Crossroads

by Wendy Saunders

  ‘It is possible that he doesn’t know,’ Charon told them. ‘This is the first time he has been here and as I said, his kind don’t come down here.’

  ‘You keep saying his kind,’ Theo frowned, ‘what exactly do you mean? If Sam isn’t human, then what is he?’

  ‘I’m sorry Theo but it’s not my place to tell. If Sam wants you to know he’ll tell you himself,’ Charon shook his head. ‘All I can say is that he’s from higher places than you can imagine.’

  ‘Oh my God,’ Olivia breathed. ‘When you first saw him, you said his first loyalty will always be to heaven…he’s from heaven isn’t he?’

  ‘I can’t say,’ Charon shrugged, ‘so stop asking. If you want to know, ask him once he stops drooling.’

  ‘You’re an ass,’ Olivia replied dryly.

  Charon’s mouth curved in amusement as he looked downstream. Suddenly the river forked to the right.

  ‘What’s that?’ Olivia asked.

  ‘That is the River Cocytus and it’s pretty potent, even you should feel its effects.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘The closer we get to Tartarus the stronger the effects of the river.’ The boat began to turn and split off into the new waterway, ‘you might want to cover your ears.’

  ‘What? Why would…’ Olivia suddenly clapped her hands over her ears as an insanely high pitched shrieking filled the air around them. Theo did likewise.

  Sam woke violently from his dreamlike state and covered his ears.

  ‘What the Hell is that?’ he shouted.

  ‘The Cocytus,’ Charon yelled calmly about the noise, seemingly unperturbed by the disturbing sound. ‘It’s the river of wailing.’

  ‘What’s making all that noise?’ Olivia yelled.

  ‘They are,’ he replied nodded towards the water.

  Olivia looked down and shuddered in revulsion. The River Styx had been much the same as a regular river, murky and mud-like. The Acheron’s waters had been clear and the Lethe had a strange pale cloudy quality to it but this river, the Cocytus, was an eerie unpleasant glowing kind of green and within the churning waters hundreds of bodies floated beneath the surface, arms outstretched imploringly and mouths hung open in a never-ending scream.

  ‘Who are they?’ Theo asked.

  ‘The damned,’ came the reply ‘They are tormented souls being punished eternally for their mortal sins.’

  ‘Is there no hope for them?’ Olivia asked so quietly her voice barely carried over the mournful wails.

  ‘No,’ Charon answered in sympathy, ‘not for them. They lock themselves in that torment because they are the ones who can’t see past their own sins and failures. It is a punishment of their own making. They are the ones who can’t change, because they don’t want to.’

  ‘It’s so sad,’ Olivia breathed.

  ‘Don’t waste your pity on them Olivia’ he told her, ‘there is nothing you can do.’

  ‘Perhaps it is not that they don’t want to, but they don’t know how to,’ she answered.

  ‘Maybe, but there is still nothing that can be done,’ he replied looking up and pointing. ‘Look ahead…’

  They turned and saw the river once again forking to the right. Suddenly the air turned smoky and was filled with a nasty sulfur-like smell.

  ‘The Phlegethon,’ Charon murmured, ‘the river of fire.’

  The screams and wails of torment faded away to be replaced by a strange sound. It was like a mixture of the crackle of an open fire and the roar of an opening furnace. They turned down the channel and the green glowing water was slowly replaced by a thick slow churning movement. Olivia looked down and gasped at the sight of the river, which could now barely be called a river at all. Instead of water it was hot molten lava which glowed a bright, white hot, mixture of red and orange with a cracked, perpetually moving, crust of black char.

  ‘Charon,’ Olivia swallowed thickly, ‘you do know your boat’s made of wood, right?’

  ‘Relax Olivia’ he replied, ‘the boat cannot be damaged.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Yes,’ he chuckled, ‘stop worrying about the river and start worrying about what’s at the end of it.’

  ‘Tartarus.’

  ‘Exactly,’ he replied soberly. ‘I’ve never heard of any mortal surviving Tartarus.’

  ‘Thanks for the pep talk,’ she replied dryly.

  ‘Olivia’ he sighed, ‘I can’t go with you.’

  ‘It’s okay Charon,’ she frowned, ‘I didn’t expect you to.’

