Eos the Lighthearted

by Joan Holub

  “Mom?” she called, as soon as she was out of her urn. No reply. Eos raced around the house calling for her until she spotted a note on the kitchen counter:

  Gone grocery shopping. Need to stop to see a sick friend on my way back. So sorry, but dinner will be late. ~ Mom

  While it was nice of her mother—and very like her—to take time to visit a sick friend, Eos couldn’t help wishing Theia were coming straight home after shopping. Because she couldn’t wait around to ask her mom if it was okay for her to fly to the Underworld.

  A peek at the garden sundial showed that it was almost five in the afternoon. Only a couple of hours till Tithonus’s mother would get back. Ye gods! Eos knew from past experience that his mom would expect him home no later than nine, since it was a school night. She would not be happy if she had to come looking for him, only to discover he was a grasshopper! If that happened, even if Eos did eventually manage to change him back to a boy, it might not just take years before Tithonus’s mom would let them be friends again. She might forbid Eos to ever see him again!

  For Eos to get to the Underworld and back before nightfall, with time to perform the spell she hoped to get from her dad, she needed to leave now. Quickly she scribbled a note to her mom, explaining that—surprise, surprise—she’d gone off to see her dad today, instead of waiting until tomorrow. She grabbed some snacks and her cloak and was off.

  Her wings were still tired from her earlier trip home from Mount Olympus Academy, leaving her little energy for vaporizing. Fortunately, she remembered the shortcut to Tartarus her mom had told her about, and she could fly almost as quickly as a chariot could soar. Although the shortcut was well-hidden at ground level, she was easily able to spot it from the air after flying for about an hour. Within a circle of huge, jagged boulders she saw the wide crack in the earth. Diving through the crack, Eos whooshed down, down, down, entering a dark abyss.

  12

  Tartarus

  IT SEEMED LIKE FOREVER BEFORE Eos landed at the bottom of the pit that was Tartarus, the deepest place in the Underworld. A murky gloom hung over the pit. She shivered in the dank air as she folded back her wings and then wrapped her cloak tightly around her. Having no map to guide her, she chose a path along the side of the pit and began to walk over the damp and stony ground.

  A few minutes into her walk she spied a gaunt shade (as human souls in the Underworld were called) rolling a large boulder ahead of him. When he reached a certain spot, he braced his back against the boulder and tried, grunting and groaning, to push it up the side of the pit. But despite his effort, he could only force the heavy-looking boulder a mere foot or so up the steep wall before the rock rolled back down again. He ran after it and began to push it again.

  “You’re not trying to push that rock out of the pit, are you?” Eos called out to the shade as she drew closer to him.

  With a resigned air, he paused in his pushing to nod at her.

  “That’ll never work,” she told him firmly. “But if you could build some kind of pulley system, you might be able to hoist it up with that.”

  The shade shook his head. “Helpful machinery not allowed. Forever failing to get that wretched rock out of this wretched pit is my punishment.”

  “Oh!” Eos said. Since Tartarus was where the truly evil wound up, not just those who were prisoners of war like her dad, she guessed she should have realized this was a punishment. As she was wondering what horrible deeds had landed this particular shade here, he gave her a smile that was more like a grimace and added, “Name’s Sisyphus,”

  “I’m Eos,” she replied. “Goddessgirl of the dawn.”

  He nodded. “I could tell you weren’t a shade. Not with those wings of yours.” Even though she’d folded them back, they still stuck out a little under her cloak.

  “I’m looking for my father,” she explained. “Do you know him? His name’s Hyperion.”

  “Not much socializing here in Tartarus,” Sisyphus remarked. “No parties being thrown, that’s for sure.” For a moment his brow furrowed. “I’ve heard of him, though. He’s one of the Titans, right?”

  Eos nodded eagerly. “Yes. Where can I find him?”

  Sisyphus shrugged. “No clue. Good luck, though.” And with that he went back to pushing his boulder.

  Well, that was disappointing. Pink vapor trailed from Eos’s fingertips as she lifted her hand to wave good-bye. She continued over the stony ground, through patches of thick mist that often obscured her path so that she had to pick her way slowly and carefully to avoid stumbling. This place was more than a little scary.

