Death and Darkness

Chapter 5

"Good luck, Reaper," the Eagle said before disappearing.

"Oh sure. Wish her luck and not me. It's not like I'm also risking my existence in the presence of the God of the Underworld," Delta muttered bitterly.

I patted her shoulder sympathetically before taking in my surroundings.

"Never been here before?" the Shadow-Knight questioned.

"No, not really. I usually just toss the soul down the vortex of doom," I replied half jokingly.

Delta scoffed, cracking a smile. "So what now? You're more accustomed to this place than me."

I stared at the green water of the River. Farther down the bank, a boat rocked from the water, though there weren't any waves or ripples.

"I guess we take the boat," I said hesitantly.

When we approached the boat, a hooded figure appeared inside it. Delta squeaked a bit in surprise, grabbing onto my arm. Centuries of my profession made me unflinching, but that didn't mean I wasn't scared. Delta and I had the unspoken agreement that the figure was Charon the Ferryman. A moment of silence settled.

"Do, uh, do we get on?" Delta questioned.

I shrugged, making a clueless noise. Delta nudged me forward a bit.

"Reapers first," she said.

Carefully, I stepped into the rocking boat. The fear of falling overboard crossed my mind, but I pushed it back.

"Obol," Charon breathed, barely above a chilling whisper.

I turned to Delta in question. She dug into her pockets, metal and paper rattling. The Shadow produced an old looking coin from her pocket and offered it tentatively to the ferryman. Charon accepted it, waiting for her to get on. With a grimace, Delta stepped into the boat with a hand from me. The boat was fairly small, so we had to stand to fit all three of us. Despite this, Delta and I were shoulder to shoulder.

Delta squeaked again when the ferryman pushed off the bank, rowing his long oar to keep the boat moving. As we got further and further from the shore, our surroundings grew colder and foggier. I felt Delta shiver beside me. The water beneath felt like it was bubbling, but the surface seemed relatively calm. Suddenly, a shrill shriek from beyond made us jump. The ferryman didn't mind it in the least.

"S-so, where'd... where'd you get that Greek from? I mean coin, Greek coin," I asked Delta, trying to break the eerie silence after the shriek.

"Greece," Delta muttered back, habitually sarcastic.

Soon after, the boat hit the edge of the shore. It should've been a smooth stop, but for some reason, it rocked heavily. I nearly fell into the water. Thankfully, Delta caught me.

"Er, thanks, Mister Ferryman," I muttered, but whether he (or she, I wouldn't know) heard me or not, he (or she) didn't acknowledge it as he (or she) merely rowed back.

"How do we get back?" Delta asked when we started walking through another tunnel.

It was damp, and I shuddered at the light graze from unseeable, cold fingers. "We can worry about that when we get to that," I murmured.

We walked for what seemed to be an hour. My feet were aching, but that was the least of my worries. A variety of scenarios played in my head like cogs turning one another. I didn't notice the drastic increase of fog until Delta grabbed me. Her hand was warm, I noted absently which was the only nice thing in my mind at that moment. Figures through the fog limped toward us, groaning.

"That doesn't sound good," said Delta.

One lunged for me, gnashing its teeth. I sidestepped and kicked it into the wall.

"What the FUCK? My Force doesn't work on them!" Delta screamed, a black saber appearing in her hand.

"These are Gluttony's doing. Stolen souls," I told her, a sharp blade protruding from inside each of my wrists.

"Like the Sin?"

I nodded, stabbing one. Delta slashed at four of them in a combination of swift moves.

"Are these walkers or some shit?" the Shadow said.

"I'm more concerned with why zombies of a Sin are here," I replied, finishing off the last one.

"Dinner with Hades?" Delta suggested.

I shot her a look.

"Geez, I was only joking," she mumbled.

"At any rate, we should continue with caution. 'Never know if there'll be anymore."

Soon after, we reached Hades's domain. It was empty of life and unsettlingly silent.

"This place gives me the creeps," Delta whispered, looking at an eye floating in a jar, still blinking. "Ew."

"Focus," I told her. There was a hint of disgust and fascination in my tone.

"No wonder Hades is grumpy, holed up in a place like this. I'll bet he's never tasted pizza before," I heard Delta say.

I snorted. Suddenly, seven figures appeared through the fog, all of them androgynous. Delta ducked beneath Hades's gnarled desk, narrowly avoiding their notice. I gulped.

"Look-y what we have here," one of them said. "Fresh meat."

Another giggled excitedly then purred.

"How did you get in here?" a third asked.

"I... I fell in here by accident," I lied. That's so pathetic, I thought, kicking myself mentally.

"Oh? Fell, did you?"

I nodded quickly, taking a step back.

"Darling, do you know who we are?" the one that giggled asked.

I shook my head, afraid that if I spoke, I'd squeal.

"We are the Seven Deadly Sins. If you came by the River of the Dead, you'd have passed through the Hall of Spirits and met Gluttony's leftovers."

My mouth went dry. Should I turn and run? Should I beg? Where would I go if I turned back? Should I jump in the River? My mind raced faster than I could comprehend, making me dizzy and nauseous. I began hating Zeus for picking me of all Reapers to do this.

"Darling, you look a bit green," one of them told me, placing a hand on my shoulder. His/her purple eyes bored into me. "Wanna lay down?"

"Hands off, Lust. She should go to Lucifer for questioning."

"Aw, you just want her for yourself, Greed, baby," Lust half-flirted with a blown kiss.

"Enough! We'll take her back with us and then decide what to do with her then," the Sin who asked of my entrance said. I figured he was Pride.

The Sin who spoke first before everyone else, Gluttony I assumed, laughed.

"Whatever, whatever," a fourth yawned. He/she must've been Sloth.

The seven Sins hauled me through a portal that I recognized to lead to Hell. Just before the portal closed, however, I saw a ripple of black slither inside. No Sin seemed to notice this.