Beyond Hades

by Luke Romyn

  They'd reached the base of the mountain he had spotted earlier, and his companion, a giant with one hundred arms and fifty heads, was offering to carry him up it.

  I might as well, thought Talbot, shrugging. He'd come this far, what was a little more insanity?

  Briareus lifted him like an infant, positioning Talbot high on his huge back and gripping him securely with several arms. It was not an entirely comfortable experience for Talbot, but gazing up at the sheer mountainside, its peaks disappearing into the voluminous, green clouds high above, and realizing they were about to ascend it, he guessed things could be a lot worse.

  And then things got a lot worse.

  Briareus soared into the air and clamped onto the sheer rock through the brute strength of several dozen sets of hands. The handholds were miniscule, and none could have supported Talbot on his own, let alone Briareus, but with his powerful arms and multiple grips they held strong.

  And thus began the climb.

  The only thing Talbot could liken it to would be riding a spider up a wall. They shot up at incredible velocity, the ground soon stretching far below while Talbot dangled precariously from Briareus's back. The hands which gripped him no longer felt secure, the power of Briareus seemed insufficient for the task.

  The giant would often release his grip on the cliff altogether in order to leap across space and scrabble for fresh handholds. Only once did the colossal creature fail to gain purchase on the slick rock, and they'd plummeted fifty feet before Briareus managed to grab hold again. Talbot felt he'd lost ten years of his life in that fall.

  After an eternity of climbing, they entered the clouds - a thick green haze strangely warm and dry, a surprise to Talbot given that clouds were formed from moisture, and as such couldn't be dry.

  He snickered, momentarily forgetting his situation. In the realm of weird shit happening around him, concern that the clouds contained no moisture should have been very low on his list of worries. Somehow it really frustrated him, though, as he was carried up the mountain. He chuckled louder until he noticed one of Briareus's heads staring at him strangely, causing a rapid halt to his laughter.

  The clouds parted, allowing Talbot to see they were finally at the top. He found himself staring down at a huge city, structures fashioned beyond any Earthly architectural dream. It spread out before them, craggy peaks surrounding every edge except the small gap through which they had emerged. The rear of the city appeared to open onto a broad plain, hundreds of miles across, before the surrounding mountains closed it off. Beyond the crags, a thick stone wall protected the entire city, casting shadows over its edges.

  Talbot gazed around in wonder as Briareus lowered him to the ground and strode down the hill, soon arriving at the unmanned gates and marching inside, Talbot close behind. The giant led him through the city streets and oddly-designed buildings toward the center of the city. Talbot stared at the structures, so similar to those he's seen in Atlantis, and wondered at their intense beauty. Amazing that something like this could be built atop such an enormous mountain....

  A mountain... in a world called Olympia.

  It was at that moment Talbot realized where they were, though he should have known much sooner.

  They stood atop Mount Olympus.

  Talbot's naturally analytical mind had missed things he was sure his brother would have picked up on. They had certainly ended up with the wrong brother for this mission!

  The place looked like it was sliced straight out of fiction, and Talbot found his jaw dropping as he gazed at the myriad of incredible sights surrounding him. Buildings populated by beautiful people were designed with similar styling to those in Atlantis, but possessing a more modern, edgy look to them. Thick, clear crystal filled the windows and the doors appeared to be automated, but not in the clunky, electric-powered way the automatic doors of Talbot's world opened. These were smooth, almost graceful in their simplistic design, creating the effect of an invisible doorman opening each entrance.

  The city stretched up a tall hill, a beautiful temple-like structure residing like a guardian over the entire walled citadel.

  As they walked toward the temple atop the hill, Talbot began to notice numerous wonders seemingly designed for mere amusement or art. A giant, golden waterfall sprayed out into a great wash of butterflies which in turn flew back to the top of the waterfall to cascade down once more, over and over. To his right arched a rainbow so solid it actually pushed the encroaching clouds aside. The colors contained within boasted an incredible brilliance, hurting Talbot's eyes with their energy.

  "Boss there," grunted Briareus.

