Chapter 27: Last Resort
They all disappeared as if they were never there. Luke and I were left bleeding in the courtyard. I couldn't even move. Every inch of my body hurt. My shoulder emitted a burning pain and the rest of my body was bruised from my bouncing ball experience. Luke was still on the ground with his leg cut wide open. Luke knew as well as I did that we had failed. We couldn't get into the underworld and there was no way we could stop Phthonos by ourselves. Even my last resort plan probably wouldn't help. But I had to try, if I could only get up. It was surprising to me but it was Hectar and Alex who saved us in the end. They got the nectar and ambrosia squares we had left and got us fixed up. Luke's wound healed quickly, for me it took a bit longer to fully recover. Not just physically, mentally as well. I had just found out that the man who shaped a part of who I was had been a lie. That our quest was hopeless and worst of all that soon there was no hope for anyone any more. If Phthonos succeeded...I didn't even want to think about it. There was one more way I hoped I could stop all of this, but I didn't know how to tell the others. It was quite a stupid plan but it was our last chance. Everyone had given up. Even Alex and Hectar were down. We all sat in the back of the van just staring at something random. I myself stared at a blue paint stain on the floor. Eventually I looked up, I would tell them what I had been thinking for a while now.
"Guys, there's something I've been considering." Everyone looked up, they didn't say anything but apparently they were all eager to hear. "I can head to the underworld through shadow travel." I knew it was stupid. Last time it tired me out so much that I was knocked out for a full day. But now I wouldn't be taking anyone. If I was shadow travelling I was going alone. Secondly the darkness in the underworld was intense, it was stronger than anywhere in the world of the living. It should make shadow travel far easier. It was the only way I knew to get in the underworld, the thing was that it would mean that the prophecy was right. I would face Hades alone.
"Cool, haven't done that before." Hectar said. "I wonder if there's cheese in the underworld. What would underworld cheese taste like?" I wondered about Hectar's obsession with cheese many times. First I thought that the guy just really loved cheese but he knew things about cheese I didn't even want to know. If you spend a full day with Hectar Garner you won't eat cheese ever again.
"Well let's do it. The four of us down in the underworld fighting of anything the lord of the dead throw at is...THIS IS SO COOL!" Alex had his hyper activeness back. They obviously didn't realize that I wouldn't be taking them. Luke sat across from me with a 'good luck out there mate' kind of look. He knew.
"What do you want us to do?" Luke asked. It was a logical question and one I had thought about.
"I want you three to find Lucio."
"Wait so we're not going?" Alex asked. He didn't seem worried about me going alone or happy that he didn't have to walk the realm of the dead. No this brainiac felt sad about not getting to risk his life in the underworld.
"So no underworld cheese, dammit." Hectar and cheese...I never understood.
"We knocked you out earlier because we didn't want you to go." Luke said. He didn't understand that they hadn't realized that we didn't want them parading down in the underworld. Later in life I would joke about this saying it was disrespectful to the dead to bring them to down there.
"When did you do that?" Alex asked. At this point I wondered if I'd hit him so hard that I gave him short term memory loss. I had a good hook but this was completely new to me. "No one ever knocked me out. I have never..." I didn't know why Luke got so ticked off by Alex now. Usually he was a calm guy, it took a lot to annoy him. But now Alex got Luke to punch him straight in the face. Just like before Alex went down. Hectar looked at it with wide open eyes until he cracked up. Even his best friend found it funny when he got knocked out. I started to wonder if Alex was popular around camp. If he was always as annoying as I knew him...I didn't think so.
"So why Lucio?" Luke asked me. He seemed very relieved punching Alex. Maybe punching someone that seriously annoyed him was what he needed at that specific moment in time.
"I know this may sound weird, and it's a long shot because I doubt that he wants to help us. But if he's willing to, I think he can help us get rid of Colt for good." Luke seemed surprised about that. I hadn't told him about it because if I was correct it could go either way. Either I could end up destroying Colt, or he'd end up destroying me. It was a last resort bet I was willing to take. I knew that if I faced Phthonos with Colt still inside my head Colt would take over to get the power instead of Max and Samael. If I was going to face Phthonos having Colt in my head was going to make me lose. I had to get rid of him and this was the only way.
"How do you think that will work?" I figured it out a while ago. Explaining it was going to be tough though.
