IIIII

Grunting softly, Eris felt her mind spin as she began to wake from unconsciousness, her body aching all over from the fall. A fall she wasn't sure how she survived. But she wasn't about to question that miracle. Fully opening her eyes, Eris blinked rapidly as she found almost no difference between the darkness and her eyes being shut. Eris tried to discern any clues of where she may be, a sign, a light, anything really. But the blackness surrounding her gave nothing away.

Getting a little frustrated, as well as a little worried. Eris placed her hand on the ground, finding the surface rocky yet also slimy to the touch. Then, pushing herself up, she ignored the dull throb in her chest and stood, hoping to get a better look with the extra height. Unfortunately, she was quick to notice that nothing had changed. The view still saw the same as before, pitch black darkness.

Biting her lip, Eris bounced her leg, feeling twitchy. How was she going to survive? She couldn't even see, and she doubted it was safe where she was now. In fact, going with that line of thinking. There could be a monster right next to her, and she'd never know it because of being practically blind.

Feeling herself begin to get overwhelmed, Eris released a biting laugh, Multitudes of emotions rushing through her as she thought of the ridiculousness of the entire situation. Here she was, in some type of pit that could be the underworld for all she knew, no idea how to leave, survive, or if even attempting to step forward would have her falling to her death. All of this was because her mother visited her, and Hades didn't like that.

Again, it was ridiculous. The whole thing sounded unbelievable, something straight out of a story. Not what had just happened to her. Yet, it had, and Eris now had to deal with the consequences of the choices made.

Sitting back down, Eris reached behind herself for more rock to support her back and rested against it. Taking a moment to calm her emotions and regain her focus. It wouldn't do to make some impulsive decision without thinking thing's through. However, right as she was doing that. Eris felt her leg brush against something sharp and almost jumped. Accidentally causing herself to get scratched by the object, whatever it was going past her jeans and scratching against her skin.

Resisting the urge to curse Hades' name aloud. It wouldn't be the same after what the god had done to her. Eris felt for the object carefully with her fingers and came across a chain, the metal's cold chill an odd contrast to the rocky, slimy ground beneath it. Picking up the chain, Eris almost winced at the sharp clang that echoed from the object. The metal was light, but with apparently more pieces connected to the chain than she first thought it had.

Setting it down on her lap, Eris carefully felt around the metal chain, going slow so as to not cut herself again with any of the sharper points. It was difficult, both trying to avoid getting cut in the dark and picture in her mind what she was touching. The most she could tell was that the chain was small and about the size of a bracelet. It was also connected to five other small chains, with those connected to some ring-like piece. The pieces at the end were sharp metal, and for some reason, they reminded Eris of the top of a bird beak. Open underneath, but only finger length small and curved on the side.

Continuing to flip around the metallic object, Eris tried holding it up to her eyes, pressing it against her skin, and even letting it drop to the ground to see if it would land naturally. However, nothing worked, and she was beginning to get frustrated. She couldn't figure it out. Outside of the piece that felt like a bracelet, the rest was a mix of chain and metal that could be anything. Or worse, it could be nothing, and she could have wasted the past ten minutes on some scrap metal.

Out of ideas, Eris, without thinking much about it, slid the bracelet over her right wrist. It was the last thing she could think of that she hadn't tried, and also one she knew would be pointless. But at this point, she was doing it just to do it. Trying to figure out what something was in total darkness was hard, and now she was feeling a little defeated. If she couldn't figure out what a small metal object was. Then how could she make her way around in the darkness?

Holding up her wrist to her eyes, trying to get one last look through the dark, pointless as it may be. Eris squinted for a few seconds before she sighed and dropped her arm down in her lap. She was done messing around for now. Grabbing the small chain around her wrist, she tried to pull it off, then frowned. The bracelet wasn't budging, or rather more specifically, it couldn't. The size was smaller than before, and now she could feel it was too small to slip off her wrist.