  Talbot's gaze swung back to Briareus, and he followed the direction several of the Hecatonchires' arms pointed. A man emerged from the temple, and the giant bowed low before him.

  So this was the illustrious 'boss'. The man wore decidedly ordinary clothing; a light blue, loose-fitting shirt along with baggy, cream-colored, cotton pants; his feet were bare. In his mid-fifties, and lightly tanned, his shoulder-length, light-brown hair was streaked with gray, atop a lightly bearded, handsome and very friendly-looking face.

  Somehow Talbot felt disappointed discovering that the 'boss' was merely a man, not some enormous, god-like figure, especially considering they were on Mount Olymp -

  Talbot's thoughts jumped ahead, once again concluding what he should have realized ages before.

  The man approached him, hand extended. "Hello Talbot," he began, his voice deep and honeyed. "Welcome to Olympia. My name is Zeus." Talbot shook his outstretched hand -

  And fainted!

  CHAPTER 10

  "I tend to have that effect on people," said a voice. Talbot's eyes opened slightly, seeing the man who had named himself Zeus. It wasn't a dream. "I guess my reputation precedes me."

  Opening his eyes fully and glancing around, Talbot saw he was lying on a simple, but comfortable bed in an unadorned, brightly lit room. Zeus leaned casually against the wall across the room.

  "Tell me something," said Zeus, forestalling Talbot's inevitable questions. "How long has it been since Atlantis was consumed by your oceans back on Earth?"

  Talbot was stunned - he had no answer! His mind went completely blank. Zeus - the father of the Greek gods! - had asked him when a city steeped in mystery and legend had disappeared. The incredulity of the situation was beyond anything he could comprehend.

  "Um...." he began, trying to gather his thoughts into at least a semblance of lucidity. "Atlantis disappeared at least three thousand years ago."

  Zeus shook his head in wonder. "Time will never cease to amaze me. It has been a mere three years since we were able to seal the Syrpeas Gate... after your people opened it using machinery they were never supposed to understand. Who could have predicted a genetic freak would be able to understand all languages? I mean no offense in that, it's just that when my forefathers travelled between the dimensions they never realized what a dramatic result their leaving our technology behind would have upon your race."

  "So you're Zeus? The Zeus? King of the Greek gods and lightning bolts and stuff?" Talbot realized he was close to babbling, but couldn't help himself.

  "Is that what they say about me?" he chuckled. "It's amazing how things change, considering your people tried to kill my kind the last time we met. I would love to discuss this further, but the collapse of the gates of Tartarus gets closer with every moment we waste."

  "What's really going on here?" Talbot demanded, standing up.

  Zeus sighed. "Fine, but it will have to be the condensed version, okay?"

  Talbot nodded and Zeus began; his voice rich and deep. "My race is not too dissimilar to yours. We perhaps have a similar ancestry, though I'm not certain. What I can tell you is that my people have always been obsessed with knowledge. They became fanatical about fathoming the secrets of the universe.

  "They discovered that by attuning the frequency of the stars to certain types of stones set in a specific formation, they were able to open gateways into other real
ms or dimensions. One such world is yours. Now, I'm not talking about planets. My universe is completely separate to yours, and no amount of direct travel will ever allow us to meet. We are separated by dimensions, like curtains between rooms, which need to be either pulled aside or torn in order to travel through them. We discovered how to tear through them. You understand?"

  Talbot nodded, though he wasn't really sure. A lot of what Zeus said went straight over his head, but he didn't want to interrupt the flow of words.

  Zeus continued. "We discovered many worlds were impossible to travel to. I'm not sure why. In the end, out of a myriad of universes, we were only able to safely open gates to three worlds: yours, Hades, and Tartarus. There may have been more, but we stopped after what happened between these three.

  "Our foremost technical minds opened the rift into your world at the dawn of your race's first civilizations. Through this gateway we found a world not totally unlike our own, with people similar to us, but dramatically less advanced. It was such a simple society, and they soon labeled us gods through mere awe of what we considered simple technology. We intermingled with your world for centuries; first the Egyptians and finally the Greeks and Romans.

