I lie awake in bed mere hours after Medusa and I conclude our conversation. It is not just the certainty of Karmê's and Ismēnē's divine abduction that is keeping me awake. It is this strange feeling that I am experiencing for perhaps the first time in my life- concern for a mortal. In the past, I rarely gave a second thought to mortals. Their lives are, after all, so brief that time feels like little more than the blink of an eye. I learned early on that is unwise to become attached to mortals because of this reason and the fact that a new generation always replaces the previous one. But now that I have spent time among mortals- eaten, worked, and slept as one- I find that I cannot return to my original view. Just because mortals have brief lifetimes and eventually die is no reason to…

My train of thought disappears completely as a new thought enters my mind. It is so simple and easy that I cannot believe I did not think of it in the first place. At the same time, though, I feel a small sense of dread. If Karmê and Ismēnē have been abducted, what guarantee is there that their kidnapper did not kill them? The only way to know for sure (apart from the unpleasant experience of discovering a dead body) is to make a journey to the Underworld and ask Hades if I might search for the girls' names in his Roster of the Dead.

But will I even be able to find the Underworld? More importantly, what is it going to take for my estranged uncle to cooperate with me? I do not know Hades very well, but my instincts tell me that the Lord of the Underworld is not just going to allow me to peruse his work records. Not without a good reason, at least.

Even though my head feels as though it might explode from the uncertainty behind all these questions, I conclude that the best thing to do right now is to sleep. Tomorrow evening, I shall make (or attempt to make) my way to the Underworld. But it might be best beforehand to temporarily incapacitate the entire household, including Medusa, before settling out. No one must know of my plans lest they try to stop me. And with that final thought, I close my eyes and eventually drift off to sleep.

AMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAM

It is surprisingly easy to incapacitate a mortal, or maybe I should say, a group of mortals. The easiest way to incapacitate a mortal is with drugged wine. This knowledge I credit to my brother Dionysus, who once showed me (in one of his rare bacchanal-free moments) to mix a certain herb into a vat of wine. Once the wine was ready, he then proceeded to drink down the entire vat. Whether he did this to demonstrate the effects of drugged wine or simply forgot that he had just tampered with said liquid, I never found out. This unquenched example of liquid gluttony knocked my pleasure-sodden brother out cold, and an entire month passed before he regained consciousness.

Not wanting a similar fate to befall the members of Dorian's household, I take great care to stir small bits of the unnamed herb into one of the kitchen vats of wine. I especially do not want anything bad to happen to Medusa or Aspasia (whose pregnancy is very pronounced by this time), so I make sure to minimize their liquid intake. Once everyone (including the household slaves) is asleep, I gather my satchel of supplies, fasten a grey veil around my head and shoulders, and venture out into the moonlit night.

Now that I am no longer within the confines of the house, the real difficulties pour down upon me like rapidly released rain from a storm cloud. Fool that I am, I have spent too much time preventing Dorian's family and servants from impeding me in my mission to realize that I would also have to deal with the other mortals in the vicinity. It seems that almost every male- be he citizen, freedman, or slave- is out and about tonight. Each class is recognizable by the way the individual man dresses and walks. The citizens wear elaborately colored chitons and cloaks and walk confidently while legal freed men walk less surely and wear only peplos, a sign that they have crossed over the line of slave but not yet into a citizen's circle. The slaves are the easiest to pick out, due to their visible markings and their brisk pace while running to and from the nearby outdoor kitchens.

An eternity seems to pass while I dodge and hide from potential meddlers as I make my way across the compound towards the semi-distant forest that curls around the edge of the landscape. It is then that another possibility presents itself to me. The forest is not the only route by which one can travel to the Underworld- the other route (which is much closer to where I currently am) is by sea. The port within the nearest proximity is Even though the port is closer than the forest to the town, I decide not to steal a fishing raft and sail to the Underworld. Quite apart from being caught and suffering severe punishment from the owner, I do not know the Underworld's exact nautical location. I also have no desire to travel on Poseidon's highway. Given the animosity that exists between us, he would probably send a great wave to wreck my floating craft and leave me at the mercy of his favorite sea monster. The forest, on the other hand, is quiet and (hopefully) free of mortals and gods.

