The Ancient Prophecy

34 : A new hope - Phedora / Charis

Phedora

Phedora kneeled down in front of the throne , head down . She saw at the corner of her eye the others kneeling too , following her example .
"Lord Thanatos , we are greateful that you welcomed us in your gradiouse palace ." Phedora said .
She could almost feel the god smiling "I am more greateful to finally see the propheted savior of the gods before my eyes . All of you sit up now ." Thanatos said , sounding more like a suggestion than an order .
All four demigods sat up .
"We came here for directions to find Athena's soul ." Phedora explained to the god in the calmest tone she could make , trying to hide the panic inside her as best as she could .
"I know , daughter of Zeus . Did you even wonder why in your whole journey to here you and your friends did not get attacked by anything ? Anything besides Cerberus . He really did not obey to anyone else besides Hades ." Thanatos sighed .
"So you protected all of us ?" Phedora asked .
"Well...not all of you ." Thanatos' eyes landed behind Phedora , on Petros .
Phedora turned her head to the son of Hecate . The boy was most of the time expressionless but now you could see the panic in his eyes .
"I-I can explain.." Petros started , fumbling his words slightly .
Then the god smiled again "There is no need to explain your reasons , I already know them all ." he sat up and walked to Petros .

Charis

Charis did not knew if she should panic because of the literal god of death standing just two meters from her with a deadly scythe or laugh at the expression Petros had on his face .
Thanatos was still smiling at Petros , which kind of creeped Charis out .
"Are you going to punish me for following them perhaps ?" Petros asked , almost inaudible .
The god of death chuckled "I could have . But you saved these three from Cerberus and your intentions aren't exactly evil ...are they ?"
Petros quickly shook his head "No , I swear ."
Thanatos chuckled again "Good ." he turned his back and walked back to his throne .
Charis saw Petros silently sigh with relief .
"So where is the soul then ?" Phedora asked .
Then Thanatos' smile dropped "You may have been protected by me on your way here , but no one can protect you where you will have to go ."
Charis' frowned . Please tell me we don't have to go where I think we have to go ..
"It's in Tartarus ." Petros spoke her thought "Athena's soul is in Tartarus ."
"You are right ." Thanatos said , and Charis thought she heard the sorry in his tone .
"But why ?" Phedora asked , visible confusion on her face .
"The Titans banished all the gods where the gods wanted to banish them . Tartarus . The land of eternal punishment ." Thanatos explained .
"Makes sense .." Sot grunted from behind her .
"So we have to go down to Tartarus to get Athena's soul then ." Phedora said , frowning .
"That will be no easy work ." Thanatos said .
We can see that .
"Do we have to search through all Tartarus ?" Sot asked reluctantly .
Thanatos laughed "Of course not ! That place changes every second , it's already pretty hard ."
"Thank the gods.." Sot mumbled .
The god turned his head to Phedora .

Phedora

"You will at some point feel Athena's presence around you . When you do , call her name three times . Luckly she will appear before you ." Thanatos explained "Now you four should begin your journey through Tartarus . I can't protect any of you there , but I can at least create a gateway to make your travel easier ."
With that being said , Thanatos lifted his free hand , slowly tracing circles in the air "Now there is a portal on the palace's threshold . You should hurry before it vanishes ."
"We understand . Farewell , Lord Thanatos ." Phedora turned to walk away .
"Farewell , demigods ." Thanatos responded .
As the four demigods were walking to the palace's door , a strange idea sprang in Phedora's mind . She tapped Charis on her shoulder as she walked . The daughter of Apollo turnd her head in question .
"I have to do something before we go , you three remain on the threshold until I come to meet with you . I promise I will be quick ." Phedora told Charis .
"Alright ." Charis nodded .
Phedora waited until the three were out of the palace to return in front of Thanatos' throne .
"What is it , demigod ?" the god asked her .
"You want to help our cause ?" Phedora suddenly asked .
"I could had killed you the moment you stepped inside the palace if I did not  ."
"Then perhaps you can search through the Titans for allies ? I have heard Rhea is not exactly an ethusiast for her husband ... So maybe you could convince her and others to join our army for a big attack on the Finders or even the Titans themselves if there are enough forces ..and maybe you could add up the Underworld's army too ?"
"So you suggest I'd help rise a rebellion ?" Thanatos raised an eyebrow .
"Yes ." Phedora said confidently , inside bracing herself for a refuse .
Instead , Thanatos smiled "Sure . I am tired of sitting here alone all the time and I miss wandering across the world . All I do now is try to organise a disaster . But how do you plan to do this attack right now ?"
"I guess we will see when Athena awakens ." Phedora smirked .
Thanatos laughed "I like the way you think . Good then , I will help you . But I can not really guarantee you my army ."
"Good enogh ." Phedora shrugged "Goodbye now , Thanatos ."
"Farewell again , demigod of the Prophecy ."
Phedora turned her back and walked away .

