly enough, with booming marketplaces and commerce in the acropolis, while assorted goods and several other types of ships sailed in and out of the harbor. It was certainly no Athens, but what was once a nameless village had formed into a viable city in such a short time, which was no simple feat for any mortal kingdom.

Zeus had to give King Sisyphus some credit for that, as the ruler of Olympus passed through the streets in the guise of an old beggar. On its surface, Ephyra seemed to be a perfectly normal coastal town, and quite a successful one at that given its current size and age.

But that wasn’t why Zeus was here.

As he approached the royal palace itself, Zeus caught sight of several corpses and severed heads in various states of decay lining the walls of the otherwise-magnificent structure. The citizens averted their eyes and held their noses as they passed by, trying their best to ignore such blatant disrespect for the dead. Zeus, however, stood unmoving for a moment, his gaze still on the displayed corpses, and then immediately turned on his heels and left the scene.

It took every ounce of effort on Zeus’ part not to cause a freak thunderstorm over Ephyra at that point. The accusations against King Sisyphus were very grave, including claims that the mortal had been murdering his houseguests as well as the travelers passing through his kingdom, which in and of itself was the worst possible violation of the Laws of Hospitality that Zeus himself had established. But as serious as the charges were, Zeus hadn’t seen any need to bother any of his kin with the matter, having successfully dealt with similar crimes by King Lycaon on his own.

This, however, was entirely different. Not only did such a shameless display of corpses around Sisyphus’ palace indicate some measure of truth to the original accusations, but such a horrific desecration of mortal remains was a grave offense in and of itself, this time against Zeus’ brother Hades. Without proper funeral arrangements, none of these poor souls could pass on into the underworld like they were supposed to, thereby denying Hades his rightful share of new subjects and funeral offerings.

Part of Zeus was very sorely tempted to storm into that accursed palace, strike Sisyphus dead with a well-placed lightning bolt, and simply let Hades deal with the wretched man like he did with any other deceased soul. But no, not yet, Zeus told himself. Hades had the right to know about Sisyphus’ crimes against him first and to have a say in whatever punishment Sisyphus should face, in life as well as in death. Zeus would not deny his brother either of those rights, so now he would have to pay a visit to the underworld.

[Yggdrasil_Hugger]

Hades sat upon his throne overlooking Elysium. White homes stood on cliffs looking across lakes and fields. The sun warmed a glittering lake. A marketplace bustled with sounds and smells. As he gazed across the Elysian Fields, he felt something was off. He soon figured it out: the wind. Elysium was in constant spring, with a pleasant breeze reaching everyone, even those indoors. So it was strange that the wind was picking up. Then it clicked.

"Brother." He stood from his throne and turned. His brother was standing in the doorway. "Come in, then." Wind was always bristling around his brother. Depending on his mood, it might even be a storm. Hades supposed it came with being the god of the sky. "I reckon you're here for something, so out with it. Has another of your lovers died and 'needs' to be resurrected?" he smiled, a friendly joke at his brother's expense. It was dangerous business joking at the king of the gods, but they were brothers, and what were brothers for if not a bit of teasing?

Poseidon grimaced at the brutality of it. Killing travelers for no good reason. Disgusting. And many of them were sailors, to make it worse. He was under the guise of a fisherman, glaring at the palace. "This bastard," he muttered. It was all he could do to not shatter the palace with an earthquake, or ravage the island with a hurricane. Maybe he'd just take the ocean elsewhere, leaving the island a hill in a desert. He shook his head. For now, nothing. But... He waved his hands, and Sisyphus's grandest horse kicked out of its pen and raced outwards. Poseidon turned, thinking of how he was going to tell his brothers.

[Lady Celeste]

Zeus might have laughed out loud in any other circumstance, and even now he couldn’t help a wry smirk in spite of himself. Typical Hades. Ruling the underworld, and standing guard over Tartarus in particular, was definitely not a task to be taken lightly, and Zeus had to admire Hades’ consistent dedication to his work as opposed to the much crazier antics on Mount Olympus, but it was nice to see that all that time underground hadn’t diminished Hades’ sense of humor.

For now, though, Zeus got straight to the point as requested, knowing that Hades would want nothing less.

“Not this time. In fact, this matter concerns you as much as it does me.” Zeus said simply. “The mortal king Sisyphus, ruler of Ephyra, has been killing visitors to his kingdom in direct violation of the Laws of Hospitality. I was going to just smite the bastard and be done with it, but then I discovered what became of all the corpses.” He cringed in disgust at the mere thought of it, barely keeping enough control to avoid causing a storm.

“As we speak, Sisyphus’ handiwork is on full display around the walls of his palace: dozens of bodies, possibly more, and not one of them properly buried to let their spirits pass into your realm.” Zeus said icily, returning to a professional composure on that note.

“Sisyphus has wronged us both, dear brother.” Zeus concluded. “And far be it from me to deny you your share of retribution for his crimes.”

---

As the stable workers at the palace rushed frantically after the running horse, a veiled female figure within the palace saw the scene from a nearby window. The king’s most prized horse had always been well-trained, so for it to suddenly act so wild was most certainly not normal. The female quietly retreated into the palace, knowing right away that the king would need to know about this.

