Hi! The next chapter has arrived :) I have nothing more to say, so I'll just say this: Enjoy!
I didn't wake up in my own bed, and from that moment on, I realised that it was indeed true. Everything had been true. I was currently in the underworld, in Hades's palace, together with his wife Persephone. And I was their guest, something for which I'd probably have to die.
I got dressed and decided to leave my room. I had no idea where to go, but I reckoned it couldn't be that hard. But when I left my room, I already felt like I was lost. I didn't know whether to turn left or right, but after hesitating for a long time I turned right, because I knew that the Romans saw left as an evil side. But soon, the marble walls of the corridor turned into rock. I turned around, and after quite a long search, I reached the room where we had had dinner.
Hades and Persephone were already eating. I immediately noticed that they suddenly were way smaller than they were yesterday, but I decided not to mention it, because for some reason it seemed rather rude. 'Morning,' I said and sat down. 'Morning,' Persephone said, and Hades mumbled something because his mouth was full of bread.
After my mind had finally awoken as well, I realised something odd. 'Excuse me, but why do you eat? I mean, you're immortal, so I reckon you don't need to eat,' I said. 'True,' said Hades. 'But we're very human-like, except we're immortal and some other things. And that's why we like to do human things. And eating is just a pleasant occupation, don't you think?' I nodded and smiled.
'So you don't get fat or skinny when you eat too much or too little?' Hades shook his head. 'But as you might know, we can change our appearances. That's why we are short today. We felt like that would be a little nicer and less frightening towards our guest,' he said and grinned.
'I actually don't look like this in real life,' Hades said. He closed his eyes, and a flash of bright light made me close my eyes. When I opened them, I saw a rather old man with black curls and a beard sitting where Hades sat. 'This is what I actually look like. When I go to heaven, I change my appearance back to this, but here, I always look like this. Otherwise Persephone would have to put up with, well, this,' Hades said, gesturing at his appearance, 'and I reckoned that my other look is slightly more appealing.'
'How utterly convenient,' I said and laughed. 'But that's not the only thing I can do. Watch this!' he said enthusiastically, and after a bright flash, a black horse was standing behind his chair. The animal neighed and pranced, but instead of going back to his four-leg position, it rested on his last two legs and he started walking around. It looked hilarious, and I started laughing uncontrollably.
Someone who was probably a room away from us suddenly shouted something in the language I had heard before. Persephone quickly pushed me under the table and gestured that I had to be silent. She shouted something back, which I couldn't understand as well. Persephone quickly transformed into the longer version of herself, and then the man whose voice we had heard, came into the room.
He was long, with black hair, a little bun on the back of his head, a pointy beard and a hat. I realised something, and looked at his feet. And as I had expected, I saw a pair of winged shoes. Hermes. He looked rather surprised when he saw the horse, and asked something. Hades transformed back into his true, bearded self and started laughing.
The three had a conversation, which I obviously couldn't understand, and then the long man disappeared with a loud pop. I sat down again on my chair, and looked at Hades and Persephone. They simultaneously transformed into the versions of them that I had seen this morning. Hades looked at me and started laughing.
'What did he say, if I may ask?' I said, trying to hold in my laugh. 'He asked why I was looking like that, and I said I was thinking about horsemeat so much, that I accidentally transformed into a horse,' Hades said and he started laughing uncontrollably.
'By the way, was that Hermes?' I asked. Persephone nodded. 'He came to tell us that I need to return to my mother in heaven soon. He said the exact same thing yesterday. My mother just doesn't have too much patience.' I immediately realised that in my world, it was nearly spring, which meant that the myth about the seasons was true.
'Will there be an eternal winter if you don't return to heaven?' I asked. Persephone shook her head. 'There will be a war between the Gods of mount Olympus and us here, because my mother will completely lose her mind if I don't come back, but we don't control the seasons. We don't control any natural process, actually. We don't create all humans, we aren't in control of natural disasters. However, we could create humans, natural disasters and seasons. If we wanted. But we haven't gotten involved with nature since everyone stopped believing in us. When people did believe in us, we sometimes did. Poseidon created earthquakes and floods, my mother, Demeter, sometimes ruined crops, Apollo created epidemics, Nike provided victories and so on. But we don't do that anymore. We do come to earth sometimes, but that's just for fun. We've all decided that, if we go to earth, we won't do anything that'll change things drastically.'
