Chapter 5 The sail

"How do they expect me to talk to Hades and ask for the dead souls? If it was that easy, they should have done it themselves or asked Zeus to do it since he is lord over all." I grumbled, sulking like a child.

"They were putting you to a test initially to find out if you could do anything to save your people. When they realized you were dead serious, they did not go back on their word. In fact they are eager to seeing how you will progress."

"This is just a sick game to them. To see how far I can go before I break?" I screeched, furious at how the gods made us their pawn in their twisted game. I was having none of it.

"Calm down Agatha. Do not talk ill of the gods. Who knows? This may be a test too." She continued walking, leaving me behind.

Catching up to her, "I am sorry Iris. I just did not expect such information." I breathed

"It is okay. It is human to act that way. Do not think the gods are leaving you on your own. They are going to be with you in spirit, with instructions from Zeus. You have to prove your worth. The true dreygo you are." She stopped, looking at me in the eye.

"Your mission would begin as soon as you step out of the pantheon. Remember, we are all behind you. May the gods be with you."

Bracing myself for the worst, i opened the door and found myself at the gates of the underworld.

"This just got real", reluctantly, I ventured into the underworld, with no optimism on my side.

Stepping into the hollow abyss, it was eerily quiet and damp. Fast movement caught my eye and I looked to my left, frightened at what forsaken creature lay beneath the shadow.

A jet-black cat meowed its way out and headed towards my direction. My instincts told me to run for my life but another voice in my head said otherwise so I stayed rooted on the spot. It metamorphosed into a goblin and I was certain I was shaking like a leaf. I had heard from goblins from movies and books but I did not bargain to seeing one in front of me.

"Have no fear master. I am Cambion, and offspring of Incubus and Succubus. I am your familiar and I will be with you throughout you're your mission."

He bowed at my feet; startled, I moved forward bravely and touched his cheek. He purred in my palms and turned into a cat once again. Walking side by side, we reached a large opening and there were souls moaning and wandering about. They looked lost and needed saving from this eternal torture.

"These are some of the humans that died from the destruction. Hades is keeping them here for his enjoyment." Cambion whispered, as we tried to blend in as one of the dead.

"Do not act like you can see them, keep moving." He continued.

"How do you know these things?" I asked, curious.

"Incubus and Succubus, my parents, as humans would say, are one of the demons of hell. I am familiar with this place but I prefer Olympus, there's more life and action than this dark place."

"So when would we meet Hades?"

"We would have to pass through the five rivers of Hades, the three realms of Hades as well as the three main demons."

"Oh wow. Amazing. How do the gods expect us to scale through huh?" Pessimism began to wash over me.

"You are a Dreygo. You can do more than what an average human can. The gods have bestowed you with so much power you cannot even imagine. You will see the powers manifesting soon enough." He replied, moving ahead.

Soon enough, we reached one of the rivers. It certainly lived up to its name, was covered with spikes, making it impossible to cross.

"This is River Styt, the river of hate. The spikes show how much the river hates external bodies. Look over there," pointing to his left.

"Those people being pushed into the river by invisible forces were criminals on earth. Their hearts were once filled with hate, racists, murderers, rapists and all sorts of atrocities."

Once they fell into the river, their body split into two with a piercing scream, then mysteriously attached itself once again and the cycle continued repeatedly.

There were hundreds, if not thousands of women on the other side of the river fetching water in their jugs to fill a tub. The tub had cracks and the water would continue to seep through these cracks. Curious, I stared at this for some time and Cambion noticed this action.

"Those are the Danaides who killed their husbands while on earth. They are forced to carry water in that jug to fill the tub, which would wash them of their sins. The tubs however are filled with cracks that would prevent them from filling it up; hence, their sins remain as a stain with them. They would keep doing this until the tub gets full. The men have it much worse. They are on the on the other side of the underworld with snakes and demons attacking them continuously."

"For how long would they continue?" I asked, curious.

"For Eternity, Agatha. They made their choice while on earth. However, this applies to those that did not kill their significant others out of self-defence."

"So how do we cross this river? I asked, getting impatient.

"Close your eyes and do as the gods say."

Closing my eyes, I could feel a different energy radiating around me. Opening my eyes, I discovered that I was enclosed in a cloud of light. Wide eyed, Cambion jumped to my arms and we walked towards the water. Looking over to my reflection in the dark, murky waters, I sprang back, dazed at how the light was coming from my eyes. Cambion tugged at me and I shook myself from the shock.

Stepping on the surface of the water, I did not sink; neither was i cut into two. Walking into water, a surge of confidence came over me and I kept walking until I got to the end of the river.

"See? You are more powerful than you think. Without your power, it would have been impossible to cross. Do you now believe the gods did not abandon you as you thought?" He said at once, ecstatic at what just happened. Sometimes he acted like a normal cat and I found it hard to believe he was supernatural.

"Let's keep moving Cam. We do not have much time." I feigned indifference but I was glowing on the inside. I felt cool, like one of those superheroes in movies. Too sad Jean Grey has nothing on me.

Getting closer to the Acheron River, the number of dead people multiplied and we were in a multitude of the dead, all heading towards the river.

