Origins: The Dragonslayer

First there was an eerie silence. Then, ironically, ringing filled Julius' ears as he begrudgingly absorbed the absence of cacophony of sounds in the throne room. Nobody talked, so he just tried to recall whatever the hell Hermes and Hades talked about before they broke out from their shadow prison. Ah, yes…they talked about a champion…. each of them will have a champion to fight for them….in a fucking bet.

Once again, Julius found himself trapped in such a cruel twist of fate. He realized, he's just been used by Zeus now as a pawn to get back Persephone. He intended to save her, but why does he have to be put through all of these? Hermes began to talk and explain the situation, but he barely listened. Minutes flew by and it seems he was stuck in the warp of his thoughts. He felt like he entered a twilight zone with a dreading challenge ahead of him. He hates it, but he won't back down. Now, of all time, he has to win.

"Hey, man, you don't need to do this." Rexis told him but he chose to ignore it.

The high tension that filled the Chamber of Hades began to settle down when Julius stepped forward, ready to accept whoever his opponent is. The snakes around increased their radius to cover the length of their protection. Corinna and Rexis flinched as they tried to convince him otherwise, but Julius won't yield. In this early age of mankind, the more famous heroes from the Greek myths like Perseus and Odysseus are not yet born, so whoever Hades will send, is maybe perhaps just in par or got a little edge over him, given the recent godly blessings he just received.

The Messenger god nodded approvingly. Maybe this young man isn't spineless, after all. If his father had expectations for him, then maybe he could live by that instinct.

"Am I correct to address you as Julius of Boboston? My father told me about you." Hermes asked the young man who just stepped forward.

'I really hate that moniker.' Julius thought, but he replied nonetheless. "Yes, that would be me."

"Cool." He averted his gaze to Julius and turned towards Hades. "Now, uncle. Who will your champion be?"

Hades, who was now propped on his throne, began stroking his slick goatee after hearing the taunting tone of Hermes' words. He wondered how these mortals got themselves out of his shadow prison, maybe they aren't that bad when it comes to combat? But they amuse him….so he won't hold back.

Actually, when Hermes proposed the bet, he had no inkling of who might the champion of Zeus be, but he surmised that maybe he'll just pick a random mortal or bastard demigod son of him from above who's desperate to survive from Demeter's wrath. He wasn't expecting this, moreso when he readily accepted the challenge. He would've chosen to be more lenient in selecting his champion if that was the case, however, Zeus betrayed his expectations. 'This guy has some balls.'

Hades smiled. He just had the right soul in mind. "Come with me."

Suddenly, there was a total blackout. Nothing can be seen for a few moments except an endless void of black, with not even the slightest bit of light. It was as if you became blind with that totally shut out vision. Then, reddish glow was seen, and all of them were now in another area of the Underworld.

"Welcome to my Arena. You have just experienced the most pleasant shadow travel, courtesy of me. Step forward, challenger, and meet your opponent." Hades said, spreading his arms out in full welcome. Julius dare say it, the God is getting cocky, like he's sure of emerging as victorious from this gamble. 'Like hell I'll give his champion an easy match.'

"Before anything else, let's make this binding. Swear upon Styx with me, uncle." Hermes declared.

He hated swearing on behalf of his father, so he insured himself prior to this that Zeus will take responsibility for whatever happens by the results of this match. Hermes had Zeus swear upon Styx too before he came here in the Underworld. He just hates unfair deals in business transactions.

A black Stygian iron dagger appeared out of thin air from where Hades waved his right hand, and he pressed it into this palm. Several drops of his golden ichor, or blood of the gods, dropped to the ground, as he swore first before Hermes took his Oath. Julius cocked his head to the side from this confident move of Hades, and then he heard the God phrase his pledge carefully, "I will allow Persephone to talk to her mother if the victor of this match will be Zeus' champion. I swear this upon Styx."

The ground absorbed the ichor and the wound from Hades' palm immediately closed. Meanwhile, Hermes took his serpent-less staff and dragged its pointed tip across his forearm. It sliced through his flesh and his ichor poured to the ground too. He then said, "The Gods of Olympus will not interfere with the Lord of the Underworld's relationship with Persephone if the champion from our side loses. We swear it upon Styx."

"Now step inside the Arena, challenger. Your opponent will come soon." Hades ordered Julius. Now that the bets are casted, there's definitely no going back. As Julius took heavy steps towards the battle ground of the Dead, he closed-and-opened his hand to shake off his stress and build up his remaining power, hoping it will suffice. The others took their place in the stands to spectate, and God of Wealth's voice boomed.

"Show yourself here, dragonslayer. Arise to your challenge today."

'Dragonslayer?' Julius thought. He racked up his brain to remember which particular hero in the Elysium that Hades was referring to. Then the name of the hero hit him like truck-kun, and he paled at his realization. 'Shit.'

