Descent into Tartarus

by David Thompson

  <<<>>>

  Dan drove along a dirt driveway and then around to the back of the house. He had no idea where to leave his car. So, he stopped a few feet away from a path to what appeared to be horse stables. He got out and went to look into the stables. It was dark, but he did make out a motorcycle parked in a horse stall. He frowned, why would anyone park a bike in a horse stall?

  He went back to his car and pulled the cat carrier out. Dude was quiet, but he knew that wouldn't last very long. The minute the carrier was moved, Dude restarted his crying, at the top of his lungs. He went around to the front of the house and up onto the broad gallery porch.

  As he arrived at the front door, it opened. Alecto stepped out, a look of concern on her face. "What in the world is that noise?"

  "That's my cat. He hates this carrier," Dan said.

  "Then why is he IN that box if it causes him so much terror?"

  "He's hard to handle if he's left free in a car," Dan pointed out. "And after what went on in the house earlier, I wasn't about to leave him there on his own."

  Alecto just stood to the side and waved Dan into the house. Dan entered and stood frozen. The living room was a lot larger than it had looked from outside.

  Tisiphone was at the top of the stairs when Dan carried the cat carrier to the couch and sat it down gently. Dude was still pissed and letting everyone within ear-shot know about it. She rushed down the stairs and went to the cat carrier.

  "Be careful. He's likely to run when you open–" Dan started.

  Tisiphone had reached inside and lifted the overweight orange tom cat out. He stopped yelling and started purred as she cradled him. A loud purr.

  "He seems fine to me," Tisiphone observed. She sat him on the couch and turned to confront Dan.

  "Why bring him here?" Tisiphone started. "Does this mean you are going to recover my sister?"

  "Yes, I'm all ready. I have a backpack in the car and some supplies. I would have my sister look in on him each evening, but after what happened in my house an hour ago, I wasn't about to leave Dude," Dan explained.

  He was in the middle of telling them what happened when Thanatos walked in.

  "Be gone foul spirit," Thanatos said, interrupting Dan. "That what he said when he threw those beads at it."

  "Hey, it worked," Dan objected.

  "It was me appearing that chased it away," Thanatos corrected Dan. He sat on the couch next to Dude, who took that opportunity to settle into Thanatos' lap.

  "Who was it?" Alecto asked.

  "Not sure," Thanatos said while scratching Dude between the ears. "Could have been any number of demons heading back downstairs."

  "I'm ready. All I need it to know is how to get into this place," Dan said.

  "I've been thinking about that," Thanatos said. "I could escort you there, but then, you'd have to die first. Not the preferred method. A living, physical human is too dense."

  "What about that thing you said was in my closet?" Dan asked.

  "Wouldn't work for you. You'd have to be a multidimensional being to use it. And besides, you'd wind up on Tartarus anyway," Thanatos mused.

  "I can take him to the Necromanteion, it's an easy ride to get to it, and mortals used it in the past," Alecto volunteered.

  "Fine, then it's settled. I can leave at any time," Dan said, looking around. "But maybe I should look in on your mother first."

  "Good idea, I'm sure she'd like to see you," Tisiphone said.

  "Wait, Tisiphone," Thanatos said, holding up a hand. "Is your young guest still here?"

  "Yes, she is," Alecto replied.

  "One of us should prepare him for possibly meeting the girl," Thanatos said, still rubbing Dude on the head. "Mortals have no idea how it really is and the shock may be harmful."

  "Yes, but she's highly unusual. Not everyone is like her," Tisiphone pointed out.

  Dan's head whipped from Tisiphone to Thanatos. He then looked to Alecto for help.

  "What are you talking about?" Dan asked.

  "I say, just let him go to mother's room and find out. I just want to see the look on his face when all his preconceived beliefs come crashing down around his ankles," Alecto said. She was smiling, but it wasn't a happy smile.

  At the top of the stairs, Brianna walked out of Gaia's bedroom to see what all the fuss was about. She thought the cat yelling sounded familiar. She spotted Dude in Thanatos' lap and she couldn't contain herself.

