Hades’ Daughter (The War of Fate)

by Charlotte Carol

  The demons must have permission to move from the lake to the human world. Someone works at the gate constantly to allow people through. Souls are physically unable to leave once they come through the gate. I don’t know how the demons and angels come back through the gates once they are out, but I believe it has something to do with a certain grave in every graveyard. They need a way of coming back; otherwise, Earth would be overrun with them.

  I turn my attention back to the souls standing like statues on the dark sand, waiting to be taken to their different destinations, watching me in fear.

  “You can officially start the party now I’m here,” I tell them with a grin.

  When they continue to stare at me, I sigh. “Take a picture. It lasts longer. Oh wait, you can’t! Hearing me, Dad? You should have looked at that!”

  I wait a moment for my dad to reply. I don’t know if he has left yet. I get my answer when thunder reverberates through the place. I smile.

  “Always know how to make an entrance, don’t you, Scar?” someone says behind me.

  I spin around, my smile turning sarcastic. A boy my age meets my eyes. His blonde hair is bright and almost luminescent even though we are standing in the dark. His hazel eyes look down at me as he stands tall above me. I feel even more dwarfed by his strong build.

  “Jack! What a lovely surprise!” My sarcasm leaks into my tone as I look around for a way out.

  “I hear Hell’s still Hell, probably because you’re still there.”

  My mind goes to what my dad said.

  “Hell’s meant to be scary, but I was actually going to ask you whether Uncle P, your dad, has had enough of you yet. Is he sending you back with me? Is that why you are here? Oh, wait, I would probably kill you before the first day is over, so it looks like your dad is stuck with you, unfortunately. Now, if you excuse me, I have souls to sort.”

  I turn on my heel and walk towards the gates where the lines of souls are waiting to be sorted. I turn back before I get too far and call back to Jack, “Say hey to the Olympus family for me.”

  As you have probably guessed, Jack, Poseidon’s son, and I don’t get along. It’s not that I don’t like my family; it’s just Jack’s personality. I turn back and approach the guards who are sorting the souls. I walk to the closest and tap him on the shoulder. When I recognize him, I address him by name.

  “Brian,” I greet him with a nod.

  My hand extends for the only device that works down here. It’s a sort of electronic tablet which has an ever-updating list of the dead souls that have not been sorted. Once you have a name, the device shows you information about the soul and tells you whether they should be in Olympus or the Underworld. It’s only programmed to do that and nothing else.

  I turn on the device once Brian passes me one. A message pops up asking for authorization and proof that I’m not a soul. I type in my unique password—my mother’s name, Candice—before pricking my finger. The device scans my blood for demon or angel qualities and any signs of duress; souls heading toward Hell will do anything to get on the other boat. After the device is happy that I’m rightfully in charge of the tablet, a list of dead souls appears on the screen, my name in the upper corner. Being the daughter of one of the many gods, I have administrative access. Now logged in, I move to the end of the line of waiting souls.

  “Next!” I command.

  A kind-looking old lady toddles toward me, a smile on her face even though she is dead.

  “Excuse me, dear, would you mind telling me where I am?” she asks. That explains why she’s so happy.

  “The afterlife, the promise land, whatever you want to call it.” I try to be as gentle as I can; after all, I’m telling her she’s dead.

  “Oh. I hope my daughter is alright,” she comments with a sad smile.

  I admire her for being frank and selfless about it. I return her smile as I ask for her name.

  “Beatrice Moore,” she answers.

  I type her name into the search bar; otherwise, I would be here all day searching through the hundreds of names manually. Luckily, this time, she is the only Beatrice Moore to have died recently. I click on her name and scan her information. She’s ninety-six, and she died from old age.

  “Congrats, you’re going to Heaven.” I motion to the line of patiently waiting souls at one of the docks. I look down at the tablet as she thanks me and walks off. I press the “sorted” button, and Beatrice’s page disappears. The screen shows the list of names again.

  “Next! I command again.

  A man in his late twenties saunters to me, giving me a once-over, a smirk on his lips. Creep! I have a feeling what line he’ll be in.

  “Name?”

  “Bradley Davis,” he replies cockily. “What’s yours, sugar?”

  I ignore him as I enter his name, getting three results back. I click through them, looking up from the tablet every so often. One Bradley was sixty, so I know it isn’t him, unless he aged really well, which I doubt. The other two are closer in age. The device doesn’t tell you any physical features, only the age, the way they died, and where they are heading, along with the reason why. One Bradley died from cancer, and the other from an overdose. Both are heading to Hell.

  I sigh when I look him over, trying to find a clue, but he could have died either way. Not wanting to encourage any more conversation with him, I force myself to open my mouth anyway.

  “Put your hand on here,” I say in a bored tone, trying to let him know I’m not interested in him. I turn the tablet around, allowing him to place his hand on the screen.

  I wait for five seconds before the device beeps. I pull the tablet back to me and see the Bradley who died from the overdose is standing in front of me. He had killed and raped two people. What a surprise! We only use the hand scan as the very last resort to stop the souls from having a chance to steal it. I press the sorted button and look back at Bradley, motioning with my thumb to the unruly line behind me.