"Well basically Colt is in my subconscious right? In dreams you reach into your subconscious so I think I can meet Colt in my dreams if I'm in deep enough sleep. That's where Lucio comes in. If he can bring me in the same deep sleep that Evie used to bring back my memories that should be enough for me to meet Colt in the depths of my mind. And theoretically if I can meet him, I can fight him." I knew the plan was flawed and that it might not even work but it was worth the try.
"So theoretically, if you fight and lose..." Luke said.
"Then I'm gone." That was the danger of the plan. I knew that the chance of me beating Colt in a fight was slim but I had to try. As long as Colt was in my head I would be a danger to everyone around me. I had to get rid of him once and for all. Luke nodded. Outside it was dark, if I was going to go to the underworld I had to go now. I got out of the car ready to shadow travel for the second time.
"How will you find us?" Luke asked. I had asked myself this too. I wasn't exactly sure but I had an idea.
"We'll meet at the motel we stayed in near Tulsa in three days. If you have Lucio or not go there. If I'm not there get to camp and prepare them for the fight of their lives." I said. I wondered what I sounded like taking the lead. I had never been the leader type but now I was taking the lead of this quest. I just nodded as I closed the door of the van. It drove off into the night. I hoped they would find Lucio, else I would have to use another method. I wasn't sure if a narcotic like morphine would work but if Lucio wasn't found or didn't want to help us it was the only thing we could do. Now I had more important things to do though. I wasn't looking forward to shadow travelling again, so I guess I waited for a while. Instead of shadow travelling immediately I went back into the courtyard of the orphanage and walked into the east dorm. The hallway looked exactly the same. The cold white with no drawings or anything that made it feel like home. Mrs Riley never tried to make the orphanage a home, she probably didn't care. I still knew which room was mine, E23. East, second floor, third room. The room looked the same as it did when I first entered. On first glance there was little William and I could change, but there was so much hidden underneath. My mattress had been cut on one side by a butterfly knife. It was a big knife and neither of us knew for sure how to use it and as we were messing around with it I kind a ripped up my mattress. Peter and I turned it around so no one noticed it and no one ever did. There were other things. We had a BB gun hidden in that very same mattress. We got it a few months after the mattress incident and we needed somewhere to hide it so we used the rip. I remembered when we shot some guys from north dorm with it, the had no idea it was us. There was the ash stain on the windowsill. In our last few weeks in the orphanage William and I smoked cigarettes on our room with the window opened. On time Mrs. Riley pounded on the door saying she smelled something funny coming from our room. William had dropped the cigarette on the windowsill and it´s ashes had left a stain on the pale white paint. It would have been easily removable but William and I never got round to it.
I could have stood there for hours but there would be no point. I would have time for reminders when I was out of the underworld. That was what important now, I had to get to the realm of the dead, speak to Hades and get the hell out. Of course I hoped Hades would help us out, else I didn't know what to do but at the time I doubted that he actually would. But I had to try, if not I would have already failed. So I went into the shadows, just like I had before. The darkness seemed kinder now. Maybe it was because I was alone now or because I was stronger. Maybe it was an entirely different reason, I'll never know. To me it was less impressive and scary than before. There was darkness, there were whispers, big deal. Just as I accepted being alone in the dark, I wasn't alone any more. In front of me stood a middle-aged man in old ripped up clothes and a middle-long scruffy beard. Erebus, god of darkness and shadows had come to greet me.
"Hello son." He said awkwardly. I wondered if he even saw me as his son. Given how distant and awkward he was, I didn't think so.
"What is it Erebus?" I asked normally. I hoped it wasn't another one of his tests. I really didn't want one of those when I tried to get ready for a man to man talk with the lord of the dead.
"I can't stop you from doing this can I?" Normally that would have been a sign of caring, not with Erebus though. His voice was cold and uncaring. I shook my head. He couldn't stop me. I had to do this. "So loyal to a goddess who's shown no signs of helping you."
"I'm not doing this for Athena. I'm doing this for my friends at camp. I won't let Phthonos hurt them.
