Hi everyone,
OK, I know I just posted an AN yesterday, but I got home early from work today (went to vote for the local elections
) and had some free time on my hands so thought 'd finish of the typing of the next chapter.
Please bear in mind that this fic is BASED on the greek myths etc. Its not exactly like how its told. I'm just using the supposed tales and characters to suit MY story.
Shadowlynxbehr: The last time I did Greek myths was Junior school which was years and years ago. But I've always been fascinated with the tales. So its nice to encorporate them into my story.
Ooh! Let me know when the fic is ready to be read, it'd be interesting to see what you come up with.
Part 5
After an endless descent through the cave-like underground, Max finally exited the tunnel. Looking around he could see boulder rocks and black skeletal trees which seem to stare at him with hollow eyes. On earth it would appear to be night, but here in the underworld.... would there even be the concept of day and night?
Pulling his gaze from the eerie trees Max continued into the underworld using his fiery torch as his guiding light. The rocky ground soon became softer, so he had to pick his footing carefully or risk sinking his leg deep into a mud pile.
After another endless trek into what now appears to be swampland, Max stopped and listened.
Water.
He could hear water lapping.
Following the sound Max came to a stop at an embankment.
A wooden boat rocked gently on the waves as it tethered on a.... Max squinted in the dim lighting. What at first appeared to be a rope was glinting slightly off the boats tiny lamplight. It kinda looked like someone's....
Oh my god!
Max spun around and hurled into the dead swampland.
Taking a deep breath, Max coughed and wiped his mouth then sent a silent prayer to the poor soul who ended up having his intestines used as a securing device.
Looking back at the boat he jumped in surprise when the hunched shadow moved and turned to face him.
Had that shadow always been there?
"Uh, hello?"
The shadow figure wearing the long dark cloak that concealed him from head to foot remained silent.
Max squinted and tried to make out his features but could only see darkness as the cloak hood concealed the wearers face.
A chill went down Max's spine.
A chill that told him he was better off not knowing.
Max walked slowly forward and stopped before the ferryman.
A sense of dread slithered over his soul.
Slowly, the ferryman extended his arm out towards Max palm upraised.
Looking down, where the cloak sleeve had now ridden back an inch or two, Max could see the brown rusty colour of decaying bone; Max tried to look away before he lost more of his stomach contents, but the bits of decaying flesh still semi attached made it a morbid fascination to continue looking.
No one in this state would be alive.
Yet the ferryman was.
Sort of.
The ferryman waggled his bony fingers as though saying 'come on, I haven't got all day.'
Racking his brain as to what he should do, Max thought back to what he'd learned about the underworld.
The ferryman appeared in Greek myth.
Charon his name was.
Charon was the boatman who transported the dead souls across the various rivers of the underworld to their final destination.
But it came at a price.
Like everything in life, the same goes for death.
Remembering the bag of coins Zeus had given him, Max reached into his coat pocket for the pouch and pulled out a single coin, known as an obol to the Greeks. He placed it in Charon's outstretched palm.
Max watched as Charon's fingers slowly creaked closed over the coin. Charon gave a silent bow in thanks then turned to his task of releasing the intestines mooring the boat to the shore.
Max carefully stepped onto the rocking wooden boat and sat down.
Using his long boat hook, Charon slowly dug it into the bottom of the riverbed and pushed the boat to move away from the embankment.
As they drifted further and further from the embankment, Max could see more of the surrounding area.
The place was muddy and overgrown with reeds.
He was on the River Acheron.
The place was nearly silent, though occasionally he thought he heard people crying out and weeping tears of sorrow. Of pain, loss and despair.
It made his heart ache for them; made him wrench out anguished sobs for the life they now had to endure in the land of the dead.
The River of Acheron.
The River of Woe.
In silence they sailed along, the water lapping gently against the boat.
Looking out into the distance, Max noticed a misty fog slowly rolling in, blanketing and concealing everything it touched.
It mingled with the eerie sorrowful weeping.
Max shivered and pulled his coat tighter against his body.
Glancing up at Charon, Max was startled to see him quickly turn away.
The ferryman had been watching him.
Another chill raced along his spine.
Did the ferryman know he was alive and not the soul of the dead? Zeus hadn't given him the golden bough which would have signified he was still a living soul. But no one was suppose to know he was here. He had to blend in and if that meant deceiving Charon and entering the underworld like one of the dead, then so be it. Charon was his bridge into the Kingdom of Hades.
But still... the way Charon kept sneaking glances at him.... did the ferryman sense something?
Max tried to stay calm and ignoring Charon, looked out at the passing scenery.
The landscape was now emerging to be an icy white. White snow covered the large mountain peaks in the distance. In fact, the farther they traveled the more the place became covered in snow and ice. Max shivered at the drastic drop in temperature and held the flame of the torch closer for warmth.
The river became harder to navigate as the water turned to ice and floating icebergs became a hazardous obstacle, yet the ferryman seemed to take it all in stride as though it wasn't anything unusual. As though he'd navigated this river countless of times.
Looking out at the edge of the grayish white land, Max saw a pale gray man amble towards the wooden pier. he seemed to be trying to catch their attention, but Charon ignored his flailing arms and continued to sail on.
An eerie pleading whisper drifted across the air between them and reached Max's ears.
Help me.... please..... not my fault..... murdered. Don't belong here. Help me, Please! Don't belong in Cocytus.... please.... take me away..... give me peace.