  ‘It’s not that I won’t, it’s that I can’t…’ he tried to explain.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Tartarus is at the very end of the river; I can’t move beyond its borders. My powers don’t extend beyond the rivers.’

  ‘It’s okay,’ she assured him.

  ‘It’s not okay,’ he frowned. ‘I’m worried about you, about all of you.’

  ‘Stop worrying,’ she told him bluntly, ‘like you just told me, some things you can’t change and this is one of them. Besides,’ she added with a smirk, ‘I’m different remember, the usual effects of the Underworld don’t apply to me.’

  ‘That’s not what I said and you know it,’ he replied blandly.

  ‘Well,’ she winked, ‘close enough.’

  Charon sighed and rolled his eyes, ‘I now understand why Hades finds you so frustrating.’

  She laughed in amusement. ‘Oh lighten up Charon, we’re the ones facing impending death.’

  ‘I will never understand mortals,’ he shook his head.

  ‘You don’t need to understand us; you just need to have a sense of humor.’

  ‘Isn’t that the truth,’ Sam muttered.

  ‘Er Charon?’ Theo spoke suddenly, his gaze fixed on something ahead of them. ‘When you said Tartarus was at the end of the river, please tell me you meant that the river ends on the banks of Tartarus.’

  ‘Not exactly,’ Charon admitted as Olivia turned to look.

  The roaring was getting louder, almost like a waterfall. Steam rose up obscuring her view.

  ‘What do you mean not exactly?’ she yelled above the noise.

  ‘Tartarus is technically separate from Hades.’

  ‘As in a separate world?’ Theo asked.

  ‘Yes, technically.’

  ‘What does he mean yes, technically?’ Olivia looked back to Theo.

  ‘He means that the end of the river and Tartarus are separated by the Void.’

  ‘WHAT?’ she shouted, turning back to Charon, ‘AND YOU’RE JUST TELLING US THIS NOW?’

  ‘You’d better get ready,’ he warned.

  ‘Ready to what?’ she asked suspiciously.

  ‘To jump.’

  ‘TO WHAT?’ her voice went up another octave.

  ‘Still got that sense of humor?’ Charon asked sourly.

  Theo pulled her to her feet and helped her into the backpack, making sure the straps were tight.

  ‘Oh no’ she shook her head, ‘I did not agree to this,’ she sat back down and crossed her arms. ‘Killing a demon…fine, finding a lost crossroad…check, facing off a God…no problem, JUMPING THE VOID? Not a chance in Hell.’

  ‘It’s, not a chance in Hades actually, and you don’t have a choice Olivia.’ Charon glanced over the side as they neared the end, ‘there’s only one way into Tartarus and you only get one chance.’

  ‘It’s okay Livy,’ Theo pulled her to her feet.

  ‘Are you mad,’ she glanced over the edge, ‘it’s not okay. What about this, can you possibly think is okay?’

  She started to tremble in his grip and her voice rose in panic.

  Suddenly Charon raised the pole above his head and plunged it down into the river hard. There was a loud grinding as it anchored on the bottom, slowing their approach, until the boat finally ground to a halt hanging over the edge, the bow still sat in the lava and the stern suspended out into the blackness of t
he Void. Two waterfalls of lava cascaded thunderously down either side of them, split by Charon’s boat, tumbling down into the Void far below until they disappeared from view. Olivia glared over the edge into the blackness and stumbled, a wave of dizziness washing over her.

  ‘Are you okay Olivia?’ Sam frowned.

  ‘I may have a slight problem with heights,’ she swallowed.

  ‘Livy you can do this.’ Theo cupped her chin, ‘don’t look down, look across…’

  She glanced across the Void and saw what he was talking about. There was a rocky outcropping not far away, slightly below them. It looked utterly terrifying but it was do-able. They could make it.

  ‘What about you?’ she turned back to Charon.

  ‘Don’t worry about me,’ he smiled, ‘it’s the end of the river. I’ll simply return to the beginning.’

  The pole scrapped alarmingly along the molten riverbed and the boat suddenly slipped a bit further, starting to tilt into the Void.

  ‘You need to go now!’ Charon shouted as he tried to hold his grip on the pole.

  ‘I’ll go first,’ Theo told them. ‘Sam?’