"Fighting to protect will cost you much Michael, know that." I wondered what Erebus meant, but at the same time I didn't want to do. It didn't sound very good. "I have to show you some thing." That's when he walked off, I followed. It wasn't long before we were out of the darkness and into a giant field. It was sort of like a wheat field, a giant wheat field that went on as far as the eye could see. There were a few tree's here and there, but what really filled the fields were people. Thousands...no millions of people, everywhere. Just standing there staring out in front of them. Kids, adults, men, women all kinds of people. "The fields of Asphodel." Erebus said. "This is where the dead go that have done nothing in the world. No good or bad. These are the people that went to school, got a job, had a family and died without a trace in the world. Those that died of age have usually done nothing wrong nor any good. These are the people that made no difference at all." So many people...so many people that had done nothing with their lives. I wasn't looking forward to the time of my dying. I knew I'd end up being punished for my deeds, but at least I wouldn't end up here. Erebus and I walked through the people standing there. To me it seemed like we were moving to get lost but Erebus seemed to know where he was going, and I wanted to know.
"Where are we going?" I wanted to know where Erebus was leading me. I wasn't going anywhere I didn't know not now. What I was about to do was too vital, I couldn't be kept by Erebus.
"There's someone you need to see, it's of utmost importance." Erebus said. I had to talk Hades into helping us defeat Phthonos, that was of utmost importance too! Of course I didn't say that. Erebus would crush me for being ungrateful. Better to just go along and decide for myself if this was important. That's when I saw her. The person Erebus was leading me to.
"Mum?" I couldn't believe it. In front of me stood my mother. The woman that had killed herself when I was just a little boy. She had set things in motion in my life that changed me completely. There were so many times that I wondered about my life if she had chosen to live, but there was no point in wondering. She was dead. But here she was standing in front of me. I could see her as clearly as I could see any of the living.
"Your mother was a very special woman." Erebus said. "You're my second son in the last thousand years Michael. Your mother...She was the greatest mortal I have ever encountered." For the first time I saw any kind of emotion in Erebus' eyes. He had never shown a single sign that he cared about me or anything else for that matter. But he cared a lot about my mom. At least that gave me a sense of belonging. I really was his son. He loved my mother, albeit in his way, I was not just a random hook up. I wondered about the other son in the last thousand years. When was he born? Maybe I did have a brother around or maybe my sibling had been born hundreds of years ago. Erebus touched my mothers face, her vacant stare turned a live. He had given her a moment of motion with her son and the only man (well...god) she ever loved. "I brought you our son my love."
"Michael?" She recognized me. Or I think she did. It had been ten years since her suicide, she hadn't aged a bit (the dead don't age I suppose) but I had grown a lot older. I was much taller than her now and my face and body were a man's more than a boy's. "I can't believe it's you Michael. You've grown so much."
"Why did you leave me mom? Was life really so bad with me?" I always blamed my mother's suicide on myself. She always told me I was all she had and all she needed, and yet she killed herself.
"I'm so sorry Michael." Tears started rolling over her cheeks, and over mine. "I wish I had been stronger, I wish I could have seen you grow into who you are." She sounded so proud of me. She had no idea what I had done in my life, what kind of a monster I was. She probably still thought I was that happy go lucky boy she used to know.
"I've done bad things Ma, horrible things. I'm trying to fix it but..." I wasn't doing a very good job fixing anything. I was good at the destroying, fixing was a lot harder. The right path was a lot harder. It's easy to be bad, keep to no rules and do whatever you want but being a good person. That road was filled with pain and loss. There were many days that I wondered if I should stop trying to be the good guy.
"I know Michael, I know. But that doesn't mean I don't love you. You're my son and even though I never saw you grow up you're always in my heart." She said. She didn't even seem to care that I was a murderer. I doubt that she knew that that's what I meant but still, she seemed so kind about it. Seeing my mom was...so painful. I had come to a point where I barely remembered her face and her voice. I was so young when she died. I barely even understood what she had done to herself. It would be weeks before I actually realized that she died and that she had died by her own choice. "And even though it probably won't change anything. Whether for good or bad, you have my blessing for what ever you do. I'm right there with you. Goodbye Michael." Her tears dried, her expression faded she turned back into that lifeless being just standing there. I tried not to cry or scream. This would have been the last time I got to talk to her. I had gotten more than most. If someone died how many got the chance to talk to them one more time? I guess I was one of the lucky few.
