Chapter Text
With each clawed grasp, dark, rich soil got trapped under his golden nails. Each sweep of dirt only seemed to drag him further down, burying himself more every time he tried to dig out of his coffin. He could feel the grip of chains around his legs, holding him down, pulling him deeper into the early grave. What were once pure gold hands seemed stained in mud and ash; he could only imagine what the rest of him looked like. Mire caked on his face like some half-dead mutt.
He went through the motions because he had nothing else to do. His sense of time was long gone, even as he tried to count the weeks.
How much longer?
…
Metal rattling followed by another frustrated yell was superimposed by a grunted laugh, clawed shadow hands ripping a chain towards the body that they belong to, watching the trapped human struggle. It wasn’t common for him to keep the alive around much, let alone two, but he’d been troubled by the humans far too long. Tempting fate would get you locked in places like these, places where no one could possibly save you.
‘Alive.’ Hades pondered, tugging on the chain to watch the girl before him fall onto her back, knocking the air out of her. Did it count as alive if you were no longer above? His humans certainly weren’t alive in the same sense others were, but they could be returned to their former state.
Bored with the chains, Hades dropped them, returning the slack to the human, which he’d kept close to the throne. The lord wasn’t one for interrogation. He had all the time in the universe to watch you lose your spirit and succumb to death. You heaved for breath on the ground, recovering from having your body slammed into the stone ground. These chains were difficult to break from, with points like thorns coming out of their sides; it was near impossible to touch them, either.
Scraped knees, calloused hands, and rosy cheeks from the cold emitted by the green fires lit throughout the braziers, you were starting to look like you belonged in this hellscape, forced to your knees by Hades himself. You had what you came here for, a flask of the glowing green river. It went south when you realized you’d found a way in, but the only way out was with the very key Hades clung to. While it seemed simple enough, you realized too late that it was no ordinary key but a cast iron staff nearly as tall as the god himself.
Heavy, it was heavy, and you weren’t sure you could carry it all the way to the gates without being caught. Especially not in your current state. It felt like you were dying of hunger and thirst, but it never killed you.
“Master!” The gruff voice of Hades’ lap dog called out, pulling his eyes off of you, which felt like a blanket of weight removed. You’d finally caught your breath.
“What is it?”
“Two humans have broken into the underworld!” The three-headed dog barked, stepping closer to the throne. Cerberus only stopped when Hades stood from his throne, slamming the staff down, which caused the underworld to shake. You stayed on your hands and knees, arms covering your head in case anything fell on you. Fortunately, you were spared. As you tucked your leg towards you, you noticed a new clanging sound, which was just barely covered by the others conversation.
The stone holding the hook of your chain had snapped and seemed loose enough to pop out with enough force. Looking around, you saw no guards or anyone who’d notice and wrapped your hands around the chain, pulling it taut. The thorns dug into your hands, puncturing the skin. You were thankful for your calluses; now, as they protected you from the pain you’d be in otherwise. You tugged, and hard, resulting in the crack worsening.
“How do these pests just keep coming! How did they cross the Styx?” Cerberus opened his mouth to reply, but Hades had already grabbed his chain and raised his hand, smoke pooling from it and swirling around his legs.
More desperate at the sight of Hades fading, you tugged again and again, feeling the chains dig so deep you’d swear they might just touch bone. Blood dripped along the chain and onto the floor, which caused one of the heads on Cerberus’ shoulder to growl. You had to hurry before they all noticed, and with a final tug, it popped out of the ground, the hook flying through the air and landing somewhere outside. A small ‘plunk’ noise of it hitting the water was all you needed to start roping the chain into something you could carry.
“Watch the girl and my staff; let no one in or out!” With a final shout, Hades disappeared in place, leaving you and the hellhound alone. With a final salute, Cerberus wished his master well, a sharp growl coming from his maw. Mortals. He could hunt them down for his master, but Hades insisted he take care of these incidents, as if Cerberus couldn’t be trusted to catch some measly humans! Turning to face the one chained by his lord's throne, Cerberus’ eyes narrowed when he realized you and the chain were nowhere to be seen.
As you were hidden behind the throne, the hellhound howled out, the wet guttural growls he let out causing a shiver to run up your spine, each head on his shoulders barking and sniffing you out. You knew he’d find you quick; he could smell the blood staining the chain that was still locked around your ankle, and he could probably outrun you, too.
Before you could plot much further, his arm slammed the throne away, sending the staff to the ground and the throne toppling over. There you were, huddled behind it, hands over your head and staring at him wide-eyed. He let out a laugh at your meek form. Pathetic. How’d you even get out in the first place? Hades had told him your legs were injured, that you were sickly, and your time was soon.
