Chapter Three: Cerberus
"Charon, may I ask you something?"
"Anything the lady wishes."
"At the gates... in the shadows, there were... something there but when I look they were gone."
"Ah, you must mean the denizens!"
"Denizens?"
"Don't be surprised, Lady Warden. The realm of Erebus is as vast as the world above. Oftentimes, I would think it is limitless. Creatures are bound to sprout here and there. What you saw must have been the daemons."
"What is a daemon?"
"Oh, there are a hundred, perhaps a thousand species! Where do I even begin?"
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The first denizen of Erebus to approach Aidonea was a tiny scaly three-headed creature. It came to her while she was sleeping inside her circle of colorful stones. But as soon as she made a move to rise, the creature scampered away into the waters.
Twice more, the creature approached her while she lay sleeping. And every time she moved, it would dash away to hide.
On the creature's fourth attempt, Aidonea did not move at all. She lay on her back with her hands on her chest while the little creature circled around her several times as was its wont. It was careful not to disturb her stones.
It would nip at her feet, her cloak, her unbound hair and ears. Aidonea was still even until the creature crawled on top of her, nipping and biting and sniffing at her fingers. It came very close to her face, curiously staring at her with three pairs of eyes. The middle head began sniffing closer while the other heads started snapping at each other.
Aidonea held her breath and did not even blink while staring at the creatures endlessly black eyes... until it took a painful bite out of her nose.
Charon cackled like a mad man from his perch on his boat. Aidonea threw a white rock at him, which he easily evaded and cackled some more.
"Are you quite done yet?" Aidonea asked, annoyed. She rubbed her sore nose, thankfully intact and undamaged. The three-headed creature was nowhere in sight.
"Forgive me, Aidonea," he said, still snickering. "You should not have let a scavenger so close. It thought you dead flesh when you did not move."
"I was curious," Aidonea grumbled, "I've never seen anything like it. How come I've never seen any other creature in Erebus when you said there were a thousand different species?"
"That would be the order not to harm you and leave you be."
"What do you mean?"
"When you first came, Great Erebus issued a decree that you, as the Warden of Tartarus, will remain 'undisturbed' and 'unharmed' as you go about your duties. I suppose the denizens took it quite seriously. They don't have a... normal way of thinking like you and I."
"Oh," Aidonea said, downhearted. "But what of that creature?"
"It is a young thing. Newly hatched, most likely. The others will take care of it soon enough."
"You make it sound as if it will be eaten."
"You're probably right."
Aidonea looked forlornly to the great wide waters. "I would like to keep it," she said.
Charon smiled.
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The next time Charon came, he brought a piece of carcass. It may have been an arm or perhaps a leg of some large creature before.
"If you plan to keep the creature then you need feed it," he told Aidonea.
Aidonea' cringe of disgust morphed into delight in an instant. "Thank you," she said.
Aidonea dragged the piece of dead flesh and placed near the shore before plopping herself down to wait for the little three-headed daemon.
Charon made to leave when he heard her call.
"Wait, Charon!" she called, running to him. "I would like to give you a gift." She placed a chunk of gold the size of a bird's egg on his cold bony palm.
Charon gave her a smile filled with sharp teeth. "I will treasure this always, milady," he said.
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It did not take long before the three-headed creature came back and saw the offered gift. It began devouring the carcass with gusto.
Aidonea took a step closer but the creature flinched at the sound of her step and scampered back.
Aidonea stopped and waited again. Hours might have passed by until the creature returned and feasted, keeping a weary eye on her. She would move slowly and quietly closer but each time the creature of dash away into the waters.
It was almost similar to a dance, what they were doing. Aidonea would try to come closer, the creature would run away but would come back later to eat and repeat and repeat until the piece of carcass was nothing but bones.
Aidonea was disheartened. She barely came close enough to talk to it.
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"Finished already?" Charon asked, surprised at the pile of bones.
"Yes, for a while now," Aidonea answered, brushing her knees. She was in the middle of digging for more precious gems when Charon came.
"I saw it come by a few times but it never stayed long. Perhaps only checking if there was still anything left to eat."
"For a tiny thing, it eats a lot. It's a good thing I thought to bring something bigger." Charon pulled an entire rotting torso sans head and limbs from his boat.
"Where do you go to get all of this?" Aidonea asked, helping the aged boatman drag the carcass to the pile of bones.
"The realm is vast," the boatman answered cryptically, "You can find almost anything here if you look hard enough."
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"Hello?" Aidonea whispered.
The creature had already eaten half of the torso. It was now lying on its back beside the carcass, belly protruding and mewling like a sleeping cat.
"I think you've overeaten," Aidonea giggled. She was as close as she could be without the three-headed creature running away from her.
The creature answered her in mewls and purrs.
Aidonea giggled again.
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"You named it Cerberus?" Charon said, unimpressed.
"He's going to be a mighty beast of death and darkness," Aidonea proclaimed, "Aren't you, Cerberus?" The creature, curled around her shoulders, mewled in agreement.
Charon shrugged sheepishly to himself. He thought it was because of the daemon's spotted scales.
