Ankou wasn’t kidding. When we walked into the room there was a full scale argument taking place. War and Bo were present, along with their daughters, as well as Famine and Pestilence; even Hades was there. Robert stood in the corner, his arm around Tammara. I smiled across at her and she attempted to smile back. Her life was hanging in the balance just as much as mine was.
Death was standing next to his throne, yelling at his brother. “How was I supposed to know he would bring someone Kris would fall for? And it is hardly my fault that he then seduced her.”
“Seduced her?” War’s face was red with rage and he was spitting as he spoke. “My son has never seduced anyone in his life. Your son, however, is another matter.”
“Leave Ankou out of this,” Death said coldly.
“Leave him out of it? This is all about him.”
“Calm down,” Famine said, trying to intervene before the fight became physical. “I’m sure between us we can sort this out.” Pestilence, watching the heated discussion, seemed to be finding it a great source of entertainment.
I left Ankou’s side and positioned myself next to Kris, sliding my hand into his. “Are you OK?” he asked.
“No,” I replied. How could I possibly be OK?
Bo placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. “Do not worry. My husband will find a way to get through to Death.”
Spatha and Katana moved to either side of us, ready to defend their brother, should the need arise. Ankou joined us, winking at Katana as he did so. “Hi,” he said, making her face go scarlet. He obviously knew how she felt about him and enjoyed tormenting her.
Death and War continued to scream at each other.
“You have no right to do this to my son.”
“I’m not doing anything to your son. Who invited you here anyway? This is my house and I will not be dictated to by the likes of you.”
“I will never forgive you for this,” War snarled.
“He’s right you know,” Famine said to Death. “You are out of order. Find someone else for Ankou. There are plenty of other women out there.” Pestilence, I noticed, was staying out of the argument.
“Mind your own business,” Death snapped at his sister.
“That is enough.” Hades voice echoed around the room. “If you two cannot sort this out by yourselves, I will do it for you. Now give me the full details.” War and Death both started to talk at once. “One at a time,” Hades instructed, holding up his hand to silence them.
Between them, Death, Robert, Pestilence, Famine and War told their sides of the story. Hades already knew most of what Death had done, but not the full details. His face grew graver the more he heard.
The terms of the agreement between Death and Robert were discussed, followed by the challenges Robert had been faced with. Everyone agreed that each one had been successfully met. I watched Tammara as everything that Robert and I had been through was revealed. I expected her to be amazed at what we had faced in order to get her back, but she wasn’t. She seemed more angry than impressed. When all that needed to be said had been, Kris slipped his arm around me as we prepared for Hades to deliver his verdict.
Hades turned to War. “I’m sorry son; there is nothing I can do. I cannot help you.”
“Well I can,” a voice called out as its owner strode into the room. She was small, thin and old, but far from frail. Rhea walked up to Hades and glared at her son. “You have a lot to answer for.”
“Me?” he said in surprise. “What have I done?”
“You have let your children do whatever they like for far too long and now my great-grandson is paying the price. I will not have it, do you hear?”
“But what can I do about it?” Under different circumstances the scene would have been amusing. “A deal was made. You of all people should know that even we are bound by the terms, just like everyone else.”
Rhea clicked her tongue at Hades in disgust. “You always were the problem child.” She turned her attention to Death. “What were the exact terms of the deal?”
“Grandmother, what are you doing here?” he asked, ignoring the question.
“Attempting to undo your mistake.”
“But how do you even know about the deal?” Death continued.
“I’m your grandmother,” she said. “I know everything.” I, for one, believed her. “You yourself told us that Rob would be coming to visit to reclaim his girlfriend. The moment he entered the underworld I knew his intentions. I asked him if he really intended to hand Rachel over in exchange for Tammara and he confirmed he did.”
Well that explained Rob’s odd behaviour when he returned from having spoken to Rhea. It must have been a mixture of guilt and fear; guilt over his imminent betrayal of me and fear that Rhea would reveal his secret.
Rhea glanced in my direction and smiled. “I asked Rachel what she desired most. Without thinking, she said Kris. I think she was more surprised than I was.”
Kris pulled me tighter toward him. I could almost feel the smile on his face. Rhea continued. “I asked Kris about his intentions toward Rachel and he said he was planning on finding a way to get her to stay. That told me all I needed to know. I knew I had to do everything within my power to stop Rob from destroying this young girl’s life. So I ask again, what are the exact terms of the agreement?”
“I provide a suitable replacement and Death releases Tammara,” Robert said. “I have kept my side of the bargain, so your grandson has to keep his and there is nothing you can do about it old woman.”
There was a sharp intake of breath from more than one direction and I felt Kris tense beside me. “Show my mother respect or you will regret it,” Hades said.
Rhea walked up to Robert and stood facing him when she spoke again. “You pathetic little man. You are undeserving of a friend like Rachel. Or a girlfriend like Tammara,” she added. “The deal was for a ‘suitable’ replacement, was it not?” Robert nodded. “Then you have failed. Rachel is not ‘suitable’.”
“And why the hell not?”