'But, is it possible that I've ever met a god, then?' I doubtfully asked. 'Yes!' Hades said. 'One of us might have sat right next to you on the bus! It is even possible that we've met before, who knows?' I grinned, but inside, I was extremely confused.
'Victoria,' Persephone said after we had finished dinner, 'how do you feel about changing into something underworld-worthier?' 'Great idea,' I said. 'I'd like to see how that will turn out.'
About fifteen minutes later, I was sitting in front of a dressing table, of course made out of black marble. I realised, once again, how weird it was that I really was in the underworld, with a goddess who was currently putting up my hair into a weird bun.
'Persephone?' I asked while she was bringing my hair to perfection. 'Is it true that you have been abducted by Hades? Because you seem very happy here, but I always thought that you were abducted and that you were some sort of prisoner of his.' Persephone started laughing. 'That's what I want everyone to believe. But I actually wanted to go with him. My mother always treated me like a little princess, perfect in every way, cute and princessy, but I just wasn't like that. I never showed my mother that, however. When I met Hades, I immediately liked him because of his imperfect way of being. After a few encounters, I begged him to take me with him to the Hades and marry me. Of course none of the gods came to our wedding, but I liked it a lot. And I still act like I'm very to come home when I go back to my mother in spring. I am always happy to see her, I really am, but I'd rather spend some more time with my husband, instead of just being here half a year. I just get really tired of pretending to be this fairy-like girl that I am not. I like wearing a black toga and cursing, instead of wearing my old, green toga and talking like little princess.'
'Done!' Persephone said after some minutes. There were no mirrors, and I had no idea what I was looking like. 'Put this on,' Persephone said to me and she threw a pile of clothes at me. I looked at it. 'How?' I asked. 'Just put that on,' she said, pointing at a white piece of cloth. 'If you have managed to put it on, call me. I'll help you with the rest.'
She left the room, and there I stood. I undressed, highly uncomfortable, and put on the white, shapeless cloth, keeping my underwear on. 'I'm done,' I shouted and Persephone entered the room again. 'Excellent,' she said. She grabbed the large piece of purple fabric. 'Like a true queen,' she said, looking at the "garment". 'Arms up,' she said. I did what she asked and she threw the dress over my shoulder. I had no idea what she was doing the following moments, but after a while, she stood still and looked at me. 'Like a proper Greek woman. No, a proper Greek queen.'
I looked down, and all I saw was purple fabric. 'Do you have a mirror somewhere?' I asked. Persephone thought for a moment, and then she shook her head. 'I guess we gods don't need mirrors, because we always look perfect, I guess. You could go to the Styx and look at your reflection.' 'That seems like a good idea. I've wanted to see the real underworld since the moment I got here,' I admitted. Persephone smiled. 'I'll show you the way.'
'Go down the stairs, and just keep on going straight through the Asphodel meadows. It takes quite a long time, but you'll easily find it. Have fun,' said Persephone and she winked. I thanked her, and started walking down the endless stairs that were, what a surprise, made out of black marble.
The Asphodel meadows. I remembered what I had once learned about the underworld. The dead could, as far as I knew, go to three places: the Tartaros, the Asphodel meadows and the Elysian Fields. Those who had lived very well, or heroes, just because they had divine blood, went to the Elysian Fields, where everything was happy. Those who had fucked up completely, for example by cutting and boiling their own son and then eating it for dinner, like king Tantalos did, would go to Tartaros, where they would be punished for all eternity.
When I reached the ground, I started seeing more and more ghost-like creatures. The souls of the dead. They floated a little above the ground and seemed unaware of everything that happened around them. Their faces didn't show any emotions, and their appearances didn't change as they moved. Their hair, for example, didn't wave as they floated from one place to another.
The souls were, just as most people imagine ghosts, translucent. They had all sorts of colours. You would expect to see a lot of old people, but I realised that people used to live shorter, and children died often, and young adults and adults also died from diseases. The most disturbing was seeing young babies and small children floating around, or young men in full armour and even young women, who I would still call children, with babies in their arms, who had probably died in childbed.
