Hellscape

Chapter 12: The Veil

    With the manticore charging the veil, Lazarus stares straight ahead, watching the wave in the shield work its way down rather quickly. As they fly closer, Lazarus vaults himself off of the beast's back, diving head first through the ripple and for the third time, it's as if time stands still.

    Soaring through the air, the blue haired boy squeezes his eyes shut tight, keeping himself as straight as possible as he slips through the crinkled veil. The veil hisses as he passes through, rolling into a soft landing in the middle of the platform. He scrambles back against the front of the desk, frantically covering his ears to block out the low humming buzz. His brain vibrates within his skull and he screams. The buzzing slowly fades away and Lazarus starts to catch his breath.

    Out in the grotto, Melinoe jumps down into the canoe with Charon, urging him to paddle faster. They approach the island with the manticore sitting at its base. The beast growls, warning them off and away from the platform, but Melinoe hisses at the creature and it cowers, flying back into the hole it came from.

    She peers up at the wall of hellfire, shaking her head with a creased brow. She doesn't see the break in the veil. She doesn't understand how he made it through unscathed.

    Inside, Lazarus stands to his feet, shaking off the dizziness that threatens to overcome him. He looks down at the intricately and magnificently detailed mosaic mural. The image depicts Hades at the center, surrounded with silver and black tiles featuring little red glowing eyes. But on the outskirts of the image are clouds with faces hidden inside. Hate and pride and jealousy emanate from the mosaic, but so does love and distrust and honor.

    Carefully, he walks across the floor to the edge of the platform to where Mel and Charon stand on the opposite side of the shield. The buzzing grows louder in his head and he flinches from it, but soon realizes that the sound must be coming from the shield — like a live-wired fence and not from inside his head.

    "Let us in!" Melinoe shouts at him, but from behind the wall of hellfire all he can hear is a muffled warbling as her mouth moves. He shakes his head, shrugging his shoulders. She turns to Charon, desperation in her eyes and voice, "he can't hear us."

    "Find a button or a key or something!" Charon shouts at the wall, thinking that she must not have been loud enough, but Lazarus just stares blankly at them. Charon raises his arms and drops them with a hiff, "he's useless."

    "Here," Mel says, taking Charon's left hand in hers and tracing the inked lines.

    Lazarus watches her carefully go over the markings in Charon's hand. The demon stares down at her, parting his lips as he longs for her touch. She bites her bottom lip as Charon's eyes flutter closed and his head rolls back. The moment is intimate and the longer it takes the more uncomfortable Lazarus feels watching them, but the lines start to glow and he can't pull himself to look away. Melinoe fondly raises Charon's hand, aiming it at the shield.

    Lazarus takes a step back, not knowing what to expect but also not wanting to be in the line of fire if something was going to come shooting out of his palm. The five pointed symbol burns brighter against the hellfire and much like a bug zapper, the shield sparks.

    "Fuck!" Charon shouts, dropping his arm and stumbling away from the shield, shaking his scorched hand. He brings it to his chest, hissing in pain. Mel grabs his arm urgently but gently, looking at the burned skin.

    Her fingertips hover over the crackling flesh and she bites down on her bottom lip again. "Are you okay?"

    "Yeah, Mellie, I'm totally fine," he says sarcastically. "It's not like I almost just lost my fucking hand to fucking hellfire!"