Minthe

I hate him.

Just like there’s love at first sight, there can also be hatred at first sight for a rival. They say fate has two sides, like a coin. 

Until now, my experience of fate had been a sweet thrill that made me sigh, with a bitter grip on my heart. The first time I saw her, that moment. Every time I see her, all those moments. It was a mistake to think that was all there was to fate.

I heard about him late. I don’t stay in her palace all the time, and the tasks she entrusts me with are never light. I think only of her and devote myself completely to my duties. I don’t hear what others gossip about or what the dead whisper.

Let me introduce myself first. I am the son of Cocytus. Cocytus is the river that flows from the living world down into the underworld. 

Therefore, I collect and organize all the prayers and offerings that humans send floating down the Cocytus River. Although they regard her as a deity with the wrong name and incorrect gender.

Sometimes I think that’s fortunate. They will never know how beautiful and noble she truly is. Whenever I see their reverent sentences that only associate her with death, fear, wealth, and destruction, I laugh. 

I’m glad there are no common flatteries praising her beauty like they do for Hera, Aphrodite, Athena, and Artemis. I’m glad that she, who is darker than anyone, whiter than anyone, and more beautiful than anyone, will never know it herself.

She existed wholly and alone even before I was born. Like the moon shining alone in the night sky, she sits on the deepest, darkest throne in the underworld. 

Because of her brothers’ power struggle, she had to disguise herself as a male god. That’s why no man would dare even think of proposing to her, let alone look at her divine face. 

Except for one quiet silver poplar tree, no one has ever received her kiss. I decided to be content with that.

But a virgin? A youth nicknamed “the virgin”?

It was the day I returned after spending over two weeks netting below the earth’s surface. With an armful of wishes and lamentations, my father said to me:

“It seems Lord Hades has finally found a match.”

When I didn’t respond, he emphasized again:

“They say he’s a groom beautiful like gold coins, hot like the sun, and white like a swan. That’s good. Now she won’t have to suffer from fever anymore.”

It was an outrageous statement I couldn’t ignore.

“What are you saying? Don’t speak such nonsense. If she hears you, she’ll be beyond shocked.”

“Shocked? She’s the very one who brought him in her arms. You should be careful not to spoil the mood when you go to the palace. Everyone seems ready to throw a festival.”

A festival in the underworld. There couldn’t be a more foolish and ridiculous notion.

My father was watching me. Probably because he knew the feelings I had harbored for so long. 

But I didn’t react. I considered it an absurd statement, a rumor spread by someone bored with the underworld’s tranquility.

That she had taken in a groom. Anyone who knows her, who has adored her, would never believe it. There’s no need for long or short excuses. Simply put, it’s impossible. 

She absolutely does not love anyone. Even though she is generous, merciful, and sometimes opens a corner of her heart so gently it seems fragile, absolutely, love is not…

She should have been the main deity ruling the heavens. Even now that she’s descended to the underworld, only a couple of her enemies and brothers can compare to her. 

No man can be as strong or as beautiful as she is. I know this better than anyone. I’ve stood by her side for so long. Whatever task she commands, whatever favor she desires, I’ve accomplished them all.

She has never wanted a groom. Not once, not for a moment. Not even a brief plaything to cool her fever. If she had, even once, or shown any sign of it…

I would have known.

There is nothing about her that I don’t know. I even know why silver poplars surround her throne. I know the path to her sleeping chambers and which flowers please her most when decorating her bed. So there’s no way I wouldn’t have known what she wanted.

I felt no need to continue the conversation with my father. I left and headed to my quarters. Then I prepared the flowers I had collected from the riverbank and placed them one by one in a bronze basin. 

Fragile plants that had drifted along the river current to the underworld. All were offerings dedicated with wishes and prayers to her. Blood-red anemones, delicate irises, fragrant crocuses, a bundle of primroses tied with purple silk ribbon, and disheveled peonies. 

I kissed them, hoping they would remain fresh and beautiful until they appeared before her. Just like always.

The next day, I headed to the palace with an armful of flower bouquets and scrolls. I passed the blazing Phlegethon and the quiet Lethe. I crossed the vast plain where distant winds raged and the silent Styx. 

