Tartarus(1)

"A bronze anvil falling from heaven would fall nine days before it reached the earth. The anvil would take nine more days to fall from earth to Tartarus." - Hesiod, Theogony

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Alex said goodbye to everyone and was very happy to have solved his dispute with Crista.

Along with Achilles, who was wielding a spear far too big and large for any mortal warrior to successfully fight with, the two were led by Elana to a very secluded spot of the Inner House, going through endless doors before they were greeted by the exit.

The gate leading to Tartarus was similarly terrifying, being a fiery gate with three dog head sculpted from the fire that seemed to follow them with their eyes, conjuring fear within the average onlooker.

The two weren't, however, the average onlookers as Alex steeled his resolve much earlier and as usual, Achilles was indifferent to any happenings.

Elana then put her hand on the door and the flames dispersed, revealing a mundane-looking door.

She told them with a frown "Beyond this door is Tartarus, where the most wicked, most cruel and inhumane souls are tortured for eternity by the Erinyes, and the hatred the souls hold towards the living is high. You will have to fight them to enter Asphodel. Be careful."

Alex nodded and thanked her, after which she lightly pushed the gates open, unveiling the first step in their journey.

It was dark beyond the doors, and thankfully, Elana gave them a torch.

They bid their farewells and Achilles and Alex stepped through the doors, lighting the surroundings.

They seemed to be in a tunnel of sorts, and it was so quiet only the sounds of their breathing and heartbeat filled the air.

The walls of the cave were rough and had sharp, unwelcoming stalactites hovering over their heads like a sword of Damocles. It was also unpleasantly moist and seldom they would hear the sound of liquid dropping to the ground, amplified by the cave into a loud noise.

Alex too the lead and they walked silently for such a long time it seemed like they were going to traverse the earth.

Looking to his companion, Achilles, he was surprised to see that the dominant emotion emanating from him was no longer melancholy, but a strong hope.

His loose and droopy eyes were replaced by strong eyebrows and raised eyes.

Achilles held the spear in his hand tightly and looked to be ready to fight at anytime.

Noticing his stare, Achilles gave him a side glance and then turned his attention forward again. This time, however, Alex heard the voice of the man ringing out and reverberating through the cave.

"Do you have, someone, that you adore so much you could die for, fight for and fulfill any of their wishes?"

It was a rather unexpected question and Alex frowned as he contemplated.

'The person closest to me right now is Crista....But, would we fight to the death for each other? I'm not sure we're that close yet, not that I could ever die anyways...' He thought to himself.

"I don't think I do, no." Alex responded concisely.

Suddenly, Achilles, who has now taken the lead from him, suddenly halted in his tracks right in front of Alex and started speaking.

"If you ever do, do not ever forget to keep your promise."

"Fight for them, swing your spear for them, bleed for them!"

"I once had a person that I adored so much, but I, committed the gravest sin possible, and didn't keep my promise. As a result, they are now in Elysium, and I am sure they are living in bliss gulping the divine wine of heaven while being fanned by servants. If they ever forget about me, then that is entirely my fault." As he spoke, Achilles leaned on the rough walls of the cave.

Some of his words were still echoing through the tunnel, and all of his gloats and self-depreciation were being amplified right at his very ear.

Alex thought he saw things a bit too extremely.

"As long as you don't know what they think, bringing yourself down doesn't help anyone, especially you. You have an entire eternity in front of you, and where I come from, people lived short lives but often left the mortal domain without regrets. So what do you, everlasting being, have as an excuse?" Alex stated his opinion.

He continued "You said they inhabit Elysium? This is your opportunity then, go and ask them how they feel."

Achilles didn't respond but him mouthing 'Thank you' didn't escape Alex's eagle eyes.

The two then resumed walking through the tunnel.

As they kept walking, they noticed the cave had gotten less narrow and there was more space for movement. This kind of change in scenery indicated to the two that they should be cautious going forward.

This anticipation of theirs was correct, as soon enough, the tunnel had turned into a gigantic chamber.

The walls of the chamber were made of a black glossy material that looked like obsidian and in the center of the room was a gigantic stone statue that had glowing golden chains surrounding it.

'Where should we leave this place from?.....Bingo! There is a door' Alex was examining the whole place and took notice of a small door on the opposite side of the room that they could leave this place from.

Then, he carelessly approached the door but was blocked by Achilles' spear, as the latter whispered "Be careful"

He proceeded to take a stone from the ground and threw it at the door.

At first, nothing happened and the stone was intact.

A few seconds later, however.

*BAM*

The 'statue' moved its chained fists and crushed the stone, grinding it so much it could not even be considered powder anymore.

"WHAT LIVING COMES TO THIS PLACE?" Alex bolted in surprise as he heard an earth-shattering voice and searching for its source led him to the head of the 'statue'.

