Mousai's POV

I fall and I fall, slipping past the edges of Persephone's palace and into some place further. If the Underworld is the depths of the world then this could only be described as the bottom. I reopen my eyes in reaction to the blazing warmth that lashes against my skin. A false sun placed at the top of the ceiling in order to deter whatever's down here from escaping. Deter, not prevent. As I believe not even a sun could truly deny these creatures the freedom they seek.

I quickly reach out to a thick vine that looks intended for me to grab, forcibly slowing my pace as to not hit the ground and that be the end of my story. At the bottom I notice a thick bloom of flowers, planted right at the end of the vine like some sort of message from Persephone.

'What if it snapped?' I think to myself, unable to catch my own delirious thoughts as cinders begin to fly from the plants. 'Mend, fix, reconnect' I try to reorganise the power that Oracion's dreams have temporarily given me but it just can't deny the basic logic my mind has been born to.

The vine's firm grip between the ceiling and floor is lost as I'm left to fall straight down into the spiralling prison of Tartarus. "ZAGREUS!" I scream in hopes of anyone hearing me. But these walls were made with the intent of silencing the voices of agony and apathy...nobody will hear me.

Down, down and down I feel my sense of direction swirl in my stomach and mind as I'm forced to watch my own death play out in front of me. I hold my remaining eye of gold, whispering to myself. "I could do it, I could save myself." I could command the world to my benefit with this one remaining chance I have left.

But then...her. Images of her fake smile, her fake touch, her fake warmth. All of it...needs to go. I inhale one more time to call his name, "ZAGRE-"

My entire body stops. A clasp around me is secured as something big wraps around me. My eyes quickly turn to try and find out what I'm connected to but all I can see is an empty cage. And as quickly as I was grabbed, I find myself being gently placed by the thorn covered metal bars.

Staring into the dark room I notice trails of hair leading towards something within the back, "Descend." A soft voice advises. "There's no way up unless you go down."

Without arguing I look both sides of me, the long intimidating staircase leading up and back onto the trail of Persephone's flowers. Or down...further past the warnings engraved all along the walls and each individual step.

"Descend." The voice reminds me.

I choose to listen to it as I've heard tales of how Tartatus began to form.

On the first day, Hades had counted none.

On the second day, Hades had counted one.

On the third day, Hades had counted not one, not two, not three or four. But instead he had once again...counted none.

There's no sound reason or logic behind any of the three verses but we've all began to accept that not even Hades fully knows what's down here. He was simply given a duty to ensure nothing was abled enough to escape. Day in and day out he found lines upon lines, carved deeply and not to mention neatly throughout the stair cases.

Ones that I briefly glance upon with each lowering step, "She once took steps such as these. A woman unknown for her strength. A girl unknown for her knowledge. A lady unknown for her existence." I read out loud whilst walking past yet another darkened cage.

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"Shhhh" The crimson hands shake the cage, spiking their own flesh against the thorns with intention as if to keep himself sane.

But when I truly look into it, I can't help but notice their arms simply aren't connected to anything. They dangle there, torn off and rotted but still rattle the bars every now and again. "Shhhhhh" they whisper again.

I look away, trying to ignore it and focus at the green lighting responding to my descent as they flare up at each step. A green hue that signifies the Underworld, just as the white with Elysia's temples.

My heel touches another inscription, causing it to glow briefly and bring my attention to it. "Each of them knew her. Each of them know her. Each of them fear her...each of them died to her." I read out loud.

The next cell in particular stands out to me as a smile is plastered across it, a gargantuan piece of facial skin slathered onto the metal with the utmost care. "Thank you" A deep voice expresses gratitude. "Thank you" He repeats.

'Keep moving' I remind myself, trying to pretend I'm unbothered.

I continue going further and further, to a place where a fog begins to emerge. Stumbling a little bit as the steps become steeper. However when I now look around I notice several pathways between what I can only describe to be buildings. A place built for humans to live but a village completely empty and void of anything but fog and light.

I take a step forward, feeling a part of myself being lost as my own shadow moves across the floor. Emerging as yet another one of me, waving before heading in that exact direction. "What?" I can't help but react as a sudden pain etches through my body, scratching the bone itself as I watch the clone be torn apart by nothing at all.

"The oth-" I go to decide but six more shadows emerge from me, waving off similarly into the other paths. "Thank you." They smile before having their skin torn off of them with thread sewed into their skin, now forced to bounce along the empty street like a child's marionette toy.

Their pain reaches me. Each groan they make exits my own mouth, each bone crunching slam they're forced to meet the ground with becomes my own as I'm forced to hunch over in complete silence with a stolen voice. "P-e-s-" I try to groan but nothing comes out.

While gritting my teeth I hold my stomach, feeling as if my organs could slip out at any moment from the excruciating pain the marionettes are causing me. Harder and harder they dance around me, slamming themselves across the ground with a flick of elegance and adequate smile as the wind catches onto their exposed nerves.

'Gods are gods when compared to other beings...but in the realm of their own, they're nothing but normal.' I think to myself as this pain is real, these things happening to me are real.

'I listened to her, I went down.'

'I listened to him, I stayed quiet.'

"But what did you say thank you for?" A voice emerges from the middle of the street.

"I didn't" I reply.

"But you did." The marionettes bounce around me in circles as their last remaining pieces of flesh and blood pounce at me. The only resembling thing about them anymore is the luminescent green hair, a birth right that people used to praise me for until I found my love for Zs.

"Do you regret meeting him?" The figure asks me.

"No! Why would I ever think that!?" I yell at him.

"I mean...look at how your life changed...let's go back to that moment" He slurs his words as the puppets explode into blood, gushing over me and covering my vision. "Let me take you back to a time that I've long consumed, a time you believed to be the hardest but nonetheless a time that made you happy."

I quickly thrash back and forth, throwing the blood off of me in order for me to see. But I can't do it quick enough, instead there's a growing warmth that's beginning to surround me. One that's...oddly comforting with softened skin that hardens at the slightest touch. Tears begin streaming down my eyes as I realise what he's done.

"Please stop, I can't go back, I refuse to go back to the place where I lost him."

"Lost who?" His deep and humble voice answers without a single regret.

"You." I answer back.

"How have you lost me?" They laugh, instinctively wiping away my tears as I prepare to open my eyes.

"Was it a nightmare?" He asks, gently nudging against me with that warm coat of green flames.

I look away, falling back onto him as I look up at the world I had made for us. The clouds as irregular as can be and the sky a fading shade of violet.

"Mousai?" One of his heads pop into my view.

And another.

And another.

"Yes, Cerberus?" I answer.