I walked alone through the wasteland where only black willows and asphodelos grew sparsely. I could see her palace built of black marble.

Cerberus, lying prostrate before the castle gate, recognized me. When I tried to pet him briefly after he got up and barked shortly, I noticed something.

‘A wound?’

With a muzzle as thick as a temple pillar, even a small scar would be noticeable. There was a red gash on the middle head’s wet nose, like it had been struck with a whip. 

When I tried to look closer, he backed away. It seemed to still hurt. When the left head barked with its one eye flashing, the right head shook its head from side to side and growled angrily.

Who could have wounded Cerberus? I couldn’t even imagine. He’s not just anyone’s dog but the loyal guardian she appointed. Attacking Cerberus amounts to challenging her and rebelling against the underworld’s order. 

My blood ran cold. 

I wanted to get closer to examine the wound, but Cerberus seemed to grow impatient. The three pairs of eyes that had briefly welcomed a somewhat familiar face—excluding the one-eyed head—soon changed to a chimera-like cruelty, and foam burst through his dark red gums and sword-like teeth as saliva flowed. 

So I had to set aside my questions. I gathered the precious offerings and stepped back, quietly heading toward the gate.

Once inside the palace, I would meet someone anyway. Then I could ask. All the servants in her palace knew me and knew I was her faithful attendant. So if I asked about the whip mark on Cerberus’s nose, they would willingly answer. And indeed, that’s what happened.

As I entered the corridor leading to the main hall, I saw a well-built goddess wrapped in navy cloth. As always, she caught my presence like a bird of prey smelling blood and turned around. I bent my knee slightly in greeting.

“Lady Eris.”

“My, who do we have here? The handsome son of Cocytus.”

Eris giggled, crinkling her eyes. Her large hooked nose rose up, and her thin lips split like a knife cut. 

She looked like someone deeply immersed in the pleasant hesitation of choosing what to select first among silver plates prepared for a banquet. She seemed to already know exactly what I wanted to ask.

“It’s been a while since you’ve come to the palace, hasn’t it? With all the commotion, it feels like I haven’t seen you in ages.”

“Commotion…?”

“Oh my, you haven’t heard? Haven’t you heard that a living person came to the underworld? And a very vibrant and handsome young man at that. It was such a big commotion, it’s strange you don’t know about it. Who whipped Cerberus’s nose, well, that’s just a minor detail in the whole affair.”

My father’s nonsense suddenly came back to me. It seems Lord Hades has finally found a match. Beautiful like gold coins, hot like the sun, and white like a swan…

The goddess of discord was staring at my face like a gold chest filled with diamonds. She didn’t hide her satisfaction, revealing her unpleasantly even, large teeth.

“Hmm, I’ll tell you specially. Though I’m not one to gossip about matters I wasn’t asked about, you’ve been a good friend of the palace for a long time. You’re also a favored attendant of the underworld’s ruler, so it would be good for you to know in advance. We wouldn’t want to sprinkle ashes on their honeymoon with careless words, would we?”

She approached me silently like a snake. And began to whisper affectionately in my ear, like pouring poison.

“They say he’s Demeter’s only precious child? In a way, I understand why people mistook him for Demeter’s daughter. He’s so handsome now, how beautiful must he have been when younger? 

When he walks down the corridor, the torches on the walls extinguish themselves out of shame, and everything brightens up like a piece of the sun has fallen. He’s so tall, his shoulders so broad, his waist so slim, and his legs so well-formed, they say he’s a young man as beautiful as the white horses that pull Helios’s chariot! 

No wonder our ruler fell in love at first sight and brought him here, grabbing him by the waist. But you know what? He seems to have quite a character too! He’s no ordinary person. Any decent child would naturally cry and beg to be sent back to their mother’s arms, but instead, he’s completely fallen for our Lord and is making a fuss about not being sent back. Oh my! 

When will we ever see such a shameless love affair in the underworld again? Anyway, this young lover is quite adorable, so the ruler allowed him to roam freely around the palace, but like all favored young things, he tried to sneak away! He actually tried to go outside the gate guarded by Cerberus. 