The living statue then sluggishly moved its head, producing creaking sounds, and as if awakened from a deep slumber, its stone eyelids slowly started opening, revealing a pitch-black void in place of eyes.

The statue seemed to be looking at Alex, and afterwards, it exclaimed "YOU, YOU HAVE THE SAME SMELL ON YOU AS THAT SON OF MINE, THAT BASTARD SON OF MINE!"

Achilles, who didn't seem any surprised, approached Alex and whispered in his ear "I think that's the Titan Cronus. We can't beat him, even in our wildest dreams so we should focus on escaping."

Alex nodded in confusion.

'What bad luck, the first creature we encounter in Tartarus is a Titan, and not just any Titan, but one that holds a grudge against me as a proxy of Zeus!' Alex complained but there was no time to complain as despite the heavy golden chains, Cronus seemed to still be able to show incredible strength.

*BAM*

*BAM*

*BAM*

The sounds of the Titan's fists hitting the floor were creating mini-earthquakes in the room, and although they failed to break the ground, the two didn't doubt it would crush them into nothingness if they received it head-on.

The factor in their advantage, nonetheless, was that Cronus' attacks were extremely slow, and for Alex who somewhat specialized in speed, evading them was an easy task.

Their plan, therefore, would be for Alex, who already was the main target of the Titan, to attract even more ire from Cronus, and while Achilles would open the door, Alex would run around and make sure the former doesn't receive any of the Titan's aggro.

"You vanquished your father Uranus, and when you became like him, you were surprised that your children revolted against you? Are you stupid?" Alex kept on pestering the Titan, and surprisingly, it worked.

"SILENCE!!!!!"

*BAM* *BAM* BAM*

The Titan's fists repeatedly hit the ground, but every time, Alex would successfully dodge the attacks.

*BAM*

This hit was a bit close, but he still managed to backflip to evade it, although the mini-earthquake caused by the fist still made him lose equilibrium and almost fall.

Taking advantage of this, Cronus sent his other fist flying down towards Alex, who still hadn't gotten back on his feet.

Alex, for a moment, thought he saw his life flash before his eyes, and the shadow cast on him by the overpowered fist grew larger and larger.

Just as he was about to be crushed by the fist, however, something blocked its path.

Achilles was right there, using his spear to block the fist while his arms were shaking.

He exclaimed "Get out!"

Alex jumped out, and Achilles retrieved his spear, causing the fist to fall on the ground, albeit without hurting anybody.

Achilles' arms were still shaking, and his spear, was unfortunately, broken into many pieces.

Alex felt bad about it and promised himself to procure Achilles an even better spear but there was no time for contemplation, so he rapidly thanked him and began to taunt Cronus.

"Look at you, a glorious Titan, trapped for all eternity in here like a pathetic prisoner!"

Cronus screamed "SILENCE!!"

Strangely, however, he didn't look at him, and instead turned his attention to Achilles, who was back to working on the door, trying to open it.

The Titan then started moving and his fist was coming down.

'What to do? What to do? What to do?' Alex felt like a computer which had its CPU overheat and began thinking in lightning speed on ways he could save Achilles, who sacrificed his spear earlier to save him.

The distance was too large to cover with his speed, and he didn't have any weapons to do the same that the former performed earlier.

He felt powerless, and as the fist was coming down, he suddenly had a realization.

He still had the elusive Faith Energy, that improved the power gods could express through their specializations..

Accumulating all that he had left of it and concentrating it on augmenting his speed, Alex felt time coming to a stop, and the fist of Cronus halting right above Achilles, who was also frozen in time.

Running at an immeasurably fast velocity, he reached Achilles in an instant and took him out of the fist's path.

As he did that, time began to resume normal speed again and they were both safe.

Achilles looked at him and nodded.

Alex felt like his tendons were torn and he could barely move his legs anymore but he garnered whatever strength he had left and taunted the Titan, who concentrated his attacks back on him again.

With his rising fatigue, it was a bit harder to evade the attacks but he didn't have to do so for a long time as he heard a remark from Achilles "It's open, come on!"

With speed that came out of god-knows where, he bolted towards the door and found himself on the other side, as Achilles closed the door and they could now only hear the screams of the Titan, who could no longer cause them any harm.

Both of them were breathing heavily and tired from the fight.

Alex apologized "I'm sorry for your spear, I will get you a new one."

"It's alright, a great warrior doesn't depend on weapons. On that note, however, I won't be able to fight anymore." Achilles stated as he showed him his arms that were still shaking.

He countered a Titan's attacks, so of course he lost all of his arm strength.

"Thank you for earlier too." Achilles told him.

Alex waved and then collapsed on the floor. As a god, he had high regenerative speed, but his injured leg muscles and tendons still hurt and it was impossible to walk right now.

Taking out some food he stored in his bag before coming here, he split it in half and gave the other half to Achilles, who accepted it.

The two then ate in silence, trying to recover some of their power.