A DEAL OUT OF LOVE

Both Eri and Hades were frozen in place by Zenos' revelation. "Meg sick? Could she be the first to end up in the underworld?" thought the god of the dead, a malicious grin spreading across his face.

Eri, on the other hand, was in shock. Her mother had fallen ill again. A few years ago, her mother collapsed in the fields. For several days, she had a dangerously high fever. Eri had to take her place, working while Zenos cared for her. But she didn't get better. It was a miracle that she recovered because, for a moment, Eri thought her mother was going to die.

She knew her mother overworked herself and stopped eating, so her children could have food. That's why Eri decided to work at the quarry to earn more money, so her mother wouldn't have to worry. But now, why? Why had she fallen ill again? She was eating normally and working fewer hours.

"Eri!" Shouted Zenos. Eri snapped out of it and looked at her brother. He was crying, his eyes reflecting the fear and panic that consumed him at that moment. He was desperate, and for a second, it was like looking in a mirror of herself years ago. She had reacted the same way. Without thinking twice, she grabbed her brother by the wrist, and they ran toward their home.

They were running as fast as they could, but Eri noticed that she had to pull harder on her brother with every step. She stopped and said:

"Hop on, I'll carry you."

Her brother didn't protest. He climbed on her back, and Eri resumed her sprint home as fast as she could. Her body felt heavy; she had to consider the injuries she had suffered today—the one on her head from the manticore and the whip wound on her thigh. The latter was burning intensely. The pain was growing, but she had to endure it. Their mother needed them.

She could already see their house. They were almost there. Then, Eri came to a sudden halt. There, on the ground in front of the house, lay their mother. Hades also arrived with Pain and Panic after sending the two to investigate what was happening in Thebes, while he had been following the brat like a shadow. When the god of the dead saw Meg lying on the ground, he had a déjà vu from 17 years ago, when she had died and her soul entered the Underworld.

"Mom!" The siblings yelled. They crouched down to check on their mother. Zenos couldn't stop crying, while Eri was on the verge of a panic attack.

"Sis! What do we do? Will she be okay?" Zenos was frantically pacing around. His nervousness was infectious. Eri began examining their mother: she was breathing. She had a pulse; there didn't seem to be any injuries, but she had a slight fever. They needed a remedy.

"Eri!"

"Zenos! Stop! Mom is exhausted. She requires medicinal herbs."

"We don't have any left."

"I know. Here," she fished through her tunic and pulled out the small pouch of coins Patroclus had given her. "Go to the village. Ask the herbalist what herbs are needed for fever and exhaustion."

"But, Eri, let me help you"

"Zenos! Go buy them! I'll get mom inside on my own."

"Alright, I'll be back soon!" He dashed toward the village.

Eri was left alone with her mother. Meg grasped her hand and squeezed it.

"Mom, why did you do this? Don't leave us alone." Hades observed the scene. He felt pity for the brat. She was having a terrible day. Though he wanted them to suffer, he thought that this girl had been through enough for one day. He watched as Eri began trying to lift her mother. Could she do it? Eri was small and slender. Could she bear her mother's weight?

The girl stood up, struggling to carry her mother. A faint groan escaped Erianthe's lips as pain reflected on her face. Hades noticed her legs trembling, as if they couldn't support the weight. But then he spotted something more alarming: the brat was bleeding from her thigh.

"Hey, are you sure you can do this? You're bleeding," said the Lord of the Dead without thinking. "What the hell am I saying?"

"I can do it," though she knew she couldn't. But she was stubborn—more stubborn than a mule—and Hades watched her manage to get her mother inside.

The bedrooms were upstairs, along with the other rooms. The house was small and simple, but over the years, they fixed it up, so everyone had their own space. They had built everything from scratch with wood from the forest and straw. Eri looked at the stairs, which were irregular, and at that moment, she cursed the unevenness of each step. She let out a sigh and began to climb.

The wound on her thigh was definitely burning. She could feel the blood trickling down her leg, but even so, she managed to make it to the top, slowly but surely. She reached her mother's room and laid her down on the bed. The room was quite dark, so she lit the oil lamp on the bedside table. Relieved, she sat down on the floor beside her mother's bed. Now that she looked closely, her mother was quite pale. How had she not noticed earlier?

"Eri, honey, is that you?"

Meg opened her eyes slightly and saw she was in her room. Everything felt heavy, but the worst part was her head; it was as if she couldn't think clearly. She also felt unbearably hot and had a dry throat.

