Dirge of Hell | Greek Mythology

29 Challenge

In the Court of Judgment, the two monarchs stood against each other. Hades was looking down from his throne on the nymph with blatant revilement. Kore, on the other hand, was kneeling beside Menthe (previously known as Daeira) with her arm spread protectively in front of the nymph as if shielding her from Hades’ cold wrath while meeting his gaze with her own defiant one. But her determination faltered when she heard her husband reveal her handmaiden’s true name.

“Menthe?” she asked nonplussed and turned to face the nymph, searching her for either confirmation or denial (most preferably the latter). “Your…name is Menthe?”

“Yes that’s right,” the nymph replied ungratefully. “Please put your hands down. I do not need your protection.” Cocytus snarled warningly from behind.

It hurt her to realize that the person she trusted and regarded as a friend, before and even after what most people would consider a betrayal, would lie to her about something as simple yet significant as a name. Giving one’s name was equivalent to giving one’s trust. If Menthe never gave her name then she never considered her a friend. And if so, then her mission had been to push her to Tartarus all along…and she fell for it (literally and figuratively). That hurt her even more because she really did like Daeira or rather Menthe. On the bright side, at least she now knew Daeira’s real name.

“You impudent nymph!” Hades glowered with unrestrained rage. “How dare you talk to the queen like that?” He then stood from his throne and marched down the stairs slowly, his image growing more menacing with each echoing step he took. Small sparks of fire even flickered at his heels.

Kore and Menthe couldn’t speak, couldn’t move and even forgot to breathe – transfixed as they beheld Hades’ infamous rage – but for entirely different reasons.

While Kore was legitimately and reasonably frightened, Menthe was ecstatic. She drank the king’s most imperious presence with awe. His very image of ruthlessness sparked the flames of desire in her, reminded her of the day she first laid eyes on him – on that day when he gathered the chthonic forces to invade the Upperworld – and it was all directed at her.

She had to fight the smile from appearing on her lips as another shiver ran down her spine, as she drowned in the waves of his furious and powerful majesty. Oh what joy! Aidoneus truly is the most beautiful, the darkest diamond, in existence, she thought.

Hades reached the bottom of the stairway, his last step echoing like a loud knell. He slowly reached his hand, pausing just before Menthe’s face as if he readied to blast her with his dark fire. The nymph only feared for her life for a split second, resigning her destiny to the god who had been the object of her fantasies for two centuries. What better way to die than by the hands of the one she loved?

Kore looked between her husband and Menthe, wondering what he’s going to do to the nymph. The answer came soon enough when Menthe suddenly threw herself back and hit the floor hard then began to convulse and writhe soundlessly, her mouth open in a silent scream and her unseeing eyes moving erratically with pain and fear.

“Aidoneus! What are you doing?” she screamed in absolute terror as she grabbed the nymph frantically, trying to control her jerking movements so she wouldn’t hurt herself. A small gasp escaped the nymph’s mouth and soon enough Kore discovered that Menthe couldn’t even breathe!

“It’s something Tartarus taught me,” he answered nonchalantly, his eyes never releasing the fury in them while his outstretched arm followed the nymph’s form. “She has tested my patience for the last time.”

Kore looked between the two gods in the room and both were wearing the same cruel expression as if Menthe deserved every bit of pain that she was going through. It wasn’t right! As the woman continued to move unnaturally under her hold, she became filled with fear and panic. There was no way she could let the nymph continue to suffer like this!