4 04: Unaware of Laws

"Hades, where are you?" Hestia's melodious voice pierced the impenetrable darkness. Her azure orbs scanned the unseeable expanse, yet no silhouettes were to be discerned.

'Where is he?' She thought. Beads of perspiration dotted her brow; her fists clenched tight.

An ominous shroud clung to the air.

"Hades!" This time, she yelled, her cry hammering the gloom.

Yet once again, no response came.

Hestia's mission was to find Hades and bring him back. Each sibling had a domain that sprawled in their father's stomach, his, unfortunately, nestled in the farthest away domain. It was the depth where nothing was as it seemed.

She took a deep breath, banishing the fear away. Her legs slightly quivered, but she didn't falter, determined to find her elusive brother.

A deliberate step forward, and then…

*crack*

a strident sound akin to gnawing whispers of unspeakable beings reverberated.

A scream, pure and primal erupted from Hestia's mouth as the corners of her lips curved into a rictus of terror. Her hands trembled like leaves in the chilly breeze of autumn.

'What was that?!'

"Hades?" She inquired; a fragile hint of hope imbued in her terror-ladened voice.

Yet, once again, naught but an oppressive silence lingered.

'Why is he living in such a place?' Frustration tinged her thoughts. Why did she have to go through such torments to see her brother? She knew he was very strange; however, this was too much.

Was he so ignorant that he wasn't troubled by this peculiar atmosphere?

'Does he even know fear?' The question hung in her mind.

Hestia shook her head, dismissing that idea, her brother wasn't this idiosyncratic.

Oh, how naive she had been. Hades had never experienced fear before, and unfortunately, he wasn't born gifted with such knowledge.

Her determination rekindled, Hestia took a deep breath that stilled her quivering body. She steadied herself. Now gone was the frail Hestia, replaced by a powerful queen with fluttering red hair.

She stretched out her palm.

A brilliant flame ignited, crisping with a pleasant sound. The flame seemed to be dancing. An array of warm colors shimmered, a stark contrast with the oppressive darkness. Crimson motes flitted in the air akin to dying embers. Burning ashes then fell, slowly illuminating the place, bringing a warmth that should not be here.

It should have been an enormous discrepancy with the chilling darkness.

Yet it was not.

This light was anything but warm and comforting.

This time there was no scream. Hestia stayed frozen, her voice muffled by terror. She stood transfixed by the grotesque tableau, unfurling before her.

Beneath her feet lay a carpet of bones. A fractured skull bore her weight, the slow crackling sound only adding to the chilling atmosphere. An abstruse darkness danced amidst the withered carcasses. Voracious murmurs buzzed in the air, lingering with an inkling of absence. Queer flesh filled the holes between bones, melding into a seamless floor. The abhorrent landscape was akin to a marsh made from the dead themselves.

Tears cascaded along her cheeks. While her pallid gaze was fixed on the macabre scene.

'Hades…What is this?'

She had known beforehand her brother's dominion was peculiar. This was the very reason why she had to go; the others refused to even come near this lightless place.

However, this was too much.

Even the very air seemed to quiver from dread.

'How are there even corpses here?' Asked herself Hestia, her mind in turmoil. Her eyes trembled.

'Did Father eat humans?' Those skeletons all seemed human and frail. The skulls would shatter from the mere weight of her body. The flesh however was strange, even her who never gazed at a human before, knew that it was not supposed to be like that.

Something was amiss.

There was no blood, no ichor nor any kind of life liquid.

Life…

This place was entirely lifeless.

'Why are you doing this, Hades?' Her voice quavered with a myriad of emotions; guilt gripped her tender heart. She wished to scream, scream in despair for this was too much. Her nails dug into her skin as if in a silent plea.

"Hades!" Her voice, now tinged with rage, echoed through the grotesque landscape. It spread between the corpses and rang again with a chilling tone.

"Yes? What is it, sister?" Asked an innocent voice from behind.

Hestia immediately whirled around, her gaze locking onto her brother's chaste, pale blue eyes.

"Hades?" She murmured, dripping with bewilderment.

"Yes?" He echoed. His head was tilted to the right in confusion.

"What… What is this?" She asked with a surprisingly mellowed tone. She was too shocked to scream at him as if her brain was filtering negative emotions to stay functioning.

"This thing?" He gestured nonchalantly toward something beyond human comprehension.

A pure amalgamation.

An entity of horrific proportion stood there motionless akin to an atrocious mannequin. The normal features of mortals had been twisted. It was a blend of many corpses, yet each part had been severed and haphazardly placed. Arms sprouted from unnatural places, shattered rib cages became legs, and hearts dangled like morbid ornaments. Eyes, countless and unblinking, stared from every possible angle. They glowed in an unnatural crimson light. While life seemed to wither along its form, akin to its nemesis.

"Y-yes" stammered Hestia, her gaze fixed on the grotesque being before her. Her eyes could not leave it be.

*Gurgling*

The young goddess' once warm skin was now chalk-white akin to a ghost. Her stomach churned.

"It's merely an experiment of mine," casually explained Hades.

He snapped his fingers, a merciless command reverberating through the gnawing air.

A dreadful silence descended.

The abomination, an anathema to nature itself, convulsed and contorted in agonizing ways. Its very being writhed. It was as if invincible tendrils of unheard force were suffocating it. This was an unholy sight, the air muffled under the weight of impending doom.

Yet it was too silent, the calm before the storm.

For a cacophony ensued.

A guttural crescendo of agony tore the air asunder. Ear-splitting screams of thousands damned souls fled its mouth, reverberating like a pandemonium's abyssal symphony.

The abomination's form stretched and swelled akin to a grotesque balloon strained under the weight of countless nightmares, all wailing in pain.

Until it couldn't anymore.

Like an atomic bomb, destroyer of worlds, its tortured shell ruptured. Chunks of withered tissues showered the dominion, drenching it as if it were a macabre canvas. The walls themselves wept of tears and blood. Twisted limbs twisted even further, bones snapping akin to forsaken vows, rang as the anathema's body reached a horrific zenith.

To accompany its grim finale, a discordant chorus of shattered sinew and splintering bones lingered in the air.

"But it's a failure" added Hades unbothered. His voice was eerily calm contrasting with the abomination's brutal demise.

And then, once again, a profound silence reigned.

Overwhelmed, Hestia fell onto her knees, her gaze averted yet unable to forget the previous scene. Tears streamed down her face.

"Hestia?" Hades quickly ran toward his sister. He put his hand on her back and slightly patted it, not knowing how to help her.

"What happened?" He asked with a guiltless tone. His genuine gaze tried to find answers through her behavior, yet it found none, he hadn't become better at understanding emotions.

For a brief moment, their eyes met. A silent maelstrom of anger burned within her eyes. Anger, a scarce emotion for her, painted her habitually gentle features.

"You happened" she yelled, venomous. Her rageful voice echoed akin to a curse from the abyss.

***

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