  "But our need to know everything was all-encompassing," mused Zeus, a troubled look gathering in his gaze. "We found resonance points in your world that we couldn't reach from our own."

  "What's a resonance point?" asked Talbot.

  "I am sorry; how remiss of me," said Zeus. "A resonance point is a place where high levels of energy congregate. They form a complicated network between the dimensions, connecting them in different ways, like strings attached to other strings. We found if we combined enough of them, we were able to create rift gates. These rift gates can be manipulated somewhat, but essentially work as doorways from one realm to another. Some are attached to your world while others are attached to other dimensions.

  Zeus took a deep breath. "Through these points we opened a gateway into the realm you know as Hades, a place so devoid of heat and atmosphere that the inhabitants, while humanoid, were little better off than walking dead. Before we realized any of this, however, we set up a colony there and many of our people migrated in order to explore the strange new world. They were ruled by an Olympian named Hades, an egotistical man who swiftly named the realm after himself."

  "Your people are called Olympians?" interjected Talbot.

  "Of course," replied Zeus. "Our world is Olympia, what would you expect us to be called?" He chuckled lightly. Talbot felt himself reddening and decided he should just shut his mouth and listen.

  "As I was saying," continued Zeus, no hint of rebuke in his tone. "Hades named the new world after himself, but soon realized it was a truly wretched realm. Without the consent of the council, he constructed another gate, into a new world; a land called Tartarus.

  "Tartarus was populated by creatures like Briareus who escorted you here. Unfortunately, he is one of the few benevolent creatures from this place. Soon evil flooded through the gate Hades built and invaded his world. In a move of colossal stupidity and arrogance, Hades constructed a primitive gate, which linked into the Syrpeas Gate, in an attempt to flee straight back to Olympia. This fractured the other gates - opening cracks between the dimensions which threatened to destroy us all. As you must know by now, if any gates are left open for an extended period they will expand beyond the constraints placed upon them, consuming everything."

  Talbot nodded.

  "We managed to place defensive measures on these cracks and alternate gates, but the Syrpeas Gate would not close or maintain our defensive measures. Soon a myriad of horrors were unleashed upon your world and I - as leader of my race - interjected in an attempt to stop these creatures from destroying your planet. That war ended three years ago by our time, and cost us dearly.

  "Now your race has blindly reopened the Syrpeas Gate, and it has linked into Tartarus. This has also fractured many of our defenses, allowing beasts to appear in Olympia. We are unable to fight another war - my race was almost annihilated during the last one, but we felt obliged to undo what we had begun. We managed to close all the gates, sinking the entire city of Atlantis beneath the ocean in an attempt to hide the Syrpeas Gate from your people's future meddling. The secondary gate was created in case we ever had to return to your world, but an enormous sealing stone was placed atop its entrance. Only one versed in the talents of the Elder-tongue could decipher the riddle of the cave which we disguised as local artwork.

  "We fought the war last time, but we cannot do so again. This time it was not our fault... at least not directly."

  Talbot noticed now how drained Zeus looked. When first confronted with the being he knew as a god, Talbot had been blinded. Now he saw a man. Zeus was descended from an incredibly developed race, but he was a man nonetheless. He had surely witnessed horrors beyond imagining, and Talbot could tell much remained of his tale, but for now he simply tried to grasp what Zeus had already imparted. This was how the legends had been created.

  "What can we do?" asked Talbot.

  "There is very little aid I can offer besides our knowledge. Our weaponry will help you somewhat, but the only way is to go beyond Hades, into Tartarus and close the gate."

  "Well that's real fucking helpful," interrupted a familiar voice from behind Talbot.

  Zeus looked up calmly, but Talbot spun around excitedly to see Wes, his familiar cocksure expression in place, his M4A5 aimed directly at Zeus. "Can you at least give us a lift back down that fucking mountain?" asked the commando, his aim never wavering. "I think I pulled a hamstring on my way up."

