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  And the fact Earth just sucked was another reason. Mortals were selfish bastards who didn’t care about anyone but themselves. I would know, I was one of them.

  “Chrys, I don’t think-” I began, but A.J. cut me off.

  “If you think it would help, we can both go with you, right Huntley?”

  I glared at him. I didn’t care how much more he knew about the world of the gods than me, I really doubted this was a good idea. Persephone would be gone in a couple of months and Chrys would be fine then. But I knew that curiosity would have gotten the better of me as well, if I were in her situation, never having been anywhere but the underworld for many years. “I will go with you, yes. But do you really think it’s a good idea? I mean your father would freak out if he noticed you were missing.”

  Chrys sat up in her bed. “Not if he thought I was somewhere else.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked. Because I didn’t think she could go anywhere else. I thought she was trapped in the Underworld.

  She nodded her head, as if actually planning something out. Shit.

  “If I left a note saying that we had gone over to one of the other gods of the Underworld’s place, he would probably leave us alone. He wouldn’t know we were on Earth. Though he doesn’t particularly like me even anywhere outside of the palace, I don’t think he would mind given the current state of things.”

  “There’s other gods here?” I asked. I really had no idea, no one took much time to try and explain things to me, as they seriously assumed I took Greek Mythology in high school. Newsflash, they rarely offered that in any school.

  “Like Maka. You haven’t visited her lately,” A.J. commented. “And the Furies.”

  Chrys nodded her head. “Yeah, we used to hang out there all the time until she got really busy.”

  “Who’s Maka?” I asked.

  “She’s kind of like a sister. Hades created her out of the need for a governess of the blessed souls, those who did good in the human world. Some gods think she’s Hades’ daughter but she’s more like a creation than anything.”

  I tried to straighten that out since no one bothered telling me earlier. “But if she is like a daughter of Hades, to the other gods anyway, why would anyone have a problem with him actually having a daughter. Why does he try and hide you but not her?”

  A.J. answered that one. “Because the power that Chrys has is a lot more than any other god in Olympus. Maka can’t do too much. With Chrys’ father actually being Hades and her mother being Persephone, she has the ability to control life and death. Zeus has already destroyed one person who brought people back to life. It wasn’t natural so Zeus wouldn’t allow it. He is really strict about his laws, as he is the god of order and nature.”

  I let out a sigh. It still didn’t make sense but I decided to go with it. “Okay, so I take it then that this Maka doesn’t have nearly as much power as you.”

  “No,” Chrys said as she opened up her desk drawer. “Like I said, she’s kind of like a governess.” She took everything out of her drawer and pulled back the bottom revealing a hidden part of the drawer. Three silver rings with garnet gems sat at the bottom.

  A.J.’s eyes widened. “No way. How did you manage to get a hold of those?”

  “What are those?” I asked. Because honestly they just looked like normal rings.

  Chrys picked them up. “They’re rings to get us through the River Styx. Father made them for Persephone so she could cross over when she went to Earth. However, she tends to lose them, as in she gives them to men so they can visit her. It wasn’t hard getting a hold of a few over the years.”

  “So if you just left a note, at this point your father would just assume you were there, he would leave you alone. We could leave and come back without anyone noticing.” I could see A.J.’s eyes sparkle now. He wanted this a little too much.

  I still didn’t think it was a good idea, I mean going behind Hades’ back wasn’t a good idea no matter how foolproof the plan was. I didn’t particularly want to piss him off, especially since I was finally on his good side after everything. It had taken a very long time to do that. Well, kind of. A long time for me, as in a few years in mortal time would seem like nothing to them.

  Chrys nodded her head quickly. “Yes. Let’s do it. Before dawn, we should leave. I know how to get a boat, that will be the least of our problems.”

  I stepped up to Chrys, placing my hand on her shoulder and looked her straight in the eyes. “This isn’t a good idea. The Earth sucks, Chrys, nothing good can come of this. Are you sure you want to risk everything?”

  For a moment I thought I had squeezed some sense into her. She appeared to actually be thinking about it when A.J. slapped my shoulder, right where the wound was. Fuuuuuuuuccccckkkkkk. He was going to get an earful from me later, I swore.

  A.J. said, “it will be fine. She has the two of us. She deserves to see what the world is like. It may have been cruel to you, Huntley, but to a god it can be so much more.”

  Chrys glanced over at A.J. and smiled. “Yeah, he’s right. It has to be perfect if my mother would choose it over me.”

  I wondered if that was the real reason she wanted to go to the Earth, to see what her mother would rather have than being with both her daughter and husband Hades. Hades seemed like a really good guy, for being the god of the Underworld and all. I couldn’t imagine any human being better than him though, I surely hadn’t ever met a guy who would go to such lengths to keep their girl happy. I wondered if it had to do something with him once having an affair with another woman. I wish I knew more details about that but I didn’t dare ask.

