When Death Comes to Visit |ONC 2021

Giorgio - Cerberus

The boat glided through the silky black river cutting through it with ease, although, as I looked over the side of the boat, white bones of different shapes bobbed to the surface then submerged as the boat glided past sending small ripples out into the world. I quickly looked away, not keen on seeing something that would scar me for the rest of my life. The boat ride was eerily quiet, the ghosts on board seemed to start taking a more solid form the longer they stayed on the boat. The moment I tried to see them, however, they still vanished from sight. I couldn't help but shudder at the eeriness of it all, it felt like my brain was short-circuiting from all the tricks my eyes were playing on me. Charon remained at the other end staring out into the distance like he could already see the gates to the underworld; clutching onto the golden bough given to him as payment. 

I half turned in my seat hoping that we were close but only the river stretched out before us and darkness lay ahead. It was a strange thing, to be in a place I could only have imagined to exist a few days ago, that the boat beneath my hands was as real as me. I was in the underworld, a place that not many could just walk right in and live to tell the tale.  A startling screech ripped through the quiet darkness; the hairs on my arms and neck rose and I held my breath waiting for an attack. My heart hammered against my rib cage, I didn't dare to move my head but my eyes frantically searched for the source of the sound. 

Isabella beside me did not seem jittery or uncomfortable at all, her eyes were solely on Charon - no, they were on the golden bough he clutched for dear life. I guess whatever it was out there wasn't enough of a threat to warrant a response. Still self-conscious of how rigid I'd turned I forced myself to relax and unclench my jaw. 

"What's the story behind the bough?" I whispered in Isabella's ear, needing a distraction from the madness around me. It felt rude to start speaking loudly when the ambience was serene, besides I didn't need the thing that made that noise following us because of me. 

"It's not much of a story really," Isabella whispered back, her eyes never leaving that bough, "They say it's from Roman mythology but the Greeks and Romans all believed in the same gods, so it's like you say tomato and I say tomato. Anyway, a demi-god wanted safe passage into the underworld and the oracle Sibyl of Cumae said it gives whoever holds it safe passage through the underworld and whatever dangers may lay within. The Bough is sacred to Persephone, Hades' wife." 

I leaned in again careful not to jostle the ghost who'd moved to stand next to me, "And how exactly did it fall into your lap?" 

Isabella shrugged, "A few trades here and there with other demi-gods or gods will do the trick. Everybody wants or needs something." 

"Are you going to get it back?" I dared to whisper as I watched a distracted Charon. If Charon had it now, surely the moment we stepped through the gates of the underworld we'd be charred meat for Cerberus and any other creature or god without it. 

Isabella picked the underside of her nails seemingly uninterested before answering, "Maybe."

I had no idea what she was planning and why she was truly here but she'd gotten me this far and if I was honest with myself I needed her. Lost in thought I didn't notice as the river became narrow and that a riverbed had emerged until it was practically screaming at me.  On either side was the same black sand I'd encountered at the start of the boat ride. Junk cluttered the riverbank, filled with old trinkets, amulets and gauntlets. Then came the ghosts, these were not the same as the ones on the boat. These were fully formed, armour wearing ghosts who stood to attention in neatly formed lines. An army, a platoon of ghosts lined the riverbank each one more miserable than the next. 

"Is this normal?" I whispered to Isabella who was now standing at the edge watching them as the boat sailed past. 

"No, this is not normal." Her face went hard as she looked over to Charon, "What's going on here?"