  Talbot forgot himself and before he knew it he'd rushed over, grabbing Wes in a mighty bear hug before being pushed roughly aside by the Australian, who still aimed his gun directly at Zeus. "Get off me, ya poof!" he barked. "Who's this dickhead?" He indicated Zeus.

  "I am not your enemy," said Zeus calmly. "You may lower your weapon."

  "Yeah, well excuse me if that don't make me all warm and fuzzy inside, buddy, but I don't answer to you."

  "Your name is Wesley Hammond Smith. You were born in Queensland, Australia in the not-too-distant future. You joined the Australian Special Air Service in an attempt to silence the demons from your past -"

  "ENOUGH!!!" roared Wes, storming forward until the barrel of his gun was pressed against Zeus's cheek. "How do you know that stuff?"

  "I am known among my people as a conduit of knowledge. When I am within range of others I can pick up surface thoughts. This is why I was chosen to lead my people."

  "You better stay out of my fucking head, or I'll empty yours," grunted Wes, the end of his barrel still pressed tightly to Zeus's cheek.

  "I merely wanted to make a point," replied Zeus calmly. "If I wanted to, I could make you put that weapon in your mouth and pull the trigger, but I haven't. I am your friend, Wes. You need to believe me in this. There are enough enemies out there for you to battle; you don't need to fight your friends as well."

  Wes gazed into Zeus's eyes a moment longer before dropping his gun. "Fair enough!" he said chirpily with a grin, and Talbot shook his head in wonder. What was it he'd thought about the SAS before? At least a little insane?

  "So what's going on?" Wes asked Talbot.

  "Zeus here -" began Talbot.

  "You mean like Greek-god Zeus?" interrupted Wes.

  "Yeah."

  "Hmm. Cool," said Wes, appraising Zeus once more.

  Talbot grinned despite himself. "Well Zeus was just saying that we're practically on our own for the fight ahead. They're still recovering from the last war and need to protect their own borders from the creatures of Tartarus."

  "What's a Tartarus? Isn't that what Doctor Who travelled around in; you know the telephone box with the flashing blue light on top of it?"

  Talbot suppressed a sigh and swiftly explained everything to Wes, though he suspected the SAS commando already understood more than he let on. Talbot got the impression that behind Wes's nonplussed expressions and smar
tass statements hid a man with a very high intellect - how else could he have piloted that damn ship?

  At the end of the tale, Wes merely nodded. "So," he said, locking Zeus with a steely gaze, "you guys are gonna be no help then? Fine. Can you at least get us into Tartarus? Our doorway got fucked up when that fucking Minotaur cut loose in Atlantis and the second gate kinda... well... a pyramid fell on it."

  Talbot cringed, but glancing over at Zeus he was surprised to see the man of legend grinning. "We can indeed get you there, Wes," said Zeus. "And we can offer some assistance. I see you already carry a sword of Olympia; Chiron's if I recognize the inscriptions." Wes drew out the blade so Zeus could see it more clearly. The older man - Talbot no longer fooled himself with the notion he was a god - peered at the blade and nodded. "Yes, that is Chiron's blade. It's a rather unique weapon, even among those of Olympia. It has almost twice as much power as an ordinary Olympian sword. You were fortunate to acquire it - it has no equal in this world."

  "Chiron threw it to us with the last of his strength." Wes gazed down at the blade reverently.

  "You are indeed lucky; doubly so because it is one of only three weapons strong enough to be capable of destroying a rift gate. The other two were lost during the war."

  Zeus's face momentarily took on a troubled, introspective expression, but quickly dismissed it. "But I spoke to you of other aid." He paused. "While we cannot go to war with the realm of Tartarus, we are able to provide you with some assistance." The doors were roughly opened and a legend entered the room.

  Standing some seven feet tall, the width of the man's shoulders was huge, as were the muscles bulging beneath his tent-like sleeveless shirt. His dark hair was cut short, and Talbot noticed several scars across his exposed arms, and a couple marking his face, though none so deep as to take away from the dark swarthiness of his features. Every inch of the colossal man radiated the command of a warrior; from the narrow gaze which seemed to take in every single aspect of the room, to the balanced stance he held.