Marinette barely got any sleep that night before she was whisked back into the throne room, this time with little warning. The servants hurried her through the halls in uncomfortable silence, seeming much more timid than they had all week. Something was definitely wrong.
When she got to the room, she saw Gabriel, and she too became a bit more intimidated. He sat there, confident as always, a cool, wicked grin stretching across his taught features. "Good morning, Marinette. I trust you slept well?" His mocking tone slithered down from his mouth as he looked down at the girl before him.
"Of course, my Lord." Marinette feigned politeness. The last thing she needed was to give Gabriel the satisfaction of her temper.
"Good. Well then, I suppose you are ready for your final test." His eyebrows twitched.
Marinette nodded. "I will complete any task you ask of me, my Lord."
Gabriel tilted his head down toward the girl, a cruel glee glinting in his eyes. "Oh, I doubt that." He gestured towards one of his servants, who rushed forward, and handed him something Marinette could not see.
"You are aware of how much you hurt my son?" Marinette nodded reluctantly. "Good. And you are also no doubt aware that it is the duty of a wife to ensure the health of her husband?" Marinette again nodded. "Well then, today's task will test you on your ability to help your husband get well, no matter the lengths you must go."
He stood, and walked towards Marinette, putting the object before her. It was a small chest, beautifully engraved with silver wings and golden bows. "This belongs to my son. Today, you must go down into the underworld and ask Rose, goddess of spring, for some extra vitality. It is the only thing that will fully heal my son of his wounds, and restore my full strength. Caring for him has been a rather grueling task." He glared at her. "You must ask Rose to put the vitality in this box, and then return with the goddess's generous gift. Achieve this by sundown, and you may have my son's hand." he gave her the box and turned away. "However if you fail…" He turned, his malicious smile returning. "Your life will belong to me." He then left the room, leaving his last few words hanging in Marinette's mind.
Marinette had been walking aimlessly for at least an hour, unsure of what to do next. She had no idea how to enter the underworld, and she wasn't sure she could expect the goddess Rose to help her. She had met many kind gods during her journey, but she had also met Gabriel. She knew better than to expect that all gods would be as helpful as Alya or Nino had.
But she wasn't about to let that stop her. No, she would do it. She would get what she needed, and she would get back by sundown. She would see Adrien again, and this time, she wouldn't let her sisters get in her mind. She could only hope that her husband was willing to forgive her.
She soldiered on, trying to think of the best path to take. Soon however, she spotted a tower. She didn't know why, but the tower seemed to call to her, begging her to climb to the top. She had learned, due to her recent mistakes, that her instincts weren't always trustworthy, and her trials had made her weary of traps. But the more she looked at the old tower, its sturdy build rising up above the forest's ceiling, the more the structure attracted her. She eventually decided that climbing to the top would at least give her a good view, where maybe she could find a hint that would lead her to the entrance to the underworld.
She began her climb, and quickly ascended the stairs, knowing she didn't have too much time to alot to this little detour. But as soon as she had gotten to the top, she was glad she had made the trip.
The view was astounding. She could see for miles and miles. She could see the forest and the mountains, and she could even see Gabriel's house from her perch. She could see the cliff face from her third task, and the pasture from her second. A small smile soon wove its way onto her lips. They all looked so small from the tower. She found confidence in this new view, for she knew that, after today, her current task would seem just as small.
"Marinette? Can you hear me?" a voice suddenly called, snapping Marinette from her trance.
"Hello? Is someone there?" she whipped around, looking for the source of the voice, but saw nothing.
"It's me, Marinette, Adri-" the voice cleared its throat. "I mean, it is I, the mighty tower on which you stand." the voice said, this time in a much lower tone, as if it wanted to make itself sound commanding.
Marinette stood up straighter. She knew that voice. It was the voice she still heard in her dreams, the one that had soothed her to sleep every night for a year.
She smiled widely and clamped her hands over her face, attempting to stop herself from sobbing. "Is it really you?" she managed through her clenched hands.
