Alex, trembling and speechless, stood next to Hades at the shores of Tartarus. A river of lava flowed a few feet away, roaring and churning as it completely encircled an island a quarter mile away. Jets of flame shot out from the molten rock, seemingly even more so whenever Alex was brave or stupid enough to draw near the shore’s edge. The air was dense and smelled of sulfur. Volcanic ash covered the ground in a thick, deep carpet and made walking difficult. Well, it made walking difficult for Alex. Hades, on the other hand, appeared to have no difficulty whatsoever.
“When Zeus strapped Ixion to the wheel of fire, I thought the punishment a good one,” Hades said, leading Alex to a narrow bridge. Since Alex’s mention of voluntary torture, the god’s attitude had shifted from depressive to unsettlingly eager. “I liked it so much I built a wheel of my own, but never got around to making locks that wouldn’t melt,” Hades went on. “I’m glad to see it will finally be put to use.”
“Me too,” said Alex, though he thoroughly was not.
“When this is over, remind your friend that she owes me pictures of my wife.”
“I will,” Alex said, feeling uneasy about Jessica suddenly being brought into the conversation.
“Good, and be sure to tell her all that you witnessed down here, for I promise she’ll suffer the lot of it should she not come through on her promise.”
“Over my dead body,” almost came out of Alex’s mouth, but he kept those words from passing his tongue when his mind realized such a threat was hollow when thrown at the God of the Underworld. So instead, he chose to alleviate Hades’ concerns as best he could. “She’ll come through. I promise.”
Hades nodded in response, and with quick, purposeful steps, he led Alex across the bridge. It was a bridge, Alex noted, that was cool to the touch despite the scalding air. As they approached the other side, Alex saw that the island was circumscribed by a large wall, and in that large wall was only one gate. Atop that one gate was a thing—for what else could it be called—that made Alex stop in his tracks.
The creature had a dragon-like body of at least fifty yards in length, tail not included. It gripped its perch with claws that looked like they could easily peel a tank, and it watched Alex with fifty sets of eyes, each pair being set in one of fifty serpentine heads. Each head bared fangs like spears and screeched nonstop until Hades silenced them with a wave of his hand.
“Don’t mind him,” said Hades. “Those in the presence of an Olympian have nothing to fear.”
“That’s…comforting,” Alex said, being sure he stayed near the god as he opened the gates. “Though I’m not sure how much I’ll like that little tidbit when you leave.”
“I will return in five days,” Hades said as they passed through. “If for nothing else so that you can fetch my scepter. I’m not pleased that you forgot it, but I think this self-inflicted punishment of yours is good enough to stay my hand.”
“Sorry about that, again,” Alex said, hoping Hades didn’t press the lie. “I promise it’s perfectly safe.” He then opted to try and change the subject so the matter would be forgotten. “How much farther is this wheel of yours?”
“Not far,” Hades said. “Not far at all.”
Inside the wall, Alex followed Hades over the barren terrain and down a long, gradual decline until they reached the island center. There, Alex stared at a pit the likes of which he’d never seen. It was at least four hundred yards across and gods knew how deep. A single staircase, narrow and broken, wound its way down the inside edge, flickering torches being the only things that illuminated the way.
“How deep?” asked Alex, fiddling with the necklace Odysseus had given him.
“Deep,” Hades replied.
Alex picked up a small rock and tossed it over the edge. His eyes strained trying to follow it into the inky black. “Damn,” he finally said after several moments. “I couldn’t even hear it hit bottom.”
“It will not hit bottom for seven days,” said Hades, starting down the stairs. “If I were you, I’d mind my step.”
“No kidding,” said Alex, shying away from the edge and feeling dizzy. He fell in line behind Hades as the god descended into the pit, all the while wishing he could will a handrail into existence. Down they went, passing a myriad of dark tunnel entrances. Some were silent, others were not. From those that weren’t came mournful wails, shrieks of terror, and cries of insanity.
Eventually, Hades entered one of the silent tunnels. The air felt stale, and though no echoes of madness bounced off the walls, Alex had the overwhelming urge to run.
The passage made a dozen turns before opening into a small cavern. Oblong and with a high, mossy ceiling, the cave offered ample space. In the middle floated a large wheel that slowly spun on an invisible axel.