How foolish can one be? Does the son of Demeter and Zeus have two lives? Anyway, after running around everywhere from Thanatos’s residence to Hypnos’s front yard and getting bored with that too, he boldly decided to explore outside the palace and walked straight out the gate with that pretty face of his—”

I was caught in Eris’s web of words, unable to move. I could only hope my face remained pale and didn’t turn red or blue. I hoped the bouquet in my arms wouldn’t break, that I wouldn’t be hooked by the fishing line the goddess of discord was dangling right in front of me. 

Eris was clearly trying to provoke me. Just like a crocodile attacking a gazelle, acting on pure instinct.

“You know as well as I do, when has Cerberus ever looked at faces before attacking? No matter how flower-like and handsome, anyone trying to leave the underworld king’s gate would be torn into a thousand pieces. What could a child raised so delicately in Demeter’s arms do against that? 

In this deep underground, who would come to save him at the gates of hell, which require crossing five rivers and endless plains twice? Just imagine. Arms white like milk with foam being chewed by cruel teeth, a firm and fresh chest being ground up with red blood splashing all the way to the Styx, a beautiful beating heart being ripped out, and the fine silk clothes his mother dressed him in being torn to shreds by the hellhound’s claws…”

I imagined it. I imagined him, whose name and face I didn’t know, being brutally killed by Cerberus because of his foolishness.

I hadn’t believed when my father spoke, but now I did. Eris is the goddess of discord, not the goddess of lies. Even if she added some embellishments like fertilizer to plant seeds of tragedy, she wouldn’t claim a non-existent man exists. 

So I could no longer deny the fact that a blond young man had come to the underworld in her chariot.

Before I could sort through all the reasons why she might have had no choice in the matter, I imagined his golden hair soaked in blood turning copper red, and the life draining from his praised handsome face, turning cold. I didn’t want to hear the rest of the story. I didn’t need to. 

Remembering that death makes no exceptions for anyone, that her power applies to everyone without favoritism, I even felt elation.

And at that exact moment when my hope was ripening, Eris precisely thrust her knife.

“But whenever there’s a beauty in distress, there’s always a hero who comes to the rescue. Who do you think it was in this story, poor Minthe?”

I didn’t answer. But the goddess of discord smiled so widely her mouth corners nearly touched her cheekbones and continued.

“A whip, fast and powerful enough to tear through lightning, struck Cerberus’s nose as he lunged at the beauty. Blood splattered. My goodness, imagine how bewildered that dog must have been. I can’t help but laugh when I think about it, even when I’m about to sleep! He immediately tried to turn and attack whoever dared wound him. But he couldn’t. Why?”

I didn’t answer.

“What dog could bare its teeth at its master? Especially Cerberus. Yes, surprisingly, our ruler of the underworld personally appeared. With a black whip made of thorny bushes in one hand, and in the other, well, whatever she was holding. Who would care if her hands were empty? How did she know? 

Her power is terrifying, and she sees through everything in this underground, but she seems especially sensitive when it comes to her young lover. Anyway, Hypnos woke from his light sleep at the sound of Cerberus whimpering in protest, and Thanatos had a fit when he heard the handsome man sobbing in the ruler’s arms after being saved from danger. Haha!”

Eris held her stomach and laughed. Every time she laughed, a sweet and unpleasant smell like strong poppies wafted through the air. Faintly, like a harbinger of tragedy, but as evident as fate.

“Anyway, be careful what you say in the royal presence. If you see an unfamiliar blond beauty, just go with it. Don’t create an awkward atmosphere by mentioning the gatekeeper dog. Just do your job quietly as usual and leave. Hahaha!”

I expressed my intention by bending my knee in greeting.

“Lady Eris, I’ll be going now. The ruler will be waiting.”

“Yes, that would be best. Ah, by the way, what are those scrolls you’re carrying? More marriage proposals? Things are going to get very interesting.”

The goddess of discord looked extremely happy. I didn’t answer.

The path to the main hall was strangely long and distant. Darkness clung to each step I took. I could hear the flowers in my arms groaning and sobbing.

I hated him even before seeing him.