I know that every city-state settlement has a secluded place for departing souls. This place can be found in a cave on the outskirts. The common mortal belief is that a recently departed soul uses this area as a highway to the Underworld's port of call. Once there, the soul waits for Charon the ferryman to arrive and deliver him or her to the Underworld's main entrance. That, I have heard, is where the real work- judgment and eternal placement of souls- begins. My lingering goddess intuition tells me that the secluded "soul station" area is in the forest, which explains the reason for this destination.

Making my way to the forest grove now is no problem but locating the soul station's entrance is quite another story. There are many caves in the hills and forests surrounding the city, so many in every direction that it is difficult to know which way leads to the desired location. This is not the only problem I encounter. Despite the moonlight peeking in through the treetop canopy, the whole area is too dark for my mortal eyes to distinguish any dendrochronological differences between the trees. Even the small lamp in my hand cannot aid me in this situation.

It is at this moment that I recall the mortal stories I have heard about Hecate, one of my more obscure divine relatives. The tales say that this witchlike goddess of the crossroads grants good fortune to whoever devoutly honors her. In no way do I fit this description, but I am willing to try almost anything if it will help me uncover the truth behind the disappearances of Karmê and Ismēnē.

The wind blows gently through the surrounding trees, and I instinctively draw my himation tighter around my body. I set my oil lamp on the ground, kneel on the poorly lit surface, and put as much reverence as possible into my voice. "Hecate, Goddess of the Crossroads, hear the plea of a desperate mortal."

I wait in silence, my breathing so slow that I feel like the great spotted cat that has just spotted its prey and is anticipating the right moment to pounce. Nothing happens. Save for the wind's constant keening throughout the tree branches there is no indicator that Hecate (if she is indeed present) is inclined to speak to me. Having used this same tactic on some of my own supplicants, I cannot help but feel vexed (as they must have) to have my prayer go unanswered.

Just as I am about to give up, a plaintive hoot breaks the silence. It is by using my oil lamp and squinting in the near darkness that I catch a pair of yellow eyes staring at me. I get up and slowly stretch the lamp out from my body as far as my arm will go to see that my new acquaintance is a common owl. From what little of him I can see, the owl is roughly small enough to fit into a deep basket. Now, he is sitting on a branch low enough to be seen and at the same time high enough for him to be out of arm's reach.

Unlike most owls, this strigiform does not fly off into the dark as I approach; he merely travels as far as the next tree. For some unexplainable reason, I find myself following the owl's progress as I, too, venture to the next tree. This process repeats itself for a time as the owl leads me deeper and deeper into the forest. He constantly turns his luminous eyes back as though to ensure that I am keeping up with him. All the while, my mind unsuccessfully attempts to digest this unusual occurrence. After all, owls do not normally interact with a mortal during the busy nighttime. Or even at all, for that matter. But this owl is clearly not what he seems. I get the feeling that, as much as my mortal common sense tries to deny it, the owl knows what I am up to and is acting as my guide. Gods will sometimes act as guides for mortals as the latter journey to fulfill quest objectives, so why is it unusual for an animal to act as guide to a goddess-turned-mortal?

We continue in this fashion until my oil lamp reveals that we have arrived at a roughly hewn cave that descends underground. I frown, wondering what game this owl is playing. He can clearly see that I am not the source of his evening meal, so why has he brought me here?

As if in answer to my unspoken question, the owl flaps his wings and takes off into the dark cave.

Then I remember my aunt Hestia telling me about the Underworld and how many of its back entrances originate from the deepest of Earth's caverns. At the time she told me of this marvel, I suspected that she must often visit her estranged brother Hades, the only one of his five siblings to do so.

The logical part of my ever-active mind is practically shouting for me to turn back for the safety of Dorian's house and the warm bed I share with Medusa. At the same time, the more daring (and admittedly at this moment, the stronger) half of my consciousness urges me onward to discover Karmê's and Ismēnē's unknown fates, and perhaps the identity of their abductor. Temporary mortal that I am, I am still a goddess, and nothing will hinder me in my quest.

It is with new resolve that I step into the cave and begin my descent into the underground world of darkness.