Hades walked over to it, and with one hand he gripped the wheel’s edge and brought it to a stop. “Climb on, Alex.”
“On to what?” Alex replied. As far as he could tell, there was no chair to sit, grips to grip, or handles to clutch. It was merely a large wheel with eight spokes.
“As I said earlier, I have no chains that can withstand the heat,” said Hades. “You will need to wrap your arms and legs around the wheel’s edge if you are to remain affixed.”
Alex walked over and after using a quick touch with a wet finger to see if the wheel was hot or not, he attached himself to the wheel’s outer edge. There he hung upside down with arms and legs wrapped and locked together. “Now what?”
“Now you hold on for five days,” Hades said. The corners of his mouth drew back. With one hand he set the wheel in motion and with the other, he conjured a ball of flame that hovered an inch above his open palm. “Any last requests?”
“Pint of morphine?” Alex said, eyes wide. He could feel the color drain from his face, and as much as he wanted to look away, he couldn’t keep from staring at the flame.
“I don’t know what this morphine of yours is, but I’m guessing it has to do with pain. So no, you can’t have any.”
The god flicked his wrist and the ball of fire hopped off his palm and onto the wheel. The flame raced in both directions along the wheel’s edge. Alex clenched his teeth as the fire ran over his body with a roar. His skin peeled, and his hair vanished. Alex’s screams were only answered by the sizzle of flesh.
The wheel glowed red, and Alex tried to shift his grip in his pain-deluded state, hoping that it might offer some relief. But to his horror, his arms stuck to the metal and pulling on them only exacerbated the pain.
Time crawled. Seconds turned into years and then into lifetimes in the single flick of a flame.
“Five days,” he heard Hades say. “That’s when I’ll be back. Try not to let go, for your sake. I’d hate to see you start over.”
Alex tried to force out a question, but it sounded so unintelligible, he wasn’t sure if the god heard it, let alone understood it.
“How long has it been?” Hades said.
Alex whimpered while searching for some sort of mental hole to crawl into and shield himself from what he was suffering through.
“Almost thirty seconds,” Hades said cheerfully. “Less than four hundred and thirty-two thousand to go.”
Moments later, Alex was alone.
* * *
Tartarus. Oh, how Aphrodite hated coming to this place. How could anyone enjoy the intoxicating aroma of her perfume when the smell of sweat and blood permeated every nook and cranny? How could the wretched gaze upon her beauty when their eyes were plucked from their sockets? And who could listen to the melodious sound of her voice with that gods-awful howling strangling the air? It’s not like anyone wanted to hear their cries of agony. After all, would it really kill the damned to shut up long enough for her to conclude her business in peace? Was it really asking too much to ask them to suffer in silence? It’s not like they were lying in beds they hadn’t made. It’s not like they didn’t deserve every last bit of punishment they had to endure. It’s not like they had done what was right or paid homage to the gods when due. Had they done any of that, maybe they wouldn’t be in the mess they were in.
The last thought further infuriated the goddess. Insolent, selfish, sufferers. Even in death they could only think of themselves. Even in death, they refused to learn their place. She had half a mind to waltz right into whatever tunnel the loudest group was in and show them what real agony was. Anything could be made worse with a broken heart.
Ultimately, Aphrodite decided against it. Lashing a poor soul with a few more stripes would increase the time she had to spend in such a miserable place, and since all she was here for was Alex, the sooner she saw him, the sooner she could leave and go back to being adored by all.
She entered his tunnel and paused. The screams—the ones she’d been loathing the most—were coming from this place, which meant Alex was the source of her irritation.
Aphrodite pressed her lips together and promised herself she’d rein in her displeasure long enough to get what she wanted.
Maybe.
* * *
With his arms around his knees, Alex sat in the far corner of the cave and slowly rocked. At the sound of approaching footsteps, he choked off his sobs and buried his emotional agony as best he could. A few seconds later, Aphrodite stepped into the cavern and stopped a few paces away from the wheel.
“Alex?” she said, looking around. Though the wheel burned steadily, the flames were not enough to illuminate the nook Alex was in. “Where are you, my dear?”
