Dialogue The Ground Beneath ~ (Scarface Reisner, Yo-SD Sho, Soom Euclase)

preceded by The Shoreline

This is story #24 in the Back Garden series. Start reading from the beginning?


Infinite thanks to PurgatoriX, whose delightful Mok (Euclase) and Tamaki (Yo-Sho) appear in this photostory!





A cold stillness drifts through the forests of Hades, broken only by the trickle of a stream...




and the crunch of dead, dry leaves underfoot.




??: I wouldn't walk much further if I were you.




Llewelyn: (stills) Good guardian, I seek an audience with the lord of this land.




??: ...um, okay, but are you sure? He's in a miserable mood today. I mean, he's miserable pretty much every day but today is about as miserable as he gets, and that's when things start getting messy. The cleaners are this close to going on strike. Are you sure you don't want to come back another day?




Llewelyn: Regrettably, I am sure. This business cannot wait.




??: Well, on your head be it then. Unless you manage to duck or something.




??: If you want to follow me?




Llewelyn: Lead on, good guardian.




??: Curse it, I hate this bit. (struggles up)

 

??: The Spring Chambers are just through here. He never goes anywhere else these days.




A soft rustle of wind shifts the vines slowly dying over a slab of stone. Atop, the lord of Hades kneels, murmuring words that cannot be distinguished.




??: Thousands of pardons, my lord...
Hades: (sighs) Mercury, if only your tongue were as quicksilver as your feet. What do you disturb me with now?




Mercury: My lord, one of the Sidhe has come down to us from the overworld. He wants to speak with you.




Hades: To manoeuvre and mask your way down the dark paths to our realm is no simple task. It takes fortitude, or a black streak of cunning...




Hades: What is your name, foolhardy Sidhe, you who risk the jaws of Cerberus and obliteration in the River Styx to speak with me?




Llewelyn: Lord Hades, I am both honoured and humbled to make your acquaintance. My name is Llewelyn and my father is Manawydan, son of the sea.




Hades: And what is it, Llewelyn son of Manawydan, that you would ask of me? You are not the first immortal to come before me, and you will not be the last.




Llewelyn: My lord, do you know the whereabouts of your son?




Hades: My son? Lucifer goes where he chooses, as befitting a prince of this realm. His comings and goings are no business of yours, Sidhe, why do you bother me with such inanities?




Llewelyn: When your son attacks one of my own, it becomes my business.

 

Hades: Oh sweet Cybele. What has the boy gone and done now?




Llewelyn: My niece is sensitive to the light of your realm, my lord. She can see the shades that escape to walk among the living. I believe this is how she and your son met. Since that time Lucifer has pursued her relentlessly, in hopes that she will join him here, though for what purpose I can only guess. My niece has refused, but your son will not cease his harassment.



Hades: A child's infatuation! I have no time for these trivial complaints--




Llewelyn: (cold) Two nights ago, Lucifer tried to abduct her by force from under her family's very roof. This was a direct attack not only against my niece but against myself and my family's honour. Thus am I here, appealing to you, and I demand that justice be done.




Hades: You 'demand'? I am Hades, lord of the underworld, I have more important things to worry about than an adolescent spat--!




Mercury: (whispers) My lord, you might want to worry about this one, actually. You remember Lord Poseidon was pretty insistent about every sea spirit being his servant, an insult to them's an insult to him and all that? Well, he's still grumpy over that business with the lightning thief and he's already threatened to withhold water from the Styx if we don't--




Hades: (hissed) Alright, alright! (turns) Tell me, Llewelyn son of Manawydan, what justice do you believe you can have from me?




Llewelyn: You are known as a fair and honest judge of men, Lord Hades. Your son has abused his power and position in order to torment someone weaker than himself. This is unforgivable behaviour for an adult, but Lucifer is still yet a child. A fitting punishment would see him experience what it is to be truly powerless, in hope that he might learn something from it.




Hades: And I suppose you would like to be the one to teach him this purported lesson in humility?




Llewelyn: With your lordship's permission.




Hades: (huffs) Do what you will with the demon child, I have had enough of him. Let him reside in the overworld, beyond the reach of our light and our power. Send him back when he will cease causing me headaches.




Mercury: Oh boy, more paperwork...

 

Llewelyn: Thank you, my lord Hades. I will endeavour to show your son the error of his presumptions. Actions have consequences. The consequences of trying to steal someone away in broad daylight are severe... as you yourself are well aware.



Hades: Sea sprite, you would dare--! (seething)




Hades: Get out of my realm before I banish you from it forever! There will be no rest in the fields of asphodel, not a drop from the river of forgetfulness to ease your passing. An eternity spent with your sorrows among the wailing ghosts of the pit. This is what I promise you, Llewelyn son of Manawydan, if I find you still within these lands by moonrise.




Llewelyn: Then I shall take my leave. I pray that you find peace in your contemplations, Lord Hades.




Hades: (watches the intruder withdraw beyond the sparse trees)




Hades: (turns back to Persephone's abandoned altar)




Hades: Peace, indeed.



To be continued...

This is story #24 in the Back Garden series. Start reading from the beginning?

 

Thank you both!

@Havra I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I've been writing/working on this series of photostories for a long time. If you're interested in reading how we got to this point, it all starts here with my sunlit F-17, Jin, having a rather curious dream...

 

Thank you so much! I'm so glad you enjoyed it