On the ground where the throne once was, a golden reboot card lay embedded in the ground. With the demi-god distracted laughing, you pocketed the card and ran between his legs, narrowly avoiding his whipping tail by dropping to your knees, scraping them further with a hiss. There, by the stairs down to the trail that wound to the exit gates, was the staff Hades had left behind. Cerberus turned around, claw reaching for the chain that dragged behind you, but you ripped it away just in time to avoid his grasp, taking hold of the key.
Blood soaked into the porous material of the cast iron key, and you nearly dropped it from the weight alone. Your body was ten times weaker than when you’d arrived; how on earth were you going to get out?
Cerberus dropped to his hands, prepared to chase you down. Your hand grabbed for the flask on your hip, flicking the lid off and pouring the liquid down your throat. A brain freeze hit you instantly, any droplets that fell out of your mouth cooling your skin further. Every part of you burned from the cold, so much that you didn’t notice the heft of the key anymore, and you took off.
The force of Cerberus’ paws slamming into the ground as he hunted you could be heard, snarling and barking from the heads at random sounded out as you ran at speeds you never thought you’d be capable of again, not since you were a kid. Swerving through trees to try to lose him, the hellhound followed you with ease. You were in his land, so you were the one at a heavy disadvantage. Even if you got to the gate, you’d have to unlock it before he could grab you. The only option was to buy yourself some time.
Up ahead you spotted a bridge, a narrow passage under it, something he would have to climb over, but something you could squeeze through. With cold fire left in your steps, you surged forward, sliding through the enclosure as the hellhound slammed into the bridge, clawing at the opening as you popped through the other side. He was over it only a few seconds longer, but he was further back. The gates came into view, towering over everything else as the green glow of the river Styx highlighted it from the other side. Your throat was hoarse from taking in the dry air, trying to keep your breath up with your pace. You were running out of juice.
The chain dragging behind you was working against you, though, as a branch snagged into one of the loops, causing you to trip to the ground. Soil stained the front of your clothes and chin, the key falling to the ground beside you. In a moment, Cerberus pounced, trapping you below his weight as slobber fell onto your face. You sealed your lips shut in disgust. The hound growled, snapping its jaw together as an act of intimidation, as if to say he wasn’t going easy on you anymore.
Your free hand managed to feel around in the tall grass and soil for the key, getting a solid grip and whipping it into the snout of the hellhound, sending him reeling back with a great howl. You panted, blood and soil on your hands mixing. No more time could be wasted. You were running towards the gate only a fraction of a second later, lifting the key into the slot and leaving it in the lock as the gates opened for you. A boat was ashore, with no sign of the ferryman you’d met on arrival, so you hopped in and got paddling before the hound could catch up to you again.
“Fuck.” Your lungs burned, your hands shook, either from the blood loss, adrenaline, or the cold, perhaps a mix of them all. It only made you grip the paddle tighter; you weren’t safe until you were on the other side and climbing your way back into the overworld.
…
In the distance, another howl rang out, the hellhound running back to its master to report the lost girl. It wasn’t as if she was an asset, he reassured himself; Hades wouldn’t be mad if he lost the girl—hopefully. Sniffing out his master, he managed to find Hades, ripping at chains that kept him stuck in place. Cerberus looked around cautiously before helping his master down.
“What are you doing here? All the humans are at the palace by now!” Hades hissed under his breath, pushing Cerberus out of his way. The two women who’d found their way here had outsmarted him, but it wouldn’t happen again.
“Yes, well, about that…” Cerberus’ voice hushed as the heads on his shoulders whined, preparing for the worst.
…
“He isn’t here.” Jules called out to Marigold, who ran down the stairs to the room she was in.
“What?” Marigold groaned out in anger, though she softened her expression when Jules reacted to her harsh tone. Evidence of Midas was smeared along the walls, golden handprints looking like they were trying to claw at the seams of the stone. Jules was able to test a strand of hair for his DNA, which came up positive. Marigold noted that the throne room just above was a mess; he’d clearly fought his way out.
“Well, we don’t have to deal with his bossing around if he’s already out. Let's run for it before Hades notices he's gone!” Jules, as optimistic as she tended to be, took one look back at Marigold before stepping back into the throne room. She wouldn’t show it, especially not on a mission as important as this, but she was worried her dad wouldn’t make it out.
“I suppose it’ll be easier to find him up there than it was finding him down here.”