by Simon Archer
However, it felt like seconds between the time I closed my eyes and the time that I opened them again. When I ventured back above deck, it wasn’t the same underwater ocean view that it was before. This time, we were surrounded by a sea of black. It shimmered like black sequins and while there was a certain level of beauty to it, I was intimidated by the lack of light.
We wafted upward to the surface of the river until we approached the Underworld. Daniella, Jade, and Bethany all gasped at the sight before them. We entered right in front of Hades’s door. The opening to his lair was flanked by different pillars with bowls of fire on them. Some bowls of orange flame floated in the black river, lining our path.
I felt that familiar warmth from the fire and relished in the comfort of it. It was also nice to go somewhere I had already been to before, and I recognized it enough to feel comfortable.
“This is… ” Jade started, but she couldn’t seem to find the right words.
“Intimidating as hell,” Bethany filled in the blanks for her. “I get the feeling that Hades isn’t a fan of unexpected visitors. Are you sure about this, Cam?”
“We’re here, now,” I said as I walked to the edge of the boat. “Might as well try.”
“Just don’t get off the boat,” Jade warned as she thrust a hand in my direction. “The Argo is protecting us from the ‘having to die’ clause in order to go to the Underworld. I can’t guarantee your safety if you leave.”
“Noted,” I said before I cupped my hands around my mouth and holler, “Hey Hades! Knock knock!”
My voice echoed throughout the cavern. It bounced off the walls and made the flames in the fire bowls flicker. When nothing happened, I picked up one of the spare knives we had on the ship and flung it straight at the door. It landed with a solid thunk right into the wood, and I leaned back, crossing my arms with satisfaction. There was no way the god of the dead would ignore that.
Just as I predicted, the door opened and a lithe man stepped out. Hades was a broad-shouldered man wearing his expensive and well-tailored suit. He had pale skin, like moonlight on a lake, with high cheekbones and a smooth forehead, devoid of wrinkles or blemishes. His hair was a salt and pepper mix, looking like a celebrity silver fox who belonged in Hollywood.
The god licked his lips and then looked from the knife in his door to the massive ship outside on his doorstep. He blinked a couple of times as though he was deciding on what to say to us.
“Long time no see, Hades,” I said, not giving him the chance to speak first.
“Cameron,” the god replied curtly. He nodded his head towards me and then yanked the knife out of the door. He twirled it, letting the tip balance against the tip of his pointer finger. “You make this one too?”
“As a matter of fact, I did,” I said.
“Hm,” Hades mused. He held it up in the air, against the light of the flames, examining it. “A little basic but solid.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“May I keep it?” Hades asked even though the next thing he did was stick the knife in his pants pocket where it seemed to magically disappear.
“Call it an offering,” I suggested. I dug my fingers into the side of the boat, knowing that I would have to address the reason we were there. I could only stall with small talk for so long.
“What brings you to my domain?” Hades promptly asked as he stuck both hands in his pockets. He sauntered forward, right up to the edge of the water. It was as close as either of us could be without invading one another’s territory.
“I have a favor to ask,” I started.
Hades eyebrows raised. “Another one? Well, aren’t we a greedy demigod?”
“I prefer hopeful, but you can pick whatever word you want,” I said, trying to keep the conversation as light as possible.
“Well, I don’t know what to tell you, but I haven’t had any recent loved ones of yours die,” Hades said with a simple shrug. “I don’t know what I could possibly do for you. And frankly, I’m running out of things you can do for me.”
“I need to borrow the Helm of Invisibility,” I said, deciding that frankness was the best possible route.
“I see,” Hades mused. He kicked a nearby pebble so that it flew into the black river below. “Define borrow.”
I released a heavy and audible breath of air. I glanced over at my friends who had all gathered on the upper deck by the steering wheel. I could tell that none of them wanted to partake in a conversation with the Lord of the Underworld, and I figured that was fine. He was a scary dude, and I remembered feeling the same way the first time I met him. So after knowing I wasn’t going to receive any help from my friends, I turned back to Hades and laid it all out for him.