"This is the Acheron River, known as the River of Sorrow" I could hear the wailing coming from the river, as if it was in immense sorrow.

"We would have to board the ship to the other side of the river."

"Aboard a ship?" I asked, bewildered.

"Yes. Charon, the seaman of the Acheron River ferries the newly dead across the river. Now that there are so many dead people, he is busier than ever. You can make us invisible, just concentrate and think about it."

I took a deep breath and tried to concentrate on being invisible, which was hard while surrounded by dead souls around.

A loud horn hooted and a large ship appeared in the midst of the fog. The dead were on a straight line, with a coin in their mouths, a means of payment to the seaman. They were led into the ship by a dwarf demon with four horns, blazing eyes and a sword to prevent those that did not have their coins with them.

Soon enough, it was our turn and we entered without being detected, settling among the rest of the dead. This was by far the scariest I had experienced. We maintained total silence as it was dark and moist and the dead never moved.

Time stood still as we stood silently. Many thoughts whirled round my head and I silently prayed to the gods to make this successful. Charon was yet to make an appearance and I was glad for that.

We had sailed for about 20 minutes but it felt like hours with the strong odour oozing from the passengers.

Suddenly there was rumble and heavy footsteps descended to the dock we stayed. I could feel my heart working overdrive. Cambion stayed glued to my side and we made eye contact, silently hoping he would not be able to see us like the others.

Seeing him in his full form, he was like no other creature I had seen in the underworld. He was over 7ft tall, had red skin, a length of beard, uncombed and unclean, Jet-black hair that flowed past his shoulders and his eyes. His eyes were like hollow furnaces on fire. A foul smell accentuated his appearance. He wore a reddish-brown coat and held a ferryman's pole on his right hand while he received the dead with his left hand into another room.

Passing by us, we held our breaths, cold as ice, hoping he would not notice our presence. He kept inspecting the area, leading more dead creatures out of the dock, to another room.

"WHO ARE YOU?" Charon boomed, staring directly at us. We froze, silently hoping he would go away but we knew all had gone wrong. The rest of the dead stood still, oblivious to what was unfolding right in front of them.

"I would not ask again. Tell me your mission." His bluish-grey eyes flashed with great anger. It was over for us, I thought. We were supposed to be invisible to everyone including Charon but somehow, he was able to see us.

"I- I – I-uh, we-uh," I stammered, not knowing what to say. I certainly could not say I boarded his ship sneakily, trying to get to the other side, in order to reach Hades, could i? On the other hand, I could not lie that I mysteriously found myself in the underworld with a familiar by my side.

"Where is your Danake?" He sneered, knowing we had sneaked into his ship. We had watched as the dead had paid their coin, the Danake and those that did not have it were left wandering the shore, hoping to find a danake one way or another.

"Errm..."

"Follow me. Both of you." He said in a gruff voice. We looked at each other, mentally sending messages of distress from one end to the other.

With our heads bowed low, we followed him and he eventually stopped at the bottom of the ship. Opening the door to what seemed like a cell, he pushed us inside and walked away, leaving us alone in the dark.

"Wow it's certainly over, right? We have not even gotten anywhere and this happens. So much for the gods being with us." I kept complaining as we had been down here for almost an hour now.

Cambion was silent throughout and I had no idea what was going through my familiars mind. Finally, he broke his silence,

"Agatha, Charon needs to inquire from Zeus first because he is surprised a living human and a familiar are on his ship. You would too if tables turned. "

"I understand but how did he see us? We are supposed to be invisible."

"Well, it is his ship, he has been ferrying dead souls for millions of years and he would definitely know if something strange came aboard. It's a natural sense, he's not human do not forget."

"So, we wait right?"

"Yes. We wait".

The door creaked and our heads snapped at the sudden movement. Charon stepped in and with a poker face; it was difficult to read is mood.

"Now tell me what a half human, half dreygo and her familiar are doing on my ship," He asked, leaning on his pole.

"Well sir-"

"It's Lord Charon to you." He hissed, wagging his fingers at me.

"Sorry. Lord Charon, I am on a mission by the nature gods to meet Hades and i-"

"What? Hades?" He laughed for five minutes and we were getting impatient. We certainly did not have a clown mask on and I did not see what was funny.

"My apologies but I have not laughed in 3000 years since Sisyphus was punished by Hades. Well, he was stupid to think he could outwit the god of the underworld."

When he saw our straight face, he sobered up.

"I asked Zeus and I thought it was a silly prank till you confirmed it. You both must be insane. No one comes into the underworld and leaves. The only ones that did such were Heracles and Theseus. Even Odysseus called up the spirits of the dead rather than venturing down here."

"We want to save earth that is why we are down here. We need the souls of the departed and only Hades can grant that permission."

"Well, it is going to be very difficult and you may end up here forever. You are a dreygo so you have the upper hand though. You just have to use your powers wisely. You have rivers, realms and demons to face before eventually meeting him. I wish I could help but this is where I have been assigned from inception so I cannot leave because I am bound by Hades." He ended, wistfully.

I understood his plight. He was bounded on this ship forever to ferry dead souls across. It was certainly a hard knock life.