It wasn't that far from home, about 15 minutes running. The sheer
cliffs jutted up into the sky like a giant hand. At the base of the cliffs
was a river that, strangely enough, flowed inside the cliff. On the other
side, there was a waterfall, I guess. This was where I needed to be.
I stabbed myself with the knife, right in my arm. Blood oozed and flowed over the blade. I winced, but this was nothing compared to what I was going to do.
"Man, Joey, you don't even know if this will work. What the hell are you doing?" My mind screamed at me. Perhaps I had lost it, but I didn't care. If I had even a glimmer of hope to see Mai again, then I'd take it. Besides, in a few days, I had dealt with magic, some creepy faerie witch, and my best friend could tell the future. If all this could happen, why not what I was attempting?
I dipped the blood red knife in the water, and watched the blood flow towards the cliffs.
"All waters that flow in the earth, flow to Hades." I intoned. This was some crappy poem I read once, supposed to be how Hercules entered Hades or something. Well, if this didn't work, I had a second way to enter, at least. I kept reading, strangely remembering how it went perfectly.
"Alas, all life flows there too. Where these waters flow, a gate will open. It opens to soon for you." I read. The nearby grass started withering and turning brown, while birds flew away from the area as quick as they could. The Cliffside had moss and vegetation growing on it, but it quickly withered, and the cliff itself started changing. The trees' leaves started to fall, crinkle, and brown, while the tree itself turned gray and ancient. Was this working? Or was I dreaming?
"When death is near, then pour the waters. Alas, they flow to Hades's shore. Where darkness awaits at the river's end, this lament shall open the door." I kept reading. A low rumbling started to fill the area, the grass that had turned brown was now disappearing, turning into dust, as were the leaves. Nothing living here remained but me. Only the water, which was still blue, except for where my blood touched, was unchanged.
"Sing unto Hades this sad sorrow's song, and all life is quickly passed. Then the gates of Hades will open for you, and this song will be your last." I finished. The rumbling got louder, and I quickly lost my balance and fell. It subsided soon after, and when I woke up, I could scarcely imagine the sight.
A large gate had formed in the cliffs, made of bones. Was this the gate to Hell itself? Summoning all my courage, I walked towards it. I saw something come out to meet me, a large, three-headed dog. If my mythology was correct, Cerberus was it's name, and it was the Gatekeeper to Hell.
"You are not welcome here, living human." One of the heads, which sounded almost like a businessman, spoke to me.
"Fuck off." I told it. "I'm a busy man, and I have no time to spend my valuable time talking to a three headed bitch." I said calmly.
"Hades is the land of the dead, and you are alive." The businessman head responded.
"So what."
"That means you cannot enter until you are dead. Death is not hard to find in your world, but if you want to die so badly, then maybe I can oblige. It's been ages since I ate." The dog lunged towards me, and I hit the dirt, stabbing it in the underbelly with my knife. It yelped, just like a normal dog, and now that it was away from the door, I dashed into the gate.
"You truly are insane. Only the dead could survive in Hades." The dog mentioned. I was only a few feet in the gate, why wasn't it attacking?
"Yeah, you're right. I probably am insane." I said before turning away from the dog and walking into the fiery jowls of Hell itself.
The first thing I noticed about Hell was that, despite the fire everywhere, the place was really cold. I kept that knife close to me as I walked through, unsure of where to begin looking. I saw some disembodied spirits floating around, and although none of them looked familiar, they all looked like they wanted to kill me. Maybe because I was alive? When they moved towards me, they went right through me, but I still couldn't shake off the cold. I kept walking, trying to ignore them, and I eventually came to a group of rivers. I didn't remember any of their names, but there were supposed to be five rivers in Hades. When I expected the skeletal visage of the boatman Charon on a boat to ferry me across, I instead saw a tall figure, maybe about 7 or 8 feet tall, of a man, with long silver hair. He wore all black, his clothes decorated with skulls.
"Joseph Wheeler." It spoke to me. "It is not your time to be here. You will not cross the river Styx into Hades."
"I know, guess your other guests don't like me much." I laughed, knowing that it was probably stupid.
"I know why you wanted to come here." The man spoke to me.
"Then I don't have to explain." I said.
"Love transcends the very fabric of death. If you could understand those spirits, they are ones who cannot sleep because of a love that was never told, or because of lovers that still live. The spirit you are looking for..."
