Chapter Three: Robert's Fate
Chapter three is out and about!
The Seventh day had arrived and Artemis stood with Robert her hands lying limply next to her and Zoe on the opposite side of him glancing ever so often at the other hunters. The experience affected him greatly, he no longer trusted the hunters, besides Zoe and his mother. His wolf sat behind him and growled at the hunters that tried to approach them. Eve wasn't a happy pup right now. They were waiting for Styx to arrive, to arrive and take Robert away. After a few minutes of waiting, there was a flash and the Nymph appeared. She looked over the seen and found something that sort of surprised her. Artemis head was low, low enough for her eyes to shadow her hair and the all the hunters, but Zoe stood away from them. She had a feeling something bad happened and slowly walked up to Artemis.
"Well?" Styx asked as Artemis took a shaky breath.
"I've failed . . ." The goddess said as Styx nodded and put her hand on Robert's head and saw everything that happened to him.
"No you didn't but you're hunters did; only Zoe succeeded in bonding with Robert. You were a good mother, but a bad leader. You trusted you're hunters too much and they took the advantage. Robert will be coming with me, and I will allow only Zoe to visit Robert. I'm sorry Artemis; maybe in the future he'll visit you. Come along Robert, Eve may come too." Styx said as Robert walked over to the nymph with the pup behind him. Robert grabbed Styx's hand and looked back at his mother for the last time in a while. He waved at her and smiled, she smiled and waved back to her son and then they were gone in a flash. Artemis turned around and found the hunters staring awkwardly at them.
"Hunters dismissed, I'm going to my tent. Zoe, see to it that those three girls are taken care of." Artemis said with no emotion as she left.
In Hades Realm next the River Styx
The three flashed next to the flowing river and Styx let go of Robert's hand.
"Robert, I'm going to talk to Hades and ask him if he can build a house for you. Be care full around the river." Styx said as Robert nodded to her.
"I'm going to have a friend watch over you." She said before vanishing and a ghostly person appeared.
"Hello child, I'm Achilles. Who might you be?" He asked as Robert looked at him.
"I'm Robert . . . I don't remember my last name." He said making Achilles chuckle.
"Well that's alright kid." He said with a laugh patting the boy's back, as Robert turn to look at the river.
"Is that really the River Styx?" He asked as he pointed to it and looked at Achilles.
"Sure is, it can give you near impenetrable skin, though it will be the most agonizing experiences ever. If you fall in, better hope there's someone you can remember" The ghost said as Robert thought about something.
"Does it have anything else special about it; I mean can it give someone something else?" Robert asked as Achilles shrugged.
"Not sure, you have to ask Styx." He said as Robert walked up to it and looked down at it. He saw his reflection in it before it suddenly rippled to show to figures behind him. On his left was a woman with long white hair, with pale skin; her eyes were black surrounding a silver ring that surrounding a white pupil. Robert could see that she had a cloak on that was as white as snow, and a sword hilt stuck out from behind her back that was silver. On his right was a monster that had a skull like head and two horns sticking out of it. Its hair was wild, long, and slivery in color like his. It also had a cloak on but it was shredded from what he could tell. Its eyes were empty black holes that seem to stare into ones soul. Robert was confused at this, he tilted his head as the water rippled again and it shot towards him. He tried to get away from it, but it already pierced his chest and had him up in the air. It was so shocking that he couldn't scream. Achilles panicked and tried to get Robert away, but the water swatted him away. Robert tried to grab at the water, but it shot further into him and unknown to him separated him from his soul. Robert's soul floated about three feet away, before the spike of water pushed into his soul and ripped two parts away; one looking like the woman and one looking like the monster. Then the water dragged quickly pulled back and the two figures went inside his soul and his soul returned to his body. Robert slumped down and looked at the river; his eyes were half open. Achilles quickly ran over to him once he recovered from the water's attack.
"Hey Robert, you okay?" He asked as he shook the boy. Robert slowly turned his head towards the old hero and blinked.
"I . . . don't know." He said after a bit of staring.
