Aidoneus

The Unseen One

Persephone once again found herself pacing from the window to Hades' bedside. Hecate has raved about her performance with Poseidon's envoy but she felt less positive. At most she had bought them a little bit of time. Fate's willing the Crete volcano would not erupt but even then the King of the Sea was expecting some response. Worse case, they don't buy her explanation of Hades' absence or that she had inadvertently drawn the curiosity and attention from the watery realm. None of the options were great and they could only be solved if Hades' woke up. How the hell does one even inspect a volcano! 

She had only been covering for Hades for a day and already realized her knowledge gap of the underworld was insurmountable. He ruled here for  two thousand years. There was no way she could keep up this charade much longer. She rested her forehead against the cool window pane and watched the grass outside sway in the breeze. It reminded her of the grass horse pastures behind her Father's palace. Home. Loneliness and hopelessness overwhelmed her. What if she just left? Went back to Sparta. Resumed her life of attending the Senate meetings and riding her horse through the fields. When nobody knew or cared who she was. Yes, she had responsibilities but she wasn't in charge. She lived safely in the shadow of her father. She allowed the thought to float in her mind for longer than she cared to admit before sweeping it aside. She couldn't leave. She had to protect the underworld. Whether it was fair or not didn't matter, it was up to her now.

It was early evening when she heard a commotion outside Hades' room. Hecate and Hermes came bursting through the door. "We have a healer!" Hermes shouted before Hecate cut him off, "We don't know for sure, it could be a trap!" As much as the news should have been exciting, she was tired and their bickering was not helping her mood. "Enough" she raised her hand with a calm voice, "one at a time, please." Hermes looked at Hecate who only furrowed her brow at him. "A healer is on the other shore of the Styx, he claims he is a son of Apollo and is here to pledge his loyalty to you!" Hermes blurted out excitedly. "Doesn't that seem coincidental?" Hecate added quickly. "That when we need a healer one just mysteriously appears offering his help?" she scowled. "Are you saying that he did come in response to Thanatos or Hermes' requests?" Persephone asked, now sharing Hecate's suspicions. "Correct. He claims he was unaware we needed a healer but he won't say how he knows you are here or why he is so willing to pledge his loyalty to you". 

She tried to run through all the scenarios in her mind, "so you think that this is an attempt by Zeus to lure me out of the underworld?" she asked Hecate. The witch's face remained sullen. "That, or he could be trying to see if it's really Charon that is injured. He could be a practitioner of dark magic who wants to kill an underworld god. Or a spy, or..."

"Or he's telling the truth. Did he tell you why he would not share his story with you? His reason for coming here?", she was trying her best to remain objective. This time both Hermes and Hecate were silent. Finally Hermes spoke, "he said he wanted to know it was really you. That it was the Daughter of Sparta he was pledging his loyalty to but that he could prove to you his intentions are true". She sighed, "well there is only one way to find out. Take me to him." Hecate started to protest but one sharp glance from the Goddess of War silenced her. "Look at him" Persephone waved her hand to Hades laying motionless besides her. "His heart is weaker every hour. We need to find a healer, soon, and this is the most promising lead we have. I will speak to this god from Charon's boat but I must take this chance. I will not gamble again on Hades' life." she said as she stood up and proceeded out the door. 

Hermes and Hecate bickered the entire walk to Charon's boat and the entire row to the opposite shore. At moments it seems as if they bickered like an old married couple. Their relationship was interesting to be sure. For the moment she tried to just drown them out as she sat next to Charon as he rowed. As the shore appeared through the fog she felt the ferryman's hand on her shoulder with a soft squeeze of comfort. She patted his skeletal hand in appreciation. Ironic that another fearsome underworld god was such a comfort to her. She walked toward the bow of the boat. Charon stopped far enough away that he god would have to step into the Styx to try to grab her, but close enough they could hear each other.