"Sweetie, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you,"Meg said in a faint voice.

"Mom, don't say that, but please don't push yourself to the limit. I don't want anything to happen to you." She realized her mother was exhausted, and her voice was hoarse.

"Do you want me to bring you some water?"

"Honey, don't trouble yourself."

"It's no trouble, Mom. I'll be right back." Eri left the room. In the hallway, Hades had to almost step into Zenos room to let her pass, as she made her way downstairs to the kitchen, where they kept the water. It was a struggle for her to descend the stairs, and every so often, a quiet groan escaped her lips from the pain.

She realized too late that she was leaving drops of blood all over the floor. "By Hera, what a mess," she thought. She reached the kitchen, opened a jug, and filled a bowl with water. When she returned, her mother was half-reclined and looked at her with a smile.

"Honey, you didn't need to worry."

"You're thirsty, so drink."

"Where's your brother?"

"In the village, buying herbs."

"But, Eri, we don't have any money." Meg looked at her, worried.

"Don't worry, I had some saved up."

Meg drank all the water in the bowl. Hades stood leaning against the door frame, watching them. It seemed his despised nephew's family was already suffering: his former slave and her daughter were living in a shabby cabin in the middle of the woods, working long hours just to survive and have enough to eat. They were on the brink of misery, and that satisfied him. But it wasn't enough; no, they would suffer more. Yet, a part of him again felt sympathy for Eri, seeing her look so fragile, but still strong as she tried to take control of the situation.

"Forgive me, Eri, for letting it get this bad. The taxes on the fields went up, and food is so expensive. I didn't want to contribute less. How could I, as a mother, let you take on more burdens?"

"But, Mom, you should have said something! Couldn't you haggle over the price? Please don't do this anymore. You could die like this. You'd leave us alone."

Meg lowered her head. Her daughter was right. Her body couldn't take it anymore; she was growing weaker and more fragile with each passing day. She looked up and saw the concern on her daughter's face, then noticed the bandage on her head.

"Eri! What happened to you? What's with that bandage?" Meg was suddenly startled, wanting to get out of bed.

"Mom, I'm fine. Don't get up. I had an accident at the quarry. I didn't put the harness on correctly, and I fell. That's all." Eri lied. She wasn't about to tell her mother that a manticore had nearly eaten her.

"Are you sure that's all? Nothing else happened to you."

"No, Mom. Well, I got fired." Erianthe couldn't tell her about the high priestess. She looked at her mother and said, "MaybeI could work in the fields with you, or maybe there's another job in the village. I'm sorry, Mom."

The money from the quarry had been good for them, and now she would have to start from scratch until she could get into the palace. "It's only six months," she thought.

"Honey, don't worry. We'll manage. You'll see." Meg gently placed her hand on Eri's head and stroked it softly. "My girl, when did you grow up so much? It feels like just a moment ago, I was holding you in my arms." She hugged her daughter as tightly as her body allowed.

"Mom! Lie down; you need to rest." Eri said, returning the embrace.

They stayed like that for a while, hugging, until Eri's gaze landed on a partially burned tapestry near the door. It was a tapestry of their family: her parents, her brother, and herself, just before the war broke out. "What a long time," she thought with fond memories. It was one of the best days of her life. She let go of her mother, who looked exhausted, as if she might fall asleep at any moment.

So Eri stood up and said,"I'm going to make dinner and clean up the floor."

Luckily, the wound had stopped bleeding, but it still hurt. Her mother looked at the bloodstained floor and raised an eyebrow.

"Mom, don't look at me like that. I'll leave the floors so clean you could eat off them." Her mother smiled at that.

"I trust you. Let's see what you make for dinner, although I think you can only make porridge! And there are olives and some fruit."

Meg saw how Eri was leaving, but first she told her, "I'm surprised that the only thing left from our old house was that tapestry. I love that tapestry."

Meg slowly lay back down to sleep, while Eri stood in front of the tapestry. She loved it too, as it was one of the very few things left from her father and them as a family. In their old home, they had so many memories and lost everything but the tapestry. She missed her old house so much, and she could no longer go back. It no longer existed.

In the tapestry, her father wore a hero's armor, while the others wore formal robes: her mother wore a purple one, Zenos a white one, and she was a yellow one.

"Did you not want to wear that tunic, remember?"

"Yes, I hated that tunic with all my soul. I was complaining all the time that I wanted my blue tunic, my favorite. Dad scolded me, and so did you. But I remember what I liked most about that day was that it started to rain, and then the four of us were playing in the garden. My tunic ended up brown."

