Ghosts Of Revenge | ongoing

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

THE LADY OF THE HOUSE

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I HAD BEEN to the Underworld a couple of times in my dreams but nothing could compare to its beauty while awake. It was as if the whole landscape was changing continuously right in front of my eyes every couple of minutes, going from a beautiful, sunny, full of laughter world to a colourless, silent void.

Even though everything changed, one thing remained the same. The darkness at the very edge of the world never left, instead, it grew darker when the Asphrodel Fields appeared and lighter when Elysium took its place. But it was always there.

I wanted to stare at it a bit more, to gather more information about the whole world and finally understand if everything Hades had shown me in my dreams was true - was the room with the paintings real or a ploy? And why was the pit always there? - but I didn't have time to dwell on these questions.

Tempest and I had found ourselves here after Cosmo attacked me and I barely had time to charm myself into pretending to be unconscious - relaxing my breathing and muscles while also making myself not flinch at sudden movements - before I had been lifted from the ground, thrown over his shoulder and watched as Tempest got hit from behind and taken the same way by someone else.

I didn't recognise who that was but he had long white hair, his skin almost matching in colour and wore the traditional black toga of the Underworld so it didn't take long for me to realise he was also a god. But considering how many there were it wasn't easy to guess who.

He carried Tempest, her head swaying as she lay over his shoulder, somewhere out of my sight before Cosmo moved as well, following his lead. We walked for a little bit, away from our cabin and somewhere deep inside the woods before they deemed it a good enough spot to stop.

At first, I didn't know what they were going to do and it took everything I had in me to stay still as Cosmo adjusted me over his shoulder, his left hand leaving my body from where it was keeping me steady. I panicked for a bit, afraid I was gonna fall headfirst on the ground but I stayed where I was as a whooshing sound filled the silence.

Then, the woods disappeared and we found ourselves in the one place we had been trying to find our way into for weeks. The irony of all this wasn't escaping me at all but my anger was beginning to cloud my mind, my teeth gritting against each other as Cosmo joked with the other man, saying how easy it was to get us here.

Why had he done this? Was he threatened to change sides or was this a decision of his own free will? How could he? After everything we've been through - he had been one of the first people I could call a friend and then this happened? - how could simply throw a dagger at our backs and laugh about it? And forget about me, what about Tempest? Those two had been friends for years, they had been on multiple quests together, how could he do something like that to her?

Too many unanswered questions flooded my mind, and I could feel a throbbing pain starting to grow in my temples.

Cosmo carried me through the Fields of Asphodel. I didn't know if he did it because it was the quickest route or because he hoped I would wake up and freak out from the scenery surrounding me but either way, I couldn't stop myself from rolling my eyes. It took everything in me not to wrap my hands around his neck and squeeze.

Finally, we reached our destination and they locked us in a room. The moment their footsteps disappeared, I shot to my feet and reached for Tempest, feeling for a pulse. My shoulders relaxed when a faint heartbeat pulsed under my fingertips.