"She has a name you know." I quipped. The man looked at me, and strangely he smiled. Looking at his smile, I thought I would've had a heart attack. This guy was Lucifer or Satan or whatever, and he was actually smiling at me.
"Yes." He said. "Your spirit, Mai Valentine, is different. She would normally have been able to find piece because she willingly gave up her life for you; however, she has refused to drink the waters of Lethe, the river of forgetfulness. She would rather be tormented in agony for eternity then forget about you." He raised his hand, and a strange glowing appeared to his side. I could only see the face, but before I could make anything out, I knew it was Mai.
"I have no regrets." She said. "He needed to have that power to save the world, and I could give it to him. But I cannot forget him, I will not forget him. Yet, I feel as though I should be waiting for something. Would it be the knife through my heart, destroying me? Or would it be his warm lips upon mine? I don't care which one it was, if only he would touch me again." I reached out for her, but the tall man, Hades was his name, just like the world, raised a bone staff and blocked my attempt.
"You could end her suffering if you wish." He said, looking at me sincerely. "You could bring her back to the life that she unnaturally ended. Would you want to give her the gift of life?"
"If you have to ask that, then you must be pretty dense." I said. He liked it when I was gallful and daring, and it wasn't like I had anything to lose.
"But all things have their price, and life is something expensive. You have entered freely into the Realm of the Dead, and now, you will not leave. Will you die willingly for the one you love? Will you give your life to her?" He asked me, his eyes piercing my very soul.
I thought only for a second. Before I could answer, he spoke again.
"You do realize what this means. She gave her life so that you could save the world, and now, you are giving her the very thing she doesn't want, life without you. Still, will you give your life to her?"
"I never had much of anything. I had people that cared, sure, but that was it. She though, she never had anyone. She deserves another chance to make things right, even if I can't be there to help her. Yes, sir, I choose to give my life to her." I responded. Looking at him dead in the face. I saw him wave his hands, and I heard two spirits, two ghostlike spirits with horned skulls some up beside me. Immediately I felt cold, colder then I had ever felt. I felt them sucking the life out of me, and it was making me cold, weak, and dizzy. But all I could see was Mai's face. When I dropped to my knees, I whispered her name, and Hades himself, the Lord of the dead, brushed the spirits away, and then touched my shoulder. As soon as he touched me, I felt bodiless and empty, and then I felt nothing else.
When I woke up later, the scene had not changed, except the fact that the two horned spirits were absent. I still felt cold and frail, but I felt that my heart was still beating.
"Something go wrong?" I asked Hades. "I still feel alive. Weak, but alive." He didn't answer.
"You have chosen to end to give your gift to her. You have unbreakable will and spirit that my spirits, and not even myself could crush. It would be foolish of me to end your life now." He said.
"Then, what about Mai. Please, I came all the way here, and you gave me that hope. Don't you dare say I can't save her!" I shouted, raising the knife. What hope would a flimsy kitchen knife have against the Lord of the Dead? Still, I would drag her spirit out, killing everyone in my path, ghost, god, or otherwise, if that meant that Mai could come back.
"I see light before me!" Her spirit spoke. "This nightmare is ending." Mai's ghost started to appear before me, and she was getting.... healthier. Her ghost like visage started to solidify, and her skin was turning pink.
"Mai!" I shouted, reaching out to her. Hades stopped me again. So I watched as she returned to her old self. The only thing that was different about her was that her beautiful long blonde hair was now stark white, not like old person gray, but white. She made it look extremely attractive, though.
"Now, I will return you both to the Land of the Living. May you both be more prepared for rest when you return." I was so happy I would've kissed him, but that would have probably killed me anyway.
"Thanks, perhaps they will." I said. Man, only I would be so stupid as to act friendly with the Lord of the Dead. I then grabbed hold of Mai, Hades not trying to stop me this time.
"Mai...I hope you aren't mad when you wake up. I just...I just can't imagine myself without you." I whispered to her. She looked alive but she wasn't responsive yet. Maybe I needed to wait until we got back. I then felt myself floating, and I looked up at the sky, to see a giant light rising to meet us.
When I wok up, it took me a sec to realize that I was in the garden where they buried Mai. Mai and I were lying side by side, and so I kissed her. Her beautiful eyes fluttered open; only Mai's silver hair was a hint that anything had ever happened to her. Then she screamed.
"What's wrong?" I asked. It took me a sec to realize that both of us were naked. Mai ducked behind a tree, while I dove into the little pond and got on my knees, so that only my head was visible out of the water.
