The Lost Soul

Megara thought that she and Adonis would be together forever. She could imagine what their life would be like far into the distant future, from their fairy-tale wedding to their dream home nestled cosily on the hills of Athens, or perhaps Thebes. But Meg did not count on one thing; Adonis having different plans.

It had been a normal day, until the afternoon when Meg had decided to take a walk in the hills of Athens after a day of lazily walking around town in the sunshine. She had not seen Adonis for much of the day but had not thought much of it. Meg wondered up a large hills, passing the time by daydreaming about how many guests would be at her and Adonis's wedding, should it be outside or inside, and should she and Adonis travel to Delphi or Macedonia for their honeymoon.

She was only awakened from her thoughts when she heard a noise coming from the far side of the hill. It was an odd sound, a sort of yelp like a wounded dog. Thinking little of it, Meg continued her walk , until she head the noise again, only this time it was louder and more frantic. Deciding whether to investigate or run back to town for help , the cry turned from noise into words: Help,

A shock of dreaded realisation ran over Meg as her brain quickly worked out that the voice she was hearing belonged to her beloved Adonis. She knew what she had to do. Meg began to run towards the cries for help, each one sounding more & more desperate and pleading each time as they echoed throughout the hills. Her breath became shortened and her pulse quickened , her sandals trampling the long grass in her haste.

The cries were becoming louder now, she was almost there. Reaching the far hill, she glanced around frantically for Adonis, but he was not there. Her hand came up to brush her hair out of her face, and felt t that her skin had become sticky with sweat. Where in the gods could he be?

It was then that her eyes fell on a cave, the entrance just wide enough & big enough for Adonis to squeeze into. Trying not to remind herself how much she hated the dark, she ran into the cave as fast as she could.

The cave itself was made from a dark blue stone , cold to the touch and stalactites hanging from the ceiling. Meg ran down the gap, but could see no sign of Adonis. Shouting out his name, a stalactite broke off from above and shattered on the cave floor like glass. Fortunately, luck appeared to be on her side as her shouting of Adonis's name was met with a reply of "Help me I'm down here". Meg followed the echoes of his voice even further into the cave until what seemed like a short millennia, she finally arrived in the middle of the cave.

Her eyes grew wide with fear, her body began quivering with anxiety and her mouth grew dry as a desert. When she tried to speak, her voice came out in barely audible stammers. Megara had turned into a shell shocked wreck as she saw her sweet Adonis hanging on by his fingers to a rough piece of hanging rock suspended high above a bottomless cavern. "Megie", Adonis said frantically. This jolted Meg's attention back to him. "I need you to get me down, please hurry".

A problem presented its self to Meg. By the time she would be able to run all the way back to Athens for help, the rock may have cracked or his fingers may have loosed from holding on for too long. But, she was not strong enough to help his weight and help him down , and either way she had no way of reaching him.

Meg closed her eyes tight and clenched her fists as she made a desperate silent prayer. " Anyone, please anyone who is listening, please help me. I cannot live without him so please , help me".

She opened her eyes , only to notice nothing out of the ordinary. Suddenly, waves of black smoke began swirling around her but she could smell no fire. Gradually, a light blue flame appeared and shadowy features of a face flickered into view until till they formed into a whole. Even though she had never actually seen that face before, she certainly recognised it.

Hades, Lord of the Underworld,

The worst came to mind almost immediately, so Meg moved directly in front of Adonis protectively and hissed at Hades threatienngly "You will have to go through me to take his soul", even though she could feel her teeth chattering.

Hades rolled his eyes impatiently, and responded, "Relax, I'm not here to take him away at least not yet. No, instead I'm here to make a what I would call a very fair deal with you."

Her eyebrows arched with surprise, which Hades took as a gesture to continue.

"Here's the deal, you sell your soul to me to ensure that I will save your boyfriend's life. Now do we have a deal?"

Meg's lips tightened , and she stepped very closely to him until they were almost nose to nose and whispered viciously:

"Read my lips big guy, forget it".

Instead of recoiling in anger, Hades merely smiled. "I'm going to give you one last chance to change your mind, but I should also warn you this is a limited time offer", he said as the rock Adonis was holding onto began to crack causing him to whimper, "Meg please".

"Going once",

She couldn't let Adonis die.

"Going twice".

She knew what she had to do.

"Okay, okay I'll do it".

Hades smiled darkly , and held out his hand which Meg reluctantly. For a second, a cold shudder ram over her, and it felt like something had been pulled out of her, catching her breath for a brief second. Releasing her hand , Hades said "I do believe we have a deal".

At that same moment, the rock snapped in two, sending Adonis into the pit. He and Megara screamed in unison, but dark pools of smoke broke his fall and placed him gently on the ground fast asleep. Meg rushed over to check his pulse, "He'll be fine", a sarcastic voice rang out, answering her silent question. "I'll be in touch ". The smoke disappeared as quickly as it arrived, leaving Meg alone with a sleeping Adonis.

The next two days began with clouds covering the sky, as Meg tended to Adonis's every need as he was still recovering from his ordeal. On the third day however, Meg was met with a rather unpleasant surprise

She looked up as she head the door open, and from it emerged Adonis. "Finally", she said softly wondering over to him. "I was wondering where you were ", wrapping her arms across his strong toned back and kissing his soft lips hungrily. Instead of kissing her back, his lips remained stiff and unmoving. Meg drew back to look at him concerned . " What's wrong ?", she asked worriedly. Adonis sighed , and turned away for a few seconds, before looking directly at her but avoiding eye contact. " Meg there is no way to say this, but I'm leaving". Meg looked confused. "Leaving what, Athens?" "No", continued Adonis, "I'm leaving you and Athens behind. You didn't really think we would really be together for ever did you?" Meg did not reply , she just stared at the ground dumbfounded and her mouth wide. "I've met someone else. Our ship leaves at noon".

As he turned to walk away, a large pot cracked against his skull. Turning back around , he was met with a white hot angry fuming Meg, who barely managed to utter the words , "Do you have any idea what I did for you?". "It was just cooking and cleaning ", said Adonis oblivious to how angry she looked. Meg did nothing when he walked out of the door for the final time, except run out of it a few minutes later after standing still shell shocked . She had sold her soul to the Lord of the Dead for all gods, and it was all for nothing. She did it to save his miserable life and that was how he repaid her by running out on her with some floozy from Athens.

Eventually reaching the river bank, she collapsed onto the ground and finally allowed herself to cry. Blearily opening her eyes a few hours later, she focused on the reflection of a light blue flame behind her. Turning around surprised, she was met by a grinning Hades who asked her a question:

"Now Meg, shall we begin?"

I thought of this when I read somewhere that Meg's boyfriend who she sold her soul for was Adonis.

* I don't know if anyone has read this but I only just noticed I uploaded the wrong chapter sorry.