25. Punishment

Hades took me to Tartarus after meeting with all the souls and mortals. We were walking there, and I turned to him. “Hades I need to know what is going on up top. There were people who asked for my help, well our help. How am I supposed to do anything, like answer them if I am in the dark.” He looked at me as we continued to walk. “Persephone Darling, I am not keeping it from you. I mean I have but not for the reason you think. It has gotten bad amongst the mortals. I want to go more in depth on it, and I will have to, before we go to visit King Minos. So, know it will be soon. It is just a lot. We are going to Tartarus and if things go well, we can talk about Earth.”

I nodded that seemed good enough for now. If I could control my emotions in a place like that then I could get a grip on them. I wanted to test myself. It had not been long since I had been back in the Underworld. I needed to get ahold over myself before I really could help anyone. I knew it was not okay if I just spiraled out of control. I didn’t know if Tartarus was the best place to test my composer, but I knew I had to come. I had to do what I told the souls I would do.

I had personally guaranteed I would evaluate what they were punished for and see in my opinion if they should be released. Then there were a few I said would be punished by my hand before I decided their fate. I had never hurt anyone. I had lashed out verbally but never anything physical. Hades wanted to walk verses just appearing in Tartarus. I didn’t know why but I let him lead the way. We did have to vanish and appear on the other side of the river that was always on fire. The place was hotter than anything I had ever encountered. I felt like my clothes immediately began to stick to my skin when we arrived in Tartarus.

I was extremely uncomfortable just being there. Hades looked at me. “Are you okay? I should have warned you just being here can make someone feel not right. It is how it was designed. I didn’t like the idea of the souls or monsters here to ever know a moment of peace.” I nodded. I had not been held in a place like this. We walked and I heard screams, crying, whips being cracked. There was so much pain I thought and hatred in this part of the underworld. We walked further into the place, and I noticed several cages, some were on fire others were tubs of water causing their occupants to drown over and over.

I felt a chill run up my side. This place was horrible. It made me think my mother's punishment was maybe not so severe. Hades pointed. “If you go that way that is where the Titans are bound. I advise not visiting them if you can help it. They are the worst of the worst. My father Kronos being the worst of them.” I nodded. I had never had a desire to meet those legendary destroyers. Especially Kronos who had eaten his own children. Hades moved me in front of a cage.

He had planned to take me to all those I had promised to address in Tartarus and determine if they could be released and punish those, I said I would personally. I didn’t know if I was capable of doing that, but I knew I needed to. Ruling in my opinion was not just about being compassionate but also about keeping others in line. Punishment ensured that the souls would stay in their lane. A female stood in the cage in front of me. She was filthy and looked like she had been run through already. Her eyes were downcast as she said. “My king, I am sorry.” He then responded to her. “Your Queen is here to deal with you. It is her you should address. You should know she decreed falsehoods will be punished.”

It didn’t escape my notice that she had tears running down her face. I felt sad for her. I wanted to just release her. She had been here for over a year, just for telling a lie and blaming Hades. I hated that more than anything. I had been caged for defending him and here she had been blaming him. She was a subject of the underworld. Hades was her king, yet she had blamed him for losing me. “I am sorry my queen. Please have mercy. I learned my lesson, I swear.” I stared at her.

“You blamed your king for losing me. I want to know why?” She was silent for a long time and then she said, “I was mistaken.” That was not an answer. “That is not an explanation. I want one.” She just shook her head, as I heard her sob. I turned to Hades. “Where do I enact her punishment.” His face neutral and he nodded and then we were in a white room the women hung by chains, so her feet hardly touched the ground. Hades then said “We have many places for this. You can construct your own when you get a better grip of your power to dole out whatever punishment you want.” I looked at the wall and saw various instruments. I went and grabbed a long thick leather rope. I assumed it was for lashing. But it was so long it would wrap around the soul's body. I came and stood in front of the trembling women.

“Have you been tortured while you have been here, or have you been just in the cage?” I didn’t know what she had endured with her time spent in this part of the underworld. From my understanding a lot of the souls had been to Tartarus over the Decade I was imprisoned. I didn’t know if Hades had tortured them all, or if the furies did it. Or maybe even perhaps some had just been sentenced to rot. In a shaky breath the soul said “I was in the cage. I just want to get back to my husband. Please my queen.” She begged. I looked at her.

This soul had talked about Hades. She blamed him and it was wrong. I can’t imagine that he had not already blamed himself. He shouldn’t have but he no doubt did. Then she had confirmed his fears of blaming him. This soul had hurt him, emotionally. Just another little piece of his torment. Yet she would not tell me why she said it. Hades had been good to the souls and made it better for them while they were here. He was hurting as I was while I was caged. The souls he had taken care of had no right to make him feel worse than he already was. “I want a reason you voiced those lies.” I spoke.

The women had no response and though I was pained doing it I cracked the large whip and watched as it wrapped around her immortal body, and she screamed. “Why, tell me why you told your lie.” She was crying hysterically and not responding so I did it again and a third time and finally cried out. “He was punishing us, because he was angry at Demeter. The king should have known not to get involved with a goddess. Especially her, she is the greatest of the Gods.” I cracked the whip from anger, I did it repeatedly until the screaming stopped. The soul could not die, she was already dead. I waited until she awoke. I understood now. “You were a follower of my mother when you were on earth. Am I right?” She said quietly “Yes.”

I was silent looking at her. “Who is your king and only God now?” I asked. She didn’t respond and I continued to whip her. I understood everything now. She was holding on to her former life. That was unacceptable. She was now here and would never leave. She was dead and that meant her only God was Hades. I didn’t know if this was normal. But I knew it was unacceptable. I kept lashing asking her who she served. Finally, she broke. “I serve Hades he is my God.” I nodded. “Will you ever say another word against him?” She trembled against her chains. Her clothes had been shredded and were hardly covering her at this point. “I won’t I swear.”

I came up close to her face. “If I catch a whiff of anything you say against him, I will make you suffer for all of eternity. You make sure when you gossip which seems like something you like to do. You tell the other souls that Hades was merciful to you. This is the only time you will be tortured and now you will be released. But like I said one wrong word and you will be subjected to me personally coming here every day to punish you.” The women was sobbing and I dropped the whip to grab her hair and pull her head back, so she was looking at me. “Do you understand, the consequence for lying now.” Her lips trembled as she said “Yes.”

I nodded and let her go. “Good now make it known.” I nodded to Hades. She could go home but he spoke in his deep voice. “All of this does not just extend to me, but also your queen.” He then made her vanish and we were back by the other cages. We went through all the souls I had said I would address. All of them had been released. Some of them received my wrath, some did not. I was exhausted and bloody when we returned to the palace. Hecate was there and she was smirking at me. “Turns out you are way fiercer than any of us knew, a hell of way to make it known, how you stand. Sweet but harsh when it comes to punishment. I approve.” I didn’t respond verbally but gave her a nod.