Charis

What in Tartarus happened with these two ..? , Charis stared between Sot and Petros .
The two boys were leaning on opposite walls . Sot was looking away at the garden , a visible frown on his face . He does that when he's mad , I know him well enough ...
Petros was looking at the son of Hermes with a sad look on his face . ..and you know things happened if this guy let go of his poker face .
Now in the middle of the threshold was a red portal , black mist swirling around it .
Gods , where is Phedora ? I don't think I can bear the tension here longer by myself .
So she walked to Petros . I rather ask this guy what happened than kill my brains with an angry Sot .
She leaned on the wall besides Petros . The boy turned his head to look at her , raising an eyebrow .
"What happened ?" Charis whispered .
"What do you mean ?" Petros asked , whispering too .
Charis gestured to Sot "He only does that when he's mad about something and you were some seconds ago looking at him as if you were grieving his death ."
"Oh.." Petros said "It's nothing ..." he looked down at the floor .
"No , it's not nothing if you are acting like this ."
Petros sighed "I know , I just want to lie to myself ."
"Why ?" Charis asked .
"So I can concentrate on this mission ."
"Fair enough , but you still can't keep all that to yourself . It's not good for your health , you know .."
Petros smirked "Not surprising coming from a child of Apollo ."
Charis smirked too "Funny , now tell me what in Tartarus is going on ."
Petros' smirk dropped "Do you really want me to tell you that much ?"
"Yes ."
"Alright.." Petros took a deep breath "..Sot thinks I am trying to hit on you ."
Charis stopped herself from bursting into laughter . After she steadied herself she asked ,"Are you though ?"
Petros frowned "No ."
"Just wanted to make sure ...but how did he get to that conclusion though ?"
A metaphorical shadow seemed to pass Petros' face "I won't talk about it ."
"Listen , I won't force you to tell me .. but you seem to care a lot about your friendship with Sot , so maybe I can help to mend things out a little , but I won't know how to if you don't tell me ." Charis shrugged .
Petros raised an eyebrow "Promise you won't tell anyone ?"
"Of course , who do think I am ?"
"Alright then.." Petros seemed to brace himself for his next words "..remember when you almost ate one of the fruits from the garden ?"
"Yes , let's hope I won't do that again ."
"Well , Sot started to panic when Phedora left to find you ... also , did you know he's in love with you ?"
Charis sighed "Yes , he told me multiple times and all the base knows that ."
"..and do you love him back ?"
"As a friend , yes , as more than that , no ." I never loved someone like that anyways .
"Oh..that's good then ..." Petros mumbled , unfortunately loud enough for Charis to hear .
"And why is that ?", she did not control herself to ask .
Petros quickly lifted his head , looking at Charis with slightly wide eyes . I suppose I was not supposed to hear that ..
Charis though she saw Petros blush slightly . But I may be wrong , so better not say anything of it .
"So ?" she instead said .
"I tried to calm Sot down then .." Petros said , avoiding Charis' question "..but let's say it did not exactly work ."
"Basing on how Sot is acting right now , I suppose you told him some stuff .."
"Yeah.." Petros looked down again .
"What did you tell him ?"
".. that his hope is useless ."
"That's brutal ...but I've been wanting to tell him that multiple times and never got the spine ..so thank you , I suppose ... but how did you come to tell him that ?"
"Can I avoid the question ?"
"No ."
"..."
"Just tell me , I promise on my best bow that I won't tell anyone ." Charis put a hand dramatically on her heart .
"Weird promise but alright.. I told him that because ... because .. beca-"
"Just say it already !" Charis said , loosing her patience .
Petros took a deep breath "It's because I was jealous . Jealous of you ."
A line formed between Charis' eyebrows "What ? Why ..?"
Only if... , Charis gasped silently "You like Sot , don't you ?"
Petros looked away and now Charis could not mistake the blush on his face "..yes."
"That explains a lot ." Charis said then smirked "You could have told me earlier , I could have helped you ." she winked .
"I am not exactly the type of person to tell things to people .."
"Yeah , we all know , Petros ."
"..you won't tell anyone , right ?"
"I promised and I am a person who keeps their promises ."
"That's good ." Petros turned his head to look at Charis "But really , if you tell anyone ...I will make sure you can't tell anyone anything ever again ." he said -Charis hoped- jokingly .
Before Charis could say anything else , Phedora finally got out of the palace .
"Let's go now ." she said .
All four demigods gathered around the red portal .
"We will all pass at once , I won't risk anyone getting lost on the way . At three .." Phedora said "One.."
Charis adjusted the bow on her back .
"Two .." Phedora continued .
Charis could feel the suspense around the group .
"Three!" Phedora finally said .
Everyone hurried into the portal .