  When she came upon a post with multiple location signs pointing in various directions, she stood and read some of the gloomy-sounding names: the Tower of Torment, the Mound of Misery, the Area of Anguish, and so forth. Where might her father be? Maybe in the Home of Hotheads? The Domicile of Dads? The Residence of Rebels? If only she knew where exactly Nyx lived here in Tartarus. Maybe she’d know where to find him. Unfortunately, though, they had never thought to exchange addresses.

  Suddenly, from out of the mist, a bearded man with a clipboard appeared. He frowned at her. “Excuse me, but who are you and what are you doing here?” he asked in a brisk voice. The name tag pinned to his tunic identified him as Hypnos.

  Eos’s face broke into a relieved smile. “I know who you are!”

  The man rolled his eyes. “Was the name tag a clue?”

  Even though she was pretty sure Hypnos hadn’t meant to be funny, she let out a giggle. “I’m Eos. Goddessgirl of the Dawn. A friend of Nyx’s.”

  Like the sun breaking through storm clouds, Hypnos was suddenly all smiles and warmth. “Sure! Nyx told me and my brother all about you. Any friend of hers is a friend of ours. So are you here to visit Nyx?” he asked, shifting his clipboard under one arm.

  It suddenly occurred to Eos that if she started visiting her dad down here in future, she could also visit Nyx. Pink! “Not this time,” she replied. “I came to see my dad . . . only I’m not sure where to find him.”

  Hypnos’s eyebrows rose. “And his name is . . . ?”

  “Hyperion,” Eos told him.

  Hypnos’s eyebrows rose even higher. But all he said was, “Follow me,” before immediately striking out in the direction of the sign pointing toward the Ditch of Despair.

  Eos shivered. Was that where her dad was?

  “We don’t get many visitors here in the Underworld,” Hypnos told Eos as she struggled to keep up with his fast pace. “Especially not in Tartarus. I’ve seen your mom here often enough, though. And Zeus has been coming to see your dad a lot lately too. Cocky when he arrives, but pouting when he leaves. Your dad is one wicked chess champ!”

  Pride swelled in Eos that all of Underworld thought well of her dad—or at least of his chess-playing skill. Turned out that the Ditch of Despair, filled with murky water and smelling of rotting fish, wasn’t their final destination. Holding her nose as she went past it, Eos followed Hypnos to a surprisingly cozy-looking little whitewashed cottage nestled between two large boulders. Star-shaped white flowers grew in pots on either side of the cottage’s cheery yellow front door.

  “Give my regards to your dad,” Hypnos said, going no farther. “A boatload of shades being ferried up the River Styx is due to arrive soon, and I’ve got to go sort them out. Have a good visit!” He dipped his head in farewell, turned on his heel, and scurried away.

  Standing there before the door, Eos grew anxious. She wished Hypnos hadn’t gone off and left her to face her father alone. What if her dad didn’t recognize her? He hadn’t seen her since she was a toddler, after all. If it weren’t for the painted portrait of him that her mom kept on her bedside table at home, Eos wouldn’t know him, either.

  Gathering all her courage, she straightened, and then knocked at the door.

  “Coming!” a deep voice called out.

  Soon the door opened to reveal a tall, lean man wearing a midnight blue robe patterned with white stars. Though his hair had some gray
in it now compared to the picture on her mom’s bedside table, Eos recognized him instantly.

  “Yes?” He squinted at her and then asked in a polite voice, “May I help you?”

  Her heart fell. He didn’t know her. “Dad?” she said.

  A startled look flashed in his eyes. Then a broad smile spread over his face. “Eos? Is it really you? Sorry, I don’t have my glasses on.”

  So it was just that, not that he’d forgotten her. What a relief ! She nodded, suddenly feeling shy. “Yes, it’s me,” she replied.

  “Come in, come in,” he said, holding the door wide open. “It’s so great to see my youngest daughter after all these long years!”

