The Goddess's Hero

Hero's Approach Part II

Skye's POV

I wasn't shocked when Josephine stabbed me in the chest, but I was shocked when I arrived. The underworld was a beautiful place; wild and untamed. There were hundreds of souls when I awoke. Their forms were the same as in their life, but were translucent. Smoky white and light blue lights traveled throughout their forms. I must be dead. I looked at myself but only saw flesh. I squeezed my fists a few times and stretched.

"Ow!" I grabbed my chest and blood ran through my fingers.

"Careful, or you might really die." Josephine sounded a little too happy.

"Wouldn't that be grand?" Sarcasm dripped from my tongue like honey.

"It would be incredibly pleasant!" Josephine clapped her hands in anticipation. I rolled my eyes. Josephine calmed herself. "You aren't dead, just nearly dead. You are able to walk the Underworld like this."

"Alright." I stated and we began to follow the other spirits.

"You'll come across a gate soon and Jacqui will meet you there."

"Wait, aren't you going to tell me what I need to do?" I stopped walking. Josephine rolled her eyes and pulled me along. I ripped my arm from her and followed the spirits along.  

"She'll tell you what you need to do." Josephine stated before vanishing. 

"Great." I scowled. I hadn't planned on seeing that particular goddess until I was strong enough to defeat her. 

You won't be strong enough to defeat her until you become a Demigod. The voice in my mind reminded me. And you won't get there until you complete trials from ALL the deities. 

Great. You're still here. 

You want me gone?

It'd be nice to have my own mind again. 

As you wish. 

The presence vanished as I came upon a mountain range. The spirits in front of me had quit moving forward and were simply gossiping with one another. As they were translucent, I was able to see a giant stone gate with some form of creatures under an awning speaking to each individual spirit and letting them in one by one. 

"Excuse me!" An older human spirit grabbed her translucent tunic and pulled it over her chest while looking at me. 

"What?" I eyed her and she glared. 

"Don't you have any decency, son?" An older human male grabbed the woman's arm and pulled her away from me. Several spirits around were glaring at me and I shrugged. They huffed and turned away from me. I stared forward again and watched as four spirits were let in which took half an hour. I need to get this over with. 

"Excuse me, pardon me, excuse me." I repeated as I went through the spirits to get to the gate. Someone screamed as I went through them which caused quite a bit of chaos around me. Spirits began running around, some screaming, some children playing. Some spirits huddled as far from me as they could but then stared at me as I continued on my way. When I got to the actual gate the creatures seemed to be made of stone. They had long claws and they had wings that I wasn't sure they could unfurl. Four of them gathered around me. One of them approached me.

"Who are you?" The voice came out like an echo in a cavern.  

"Skye Firebird." I answered. One of them handed the one I was talking with a scroll of parchment. The creature looked at it for some time. 

"You're not on the List of Dead." The creature looked at me. "And you don't seem like a soul either." 

"Could you tell by the way I have flesh?" I waved my hand in front of its face.