--

He is also known as the man who brought the writing and the alphabet from the Phoenicians to the Greeks, and through the Greeks to the whole world. According to mythology, his life was long and adventurous. Everything started when his sister was abducted by Zeus, the chief of the gods, and he was sent to find her. One of the earliest legendary heroes of Greek Mythology – Cadmus, the founder of Thebes.

When Europa went out for a trip, she found a pristine, white bull so glorious to be ignored. She stepped closer to the bull to stroke it, the bull promptly ran off with Europa on his back and, swimming through the sea, he arrived in Crete where Europa realized that she had been abducted by none other than Zeus, the chief god himself. To make a long story short, Europa gave birth to three sons from Zeus, married a local king and became the first queen of Crete.

Europa was the apple of the eye of King Agenor of Phoenicia, and he was devastated at the news of his daughter's mysterious disappearance. He entrusted his four sons, Cadmus, Phoenix, Cilix and Thasus, with the mission to find her, charging them never to return without his beloved daughter. The queen Telephassa also accompanied her sons. They searched far and wide for her without getting clues for her disappearance.

While his brothers dispersed in search of Europa, Cadmus along with his mother settled in Thrace where Telephassa soon died of grief at the loss of her daughter. After performing the last rites to his mother, Cadmus went on a pilgrimage to the Oracle of Delphi to ask for his sister.

The Oracle advised him to give up the search for Europa and instead to found a New City. He was instructed to follow a Cow he would find outside the oracle and build a city on the spot where the Cow would stop to rest. Sure enough, Cadmus soon found a Cow a few meters from the Oracle and followed it. The Cow reached Boeotia where, after crossing the shallow stream of a river, it lied to the ground in fatigue.

Having found the place where he was to build a new city, Cadmus decided to sacrifice the Cow to Athena, the Goddess of Heroic Endeavor. For that purpose, he sent his companions to look for pure water to do the sacrifice. They found the purest water in a lovely spring. As they were filling their vessels with water, a fierce serpent-like Dragon, guardian of the spring, emerged from a nearby cave. The Dragon happened to be Son of Ares, the God of Warfare. The horrid serpent, with its crest-like head and venomous teeth shining like gold, slaughtered all the unfortunate companions of Cadmus. This unfortunate loss of his comrades fueled the rage of Cadmus, and he fought the Dragon with every fiber of his being. In the end, after their fearsome duel, it was him who clinched the W.

Later, Cadmus sowed in the ground the teeth of a dragon he had killed. From these sprang a race of fierce armed men, called Sparti (meaning Sown). The Sparti fought one another until only five survived. These five assisted him in building the Cadmea, or the Citadel of Thebes, and became the founders of the noblest families of that city.

In the meanwhile, Ares was outraged that his son was killed by Cadmus. He punished the valiant hero with servitude for a period of eight years, after which Ares not only forgave Cadmus for his courage and strength, but also gave him the hand of his daughter, Harmonia, in marriage. The wedding was solemnly celebrated in Cadmea in the presence of many Gods of Olympus. Cadmus gave his lovely bride a golden necklace made by Hephaestus as a wedding present.

Harmonia bore Cadmus five children: Autonoe, Ino, Semele, Agave and Polydorus. Semele later became the Mother of Dionysus, the God of Wine (another story). However, the curse of the dragon was still clinging over Cadmus and his family. His family members had troubles and were leading a miserable life. Finally, when civil strife assailed the City he founded, Cadmus abdicated his throne and, along with his wife, settled in the land of the Enchelians, to the north of modern Epirus area, who made him their king. The Enchelians were engaged in a war with a neighbouring tribe that time, but with Cadmus as their leader, they managed to win.

Cadmus had another son while he was there whom he called Illyria. However, the misfortunes and tragedies in his family continued to trouble him profoundly. He began to have this strange idea that a serpent would be happier than him, as it would have no troubles. While he was having these thoughts, he was transformed into a serpent. So the Sacred Dragon of Ares had its final sweet revenge. Harmonia prayed to the gods to be allowed to share her husband's fate and was also turned into a serpent. Taking pity on this couple, Zeus brought their souls to the Elysian Fields, where the people favored by the Gods would go when they died.

--

And the hero them showed himself in his full glory, as if he isn't dead. Julius might've misjudged the situation. He will be facing off against Cadmus, the Dragonslayer, and he's weaponless.

'Fuck.' Julius cursed internally. Cadmus carried with him a wicked looking spear, the weapon he used when he finished off the Son of Ares.

"Is this a battle to death?" Cadmus asked to no one in particular. No issues for him since he's already dead.

That's when Hades' grin grew even wider. There were no terms set for the kind of fight they're having. "Do as you please." He only replied. Those who heard him flinched at his response. Corinna flashed her dagger but shadows caught her before she can even begin to create another movement.

"You shall not interfere." Hades looked at them with the most disdainful expression he can come up with his dark features. His glare promises murder and unlimited stay in this Realm if he's crossed.

"All right, then." Cadmus got into a fighting stance. "Come at me, challenger."