"Now, we must go." Erebus said. Again he turned into the cold being he had always been. We continued walking through the millions of dead. I wondered if there was some one else he needed me to see. I hoped not. If I was going to see more people like my mom I would break. Although seeing my mom, talking to her and knowing that she was proud of me and even gave me her blessing. I felt better, it was a weight of my back. Maybe that's what Erebus was trying to do. "There's someone else you must see, a few actually." Erebus didn't seem to understand how much it hurt to see these people. Maybe he simply didn't care, maybe this really was another test.
"Why are you taking me to people from my past? What could possibly be the point!" I was getting angry. I knew I shouldn't have been disrespectful to the god of darkness but why did he torture me like this?
"You have too much guilt Michael. You need to get rid of that before facing the lord of the dead or he will use these people against you." Erebus was right. But that didn't mean I wanted to face more people from my past. Of course Erebus didn't really care about what I wanted. So we pressed on. We pressed on until we stopped at two familiar faces. Peter and Joey. My brothers, or at least I always saw them as brothers. We were family. Just like Erebus had done with with my mom, he touched my old friends and gave them a moment of life.
"Hey bro." Pete said. He had always been taller than me and a hell of a lot more muscular. He died at age fifteen only a year younger than I was now. He was slightly shorter only an inch or two. But I was more muscular now, guess my training with Jake and at camp paid off.
"Sup big man. You've grown dude, I was small before but look at this six foot giant." Joey as hyper as always. I don't know what it was, in many ways he was like Alex and Hectar only he never annoyed me. Maybe now I just wasn't that kind of guy any more. Joey was eleven when he died but he was a small guy. I seriously had to look down to look him in the eye.
"Hey guys." I said. I didn't really know what to say. I had always blamed myself for their deaths but they talked to me as if we were in the old days.
"What's up with big guy Pete? Sounds like a sad fag on a rainy day. Come on man cheer the fuck up." Joey wasn't careful with swearing. Peter and I weren't either but Joey was definitely the worst. Of course he was the loudest of us so I guess the swearing came with that automatically.
"I think Mikey is beating himself up about us kicking the bucket." Pete said it as it was a joke. I just stood there, I didn't know what to say to these guys. The Michael they knew was long gone.
"It's my fault you guys died. I should have protected you." They didn't really like that answer.
"What a downer." Joey said.
"We get ten minutes," He looked at Erebus and he shook his head. "Less than ten minutes with our boy and what do we get?" Pete was still the same, Joey was the same. I was the only one that changed. If they hadn't died, would I be the same? "Look man, Joey and I fought the law and the law won. You couldn't have stopped us dying. Hell we're happy enough that you made and might actually be making something out of yourself. Remember that one time I burned the windowsill? I told you that all I really wanted was to be somebody other than some random orphanage kid with a shit job and a violent past. You can be just that man, go for it."
"Yeah big guy get some fucking degrees man." Joey said. I didn't know why but talking to them, it brought something out in my, something I thought was gone.
"Shut up little fairy or I'll kick your ass." I said to Joey. The old me had come back. The loud mouth kid with all the arrogance in the world but a kind heart.
"Bring it big guy! I'll fuck you up!" Just like the old days.
"Later Mikey." It was already time for them to go. After all Erebus had what he wanted. I had forgiven myself. I knew these things that they told me but until I saw them like this, I couldn't forgive myself.
"Wait till your dead big guy you're gonna get your ass kicked!" Then they returned to stone. Well to the empty shell of vague stares to be more specific. It wasn't long before started moving again. I didn't want to see another one but Erebus' mind was set.
"So who's next? Jake?" I asked. I doubted he would be on the fields but it seemed likely. I hoped he wasn't going to show me Eve, I saw her in DOA recording studios...that was bad enough.
"You never blamed yourself for Jake's death. You're taking revenge for it, maybe then you'll blame yourself." Erebus said. He didn't sound very nice, he never did. When I saw the person's face I was wrecked. It was Evie, the girl Colt killed brutally in the woods. She wasn't wounded any more like she was when she died. Her soul wasn't damaged like her body. She was motionless now but that would soon change. Erebus would touch her and then she would move and talk. I wondered if she could forgive me. Of all of them her case was by far the worst. After all Colt had killed her and doubted that she would have realized it wasn't actually me that hurt her.