Confused, Eris tried again and again to no result. It was as if, by magic, the small metal chain had shrunk. No latch or connection point on it that she could use to remove it. Momentarily forgetting about the sharp metal connected at the other end of the chain. Eris swung her hand down on her leg, attempting to shake off the bracelet. Only to remember at that exact moment, the other metal connected to the smaller chains that had scratched her leg previously.

"HOLY..." Biting down on her lip hard enough to draw blood, Eris's tried her best to not scream at the pain erupting from her leg. It hurt worse than getting cut in sword training. At least there, she expected it. Here in the dark, she never saw it coming, let alone be able to tell how bad the damage to her leg actually was.

Hand shaking a bit, Eris reached forward to feel for the mini blade's now sticking in her leg. The pain made every jostle and slight movement feel like the metal was getting deeper, reaching further and hurting more. All the same, though, Eris pushed through it. Gently touching the metal past all the blood surrounding it and quickly discovering that all five pieces had, in fact, cut into her leg.

"Great job, Eris, fantastic thing you've done on the first day of survival," Eris muttered. Trying to distract herself from the pain, knowing pulling the metal out wasn't going to be fun. If she was lucky, it would only bleed a lot. Heal, and she'd probably die in the dark unless she could find some light and figure out where she was. The reality of it was, though, that demigods were never lucky. So her leg was undoubtedly going to get infected, and she'd die where she was sitting.

Snorting a little at her thoughts, Eris leaned her head back against the rock, still feeling around the metal in her leg. The decision on whether to rip it out quickly or slowly now a new problem she had to decide. Weighing the pros and cons of each, both of which were pretty much the same. It'd hurt either way. Eris took a deep break, then got ready to pull the pieces from her leg.

Yet, as she was about to do so, a thought occurred to her. Feeling around the metal and the beak-shaped pieces. Eris had a rather weird idea considering her injury. What if she put her fingers in the empty gaps like a glove? She could pull all five pieces of metal out simultaneously instead of individually. Sure it might hurt worse, but it would only happen once instead of five separate times.

Liking the idea the more she thought about it. Eris slowly inserted each finger through the metal. The blood that had pooled into the metal getting forced out as she filled the gap with her fingers, her actions sending sharp spikes of pain through Eris's leg at the pressure. But it was bearable now that she had a goal in mind. After ensuring she had a decent grip and using her left hand to help hold the chain tight. Eris mentally counted down from three... And pulled.

Grunting and with a few tears falling down her face, Eris stayed as silent as she could, her hand in a fist, pressed against her mouth to prevent any more potential screaming. Resisting the urge to curl up her legs and bring them closer to herself, knowing that would cause more pain than any form of comfort. Eris stilled, waiting for the pain to die down, even if just a little for what felt like hours. Finally, after some more time passed, she removed the hand from her mouth, breathing deeply. The first part was over. All that was left to do now was bandage the wound.

She knew it wouldn't be wise to keep the metal on her fingers and risk injuring herself again. So Eris grabbed the one on her index finger and gave a soft tug, expecting it to slip off without much issue. She was wrong. For some unexplainable reason, even with all the blood she could feel still coating her fingers, she couldn't pull them out away from the metal clasp on top of them.

Throat going a little dry, Eris briefly thought about whether the item she found was cursed or not. It was rare, but it did happen. The fact the idea never even crossed her mind until now was also a little worrying. Of course, it could be a coincidence. Eris had been through quite the ordeal. So it wasn't that far off to say she just forgot...

[System Loading...]

[New User Established...]

[Status]

Name: Eris

Pantheon: Greek

Weapon: Neko-te(Bound)

Abilities: NA

Closing her eyes for a few seconds, Eris breathed in and out. Trying to calm her mind and focus, as well as prepare herself for her apparent hallucinations. That could be the only explanation why a short little white box with black text had shown up in front of her face. It was never a thought she'd had before, or at least she thought so. But clearly, if she was hallucinating about a floating window, she must have thought of it in the past.