  I sighed. “Fine. Just tell me when and where to meet.”

  The River Styx is really intimidating. Like, seriously.

  I honestly never really realized it until now, being without someone who knew how to guide the boat for me. I had only taken a boat out a couple of times, but never this far, and never with this much risk. Now that I stood there, waiting for the others, I found myself questioning my decision a little bit. Not enough to turn back, but enough to realize that Father was going to be really pissed if he found out I had hijacked a boat and left the Underworld with two of my friends. I guess I knew that already but it was hitting me hard now.

  I had left a note for him, telling him we were going to visit Maka and not to worry, that we would be back in a few days. He knew I needed to let off a little steam and that leaving me alone was the best choice. At least, I hoped.

  I was already wearing my ring and waiting to give A.J. and Huntley theirs. I was almost past the point of no return, making a decision that could get me in the worst of trouble.

  And it felt exhilarating.

  I was surprised that Huntley wasn’t fully on board with this, but more cautious than A.J. and I were. He was only coming because he wanted to make sure I was safe. But if A.J. thought it would be fine, I really doubted it was going to end badly.

  At least I hoped that it wouldn’t.

  A.J. was the cautious one out of the three of us, so if Huntley thought it was fine, it was probably going to be fine. I trusted him, especially after all this time. He cared enough to stay in the Palace for me, so he had to be speaking the truth.

  A.J. and Huntley showed up, checking behind them to make sure there wasn’t anyone following them. I nodded to both of them and handed them the rings. They slipped them on their fingers, and we quickly climbed in the boat to travel around the River Styx into the sky that was Oceanus.

  The boat was like an old gondola that might simply crumble if we were going over actual water. It was beyond old, probably the same age as the Underworld itself. It creaked and cracked as we stood on it, rocking slightly back and forth. The three of us each grabbed a stick and pushed off the peer of the palace and into the river we went.

  “How does this actually work?” Huntley asked. “I mean, it looks like we are traveling on clouds.”

  “You really going to ask questions of how things work in the Underworld? Not
just accept that things work differently here?” A.J. replied. We had barely been gone for a couple of moments and they were already arguing.

  “The rivers here are more like air currents, trapping things that have been lost in the mortal realm,” I explained. “The river we are on now is the River Styx, the River of Hatred. It is but one of five rivers. Most of the dead come to this world via Acheron, the River of Pain. It is where Charon runs his service. The other rivers flow through the Underworld and serve as transportation to places throughout. But without a boat, all of the rivers will curse those who try to escape, so make sure the water doesn’t touch you.”

  Huntley glanced over the water, his eyes wide. I probably should have mentioned that earlier, but it had completely slipped my mind. When you knew something for such a long time, it was hard to remember to tell others who might not know.

  “Don’t worry, you’re fine. But because of this, no god from the other realms can get through Oceanus, which is why Father has hidden me away for so long. That is, except Hermes, he can travel between realms. Why that is, no one really knows. He kinda just appears some days and Father can’t figure out how he’s doing it. As for my mother, well, it’s really rare for anyone to come to the Underworld and be able to go back to Earth. In some legends the hero can, or antagonist, depending on your point of view. The River Styx was their greatest obstacle.”

  “But she sneaks men in here,” Huntley countered.

  I nodded. “Yeah, but they don’t come by themselves. She pays Charon to escort them. He will escort anything as long as he gets paid.”

  “Oh. So which one is the River Styx?” Huntley asked.

  I gestured in front of us. “This one. We will be going around the Underworld seven times and then be dumped into Oceanus.”

  “Seven times? Won’t that take forever?”

  I shrugged. “Space is weird here. Doesn’t take too long actually and the farther we get, the faster it starts to go.”

  “Oh, I guess that makes sense,” Huntley said. “Then where is Oceanus?”

  I nodded up. “You see the blue clouds that covers the entire realm? That’s Oceanus.”

  He looked up at the sky. The molten blue shimmered in the light of the morning. Where the morning light really came from, I still wasn’t sure. This world was weird, I had to agree.

  “Shit. How are we supposed to get through that?” he asked.

  “Hence the boat, moron,” A.J. commented.

  Huntley pointed up. “Yeah, but that doesn’t have a surface that we can travel on.”

  I shook my head. “That’s because we don’t travel on it. We travel through it. Oceanus is like a shell between this world and Earth.”

  “Oh yeah, that’s going to be fun. Do you even know where we are going to end up?”

  I was silent. I actually didn’t. I figured, probably wherever my mother was last, but I couldn’t be sure. It wasn’t like I had a preference. Anywhere was better than here. Finally, I shrugged.