  With a yelp of delight, she came running down the stairs. She slid to a stop by the couch and saw Dan. She yelled again and pulled him into a huge bear hug. Dan hugged her back and smiled.

  Holding his niece, he closed his eyes for a second, then he studied Alecto's face, then he looked at Tisiphone. It hadn't registered yet. Both of the Furies were waiting. Thanatos looked on with mild curiosity.

  Dan finally broke the hug and looked at Brianna. Then his eyes went wide, almost popping out of his head.

  He shook his head, then he blinked. He looked over to Tisiphone. The Fury just shrugged.

  "How. Wait. Brianna?" Dan was at a sudden loss for words. He held her at arm's length and blinked. "How?"

  He began to collapse, and Brianna guided him to the couch. He sat and stared out into space.

  Tisiphone just shook her head and headed back up the stairs. Alecto reached over to pick up the orange cat and she followed Tisiphone upstairs.

  Thanatos turned and looked at Dan.

  "I'll explain, if I may?" he asked. Brianna nodded. Dan just turned and looked at his niece.

  "No way, no way in hell is that my niece!" Dan blurted out.

  "Dan," Thanatos said quietly. "We are no longer in the earthly plane of existence in this house. When you drove up the driveway, you went from where you usually are to this place, a projection of a different reality than what you experience on your earth."

  Dan looked at Thanatos and frowned. "What?"

  "This house exists in a different dimension. You live your life in a lower level dimensional reality. When one passes away, like with your niece, they transition into this plane of existence. For them, and for you when you die, this becomes the new reality. Brianna simply changed form."

  Dan looked at his niece, who nodded. "Yes, uncle Dan."

  "No way, I've been drugged again," Dan objected.

  "You're not drugged now, and you weren't drugged when Megaera took you on those short hops through time and space," Thanatos pointed out.

  "How do you know about that?"

  "I hear things. I also know your coworkers told you this house address doesn't exist. Yes?" Thanatos asked.

  "Well, yes. But I'd seen the house before, I knew it was here," Dan pointed out.

  "In the same way you saw Megaera in the grocery store. You were the only one to spot her, which drove her mad," Thanatos said. "No one else can see this house, and usually no one can see me, or the Furies, unless we allow it."

  "I grew up not believing in any of this," Dan said.

  "A lot of people do," Thanatos said, patting Dan on the hand. "I see them all the time, and one gentleman last week made it clear that all this was, as he put it, 'so much bullshit', so how can it still exist? As I said then, and I will tell you now, all of this is real, no matter what you believe."

  Thanatos stood up. "I'll let the two of you get caught up, then go upstairs and talk to mother. She's waiting for you."

  Dan just sat, still trying to process what is going on.

  "It took me a while to adjust, and I saw you and mom at my funeral," Brianna said. "That ugly pink coffin. Jesus."

  "Yeah?" Dan said. "I tried to get her to make a better choice, but you know how she gets."

  "Then I followed you while you walked back to the police station," his niece said. "I even tried to get your attention. I kept flicking the back of your neck."

  "Wait. I felt something. I never told anyone about that," Dan said, looking at his niece. "That was you?"

  Brianna nodded. She took Dan's hand and then looked him in the eye.r />
  "You can feel me, now, right? I'm real here. Just as real as you, as real as Tisiphone, and as real as Megaera." She wiggled his hand vigorously. "See? I'm not some invisible ghost."

  "But how?" Dan asked.

  Brianna stood up, towering over Dan. He had forgotten how tall she was. She reached out and pulled him up. "Mother will explain it. I hope you're ready to hear this."

  Brianna led her uncle up the stairs and down the long hallway. She stopped by a glossy, varnished door with a clear glass door knob.

  "Now, mother was hurt pretty badly by that monster. She's all bandaged, but is still with us," Brianna cautioned.

  "You forget I'm a cop, I've seen some pretty nasty wounds," Dan told Brianna. "Anyway, why do you call her mother?"

  Brianna shook her head. "Uncle Dan, she's everyone's mother."

  She pushed open the door and led Dan into Gaia's bedroom.

  Gaia was sitting up in bed, her face covered with scratches and bruises. Her once dark hair hung in gray streaks down her back.