"Angel." She said. Her voice was filled with rage. "You...YOU KILLED ME! How could you do that? I didn't deserve that! I never did anything to you!" I understood Erebus' point, I hated him for it. He didn't just show me forgiveness. There were things that I did that couldn't be forgiven.
"I'm sorry Evie...I wish I could change that day." That wasn't a lie. I really did wish I could change what happened but I couldn't. Like Jake had said, you can change the future but not the past.
"Fuck you! FUCK YOU! You're a fucking ass hole. I hope you burn!" She sounded so angry, she hated me. I had seen a lot of rage and hatred in my life...but Evie's hate was ultimate. Here she stood in a field staring ahead for the rest of eternity, and it was my fault.
"Please...no more." I asked my father. I doubted he would listen, he had a thing for torturing me. But I was wrong, Evie became as motionless as she had been before. "Just another test?" At first I actually thought Erebus was being nice...I was wrong. Seemed to happen a lot lately. I hoped I wasn't wrong about this plan.
"Yes." At least he wasn't a liar. "Now do you still want to meet Hades?"
"Nothing has changed, I have to face the lord of the dead." A lot had changed, but I had to get Hades' help or it was all over. I couldn't give up under any circumstances.
"Alright then."
And from that moment to the next I was out of the fields of Asphodel and in front of Hades' palace. It was a dark building which screamed evil. It was Greek architecture and was all bronze and black. If it was a bit more cheery it would have been a lovely place. The gate was probably worst. The top of the black metal gate showed horrible images of death. Very painful ways of death if I might add. Some of these horror's were indescribable. The gate showed ways of death even Colt wouldn't think of using. Had these things happened I wondered? If so I did not envy the victim. That's when the gate opened. There stood two US marines, only they were skeletons in US marine suits rather than actual marines. Soon I had two military standard M16's pointed at me, and these guys were going for the head shot.
"Marines oorah?" They took me inside the palace with a bag over my head, I had no idea where I was going but I guessed I was going to Hades or to my death. I was hoping for the first option. When the bag got pulled off my head I was in what I guessed was the throne room. It was a fancy room with bronze and gold decorations. The shine was off them though, they were very old and no one really cleaned this place obviously. I wondered if it was clean in the winter when Persephone was here. The throne of flowers was empty now. The flowers were nearly dead, I figured that when Persephone sat in her throne they would blossom. The throne ahead of me was used however, there sat Hades. I had been working towards this moment for a long time, and here I was. Hades stood in front of me wearing a black robe. His skin was albino white, pale doesn't even compare. His hair was long and grey and he had a long beard. His face was old looking but with an intensity you saw in no person of that age. I could see his breathe as if it was freezing, the room had a nice temperature though. If anything made it possible to see his breathe it was the coldness of his heart. I think I should have scared. Hades could destroy me without raising a hand. But I wasn't scared, I couldn't afford to be. And even if I could I simply wasn't. I had faced the dead and death itself. I had felt enough pain for lifetime and more loss than any mortal life had known. There was little Hades could do to hurt me more than the fates had. Hades could kill me, but death hardly scared me any more. I was ready to die.
"Well well, Michael Angelus Colt." His voice was cold and sinister. But I didn't get the same sense of evil from him like I did from Phthonos. What I did feel was his incredible power. It radiated through the room and probably beyond that. I knew Hades was powerful but in his presence I could feel it. The power radiating from the god choked me, it was so much. I couldn't believe what power he had. Was he doing this on purpose?
"I've come to make a deal." I had speeches in my head, millions of things I wanted to say but now that I was here it didn't matter. Hades had already made his choice, he just hadn't told me yet.
"A deal? A measly son of Erebus comes here for a deal. Charon said you weren't very impressive, I knew you'd find a way in here eventually though. Erebus' kids were always so bold. Of course the last one was a long time ago and he wasn't as bothersome as you. You've made my life a living hell...no pun intended." Hades had a sense of humour? Who would have guessed that? "So many dead come here blaming you. Do you know of your enemies Michael Angelus Colt?" I wondered what Hades had decided, right now he was just messing with me. Were there any gods that didn't try to mess with me? If there were any I hadn't found them yet.
"I know I'm not very liked, that's not why I'm here." I didn't really understand why I ticket off Hades, I didn't do it purpose actually but he didn't like my answer at all.