[Yggdrasil_Hugger]

"Hm." Hades considered this for a moment. "The bastard thinks he can just do this, eh?" He stood, and the light in the room dimmed. From his shoulders, a cloak of shadow began to manifest. It rolled down his back, reaching the floor and pooling like water. He held out his hand, and conjured a silver helmet engraved with depictions of the Gods' defeat of the Titans. He was taller than his younger brother, but barely.

"Thanatos!" he called. The raven-winged messenger appeared nearly at once.
"Yes, Lord Hades?"
"Fetch me the Chains of Death. I'm off to chain some bastard."
"Right away, Lord Hades." He spread his wings and with a flap, was gone. In moments, he returned carrying thick chains of iron. He bowed low, giving the chains to Hades.
"You may go now, Thanatos."
"I am at your call, Lord Hades." He disappeared once more. Hades turned back to his younger brother.
"He's quiet, but gets the job done." He smiled. "Now then, show me the extent of his crimes so that I may deal with his as I see fit."

[Lady Celeste]

“Very well.” Zeus said, leading the way back to Ephyra. The sooner this upstart was dealt with, the sooner they could each right the wrongs done to them and be on their way.

---

Emerging from the underworld, Zeus easily recognized the morbid display around the walls of Sisyphus’ palace just up ahead, and wasted no time pointing it out to Hades.

“There it is, just as I’d left it.” Zeus said sourly, allowing Hades a moment to see it all for himself...

...during which time someone else soon caught Zeus’ eye, having apparently decided to cause a commotion involving one of the king’s horses.

“Poseidon?” Zeus’ eyebrows raised in surprise. “What’s he doing there?”

Part of Zeus had to wonder just how many gods Sisyphus had managed to piss off, not that Zeus himself could really complain. The shameless murders alone were enough to seal Sisyphus’ fate, so if anyone else had any complaints to settle against the monster of a mortal, then he had no inclination to stop them from dealing out their own punishments however they saw fit.

And then who should appear in an upstairs window but the king himself? Sisyphus looked out the window at the horse chase outside, but then his eyes started to wander beyond that, as if searching for something in particular. His glance very briefly reached Zeus and Hades, his own expression unreadable, before he averted his eyes and quickly retreated into his palace.

[Yggdrasil_Hugger]

Hades studied the gruesome scene before him. Bodies bloated and stinking in the sun lay on huge spikes. Bearded heads sat on pikes, their eyes pecked out by carrion birds. His eyes flared with red flame. With a single fluid motion, he slid his silver helmet onto his head. Then he was gone. He just disappeared from the street corner where he stood.
"I will see you within an hour, dear brother." He growled.

He strode forward, passing through the gates like water. He strode up the palace steps, passing through doors and walls like they were nothing. After a few minutes of angrily searching, he was in the royal bedroom. He removed his helmet and the light in the room instantly dimmed. The Chains of Death rattled.
"Sisyphus. For breaking the Laws of Hospitality, murdering your houseguests, and refusing to give them proper burials, you have been sentenced to Tartarus."

[Lady Celeste]

An unnatural darkness had fallen upon the room, making a large open chest at the foot of the bed look like a bottomless pit. The ominous rattle of chains echoed faintly through the halls, the chains themselves distinctively adamantine. And there stood the Zeus of the underworld himself, stating in no uncertain terms that Sisyphus was condemned to Tartarus.

Any typical mortal would have immediately started wailing, falling to the ground in a heap and soiling themselves through every possible orifice as they begged to be spared. Instead, Sisyphus dropped slowly into a prostrating position, his eyes intently studying Hades all the while, and then he remained almost completely still.

“I always knew my time would come someday.” Sisyphus said quickly, yet with an icy calm. “But is it not Hermes who usually comes for the souls of the dead, even those destined for Tartarus for such horrible crimes? To what, then, do I owe the immense honor and privilege of having the Receiver of Many himself, the esteemed Zeus of the underworld, leave his vast underground kingdom to personally come to collect my lowly, wretched soul? Surely one who stands accused of such terrible offenses would not have been deemed worthy of such an honor.”

[Yggdrasil_Hugger]

That gave Hades pause. He hadn't considered that. He had simply jumped in without thinking. That was usually his brother's job. Regardless, he kept on.
"Do not question me." he snarled. "Your soul is mine, and I have come to collect it. Redgardless of who has come to collect you, you are dead."
He strode forward, readying the Chains. The darkness of his cloak seemed to expand, covering the floor in an inky mist that almost seemed to hiss like snakes. The wind blew coldly, and passersby on the street could have sworn it sounded the screamed of the damned...

[Lady Celeste]

Sisyphus lifted his head ever so slightly, but not quite enough to clearly show his face. This looked quite bleak for him by all accounts. How could any mortal hope to stand a chance against Hades himself?

Simply put, he couldn’t...

...which was why he’d brought help.

The darkness emanating from Hades began to swirl and ripple about in certain areas, accompanied by a soft, childish female laughter that started to echo behind Hades.

“Ooh, this looks like fun... You boys mind if I join in?”

Without waiting for an answer, Eris lifted the dark mist in a stream from the floor and directed it toward Hades, specifically toward his face. Whether this would blind him temporarily or only annoy him made little difference, as Eris then proceeded to levitate herself to Hades’ front and attempt to fly-tackle him, attempting to cover his mouth while at the same time Sisyphus tried to grasp onto the chains.