"Well, I guess we're back. I don't think ghosts are modest." I said. When I said this, Mai started laughing. She was laughing unbelievably hard that it made me start laughing too. When we finally stopped, she looked at me long and hard.
"You are without a doubt the stupidest, most idiotic, stubborn man I've ever met." She said very lightheartedly. Yeah, I was, I thought. Only someone as stupid as me would bargain with Hades.
"And you're the most stuck-up, stubborn, egocentric woman I've ever met." I said. "And I love ya for it!" I said. We didn't really need to say "I love you" just yet. After all, we killed ourselves for each other.
Serenity came into the garden with flowers, and the sight of me in the water nearly caused her to faint.
"Joey! You're...where did...what happened to your hair?" She started. She was stuttering.
"What are you talking about?"
"You're hair, why did you dye it silver?" She asked. When did that happen? Was it when Hades touched me?
"Serenity, this might not be the best time to ask about Joey's hair." Mai said from behind the tree. At the sound of Mai's voice, and the sight of her head peaking out from behind the tree, Serenity actually fainted.
"Oh great." Mai said. "Now I'm stuck behind the trees until she wakes up and gets me some clothes." Tristan showed up later, and instead of faint when he saw us, he actually smiled.
"I was wondering what those cards had told me. Welcome back you too. Now, why the hell were you naked in the garden? Should we come back in an hour?"
"Get your mind out of the gutter, we came back this way." Mai said.
"And nothing happened." I was quick to admit.
"Sure, whatever you say." Tristan went back into the house and brought back an extra outfit of Serenity's. He threw it towards Mai, and then he handed me one of his T-shirts and a towel, guess Mom didn't have any of my clothes. Tristan then turned his attention to waking up Serenity, which gave us enough time to get decent.
"You had us worried sick." Serenity said, hugging me close. "When you disappeared with that knife, I thought the worst."
"Well, it might have well been suicide, I went to go get back Mai. Which reminds me. Mai, never do something that stupid again." I told her. Mai only smiled and said nothing. What she wanted to say would have to wait until we were alone. Then, Serenity gave me her compact, and I noticed that indeed, my hair, just like Mai's was stark white.
"I think it looks cool, and I can always dye it back." I noticed.
"I make it look better." Mai cracked. I was so happy that I laughed.
"Finally." I said to myself. "You've returned. Now, I promise, I'll never leave you. I'll never make you think that you must give yourself to me."
I stabbed myself with the knife, right in my arm. Blood oozed and flowed over the blade. I winced, but this was nothing compared to what I was going to do.
"Man, Joey, you don't even know if this will work. What the hell are you doing?" My mind screamed at me. Perhaps I had lost it, but I didn't care. If I had even a glimmer of hope to see Mai again, then I'd take it. Besides, in a few days, I had dealt with magic, some creepy faerie witch, and my best friend could tell the future. If all this could happen, why not what I was attempting?
I dipped the blood red knife in the water, and watched the blood flow towards the cliffs.
"All waters that flow in the earth, flow to Hades." I intoned. This was some crappy poem I read once, supposed to be how Hercules entered Hades or something. Well, if this didn't work, I had a second way to enter, at least. I kept reading, strangely remembering how it went perfectly.
"Alas, all life flows there too. Where these waters flow, a gate will open. It opens to soon for you." I read. The nearby grass started withering and turning brown, while birds flew away from the area as quick as they could. The Cliffside had moss and vegetation growing on it, but it quickly withered, and the cliff itself started changing. The trees' leaves started to fall, crinkle, and brown, while the tree itself turned gray and ancient. Was this working? Or was I dreaming?
"When death is near, then pour the waters. Alas, they flow to Hades's shore. Where darkness awaits at the river's end, this lament shall open the door." I kept reading. A low rumbling started to fill the area, the grass that had turned brown was now disappearing, turning into dust, as were the leaves. Nothing living here remained but me. Only the water, which was still blue, except for where my blood touched, was unchanged.
"Sing unto Hades this sad sorrow's song, and all life is quickly passed. Then the gates of Hades will open for you, and this song will be your last." I finished. The rumbling got louder, and I quickly lost my balance and fell. It subsided soon after, and when I woke up, I could scarcely imagine the sight.
A large gate had formed in the cliffs, made of bones. Was this the gate to Hell itself? Summoning all my courage, I walked towards it. I saw something come out to meet me, a large, three-headed dog. If my mythology was correct, Cerberus was it's name, and it was the Gatekeeper to Hell.
