The Tale of Sisyphus and Thanatos

Chapter 3

Chaos in the Underworld

As soon as Ares locked eyes with the newly awakened Thanatos, he rushed to the underworld and reported everything to Hades.

"Uncle Hades! You won’t believe what Thanatos is doing right now..."

"...?"

Expecting a fierce battle with a powerful monster, Ares looked like a child who had his toy taken away. Upon hearing the whole situation, the gods of the underworld were outraged.

"What? So all of this is because..."

"Who is this human, Sisyphus?"

"Dammit! Thanatos was just sleeping?!"

"Ares, are you sure you're not lying..."

"I swear on the River Styx, everything I said is true!!!"

With Ares's oath, some gods then ambushed Thanatos as he was bringing Sisyphus to the underworld. Specifically, they waited at the entrance and tied him up with ropes.

"Ugh! Hypnos, what is the meaning of this? Styx, you too!"

"Do you know how hard we've been working while you were sleeping?!"

"I heard you were even snoring!"

Thanatos was bound and dragged like a criminal under the watchful eyes of Hypnos and Styx. Sisyphus, on the other hand, walked along in a daze, overwhelmed by the unprecedented situation.

"Ah... what...?"

The only one who welcomed the temporarily negligent Thanatos was Charon, the ferryman of the Acheron River.

"Ugh... I barely had a moment of rest... Now I must row again..."

Thus, Thanatos and Sisyphus were brought before me, Hades. Thanatos was tied up, and Sisyphus knelt, looking vacant.

"What, just because I slept for a few days, this happens? I only meant to sleep for one day!"

Thanatos defended himself loudly, standing beside the mentally broken Sisyphus. My head ached as if I had swallowed Metis like Zeus.

"Reaping souls is indeed a strenuous task, Thanatos..."

"Exactly, Hades, you understand my plight! I only meant to rest for a short while..."

But the other gods standing by my side erupted immediately. Hypnos, who had been tirelessly putting souls to sleep, was the first to react.

"What?! A short while? How dare you say that, Thanatos!"

Moros and Ceres, who shared some aspects of the death deity's duties, also spoke up.

"Thanatos! Do you call this a short while?!"

"You disrupted the cycle of life and death for days!"

Morpheus, who had been inducing dreams to keep people from dying, also expressed his frustration.

"Lord Hades! Thanatos must have colluded with Chronos! How else could such a 'short while' have lasted so long?!"

Many other gods and attendants condemned Thanatos’s actions. Sisyphus, who Zeus had labeled a grave sinner, was entirely overlooked.

"You insolent fools! Try doing my job for a day!"

"What?! I am busy every day distributing sleep to mortals!"

"And I tirelessly send minions to induce dreams every day!"

"Do you think we don’t work hard?!"

"Do you think you’re the only one working in the underworld?!"

Indeed, all the gods of the underworld were constantly working tirelessly. Even as the supreme ruler, I rarely had moments of leisure. The busiest were certainly Thanatos and Charon, but the other gods were not lounging around either. Morpheus and Hypnos, for example, worked tirelessly each night with their minions.

Thanatos’s negligence for a few days meant the other gods had to handle an immense workload.

* * *

I raised my hand to silence everyone and began to speak. It was time to decide the punishment for Thanatos, who had neglected his duties and caused this chaos using Sisyphus.

"First, we need to decide on a punishment..."

"Tartarus!"

Hypnos, with veins bulging in his neck, shouted. Though he was the god of sleep, he hadn’t had a single moment of rest for days.

"Sending him to Tartarus isn’t a bad idea."

"Indeed, disrupting the cycle of life and death is a grave crime. Hades will make a fair judgment..."

Ceres and Moros, who had spent days in the mortal realm harvesting souls, suggested.

"And since merely sending him to Tartarus might be too lenient, how about a punishment where he has to keep pushing a boulder up a hill?"

"Morpheus! What a brilliant idea!"

"As expected of the god of dreams, your imagination is exceptional!"

"Tartarus! Send him to Tartarus!"

Morpheus’s mad suggestion revealed his deep resentment towards Thanatos, who had rested while he couldn’t.