Alex didn’t answer, and he prayed she’d leave soon. When she didn’t and it was clear she was staying, he finally spoke. “Over here.”
“Come out of the dark, silly,” she said, beckoning him over with a wave of her hand.
“I’d rather stay.”
“You want me to be all alone?” she said with a pouting lip. “I’m hurt that you’d leave me so.”
Alex shook his head and decided nothing mattered one way or the other anymore. Stiffly, painfully, he took to his feet and limped toward her. When he stepped into the fire’s light, he watched for her reaction.
Aphrodite gasped and covered her mouth with one hand.
“Am I that hideous?” he asked with a laugh. Of course he was. Though he couldn’t see his face, he had felt it enough to know his nose, ears, and much of his mouth were gone. And he could certainly see the charred black stubs his hands and feet had become. Not to mention the places on his chest and midsection that looked like hamburger that had spent a good three hours on the grill.
“Alex, what did you do?” she said, recomposing herself. She closed the distance between them and took his hands in hers. “Talk to me.”
Alex pulled away. “I’ve done nothing.”
“No, no, no,” she said, horror splashed over her face. “This is not nothing. This is serious.”
“Stop—”
Aphrodite put a soothing hand on his shoulder. “This is needless, Alex.”
“This is failure!” he yelled. Alex dropped to his knees and buried his face in his hands. “I tried to get what was needed, but I couldn’t. I’m not strong enough.”
“Get what?” she asked, kneeling beside him.
Alex looked around, but what he sought was nowhere to be seen. “The chain,” he replied. “I was trying to capture perseverance like I was supposed to.”
Aphrodite put her arm around his shoulders and pulled him close. “What are you talking about, Alex?”
Alex shut his eyes and allowed himself to be drawn into the goddess’s embrace. Even with the smell of burnt flesh saturating Alex’s nasal cavity, the aroma that came from her was strong enough and heavenly enough that for a moment, Alex forgot his worries, his pain, and his failure. A small squeeze from Aphrodite’s arm prompted him to answer her question. “Odysseus said he could make me a love potion,” he said. “I’ve been getting the ingredients he needs together.”
“A love potion?” she said, sounding strangely amused.
Alex shook his head as he attempted to clarify. “Not a love potion,” he replied. “Potion of Agape, I think he called it.”
“And what, pray tell, does this potion do?”
Alex shrugged, knowing he wasn’t entirely clear on its use. “Helps search the soul. Nothing fancy.”
“Maybe I can help,” she said. “What answers are you looking for?”
The question pierced his heart like a well-thrown spear. “Euryale,” he managed to spit out. “I have to know whether or not this marriage was a mistake. I have to know if my heart is with her.”
Aphrodite gently lifted his chin. She kept his eyes locked on hers, and if she found his appearance repulsive in any way, she didn’t show it. “Alex,” she whispered. “There is no such potion. Only you will ever know who you love.”
“I know that,” he snapped.
The Goddess of Love sighed. “You’re not hearing me,” she said. “This agape potion doesn’t exist.”
Alex looked at her dumbfounded. “What do you mean?”
“Odysseus lied,” she said. “Or perhaps he’s simply mistaken.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Tears welled in his eyes, but they never fell. Alex grew numb, but anger quickly surfaced as he refused to believe any such thing. “No,” he said, pushing away her words. “You’re trying to trick me.”
Aphrodite took his hand, placed it on her chest, and covered it with one of hers. “I’m not lying, Alex,” she said. “I swear by the River Styx that this Potion of Agape you speak of is not real.”
Alex couldn’t argue, though he wanted to. The seriousness of her oath made him confront reality. “Why would Odysseus do such a thing?”
“I don’t know, Alex,” she whispered. “I don’t know.”
Alex’s head spun, a whirlwind of thought and emotion. “What will I do?”
“Alex, if I may,” Aphrodite said after a few moments. “If you’re still struggling with your feelings for you wife, maybe that means you two truly aren’t meant for each other.”
“Maybe,” Alex said, hating himself for speaking those words, but he couldn’t argue against the possibility anymore.
“It’s okay, Alex,” she went on. “Not every couple is the right match.” She then laughed at her next thought. “If they were, I’d be out of a job.”