“She is in love with another man, so therefore she will not make a suitable wife for Ankou.”
“But she wasn’t when I brought her down here,” Robert said.
“That’s your problem, not mine.” Rhea turned her attention to everyone else in the room, looking at each one for a moment before turning her gaze to the next. “That is my assessment of the situation. Does anyone disagree?” The silence was deafening.
“This is unfair,” Robert said. “You are changing the terms of the bargain. You cannot do that once everyone has agreed to them.”
Then the last person I was expecting to defend me spoke up. “Well I didn’t agree and nor did Rachel,” Tammara said loudly. She moved away from Robert, her face full of disgust. “What sort of man are you? Rachel is your best friend. You have known her for most of your life. How could you even think about doing this to her?”
Robert looked stricken. “I did it for you. I would do anything to get you back.”
“You are not the man I fell in love with. He wouldn’t betray his friends, no matter what the reason. I don’t know you anymore. I would rather stay in Hell than go back with you.”
“You can’t mean that,” Robert said in a broken voice. “I have given up everything for you.”
“I can and I do,” Tammara said coldly. She turned her back on Robert and addressed Death. “Can I go back to my room now? I would rather not be in his company any longer.”
“Not yet,” Rhea said. “There is one more thing that we need to talk about. The deal you made with Death. What were those terms?”
“I don’t think we really need to discuss that,” Death said, turning red and looking at the ground as though he was ashamed.
“It was perfectly fair,” Tammara said, not noticing Death’s reaction. “My life in exchange for my father’s. I didn’t realise that Death meant immediately, but knowing would not have made any difference.”
Rhea eyed her grandson suspiciously. “You haven’t t
old her, have you?” she said.
“Told me what?” Tammara asked.
“Death didn’t save your father,” Robert said, almost gleefully. “He was already cured by the time you made your bargain with Death. Looks like I’m not the only one who doesn’t tell the full story around here, doesn’t it?”
Tammara didn’t say a word. She just calmly walked up to Death and slapped him round the face. Then she turned to Rhea. “I presume this means I don’t have to stay.”
“Of course not, my dear. You have been conned. Death did not keep his end of your arrangement, so therefore you do not need to.”
“Then can I please go home. I want to see my father.”
“In a moment. There are just one or two things I need to get sorted first. War, Death,” Rhea continued, “you will shake hands and apologise to each other.” Both did as asked. “Kris, Ankou, your turn.”
The two young men hugged each other tight. “Good luck in your search for a wife,” I heard Kris whisper to his cousin.
“And you look after Rachel, because if you don’t I may well take her away from you.” It was not a serious threat. At least I hope it wasn’t.
“This has been a nice family gathering,” Rhea said. How she managed to keep the sarcasm out of her voice I have no idea. “But I have to be leaving.” She turned to go, then stopped and looked back at Death.
“One last thing. If I ever hear of you making a deal with a mortal when they do not really understand what they are getting themselves into, you will have me to answer to. Understand?”
“Yes grandmother,” was Death’s sullen reply.
“Now, it is time for you three to go,” Rhea said, looking over at Robert, Tammara and me.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Leave. Return home,” she explained needlessly. I knew what ‘go’ meant. It was the ‘three’ that was confusing me.
“I’m staying here. With Kris.” The man in question slipped his hand into mine as I spoke and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
“No, you are not. You’ve known each other for all of five minutes. That is not long enough to make such big decisions about your lives.” She looked at me with sympathy. “You cannot possibly know that you want to be together for all eternity. Once you move down here, you cannot go back, at least not for any length of time. There is no concept of time in the underworld. We do not age down here. Only when we go to the mortal world does time have any effect on our bodies. If you stay here, you will have to turn your back on everyone and everything you know.”
“I am prepared to do that.” I wanted to stay with Kris. Nothing else mattered.
“Well I am not prepared to let you. My great-grandson means a lot to me, all of my family do, and you will need to prove your dedication to him before I will allow you to stay with him.”
“That’s unfair,” Kris said. “Surely this is my decision.”
“It’s OK,” I said to Kris, placing my hand on his chest to prevent him moving closer to Rhea in a threatening manner. “I will do anything she asks.”
“Good. Return to your own world and, should you remain faithful to Kris, you can come back here via the same route you used this time at the next solar eclipse.”
“Alright,” I said. “When is the next eclipse?”
“The twenty second of July,” Kris said mournfully.
“That’s not too long,” I said. “I’m sure I can keep my hands off all other men till then.”
“Twenty twenty eight.” Oh. That explained why he sounded so depressed. I did some mental calculations.
“I will be 45,” I said quietly.
“That is unacceptable,” War said. “You cannot ask them to be apart for the next quarter of a century, Rachel aging while Kris remains young.”
“Those are my terms,” Rhea said. “Take them or leave them.”
“If Rachel is not allowed to remain here, then I will return to her world with her,” Kris said.
“No,” Bo called out. “You cannot do that. You will age and die.”
“But I will do it with Rachel.”
“I cannot let you do that,” I said, despite the fact that every part of me wanted him to.