  Her whole face lit up when she saw Dan. She held out her arms and waved him to her side. Dan bent stiffly and started to give her a slight hug, but Gaia drew him into a powerful bear hug. When he backed off, he glanced around the room.

  Besides Thanatos and the two Furies, a thin older man was in attendance.

  "Dan, allow me to introduce you to one of my oldest and dearest friends, Hermes," Gaia said.

  Dan looked at the wizened old man, wispy gray hair parted along the top of his head, gray eyes, a wide nose protruding out of a lugubrious face.

  "Nice to make your acquaintance, young man," Hermes said. "I am here to see to it that you are as thoroughly prepared as feasible for your trip to rescue Megaera."

  "Yes," Dan agreed. "I have no idea where this place is, or how to get there."

  "Fastest way I know for a mortal to get there is by death," Hermes mused. "Otherwise, I shall attempt to draw you a map."

  "That'd be handy," Dan said.

  "Oh, not really. The place changes as new people arrive and their expectations reform the whole place."

  "Then why a map?" Dan asked. "If the place changes that much?"

  "The general layout is generally the same. For example, in the center is Hades' palace. Then everything usually references the palace," Hermes explained. "Like what happened when all the new religions popped up. A completely different system was put into place to appease the new arrivals. Although, quite a few souls did wind up in Tartarus. It's the place some now call 'hell'."

  Dan sat on the edge of the bed. His mind reeled from all the revelations of the past fifteen minutes. His eyes roamed over the people assembled in the room, and he stopped on his niece.

  "Uncle Dan, this wasn't what I had learned to expect, either," Brianna said, gently. She sat next to Dan on the bed and took his hand. "It's actually, literally, way cooler than I was taught."

  "But, why didn't you go on to where-ever it is we go after life here?" Dan asked.

  "I'll attempt to answer that one, if you don't mind," Gaia said quietly. "No one has told you yet why you were able to get Megaera pregnant, have they?"

  Dan turned to look at Gaia, and just shook his head.

  "I did some digging, and you are related to a goddess," Gaia started. "At the beginning of the last century, the goddess Lakshmi incarnated, as the gods of her pantheon tend to do on occasion, with the idea to spend a life as an earthbound god, become closer to their followers. At the same time, her consort, Vishnu was to incarnate.

  "But he never showed up and her father married her off to a wealthy man who moved them to San Francisco. She tried to make sure she'd not bear any children who lived, dying herself in childbirth. But that child lived on and is your great-great grandmother. Because she was a mortal at the time, she was able to get pregnant by a mortal, who then produced a demi-goddess. Your great-grandmother."

  Dan shook his head. "Are you telling me being a god is like inheriting curly hair?"

  "In a way," Gaia said, stifling a smile. "It's usually passed along through the mitochondrial DNA."

  "From mother to daughter," Brianna added. "Which explains why I'm here."

  "None of this makes any sense," Dan said, shaking his head.

  Gaia reached out and took Dan's hand. "You have fathered a demi-god with Megaera. Only someone in which flows the blood of the gods can father a child with a goddess."

  "Some father I am, I let her get kidnapped," Dan said.

  "And you will follow in the footsteps of Herakles and go into the Underworld and return with Megaera," Gaia said.

  "But he only went there to steal the dog," Dan pointed out. "Most everything that happened to him was his own fault, really."

  "Ah, he knows more than he pretends," Thanatos said. "Dan, you are far more qualified to undertake this mission than you realize. You might find it's a lot more like the games you played as a child than you realize."

  Thanatos moved to the door. "Come along, we have a lot to go over before you start. Mother, I'll look in on you in a few hours."

  Dan reluctantly stood up, he looked at Brianna and then over to the Furies. "Well, let's get this mission under way."

  Dan followed Thanatos out of the room. Gaia laid back, visibly exhausted. Delfina was sitting well back as Dan visited, now she moved to sit next to Gaia.

  "The rest of you scram! Mother needs rest, not the lot of you hanging around, wringing your hands. Especially you, young lady," Delfina said, poking Brianna. "You get down stairs and stay around your Uncle. You might not see him again after he leaves."

  "Another one of your premonitions?" Gaia asked.