“Hephaestus is an ass,” I began which caused Hades to bark out a laugh. He covered his mouth, as if he surprised even himself, but then he gestured for me to continue so I did. “He’s not going to help me with the Ultimate Weapon like I need him too. So I’m going to go to the gods I’ve already made weapons for, ask for the magical weapons back, and make the Ultimate Weapon out of those. Once we’ve defeated Eris, I swear on the life of my mother that I will make the same weapons for you and the other gods again.”
“I see,” Hades said after a significant pause. “Who are the other gods and what have they said to your proposal?”
“Aphrodite and Atropos, but I haven’t asked them yet,” I replied. I shot a sideways glance at Jade, thinking of her brilliant idea to get the Argo here. “I haven’t exactly figured out how to get a hold of the other two yet. I have a thought about Atropos but Aphrodite, I have no idea.”
Hades sucked on his teeth. Just then, he began to pace back and forth along the edge of the river. “And am I correct in assuming you need this decision quicker than I would normally be inclined to give it?”
“According to the Fates, chaos is going to reign at dawn, so yeah, I’d need an answer as soon as possible,” I said, letting my words tumble out of my mouth, revealing my sense of urgency. “What do you say Hades?”
The god of the dead inhaled and exhaled deeply. His dress shoes clicked along the rock floor as he paced about contemplating his decision. I did my best to not let my impatience show. I didn’t want to rush him because if I did he might just say no and then we would be worse off. However, we were wasting time down here and we still had two other gods to find and ask.
“Well I don’t want to be the one to set precedent,” Hades concluded after another silent minute. “I think the three of us gods should decide together.”
My eyebrows shot up to my hairline. “I mean, that would be great. But I don’t know if we have time--”
“Nonsense,” Hades said as he waved his hand nonchalantly. “I’ll just ask them to hop on over and then we can get their opinion.”
I wanted to ask him how he was going to do that, but I held back my stupid question. Hades was a god. I didn’t need to ask how his magic worked. If anything, it seemed rude.
The god of the dead crossed back to his front door and gestured to the two bowls of fire on either side. He wiggled his fingers as if he was dialing an invisible phone number in midair. Both hands moved simultaneously until the flames flicked to two completely different colors from their standard orange. One was the familiar sickly green, the same shade that I saw when I contacted the Moirai through the Eternal Flame. The second bowl off to the right glowed a bubble gum pink, which I assumed was Aphrodite’s color.
“Hello brethren,” Hades spoke to the flames. “I’m sorry for the unexpected intrusion but it would seem a mutual friend of ours has paid me an unplanned visit. I would request your presence immediately to help sort out a rather important matter.”
“Hades,” one of the Moriai whined through the green flame. It flicked in time with her cadence. “What if I don’t want to?”
“Well luckily, Lachesis, this really only concerns Atropos so you may skip the visit if you like,” Hades replied with a surprising amount of tolerance.
“Me?”
the flame said, but this time with a completely different voice. “Why ever would you need just me?”
“Because that is what our friend requested,” Hades replied with a simple eye roll.
“Who is this friend?” Aphrodite asked from her pink flame. “We don’t tend to run in the same circles, Nephew.”
“It would seem this demigod has made a couple of things for us in the past couple of years,” Hades said, finally revealing his hand. “I think we owe it to him to at least hear him out.”
“Cameron, son of Hephaestus is there? In the Underworld? With you?” Atropos gawked. “But I haven’t had the pleasure of cutting his string yet!”
That statement made my mouth run dry. I tried not to think about the implication of the goddess’s words as the conversation continued.
“It would seem he’s found a clever loophole in order to visit me,” Hades said, the first sign of annoyance coming through in his voice. “That should tell you how urgent this is, along with the fact that this request comes with my endorsement.”
