Disclaimer: i do not own any of the original Clash of the Titans characters
-but steal mine and die ;)
Thea sat up on the edge of a barren, dry field. She looked around her and saw many other people, doing the same. They were all seated on a plain of dying flowers under a sky of black rock. In front of Thea lay a wide, rotting dock; a cloaked figure standing crookedly at the helm of a long row boat.
"Where are we?" a terrified woman asked no one in particular as everyone was drawn to the boat by some unseen force.
"The River Styx…" Thea answered her calmly and clearly, her voice echoing through the group and drawing a collective gasp that turned into wails and cries.
"I'm sorry everyone, but it's true. We lived our lives, and now we're dead and it is time to pay the consequences for our actions in life. Pray that the gods have mercy on your souls." Thea said focusing her gaze upon the sorry group.
She knew that if Perseus managed to defeat Hades, the god of death would not let her soul rest in peace in the afterlife. She readied herself for what was to come and stepped onto the boat. Her only wish was that she had been able to kiss Perseus before it was to late. The ferryman nodded to her silently from under the cloak as she passed him on her way to a wooden seat. Soon, everyone filed in behind her and the boat pushed away from the dock and stared flowing down the river.
Thea surveyed her surroundings. The underworld was cold, dark, and dismal just like its keeper, Hades. Thea knew from the legends and lore of the soothsayer in her village what would happen. She recalled the old, blind mans stories as he sat in front of the fire pit at the center of town.
"…And the ferryman, Charon, will take you to the gates. You will be carried down the River of the Dead and pass many terrors along the way. But if you remain in the boat, no harm will befall you. You must pass five rivers before you reach the gates. They are the river of Hate, the river of Woe, the river of Forgetfulness, the river of Wailing, and the river of Fire. After crossing these five rivers, the ferryman will take you to the gates to be tested and judged. Pray now young ones that you have so far placed your judgment in high favor…" Thea sighed in defeat as she wondered what level of punishment Hades would sentence her to. Her thoughts turned to Perseus, how his sea blue eyes swirled with a hidden sadness, the way his golden skin glowed in the sunlight, the touch of his fingers in her hair.
An escaped tear surprised her as it fell onto her clasped hands resting in her lap. She quickly wiped it away
"I must be strong…I am a warrior of Sparta and I do not fear death. I have no pain, I have no fear, I have no weakness." she whispered to herself as the boat floated silently toward the gates of death.
As the boat was slowly pulled down the river, the rocks above began to shake violently, shedding huge slabs of rock that plummeted down into the dark water. A swirling black mass was hurled past the boat, flames and sparks spinning around the edges, a horrid screeching emitting from the inside. As the cloud passed overhead, Thea tensed. Her hands went automatically to her blade sheaths against her thighs. The cool touch of the handle against her palms was soothing and the churning form disappeared around a bend, leaving the boat and river once again undisturbed. A few moments of silence passed, but it was shattered by a scream so full of hate and rage that it made Thea's blood turn cold. It was answered in turn by an echo of earsplitting shrieks. The sound reverberated off the stone walls and the whole company in the boat, besides the ferryman, fell to the floor covering their ears from it. Thea looked towards the source of the sound, hands planted firmly over her ears, and saw three winged beasts approaching the boat. She dared not reach for her blades as the creatures shrieked louder and swooped down towards her.
Thea recognized the beasts as furies, woman-like creatures with razor sharp claws and huge wings. They were the henchmen of Hades and now they were coming for her. One of the furies grabbed Thea by wrapping her clawed talons around her arms and lifted her up into the air, hissing all the while. The creature tossed Thea out over the river towards one of her sisters. Thea screamed as she fell, twisting towards the bubbling blackness. The fury barley grabbed Thea by the leg before she tumbled into the waters depths. The other souls in the boat cried out in dispair as the three furies half laughed, half shrieked as they flew with their prize back to their master.
Thea, disoriented from her flight, was further slammed against rocks, thrown like a rag doll between the three furies, and buffeted by the air currents from their leathery wings before she was roughly and unceremoniously dropped to the stone floor. She lay on the polished black marble for a few moments, trying to remember which direction was up before she heard his voice.
"So, you're the woman he was so angry about." he hissed, the roughness of it extremely unpleasant as it echoed against the rock. Thea looked up from her position on the floor and saw the god of the dead, Hades, slumped against his throne of ash and bone, nursing his wounds. His eyes gleamed with a red hot hatred that seemed to burn a hole right through Thea.
She tried to stand, but Hades flung his hand out towards her and Thea was pushed down against the cold floor, an invisible weight crushing her from above. She gasped from the pain, and was flipped over onto her back by an unseen force so that she could see an upside-down Hades move from his throne towards her, a predator examining its prey.
"One thing I do not understand. You knew that this would happen, that if you sacrificed yourself Perseus would succeed in defeating me, that your soul would be brought before me and punished…" he extended his hand towards her and Thea felt a searing electricity attack her body, flowing through her veins like fire. Her vision blurred from the pain and her body stiffened and arched upwards, but she would not scream or let a tear fall from her eyes. She trapped any sound of agony in her throat, not allowing the vengeful god the satisfaction and stared up at the rock ceiling defiantly. Hades relented and Thea slumped against the suddenly relievingly cold stone.
"Yet you still did it…Why did you do it little warrior? Are you so used to following the orders of a man, so accustomed to a soldiers duty that you didn't even question it? Or was it payment for your incredible strength and valor? Did you feel like you owed it to my meddling nephew Ares to fight against me?" he asked in a sickeningly sweet hiss as he circled Thea. Her whispered response was turned into haunting echoes that bounced off the stone walls.
"What did you say?" Hades growled bending down and grabbing Thea by her tunic hoisting her up so that their faces where inches away.
"For love…" she answered softly, traces of a smile on her lips as she realized what she had just admitted to the god of death. Hades glared at her, and the absolute hatred that burned in his eyes wiped away any trace of happiness in her face. He threw Thea away from him with a growl. As her body slid away from him on the floor, he flung another bolt of dark energy at her, relishing in the way her body jerked in pain, but becoming angrier by the second because she wouldn't scream. He attacked her again and again with his agonizing electricity, but the girl refused to even shed a tear.
Thea lay on the cold stone remembering the sound of the wind whistling through the tall grass that surrounded her village, the softness of her mothers hair when she used to braid it as a child, the feeling of the sun warming her skin as she trained with her fellow soldiers, the lullaby that her father would play for her on his reed flute as she fell asleep….
And the pain gradually began to disappear. Thea broke out of her mental oblivion and stared in wonder at her body. She was beginning to vanish. Thea looked up at Hades to see if this was a new type of punishment, but the god looked just as astonished as she was. He shook himself out of his surprise and moved towards her angrily.
"No!" he growled, reaching for her, "This one is mine…" he hissed as his hand collided with only air. Thea gasped as her body slipped away and she was thrown into darkness.
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