Chapter Seventeen: Another Deal with Hades

Than appeared before his father near the flames of the Phlegethon River illuminating the vast private chamber where Hades spent most of his time. Hades sat on a chaise lounge and held a book in his hand, but he wasn’t looking at it. He was speaking with Alecto, who stood close by, her python wrapped around her waist and lying over one shoulder. They both looked at Than when he appeared.

“Am I interrupting?”

“We were just discussing you,” Hades remarked. “Alecto believes a recent soul taken to Erebus must be vindicated.”

“Who?”

“Vicki Stern.” Alecto stepped forward and squared herself to her brother. “Your old girlfriend is partly to blame.”

“How? She didn’t force or persuade the other girl to take the drug.”

“She bought the drug.” Alecto’s eyes turned as red as her hair, and one drop of blood dripped onto her cheek. “She’s culpable.”

Great. Alecto’s charge wouldn’t help Than’s case. “I came here to tell you of an important decision I’ve made. Whatever the consequences, I’m determined to make Therese a god.”

Alecto gasped.

Hades jumped from his chair. “Are you mad?”

“I guess that means I won’t be getting your blessing.”

Hades stepped closer. “The maenads will rip you to pieces once a year forever.”

Like he didn’t already know that. Than resisted the urge to say this sarcastic thought out loud. “I want this.”

Hades started to say something, but then didn’t. He sat back down in his chair and put his chin in one hand. Than waited quietly for several seconds and was about to speak again, when his father said, “I have an idea.”

Alecto moved to her father’s side. “You can’t be seriously considering a way to…”

“This idea will settle your issues as well.”

“I’m listening,” Than said.

“We give her five challenges, as penance for her role in the girl’s death and as a means for proving she’s worthy to become like us. If she succeeds, I’ll use all my power to force Dionysus to make her a god. Then you’ll be spared the maenads.”

“What kind of challenges?” Than’s heart sank. This didn’t sound good.

“They need to prove she has what it takes. We need to know if she’s trustworthy, diplomatic, yet cunning. She has to be strong and brave.”

“So we’re holding her to higher standards than we do the rest of us.”

Hades laughed. “To be sure, though I know you don’t include me among those whom you see lacking.”

“That goes without saying.”

Hades searched Than’s face for signs of sarcasm, but Than showed none.

“What do you have in mind, Father?” Alecto asked.

Hades sat silent for a moment, thinking, while his son and daughter waited. Than stared off into the flames of the Phlegethon, silently begging his father to consider his happiness.

Then Hades stood up, and, pacing with excitement, said, “To prove she’s trustworthy, we’ll have her deliver a black box from Aphrodite to Persephone containing a beauty charm which Therese is not to open. Aphrodite asked this of Cupid’s Psyche and countless others, and even though the women were already beautiful, they couldn’t resist stealing a little more beauty for themselves. We’ll see if Therese can resist what others could not.”

Than sighed with relief, feeling confident Therese would not falter. She was anything but vain.

“For her second challenge,” Hades said, “to test her skills in diplomacy, she must deliver to Mount Olympus one of Hera’s golden apples, guarded in her orchard by the Hesperides and Ladon, the one-hundred-headed dragon.”

“How do you expect her to get by the dragon?” Than demanded. “You know it’s impossible.”

“It wasn’t for Hercules.”

“She won’t be long in finding her way here,” Than said. “But not as my bride.”

“You have little faith in the girl you love,” Alecto sneered.

Than shook his head, his ears thudding with the beat of his heart. His father must not care for him, he thought bitterly. He clenched his jaw and turned away to leave.

“Don’t you want to hear what the other three challenges are?” Hades asked.

“To humor you, Father?”

“Indeed.”

“I’m listening,” he spat angrily.

“The third will test her cunning,” Hades said. “For that I want her to negotiate through the Labyrinth.”

Both the Minotaur and his sister Ariadne were no friends to Than. If by some miracle Therese made it past the one-hundred-headed dragon, they would kill Therese.

“You are not allowed to intervene,” Hades said, as if reading his thoughts. “If you want to train her for battle, you may. You may even offer advice. The actual challenges she must endure alone.”

Than glared at his father.

“For strength, she must defeat the Hydra.”

Than laughed. “This is ridiculous.”

“And for courage, she must descend into the Underworld, find Vicki Stern, and apologize to her.”

“Why such an easy task on the heels of the others?” Than asked. “You know she can’t defeat the dragon, the Minotaur, and the Hydra, so you throw that last one in there for grins?”

“The last is the most difficult of all,” Hades replied. “Because like Orpheus, she won’t be allowed to look back.”

“She can do that, but it doesn’t matter. You’ve set her up for failure.”

Alecto stepped closer to Than, “Don’t be too quick to give up.”

As much as Than appreciated his sister’s encouragement, he said, “Never mind, then, Father. I’ll do it without your blessing. I want her alive.”

“Wait, brother,” Alecto said. “At least give her the choice.”