Well all you lovely people reading this, in case you don't know The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, it's the ultimate tragedy (Comedy only used to describe the vernacular of Dante's day, as a Comedy was written for the common man and a Tragedy was for the wealthy). Anyway, Percy jackson has lost the love of his life and s wandering without hope for the future. Until the ghost of a familiar "friend" appears. Note: This is AU (no Gods/Demigods known to Percy or anyone alive), OOC, and set in 1500 A.D.
Also, characters are Rick Riordans, and the story is mostly Dante's, with my own add-ons.
Perseus Jackson's A Divine Comedy
Inferno
Canto II
As we entered the earthly gate of rock, from which the warning glowed a deadly red before we entered, a new sight became present before my unprepared eyes. The violent reds and browns of Hell portrayed by the great artists has nothing on the truly grotesque and macabre horror of Hell itself. The gates of Hell are not what I expected; they are beautiful in a very haunting way, and I imagine that if they were designed to be Hells entrance, than God's entrance into Heaven must be a million times more spectacular. But I will have to first survive Hell to reap the rewards of Heaven, and just from this first glance, it will indeed be a long journey. But before I can take a single step further, Nico puts his arm on my shoulder.
"Perseus, I bid you, please look around and tell me what you see before we enter the Nine Rings of Hell. What do you see?" Nico says eerily, and I feel for the first time shivers travel across my skin from the sights that surround the outside of the gate.
I see the forms of several men, who look like they overindulged in life and did nothing for anyone else. I see those who were neutral in life and never passed a judgement when they should have. I see men like Pontius Pilate, the man who condemned Jesus the Christ to death on the Cross and absolved himself of any role in it. And it seems for this, he, and all the others, are in a perpetual state of greed only to be constantly harassed by hornets and wasps while being consumed alive by maggots for eternity. It is not a pretty sight, but these men all chose to not commit to good nor evil, and so this seems to be their eternal punishment.
I turned to Nico to see a horrifying look of pleasure and sadism across his face before he reverts to his stoney face. "Nico, these men did no great evil nor great good. This is where they rest, amongst the fallen angels who either lost or did not fight in Lucifer's Rebellion against God." I said, almost as question hoping I had guessed correctly.
Nico gave me a curt nod before he faced away from me and spoke quietly. "This is not where you would have rested Perseus, but you have absolved yourself of being uncommitted and are now an active part of this journey to salvation from the Lord. Perhaps a prayer for guidance and protection is in order Perseus, for it may be the offering the Lord wishes to receive.
I cleared my throat and began pulling my years of church schooling to remember how lousy I had been in my formal education, but I recalled the prayer we said every single day, it came from the Book of Mark.
"Our Father in Heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth, as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Amen"
Nico smiled at me, and then grabs his pitch black sword from his back, and I draw Anaklusmos from its sheath and hold it in my standard, orthodox manner. But Nico does something unexpected. He slams his great sword of darkness into the stone we stood upon outside the Gates of Hell, but instead of shattering, it sank clean into the stone, and a blinding white light emerged from it. Nico stood tall, and then bowed.
"My Lord, our Guardian Angels, I prepare to take Perseus into the depths of Hell. Please be a strong guide to help me lead him from temptation and deliver him to you. Amen." He says, and with a flash all the light is gone, and me and Nico are standing again in the perpetual darkness of Hell together. And in this moment I had never realized just how lonely this journey would be without Nico.
"Thank you Nico, I'm certain the Lord has heard your prayer, and I feel truly blessed that Bianca chose you to guide me." I said kindly and sincerely, but Nico just scoffed and scolded lightly before facing the gates of Hell.
"Perseus Jackson, as you are a living mortal, you must speak the sacred lines of text that show you are ready to take this journey to cleanse your soul and to absolve yourself of your many sins and crimes against your fellow people. Do you still wish to accept?" Nico said bitterly, and I never hesitated.
"I accept, Nico DiAngelo, and I deliver the last line of My Lords Prayer upon the gate to show my dedication. Lead me not unto temptation, but deliver me from evil Lord." I say loudly to the gates, and they emanate a faint glow of white and red on both sides before they swing open, and Nico smiles. He walks up to me, grabs me around my shoulder like we were old friends.
"Welcome to Hell Perseus Jackson. Abandon All Hope. And just think, we only just passed the Acheron shores, and to enter Hell proper composed of the Nine Rings of Hell, you must be ferried across by Charon, the boatman of Satan and my father, Hades." he says, malice and foreboding emanating from his baritone voice.
"Well Nico, I am ready for Hell. Please deliver me to the ferryman Charon and I will speak to him about letting me across. I am sure you have your own means of getting across?" I say, distrust evident in my voice. He frowns for a second before smiling.
"Well Perseus, all I have to do is tell him I'm going across as I am 1) a dead man and 2) the son of Hades himself. So I'll ferry across with you." He said with sadness in his voice, but we continue on regardless.
We approach the dock upon the Acheron in which a tall man in robes as black as night stands with an oar in his hand that is taller than I by 10 feet, and I stand at an impressive height of 6'2". But then I notice Charon is a skeleton man, but when he speaks, his voice sounds VERY alive.
"Master DiAngelo what is the meaning of this?! He is a living mortal! Should your father or Master Satan discover him here, we will both be eternally damned! How dare you have brought him into Hell! Explain yourself before I send with Cerberus to devour the both of you!" he screamed with passion, probably because his jobs so easy and damnation probably gets worse than sitting on your rear paddling a boat across the Acheron. But Nico returned Charon's eyeless glare with his own of extreme intimidation. And then Nico spoke in Latin.
"Charon, uolsi così colà dove si puote" he said, and I translated that in my head to 'So it is wanted there where the power lies'. He is speaking of this being my Divine Journey. I look to Nico and nod appreciatively. Nico pulls out two Denarii and hands them to Charon, who bites them with his skeleton teeth.
"Seems authentic Master DiAngelo. I will ferry you two across the Acheron for this bounty you have paid me. But beware the extreme tortures you'll witness, and the extreme pull death has upon the living. I have done my best to warn you of the dangers of Hell. Young Mr. Jackson, do you wish to travel across the Acheron into the first ring of Hell?" Charon asked me seriously, as if he was truly worried for my safety. Probably more for his Denarii, but the concern was nice in Hell.
I swallowed all my fear and said "Master Charon, ferryman of the dead across the River Acheron which serves as the boundary of Hell Proper, I am ready to journey across." I said.
And then Charon walked up to me, his 10 foot frame towering over me, and then he touched the crown of my head and my world faded to black.
I hope you enjoyed Canto II. Well they're about to enter Hell proper. Please Review and feel free to PM me any questions you may have. Until next time readers.
