Chapter Three

Diane and E begin their descent into Hades and encounter the first couple of obstacles along the way to reach the god of the underworld's palace deep within its dark confines.

BAD COMPANY

- Chapter Three -

Walker County Lake sits outside Jasper, on its south-east tip, tucked in amongst a large array of conifers. A peculiar opening rests near the north side of the lake - a circular patch of flattened grass, surrounded on all sides by clusters of misplaced Corsican pines. Everywhere else there are firs; tall, towering firs. However, this small section north of the lake is covered in Corsican pines.

“Looks like it’s just flattened grass, not dead grass,” Diane indicates snidely. E simply rolls his eyes.

“Do you see the difference in trees though, Diane?” he quizzes as they approach the area on foot. The Impala’s been left at the car park next to the fishing hut, just down the east side of the lake.

“Yes.”

“It’s the oddity in the vicinity then, is it not?”

“Apparently so.”

“As ever, your enthusiasm throws me,” E drones sarcastically, “This is an entrance to Hades.”

“Why these trees? Are they a symbol of the god of the Underworld?” Diane inquires.

“Not as far as I know. My only guess is because Corsican pines are considered a wildling conifer - and are, therefore, an invasive species - there is then some symbolic connection between the entrance to Hades being this uninvited entity in the area just like the trees. Either that or they just happen to, coincidentally, thrive at the very entrance to the Underworld. Like a lot of things, I just don’t f*****g know.”

“So they are the oddity in the vicinity but they’re also possibly not at all connected to the fact that this is an entrance to Hades despite them being the oddity in the vicinity which suggests they are almost definitely closely tied to the presence of an entrance to Hades?”

E’s mouth forms a thin line.

 “I think there’s almost certainly an unwritten fifth rule between us and that’s definitely a violation of it,” he chides reproachfully.

“All of our rules are as yet unwritten, E.”

“That’s a fair point. Right, whatever, forget the f*****g trees. This is still the entrance to the Underworld regardless of the species of nearby vegetation. If anything, the flattened grass gives it away.”

The pair stop just outside the cluster of trees and stare up at their enormous height with muted awe. The shadows between these trees seem a lot darker and gloomier than those amongst the firs. Something feels extremely ominous about this specific area. It dawns on Diane that this very well could be the entrance to something or somewhere sinister; not necessarily the entrance to the Underworld. She still firmly stands by the notion that E suffers from some untreated mental disorder though.

“So, what now?” she asks.

“We knock.”

“Knock? What, like, on a tree?”

“On the ground, Diane,” E replies flatly, “He’s the god of the Underworld, why would we knock on f*****g a tree? Do you want Artemis to come running or something? We knock on the ground.”

“What are the consequences for violating a rule? I’m thinking it should be me abandoning you because I am so close to just bolting right now, you have no idea,” Diane responds harshly.

“Okay, okay; I’m sorry. I just - I’m nervous, I’m anxious,” E begins to babble on, “This is Hades, Diane. The God himself and his entire realm �" the Underworld. This is Hades we’re about to enter. Holy s**t.”

“You sounded so calm and collected about all this when I first met you, as well.”

“It’s cool; I’m fine. It’s out my system.” E swipes his blonde locks back from his face, raking his fingers through them.

“You definitely good?” Diane asks uncertainly.

“Yep, I’m fine,” E replies, straightening his three-piece, “Before we head in: one word of warning.”

Diane raises an inquisitive eyebrow at E.

“Do not accept and eat any item of food offered to you down there. Ever.”

The stern expression crossing E’s face silences Diane. She only nods imperceptibly.

Together, they step forward into the shadows between the trees. It’s not a particularly large opening between the branches but there is one and the ground inside is flattened in a perfect circle and speckled with the pores of sunlight falling through the tree leaves.

E pauses before the opening and Diane peers up at him, curious, from his side.

“Is this it?”

“Have we knocked yet?”

“No.”

“Then no; this is not ‘it’.”

E crouches to the ground and strokes his hand across the surface of the Earth gently before curling his fingers into a tight fist and knocking three distinct times. For a moment nothing happens except the sounds of the forest fall away; birds stop chirping, squirrels stop chatting - even the wind rustling through the leaves of the pines makes no noise. Dead silence.

A loud crack and a shudder suddenly rock the ground beneath their feet. A rush of heat shoots through the earth towards them as a large amount of the floor falls away from before them. A crevasse has formed at their feet - eighty feet deep and ten feet wide, at least.

E tries to hide the smile tugging at his lips but nothing surpasses Diane.

"You look far too happy for someone who's about to traverse the very depths of Hades," she notes dryly.

