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Chapter 2

The Underworld

I got up and got ready for my first day of High School. Dread filled my mind as I pondered my possible failures of the coming year. To be honest with you I'm not always the best student. I always get in trouble often, and I worry under stressful circumstances. I got up, dressed myself, and ate a quick breakfast.

Just before I was about to leave, my foster mom called to me. "Lia, what was all that racket in your room last night?" she said, "You didn't sneak a boy in your room again, right?" Her eyes were heavy from her long night at work. Wrinkles engulfed her face like a hurricane of waves. She stared at me with worry and concern, but there seemed to be little to no love in her eyes. How could she love someone like me? I am a failing student with no future. All I was to her was another foster kid forced upon her by unloving parents. Whenever I asked her about my parents, she got this funny glaze in her eyes, as if a fog clouded her memory, and she walked into the other room to do the dishes, even if there wasn't any to be done.

"Mom, I just had a peculiar dream last night, and he wasn't just a boy, he was a friend. Don't worry about me. Okay?" I returned.

"Well you know you can always talk to me...about anything." She said. I wanted to tell her everything. I wanted to tell her about my feelings of her, and my dream. I wanted to ask her about my parents, and get an answer for once. I couldn't though. She was just someone I couldn't trust enough to tell. I left without another word.

I walked to school and met up with my best friend, Joseph. His shaggy black hair blew in the soft autumn breeze. His stormy gray eyes stared into my deep blue eyes. He was the only person I could talk too. No one else understood what I was going through except him. His mother abandoned him as a baby, and his father treated him like my foster mother treats me. The only difference we had were grades. I got straight C's and he got straight A's. I recapped my dream to him as he studied every word I said. When I finished, I looked at him and he looked just as confused as I felt.

"Lia, I'm sorry to say...but...I feel as though this is something that you need to figure out for yourself." he said with every word chosen carefully. I felt betrayed by my best friend. The words stung as they rang in my ears. I felt my eyes tear up, but I refused to let myself cry. I looked into his eyes and I saw pain and regret. I turned away to keep myself from crying. I wanted to turn and run away, but I felt a strong connection between us, so I stayed. I felt Joseph put a firm hand on my shoulder. I looked up again, but it wasn't Joseph. It was a man dressed in black robes laced with gold. His skin was albino white, and his face was lined with long, black, greasy hair. His eyes burned a deep, beady, black. He smiled a toothy, sly sneer and flared his nostrils in hatred.

"Who are you, and where is Joseph?" I said forcing every word out of my mouth. He laughed and pointed to a corner behind the dumbster. He snapped his fingers, and I saw Joseph rise into the air, then drop next to me. Joseph was bound at the wrists and ankles with dead, black, thorny vines. He looked at me with a calming stare, and mouthed comforting words. Vines crawled up his legs until he was completely coved in them. Then he sunk into the earth as if he stepped into quicksand, and was gone in a few excruciating moments. The whole time this was happening, I just sat there screaming and unable to do anything. "Why are you doing this to me and my friend? What have we ever done to you?" I sobbed, choking on every word.

"You being alive is why I'm doing this." He maliciously said. He laughed a horrid laugh. Then vines crawled up my legs just as they did on Joseph. They felt like snakes slithering around my legs, growing tighter with every move. They covered my body until I was engulfed in vines. I was surrounded by darkness. All light seemed to be suffocated. Then I felt myself sink into the ground. It felt like hours before the vines came loose, but I was still surrounded by darkness when I looked up. I was in a huge, worldly room, or for better use of words, a cave. There was no sun, no warmth, and no love. "You like my home, Achillia?" He said coldly.

"How do you know my name?" I asked. My lip quivered as I spoke.

"Why my child, I'm your uncle."

"My uncle?"

"Of course my dear. Why, you seem afraid to see me. Frankly, I didn't know you existed until I felt your father's aura near your house yesterday. I didn't know who you were but I decided to take a chance on you. Then I heard about your dream when you and dreamy eyes were talking. I knew you were the one."

"Wait, my father? Yesterday? The One? Dreamy eyes...JOSEPH! Where is he?"

"Slow down sweetheart. Mr. Intellectual will be fine as long as you do everything I say. As for your father... you'll find out in due time. Now follow me!"

"Wait I need answers. That can't be it!" As soon as the words fell out of my mouth, I regretted it. Pain filled every inch of my body. It was the worst pain I had ever felt! It felt as though every inch of my body was covered in red-hot needles melting into my skin. The pain stopped and I fell to the ground, reaching for air.

