Defying Fate

Chapter 34-p1

As the sea's surface closed over their heads, the world went suddenly very dark and very cold. Odysseus shivered as the water carrying the ship began to glow an eerie blue-green, but it failed to light up anything around them, so they were surrounded by blackness.

"Okay!" Hermes called stridently, stepping to the front of the ship as if he were on a stage, addressing everyone. "Rules of the underworld. I know many of you are newcomers here, and we want to make sure all mortals can make it back out again!" He clapped his hands enthusiastically, and the sound echoed around them.

"Rule number one: Do not eat anything that you did not bring with you. Underworld food will bind you to the realm of the dead forever. This goes for gods too, we all know what happened to Persephone. Eat nothing, drink nothing, except for what's here on the ship."

Mumbles of assent all around. Odysseus felt his mouth go dry at the very thought of being trapped down here in this blackness. How could the dead stand it?

"Rule number two," Hermes continued. "Stay together. The last thing we need is some mortal wandering off and getting themselves lost, or trapped. Do not follow anyone away from the group. Do not talk to anyone who suggests leaving the group. If anyone suggests splitting up, find and tell me. Do not go off alone! This means you, Zeus, you are not the king down here."

Zeus rolled his eyes, but Odysseus noticed he stepped fractionally closer to Hera, who was behind him, and she put a hand on his shoulder possessively. Odysseus sidled closer to Polites and Eurylochus, and took their hands. Eurylochus' eyes were wide and frightened, but he nodded at Odysseus, while Polites reached over and took Eurylochus' other hand, so the three boys formed a loose triangle.

"We're going to get through this together," Polites whispered, but Hermes wasn't done with his speech.

"Rule number three!" The god called. "Do not go looking for familiar faces. The underworld is the place for the dead. This is especially the case for the mortals in the group, but even gods can be tricked. We are a curiosity, and the shades will come to see what's up. If you see someone you recognize, or if you see yourself—" here he paused and looked hard at Odysseus, then, inexplicably, at Diomedes, "turn immediately in the opposite direction and alert me. Don't talk to anyone without me present, most especially your own shades."

"If our shades are down here," Eurylochus muttered, "it means we made it back, right?"

It was a conflicting kind of thought. On one hand it would be reassuring to know they'd make it back to their own time. On the other, it was strange and macabre to have been dead for thousands of years without knowing how it happened.

"I'd have so many questions," Odysseus whispered. "But I don't think Hermes would let me ask."

Diomedes glanced over at him, and it was difficult to tell what he was thinking, but Odysseus got the impression that he had a lot of questions too.