"It feels like I was forcefully changed." Robert said rubbing his chest.
"What happened?" He asked looking at Achilles as the man shrugged.
"I haven't got the slightest clue, I was swatted away when I tried to help you. Maybe Styx would know." Achilles said as Robert nodded. Suddenly a huge flash appeared and Styx and Hades appeared. One looked worried and the other looked ready to rumble.
"Achilles what happened here?" Styx asked as the man turned to her.
"The river attack Robert, I tried to get him away but it swatted me away before I could." He said as Styx went to thinking as Hades studied Robert.
"It seems to me that the river affected his soul . . . it doesn't seem too bad, but other than that I'm not sure what it did to him." Hades announced as he looked at Styx.
"However I believe there is no reason for him not to remain in my realm." He told her as he waved his hand and a few skeletons with tools appeared.
"I want you to build a house, next to the River Styx." He ordered them as the skeletons nodded and began working.
"Farwell Styx, don't be afraid of bring the boy next time you visit." Hades said nodding at Styx and waving a quick goodbye to Robert as he flashed back to his palace.
"Well now that is dealt with, how about you rest? You've been though a lot recently" Styx said as Robert nodded, then looked around.
"But where?" He asked as Styx waved her hand and some of the river's water started floating.
"I'm not great with making things appear, but I can control the water of the river enough so you can sleep on it without problems." She said as Robert was hoisted up onto the bed by Achilles and soon drifted off to sleep.
Dream World
Robert opened his eyes to a seemingly empty forest. It was night and he could see a full moon out illuminating the area. Robert got up and looked around before going in a direction. The forest seemed to go on for miles and seemed to get thicker. Robert sighed and wondered what to do, before hear a sound of struggling chains and a few growls. This made the boy jump in fright, but against his better judgment decided to venture towards the noise. As he approached he heard a voice talking to someone, or something.
"Those chains won't break so easily, so I suggest you stop trying." It said sounding feminine as Robert came closer he saw he entered a clearing where a black pillar stood and he saw the monster and woman that the river showed him standing there, the monster chained to the pillar and woman facing it. The woman wearing the cloak he saw with her in the water that flowed in the windless area he spotted a sword strapped across her back with the silver hilt sticking out of the sheath of the blade. The monster having the same cloak on but it was shredded and it seemed that it too flowed in the windless area, but its cloak looked like it was falling about as he saw parts of the cloak tear off and disappear. What he also notice was that the monster didn't have a sword, but clawed gantlets
"You came earlier than expected Robert." The woman said as she turned towards him.
"I'm . . ." She started but the after that no words came out of her mouth, even though it moved like there was.
"What?" Robert asked as she said it again.
"I can't hear you name . . . why?" Robert asked as the woman sighed.
"It may be due to the fact you're not ready for me yet. Until then use this sword to fight against your enemies." The woman said as she took the sword from her back and walked over to Robert and handed it to him. Robert could now see that the sword was made of a black metal for the blade and the silvery hilt he saw before. Robert reached out to grab it when he heard a dark laugh.
"Do you really thing that woman can protect you? Come to me, release me and I'll give you power. . . yes all the power you'll ever need." It said as it laughed again. Robert looked around scared; the woman sighed and turned towards the monster.
"Can you please kindly shut up?" She asked glaring at the monster while it growled at her and turned to Robert.
"Come now and free me child, lock the women up instead! Remember what those three did to you!" The monster said trying to get him to turn on the mysterious woman as the memories flashed before Robert making him winces and start shaking at them.
"Don't let him fool you Robert into following a dark path. Not all women are like that; remember Zoe and your mother! They have not abandoned you!" She said as Robert stopped shaking. This made the monster growl again.
"Doesn't matter, but know this boy, when woman do betray you, I'll be there for you to lean on." It said once again as the woman made the monster fade away.
"Sorry about that Robert." She started and took a breath. "Until you hear my name I want you use this sward to fight your battles." The woman said as she finally handed the blade to Robert without any interruptions. Then the sword shifted into a plain bronze blade with a normal looking hilt. He wanted to ask with happened when he started fading away.