  "Will I get called to move on?" Brianna asked.

  "No to both, but an Underworld under rule by Sorath is a dangerous place even for souls, much less a mortal. Now get!" Delfina poked Brianna again.

  Brianna got up and left the room quickly. Delfina turned and glared at Tisiphone, Alecto, and Hermes.

  "Shoo, all of you! That young man is undertaking what none of you are brave enough to even attempt, so go give him as much information about the infernal place you can," Delfina said, turning back to Gaia. "If I turn around and you are all still here, I'll curse each and every one of you!"

  "Really?" scoffed Alecto.

  "Yep." Delfina grinned. "Image getting diarrhea every time you sneeze..."

  As one, Tisiphone, Alecto, and Hermes headed to the door. Hermes gently shut the door on his way out.

  "There. That should shake them up," Delfina said, as she inspected the bandages on Gaia's side.

  "What you said is true, you understand," Gaia said through clenched teeth as Delfina began pulling tape away from a wound.

  "Yes. That cop has an excellent chance of being trapped there, and he is making the journey with no backup or way to even ask for help. He'll be absolutely on his own," Delfina snorted. "He must love that daughter of yours."

  "He'd better. My daughters are deadly when jilted."

  Delfina adjusted the bandage on Gaia's shoulder.

  "Does this man know he probably won't be able to get back out?" Delfina observed.

  "He'd go even if he knew. No reason to bother him with the details. If he manages to find Megaera, and then manages to get themselves out of the prison, he can stay with Hades and be perfectly safe until this blows over," Gaia stated. "Then we'll worry about them getting back here."

  CHAPTER SIX

  Brianna found her Uncle Dan and Thanatos standing around the kitchen table, which was now serving as a map table. Thanatos had spread out a large sheet of butcher's paper and was drawing a crude map of the Underworld.

  He made a rough outline of the target: Tartarus. Then he wrote along the river of fire the words: "Here there be Dragons."

  "Dragons?" Dan remarked. "You're not serious?"

  "Absolutely. The last I'd heard, Sorath had assembled a squad of the beasts, piloted by old army pilots, patrolling the perimeter. And these are real flame-throwing lizards," Thanatos said.r />
  "Real dragons?" Brianna asked.

  "Yes. Dangerous ones. More so for you, Dan," Thanatos warned. "You see, they can burn demons and condemned souls to a crisp, but they regenerate shortly afterwards. You? A mortal? You'll die a painful death, then you'll be caught in the Underworld to relive that death a thousand times a year, for a thousand years."

  Hermes stood up and examined the map. He aimed a bony finger at a blue squiggle that ran from the bottom side to the center. "Here, the River Acheron. You made it having more turns than it has, you know. And it should be up here, to the north."

  "You're thinking of the Lethe," Thanatos said. He glanced up at Dan. "Whatever you do, if you find yourself on the Lethe, don't touch or drink the water."

  "Ok, why?" Dan asked.

  "It's the river of amnesia, all souls pass through it before being reborn. Never been tested on mortals. But, just to be safe, stay away from it," Hermes replied.

  Dan pointed his finger at the blue line that crossed the paper at the bottom. "OK, now what's this river?"

  "That's the Acheron. On the surface, it meanders around the town of Epirus. It's the best spot I can think of to have you enter the Underworld," Thanatos said.

  "There's an entrance perfect for mortals near the Necromanteion," Alecto suggested. "It's a wide-spectrum portal."

  "Is it still operational?" Thanatos asked.

  "Last time I was there it was running. The cliff face was overgrown, but it was an easy hike from the ruins above the actual portal," Alecto replied.

  "Then it's perfect," Thanatos said.

  Dan studied the map as Thanatos drew a long, river like line in red.

  "What's that red line, another river?" Dan asked.

  "It's the Phlegethon. Not a true river, it's a lava flow," Hermes answered. "It was felt that between it and the mountains, we could contain all the nastier elements that exist inside Tartarus. Later, an energy barrier was put in place, but we think it has been deactivated by Sorath's engineers. Now, with the dragons, they stay on that side only out of habit. It also serves to keep spies out as well as condemned souls in."