Opening her eyes and still seeing the little square screen, Eris waved her hand at it. Surprisingly, or maybe not, given that it was all in her head. Her hand went right through the screen, and it vanished. Disappearing into nothingness as if it was never there.

Rubbing her eyes tiredly with her free hand, Eris decided to ignore that for now. She had more important things to worry about, specifically her leg. The pain had ebbed away little by little as she kept it still. However, Eris knew the pain would return as soon as she moved her leg. Something she, unfortunately, would have to face if she wanted to bandage it, which she did. Dying from blood loss wouldn't be fun.

Taking care not to jostle her leg too much, Eris bent forward slightly away from the rock behind her, pulling the bottom edge of her shirt up over her head and off her body. The sports bra she'd slept in that morning was all that was left covering her chest. A decision Eris was now quite thankful for considering the situation. Complete darkness or not, she didn't want to wander around naked. She was no daughter of Aphrodite.

Taking a breather at getting the first step done, she placed the shirt on her leg, beginning to wrap it around her wound, when she realized a key issue she'd been ignoring.

She couldn't cauterize the wound.

Eris didn't have any heat or a way to make a fire to sterilize anything. Let alone something to press against her leg to stop the bleeding. Sure, the metal she now had would have been great to use. If it wasn't attached to her wrist. But without a heat source, there really wasn't much she could do. So she now had a blood-covered shirt and no results to show for it.

Feeling the amount of blood already soaking into the shirt, Eris groaned, then slowly, inch by inch, lifted her leg until there was enough room for the shirt to slide underneath. It was incredibly painful, yet also more bearable than before now that she expected it. All the same, however, she didn't enjoy it. Every movement and motion as she wrapped her leg to make the knot to keep it in place. Almost feeling like getting stabbed by the metal all over again.

Nevertheless, she wasn't going to be wearing the shirt now that it was soaked in her blood. Maybe if it dried, but not now while it was wet. So, after another minute of tying the shirt together, Eris finished and rested her head back against the rock. Only now, noticing the cold sweat on her brow and back, the chill in the air making it more obvious by the second.

"Think, think..." Eris muttered, trying and failing to remember any tips or lessons she'd learned over the years that might help her in her situation. Demigod 101 didn't exactly cover getting thrown into an abyssal portal by a god. Let alone how to see in the dark without external help such as wood, kindling, or even a lighter.

[Ding!]

[Criteria Reached!]

[Evolution Starting... New Ability Gained...]

[Nightvision Lvl.1!]

Eris barely had enough time to read the text before a sharp pain entered her eyes, forcing her to squeeze them shut. It felt like someone had just come over and slapped her, the stinging sensation increasing by the second. As well as a more comfortable, cool, tingling that was beginning to form behind her eyes. Creating quite conflicting signals to her brain on whether she was actually hurting or not.

Feeling the pain die down, leaving a slightly refreshing echo behind as if she'd woken up from a peaceful sleep after exercising all morning. Eris opened her eyes, her vision somewhat blurry before it cleared up, the darkness vanishing from her sight as if a veil had been lifted. Allowing Eris to see everything.

The rocks surrounding her location, the black sludge coating some of them that looked like oily sludge, the dim floating green particles in the distance that looked more like embers but without giving off any sign of light. As well as the inky black sky above her that she could actually tell was black and not just from being unable to distinguish the color without a source of light.

Taking in all the sights she couldn't see before, Eris laughed. Not a small chuckle or a half laugh she sometimes let out. But a full-on-blown laugh as the shock of it all and the realization that her hallucinations weren't hallucinations hit home. She could see, sure it wasn't as if it was daytime clear. The place she was in was still very dark. However, it was good enough to let her have a chance of survival.

Turning back towards the window that still hadn't disappeared, Eris reread the text. Focusing on it more closely now that she knew it wasn't fake. None of it really made sense. Such as a criteria being reached, or the evolution beginning, both of which she had no idea how was possible. Eris knew it couldn't be her own ability nor something inherited from Persphone... Unless it was.