"Yes. Of course. Who else could it be?" the tower said in its false deep voice.
Marinette giggled a little. "Well then, great tower, if I can, I would like to apologize for anything I did to hurt you. I was stupid and put my trust in the wrong people. But I've been working hard to make up for it."
"Oh Mari I know- I mean I have seen your hard work, Marinette, and I therefore am here to offer you help in your current task." The voice said, quickly reverting back to the false deep bellows after it had realised its mishap.
Tears streaked down Marinette's face. "Oh thank you, kind and generous tower. I'm glad that you can find it in you to forgive me, and I am even gladder that you want me to succeed. You don't know how much this task means to me."
If buildings could smile, Marinette knew that the tower would be beaming from ear to ear. "I do believe that I, the great and mighty tower, have a pretty good understanding of how much we- I mean how much you want this. I am a very wise tower, you know."
Marinette laughed. "Of course, how could I question your eternal wisdom, oh great tower?"
The two stayed quiet for a moment, enjoying even this small reunion. They had missed each other's company more than either had really realised until that moment.
Suddenly, the tower cleared its equivalent to a throat. "Right. So should we get back to the task at hand?" It asked reluctantly.
Marinette sighed. She had nearly forgotten. "Right. Of course. Just tell me what I need to do."
"Okay, so first, you'll need two cakes and two coins. When you leave here, you'll find these things at the tower's base. Then, you'll go just east of here, where you'll find a cave in the side of the mountain. That's when things get difficult…"
Marinette did as she was told, and collected the goods from the base of the tower. She went east, and soon came upon the mountainside. She followed the wall of rock for a bit, and after a small time she found the opening described to her by the tower. However, there was something blocking her entry…
"Excuse me miss, but can you spare a minute?"
Marinette tensed. Outside the cave there lay a small, pitiful old man, crouching over a pile of wood. Nearby, there sat a broken cart, with more assorted sticks tumbling out, and a poor, sickly looking donkey at the helm.
"It'll only take a minute. These old bones just aren't what they used to be."
Marinette refused to make eye contact with the man. No matter how much her heart ached to help, no matter how pitiful the man looked, she couldn't do it.
She continued walking, her eyes trained forward on the cave.
"Where are you going? Please madam, I really need a little help here. Just an extra hand will help this old man plenty. Please!"
But the tower's voice still rang in her ears. "The tyrant who designed this task knows how kind you are. He'll use that against you. Stop for no one, and I mean no one. No matter how much they beg, don't stop."
So Marinette forged forward, doing her best to ignore the pleas of the defenseless old man.
"Cruel woman." The man said from behind her, and then all was silent.
The cave was dark and cool, with cool gray stone walls winding deep into the Earth. Marinette's steps echoed as she walked, and the light grew dimmer and dimmer as she left the sanctity of the surface behind.
She walked and walked, stumbling through the deep, dense darkness, until finally she saw a faint glow up ahead. She hurried forward, knowing that she was fast approaching the end of her goal, and not caring that she was also getting closer and closer to the land of the dead.
The light was dim, even as she got closer, and the air was thick and heavy, with a sense of foreboding hanging down from the cave's ceiling. Marinette ignored the knot that grew tighter and tighter in her stomach. She had gotten this far. It was too late to give up now.
As she approached the light's source, Marinette began to hear a faint gurgle. She moved toward it, and soon saw a river snaking through nearby tunnels. Waiting on the side of the river, with nothing but a single lamp to light his way, was the ferryman.
He was a tall man, cloaked all in black, with only strands of bluish hair sticking out from under his hood. Marinette inched closer, and saw that his hair grew darker as it grew closer to the scalp. It was strange and maybe even beautiful, in some way.
"A-are you Luka, the ferryman?" Marinette cautiously asked.
The man smiled. "That depends. Do you have the coin?"
Marinette nodded and reached for the small satchel that she had found at the tower's base. "Yes. Of course." she pulled out the small piece of gold, and handed it to the man. He looked it over, examining every detail, before he finally put it in his pocket.
