The God of Olympus (11 page)

Chapter 8: Hades’ Offer

It was not yet mid-day
when the leader of Hades’ flying spies flew down through the oculus and entered Hades throne room.  There he saw Hades, as he often was, staring down at his globe.  He seemed quite upset.  His hands clung to the edge of the globe with veracity.

“My Master!”
declared the flying servant.

“Have you news?”
asked Hades.

“Hades, we
have seen Hercules.”

Hades suddenly turned around.  He had a large smile on his face.  “Tell me more!”
              And it was here that the flying servant told Hades of all he had seen.  He told Hades of Hercules and his competition in the Olympic Games.  He told him of his journey a small house near Delphi.  He told Hades of his journey to Athens, and to the house of Pericles.

Hades laughed as he lifted up his staff.  “Ha!
The Olympic Games!  What an odd move for him?  Why risk exposing himself to the entire evil world?  He is young and naïve.  He must not believe the world to be so evil.  He must not truly understand my great influence in the world.  We could use this to our advantage.”

“No, this is not what I want!  Hercules is on the verge of becoming a great symbol to the people—a symbol of hope and greatness.”

Hades turned around and saw his three dark, hooded Fates.  “Fates, tell me what I must do to defeat him…Tell me how to win the war against Hercules!”

“We cannot tell you how to win, for although you call us ‘fates’ we cannot actually alter fate, for were we to even attempt to help you to change fate our fate would be immediate death.
But alas, this is not what fate dictates!”

“Silence!” boomed Hades. “Enough of your c
omplex notions! Simply help me!”

“You will know what to do!” they said, and then they suddenl
y disappeared into the darkness.  They seemed to taunt Hades while appearing to help him.

Hades
decided to disregard the Fates and looked back down over his globe.  He spun his great globe so the part closest to him was of the city of Athens and zoomed onto Pericles palace.  There he searched through the building until he saw, through the wall, Hercules, chained and sitting in a dark prison.  He smiled insidiously.  “There you are Hercules!  After all these years!”  Then Hades suddenly turned away and looked up through the oculus.  He lifted his staff high in the air and said, “The time is nearing great Zeus!”  Then he turned to face his flying servant.  “Go and watch the land!  Find out anything you can about the developments occurring in the Greek world, but let me deal with Hercules!

Hades’ flying servant didn’t want to get blasted again with
Hades’ staff so he just nodded and flew off, up through the oculus.

Then Hades said to himself, “Now I will make a visit to this Hercules!”  And so Hades turned into a
ball of smoke and shot up through the oculus and off towards Athens.

******

              Hercules tried to resist being captured, but he knew that he did not yet have his complete Godlike strength.  He knew this from his inability to defeat Milo in a wrestling competition.  Hercules was strong, but not that strong.  His speed and other great abilities were mostly from growing up and the training he received from Philoctetes.  Only a small part of his God power remained in him now.

             
So, what Hercules found himself in, after he was completely knocked out, was a deep and dark dungeon.  Only one window lingered in the prison and it was small and on the far north side of the prison, covered by hard steel bars.  Surrounding Hercules’ hands and feet were steel bands and, attached to those steel bands, was a thick steel chai that connected to the wall.  The sun was preparing to set now and the light left poured down through his window.

             
It was clear that Pericles did not care about the condition of his prison, for it seemed very old and much of the floor and walls had large gaps or cracks in the stone.  This made it a perfect place for all sorts of devious vermin, such as rats, snakes, and spiders to crawl around.  Here Hercules was brought to think about his heroic mission.  How was he to achieve it? At the moment it seemed like a great impossibility.  Since he had won the Olympic Games and talked with Pericles he had only seemed to make things worse.  And Greece, he knew, was ready to fall.

             
But, after all of his sufferings, he felt a glimmer of hope as he suddenly heard a familiar voice.  “Hercules!” rasped the voice.  “Hercules, is that you?”  Hercules looked up and over at the window where he saw a hooded figure with a familiar face.

             
“Philoctetes!” exclaimed Hercules with joy.

             
“I am glad I found you Hercules!” said Philoctetes.  “I wondered where you went after several hours.”

             
“You were wrong,” said Hercules.  “Pericles is no longer a good or wise man…he has fallen and now only cares about power…Pericles will not stop until has ultimate power over this city!”

             
“I am deeply sorry,” replied Philoctetes, as he looked down at poor Hercules, chained and starving.  “When I knew the man he was a good and just man…and perhaps that man is still there deep down…but never-mind that now…I must get you out of this prison.”

             
“The chain is thick!” yelled Hercules.  “Even with my Godlike strength I cannot rip it apart!”

             
Philoctetes nodded.  “Well then I certainly can’t…not with my strength.  Do you get food and drink here?  I will go get some...”

             
“No,” replied Hercules.  “I will be fine.”

             
“Then I will go get help,” said Philoctetes.

             
“Who?  Who will come and help us?”

             
“Of this I do not know,” said Philoctetes.  “But I will find someone.”

             
Then Philoctetes left Hercules.  The streets were filled with people, but none would help Philoctetes.  Many, in fact, were celebrating their long journey back from watching the Olympic Games.  “Help!” yelled Philoctetes, as he grabbed a man’s shirt.  “Hercules is in prison!  I need someone to help rescue him.”

             
The man who saw Philoctetes only laughed.  “Hercules the Heroic, the winner of the Olympic Games!”  Philoctetes nodded.  “He is not in prison!  He is in Pericles’ great palace drinking the night away!”