Eris considered the latter option. She was the firstborn of her mother. There really wasn't anything to say that it hadn't been a late awakening. They were rare in a demigod's life. Usually occurring with children of minor gods who wouldn't know they had an ability or were too weak to discover it. Neither of which a category Eris considered herself or Persphone to be in. So it technically could be possible.

Her mother was the wife of Hades, so although Persphone was ranked as a minor goddess, her strength couldn't be that bad. The aura alone that had radiated from her mother made that unquestionable. As for Eris herself, she'd beaten every demigod in the camp that would fight her. Sure sometimes it was underhanded, and sometimes she used 'dishonorable' tactics. Not her words, of course, but Chiron's. Regardless, Eris saw herself as one of the strongest demigods in the camp.

So... Why, did she gain this rather strange ability now? Because she was in danger? Something Eris had never truly been in before beside's the risk of getting a few broken bones in a fight back at camp? It was strange, and trying to figure it out was starting to give Eris a headache.

Mentally noting to come back and think more on the subject later, Eris decided to move on to something else that was bothering her. Lifting up her hand, now able to see the bracelet and nail claws she'd put on earlier with her new ability, Eris studied it for a moment. It seemed so clear to her now that she could see the chains linking together. That the sharp nail claws and chains she was wearing was a weapon. Yet, in the dark, she'd had no idea. It hadn't even been close to any of her guesses.

Spreading out her fingers, Eris moved them, wiggling the chain around. Attempting to loosen its hold with no success. The weapon seemed to be as bound as the first text window had claimed.

"Neko-te, huh."

She'd never heard of the weapon before. It was bizarre, unlike anything Eris had ever used while training at camp half-blood. Over there, swords, bows, axes, and the more common weaponry used over the centuries were available for anyone to test out and use. This weapon? It was completely different, and she wasn't sure how to use it.

Flipping her hand over, Eris slowly closed her hand, making sure to avoid bending her fingers too much so as to not stab herself in the palm. After a few more seconds, she opened her fist and repeated the process, trying to get used to opening and closing her fingers at a different angle with the sharp metal at the end of them. It would be difficult, though, as she didn't exactly have a choice. Unable to remove the Neko-te from her hand. Eris would have to live with it for now and hopefully not injure herself in the process.

Moving her gaze away from her new weapon to her leg, Eris frowned. Finally able to see her wound, bandaged as it was, for the first time, which, thankfully from the looks of it. By some miracle or perhaps a goddess of luck had taken pity on her today. Eris's wound didn't appear to be bleeding anymore. Oh, sure, there was a lot of blood on her jeans, and her orange shirt now looked more burgundy than orange. But other than that, it appeared to be okay on the outside.

As for on the inside and if she would soon get an infection, Eris couldn't say for certain. None of the metal on her hand looked rusted as she'd feared it might be. So that was a plus. Not a major one, but a plus nonetheless. However, given where she was, a place with no light and unknown black ooze everywhere to be seen. Eris wasn't about to think the lack of rust meant no bacteria or something equally as bad.

"Okay... Time to quit putting this off." Sighing to herself, Eris grabbed one of the rocks behind her above her head. Getting a decent hold, ready to pull herself up from the floor. It would hurt and maybe even deepen her injury. But she'd wasted enough time already. Eris needed to find out more about where she was and find some food and shelter. Preferably not in that order, as her stomach was beginning to ache from hunger.

Taking a deep breath, Eris closed her eyes, raising up her courage, and, ignoring a count to three, pulled herself up in one quick motion, her leg screaming at her the entire time. Aching yet also feeling like a burn at the same time. Not a pleasant combination or one Eris enjoyed experiencing at all. However, blinking back tears and breathing a little heavier than before. Eris kept standing, resisting the urge or let up on the weight on her leg and sit back down. Chances were, if she did that, she wouldn't be getting back up for a long while.