"You crazy gods! Do you think I wouldn’t rest if I were in your shoes?!"

"We wouldn’t just take a nap the moment we got the chance..."

"Thanatos! Stop making excuses and accept your punishment!"

"Tartarus for Thanatos!"

As the underworld descended into chaos, I sighed and spoke quietly, using my divine power to ensure all the gods could hear.

"So, if we send Thanatos to Tartarus, who will now reap the souls?"

Silence fell.

The gods, who hadn’t considered this, looked at each other nervously.

"Well, death is akin to a deep sleep, right? Maybe Hypnos..."

"Ceres, wouldn’t your domain over destructive death make you suitable..."

"Hmm. We’d need to think about that..."

As I suspected. None of them wanted their workload to increase.

"Thanatos cannot be sent to Tartarus. Any god who has objections can take over his duties."

"Ahem. Well, lucky you, Thanatos."

"There's no other choice..."

"Sigh... It’s tragic that the guilty go unpunished. The goddess of justice, Dike, would be dismayed..."

"Hmph..."

"Instead, Thanatos will have to do extra labor for several days. He will also be barred from receiving offerings from mortals for a while..."

Considering Thanatos's heavy workload and his status as an ancient deity, I listed various punishments. Thanatos, realizing there would be no more breaks for him, looked crestfallen as he untied himself and stood up.

"And I apologize for not being able to support you all adequately. I will request more assistance from Olympus..."

"But Hades, what about this human?"

The goddess Styx, who had been quietly frowning, pointed at Sisyphus.

* * *

I looked at Sisyphus, the mortal Zeus had sent Thanatos to capture. He was drenched in sweat and appeared half out of his mind.

"Now, your crimes are..."

"Huff..."

"Don't be too scared. You have a petition in your favor."

I reached out and took the scroll from Iris, the goddess of the rainbow. Recently, the river god Asopus had sent a petition on behalf of Sisyphus. The document detailed Zeus's assault on his daughter, Aegina, and expressed gratitude to Sisyphus. It also requested leniency and mercy for him.

"...Therefore, I humbly request some leniency and compassion for him."

As Minos, one of the judges of the underworld, read the petition aloud, the gods' faces turned pale.

"Sigh... Zeus again..."

"This time, a river god was wronged..."

"Should we verify this with the goddess of memory, Mnemosyne?"

I nodded, and soon Mnemosyne read Sisyphus's memories and conveyed them to me.

"Then, I will pass judgment."

Sisyphus looked up with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"Though ambushing the god of death and disrupting the cycle of life and death is a grave sin..."

But...

"The reason Thanatos came for you before your time was not your fault."

It was because of Zeus, who sent Thanatos in a fit of rage after his crime was discovered.

Sisyphus was not entirely blameless, though. His plan to evoke my sympathy by not holding a funeral was deceitful. But this too was confirmed by Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory.

"It's true you tried to gain my sympathy with the funeral, but you were known as a benevolent ruler in Corinth. The real blame lies with..."

I glanced at the shameless god. Thanatos, who had used Sisyphus, looked away and cleared his throat.

"...Had Thanatos brought you here, Minos would have likely acquitted you."

"Then...!"

Minos awkwardly added, "If it’s related to Zeus, then... um..."

I ignored it for now.

"So, I will defer your punishment until you have lived your full lifespan in the mortal realm."

"...! Thank you! Thank you, Pluto!"

Sisyphus, relieved, bowed repeatedly. Though he would forget everything about the underworld.

As I nodded to Lethe, the goddess of forgetfulness, she approached Sisyphus. Her power of oblivion took hold, and he began to forget his experiences in the underworld.

"Ah...? Ah..."

"And remember, I will also judge you for imprisoning Thanatos."

Sisyphus, with his mind clouding over, would forget all he had seen. He would pay for binding Thanatos in his basement when he finally came to the underworld. Perhaps he would spend centuries working at the outskirts with Phaethon.

"Morpheus, send a message to Olympus and summon Iris to the underworld."

"What? Why summon the goddess of the rainbow...?"

What? A grave sinner, so Thanatos was dispatched?

"I will personally go to Zeus and protest."

This nonsense must end.