             
“No…he is not…” mumbled Pericles, before the man just walked away.

             
Philoctetes roamed the streets for nearly an hour, but could tell this was getting nowhere.  Half of the people were drunk.  Nobody would believe him, for they saw Philoctetes as a beggar or a criminal—a figure with a dark cloak and hood.

             
Philoctetes was getting desperate and yelled, “My name is Philoctetes and Hercules needs help!”

             
After Philoctetes said these words he suddenly felt a hand grab his and pull it into the darkness.  He looked back to see a dark, hooded figure, with one outstretched finger that beckoned him to follow.  Then the mysterious figure disappeared in the dark alleyway.  Philoctetes didn’t know what other option he had so he followed, not knowing exactly what dark deed would transpire.

******

              Hercules waited until several hours had passed, but there was still no sign of Philoctetes returning to help set him free.

             
There was a calm silence for several moments and then a rumbling sound.  “Who’s there?”

             
Hercules waited for a response, but none came.  Then a grey mist began to creep along the ground towards Hercules.  “So that is what these people do to a hero huh?” said a voice.  “Put him in shackles inside a dark stone prison.  Well, I should say that I am not surprised.  After all, you have already seen how terrible some of these people can be.”

             
“Who are you?” asked Hercules, as he stared into the darkness.  The man suddenly emerged from the darkness, into what light was illuminated by the firelight next to him.

             
“You have never met me, but I am sure you have heard of me.”

             
Hercules looked up at the figure and was astonished.  He was fairly tall, although not noticeably tall.  He was completely bald and wore no hat.  He was arrayed in dark robes and held an elegant carved black staff in his right hand.  His eyes were a dark black and his skin seemed smooth, but was dark and not of a color known to any mortal man.  This is what stood out the most to Hercules—Hades’ dark grey skin.

             
“Hades!” exclaimed Hercules.

             
“You caught me!” said Hades, as he reached his hands out to shake his hands.  Hercules didn’t not take his, nor could he because he was chained up.  “Oh, yes, I forgot, you are still in chains.  Well, here…” Hades suddenly pointed his staff at the chains and blasted them apart.

             
Suddenly Hercules hands were free.  “Now we can shake!”  This time Hercules could shake his hand, but he didn’t.

             
“I do not shake hands with the Prince of Darkness,” said Hercules boldly.

             
“Wow!  Harsh name!  Well I suppose that is not the worst thing I have ever been called,” said Hades.  “But really I had hoped that we could be friends.  You see, your empire in comparison to my empire is, well, there really isn’t a comparison.  I have men, Gods, and fallen heroes at my command and you, well, you have nothing frankly.”

             
“How are you here?” asked Hercules.  “How did you get into this prison?”

             
“By my power of course,” replied Hades.  “You see, I have the ability to turn into a dark smoke and move at very fast speeds.  I can go nearly anywhere. Except the heavens, of course; this is why I used my chariot so long ago to take you away from that awful palace above Mount Olympus.”

             
“Why have you come Hades?  You must have come for more reason than to mock me, have you not?”

             
“I mean no harm, I assure you,” said Hades, pacing around the prison, into and out of the darkness.  “I know of your great power and I heard of your great performance in the Olympic Games.  But this is about much more.  I want to make you a great proposition Hercules.”  Hercules didn’t want to hear what ridiculous proposition Hades had planned for Hercules, but there was little he could do at the moment because he was still stuck in the dungeon.

“I am sure that after your performance at t
he Olympic Games you have your name up in lights all across Greece. I am sure that people will soon as worship your name! You are bringing the kingdom together by your mere name! I bet you have all the women after you.”

             
“What is this about Hades?” asked Hercules.

             
“I know that you, as a great hero, want to save everyone, right?” said Hades.

             
“Yes, I want to save everyone, but what of it?”

             
Hades smiled.  “Well, you are very capable and once you get out of this prison I am sure you will have no difficulty in saving everyone on the Greek mainland, but then you should know that there is someone you are forgetting…someone far away, on a small island to the northwest known as Corfu.  There is someone who is terribly lost, so terribly lost that even I have yet to truly understand how to control her.  She is so wild that I have yet to figure out how to tame her, so angry that I have yet understood how to calm her, and so sad that I have yet understood how to please her.  You see Hercules, I have yet to understand what she really wants.  Once I understand what a person really wants I can make a deal with them and, in due time, make them my servant.  But she evades me so that it pains me each and every day that she is away from my hand.  It is as if she stands in her great island palace, mocking me and enticing me to have her.  And, oh I will do everything I can to get her!  You may say that it is my great weakness, as everyone, no matter how great, has a weakness.”  Hades looked to Hercules, who was silent.  “And that is where you come in Hercules?  You seem very smart, so I will make you a deal, a deal that I have not made any man before!”

             
“No,” replied Hercules, before he could say a word more.  “I will not listen to you or your deals, for they are all evil!”

             
Hades nodded.  “Fair enough, but perhaps you will reconsider when you realize what I can take away from you…perhaps what loved ones are not with you or on Mount Olympus.  You see Hercules, I am not without knowledge in the world.  I am not without many spies and even those who live so far away from society still are known to me—especially if they looked after Hercules himself.”  Hercules’ thoughts suddenly shifted to his mortal guardians—Amphitryon and Alcmene.  Hades smiled insidiously.  “Well, if you happen to change your mind, the window is open,” said Hades as he pointed his staff towards the window and sent a powerful blast of black magic that blew the bars off of the window.  Then Hades disappeared in a blur of black smoke.