The Newly Born God of the Underworld
In the end, while Zeus and Poseidon appeared to be in a position of great power, the one truly holding control among the three brothers was Hades, the elder brother who was not favored by the gods. Especially Poseidon, who, when he first took command of the sea, was largely ignored by the sea deities. It wasn't until Poseidon married Amphitrite, known as the 'Pearl of the Sea," that he managed to stabilize his position, but most of the authority over the oceans still lay with the ancient oceanic deities, Oceanus and Tethys, as well as the primordial sea god Pontus.
Returning to the scene with Palkos, after listening to Hypnos's explanation, Palkos's dark golden eyes showed a hint of contemplation. It seemed that the Lord of the Underworld had a far greater grasp of the Underworld than what the gods on Mount Olympus had suggested.
'But for someone newly born like me, guiding the souls of the dead is really…" Palkos put on a troubled expression, playing the role of a fledgling deity perfectly.
'You don't need to worry about that. My twin brother, Thanatos, is the god who governs all death; he will teach you how to wield your divine power," Hypnos said, recognizing Palkos's potential and wanting to introduce him to his brother. Palkos, as the god of frozen death and plague, would be an excellent subordinate to Thanatos.
'Please, follow me, Your Highness," Hypnos said as he spread his pure white wings. He flapped them gently and began to rise into the air, looking like a heavenly messenger, a beautiful sight that made it hard to imagine that such a seemingly pure deity was born in the Underworld.
Palkos spread his black and gold wings and followed closely behind Hypnos. The two powerful deities, unafraid of the darkness of the Underworld, flew swiftly. Soon, Hypnos led Palkos across much of the Underworld and arrived at the entrance of the Underworld, the River Acheron.
Palkos looked down, seeing the dark mass of souls crowding the banks of the Acheron. Several underworld deities held torches, guiding the souls who had crossed the river into the Underworld for settling.
The ferryman Charon was tirelessly rowing his small boat back and forth between the banks. He was drenched in sweat, but his boat was so small that taking more than ten souls at a time was the limit. Even with the timely intervention of the gods from Mount Olympus to protect them, the number of humans who had died in the rain of fire was in the tens of thousands, making it impossible to ferry them all at once.
'All souls, slow down! Can't you see there's no room ahead? Anyone who doesn't follow the rules will be thrown into the river!"
At the riverbank of Acheron, a deity with silver hair and gray wings, wielding a giant scythe, shouted angrily. His face, resembling that of Hypnos, was twisted in frustration, giving him a fierce and intimidating appearance.
…This lord of death seemed to have quite the temper.
'…Please forgive me, Your Highness. The number of souls has been overwhelming these past few days, and Thanatos is exhausted and a bit irritable," Hypnos said, unable to help but cover his face upon seeing his brother's lack of composure.
'Thanatos!" Hypnos called out as he and Palkos descended.
'Hypnos, you're here." Seeing his elder brother, the silver-haired god of death's expression softened a bit. His silver-gray eyes turned to Palkos, and the divine essence of death within him stirred. 'A newborn god of the underworld, the aspect of death?"
'Yes, this is the newborn god of the underworld, Palkos, the god of frozen death and plague. There are still many souls on the earth that need to be guided, right? I believe he can help you," Hypnos introduced Palkos to Thanatos.
'Frozen death and plague?" Thanatos's eyes lit up as he immediately grabbed Palkos's hands, his gray wings flapping. 'Come with me!"
'Hey, Thanatos…" Hypnos's words were cut off as he noticed his brother had already whisked Palkos away, disappearing from sight. With a sigh of resignation in his violet eyes, he shrugged. After all, he had fulfilled the command of their lord; now the task of guiding the newborn deity was left to Thanatos. He might as well go back and catch up on some sleep.
Thanatos, without waiting for any objections, pulled Palkos along, flapping his wings. As the son of a primordial god, his divine power had reached the level of a major deity. It seemed that with just a few flaps of his wings, he brought Palkos into the human realm.