"You are not welcome here, living human." One of the heads, which sounded almost like a businessman, spoke to me.
"Fuck off." I told it. "I'm a busy man, and I have no time to spend my valuable time talking to a three headed bitch." I said calmly.
"Hades is the land of the dead, and you are alive." The businessman head responded.
"So what."
"That means you cannot enter until you are dead. Death is not hard to find in your world, but if you want to die so badly, then maybe I can oblige. It's been ages since I ate." The dog lunged towards me, and I hit the dirt, stabbing it in the underbelly with my knife. It yelped, just like a normal dog, and now that it was away from the door, I dashed into the gate.
"You truly are insane. Only the dead could survive in Hades." The dog mentioned. I was only a few feet in the gate, why wasn't it attacking?
"Yeah, you're right. I probably am insane." I said before turning away from the dog and walking into the fiery jowls of Hell itself.
The first thing I noticed about Hell was that, despite the fire everywhere, the place was really cold. I kept that knife close to me as I walked through, unsure of where to begin looking. I saw some disembodied spirits floating around, and although none of them looked familiar, they all looked like they wanted to kill me. Maybe because I was alive? When they moved towards me, they went right through me, but I still couldn't shake off the cold. I kept walking, trying to ignore them, and I eventually came to a group of rivers. I didn't remember any of their names, but there were supposed to be five rivers in Hades. When I expected the skeletal visage of the boatman Charon on a boat to ferry me across, I instead saw a tall figure, maybe about 7 or 8 feet tall, of a man, with long silver hair. He wore all black, his clothes decorated with skulls.
"Joseph Wheeler." It spoke to me. "It is not your time to be here. You will not cross the river Styx into Hades."
"I know, guess your other guests don't like me much." I laughed, knowing that it was probably stupid.
"I know why you wanted to come here." The man spoke to me.
"Then I don't have to explain." I said.
"Love transcends the very fabric of death. If you could understand those spirits, they are ones who cannot sleep because of a love that was never told, or because of lovers that still live. The spirit you are looking for..."
"She has a name you know." I quipped. The man looked at me, and strangely he smiled. Looking at his smile, I thought I would've had a heart attack. This guy was Lucifer or Satan or whatever, and he was actually smiling at me.
"Yes." He said. "Your spirit, Mai Valentine, is different. She would normally have been able to find piece because she willingly gave up her life for you; however, she has refused to drink the waters of Lethe, the river of forgetfulness. She would rather be tormented in agony for eternity then forget about you." He raised his hand, and a strange glowing appeared to his side. I could only see the face, but before I could make anything out, I knew it was Mai.
"I have no regrets." She said. "He needed to have that power to save the world, and I could give it to him. But I cannot forget him, I will not forget him. Yet, I feel as though I should be waiting for something. Would it be the knife through my heart, destroying me? Or would it be his warm lips upon mine? I don't care which one it was, if only he would touch me again." I reached out for her, but the tall man, Hades was his name, just like the world, raised a bone staff and blocked my attempt.
"You could end her suffering if you wish." He said, looking at me sincerely. "You could bring her back to the life that she unnaturally ended. Would you want to give her the gift of life?"
"If you have to ask that, then you must be pretty dense." I said. He liked it when I was gallful and daring, and it wasn't like I had anything to lose.
"But all things have their price, and life is something expensive. You have entered freely into the Realm of the Dead, and now, you will not leave. Will you die willingly for the one you love? Will you give your life to her?" He asked me, his eyes piercing my very soul.
I thought only for a second. Before I could answer, he spoke again.
"You do realize what this means. She gave her life so that you could save the world, and now, you are giving her the very thing she doesn't want, life without you. Still, will you give your life to her?"
"I never had much of anything. I had people that cared, sure, but that was it. She though, she never had anyone. She deserves another chance to make things right, even if I can't be there to help her. Yes, sir, I choose to give my life to her." I responded. Looking at him dead in the face. I saw him wave his hands, and I heard two spirits, two ghostlike spirits with horned skulls some up beside me. Immediately I felt cold, colder then I had ever felt. I felt them sucking the life out of me, and it was making me cold, weak, and dizzy. But all I could see was Mai's face. When I dropped to my knees, I whispered her name, and Hades himself, the Lord of the dead, brushed the spirits away, and then touched my shoulder. As soon as he touched me, I felt bodiless and empty, and then I felt nothing else.
When I woke up later, the scene had not changed, except the fact that the two horned spirits were absent. I still felt cold and frail, but I felt that my heart was still beating.