  Eos tensed. Was he trying to make her feel guilty about not coming to see him till now? She felt a spark of anger. Two could play at that game. How about all those missed birthdays and other special occasions? No card from him? No letterscroll? But she saw only joy in his eyes, and her annoyance vanished.

  As she entered the cottage, she looked around. The furnishings inside were sparse: a small couch and coffee table, a couple of straight-backed chairs, and a desk with a shelf above it that held a few books. She supposed there must be a tiny bedroom and bath beyond the door at one side of the cottage. Only two items in the main room really stood out—the chess set occupying the coffee table and a telescope that sat before the cottage’s back window.

  “I have something urgent to ask,” Eos said, getting right to the point. “I’ve made kind of a terrible mistake, and I need help.”

  Her dad’s forehead creased with concern. He gestured toward the couch before reaching for a pair of glasses on the coffee table. “Please,” he said as he slipped on the glasses. “Have a seat. Then you can tell me what the trouble is.”

  “Thanks, but I . . . um . . . can’t stay long,” she murmured, shifting from one foot to the other.

  Instantly, disappointment clouded her dad’s face. “Oh.” But then he smiled again. “How can I help?”

  Relenting a little, she perched on the edge of the couch. Her dad pulled one of the straight-backed chairs near and sat too. “I’ve made a big mess of things,” she confessed in a rush. And then, without warning, tears sprang from her eyes.

  “There, there,” her dad said kindly. “Things can’t be all that bad, can they?” Reaching out, he clumsily patted her arm.

  Eos wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. “I came here thinking you might be able to help me. I mean, because you won that spell-casting trophy in our courtyard,” she began. Then, in fits and starts, she told him all about Tithonus and her botched spell and how she was hoping he could give her a spell to make Tithonus a boy again. Her dad listened attentively.

  Her chin lifted toward the chess set nearby. “I hear you’re a master at chess,” she added brightly, just in case flattery would make him more likely to help. She didn’t really know him well enough to judge. “Zeus told me that himself, when I saw him at MOA yesterday.” She was aware that she was rambling, but she wanted her dad to understand that, although she’d come to him because she needed his help, she really was interested in becoming reacquainted with him.

  “Not sure if I’d call myself a master at chess,” Hyperion said humbly. Eyes twinkling, he added, “But I am good enough to beat Zeus, despite his recent tournament practice!” He bent his tall frame toward her. “And it’s true that I have some talent for spell-casting. So, yes, I can give you a spell to turn your friend into a boy again.”

  “You can?” Hope bloomed in Eos’s chest.

  “Yes,” her dad repeated. “But understand that my spell will totally reverse things. He’ll become both a boy and a mortal again,” he warned. “Casting or even just maintaining an immortality spell is not within my power.”

  Eos swallowed hard. “I understand.” Although it seemed she’d blown her one chance to make Tithonus immortal, she would rather he was a mortal boy than an immortal grasshopper!

  “Tithonus told me he thought that the quality of life was more important than the number of years lived,” she confessed.

  As soon as she said this, she wished she could unsay it. Her dad had lived a lot of years, but he’d been imprisoned for much of that time. So could anyone call the quality of his life good? Yes, compared to Sisyphus, he’d gotten off easy, punishment-wise, but still . . .

  “Your friend sounds very wise,” her dad said, interrupting her thoughts. He rose and went to his desk. From a drawer he took out a piece of papyrus and a feather pen. “It would help to know both your spell and Aphrodite’s, since we want to uncross them,” he told her.

  After she recited both for him, he wrote down a new spell and handed it to her. “This should do the trick.”

  “Thank you sooo much.” Eos clasped the papyrus to her chest, relieved and grateful. Anxious to get home and make Tithonus a boy again before it got super late and his mom came looking for him (and also before the easing off of Aphrodite’s spell could cause any new problems), she folded the sheet and slipped it into the pocket of her chiton.

  She rose from the couch and said, “Guess I’d better go now.”

  Hyperion got to the door first and held it open for her. “Thanks for coming,” he said as she came up to him. There was a hopeful note in his voice as he asked, “Will I see you again soon?”