The green flame spluttered quickly, as if Atropos was blowing a raspberry. “This is ridiculous, but I will come only because it gets me away from these two for a bit.”
“Take all the time you need, sister,” Lachesis sneered, coming back on the line again. “I’m sick of looking at your ugly face.”
“I think I’m going to have to decline, Hades,” Aphrodite answered.
My heart sank abruptly. I knew that it would be tricky getting all three of these weapons again, but I really thought I would have the most trouble with Hades, not Aphrodite.
“Oh, mother, don’t be like that,” came a new melodic voice from the pink flame. I recognized it instantly as Harmonia’s voice. “Just see what the son of Hephaestus wants. He did free me, after all. We have him to thank for these last months together.”
It actually warmed my heart a little to hear that. While the Olympian gods didn’t always make for the best parents, my dad being a prime example, to know that mother and daughter were reunited and happy about it was a bit of warmth in this dark hour. My girls seemed to agree. Bethany beamed, as Jade and Daniella put their arms around her and melted a bit at the show of familial love.
The pink flame flickered as Aphrodite sighed. “You know I can’t say no to you, my dear.”
“Then that is a yes?” Hades asked both flames.
Before either of the immortals had a chance to respond, their respective flames went still. A single flame, in the shape of a raindrop, plucked away from the larger flame. It looked like a falling petal from a flower as the green and pink ones floated down to the ground. The minute they touched the rocks, they began to expand. Each of them formed into a humanoid shape, until the flame extinguished completely. When the flame disappeared, they left two women in their wake.
Atropos still wore her skinny black dress and short-cropped black hair which she put behind one ear. She fluttered her eyes at Hades, though the sight was much creepier than lustful because of her ebony eyes.
Aphrodite appeared in a flowy white dress that hugged her body, giving her curves for days while the blond hair curled in a perfect spiral updo atop her head.
When the three of them appeared before me, I nearly fell off the boat and into the water. I had experienced each of their auras of power on an individual level but now having three gods in front of me, felt as though I’d stepped onto Jupiter. My muscles strained from the weight of their very being and I struggled to keep my eyes open.
“That’s quite a loophole, Hades,” Aphrodite said suddenly as she looked up and down at the Argo docked in the river.
“You’re telling me,” Hades said with a sigh. “After all this is over, I’m going to have to reexamine my security measures.”
“Speaking of which,” Atropos said as she popped her lips dramatically. “What is ‘all this’ exactly?”
Hades held out his hand towards me. “I think it best if Cameron explained himself.”
I forced my eyes to stay open and my focus to remain on the three powerful immortals in front of me. As much as my gut was screaming to run away from them, I stayed firm and asked them exactly what I needed to.
“I want to borrow the weapons I made for you each. The Helm, the Scissors, and the Girdle so that I can make the Ultimate Weapon,” I said, regaining strength as I spoke. “I swear to make you new ones the minute that we defeat Eris. It will be the first project I work on. But I need those blessed items or we won’t have a chance to defeat the goddess.”
“This is rather unorthodox for gods to hand over their weapons to a demigod,” Aphrodite commented.
“That’s not true,” I spat, my Oracle powers kicking in. “Athena gave Perseus a shield to help him defeat Medusa. Zeus gave Heracles the bow to defeat the Hydra. How is this any different from those instances?”
“How do we know that you’re going to use the weapons for what you say you are?” Aphrodite challenged. She curled her hands into fits and put them on her hips, cocking one out to the side. “How do we know you aren’t going to don all of these enchanted items and never remake them for us?”
I pursed my lips, a stubbornness surging through my body. “I have done everything all three of you have asked of me. I have given you no reason to doubt my word, even in the most tempting of situations. My destiny is to make the Ultimate Weapon and if the only reason you’re refusing to help me is because you question my honor, then you are fools.”
Hades’s lips curled into a smirk at that while Aphrodite scowled and Atropos sneered.
