The Fall of Styx

The river ran backwards on the day the Queen vanished. The souls of Tartarus cheered in ecstasy as the forces holding them prisoner died down, and those of Elysium begged for aid as they were pulled forth ‘gainst their will. The true horror was Asphodel, as their typical moaning, groaning, and unenthused, hushed voices rose in a symphony of distress, uprooted from their peacefully average days. Each soul, regardless of their prior lodgings, howled in agony as they reached the last remaining shreds of barrier that coated the river’s surface and made up the gates of the Underworld. It clawed at them, wrestling to hold onto its prisoners as it was tasked to.

With the modern mortals’ encroaching loss of faith in the old ways, deities had begun to fade out. Demeter’s ache had turned to desolation. The Freeze of 2024 had brought about a second, more vicious turn of events — The Rising. The loss of Persephone had not just broken Demeter’s spirit. Lord Hades was unreachable, snapping at any who dared cross his threshold in an attempt to suade him from his misery. The Underworld was thrown into chaos, and from time to time that chaos would bleed into the Mortal World — Phlegethon’s fire raged through the Underworld, occasionally reaching the surface and causing devastation wherever it touched. Acheron’s grief stabbed pain and agony into the hearts of millions, as if they were mourning the losses they had no idea they’d caused. Cocytus’s wails drowned out those of the millions of souls ripped out of the Underworld. Lethe tried to help ease the tragedy despite the weakening of her own powers alongside her siblings'. This was a bandage at best, for eventually, the fog of forgetfulness would fade and the memory of the cause of their suffering would resurface.

Poseidon, at Zeus’s inability to do much as he and Hera tried to appeal to Demeter, had attempted to quell Hades, to no avail. Finally, fearing he had no remaining option, Poseidon returned to Olympus with a half-crazed plan.

“To what do I owe this rare visit, uncle?”

“This is a serious matter, Apollo.”

“I did not say otherwise. I presume you come seeking advice that will resolve the current state of the Underworld.”

Poseidon gave him a testing glance. “You know something.”

Apollo sat down with a flourish across his red-velvet cushioned chaise, raising a goblet to his lips. “I do,” he confirmed wispily. “You will not be pleased with it, I fear.”

“Please, Apollo, I must know. I understand what has happened to…” The elder gods had agreed not to speak her name ‘round Olympus for fear of Demeter hearing. “Can we fix this?”

“A flower petal withers, dies. The rivers wage war. Styx shall fall, and with her, the end of life as we know.”

Poseidon had not oft heard Apollo speak in the voice of an Oracle, and so the shift in tone brought a shiver through his spine.

“A flower petal…” Persephone, he knew. He paused, playing back Apollo’s words in his mind. Apollo, meanwhile, watched with a patient and all-knowing eye as the pieces fell into place. “You said ‘her’. You mean more than what is happening to the river…”

His nephew gave him a sagely nod, peering at him over the rim of his goblet with a smile. “More are suffering in this trying time than Demeter and Hades, uncle. Perhaps you revisit the Underworld, start with the source of the tragedies overtaking it.”

The cave sat in the distance of the Underworld's gates. Poseidon made sure to take a quick stop to where Cerberus rested at it’s mouth, giving the ol’ boy a pat on each head. He looked out at the landscape ‘round him mournfully — not much for a gate guardian to do when there are no souls to keep guard over. Finally, Poseidon faced his destination — the cave of Styx.

The cave was deep, dark, lit barely by the occasional torch lining the dusty walls. For a moment, Poseidon could not hear a thing beside the drip, drip, drip of water. Walking deeper into the cavern, he stopped at the sound of whispers, arguing.

“There is no time, and even less we can do for her. We cannot sway the minds of the mortals, not without revealing our existence, and that will cause even more chaos. It will be the end of all we know, all we are!” cried Acheron.

“He speaks the truth,” Cocytus sighed pitifully. “She fades too quickly, and once she is gone, the barriers fall entirely.”

“We are giving up on her?!” Phlegethon’s shout shook the walls, nearly took Poseidon off his feet. “If she falls, the rest of us are soon to follow. The entire Underworld will crumble! And we are to let that happen!”

“They have not stopped arguing since we lost Lady Persephone.” The voice behind Poseidon was quieter, sorrowful, tired. He turned to see a young maiden, adorned in white and a dark blue cloak — familiar from the few times he had seen it but alien to her. “I…I cannot make them forget. My power fades as my name from the tongues of mortals, and we…we are failing her.” Tears streamed down the lady’s face, and Poseidon, feeling his heart tighten, wiped them away. “We cannot sustain the Underworld. Charon is gone. We lost him before Lady Persephone. The five of us stepped up to aid in the ferrying of the souls across her river, but when we lost our Lady, my sister grew fearful. So fearful that she neglected her duties. She was terrified of fading, and now I fear she will not last through the ‘morrow. We cannot reach Lord Hades! He locks himself in his chambers, refuses to speak with us.”

“Can you take me to her, Lethe? Can I…Will you permit me to see her?”

The question shocked the young nymph, and she nodded wordlessly. “Yes, of course, my Lord. I must warn you, I cannot promise my siblings will be calmed by your interference.”

“I will deal with the others, my dear. Take me to your sister.”

They found Acheron, Phlegethon, and Cocytus hovering over a thin, trembling and paling figure, squabbling aimlessly. Acheron and Cocytus wore a mask of helpless indifference, their brother of pure, unbridled fury.

“Do you believe this to be aiding your sister in her suffering?” Poseidon boomed, making the three gods jump in surprise and fear. Upon facing him, Acheron and Cocytus bowed their heads honorably, Phlegethon scoffing but wilting just a little.

“Lord Poseidon.” The whisper barely reached his ears, carried not by force of voice but on the wind bristling through the cavern.

“Lady Styx,” he greeted courtly, pressing his way between the three surrounding her and kneeling at her side. She looked as beautiful as she’d always been, but her face gave away her exhaustion. Fading was not quite painful, but it was draining. He could almost feel her weariness in his own bones.

“Lady Persephone…Charon. We lost them-”

“I know, child. You could do nothing for them.”

“I lost myself, my Lord.” Her voice hitched, eyes copying her sister’s and filling with translucent tears. Poseidon reached out for her hand, and took pause as his slipped right through her. She met his eyes with an understanding grimace. “My memory lives on in so few. I fear I do not know myself much these days. Lady Persephone was difficult, and seeing Lord Hades wither and shut himself away. Charon…” she sobbed at the sound of his name in her ears. “Once he faded, I had no one. I had nothing! I let go of the reins, and I-”

Her voice softened, her lips moving with no sound coming out. She paused as she realized this, and her siblings turned to each other. Something shifted in Phlegethon’s eyes, and as his sister disappeared in a soft shimmer of blackened light, fire licked its way cross his skin.

“Brother, please-!”

Phlegethon’s flames blazed through the cave and poured mercilessly through the Underworld. Across the Mortal lands, volcanoes exploded, terror broke out in waves, and the remains of forests dusted the grounds and flooded the skies with ash and dust. The Earth’s oceans and streams evaporated in seconds in the blistering heat. One by one, the occupants of the cave vanished, leaving behind Poseidon to soak in the echoes of Phlegethon’s roaring screams and his siblings’ desperate pleas.

The rivers of Hades dried up the day Styx vanished, and with their deaths, the dead of the Underworld rose.