The weird thing was that I might have known some of these people, but I just didn't know how they looked so I couldn't recognize them. Maybe that old man with the stabbing wound was Julius Caesar, and the myth about his death was just exaggerated. Maybe that pretty woman was Helen, the woman who had unleashed the Trojan War. I wouldn't know.
By the time I had walked for about two hours, I saw three enormous statues. They were probably as big as two large houses. When I came closer, I realised that these three colossal things were enormous chairs, and three men were sitting on them. I kept walking, not knowing what to do. Luckily, they noticed me before I could say anything. They started talking enthusiastically. Once again I didn't understand. I cleared my throat. 'I'm awfully sorry, but I have no idea what you are talking about.' 'Ah, she's British! A British human! A human! A new soul! After all this time!' the first one exclaimed. 'But she's alive!' the second man said. 'That's right,' I said. 'I fell through some sort of hole in the human world, and now I'm here.' 'But why hasn't Zeus killed you yet?' the first one asked, without a trace of embarrassment or pity. 'He doesn't know about me yet,' I said, 'But I think he will very soon.' I was trying to sound casual, but it was hard since I had a big lump in my throat. I had never liked living that much, but saying this out loud felt very affirmative, definitive.
Nobody said anything, so I decided to just continue my journey. 'You should be proud, you know,' one of them suddenly said. I turned around and looked at him. 'You are one of the only humans to walk on the soil of the underworld. Only Herakles, Odysseus, Orpheus, Aeneas, Theseus and Perithous managed to come out of here alive, and they all had divine blood running through their veins.' 'Well, I wouldn't consider it strange, if Zeus has broken the promise. It's a thing for him to just secretly leave Heaven and create another baby.'
It felt like I had been punched in the stomach. I had never known my father. What if Zeus was my father? No, I would have noticed it. But it could be true. I could be a daughter of Zeus. What if this was destined? What if I was meant to come here? 'Where are you heading, young lady?' the third man asked, interrupting my wild speculations. 'I'm heading to the river Styx. Persephone dressed me up, and I was curious to find out what I look like with these robes,' I said. 'Well, I think you look wonderful,' the second man said. I smiled and thanked him, hoping he could not read my mind, for I was very annoyed by his "compliment". 'See you soon!' the first man said. 'Bye!' I said and waved. As soon as I turned around, my faked smile was gone. Weirdoes. I quickly walked away, to see how these surprisingly comfortable clothes looked on me.
After about an hour, I finally saw a river. As I came closer, I saw that the water was black and a little shiny. I looked at myself, and it felt really weird. I did look like a picture from a history book, but at the same time I looked way too modern. It was so weird that, even though I wasn't wearing make-up or anything that showed off my modern origins, I didn't look like an ancient Greek human. At least I didn't really look like one of the souls I had seen floating around here, but it was quite hard to imagine what they would have looked like alive.
'Well hello there, young lady.' I raised my head and looked at the man who said that. I saw an old man who had a crooked back. 'Good day,' I said, trying to hide the fact that he made me feel highly uncomfortable. 'I heard you talking to the judges, and I am just as surprised as they are to see a human here,' he said. I didn't know how to respond, so I just smiled. 'My name is Charon, ferryman of the underworld. But I haven't brought anyone to the other side for a long time.' Again I said nothing. 'But I could bring you to the other side. You know you'll probably be killed by Zeus if you stay here.' I looked at him. 'Seriously?' He nodded and smiled, showing some filthy yellow teeth. 'But I can't pay you,' I said. He examined me and smirked. 'I think you will.' I tried to stop from gagging and nearly shouted something very offensive, when he suddenly looked at something in great fear. I then heard something that sounded like a herd of elephants running towards us at full speed. I automatically closed my eyes, but seconds later, the sound stopped. I opened my eyes and saw the most enormous beast I had ever seen. It was a big, black dog with three aggressive-looking heads. Kerberos.
'H-Hello sweet doggy,' Charon stuttered. 'W-Who's a good doggy?' Kerberos growled and Charon cringed, making a weird squeaky noise. 'I didn't do anything, I-I swear! It was just a joke,' the old man cried. The enormous dog snorted, making slime fall down like enormous drops of rain. 'G-good dog. Now go back to your boss,' the old man said, still frightened. The dog looked at him, and then he turned his head to me. His six eyes stared at me, and I understood that he was waiting for me to go back. I slowly blinked, looked at my reflection one more time, and then made my way back to the castle.