"I know why you're here Michael son of Erebus! But I'm not interested in why you're here! Because of you my daughter died by the hand of Phthonos! You shouldn't have even been born! But you will pay very soon. You will get a slow death Angelus." Hades' fury made the building shake. Then a burning circle appeared on the ground. Something was being summoned by Hades, and given the size of the circle, it was big. "You've fought this manticore before Angelus but I doubt you can beat it alone." The same manticore, the same scar, and very pissed off. The last time I fought this thing was with Luke. He had been a great help, so were the tree's. Now I was fighting this thing alone, could I do that? I didn't really have a choice. One thing I was sure of, Hades was not going to help me. The manticore started shooting thorns at me like it did in the woods. I rolled to the side in order to dodge, I had to think of something. Dodging the monsters attacks wouldn't save me for long. After I had rolled into the Manticore's dead corner I pulled out the black Zippo lighter from my pocket and turned the flint. The lighter changed into a 4 foot long sword, Shadow-edge. The manticore had turned it's body around and started shooting thorns at me again. It would be harder to roll with a sword in my head. Instead I went for last minute sidestepping. I continued sidestepping until the manticore shot three thorns in rapid succession. The first two I dodge, the third was coming towards my chest. I cut down with Shadow-edge hoping to save my skin. I don't know if it was good timing or pure luck, but I succeeded. The thorn bounced over the floor and the manticore seemed incapable of shooting any more thorns, for now anyway. Hades was sitting in his throne with a smile on his face, he was obviously enjoying this. To him this was gladiator like entertainment and he was rooting for the manticore. I had to focus on my enemy, not on Hades. Without it's thorns I could come close or at least I hoped so. I charged towards it when Hades spoke: "You should let Colt handle this." I was close to the manticore and ready to stick the thing in it's human head, it wouldn't let me so easily. It's scorpion tail came down on my, I blocked it's attack with Shadow-edge but now I had no other weapon to finish of the manticore and it could still harm me with it's teeth. "Even if the Fortis boy agrees to help you, you won't be able to defeat Colt. He's stronger than you Angelus, bring him out!" Hades was getting to me now. Colt was not stronger, I would defeat him, and I would defeat the manticore. All I needed was a dagger. That's when a miracle happened. Out of the hilt of Shadow-edge came a dagger. My sword didn't change and it seemed as if the dagger had come out of no where.
"Colt isn't stronger than me Hades. He's nothing like me!" That's when I stuck the dagger into the monsters neck. It's eyes grew wide before it disintegrated. I had killed it for the second time now. There I stood with Shadow-edge in one hand and the dagger in the other. There was something I wondered about. I brought the dagger near Shadow-edge and it got sucked in. It was as if the dagger had never been there.
"So you have Shadow-edge. An impressive weapon. Of course it's current wielder not so much." Hades said. He seemed bored now. His pet had failed to kill me and his entertainment had ended. I hoped he wasn't going to send another monster my way. I got lucky now but luck wouldn't always be on my side.
"So will you do it? If I bring Phthonos here will you provide a cage?" I asked him. I hadn't asked about the cage before, but Hades knew that that's what I wanted. He had probably been following me since my travel begun.
"I shall." Hades nodded. I didn't believe him. I needed an oath, one he wouldn't even break.
"I want you to swear it on the Styx Hades. Even you won't break that oath." Hades grinned evilly. I knew then that he wouldn't have kept his promise if I hadn't made him swear it.
"I swear on the Styx that if you are able to bring the god of malice, jealousy and ill will into my throne room I will throw him into the deepest and darkest pit of Tartarus." That was a lot better. I didn't need anything else from Hades. I turned around towards the nearest shadow in the corner of the room. I was only getting out of here with shadow travel. So might as well take the nearest exit. "You're not strong enough to defeat him Angelus. I will provide the cage, but I will never see you in this throne room again. But trust me, I will enjoy seeing your soul tortured in the fields of punishment." I knew that Hades had a point. There was a chance that Phthonos would crush me. But I was going to try. I turned to Hades just before entering the shadows for the third time.
"I'll see you in three days Hades, And you'll have your revenge on the one who killed your daughter." And like that I left into the shadows. Leaving the underworld behind me. I wished I would never have to go there again. But I would be bring Phthonos there when the time came. Either that or I'd die trying.