Beautiful Curse

Chapter Twenty-Five

 "Take this box, a little thing, and go to the lowest reaches of the world, to the domain of ghosts itself. Present it to Proserpina and say this: 'Venus asks for a small portion of your beauty, just enough for one day ...'"

... The girl felt that she was utterly spent and must abandon her illusions: she was being sent to her death. It was so clear; her own two feet would carry her beyond, to Tartarus and the dead. She made for a tower and meant to jump off (how else does one go to the Underworld?) but then, against reason, the tower spoke: "What are you doing?! Poor woman, are you seeking to die with a headlong fall? What is so fantastically terrible that you would surrender to it? Once your spirit and body are split, you will indeed go to the Underworld, but no bargain or agreement will return you from there. Listen to me."

Apuleius, Metamorphosis

Part IV

True, I'd sort of considered doing it more than I wanted to admit, but now that Aphrodite had given me no choice, I was calm and detached. The prescription sleeping pills that Dad took from time to time were in plain sight in the medicine cabinet, and I grabbed my stainless steel water bottle and filled it to the brim. Would it hurt very much?

Trying not to think, I locked the door to my room and sat on the floor, staring at the bottle of pills. Should I leave a note? I grabbed a notebook from my desk and looked at the blank page for a few minutes, but words wouldn't come. Maybe Dad would think it had been an accident. What about Ross? If I did what Aphrodite asked, even if I died, would she still keep her end of the bargain and let me talk to her son? I had to try. With a pang of guilt, I uncapped the pill bottle and poured its contents into my palm. The blue and white pills reminded me of sprinkles on ice cream, and for a moment, I wondered absurdly if they might taste sweet.

"There's an easier way, and no, they taste awful."

Startled, I dropped the pills. They went rolling across the wood floor of the bedroom, skittering under the furniture. Annoyed, I glared at Mr. Merk. "Why'd you do that?"

He frowned, his bushy eyebrows knitting together. "Because your death won't solve anything."

I wanted to believe him, but I wasn't ready to give Ross up. "But I have to get to the Underworld, or Aphrodite will never let me talk to Ross."

Mr. Merk snorted. "If you show up as a ghost, do you really think he'd listen to you?"

I started to argue, but he kept talking.

"Don't you think Aphrodite would still like to be rid of you? Then her son will quit moping around and she'll go back to being the undisputed beauty in the universe."

I looked at the pills on the floor, processing his words. "So I don't have to die?"

He shook his head. "There's another way to gain passage to the Underworld. Orpheus did it, and so did Hercules."

I wracked my brain for the answer, but I didn't think I'd read any stories about people making it out of the Underworld alive. I sighed. "I don't know what to do."

Mr. Merk grinned. "I thought not. I'll make a deal with you. If you can guess my name, I'll take you. I won't go in with you, mind," he shivered even though he was still smiling slightly, "but I'll get you to the first gate."

I stared at him intently. It felt like his name was on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn't quite spit it out.

"I'll even give you a clue. You've heard it once before."