I knew that calling the gods fools wasn’t necessarily the best choice, however, I hated that they questioned me just because I was a demigod. I had always done everything right by them. Hadn’t I proven that I wasn’t like the Greek heroes before me who used trickery and deception to get what they wanted? I used my hard work, my will, and my honesty to achieve the tasks laid at my feet. If they were ever going to trust a demigod, I was the one.
Hades looked to his immortal companions and the three of them shared silent glances. I didn’t know if they were literally speaking to one another in their minds or if they were just reading one another’s expressions. However, in the next moment, it didn’t matter because I was soon let in to their decision.
Hades, Aphrodite, and Atropos stepped forward with their hands outstretched. Magically, the three items--the Helm, the Girdle, and the Scissors--appeared in the appropriate immortal’s hands. The items floated up so that they now rested at eye level with me. I reached out and grabbed each of the weapons, cradling them in my arms.
“Since your major battle is supposed to take place tomorrow morning,” Aphrodite said with an unmistakable lilt of sass, “I expect my new girdle within twenty-four hours.”
“Same with my scissors,” Atropos said with a glare. “That is if you don’t die before then.”
My blood went cold in response to her words. The goddess had a point. The immortal beings made this deal with me assuming that I would live to actually complete my destiny, not something that guaranteed to every hero.
Regardless of her haunting warning, I puffed out my chest and responded to the gods. “Not to worry. I don’t plan to have you cut my string for a long time.”
32
Jade navigated us out of the Underworld with ease. The water around us transformed from the empty blackness back into the clear blue. Over the course of the journey, the four of us plotted how to get back to campus undetected. It was a lengthy conversation, full of arguments and various courses of action. Right as we approached the bottom of the lake at the Academy, we finally had our roles straight.
“Everyone clear on what they’re doing?” I clarified as I looked around to my three friends.
Jade stood strong on the upper deck of the ship, guiding us to the surface. She had two swords strapped to either side of her hips. Daniella leaned against the mast with her arms crossed over her chest. She pushed her glasses up her nose with one hand while she twirled a knife in
the other. Bethany gripped the side of the boat, her leg jiggling in anticipation. Between her fingers, she rubbed a short spear, more useful to her than any of the metal attached to the rest of us due to her multiplying abilities.
I stood across from them all with Aphrodite’s girdle slung over my shoulder like a wrestler’s championship belt, Atropos’s scissors in my pocket, and Hades’s Helm of Invisible tucked under my arm.
Once I got confirmations from all three of them, I took a deep breath in. Before I could even get my words out, Bethany cut me off.
“I swear to the gods, Cam, if you start with some ‘I may never you all again’ bullshit, I will tear your vocal cords out. I don’t want to hear it. We’re going to fight and we’re going to win. There’s no need for goodbyes, got it?”
Her voice and her glare were so firm, her pursed lips making her cheekbones all that more prominent, I didn’t have to nerve to dispute her. Plus, I didn’t really want to say goodbye. It seemed like bad luck before going into a battle.
“Fine then,” I said with a shrug, trying to act more confident than I felt. “May Tyche bless us all.”
“We could use it,” Jade muttered. Then she turned her gaze above. “Alright everyone, get ready. We’re breaking the surface in three… two… one…”
Right on cue, the Argo’s mast poked through the bubble as we rose to the surface once again. All of us watched the water trickle down the sides of the air bubble until it disappeared and we were floating rightly on the campus lake.
We didn’t have much time before dawn. The sky was still dark but had streaks of purple and pink running through it, signaling the oncoming sun.
With one last glance at my friends, I placed the Helm of Invisibility over my head. There was a cold wave that splashed down my hold body as I blended in with my background. While I had promised the gods I wouldn’t run away with their weapons, I hadn’t promised that I wouldn’t use them. It just seemed like too good of an opportunity to pass up, especially when we were trying to sneak on campus.