"YOU WILL DO AS I SAY!" he screamed. I followed him not wanting Joseph to suffer for my selfish mistakes. We walked up a large winding, inclined path that seemed to be going on for miles.

"Could we please take a break? I'm dying over here."

"The closer you are to death, the better!" Finally, we stopped at the steps of a huge, black, obsidian palace. We climbed the steps, and then he motioned for me to stop. He walked up to the huge black doors, and spoke something in a strange language. It must have been some form of Latin or Greek, but it sounded ancient and complicated. The doors opened and we walked inside. I followed him until we stopped in a large throne room. He beckoned me to sit in a chair in the center of the room while he sat in front of me on a throne made entirely of fused human bones. A woman walked into the room. She wore a long, silky, gray dress. She had long, brown hair, and her expression was one of dread and regret. She sat down next to my uncle on a smaller throne made of dead, black roses. "Ahhhhh. My lovely wife. How wonderful it is for you to join us. Did you bring our dinner?" He said in a demanding voice.

"Yes, my Lord." She said as she snapped her fingers and and a platter of delicious pomegranates appeared. I would have been freaked out by this except that I'd seen worse today.

"How many times do I have to tell you? We are married! You can call me by my first name!" He yelled.

"I'm sorry, my Lord." She smiled as she walked towards me with the platter. Apparently, she was amused by torturing her husband. She gestured towards the plate, but she mouthed 'don't eat'. I shook my head and she walked back to her husband.

"Are you not hungry, Achillia?" He spoke.

"No uncle...uhhhhhh... you never told me your name."

"My name is Hades."

"Ohhhh...like the greek god?"

"Uhhhh you could say that."

"I presume this is my aunt." I gestured to the woman.

"Yes...her name is Persephone."

"Wait a minute...you...my...huh...I...I...uhhhhh"

"Yes Achillia. We are the greek gods. I am Hades god of the underworld, and ruler of the dead. This is Persephone goddess of spring and Queen of the Underworld."

"Then my father is..."

"Yes, he is my brother, he is a god."

"Wh... who is he?"

"Hmmmm. Let's see here. You have blue eyes, wavy hair, and the day you saw your father, he vanished in a swirl of mist."

"Is...is...he Poseidon?"

"Good job!" He said sarcastically.

"M...m...my...father's Poseidon?"

"That is what I said."

"Wh...who is my mother?"

"Now, that's something I'm still guessing at. Now, off to bed. You'll be tortured to death in the morning. Persephone, if you will." He gestured towards me.

I stood and followed my aunt out the door. She walked with such grace, elegance, and strength even though she was married to a creep like Hades. It was still hard for me to comprehend that my father was Poseidon! That means I'm a Demigod? I think that's the right word for it. We walked down the hall, passed a flight of stairs, and up to a room guarded by skeletons dressed in military uniforms. Persephone spoke in the strange language, and the guards moved away and opened the doors. Inside were a set of bunkbeds, another door, and JOSEPH! I ran inside and hugged him.

"Achillia, we must talk." Persephone hurriedly said as she closed the door. "You are not safe here! My husband will do everything in his power to kill you! He believes you are a demigod, and can be killed. However, if the mother is who I think she is then..." her voice trailed off. "Tomorrow is my last day before spring comes and I can leave. When I leave, I'm going to do everything in my power to take you and your friend with me. I will come at midnight to pick you up. Stay awake until then. If you fall asleep, you may never wake up. Good bye, Achillia." She turned and left leaving me alone with Joseph.

"You must have a million questions. Let me explain everything I know..." I said as tears welled up in my eyes.

"Lia, it's ok. I already know what's happening." He said.

"They already told you?"

"No, not exactly. Lia, I haven't been completely honest with you. I'm not who you think I am. My mother did abandon me, but it was for good purposes. My mother is Athena, goddess of wisdom and battle strategy." He said.

To be honest with you I wasn't surprised. He was REALLY smart and sly. He looked at me for a response, but I just lauged.

"It's like we're in a myth or fantasy novel."

"Ya it is."

"So you're a demigod like me?"

"Yes I am a demigod, but by what Persephone said YOU may be more than that."

"I guess we'll have to wait and see."

"Ya I guess so." He said. We spent the rest of the night talking and thinking about our parents. As the minutes crawled by the beds looked more and more comforting. They were calling me, beckoning me to lie down and rest. I resisted the temptation though. Forcing myself to sit against the wall and wait and wait.