After some steps, I smelled something horrible, and seconds later, a wind behind me nearly caused me to fall over. I slowly turned around and all I saw was the middle face of Kerberos, lying on the ground. I froze, not knowing what to do. I looked at the beast's enormous fangs, and realised it would be able to devour me in less than a bite. The dog, however, didn't seem like it wanted to kill me. On the contrary, actually: the two eyes on his middle head rolled upwards, as if to say that I could climb his head. He then laid his serpent-like tail on the ground in front of me. I hesitatingly wrapped my limbs around the beast's tail. I immediately felt that he raised his tail. I closed my eyes, and opened them again when I felt fur underneath my back. I released his tail and grabbed some fur. Kerberos had placed me in his neck, and from there I had a beautiful view over the Styx, and on the other side the Asphodel Meadows.
Without a warning, the enormous beast suddenly started running. I braced myself and grabbed some more hairs. I took a deep breath, and smiled as the wind of the underworld played with my long, raven hair.
After just some minutes, my mount stood still and bowed his head. I could easily walk over his neck and head, and jump off his nose onto the last stairs that lead to Hades' castle. I patted the beast on his nose to thank him. He started wagging his tail and softly barked. I waved at him as he ran off, and then I walked away myself to find Persephone.
'Back already?' Persephone asked when I arrived in the living room, where she was sitting. 'Yeah,' I said. 'Your pet gave me a ride.' She looked at me questioningly, but then she started smiling. 'Kerberos? Strange animal. He's never been very nice to visitors, actually. Orpheus was lucky he knew how to play that lyre of his, because Kerbie would've munched off his head if he didn't like his music that much.'
'Victoria,' she said after a short period of silence, 'Tonight I'm leaving Hades and the Hades, because spring will begin tonight and that means I have to go back to my mother. And I think you have to go with me. Zeus has to know about you. So, after dinner, you can pack your belongings and we'll go to Heaven.' I nodded. 'That's okay.'
'Persephone?' I said. My voice sounded fragile, which wasn't normal, but it was quite understandable since this probably meant that my life was about to end. 'Yes?' Persephone responded. 'Will he kill me?' Persephone sighed and sat down on the couch and gestured that I should do the same. 'I can try to hide it, or euphemise it, but truth is, I think he will. We don't want people to know our secret anymore. And since you know it... Victoria, I really like you, and I'll try my best to convince him that you're not harmful to us, but I don't know if he'll believe me.' I tried to smile. 'Doesn't matter. I'll be fine.'
'Good day, my dear guest and my dearest wife,' Hades said cheerfully when he suddenly entered the room. Persephone looked at him, and I luckily had some time to quickly wipe off my tears. Hades' smile faded as he saw the "shut-your-face" look on his wife's face. 'What... What's going-' he stammered. 'I just told Victoria that we have to go tonight,' Persephone said, without a trace of emotion on her face or in her voice. Hades now looked sad as well. 'I forgot about that. Tonight already? Can't you stay for one more day, darling?' he asked. Persephone grinned. 'Don't you remember the last time we tried that? We don't want that again, do we?' Hades smiled faintly. 'Okay, yeah, maybe it's better if you go. But before that, let's have ourselves a hell of a last supper.'
Hades did what he proposed; the meal was extremely delicious and we had a great time. In less than two days, I had nearly started to like these people more than I ever liked anyone. After dinner, I changed into my normal clothes; a dark pair of pants, a black singlet, a dark purple vest and a pair of old sneakers. I removed all the hairpins, which was quite a task, but I finally managed to get my hair back to normal. I took a deep breath. Back to normal. How I was, how I would soon die, and, since I now had no other choice than to believe in the ancient Greek gods, how I would forever be in the Asphodel meadows.
Persephone, who was now wearing a pretty green toga, was in the living room, saying goodbye to her husband. I waited for a while in the shadow of the corridor so I wouldn't destroy their little moment, but after a while I gently cleared my throat. They didn't seem to mind. 'Ready?' Persephone asked. I nodded.
'Thank you so much for everything,' I said to Hades as I shook his hand. 'No problem,' he said with a smile. 'It was nice to have a guest. I hope I'll see you again.' 'I do too,' I said softly. 'How are we going to travel?' I asked Persephone. She smiled. 'Just grab my hand.'