"It's treacherous but it's exciting; I can't help but smile."

E turns to face her with an exaggerated grin to which Diane grimaces.

"Let's get this over and done with. I want to be out before dinner." Diane goes to step before E but his hands shoots out to stop her from moving.

"Let's not go leaping into giant pits without some proper assessment of the situation, shall we? Suicide isn't on the cards."

The crack that formed before them oozes stifling heat but no light - only an all-consuming darkness. E crouches down at the edge of the crater and observes the blackness.

“Can you actually see anything down there?” Diane asks dubiously.

“Yes, only the smallest speck of light, but it’s definitely there.”

“So what now then? We just jump?”

“Did you not listen to me? No, we don’t. You definitely sound mildly suicidal, have you noticed?”

“Well, I’m sorry I can’t see any other option at this moment in time,” Diane replies dryly.

“Have patience.”

Diane falls quiet and waits. Sure enough, the patience pays off. The speck of light E previously saw in the very depths of the darkness gradually grows into a corridor of light, shooting up towards them both. The closer the light gets, the more it reveals a spiralling set of glossy black steps beginning right where E’s feet rest.

Diane’s eyes follow the stairs down as far as she can see. Despite the light now emanating from the crater, she sees nothing but those steps leading down, down, down.

E makes a tentative attempt at standing on the first step, his foot reaching out before him apprehensively and his hand stretching for the metal railing to steady himself. When nothing happens, he takes a second, more confident step. Smiling, pleased, he begins the descent into Hades sanguinely. Diane pauses momentarily at the top of the steps before whispering a ‘f**k it’ to herself then following him.

With every step down further into the bowels of the planet, the heat and humidity worsens. E’s sweat begins to dampen his three-piece suit and he grimaces as he reaches round to his back to feel it.

“This is a $600 dollar Armani suit and it’s not going to get dry-cleaned for at least two days now. This is a travesty!”

Diane rolls her eyes at him, “Sacrifices have to be made if you want to save the world, E.”

“Do you know what the worst part is though?” E asks, pointedly ignoring Diane’s sarcasm. “The suit’s light grey. This is going to be so noticeable.”

Diane chooses not to respond as they continue downwards into the crater. The light filtering through from beneath now outlines a path leading away from the staircase. It’s made of lavish black marble and looks just a little too ostentatious a pathway into the city of the dead - or maybe that’s the point; maybe the city of the dead needs a little lavishness to detract from all of the dead. E reaches it first, jumping down from the last step excitedly; all signs of previous trepidation lost now in his anticipation.

The black marble steps they just left continue down in a straight pathway, flanked on each side by numerous tall fire-tipped lanterns placed equidistantly all the way down. Outside of the lanterns is thick, consuming fog that you couldn’t even see your hand out in front of you in. Further out in the distance, down the path, E can see a swarming mass of bodies pulsing. He pulls two silver coins out of his trouser pocket and begins palming them and rolling them around his fingers.

“Our first obstacle is Charon,” he whispers to Diane as they slowly close in on the bodies.

The faces of the bodies are flat, gaunt and exempt of all life. Everyone is moving mindlessly in every direction, colliding with one another without a second thought or even any recognition of it happening.

“Are they all dead?” Diane asks quietly, eying the asinine bodies reproachfully as some of them get a little too close for comfort.

“You have no idea how tempting it is to break our fifth rule right now. I’ll refrain though,” E replies. “Yes, they are dead. This is, of course, the Underworld after all. It’s a miracle we’re even here.”

On the other side of the swirling mass that is the lost, dead souls aimlessly wandering around, there lies a river enshrouded in the same dense, suffocating fog. The water is as black as the marble pathway on which E and Diane tread and it’s eerily still; undisturbed by even the most imperceptible of ripples. A strange lack of light reflections graced its surface giving it the illusion of being a river of molten tar.

“Here, take this coin,” E commands as he forces one of the silver pieces into Diane’s left hand.

As they approach the riverbank, the water begins to ripple and tide as a form starts taking shape amidst the fog. The bow of a boat cuts through the murkiness and glides in towards them gracefully, fluidly despite the viscosity of the water. It’s dainty - the size of a small fishing vessel - but it’s not that which catches Diane’s attention: it looks almost as if it were melting (in this heat, Diane could almost believe it). Something about its structure and form suggests that it really shouldn’t be floating right now - with its sides peeling away and reaching towards the river; with its shallow depth and towering bow and stern. In many ways, it looks like an exaggerated liquefied gondola.

It’s black, like everything else, bar its melted-candlewax  edges which are a wild red. There’s something awe-inspiring about it; its captain, not so much.