  Sam looked at him, ‘don’t worry I’ll make sure she gets to you.’

  He nodded, ‘Olivia, do you want me to take the backpack?’

  ‘No,’ she shook her head trying to suck in a deep calming breath to ease her racing heart, ‘I’ve got it, it’s my responsibility.’

  ‘Okay,’ he kissed her roughly, ‘you can do this alright?’

  She nodded, watching as he turned and leapt across the Void. Her heart stopped for a moment as he hung suspended in the air falling through the blackness. Then he hit the rock and rolled to absorb the impact.

  ‘Olivia!’ he climbed to his feet and held out his arms to her, ‘you next.’

  ‘You’d better catch me or I’ll never speak to you again’ she shouted over, as she stepped up onto the edge. With a quick prayer to every God, Goddess and Deity she could think of in the space of two seconds, she braced herself and leapt.

  For those dizzying seconds while she felt herself flying through the air, time seemed to stop and all she could hear was her heart thundering in her ear, and then suddenly Theo’s arms wrapped around her and they both tumbled to the ground in a tangle of bodies.

  ‘You two should get a room,’ a calm voice spoke next to them and when they both looked up Sam was smiling at them in amusement.

  ‘Did you just translocate across the Void?’ she asked accusingly.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘So you just let me jump when you could have translocated us over here.’

  ‘It’s always good to face your fears Olivia.’

  ‘You should start running now Sam,’ she warned dangerously, ‘because I’m about to kill you.’

  He stepped back laughing lightly, ‘I’m joking’ he sighed, his face becoming more serious. ‘The truth is I don’t know if I could have taken all three of us. I don’t feel right…’ he shook his head, ‘I didn’t want to risk it.’

  ‘Fine’ she sulked, slightly mollified, ‘I forgive you then.’ She held out her hand so he could help her up off the floor.

  She stood up and brushed the pieces of rock and dust off her jeans as Sam leaned in to help Theo up. She looked up at the boat overhanging the edge and for a second she saw Charon and then the boat shimmered and disappeared completely.

  ‘Do you think he got back okay?’ she murmured.

  ‘I hope so,’ Theo stepped close and looked up at the waterfall of lava.

  ‘We should get moving’ Sam told them, looking over his shoulder nervously. ‘Cronus rules here, we will have to be very careful.’

  Theo nodded, taking Olivia’s hand as they picked their way over the uneven rocky ground, towards the dark horizon. There was no vegetation, no trees, just darkness and rock. The air was tinged with heat and the scent of brimstone. Olivia’s dragonflies pulsed gently with blue fire, hovering close to her shoulder nervously, as if to not draw too much attention to themselves.

  ‘Why don’t you try the Compass again?’ Theo suggested.

  Nodding in agreement they paused as she pulled the golden chain from her collar and flipped it open, looking down at it expectantly.

  Nothing.

  ‘Are you shitting me?’ Olivia hissed angrily, ‘after all this and the damn thing still won’t work.’

  ‘I guess we’ll just have to keep moving,’ Theo took her hand again and they set off across the rough terrain.

  ‘So Cronus is Hades’ father then?’ Theo asked quietly as they moved.

  ‘Yes he is,’ Olivia replied softly. ‘Cronus was born from Uranus, the Sky and Gaia, the Earth. He overthrew his father’s rule and took his sister Rhea as his wife.’

  ‘His sister?’ Theo’s eyes widened in shock.

  ‘You’ll find it’s very common amongst the ancients’ Sam told him, shrugging casually, ‘believe me the Egyptians and the Romans were just as bad.’

  ‘So anyway,’ Olivia continued in a quiet voice, ‘Cronus and Rhea took the throne and ruled as king and queen but Cronus learned that he was destined to be deposed by his own sons just as he had in turn usurped his father’s throne. He sired the Gods Demeter, Hestia, Hera, Hades and Poseidon by his sister Rhea and as soon as they were born he devoured them in an attempt to prevent the prophecy from coming true.’

  ‘Devoured?’ Theo frowned skeptically, ‘you mean he actually ate his own children?’

  ‘That’s the myth,’ Olivia nodded, ‘and he devoured them not ate.’

  ‘Is there a difference?’