Testing a step and finding the pain somewhat tolerably as one did when they didn't have a choice. Eris began to slowly limp forward. Despite every direction looking the same, even with night vision. So good old moving forward was what she went with. Not that she could really tell with how similar everything looked.

Rocks, rocks, more rocks, some black ooze, rinse and repeat. For the next few minutes, or at least that was Eris's best estimation for how much time had passed. She walked slowly, but she walked. Finding nothing and seeing nothing but rocks. No details, critters, or any sign of life that might shed light on where Eris might be.

It was worrying, and Eris was beginning to get a sick feeling in her stomach. Who was to say Hades hadn't thrown her on some inhabitable rock with no chance of living? It would be cruel, giving her hope only to rip it away like this. Something Eris could very easily picture Hades doing with everything she knew. After all, what was it some demigods had once mentioned before 'mysteriously' vanishing? The gods were petty and sometimes worse than mortals? Those may not have been the exact words, but after those same demigods disappeared a week later. She'd always remembered the words, taking them to heart.

One couldn't get away slurring against the gods and live. Not even their own children unless heavily favored. Even then, it was a gamble, and not one Eris had ever wanted to make. Unfortunately, she didn't have the luxury of a choice now.

Trudging on through the rocky floors, Eris continued her walk, her throat getting dry as she began to get a little dehydrated. It would only worsen as time went on before the lack of energy would sap all the strength in her body. Leaving her to fall to the floor, unable to move... To find food or a way to survive... Her eventual graves site.

It wasn't a very attractive future.

Licking her lips, Eris grabbed a particularly high rock, using it to guide her next step around a corner. Before stopping mid-stride, staring at the open clearing that had appeared. It was as if she'd just stepped outside of a maze. Which, in a way, Eris had. She'd walked through the rocky walled path instead of climbing above it. A decision that maybe hadn't been the brightest. But it had let her avoid the pain that would have come with climbing.

Gazing at the clearing and the obvious lack of anything in sight but stone. Eris smiled bitterly, knowing there was going to be another long walk ahead of her. Then, with some reluctance, she stepped away from the path, ready to continue moving, only to stop in place, heart thudding violently at the sudden soft, piercing snort that reached her ears. The sound echoed like a gunshot in the silence of the rocky plain.

Turning her head, inch by inch. Eris carefully peeked to the side, trying her best not to alert whatever made the noise if she hadn't already. However, nothing was there except a large black rock. Confused, Eris looked up at the wall yet still didn't see what made the noise. Shuffling her feet, Eris was about to chalk the sound up to nerves when she heard it again.

Eyes snapping back toward the stone, Eris stared closely at it. She was unable to see from her position past the rock or what might be hiding behind it. So, not going towards it as that would be stupid. Eris walked diagonally, limping a little farther away while also getting a better view. A view that would allow her to see what was behind the rock.

"Oh, Styx!" Eris cursed at the sight of a sleeping hellhound. A giant, oversized hellhound that looked bigger than any story or illustration she'd ever seen before and a monster she was in no way prepared to deal with right now. Backing up a bit, not wanting to wake the beast. Eris was about to run, injured leg or not. When what the discovery of finding a hellhound meant dawned on her.

She was in the underworld. The hell of the greek world. A place she'd jokingly thought she might be in earlier but hadn't seriously meant it. The underworld was where no demigod ever wanted to find themselves unless invited. Sure, Jackson and his friends had escaped. As had a few others in the past, ancient past. Those were the lucky few, though; they didn't nearly outweigh the hundreds of demigods who'd died trying to leave the underworld during some quest or other errand of the gods.

Fighting back a hysterical laugh, knowing her life was probably forfeit if she let it loose. Eris looked up at the dark sky, or rather ceiling of the underworld. A grin on her face as one detail just couldn't leave her mind. While she might never make it out of Hades' realm alive. Her chances were pretty much slim to none on that part. Eris knew her limits well...

...At the very least, the place should have food.

IIIII