Poised at the far end of the boat is one of the tallest beings Diane has ever encountered. He’s draped in a hooded black cloak etched with intricate gold designs; covered head to foot so much so that Diane can’t see any of his being beneath the fabric. The only evidence to suggest a form beneath the cloak is the way in which the cloth hangs from different angles; from his shoulders and head and his elbows.

When the boat docks gently at the riverbank, the being moves soundlessly across its deck until it stops just before the bow. Leaning over, a skeletal hand wrapped still in small bits of charred, peeling flesh stretches out before it, palm open and expectant. Without a second thought, E thrusts his silver coin onto the bones and boards the boat swiftly. He turns to Diane and motions encouragingly with his hand. Reluctantly, she places the coin into the captain’s outstretched palm and boards the boat as well - all the while keeping her eyes on the cloaked figure.

Wordlessly, the captain deposits the coins into a hand-sized sack hooked onto the belt tied around its middle. When no one else on the river bank offers to pay the toll, the boat begins its return across the river.

“That’s Charon,” E points out, indicating with his head the cloaked figure behind them, “River Acheron’s  Ferryman of the Dead. Mr. Taxi Man himself. If you can’t pay, you don’t cross. It’s pretty simple; just like our taxi services on the surface.”

Diane looks past Charon behind them to the ambling souls on the other side of the river.

“So what happens to them?” she asks curiously.

“Absolutely nothing. If they don’t get buried with a coin in their palm or on their closed eyelids, then they can’t pay the ferryman so they’re stuck there on the riverbank for the rest of their respective eternities, unable to cross into Hades because they simply can’t afford it; never finding peace, never finding resolution.”

“Theoretically, they could cross if someone put a coin on their eyes today, though?”

“Yes but you must remember that a lot of the ghosts on that riverbank belong to corpses buried before Jesus Christ. If you really want to try and find those bones, then by all means go ahead. I don’t recommend it.”

Diane doesn’t respond. She takes one last long look at the spirits chained to the riverbank; searching faces as quickly as possible while trying to rack her brains, trying to remember if he took his lucky coin with him. As the fog begins to obscure her vision, she turns back apprehensively to face the way ahead and sighs in frustration.

“Do you know the story of Orpheus?” E asks curiously a moment later, oblivious to Diane’s discomfort. 

Diane merely shakes her head, “I recommend you Google it because I think it’ll come in as handy research for our next obstacle.”

“Google it? Does Hades have Wi-Fi?”

“Ah, good point. No, it doesn’t.”

Author's Note

I'd really appreciate peoples' thoughts on characterisation and continuity thus far, please.

Reviews

[Stefanie Holmes]

I love your first paragraph! Your descriptions are beautiful and I felt as if I were right there admiring the beauty.

"The Impala’s been left at the car park next to the fishing hut, just down the east side of the lake."
I believe you are missing the word 'had' between Impala's and been.

“So they are the oddity in the vicinity but they’re also possibly not at all connected to the fact that this is an entrance to Hades despite them being the oddity in the vicinity which suggests they are almost definitely closely tied to the presence of an entrance to Hades?”
This particular paragraph is a large run-on sentence. I would reword it, break it down and don't be afraid to use some commas and also break it down into smaller sentences.

“It’s cool; I’m fine. It’s out my system.”
You need the word 'of' between the words out and my.

“Before we head in: one word of warning.”
You do not need a colon in this sentence. It's fine without any punctuation the way you have it worded.

I love the little joke at the end of the chapter. It gave me a nice chuckle! :)

I hope I could be of some help to you by pointing out those fixes. There were areas were punctuation was misused that I didn't point out, but with some proofreading you can spot it and edit it. I tend to read my work out loud and see where natural pauses are when I read and then I know if I need a comma there or not.

I think this story is progressing nicely and again I really like the mythology. It gives a unique twist to your work. :)
Looking forward to reading more when you get more of the story written.

~Stefanie

[carynolivia]

Thank you so much Stefanie! I'm super glad you're enjoying this and I really appreciate the feedback you're giving me. I've edited the master document as per your suggestions!

Will definitely try reading my work out loud to sort out the punctuation errors - it's a brilliant idea!

Will hopefully have the next installment up in by the end of the week!
Cheers :)

[Stefanie Holmes]

I'm so glad my suggestions were helpful to you!! I look forward to reading more when you get it posted. :)

[Brittany Zedalis]

I'm so glad I've read this 3rd chapter. It was captivating and I love how accurate it all is to the mythology. I am looking forward to the future chapters. :]

[carynolivia]

thank you brittany! i'm glad you're enjoying it :) next chapter is going up very shortly!