"Something go wrong?" I asked Hades. "I still feel alive. Weak, but alive." He didn't answer.
"You have chosen to end to give your gift to her. You have unbreakable will and spirit that my spirits, and not even myself could crush. It would be foolish of me to end your life now." He said.
"Then, what about Mai. Please, I came all the way here, and you gave me that hope. Don't you dare say I can't save her!" I shouted, raising the knife. What hope would a flimsy kitchen knife have against the Lord of the Dead? Still, I would drag her spirit out, killing everyone in my path, ghost, god, or otherwise, if that meant that Mai could come back.
"I see light before me!" Her spirit spoke. "This nightmare is ending." Mai's ghost started to appear before me, and she was getting.... healthier. Her ghost like visage started to solidify, and her skin was turning pink.
"Mai!" I shouted, reaching out to her. Hades stopped me again. So I watched as she returned to her old self. The only thing that was different about her was that her beautiful long blonde hair was now stark white, not like old person gray, but white. She made it look extremely attractive, though.
"Now, I will return you both to the Land of the Living. May you both be more prepared for rest when you return." I was so happy I would've kissed him, but that would have probably killed me anyway.
"Thanks, perhaps they will." I said. Man, only I would be so stupid as to act friendly with the Lord of the Dead. I then grabbed hold of Mai, Hades not trying to stop me this time.
"Mai...I hope you aren't mad when you wake up. I just...I just can't imagine myself without you." I whispered to her. She looked alive but she wasn't responsive yet. Maybe I needed to wait until we got back. I then felt myself floating, and I looked up at the sky, to see a giant light rising to meet us.
When I wok up, it took me a sec to realize that I was in the garden where they buried Mai. Mai and I were lying side by side, and so I kissed her. Her beautiful eyes fluttered open; only Mai's silver hair was a hint that anything had ever happened to her. Then she screamed.
"What's wrong?" I asked. It took me a sec to realize that both of us were naked. Mai ducked behind a tree, while I dove into the little pond and got on my knees, so that only my head was visible out of the water.
"Well, I guess we're back. I don't think ghosts are modest." I said. When I said this, Mai started laughing. She was laughing unbelievably hard that it made me start laughing too. When we finally stopped, she looked at me long and hard.
"You are without a doubt the stupidest, most idiotic, stubborn man I've ever met." She said very lightheartedly. Yeah, I was, I thought. Only someone as stupid as me would bargain with Hades.
"And you're the most stuck-up, stubborn, egocentric woman I've ever met." I said. "And I love ya for it!" I said. We didn't really need to say "I love you" just yet. After all, we killed ourselves for each other.
Serenity came into the garden with flowers, and the sight of me in the water nearly caused her to faint.
"Joey! You're...where did...what happened to your hair?" She started. She was stuttering.
"What are you talking about?"
"You're hair, why did you dye it silver?" She asked. When did that happen? Was it when Hades touched me?
"Serenity, this might not be the best time to ask about Joey's hair." Mai said from behind the tree. At the sound of Mai's voice, and the sight of her head peaking out from behind the tree, Serenity actually fainted.
"Oh great." Mai said. "Now I'm stuck behind the trees until she wakes up and gets me some clothes." Tristan showed up later, and instead of faint when he saw us, he actually smiled.
"I was wondering what those cards had told me. Welcome back you too. Now, why the hell were you naked in the garden? Should we come back in an hour?"
"Get your mind out of the gutter, we came back this way." Mai said.
"And nothing happened." I was quick to admit.
"Sure, whatever you say." Tristan went back into the house and brought back an extra outfit of Serenity's. He threw it towards Mai, and then he handed me one of his T-shirts and a towel, guess Mom didn't have any of my clothes. Tristan then turned his attention to waking up Serenity, which gave us enough time to get decent.
"You had us worried sick." Serenity said, hugging me close. "When you disappeared with that knife, I thought the worst."
"Well, it might have well been suicide, I went to go get back Mai. Which reminds me. Mai, never do something that stupid again." I told her. Mai only smiled and said nothing. What she wanted to say would have to wait until we were alone. Then, Serenity gave me her compact, and I noticed that indeed, my hair, just like Mai's was stark white.
"I think it looks cool, and I can always dye it back." I noticed.
"I make it look better." Mai cracked. I was so happy that I laughed.
"Finally." I said to myself. "You've returned. Now, I promise, I'll never leave you. I'll never make you think that you must give yourself to me."