'This is… the human realm?"
Palkos looked at the scene before him: a blanket of white snow covered the ground, and all he could see was an endless expanse of white, occasionally dotted with some dark branches that adorned this seemingly monotonous world.
'That's right. The earth is currently in the winter created by the winter goddess, Hebe," Thanatos said as he gazed at the vast white snow. He turned to Palkos, 'Do you feel the divine power surging within you?"
'…Yes, Lord Thanatos."
Palkos felt the essence of his frozen death godhood shining brightly within him, as if a continuous flow of world energy was being infused into him. As the god of frozen death, he received unparalleled enhancement from the world during winter.
'Very good! While the snow and ice have saved many lives from the fire of the heavens, they have inevitably caused some to perish from the extreme cold. These souls are the ones you need to guide."
As the original god of death, Thanatos could certainly guide the souls frozen to death by the snow, but now that the rightful deity was here, he was more than happy to take a break after the exhausting task of guiding souls over the past few days.
'Um, Your Highness, what should I do?" Duty-bound, Palkos did not mind being used as a laborer by Thanatos.
'Feel it deeply; your godhood will guide you."
Thanatos raised his hand and directed a wave of death energy toward Palkos, helping him to sense his own divine essence.
Palkos calmed his mind and quietly experienced the essence of frozen death within him. The pale light of his godhood shone brilliantly, as if there were inaudible whispers murmuring in his ears.
The black-haired, black-winged deity closed his eyes, gathering the death energy in his hands.
'O omnipresent spirits of snow, in the name of Palkos, guide the lost souls to my side!"
Hexagonal snowflakes drifted down from the sky, shimmering with a gray light, unlike the pure white natural snow. Palkos used his divine power to mark coordinates among them; they would find the souls on the earth themselves, marking their souls and guiding them to his side.
As time passed, more and more souls began to gather around Palkos. Soon, thousands of souls filled the space beside him, the souls that had perished from frost following the guidance of the snowflakes to reach him.
'Your Highness? Lord Thanatos? The souls have all gathered; we should return to the Underworld, right?" Palkos reminded the seemingly dazed god of death beside him.
'…Let's go."
Thanatos turned around, his enormous dark wings almost brushing against Palkos's face.
Palkos tilted his head in confusion as he watched Thanatos's back. It seemed the lord of death was a bit upset again?
…Thanatos walked ahead in a huff, recalling how he had been flying around everywhere to guide the souls. It felt utterly foolish!
Why hadn't he used his divine power to leave a mark, allowing them to report to him on their own?
How could he be the original god of death and yet be so foolish, Thanatos!
After Palkos demonstrated the convenience of using ice and snow to guide souls before Thanatos, the original god of death had directly granted him some authority, allowing Palkos to also guide the souls that perished in the flames of the heavens.
While guiding these souls, Palkos discovered why the major deity Thanatos was so exhausted by them. Unlike the souls that died from frost, those who perished under the ice and snow had their blood flow slow down gradually, their heartbeats coming to a stop. During this process, they fell into a deep sleep, and since those who died from frost did not suffer much, they held little resentment.
In contrast, those who died in the flames experienced excruciating pain in their final moments, their skin and muscles roasted alive, filling their souls with resentment and nearly driving them to madness. In guiding these souls, Thanatos had to expend divine power to subdue them, which naturally took a toll on him.
However, these issues were not particularly challenging for Palkos. When he inherited the divine essence bestowed upon him, it included the aspect of vengeance, which absorbed the hatred of dying beings toward the sun. When these irrational souls encountered Palkos, their resentment was naturally absorbed by the aspect of vengeance, allowing the souls to gradually regain their sanity and begin cooperating with the work of the gods of death.
Thanatos seemed to have discovered a great treasure and hurriedly took Palkos to the stronghold where the tens of thousands of souls he had previously guided were located, so that Palkos could help alleviate their resentment. Otherwise, Charon would have a hard time ferrying these souls across the river.