CHAPTER 107: NEW TARTARUS

The rift where Lucifer vanished had closed, but the air didn’t relax. It stayed heavy, like the void had left a fingerprint on it.

Zeus straightened slowly. Hades picked his scythe back up and rested it across his shoulder. Neither of them said it aloud, but both felt the same thing.

They weren’t alone.

Bootsteps echoed behind them.

They turned.

Lucifer was walking toward them through the debris—hands in his pockets, coat brushing the void floor. His eyes weren’t glowing now, but there was still something in them... like the reflection of a fire you couldn’t see.

"You’re leaving," he said simply. Not a question.

Hades narrowed his eyes. "And you’re following?"

Lucifer shrugged one shoulder. "I’ve been locked in a hole longer than your myths have existed. A stroll sounds nice."

Zeus’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t stop him. "Stay out of my way."

Lucifer smirked. "I’m good at that."

They began walking across the floating fragments toward the place where Tartarus had once stood. The space was raw now—nothing stable, just half-formed land drifting in the void.

Zeus stopped in the middle of it, scanning the emptiness. The scar of battle was still etched in the air.

"This needs a name," Zeus said quietly.

Hades raised a brow. "Why?"

"Because it’s yours now." Zeus looked at him. "You’ll be the one holding it together."

Lucifer glanced between them with mild amusement, like two kids arguing over who gets the bigger room.

Hades thought for a moment, then gave a small, humorless smile. "Tartarus."

Zeus blinked. "You want to keep the name?"

"No need to change it," Hades said. "It’s still a prison. Just a different warden."

Zeus nodded once. The word hung there a moment—Tartarus. The name had weight, but in Hades’s voice it sounded like a chain clicking shut.

They moved on.

The further they went, the more the void faded into something solid. The broken sky bled into black stone. The temperature dropped. Soon, the familiar darkness of the Underworld spread out around them—vast, quiet, endless.

Lucifer slowed as they stepped onto the obsidian bridge that led deeper into Hades’s realm. His eyes moved over the jagged cliffs, the rivers of pale light that flowed below, the towers of carved bone in the distance.

"Mm," he murmured. "Feels almost like home."

Hades gave him a sidelong look. "And home is...?"

Lucifer’s mouth curved slightly. "Hell."

That word sat heavy in the air, but he said it like he was talking about a place to grab coffee.

Zeus didn’t comment, though his eyes flicked toward Lucifer like he was filing that away.

Hades, however, wasn’t letting it pass so easily. "And what did you do to earn a prison like that?"

Lucifer’s smirk lingered, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

"What makes you think I ’earned’ it?" he asked.

"Everyone in my realm is there for a reason," Hades said flatly. "Punishment follows crime."

Lucifer’s gaze drifted over the river again. "Not always."

Hades kept walking. "Then why?"

The silence stretched just long enough to make it clear Lucifer was choosing his words.

Finally, he said, "I told the truth."

Zeus glanced back at him. "That’s all?"

Lucifer’s eyes met his, and there was something sharp in them now. "The kind of truth no one wanted to hear. The kind that changes the shape of the world when you speak it."

Hades frowned. "And who decided to bury you for it?"

Lucifer smiled faintly. "Everyone."

They walked on.

The black gates of the inner Underworld loomed ahead—huge, carved with reliefs of wars older than Olympus. The air was still, but the gates seemed to breathe.

Lucifer slowed again, tilting his head at the carvings. "You’ve done well for yourself down here," he said to Hades. "Efficient. Intimidating. Minimalist. I like it."

Hades gave him a look that wasn’t sure if it was insult or compliment. "I didn’t design this for guests."

Lucifer chuckled low. "Neither did I."

They stepped through the gates. Shadows clung to the walls inside, but here the Underworld felt less like an open wound and more like a sealed vault. Safe. Or at least contained.

Lucifer’s eyes lingered on the stonework. "Not bad," he said, almost absentmindedly. "Mine had more fire, though. And fewer rules."

"Fewer rules?" Zeus asked, finally speaking.

Lucifer smiled without looking at him. "Rules are for keeping order. I wasn’t in the business of order. I was in the business of balance."

"And you lost it?" Hades asked.

Lucifer looked straight ahead now, his voice dropping slightly. "It was taken from me."

The way he said it made both gods exchange a glance.

No one spoke for a while after that.

They reached the great hall—black stone pillars stretching into shadows above, the floor inlaid with faintly glowing runes that marked the heart of Hades’s domain.

Zeus stopped near the center, scanning the room. "This will hold the new Tartarus."

Hades stepped forward, resting his scythe against one shoulder. "It’ll hold anything."

Lucifer looked around with mild interest. "You really believe that?"

Hades narrowed his eyes. "It’s my realm. My word is law here."

Lucifer’s smile widened slightly. "That’s what I thought too."

The silence that followed wasn’t comfortable.

Zeus turned away first. "This isn’t a conversation we finish today."

Hades grunted in agreement.

Lucifer leaned casually against one of the pillars, watching them both. "Don’t worry. I’m not here to start tearing walls down. Not yet."

Zeus gave him a sharp look. "Not yet?"

Lucifer met his eyes without flinching. "I didn’t spend eternity locked away to start playing nice. But I’m not stupid. I know when the board’s not ready for my move."

Hades’s grip on his scythe tightened slightly. "You’re not making moves here without my say."

Lucifer smirked. "Of course not, Warden."

Zeus stepped between them before the tension could twist any tighter. "Enough. The new Tartarus stands. The Underworld holds. Whatever else happens..." He let the words trail, but his eyes stayed on Lucifer. "...We deal with it when it comes."

Lucifer gave a small, almost polite nod. "Fair enough."

And just like that, the Devil was in the Underworld.

Not chained.

Not locked away.

Just... present.

And that was somehow worse.