"Well then, welcome aboard." He said, gesturing Marinette to get on his tiny ship. She climbed aboard tentatively, careful not to touch the water. She knew of the river Styx. It was not a pleasant place for a swim.
Luka pushed his long ferryman's pole against the obsidian riverside, and soon the small boat drifted through the cave.
The world plunged into utter darkness. Marinette couldn't even tell if her eyes were open. All she knew was the rushing of the river as water slapped the sides of the boat. She clung to her seat for dear life, hoping that this darkness would soon end. For some reason, it seemed to consume her, to wrap its thin, bony fingers around her heart, and it didn't want to let go.
Minutes passed, and soon enough the darkness fell away as well. But as soon as she saw what lay past the cave's exit, Marinette wished that the darkness would return.
To her left, she saw opulent palaces glittering with jewels in the dim light. Faint sounds of music and laughter drifted towards her, but she could not focus on them.
Straight ahead of her, Marinette saw large iron gates, the entrance of which was guarded by a large, multi-headed beast. But even that paled in comparison to what she saw on her right.
There were screams. Hundreds of horrible screams echoing throughout the giant chasm. Flames burst out of the ground, dancing among the shadows of people desperately reaching out through the barbed fences, trying to break free from their torment. Hideous monsters swarmed above them all, swooping and diving and teasing their hapless victims.
Tears came to Marinette's eye. She didn't know what those people had done in life, but she couldn't believe they had done anything to deserve this. She wouldn't wish that fate on anyone, no matter how awful they had been. Not Chloe, not Lila… not even Gabriel deserved that.
She forced her eyes shut, tears streaming down her face. She couldn't look. If she looked again, she'd be driven mad by sorrow.
Instead, she decided to focus on the river. The waters were an inky black, swirling and bubbling in unnatural ways. Small flecks of… something floated around, but Marinette knew not to try and find out what they were. She wasn't about to touch the deadly water.
"Help me!" A voice called out from just ahead. "Please! Someone! Help me!"
Marinette tilted her head towards the calls, and saw someone struggling to stay above the surface. It was a boy, probably around Marinette's age, and he was about to go under the murky water.
"Please! I can't keep this up for much longer!"
The boat was fast approaching the boy, coming almost within Marinette's reach. She longed to reach out, longed to pull the boy aboard, but she knew she couldn't. She dug her hands into the boards of the boat, and clenched her eyes shut, trying fervently to ignore the boy's desperate pleas.
"Why!? Why won't you help! Please miss! I'm drowning! I can't keep this up much longer!'
Marinette felt tears welling up in her eyes. She dug her nails deeper into the wood, and clamped her jaw shut. She could do this. No matter how much her heart ached, she could ignore the boy. He wasn't really in danger. He wasn't really drowning. It was all a cruel trick by Gabriel, no matter how real it seemed.
Soon the splashing stopped, and the cries could no longer be heard. Marinette opened up a single eye and looked back at where the boy had been. There were only small ripples left on the water's surface. How could Gabriel be so cruel? How could anyone torment her like this? Did he think this was funny? Rage burned in Marinette's chest. How dare he! Did he think that playing with mortals like this was okay?
The boat finally reached the shore. With a newfound passion, Marinette climbed out, and reached back down to her satchel. "Sir, would you please wait for me? I promise it won't take long, and I have another coin to give you when I come back."
Luka nodded. "I wouldn't leave someone like you in a place like this. I'll be here."
Marinette nodded back, and turned to face the iron gates. She walked forward, keeping an eye out for the legendary guard of the underworld and its keeper.
"I'd be careful if I were you." She heard someone say from her right. She turned towards them, and saw a young-looking man with dark purple hair and a black leather coat. "He's lookin' pretty hungry right about now. I wouldn't try testin' him, if I were you." The man spoke with a strange accent that Marinette couldn't place, and he seemed so foreign in this setting.
"Who?" Marinette asked, believing she already knew the answer.
"My boy Fang. He's always lookin' for a good bite to eat. Intruders are his favorite."