Max turned and continued to look behind him at the man as the little boat drifted further and further away from the man standing sadly at the edge of the pier.
Poor soul.
What happened to him? Did no one give him a proper burial after his death? But then, if he was murdered, maybe none of his loved ones knew or couldn't find his body. Could that explain why Charon had dropped him off in Cocytus? If Charon knew he had been unburied and had no obol to pay him.....
Max glanced at Charon and caught the ferryman watching him once more, as if sensing, but not quite getting the peoper reading on him.
It was Max who looked away first and prayed Zeus had protected him somehow.
He would hate to be dropped off at one of the many river ports of Hades before reaching the house of Hades itself. He'd be trapped and doomed to wander the underworld like the poor souls he'd seen and heard. It'd be taking the concept of being buried alive to a whole new level.
As they traveled on, Max felt the temperature heat up. Before, he was freezing cold and now he was sweltering like a Christmas turkey in an oven. He tugged on his collar and tried to breathe though the sauna-like air.
The small boat traveled through some thick vegetation and Max wondered if they had somehow doubled back to Acheron. In front of them a curtain of leafy willow branches magically parted as they approached. What lay on the other side had Max's jaw drop in disbelief and awe and also fear when he realized where he was.
They were now traveling through the river Phlegethon.
The river of fire.
The water was made from molten lava that bubbled and popped, the landscape a baron charcoal black and fiery orange. Active volcanoes spewed their fiery rage as geysers hissed their anger. The trunks of the skeletal trees dotted about the landscape burned with an intensely hot fiery fire. The whole place looked to be the Christian symbolism of a fiery hell.
They were traveling though a place of fire in.... a wooden boat!
"Oh my god!"
Charon turned to look at Max.
Though Max still couldn't see his face beneath the hooded cloak, he had a distinct feeling the ferryman was laughing at him in amusement.
As their journey continued through the bubbling lava sea, to Max's astonishment, the wooden boat glided through the sea of hot fire without being consumed.
Only when they left the river Plegethon did Max breathe a sigh of relief.
At least he didn't get burned alive. His soul would've probably been stuck there for eternity burning in agony.
The landscape changed from fiery to misty, and through the fog he saw wisps of shades at the banks of the land. Some flitted about, some stayed still as though in a catatonic state, and other were drinking greedily at the waters edge. Drinking as though they couldn't get enough of it, as though they had been in the desert of days and now they've found the oasis.
A strange feeling settled over Max as he watched the shades drink.
Leaning over the side of the boat, Max gazed transfixed at his reflection in the clear water. Dipping his hand into the water he swirled it around disturbing his reflection. Images began to appear in the center of the ripples.
Images of Cara, of their marriage, of her accident, images of Liz and the short time they'd spent together, Liz falling over the cliff top, images of his friends, the pity and sympathy on their faces. Images upon images blurring together, scene after scene. Images that were a reflection of his memories. His past.
Gazing out at the shades, he felt an urge to drink.
To drink away his sorrows.
To drink away his despair.
To drink away his pain and loss.
Cupping a handful of water he raised it to his lips.
A hard whack on his head had the water slipping through his fingers and back into the river.
Max watched Charon lean in eye to eye with him. Max thought he saw a hollow eye socket but wasn't sure. Max pulled back slightly.
"This," Charon rasped out "is not your stop. The spirits drink to forget. To give up. But in doing so, the River Lethe may take away their pain and loss of their life on earth, but it also takes away their past and future. Without their past memories, how would that define who they once were? how would they move on into their future? They asked to be left here. Cowards they are." He pointed a bony finger at Max. "Your destination has yet to arrive." Turning his back on Max, Charon started their journey once more.
They passed though the River Styx without further incidents and finally moored at their destination. Getting out the boat and onto the wooden pier, Max turned to regard Charon.
"Uh, listen, thanks for the ride and also for what happened back there."
Charon bowed in acknowledgment and farewell.
Max watched the ferryman slowly drift away in his small boat, his lamp his only guiding light back through the rivers of Hades. Back to the swampy banks of Acheron where the next souls awaited passage across the rivers.
Entering the network of caves, Max soon came to a standstill when he saw a giant 3 headed snoozing dog.
Cerebus.
Best not to wake it up.
Slowly and quietly, Max tiptoed past the guard dog and entered the Kingdom of Hades.
***********
TBC!!
Well, what do you think? Like I said earlier, its just based on the greek myths. I'm not sure that the souls actually traveled through all 5 rivers of Hades (I think it was mainly Acheron and Styx) But I thought it would be fun to send Max through all 5 rivers and see what they're like. lol
Yeah, I'm mean. Hahaha.
All speculations and questions welcomed as always
Oh! btw,
I realized it's fanfic nominations time again, so if you Like/LOVE this story/series, then feel free to go and vote for me. I'll really appreciate it
. There's 5 chapters now posted so this fic should be elegible for voting.
Remember to REGISTER YOURSELF in the eligibilty thread before you start nominating or it doesn't count.
Take care all,
Suzanne
P.S Sorry, forgot to add, I wrote a "behind the writing scene" in my authors thread for this chapter
viewtopic.php?p=522638#522638 So be sure to check it out!
(mind goes blank from the shock of the out of the blue question) Hmm, how to say "no" without hurting his feelings that he's a bit old for me.... lol, I just said I wasn't available. 
He was alright with it in the end.
)