"Until next time." She said as Robert fully faded away from his mind. It was then the monster reappeared.
"You know that you can't protect him like I could I can protect him from anything." It said while the woman huffed in annoyance.
"That doesn't mean anything. Besides your power will drive him in a monstrous state with little to no conscious" She replied as the monster chuckled.
"But he will still be safe for sure . . . after all that's what we both want." It said as they both disappeared.
Real world
Robert slowly opened his eyes to find himself in a room. He looked around him and found himself in a bed. Confused he rose from the bed, glancing around as he did. It seemed dark and eerily.
"Where am I?" He asked aloud not expecting an answer.
"You're in my palace young Robert." A voice said as said person turned and found Hades in the door way into the room.
"You really freaked out Styx when you didn't wake up." He said as Robert looked confused.
"How long was I out?" He asked as Hades thought about it.
"Oh I would say about three days, give or take." Hades said waving his hand as he walked closer to Robert till he stood next to the bed.
"Are you able to walk? I'd like to speak to you in another room." The Lord of the Dead asked as Robert tried to stand up and luckily only wobbled a bit before gaining his bearings. Hades nodded and motioned Robert to follow him. Hades looked back and noticed something he didn't before
"Nice sword you got there boy, where did you get it?" Hades asked curiously as Robert looked down and found the sword that the woman gave him in his hand.
"I don't know . . ." Robert said as he looked at the sword and tilted it, it felt perfect in his hand. He then realized that it's the same sword that the woman gave him.
"Well it looks perfect for you, now let's continue shall we?" Hades said as they entered a room were a toddler sat, wearing a green dress that covered her body besides her head and hands, on a bed, swinging her legs while looking at the floor.
"Robert I brought you here because she asked me to." Hades said as the girl looked up and saw him. She seemed to study him for a moment before smiling.
"Hey I'm Nel!" She said with a smile as Robert smiled back.
"I'm Robert." He replied as Nel walked up to him.
"I knew it!" She said when she was about three feet from him.
"Knew what Nel?" Hades asked as Nel faced him.
"I wanted to check if he was, you know, and he sort of is." She said as Hades nodded and faced Robert again.
"Now I bet you're confused right? Well, the thing Nel is talking about is a monster that seems to be only in legends now. A Hollow . . . a Hollow is a creature born from a human's soul when they are in the world of the living for too long. Souls of a human are just as satisficing to monsters as a demigod so if one is still not in the underworld after a certain time after their deaths; they begin to give off a smell similar to a child of the big three, or as a child of Zeus, Poseidon, or myself. So when it comes to that the monster go and eat the soul until there's hardly anything left of the soul. However the part that wasn't devoured grows and forms into something else: A Hollow. But Hollows don't go after monsters; they go after human souls and devour them like what happened to the Hollows, and it continues until there's an enormous amount. That is what Nel is saying." Hades explained as Robert face was one of shock.
"But why isn't there any now?" He asked as Hades closed his eyes.
"When I got wind of this, I decided to step in, but I had no idea how to save them so I cut them down hoping to stop from more hollows from forming. I continued to cut mass and mass of them down and when I returned home, I found that a bunch of souls had arrived. I was then told that they started appearing. I knew then that my weapon was able to reverse the Hollow back to their human self. So I had hundreds of swords made out of the same material as my sword. And with the help of the dead, we took down every Hollow we came a crossed, till there was no more." Hades finished as Robert looked more confused.
"How did you stop Hollows from coming back? Also how does Nel tie into this?" He asked as Hades sighed.
"Well soon Thanatos came into the picture and with his help, I was able to make sure no human soul was ever out for too long. For Nel she was once human that was about to turn into a Hollow, but instead of destroying her I turned her into something else. I saw that she was at the point where she was in perfect balance of a human and a Hollow. She is now what I call an Imod. An Imod is a human's spirit that has enormous spiritual energy, and yes all beings have spiritual energy, but at a fixed amount. Nel is at the point where her's was being changed, but when I stopped it, it became stuck and it can grow to massive amounts I don't even know the limits of its growth." Hades said as Robert nodded.