  Eos thought about what her mom had said about not holding on to anger about the past. Was she finally ready to let go of her anger at her dad for breaking his promise to come home after the war? She’d discovered for herself, that despite a person’s best intentions, some promises would always get broken. She’d come very close to harming Tithonus, for example. Even though she’d promised herself after the Nefili incident at school that she’d never harm another mortal again.

  She looked at her dad. He was smiling at her with hope in his twinkling eyes. He’d been willing to help her today, no questions asked. And she liked him. He was her dad. So maybe she was ready to forgive him. That maybe quickly turned into a probably, which then flipped to a yes.

  Yes, she was ready to forgive and really did want to get to know him.

  “Mom’s coming here tomorrow. I’ll go with her after school lets out,” she told him.

  Her dad’s face brightened. “Excellent! I’ll want to hear how things went with your bug-boyfriend when I see you. And maybe we can play chess.”

  “I don’t know how.”

  He laughed. “No problem. I’ll teach you!”

  Eos smiled shyly as she took a step toward the door. Then, on an impulse, she turned back. “I wish you didn’t have to live in Tartarus. I’ve been mad at you for not coming home like you promised.”

  A look of pain flashed over her dad’s face. “Unfortunately, it was a promise I couldn’t keep. I’m very sorry for that, but rules are rules.” After a moment’s pause, he added, “It’s not so bad being here, though I’d rather be at home with you and your mom, of course. I miss you both, and Helios and Selene, too.” Then, as if guessing what had prompted her outburst, he added, “But even here in Tartarus I can live a life of quality. I keep busy, always learning. And I take pleasure in sharing that knowledge.”

  He pointed toward his telescope. “Being here has given me plenty of time to observe the movements of Helios’s sun and Selene’s moon, for example. I’m able to view the sky through a crack above Tartarus, and I’ve charted the movements of many heavenly bodies and shared my findings with others. I’ve also mapped the constellations. My favorite is Orion. With those three super-bright stars that make up its belt, it’s as much of a show-off as that famous teen actor it’s named after!”

  Eos laughed. It seemed that she and her dad had similar feelings about the real Orion. And it struck her that her dad’s enthusiasm for studying the heavens was just like Tithonus’s enthusiasm for studying bugs. Regret washed over her for all the missed years they could’ve been seeing each other. She could’ve already been learning some of the stuff he was talking about!

  Throwing her arms around h
im, she gave him a big hug. “Gotta fly! See you tomorrow.”

  A soft light had come into her dad’s eyes. “Tomorrow,” he echoed.

  Once outside the cottage door, Eos quickly unfurled her wings and flew back the way she’d come. The sun was setting when she rose upward through the crack between the Underworld and Earth. High above, she saw Nyx flying her chariot across the sky, her cape billowing out behind her. Already it was causing the deep yellow, orange, and red of the sunset to darken to lush violet. Soon the sky would turn midnight blue and, finally, black.

  Eos waved to her friend and then continued toward home. She looked forward to telling Nyx that since she planned to visit her dad in the Underworld from time to time, she could also hang out with Nyx while there. Then they could become better friends. Pink!

  Her mom wasn’t yet home, so Eos crumpled the note she’d written her and tossed it in the trash. Out in the courtyard, she whirled into her urn, picked up the terrarium containing Tithonus and the jar containing Cleitus and Cephalus, and exited her urn-room with them.

  Outside in the courtyard again she immediately turned Cleitus and Cephalus loose in her mom’s flowerbed. “Have a good life,” she told them. She never would have been able to release them if she’d still been bug-crushing, she realized. So Aphrodite’s spell on her was definitely easing. Phew!

  Bugs would never be her passion, she decided as she watched the beetles scurry under a rosebush. Not the way they were for Tithonus, anyway. Unlike him, she didn’t yet have an intense and prolonged interest in something, which would mark it as a passion. Then again, she was only twelve. There was plenty of time to discover her true interests, right?

  In the meantime she could keep trying new things. She found herself hoping, however, that a little of her increased interest in bugs, awakened by Aphrodite’s spell, would remain. Because bugs—er, insects—were pretty pink, actually!