The Ancient Prophecy

27 : The forest - Sot / Petros

Sot

After what felt like forever , Sot , Charis and Phedora finally saw something appearing in the distance .
It looked like a dock . You could easily see a tall and dark sillhouette standing right along the dock .
As they walked closer to the place , Sot observed some beams of faint white light floating in a row . No , not beams of light , they were souls . The souls of the dead .
Sot stared in awe at the row of souls . Their eyes were unfocused and unmoving . They did not seem to observe the three walking besides them .
"Can you see them too ?" Sot turned his head back to look at Charis and Phedora .
"Yeah . There are many ." Phedora said , looking at the long row .
"Hope we don't need to sit in the queue ." Charis said , looking around to see the end of the row .
Sot tried to find it too , but the row was so long you could not see the end .
Wonder how we did not observe it until now ..
Then he saw it . Another sillhouette , not that far away . It was moving towards the three demigods .
Sot felt a bit of panic rise in his stomach .
"Isn't there a moving sillouette ?" he looked at the two girls and pointed in the figure's direction . His voice sounded a bit higher than ususal . That meant he was scared .
Both Charis and Phedora turned their heads to look in the direction he was pointing .
Charis looked back at him with a raised eyebrow "No , there's nothing there ."
Sot looked again in the distance for the moving figure . It was gone , instead just the red wastelands with the ocassional boulder .
Gods , do I start to hallucinate now ? We need to get out of here as fast as possible .

Petros

Oh no , he saw me , Petros thought , his heart racing with panic as he hid behind a boulder . He hugged his knees tightly , trying to make himself less visible behind it . He couldn't even dare to look back for the three .
Please don't come here , please don't come here ...
Now they were pretty close to Charon's dock . They even passed the row of souls that seemed to have no end .
I suppose lots of people die these days . It's all because of those stupid finders .
Like everyone from the Resistence , Petros absolutely despises the Finders . The two groups have been hating eachother for centuries anyways . Each group killing people from the other weekly was not helping to close the conflict either . That's just how it's supposed to be and no one could change it . No one besides the chosen demigod .
But there was no sign of one yet .

Sot

The three were standing on the dock . Right at the edge was a tall man dressed all in black , a hood on his head and a long paddle made from dark oack in his hand . He was standing with his back at them .
Sot watched as Phedora took a step closer to the man . He could see the nervousness on her face .
"Excuse me..?" Phedora said .
Sot heard the tall man sigh "What could be so important to skip the queue for ? I swear , if it's another begging soul-" the man turned to look at who was behind him . His skin was kind of pale . You could see from the way that his face was built that he was a god . He looked effortlessly handsome even with the dark circles under his black eyes . Some strands of straight black hair peeked from behind his hood .
This is Charon , Sot knew .
Charon looked at him with a smile and Sot felt the nervousness taking him over .
"You are right , son of Hermes . I am Charon , the ferryman of Hades , who was the first king of the Underworld ." he said .
Then the ferryman looked between the three . He raised an eyebrow "You three are not souls . Not dead . I am sorry , but I can't take living across the River .. unless you can pay for that ." he took another look between them . Then his eyes fixed on Phedora . Sot read the surprise on the god's face "Oh..so it's you he talked about . You three climb in the boat then ."
Never knew it could be that easy . And I did not even waste any of my drachmas , Sot smiled for himself .
"Thank you , ferryman Charon . We promise we will repay your kindness ." Phedora said with a smile .
Charon smiled back "Repay me by throwing the Titans in Tartarus . Now come on and climb in the boat , I don't have all eternity ."
Everyone climbed in the boat . It was surprisingly much more space inside than Sot expected . He got to sit next to Charis -which is very very great- , him being the closest to the back of the boat .

Petros

In a moment of pure inspiration , Petros drank his invisibility potion , hoped it worked and quickly got into the boat before it could depart . It was the most impulsive he has ever been .
No one seemed to observe him , so that meant his potion worked .
He sat as further he could sit from the three , which meant just some seats further from Sot .
Why did it had to be him ? , Petros thought with nervousness .
It was the first time that day when Petros saw him clearly . Not just a distant figure .
Sot was dressed in his ususal casual clothes . A white button-up shirt that had the first button unbuttoned -Petros loves that he always wore button-ups like that- , a grey vest on top of it and some jeans . He looked as handsome as always .
Petros blushed slightly then turned his head away , trying to concentrate on what he had to do . Stay silent , which is fortunately my speciality .
Then Charon stopped for a moment , taking his paddle from the water and glanced back at the demigods . His dark eyes fixed on Petros .
He's a god , of course he can see through my potion , Petros thought , about to slap his face . Please don't say anything Charon , you'll ruin my plan ...
To his surprise , the god just sighed and turned his head back to the river . He put the paddle in the dark water and started to propel the boat . The current of the river started making the boat to move faster .
Petros was about to sigh with relief but then he remembered that the potion made him only invisible , not unhearable too . He was lucky no one heard him when he hopped in the boat .

Sot

The boat was moving across the black water with speed . Sot started to see new changes in the landscape . The red wastelands being replaced slowly by dark brown dirt . Some trees appearing . Their tree trunks were ash grey , the branches getting darker and darker until their ends were obsidian black . Their leaves -if they had those- were of a crimson red .
As the boat moved along the river , more of those trees were appearing , the start of a forest .

Petros

The boat finally stopped . On the left bank of the river was a dock , looking the same as the first one .
Now they were in the middle of a forest .
Charon gestured for the demigods to get off the boat "Good luck in your mission , demigods ." he said .
Only after the three got out of the boat and walked a safe distance from Petros he got off the boat .
Then when he started walking , a hand gripped his shoulder , pulling him back . He turned his head to see Charon looking at him in question . Then he slightly smirked "I am a god , son of Hecate . You may have fooled them with your silly tricks , but you can never fool a god ."
"I know.." Petros almost mumbled "Please let me go . I am not planning to hurt them or anything , I swear ." he turned his head to see how far the three went .
If they go further , I will lose them ... please let me go ...
"You seem to tell the truth . Fine , I will let you go ." Charon let go of his shoulder "But you should know that he will not be as understanding as I ."
"Who is this he you are talking about ?" Petros raised an eyebrow at the god .
Charon smirked "You will see ." then he was into the boat again and paddled off the dock .
Petros sighed . Gods and their vagueness . Then he looked down at his hands . They were visible again . I suppose the potion's effect is gone , Petros looked at the forest road in front of him . Now I just have to be careful to not get caught .
Then he ran to close in some of the distance between him and the other three demigods .