  “Oh, you have been a naughty boy, haven’t you, Bradley? You’re in my line. Get ready for an eternity of pain and torture.”

  He looks from the line to me. I give him a smile, my eyebrows raised. A groan leaves his lips before he reluctantly walks toward his Hell-filled future.

  ***

  I carry on helping until I get bored of interacting with all the souls, so I decide to stand back and supervise. I keep the tablet just in case I need to use my admin. I am looking around at the souls huddled on the shore when I see a boy around the age of six wandering around, looking lost and confused. I don’t see anyone helping him, not even the angels standing around, so I decide to.

  I step into his path, and he looks up at me his eyes filled with fear. I give him a reassuring smile and ask for his name, which he hesitantly gives.

  “Well, Tim, it says here that you should go to Hell for gang activity. It says you stole.” I raise my eyebrows in shock. He’s only six!

  “I didn’t want to do what I did,” he tells me on the verge of tears.

  “If you understand that what you did was wrong, then I think I can make an exception. Don’t repeat your actions, okay?” I explain with a caring smile as I use my admin access to change his course. There are enough souls for the demons to torment that they will be able to go with one less soul today. That’s why the tablet searches for signs of duress; souls have been known to demand to go to Heaven when they’re meant to go to Hell.

  I point Tim in the right direction, wishing him luck. Once he has started in the right direction, I go to stand back where I was but am stopped when I hear a commotion behind me.

  I turn to find that a soul from the line for Hell has made a break for it, trying to get to the line leading to Olympus. Some of them are just stupid enough to try running to the other line. Luckily, the guards have been able to stop him from getting very far, but that doesn’t stop some of the others from trying. The guards struggle with them, pushing the mob back.

  I grunt angrily, as this happens a lot, before shouting
in my devil voice. “Enough!”

  Everyone stops. I storm to where my line is frozen. “The boat will be here any second! Just wait patiently until then, if you know what patient means! You’re giving me a headache!”

  Nearly all of them listen and return to an orderly line. I say nearly because one of them still thinks he can make a run for it. I run at high speed until I am standing in their way.

  “Thought you could make a run for it?” I ask. He has the decency to look to the floor when I am talking to him. “You’ll have to be punished.”

  I let my fangs descend and sink them into his neck. His pained screams fill the cavernous space. If there is malicious intent, if a demon wants to hurt the person they’re biting, then—I was told—that the pain is unbearable. Otherwise, a bite is usually pleasurable. His blood is alright; I’ve tasted better.

  Once I’ve made my point, I remove my fangs, seal the wound with a lick, and drag him by the arm back to the line.

  “Now, does anyone else want to try their luck? Feel free. I’m still hungry.” I get shouts of protest and denial. “Good. Now, shut up!”

  I massage my temple; the heightened hearing can be a curse sometimes. But other times, it’s very useful, like now, as I can hear the boats making their way to the shore. I move past the now calm line, some of them moving out of the way and nearly falling into the murky, turbulent waters below.

  I get to the end of the pier and tap my foot as I wait for the boat to pull up. The person at the front of the line watches me warily. I flash them a quick smile before I look over at the other pier.

  I see Jack similarly standing at the end of the pier talking to the souls near the front. I envy how calm and nice his line is, but I would never swap jobs for the world. As if he can sense me watching him, he looks over to me and smirks. I narrow my eyes and stick my tongue out at him.

  Before I realize what is happening, a wave comes crashing down on me, soaking my clothes through. Jack’s loud chuckle carries over the water. Of course, he would use his powers!

  I contemplate throwing fire back, but I think against it, knowing I would be told off for going against the whole reason of Olympus. Spoil sports.

  I groan and light a fire in my hand (another inherited power). I move it over my body to dry my clothes. The fire I create is different to the one in the ground; this one is much more harmful to demons. It doesn’t kill them, though.

  I look up and see that the souls are watching me curiously. “What? You’ve never seen someone dry their clothes before?”

  I put the fire out and turn to the boat which is now making its way past the pier. I examine what I can see of it, which is the bottom of the side of the ship. The metal seems rusty and grimy as if it will fall apart, but this is just a facade for the souls, as under the rust and grime, it is made of a strong metal that is as good as new. The deck holds a cabin where Charon controls the boat, while the outside is patrolled by guards. Charon looks like a stereotypical pirate from Earth, a scraggly beard clinging to a scarred, dirty face, his body clothed in a filthy, dark cloak. However, unlike a stereotypical pirate, his eyes flicker with fire.

  The inside of the boat, where the many souls will be placed, is just as bad as the outside. The floor is rotting, and the whole space has the most disgusting smell. This is the reason why I never use the boat; however, the demons crossing never mix with the souls below; they always stay on the deck.

  The boat making its way to Olympus is the extreme opposite. My dad describes it as a palace on a boat, and I agree.

  Eventually, the boat stops, and one of the guards on patrol jumps down to open the latch for the souls. Black boots thud as they hit the wood. I look past the black uniform of a guard, which is stretched by the normal tall, broad build of most guards, and my eyes finally land on a familiar face.