  ‘He swallowed them whole so they remained intact and anyway they’re Gods, so they can’t die. Then when the sixth child, Zeus, was born Rhea and Gaia hid him from his father and instead gave Cronus a stone wrapped in baby blankets to swallow.’

  ‘This is so disturbing,’ Theo shook his head.

  ‘Anyway, there are many different accounts, a lot of variations but the general consensus is that once he was grown, Zeus either cut open his father’s stomach to free his siblings, or gave him some sort of emetic to force him to expel them by disgorging the contents of his stomach.’

  ‘That’s disgusting.’

  ‘So after that Zeus and his brothers and sisters overthrew Cronus and the other Titans and cast them down into Tartarus.’

  ‘Shush,’ Sam stopped and listened, ‘there’s something going on up ahead.’

  Olivia pulled her dragonflies in close, their flames banking down so they were barely visible as they crept forward in the darkness. In the distance a dim glow appeared which grew brighter as they approached. They sneaked up to the edge, hidden behind a wall of rocks, as they peered over into the sooty red and orange glow. A great pit yawned open in front of them, spanning miles and dropped down deep into the heart of Tartarus. Filled with stairs and ladders carved painstakingly out of the rocks, it was a hive of labor and industry. Ragged heavily chained slaves pushed metal carts filled with rocks. Great pulleys heaved up more carts full of rock, forges burned releasing greasy smoke and filling the air with sparks and firebrands. The sound of hammers and anvils rang out through the air.

  ‘God, it’s like the mines of Moria, are you sure we haven’t dropped into Middle Earth?’ Olivia whispered, but when she turned both Sam and Theo were staring at her blankly. ‘Seriously? Lord of the Rings? The Hobbit? None of this ringing a bell?’ she shook her head in disgust. ‘You two should be ashamed of yourselves, I’m guessing a Frodo reference would be wasted on you both right now.’

  ‘Sam shook his head slowly, ‘I don’t know where we’re heading but I’m pretty sure we want to avoid that place.’

  ‘Agreed,’ Theo nodded, casting a look around. ‘I can’t see much but the ground seems to be sloping down and away from here.’

  ‘Okay let’s head that way then,’ Olivia nudged Theo and they started moving once again.

  Slowly the sounds of the fire pit seemed to fade away and the a
ir cooled marginally. The darkness returned and once again her dragonflies brightened and took the lead. Suddenly the ground ahead of them changed color, and from where they were approaching it seemed to transform from a dark sooty black to white stone. They approached cautiously, not knowing whether the surface was solid or not. Stopping at the edge Olivia reached down and ran her fingers over the surface. It was white stone and it was cool and smooth to the touch.

  ‘It seems stable enough,’ she turned back to the others but as she straightened up the ground suddenly began to tremble.

  They all stumbled back a few paces watching dumbfounded as the white stone surface began to rise up from the gravel and rock. It unfolded itself and began to stretch up higher and higher as it rose into the dark sky.

  Olivia’s head tilted back and her mouth fell open as she watched it grow and when it finally stopped she found herself staring at a huge figure of a man, easily as tall as the statue of Liberty. He was half naked and completely colorless, as if he were a statue carved in exquisite detail except the sculptor had not bothered to paint him. But he wasn’t a statue, he moved with the same lithe grace and economy of movement as a regular man. He looked down at them and as his milky white eyes locked on hers she sucked in a deep breath. She wasn’t sure how but she knew exactly who he was. Her heart began to hammer in her chest and her blood ran cold.

  ‘Oh my God,’ she whispered, ‘Prometheus…’

  Chapter 23.

  Olivia stared open mouthed, mesmerized by the gargantuan Titan in front of her, barely registering Theo pulling her protectively behind him. As he raised his arm the metal embedded within it didn’t just melt and flow down to his hand to coalesce into a knife, but instead burst into bright blue and silver flames which ignited the whole of his arm in glowing blue vines. The knife itself throbbed and glowed with power.

  Prometheus’ eyes flicked over to Theo and narrowed in interest. He leaned over and effortlessly scooped him up from the ground. He grabbed one of his legs between his cool stone fingertips and dangled him upside down as if he were a fascinating insect he was about to pick the wings off.

  ‘Put him down Prometheus,’ Olivia told him calmly.