Chapter Text
Gura, Amelia, Ina, and Kiara came out of the portal to an unexpected sight. To Calli and IRyS, it was just as they remembered. The landscape was a cavern of gray rock. There wasn’t any fire or broiling hellscapes, it was just a tunnel. Drops from stalagmites echoed throughout the cool cavern. A breeze emanated from seemingly nowhere, lightly brushing their skin. Calli stepped forward.
“Well, here we are. Welcome to Hell, ladies. Or, uh, the Underworld is its official name. This cave is Erebus. We’ve got a short trek down this cave until we get to the River Styx. I’ll answer your questions until we get there, but we should start moving.” At the reaper’s command, the party began trudging through the mostly-dim cave. It was visible, though, which added another spooky layer to the already unnerving contrast to what most of them had expected. Amelia spoke first.
“So, uh… this is the Underworld, huh? Why’s it so different from what we’re told it looks like?”
“Well, that’s a loaded question. We did look like the fire-and-brimstone depiction at one point, but the head honcho decided to renovate to keep up with the times. Said that it was our duty to keep up with the mortal realm, and since more denominations of religions began popping up, we focused more on diversifying. There’s a little bit of everything down here.”
Ame carefully stepped over a stalactite while Gura tripped right over it. The Atlantean let out a sharp curse before kicking the stump. Kiara chuckled slightly at the display. IRyS hovered above the ground as she had earlier, and her halo offered a slight glow against the walls. Ina trudged behind Ame, still clasping her book tight against her chest.
“What should we be expecting when we get out of this cave?” Kiara’s voice echoed up to Calli, who continued forward.
“When we get out of the cave, we’ll meet this old skeleton named Charon. He’ll ferry us over the River Styx. After that comes the Fields of Asphodel. We’ll get to the High Enterprise of Loaning Lives building, then we’ll go into the big guy’s office to ask what the situation’s like down here.”
“And who’s the ‘big guy?’” Gura’s question followed closely behind Calli’s response.
“The big guy is Death-sensei. The dude in charge of the dead himself. Big man calling the shots. If anyone knows what’s going on down further, it’ll be him. Thankfully it won’t be too life-threatening getting to him as long as I’m here.”
A few more minutes of walking downward found the women exiting the cavern. It expanded upward farther than the eye could see and even further outward. It was as though they’d just climbed into a new world.
The rock was a dark color, but the rivers weren’t made of lava. They had water of a pale green shade flowing slowly through them. On occasion, a rock on the edge of one of the rivers would fall in, turning into a jewel before sinking far down to the bottom. The rocks had some small patches of grass growing out of them here and there. It wasn’t much, but it was a huge step up from what the new travelers among them had expected.
“So, why’d that rock just turn into a ruby,” Gura asked as another rock plunged into the river.
“Ah, that’s a good question. See, the River Styx has an inherent hatred for death. Basically, anything that touches it is turned into the strongest version of whatever it is that is possible. The story with Achilles? That never happened, but it was inspired by a dude slipping in and becoming immortal. The guy turned into metal though, so he’s basically just kinda stuck at the bottom of the river forever. One of the reapers that went up above must have spun the story a bit different.”
“Avoid the water. Got it.”
The group approached a skeleton wearing a large purple cloak. It was tattered from what seemed like eons of use. The jaw of the skeleton was suspended in a wide smile. Once Calli and the rest got within its distance, it slowly turned to look at them with empty eye sockets. Its voice crawled out of it with a hiss, its jaws unmoving.
“Ahhhhh, Calliope Mori. You look well. What can I assist you with today?” The voice sounded on the deeper side. Calli simply held her gaze at the skeleton.
“Charon, there’s a lot of shit going on up top. I was tasked with guiding the five behind me to the business building. We need you to ferry us across the Styx.” The skeleton looked directly at the reaper. The skull seemed to almost be judging her.
“Very well. I will warn you, it seems as though the balance of things in the realm has become more unstable in the lower levels. Time is becoming more distorted and the landscape is shifting frequently. It would do you well to remember where you’ve been.” Calli nodded.
“Gotcha. Thanks, Charon. Six across the Styx.” Charon nodded, stepping aside.
“Right this way.” It bowed down, arms pointing toward a wooden boat behind where it had previously stood. The gang piled onto the raft one by one with Charon entering last. “Keep all limbs and other appendages inside of the raft at all times. On the off chance that water from the Styx touches you, you will more than likely be doomed to an undesirable fate.”
Charon grabbed a paddle that was placed against the side of the boat, moving toward the bow. The paddle was apparently over ten meters long, as the skeleton hefted the pole out of the water. With practiced ease, it sank beneath the river and the boat slowly moved away from the land. The water was calm with the exception of the disturbances caused by the rowing. It sounded like regular water, yet if the party listened closely, they’d swear they heard a faint sound, like the ringing of miniature bells. It didn’t do a whole lot to calm their anxious minds.
As they moved across the body of water, none of them made a sound. The ragged breathing of Charon, despite being a skeleton, was enough ambience for them. At one point, Calli pointed over the side of the raft.
"Over there's a pretty cool place. The Garden is pretty nice to chill out in if you get overwhelmed with the stress of work but you're not allowed an extended leave. I'll have to show you when we're done down here."
It wasn't much, but the comment lifted their moods slightly. Some idle chat started amongst themselves, sometimes bringing Charon into the conversation. After what seemed like a few minutes, Charon's voice raised.