Large footsteps started shaking the ground. A deep, grunting roar rose up over the nearby hill, right near the gates. Marinette spun her head around, and saw the legendary beast.
She'd heard tales of Fang, guardian of the gates of the underworld, but those stories couldn't do the beast justice. It was a huge, hulking brute, with purple reptilian skin that shone in the fire's glow. It had a long, bulky body, with thin, scaly wings jutting out from its spiny back. And to top it all off, the beast had three long-snouted, large jawed, beady-eyed heads.
Marinette took a deep breath. The tower had told her how to handle this. She had to believe she could do this. She had to trust that the tower's word was true.
"I'll be fine." She said to the man, who she assumed was the monster's keeper. "I can do this." She walked forward, head held high, and trying to stop the shaking of her hands.
"Hahaha, this girl's got spine!" The man said from behind her. "Good luck! Hope you know what you're doin'!"
Marinette took in another long deep breath, and approached the beast. It stared down at her, yellow eyes gleaming with a ravenous hunger. She reached down into her satchel, and pulled out the first cake. It was hard and dark and smelled horrid, but the Tower had assured her it was just what she needed.
"Hello, Fang." Marinette said, doing her utmost to keep her voice steady. "I have something for you."
One of the monster's heads sniffed the air, and then the beast's tail started shaking.
"I'll give this to you if you let me pass. Do we have a deal?"
Fang excitedly dropped his heads down towards the strange cake in Marinette's hand.
"I'll take that as a yes. Here you go." She tossed the cake a couple feet away, and Fang hurried after it, his heads snapping in competition over the smelly delicacy.
Marinette passed the monster, and made her way through the gate. "I'll bring you another one on the way back!" She shouted, unsure if the monster could even understand her.
She forged her way up the hill, and soon enough, she could see the palace of the underworld. She was getting close now. To either side of her, Marinette could see long, sprawling fields of gray wheat. However, unlike the fields of grain she had seen back on Earth, there wasn't so much as a stir. Everything was still. Absolutely still. No sounds. No color. No movement.
Marinette began to walk faster. This place was starting to creep her out. She couldn't handle the stillness. It was too unnatural.
As she made her way through the fields of gray, she eventually came upon some women. They sat in a circle, with a loom in the center. They were as gray as their surroundings, but their tapestries were a different story.
There were colors Marinette had never seen before. The patterns seemed to dance and move, and Marinette could not take her eyes off of them. Before she even realized what she was doing, she was slowing down, almost to a halt, before the women's loom.
Marinette had loved weaving. Second in her life only to sewing, weaving made her feel incredible. She could tell stories, create beauty, and escape her dull life, all through the patterns of threads. Several of her tapestries had even been hung in the palace she had grown up in, although she had not in recent years kept up with the hobby, in favor of her sewing. But now she wished she had. Maybe, if she had continued her practice, she could weave like these women. Maybe she could create objects of such rare, exquisite beauty.
"Hello dear. Would you care to weave with us?" The first woman said.
"We are so old and frail, it hurts our hands. But you look young enough to weave forever." Said the second.
"Oh yes, please help us. Your hands already bear the mark of a great artist, but I'm sure these old hags could teach you a thing or two." The third continued.
They all three giggled, and reached out a hand to Marinette. "Join us." They said in unison. "Join us at the loom. You know you want to. And you'll never have to stop."
Marinette reached back to them, entranced. She never wanted to do anything else but weave. She could only think of threads and looms. She walked towards the woman, taking several slow, mechanical steps, before the Tower's voice echoed in her head. "Trust no one. Help no one. Let no one lead you off the path."
Marinette took a step back. What was she doing? She had a job to do. She couldn't waste her time weaving.
"What's wrong, my child?" The first woman said.
"Why won't you help us?" Said the second.
"Come now, there's no need to feel frightened." Finished the third.
Marinette shook her head. "I can't." She said, shutting her eyes to avoid the temptation. "I can't!" She then turned and ran, refusing to look back.