"I think everyone's ended up the same way. How handsome your father looked in that armor! I miss him so much." Eri looked at her mother; she was already lying down, but she noticed that thinking about her father made her sad.

"He will come back, Mom. He always keeps his promises." Meg smiled again and closed her eyes. Eri was about to leave the room when her mother said:

"You know, the strangest thing? I've been smelling sulfur for a while now. It's quite ironic, but this smell reminds me of Hades. He always had this smell when he appeared. Do you smell it?"

When his mother said that, she stopped in her tracks. She had smelled that scent all day and knew that this "person" was still there, right in front of her. She was shocked. What her mother was saying made sense: that she couldn't see him, the smell, the fire…

Hades was petrified. "Shit, Meg had discovered him, because of the smell." He had to change his essence. The lord of the dead looked at the girl, who was looking ahead with a surprised face. What was she going to do?

"No, Mom. I don't smell anything. It must be your imagination." She turned around, and her mother was already asleep. So she left the room. Hades turned away, but not before listening:

"We need to talk." She went down the stairs and out of the house. Once outside, even though Eri could not see Hades, she motioned for him to follow her, and they went into the woods to the stream this morning. Once there, it was Eri who broke the silence between the two.

"What do you want from me, Lord of the Dead?" The girl didn't beat around the bush and fixed her gaze on where the smell she had been smelling all day was coming from. Hades no longer had to hide anymore. "Clever girl," he thought, and finally, he took off his helmet.

Erianthe was the first time she saw him, but after all the stories and descriptions her mother had told her during all these years, he was just as she imagined him. What she did not expect was that he was such an imposing figure, besides how intimidating he was. When she saw him, she knew that her intuition had been right—"that someone" was going to bring her problems.

"Well, I can finally take off my helmet, and you know, best of all, I don't have to introduce myself. The truth is, Erianthe, I've been watching you all day. I wanted to know how my ex-subaltern and my nephew were doing. And bam! One is at war and the other is sick, and what should I say about you? You are full of problems, my dear."

"Yes, so what? I'll solve my problems. Or was it you? Everything that happened today, was it you?" These accusations made Hades laugh, but he was partly annoyed that the brat was blaming him for her misfortunes.

"Me? Are you kidding me? Everything that has happened to you is part of your destiny. If you want to blame someone, blame the Fates. They are the ones who weave the tapestry of destiny." He looked at the girl. She was waiting for him to say what he wanted.

"I will only tell you one thing. Your mother is weak, and do you think you will be able to find another job so fast? You are in serious trouble, but you know the best thing of all? I am going to help you. I will offer you a solution to the prayer before."

Prayer. "Crap," Eri thought. She was openly asking the gods for help, and just now she had one in front of her, even if it wasn't the one she was expecting. Hades saw how the girl had become irritated at the last thing he had said to her. So, he took the opportunity to throw another blow at her.

"I propose to you something. I will cure your mother, and you will have the necessary resources, especially food, to survive until your father returns. What do you say?" Eri looked at him, surprised. A deal, he was suggesting a deal?

"In exchange for what?"

"Hm! Nothing essential, only your soul. I only ask that you give me your soul for all eternity." At that, the king of the underworld smiled; he almost had it.

"Wait. If I give you my soul, I want to add something else."

"What do you mean?"

"Apart from curing my mother and giving her and my brother resources until my father comes, I want that nothing happens to them, that they are protected and that they don't get sick."

"Well, you're asking, but I can give you that. Anything else? Ah! I haven't told you, but you're coming with me to the underworld."

"WHAT?"

"Yes, baby, it's better to have you downstairs. There, you will work for me. You will do EVERYTHING I ask of you."

At that moment, Eri realized that she had a mission in six months, so she had to ask for something else. Otherwise, they were lost. "Let's see if it works," she thought.

"Okay, but then, I want one day off a week."

"One day off a week? Not a chance."

"Every two weeks?"

"NO!" The god was losing his temper.

"A month? Since I give you my soul for all eternity and I have to live in the underworld, let me, even if it's one day off a month."

He thought about it seriously, and he didn't know why, but he felt sorry for the brat after what he had seen today.

"Fine. One day, a month, and no more. Do we have a deal?"

"We have a deal."

At that moment, the lord of the dead and the daughter of Hercules shook hands, closing the deal, not knowing that this moment would bind them together for all eternity.