Andromeda was exhausted. Her gown was soaked with sweat and sticking to her skin. The sun was burning her, and her hands were so wet, that she couldn't hold on to the bridle. The heating sun was making her tired, but she couldn't sleep while the light was beaming into her eyes.

'Come 'on, Hipponoe, we got to go to Korinthos, that's what Dadd…' she stopped speaking. Saying her dad's nickname was too hard. 'That's what father said. Now let's go or otherwise he will be frowning at us from that stupid Elysium, with stupid Theodore in company of those stupid heroes. Let's go!' she mumbled.

With that speech she made her horse go faster. Hipponoe cried out of pain and ran into the fields of Greece.

Andromeda's hair flew in the wind, picking up leaves, dirt, sand and wind. Her braid was long ago gone, making place for her new messy "hairstyle". Her hands were sweating, she was covered in acne and dirt. She looked skinny and hungry and dehydrated; but for the first time in months after the death (or the "going-to-war) of her father, she felt joy. She felt like she wasn't allowing herself to be joyous and smile, because how could be something joyous? How could Apollo's chariot shine so brightly while her dead dad is probably on the ferry, drifting on the River Styx. How could the birds sing, while her dad was waiting in line for the judged? How could the grass grow while her father was sent to Elysium?

But still, the gods didn't mourn the death of another mortal, and everything went the way it was. Demeter was happy, cause her daughter was back. Zeus was probably seducing another woman (she'll never say that out loud). And Poseidon was having one of his fits. The usual.

Suddenly, Hipponoe stopped.

'Hipponoe! We still need to go. Why are you stopping?' Andromeda gave a kick to her horse, but the horse was frozen. 'Hippo!' again, nothing happened. 'Come 'on, you piece of dung! Get up!' Her father always told her that cursing was bad. But what could he do? He was in Elysium, and if he wanted to see Andromeda behave accordingly, he should have stayed. With that thought, Andromeda let out another bunch of curses in protest.

'Yeah, that's right, σκατά, you piece of evaporated pee, you are as useful as water to the hearth of the gods, you! -

She stopped and stroked her horse. She was cursing at her father, not her beautiful horse. 'Sorry, Hippo, wasn't talking to you.'

'To whom then?' asked a voice and Andromeda turned her head around. What she saw, she could never describe if asked to. No words on paper could ever describe this.

Near her stood a veiled woman. A woman with a dark blue…no, dark purple, no…dark brown… a woman with a veil. Or was it a hat?

She had dark…pale…olive… she had skin. Oh, goddamit now it looked like she had wood or stone instead of skin. Her eye colors were also ever changing. She was tall and short, cold and warm, beautiful and ugly. Suddenly her head turned to one of an animal, then again to a woman. She was something.

'W-who are you?'

'Maybe I am something, maybe I am nothing. But I exist I assure you that, little mortal.'

So that explained it. The woman was a goddess.

'Uh…what's your name?' she hesitated. 'Lady…'

'I have a several names, to which I one another became, and maybe you, my little one, shall unravel what one has done.'

Great, now she was talking in poems and mysteries. Maybe she was a muse?

'Oh, Lady, say if one of your names is Erato, Muse Goddess of Lyricism…'

The woman laughed. 'I know who you think I am, but my existence is of a different breed, For I am no muse, not titan or sun in the rising, you shall behave If you want to use my advising…'

…She was here to give advice, a Goddess giving advise was good, but there is no such thing as free lunch.

'What price do I have to pay for your wise words, Oh, My Lady?'

The goddess smirked. 'Let's play a game, you, my little. You shall answer my riddle; and I will yours, only then I can show you the doors.'

Andromeda was perplexed. 'Why for do I need to have a query with you, my Lady?'

She sighed. 'It was a long time since I had entertainment, and then I decided that it will be your payment.'

Ok…that wasn't hard…just a few riddles and she'll get advice.

Whom shall go first, my Lady?'

'You, dear one.'

'Uhm…okay…' she didnt know a lot of riddles, but one that her father told her sticked " I am a veil, obscuring my daughter, time is now for men to slaughter, Melinoe and Morpheus, Aphrodite and Philotes, their realm is stronger with my forces. I am what everyone does fear, even the god of thunder and his own ones near.'

This was an easy riddle, but Andromeda has intended it to do so. That way the goddess could guess quicker, and she would get her advice faster.

The goddess smiled. 'Isn't that Nyx, you're talking about?' Andromeda nodded. 'Well, then darling it's time for my riddle!'

Suddenly the whole world went pitch black. Andromeda was falling into…what was that? Gas…liquid gas…

Chaos… Soon, she'll reach chaos

"One touch of the Void, and an immortal would dissolve, returning to the place where all began, and all would end, Chaos "

Andromeda was screaming but there was nothing she could do.

Screams of life and beggings for Mercy, nothing changed the way she fell. Suddenly a voice was hearable in her fall. A subtle whisper, thousands of whispers, whispers of the dead...the dead...

'No, mortal, no Titan, No God could escape me

Swords and Violence cannot break me

I destroy, I end, I raze, and I take what is mine

For mortals don't know my true form divine

I make people wish to end their lives

I make life sound as a nightmare in paradise'

Andromeda didn't know. Here she was and here would she end. No mortal, no Titan no can escape it…what does that even mean? Make life sound as a nightmare? What is this? And still Andromeda was falling into Chaos, where her soul would dissolve. This is the end. She was in misery…. misery…misery…wait, -

'Misery! My answer is Misery!' her fall stopped, and she was only a hair-thin spot away from the gas. Only one second, and she would be dead.

'You are right, my little mortal. Misery…that's what you are in, aren't you not? Your father left you, your brother left you, everyone will leave you.'

Suddenly Andromeda opened her eyes and there she was. The sun beamed in her eyes. Again, on a horse in the fields, as if none of this ever happened. The goddess stood in front of her and smiled.

'Well, that was lovely, my dear one. I had fun!'

'I-I could've died!'

The goddess nodded. 'You could! But where is the fun without that?'

Andromeda was shaking.

'Well, now maybe you want to know my name. I am Despoina! Goddess of mysteries and my cult! Well that isn't my real name, you will never know my real name. Or maybe you will? Who knows? Only mysteries...Isn't that wonderful? Only the ones who answer my riddles can get me!' she laughed and smiled again. 'There isn't much advice as I said, but I will help you.'

What did that mean? Suddenly Despoina charged to Andromeda and grabbed her horse. And they both flashed away.

When Andromeda opened her eyes, she already saw Korinthos. Despoina was nowhere in sight.

Korinthos…the place of the Necromantheion of Acheron laid. Or otherwise named as the House of Hades