  I smile. He may be muscular and taller than me, but I’ve kicked his ass many times. Adrian is one of my closest friends; he has been there for me my whole life. The skin around his blue eyes wrinkles as he returns my grin. Adrian moves out of the way of the demons and stands beside me.

  “Scar, I haven’t seen you here in a while,” he says, pulling me into a side hug. I watch the demons walk down the pier, leering and snarling at the souls as they go.

  “Yeah, my dad finally allowed me up to Earth for the year, after I have worked here for two days as a clause of the deal.”

  “You made a deal with the Devil. You know that’s dangerous,” he says with a wink.

  I chuckle; I’m going to miss him and his jokes.

  “Oh, well, I’ll just have to deal with the consequences whatever they are. I can’t wait to go up!”

  “Cool. Bring me a souvenir back?”

  “Of course, I will,” I tell him, reaching up and ruffling his blonde hair.

  The last demon jumps down from the boat, letting us know it’s time to board the souls.

  “All aboard. Next stop: Hell,” I say and make a train noise.

  Adrian laughs at me and at the souls’ expressions.

  The one at the front looks from me to the top of the boat. “You’re not expecting us to jump like they did, are you?”

  Adrian is about to respond, but I stomp on his foot before he can get anything out.

  “Yep. All the souls have done it in the past, so it’s possible.” I lie. The soul’s eyes widen, and he gulps. “Go on. We don’t have all day. There are more souls to board after you.”

  The soul closes his eyes before he runs and does a feeble jump, not even getting close to the deck. I sigh, pretending to be annoyed.

  “Well, I guess you’re going to be difficult. You’ll have to go the other way. You’re the first one who couldn’t do it, by the way,” I tell him and let down the ramp on the side of the boat. I stand by the opening, letting him and the rest pass, snarling at them every so often, causing them to flinch away. Once they are all in the boat, I turn to Adrian who is looking at me.

  “What did you do now?” he asks amusedly.

  “I may or may not have bitten one of them.” I return with a sheepish smile. His amused smile becomes bigger.

  “Been up to any other trouble lately?” he asks, already knowing the answer. I usually do, and sometimes, it’s even with him. I explain to him about painting the sign.

  “My dad didn’t like it, so he gave me a lecture on how Hell is meant to be scary, and if I wanted to welcome them, I may as well throw a party here and say, ‘Hell’s not that bad. We have cake,’ which we do…” I realize I am rambling, and Adrian chuckles.

  “Well, I should go. I have to get these back,” he tells me, indicating the boat with his thumb. “Have a great time gallivanting around Earth without me, if I don’t see you before.”

  I nod, telling him I’ll see him soon. I move back down the pier a bit, watching as Adrian jumps back onto the boat. Seconds later, the engine starts, and the boat sputters toward its destination over the rocky waves. I look over to the other pier and see that the boat for Olympus has started as well, moving over the calm water. It’s almost like the lake is two separate bodies of water.

  Once both boats have disappeared, I turn around and get back to work (standing around and doing nothing is more like it). I don’t see Adrian again today when the boats continue to travel back and forth.

  It’s a couple more hours until I decide to go home. I am just picturing my room when I hear the boats coming back, the voices of the demons and angels working the “night” shift floating toward me just as I disappear.

  Chapter 3

  Don’t Miss Me Too Much

  The following days fly by without any more trouble than usual. It’s the night before I go to Earth, and my dad has called me down to his office to talk to me.

  I enter to find that he is sitting behind his desk, his hands clasped together in front of him. The room is big enough to hold all his furniture and him comfortably. A bookshelf stands by the wall to the side of his big desk, holding an assortment of books. A reasonably sized filin
g cabinet sits in the opposite corner by the door. Although the room is not huge, it seems like it is because of the glass wall behind my dad and the desk. The view is of the whole of Hell, the demons and souls walking about below. This was my favorite place to come when I was a kid, and it still is. It’s the only place where you can watch the movements of Hell in peace. I would press my face up against the glass and imagine what it will be like when I take over. It’s hardly changed.

  I sit down in the chair opposite my dad, leaning my elbows on the table, and resting my head atop my hands.

  “I wanted to go over the accommodation and details of your trip,” he says.

  “Cool.”

  “I have been able to acquire you a house for the year, on the beach just outside of Miami. Like promised, I have also been able to obtain you a black Yamaha R15 and a white Aston Martin Vanquish for you to use. You are enrolled in the local school in grade 12, and I expect you to attend. You wanted the whole experience,” he quickly adds when I start to protest.

  I grumble but allow him to continue. I should have known; there’s always a clause you don’t know about with my dad. “When you arrive, it will be Sunday, meaning you will have school the next day. You will have all the correct documentation that you will possibly need at your new address. Your house will also have everything that you may need. There is a bank account that you can access with this card, but I don’t want you spending it all straight away and on trash, got it?” He hands me a card.

  “Yes,” I respond, snatching the card from his hold and examining it.

  “You have wanted one your entire life, so I have found you a phone. I have been able to get reception down here for a phone for me so we can contact each other, but don’t expect it to be a permanent feature. It will stop as soon as you come back.”

  “Where is it?” I ask eagerly.