"Just moments from now, we will be docking. I ask that everyone refrain from dismounting until the raft has come to a complete stop."
With the coherence of an expert, Charon began rowing the oar in a back-and-forth motion. The boat began to halt. It touched the rocky inlet without causing a single dent in the wood. Charon placed the oar back into the oar ring before moving toward the stern. Leaning over the side, the skeleton plucked something quickly rising back up. A splash soon followed. After a few seconds, Charon turned to the group.
"We have arrived. You are free to exit the raft."
The girls got out slowly since the river caused mild rocking on occasion. Gura was the first one out, followed by Ame. Ina was hoisted to land by both of them. Kiara stepped onto the land without much fanfare, while IRyS floated out of the ship to join the rest.
Calli was the last to get off, but remained by the ship. Charon looked awfully troubled as they tried to climb out of the vessel. Calli extended a hand, graciously pulling the ferrier onto the rocky outcrop. Charon nodded at the reaper.
"You have my thanks. It has been quite some time since a reaper used this ferry, and even longer since one had the kindness to lend a hand to this old pile of bones."
"Hey, it's no biggie, my dude. Underworlders gotta help each other out, y'know?" Charon bowed to her slightly.
"Indeed." The skeleton turned to address the whole group. "I wish you all well for your journey. While the fate of our realm may lie in the balance, we down below are nothing without the realms above. Keep your wits about you, brave ones." Charon bowed deeply. The party returned the gesture, but Charon's head remained low until they walked away.
It took what felt like fifteen minutes to reach the building. Its large exterior stood formidably, crafted entirely out of black bricks. The building was akin to a darker version of a stereotypical Medieval-period castle. Calli led the group past the gate.
Inside the castle was more of the same. Black brick walls, black marble floors, and very sparing lighting coming from torches hung on the walls. Calli took point, urging the other women to stay by her.
Kiara hated it. Each moment, a tingling feeling snaked down her spine. It was as if the castle itself lamented her presence, warning her that she should leave. Her hand rested on the handle of her blade.
The other trio of Myths weren't far off from Kiara. They stayed close to Calli, Gura's twitching to and fro, while Ina's head constantly moved from one direction to another, similar to birds observing their surroundings. Amelia simply kept her hand against her hip where her syringes were, while her other hand rested on the stopwatch in her coat pocket.
IRyS, being a nephilim, was fine to the whole endeavor. She didn't like the sickening feeling of terror and despair coming from her newly-made comrades, though.
Suddenly, Calli stopped in front of a door. The reaper took a deep breath before turning around to look at the others.
"This is the room to Death-sensei. We're just gonna go in and ask a few questions. I'll go in first, then give you all an okay when it's fine to come in. Don't worry about the talking, I'll do that stuff." The women nodded. Calli turned to face the door. "Death-sensei! Apprentice Calliope Mori, entering on important business!"
Without waiting for a response, Calli walked in. A few moments passed before a booming voice surrounded them.
"YOU ARE ALLOWED TO ENTER."
They went in, and the first thing that they saw was the enormous skeleton floating in the air without leg bones. It had deep green fires coming from its eyes, and its mouth seemed to freely move up and down on the air. A huge, billowing black cloak cascaded down its back, seemingly made of smoke yet retaining the jagged quality of ripped cloth.
"GREETINGS, LIVING BEINGS. MY NAME IS DEATH. IT IS I WHO RULES OVER THIS REALM."
"Death-sensei, we ask you to share your knowledge with us! We have been chosen to venture down to the Lower Depths to retrieve the help of the lower demons! We would like information about what we can expect!" The specter seemed to look at the group, studying them. All of the still-living non-demons among them shivered as the freezing glare felt like it was tearing through their souls.
“UNFORTUNATELY, I AM UNABLE TO BESTOW SUCH INFORMATION UPON ANY OF YOU. IF I WERE TO DO SO, IT WOULD UPSET THE NATURE AND BALANCE OF THE REALM WHICH YOU NOW TREAD UPON.” The group seemed to shrink back under the stern voice with the exception of IRyS who stepped forward.
“Great Death-sensei. Surely you are aware of the danger the realms are all facing right now, yes? We seek at least a little bit of help to try and protect all of the lives, mortal or not, that are in jeopardy.” Her voice sounded like crystal. Surely, surely the words had to get through to the ruler of the Underworld…
“I CAN ONLY GIVE YOU THE PERMISSION TO VENTURE FURTHER BELOW. ASIDE FROM THAT ONE THING, I CANNOT INTERFERE. THE MERE ACT OF CONVERSING WITH YOU RIGHT NOW IS A HAZARDOUS ACTION IN AND OF ITSELF. I IMPLORE YOU ALL TO LEAVE BEFORE A MISTAKE IS MADE THAT NONE OF US COULD REPAIR.” With that, Calli stepped forward before bowing deeply.
“Thank you, Death-sensei. We won’t fail on our mission.” The reaper turned around, gently ushering the rest of the part out of the room. When they were all outside and the door had been shut behind them, Calli looked at each of them. “Alright. We just need to be careful. That’s sensei’s way of they can’t really help us but they want the best for us. Let’s get going.”
The pink-haired apprentice led the group through the long, winding halls of the castle. They finally exited through a small door. Calli had mentioned that it was at the back of the building. Each woman peered out at the surroundings. The enormous cavern that was tall enough for the castle to fit in narrowed significantly into a serpentine cavern up ahead. Calli sighed.
“Yup. We gotta go that way.”
And on they went.