Rifting | TLOS | discontinued

Ch.14 The Lake of Death

Aphrodite sat, perched on her throne, a wistful look on her face. She watched as her new citizens leaned down before her with trembling palms and tears in their eyes. If this had been months ago, Aphrodite would never think of doing this. But after Zeus tried to kill her by sending an overconfident girl, her heart had cracked and evil had flooded through. She bit her lip and unsteadily tried to keep her posture straight. 

Aphrodite no longer cared about her appearance much. She didn't wear pink and glitter and hearts. Now, all she wore was a black tonga and flower crowns with skulls on them and everything. Being honest, Aphrodite completely hated her outfit. She felt it was tacky, but Apollo had reassured her and hade even said it was unique. Aphrodite still had her doubts. One thing that hadn't changed about her was the love of attention she was getting. 

Snow White crawled forward, her arm reaching out, weakly trying to grasp the gold throne to steady herself. "Let us go," Snow White cried, forcing all the power within her out, her voice tearing as her screech echoed across the room. "We don't deserve this. You know that! Just let us leave!" 

Aphrodite burst out laughing, her cheery laughter pounding against the walls like crystal waters. When she finally settled, she sniffed in disgust and threw her crystal ball of Zeus onto the floor, where a sea bubble captured it into a safe nest. "Do you really think I am that foolish?" 

Snow White trembled, and she tore her eyes off the goddess, staring at the floor. It was if a magical being was forcing her to look away. Snow White hated feeling like this. She was being forced around in her own palace. She had never felt more defeated. 

Aphrodite continued, her eyes narrowing as she talked. "I'm not going to let you leave when all you're going to do is run to find your precious leader Alex. She's not coming to save you, darlings. She's hopefully dead by now after I sent the hellhound after her. Or two." she giggled again.

Emerelda choked, tears streaming down her face. Pain etched in her eyes, and she yearned to be with her friends again. "We will do no such thing," She lied. "We will go to the Underworld if we must." 

The monarchs gasped in confusion, and Aphrodite raised an eyebrow. "You'll do what?" she shrieked, a giddy feeling entering her stomach. "Oh, that's just marvelous! Apollo!" 

"Wait, no!" Emerelda shouted, taking back everything she had said. "I didn't mean that, I was overreacting! We'll stay here!" 

Aphrodite ignored her, and the sun god hurried into the room. He was wearing a toga with sea bubbles printed on them. He was now a servant for the goddess of love, and he was not happy. 

Apollo shuffled towards the throne whilst rolling his eyes, and dropped down his an overly dramatic bow. "Your Highness, ruler of all pretty, goddess of love, monarch of passion and lust-" he was cut off when Aphrodite slammed her hand onto the side of the throne with annoyance. 

"Be quiet, Apollo! I did not call you here to make a mockery of me. You must show them the stairway." Aphrodite smirked and clapped her hands. "Quickly, brother!" 

Apollo dropped his act and gaped at Aphrodite. "To H-A-D-E-S? Are you sure that's the right thing? I mean, none of them have even tried to do anything. All they've done is talked and be jabberwockies." Apollo had a point. 

"Jabberwockies?" Aphrodite frowned. 

Apollo nodded. "Yeah, you know...people who talk a lot..." 

"Um, no," Aphrodite said, amused. "I think that's a mythical creature that Zeus defeated not long ago. Get your facts straight, idiot." 

Bree raised her eyebrows. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Were they going to be taken to the Underworld? But that wasn't possible...they weren't dead, nor were they demigods and they couldn't possibly survive down there. Bree's eyes widened...that might be the point, she thought. 

Apollo crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not doing anything for you until you apologize." 

Aphrodite rolled her eyes and sighed. "Oh, Apollo! Fine. I'm sorry. Okay? Good. Now, I thought I could count on you. Just take them to the stairway. They needn't be in my sight for any longer." 

The sun god sighed and clasped the metal collars around the monarch's neck. Nobody argued this time, they knew what happened when you said no to Aphrodite. 

After Apollo had everyone together, he lined them up at the door and turned back to Aphrodite. "Do you want me to take Hera as well?" he pulled out a smaller crystal ball where the goddess of marriage was trapped. He stared down into the crystal ball with sadness in his eyes. Hera pounded on the glass, looking at her son with pleading eyes. 

Aphrodite huffed. "No, you can keep her," she said. "I don't want one of them to throw her into an abyss or something." 

Apollo nodded curtly and marched away. Bree and the rest of the monarchs were led through many hallways and up and down many stairways. She was tempted to ask how far they would be walking, but she was sure Apollo would not answer, so Bree stayed quiet. 

Finally, they arrived at a small corridor. At the end of the hallway was a single door. It was metal and black as if it had started to burn. There was a man outside the door, sitting on a chair. His eyes were closed and he held tickets in his hands. 

"Jeremey," Apollo called, and the man straightened and stood up. His eyes were droopy and he seemed very tired. "We have the rest of the load. How many are already on the boat?" 

Jeremey glanced down at his tickets and started counting, whispering the numbers under his breath. "Ah, two-hundred and twenty-seven. You're lucky, these monarchs will be just the right fit." 

Bree's stomach turned, and she gripped Emerelda's hand. She would never have done so before, but she couldn't take the fear that was crippling inside her. Bree was sure she was going to die. Emerelda gripped her hand in return. 

Jeremey thrust opens the door to reveal a long lake. Surprisingly, there were no walls, just sky. It was all dark and there were many people on the boat, all jittery. He narrowed his eyes at the monarchs, and then glanced back at the passengers in the boat. "Are you sure they're dead?" 

Apollo gulped, but Jeremey didn't seem to hear. "Yes, of course. Do you think I would try to trick you, Jeremey? Of course, I wouldn't. I'm the sun god, ruler of all light and happiness, his majesty of-" 

Jeremy sighed and rolled his eyes. "Apollo, stop that right now. Just tell me what you were simply about to say." 

"Oh," Apollo frowned and furrowed his eyebrows. "Ah, yes! They were electrocuted by Aphrodite herself, sweetie. They're dead alright." he stomped on Bree's toe to make sure she understood. Bree yelped but tried to cover it up by a yawn. 

Jeremy frowned slightly, but finally nodded and shoved them on board. "Okay then," he said. "But it's not my fault if they die on the way down." 

Red screeched as the door slammed closed and they were enveloped in darkness. 

A/N Hello, all! Thank you so much for reading this chapter, it means so much to me! I know I've said that a lot, but it's true! Anyways, what do you think about this decision? And is Alex and the rest of the team actually dead? Hmmm??? I'll try to update as soon as I can! Byeee!