  “We don’t even know where we are going?” Huntley exclaimed. “Chrys, seriously, get some sense in your head. This is a bad idea.”

  He was right, I really didn’t know what I was doing. I should turn back now, I had let my emotions get the better of me. I was turning into my mother.

  And I didn’t want that.

  This whole trip was to prove to myself that I wasn’t like my mother, that I didn’t care about the other worlds, but it was quite the opposite. I was acting like her, sneaking out and potentially making Father worry. I couldn’t believe what I was doing, was I really turning out to be like her? No, that was impossible. I loathed her ways with every fiber of my being.

  So then why was I risking everything for this trip away from the Underworld?

  Before I could say anything, A.J. intervened. “It will be fine. If you didn’t want to come, then you should have stayed home. We aren’t going to be gone long and we have these rings to get back. I’ve seen her mother and Hermes do it a million times, not to mention all the men that Persephone sneaks in. If those humans and demigods can get through that river, so can we.”

  I shot him a look for bringing up all my mother’s affairs. I really didn’t want to think about that right now.

  He simply shrugged. “Hey, it’s true. If they can do this, then so can we.”

  I sighed. He definitely had a point. None of those men were particularly powerful. If they could make it through with those rings, then so could we. Even if we didn’t have Charon at our side.

  As we traveled down the River Styx, something appeared in the cloud in front of us. A body floating in the water, heading towards the palace. It was a young girl, probably no older than fifteen, her eyes open, full of fright. She was trying to say something, screaming for help but no sound was coming out. I wanted to look away, not to empathize with her pain, but I couldn’t move my eyes from her.

  The person was to be judged, I knew, and not having Charon guiding them, it could take centuries for the body to drift where it needed to go. It sickened me, honestly, and if it were up to me, I would send search parties out every day to gather them. In fact, I had even gone out and saved a few from being lost for centuries.

  “What’s that?” Huntley asked.

  “A lost soul. Someone who died under circumstances of his or her feeling lost. Souls like that usually drift for a long while until Charon comes across them or one of the Erinyes. Then they are judged depending on their circumstances,” I explained, not really wanting to go on any further. I should have thought before I spoke, but now it was too late.

  “What do you mean a lost soul?” he asked.

  I bit my lip, debating if I should say, but I knew I couldn’t lie. “One that potentially killed themselves to be here, whether it be on purpose or by accident.”

  He stopped talking. I knew something like that had to have happened to him, as this was where I spotted him one day from my bedroom window. I quickly grabbed A.J. and he helped me pull him out of the river, though A.J. did protest the entire time. I snuck him into the palace and told Father that Huntley simply appeared to be my next mentor, as I had many over the years to learn about human culture. He didn’t appear to actually believe me, but I could always win my father over with a convincing enough smile.

  I never told Huntley that was where I found him, and he still might not know. But after explaining why our boat just went past a soul that had been floating in the water, he probably put two and two together. I felt bad for those souls, as I knew most of them were destined for the Field of Asphodel, but they had to be found first. Though not all of them went there. And that was why I took Huntley under my protection from my Father, before he could be judged to go somewhere far worse.

  But now that he was with us, served time as my mentor, he could go to the Elysian Fields. That was where all the souls of my tutors went, as a reward if they weren’t already destined there. I hadn’t told Huntley this yet, as he would probably choose paradise over staying with me in the palace. It was selfish, yes, but he had brought me so much happiness that I couldn’t let him go. I couldn’t go back to being so lonely again.

  We came closer and closer to Oceanus. Goosebumps were appearing on my arms and I felt a chill in the air. If my father spotted us, I would have already known. With a snap of his finger, we would have appeared back in the palace, his wrath consuming us. We would face a stiff penalty. But it was quiet, he really had no idea that we had snuck out right under his nose.

  He was probably too busy arguing with Persephone some more. I had heard them last night, all night actually, Persephone throwing things at him as if it where all his fault that she could never find lasting happiness. Then again, I did the same thing when he tried to talk to me too, it seems I adopted some characteristic of my mother then.

  I didn’t like comparing myself to her, as I noticed more similarities between the two of us than I cared to admit. I wanted to be different from her, I wanted to show that I wouldn’t follow in her footsteps.
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br />   Maybe going to Earth wasn’t the best thing to do. It was what she would have done in my place; it is kind of what she always did.

  I wasn’t acting like her, I wasn’t trying to escape this place. I was trying to escape her. It had nothing to do with not loving this world, with not getting along with my father. It had to do with her saying that Earth was better than being with me. I wanted to know first-hand whether this was true.

  I kept that in my mind as we approached Oceanus. It looked like a starry sky, at least from what I had seen from pictures. It looked so beautiful.

  But I knew it was going to hurt like hell. Because, let’s be honest, didn’t everything in the Underworld hurt like hell?