“I had hoped otherwise,” Alex said as he sank into her again.
“We all do,” she said. “But it’s not too late.”
Alex looked up. “Not too late for what?”
“To make things right.”
Alex sighed heavily. “I don’t even know what that means anymore.”
“I do,” she said. “Euryale has a specialness to her. I can see why you liked her, but honestly, Alex, the last week aside, who has always consumed your thoughts?”
“Jessica.”
“And who’s been at your side through all of this?”
“Jessica, but only because Euryale’s been locked up.”
Aphrodite nodded. “Fair enough, but Jessica’s risked life and limb to help you. Could Euryale, an immortal, ever do the same? Jessica still loves you, even if she won’t say it.”
“Like you made her?” Alex said with a snort.
Aphrodite let a short growl slip. “I erred forcing it, I admit,” she said, recomposing herself. “But what I did wasn’t a lie. I can’t make anyone say anything that they don’t already believe is true. I freed her heart and yours. I didn’t enslave it.”
Alex looked away as he wrestled with her words. He couldn’t deny that he had loved hearing Jessica’s confession for him, but he hated himself for it at the same time. A man cannot serve two masters. Or dedicate himself fully to two lovers. To that end, all he could do was shrug in reply.
“Come, Alex, think this over,” she said. “Despite what I may have said or done, who’s the one really enslaving you? I’m offering you a choice. Can you really say that about what others have offered?”
“Things are such a mess,” he said. “All I want is for both of them to be happy and for this to be over.”
“Then divorce yourself from this relationship and let me work,” she said. “I can see to it that you and Jessica have a relationship that lasts beyond the ages, the envy of all, and at the same time, you have my word I’ll see to it that Euryale finds the love she’s searching for. Everyone can have their happy ending.”
Alex buried his face in his hands. “This feels too easy. Too easy and too wrong.”
“Torturing yourself in a vain search for some non-existent feeling is wrong, Alex,” she said. “Athena falsely promising you hope and bliss is wrong. All your needless suffering is wrong. Even if she did set the two of you up, Love is my domain. I’m still obligated to fix her mistakes.”
Her words trailed off and Alex mulled them over in silence. Maybe she was right. Maybe he couldn’t find this elusive feeling of love because it didn’t exist in him for Euryale in the first place. Maybe all he felt was a momentary infatuation. A crush. A lust. A substitute for Jessica. God, if that were true, his marriage to the gorgon would never stand eternity.
“What about Ares?” Alex asked. “He still wants to crush me.”
“I’ll make him release Euryale and bother you no more,” she replied. “He does what I tell him, like a good boy.”
“And the scepter? I need it back. I can’t trade a war with Ares for a war with Hades.”
Aphrodite smiled, and Alex felt his worries vanish. “You’ll have the scepter back. I wouldn’t want anyone turning you to a mortal again, now would I? That would completely muck up my plans for your eternal bliss.”
Alex knew he had to decide. On the one hand, the path he was on now promised nothing and was filled with pain, uncertainty, and lies. The other would see Hades’ scepter returned, the war put to an end, Euryale freed, and love found for both him and her. Maybe the goddess was right. Maybe a happy ending could be had by all. Not that he wanted to give Euryale up, or that he liked the idea of her being distraught—no crushed—by his surrender, but in the end, wouldn’t she be better off?
“Okay, we’ll do it your way” he said, taking a deep breath and gathering his resolve. “What do I have to do?”
Aphrodite smiled. “I need you to divorce your wife and pray for my aid and favor. I will take care of the rest.”
“Do I need a lawyer?” Alex said with a brief smile.
Aphrodite shook her head. “No. Being in the presence of Zeus will be enough. I will fetch him, and he will annul your vows with myself, Ares, and Athena present as witnesses tomorrow morning.”
Alex popped his knuckles as he tried to convince himself this was the right thing to do. “Will this be at Termessos? I want to make sure Ares releases Euryale right after.”
“Of course,” she said, grabbing his hand and laughing. “You worry too much. It’s all under control.”
“Promise?”
“Most definitely,” she said. “You’ve made the right choice, my dear. This will be over before you know it.”