“There is an alternative you know,” Death said. We all spun around to look at him. To be honest, I had forgotten that he was even in the room. “I can give Rachel the necklace that will reduce her aging. While she will live her life for twenty five years, she will only age by a handful. Five or six at most.”
“But you made that for your wife,” Bo said to him. “You would be prepared to give that up for my son?”
“It is the least I can do after what I have put him through,” Death said, pulling a small gold chain from around his neck and handing it to her. “So does that solve all of our problems?”
“No,” Kris said. “I cannot be parted from her for twenty five years.”
“You can and you will,” Rhea said sternly.
And that was it. My life had been mapped out for me and there was nothing I could do about it. We all argued for a while longer, even Pestilence, which surprised me, but to no avail. Rhea was mother to the gods and her commands had to be obeyed.
“Time to go,” Rhea said. I got warm hugs from all of Kris’s family, each one promising to come and visit me. Even Death, which I found a little creepy.
All except Pestilence. He said his goodbyes, but not in the warm and friendly way everyone else had and there was no mention of a visit. A sudden urge to irritate him overcame me.
“You like puzzles, don’t you Len.” He nodded his head enthusiastically. “Then I have one for you. Three men go to a restaurant for a meal. After they have eaten they each throw in ten dollars. The bill actually only comes to 25, so the waitress gives them each back one dollar and keeps the other two for herself. Three tens are thirty. Each man ended up paying only nine. Three nines are 27, plus the two that the waitress kept makes 29. What happened to the other dollar?”
A frown crossed Len’s face as he thought through all I had said. “I’ll have to think about it,” he said. “If I can’t work it out, when will you tell me the answer?”
I had been hoping he would say that. “When I next see you,” I told him. “That gives you about 25 years to try to work it out.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Well,” I said. “If you want to know the answer sooner, you will have to convince your grandmother to let me come back here, won’t you.” He started to mutter under his breath and turned his back on me.
Then it was Bo’s turn to say goodbye. She placed Death’s chain over my head and I studied the gold and glass pendant. It was a small, but incredibly detailed hourglass. I shook it and watched the minute grains of sand move around inside.
“Try to keep this on at all times,” Bo said. “It will only work while you are wearing it. When you take it off, you will age at a normal rate.”
“I will,” I said.
“It is going to be so hard for you,” Kris said. “Watching your friends age while you remain young. I cannot ask you to do that for me.”
I somehow managed to smile at him. “I’m not doing it for you; I’m doing it for me. I have found the man I want to grow old with. What does it matter if I postpone the aging process for a while?”
“How do we get back?” Robert asked. It had taken weeks to get to Death’s house. Neither of us relished the thought of returning the same way.
“I can create a portal that will take you back to the caves,” Hades said. “Whenever you are ready.”
Kris took me in his arms and it suddenly felt like there was nobody else in the room. “I am going to miss you so much.” His eyes were filled with tears and his voice was shaky.
His hair had flopped in front of his eyes again and I brushed it back with my hand. “Keep an eye on me,” I said. “I’m sure you can do that from down here somehow.”
“Always. And I will come and see you as soon as I can. Rhea will have to allow it eventually.” Then he pul
led me closer to him and kissed me, long and deep. I was not aware that we were being watched until we were interrupted by Ankou clearing his throat.
“She may want to breathe at some point,” he said to Kris, whose cheeks turned red as he released me. I dread to think what shade my skin had gone.
“See you soon, hopefully,” I said as tears streaked down my face. Kris still had hold of my hand and I didn’t want him to let go, but Ankou forced him to as Tammara gently pulled me away.
“I will take care of him for you, I promise,” Ankou said. I nodded my head. Then everything suddenly went black. The last thing I heard was Hades calling out. “I look forward to seeing you again Rob.” Then there was silence.
“Where the hell are we?” Tammara asked. ‘No longer in Hell,’ I thought sadly, but didn’t say anything.
“This is how we entered the underworld,” Robert said, though how he could tell we were back in the caves is beyond me. It was pitch black. When we had entered we had torches; now we had nothing.
“You may want these,” a voice said from somewhere up ahead and a beam of light suddenly filled the cavern. We were standing on the bridge, the river Styx below us. I walked forward and Ankou handed me the torch before passing Robert and Tammara one each. “You left your bag in Kris’s room,” he said and passed me my backpack. Robert’s he threw at him.
I didn’t thank him. Instead I asked him to take me back with him, but he refused. “You will see me from time to time though,” he said, then vanished.
“Follow me,” Robert said. “I know the way out.”
Knowing there was no alternative, Tammara and I did as requested and it did not take long for us to be back outside in the fresh air.
It was dark outside, which surprised me. It must have been nearly midday by the time we eventually left Hell, but up here it was night. At least it meant there were no tourists around to query where we had come from. On the other hand, would we find ourselves locked in?
We walked to the gate and found it chained together with a new padlock. Great. How were we going to get out?
“Hold on,” Robert said and rummaged through his bag. “I was hoping this would be here.” He pulled out what looked to be the same set of bolt cutters he had used to get into the caves.
Diary of a journey through Hell Page 27