"So what does that mean for me?" Robert asked as Hades sighed once again.
"Well, honestly you're a lot like a hollow, but also like an Imod. I have really no idea of what happened. I could try to ask the Fates, but only the creator can tell if they will answer, so just stick with Nel until Styx comes to check on you like she's been doing for the past three days." The Lord of the Dead said as Robert nodded.
"Well then I'll see you when Styx gets here." He said as he left, Nel sighed and went to the bed and climbed into it while Robert stood there awkwardly
"Well don't just stand there come over next to me." Nel said patting the spot next to her and sat. They sat for a few minutes while in silence before a question popped in Robert's head.
"So were you a kid before you almost turned into a Hollow?" Robert asked as Nel shook her head.
"No, I was a full grown adult. This kid form I take is all that's left of my humanity." She said as Robert looked away guilty of reminding her of that.
"Don't be too sad, if I need to, I can turn myself into an adult. However it takes so spirit energy to do so, so I stay like this." Nel told him as Robert nodded, Nel took this chance to ask him a question.
"Where did you get that sword?" Nel asked as Robert looked at the sword he still carried.
"I woke up with it." He told her as Nel smiled.
"I'd guess that it's the weapon of your soul, mine here's mine." She said holding up a sword that was basically a dagger to him.
"Though a sword is what all soul weapons look like until you unleash their full powers." She said once again as Robert nodded. The two talked for a while getting to know each other better, but Robert didn't say much about him personally since he still had trust issues with woman. After an hour there was a knock at the door.
"Come in." Nel said as Hades walked in with a worried Styx, Eve and Zoe.
"Oh I'm so glad you're alright!" Styx said hugging Robert who slowly hugged back.
"Master!" Eve said surprising Robert when the wolf jumped onto Robert as well.
"Eve? How are you talking?" The boy asked shocked, in which Hades chuckled.
"Well, there's one thing I left out when we talked, because I wanted it to be a surprise of sorts. You see, with the combine efforts of Styx and my-self. We created a soul for Eve, granting her the power of speech, among other things. I even gave her a potion so that when she dies that she'll turn into an Imod." Hades said with a grin.
"How does that work?" Robert asked him as Hades looked confused.
"Well think of it this way, when a being with a soul dies their humanity, or whatever they are, starts to leave them. When all of that's gone then the soul goes. It's often thought of the person's last moments, or last breath so by waiting to just before the humanity is gone, my potion activates and makes them into an Imod. However I not sure if Eve will turn into a humanoid wolf or just a wolf. We'll have to wait and see." Hades explained to Robert, who then turned towards Zoe.
"Zoe why are you here?' He asked as Zoe looked at him.
"Because Styx told me what happened and I asked her to take me to you. I haven't left the underworld since." She said as Robert looked amazed at her.
"What about my mom, did she want to say something?" He asked as Zoe's eyes glance off to the other direction.
"Lady Artemis hasn't been the same since you happened. To be honest I'm not even sure if she realized I'm gone" Zoe said as Robert nodded, it was then Hades cleared his throat.
"There's been something we also need to tell you Robert, it was decided a day after we realized you were unconscious that we decided to make you immortal, like your mother's hunters, as the leader of the Imods." Hades said as Robert looked shocked at the news.
"W-Why?" Robert asked as Styx sighed.
"On that day, I was paid a visit by the Fates telling me of a prophecy about monsters of the soul rising once again, and only the one shot by the river could face them with the help of the ones saved at the last second. We believe you and the Imod Nel, along with anyone else destined to become Imods, are the ones mentioned so we need you guys to be ready, at any time, and all the time. I'm sorry to give you such a responsibility." She told Robert who need in acceptance.
"Alright then, let us commence the training then." Hades said as he flashed them all away.
Sorry it took forever to post a chapter, but I procrastinated a lot and I was thinking of how this was going to go. Anyways hoped you enjoyed the chapter and tell me what you think. Thanks for reading, later.