Aboveground
*
The brilliant green light that came from the Heavens could only be a manifestation of Demeter's wrath, both Sayo and Tobias thought. Immediately, the ground below them turned try – the floor cracking as if it hadn't experienced rain in the last few months. Farther away, the scenario that was once a verdant shade of life also began to lose its essence, like it's dying as well.
"Tobias, I don't think we should stay here. We've got no time to waste on this blondie. I think I remember the myth now to which city-state the Goddess of the Grain wandered into. We've got to hurry over there and convince her to undo this spell or something." Sayo said, grunting from the pain in her leg.
Amazingly, the burns started to fade, and it wasn't as painful as it was before when the blondie's solar magic hit her. Tobias still hasn't withdrawn his hand from it, even though he was beginning to look exhausted.
"Just a little more…." He replied, still focusing on the burn. He only acted on instinct, like he already knows he can undo this damage. But still, he hasn't fully comprehended on how to use it. So this is a perfect opportunity to test out his healing capabilities. He learned from Phemonoe that treating burns is pretty easy.
'Don't expose it to a humid environment. Don't immediately treat it with ice as well, or it will result to a frostburn and a scar. Apply cold water to the burned area. Cool it down, and put on these herbs to facilitate the healing….' He remembered her instructions. But he has no herbs now to treat the burn, furthermore, they can't get away easily now to look for running water. He envisioned all these thoughts from his mind and poured it over towards Sayo's injured leg.
"It's…." Sayo's words were cut be the sudden rapid cool feeling on her leg. After a few more seconds, the wound completely vanished, like it wasn't there before.
Tobias was satisfied that he was able to do the healing using his magic. 'Woah, I can do that too?'
On the other hand, Adam closed his eyes because he just received a telepathic message from one of his comrades who also ventured with them here in the past.
'Adam, Carl is on his way to you. You guys must hurry over to Eleusis, the Goddess will be there, so maybe the Son of Time will be there as well. I can't make contact with Isaac. But I'll let you know as soon as we can and the rest of us will meet you there.' The voice said.
'Melissa, I'm currently in battle now.' He replied.
'What? Stop making detours this instant! That's not our mission, we must not sway away from it. You said that yourself!' She fired back at him.
He cut the link between them and opened his eyes, but the moment he did, a splash of water caught him by surprise and hit him in the face. "What the – ?"
"Get in, Adam." His comrade, Carl, apparently arrived. He was standing atop a whirlpool from the edge of the cliff where Demeter previously called for the Titan of the Sun. He wasn't even able to retort back to the man when he was lifted from the ground by the water and trapped inside the vortex as well. Then, the formation of the water collapsed and they both landed on the ship decked below.
Sayo and Tobias could only watched at what happened right before there very eyes.
"This is bad Sayo…." Tobias said in ragged breaths. "I'm afraid that guy is a Mythos as well."
"What even is a Mythos?" She raised one of her brows at the boy.
"Don't know – not sure. We've gotta find that out, right? Any ideas where we should go?"
--
Underworld
*
Seeing all of their enemies are currently unconscious, the trio seized the opportunity to withdraw using the shadowbridge that connected the two sides of the River Phlegethon.
"Hurry, it's starting to fade!" Corinna insisted on the two of her comrades. True enough, the solid look of the shadow was beginning to fade away.
"Wait a minute!" Rexis said, looking back, his eyes searching for something.
"Come on, dude! What's the fuss?" Julius was getting impatient too.
Actually, Rexis was searching for where the heck the ball has bounced off to. Finally, he found it. "There!" And he hurried over to retrieve it, somewhere a little farther to where the fallen body of Isaac is. He looked at the body of the guy and asked his companions. "What should we do to him?"
"Leave him be!" Both said. He was expecting that from Corinna, but from Julius? Not so much.
"Are you sure?" He furrowed his eyebrows at his question.
"Look, those bat-ladies will wake up soon and so will he. The binds might be undone too when I'm away. It's not like they'll be trapped here! If they found a way to get in, I'm pretty sure they can get out if they like to. Now hurry over!" Julius said with haste.
Just as he crossed the bridge, the shadows finally disappeared. Rexis sighed in relief after barely being able to make it. Corinna picked up some trails along the way, and using her keen sense of smell, they followed her to the place that reeks the most of 'that deathly bastard who took that maiden from the meadow right under my nose' – as she had put it. After quite a long while, Julius broke the silence and tension between them.
Julius: "Erm – you really returned to get the ball?" He said this as he opened their inventory to put it in place.
Rexis: "The heck, bro?! It has Christenson's signature!"
Corinna: "What was that thing called? The one you did when you weaponized that ball?"
Julius: "It's one of the coolest sports on Earth." He said with a smile.
Rexis: "That was our signature attack in volleyball. Julius made a spike after my set. Pretty awesome, right?"
The girl only rolled her eyes at them, and then froze on her tracks.
Julius: "What's up?"
Corinna: "It's there." She pointed to towards the direction in front of them. "Dead ahead."
Rexis: "The what?"
Corinna: "The Chamber of Hades."
A strong sense of dread suddenly arose from their chest, thinking about the ominous aura emanating from the darkness of this narrow corridor where they are currently standing.
--
"Reeeekekek! Master, master! Wake up – rekek!"
Isaac slowly opened his eyes upon picking up the voice of one of his Erinyes.
"Yeeeekekek! Master, if you don't wake up I'll have to carry you again – yekek!" Another one said.
He groaned after feeling her claws digging through his shirt. They must've brought him to the side of the Phlegethon that wasn't in the dead end.
"Stop that." He coldly uttered, and the Fury stopped poking him.
"Weeeekekek! Master, we sense some of our own coming! Hurry, we must get out of here – wekek!"
That's new – him getting orders from his subordinates. That annoyed him but he's too tired to argue. In the distance, faint screeches similar to that of the Erinyes can be heard.
'Shit.' He forced himself to stand up despite still feeling wobbly and dizzy. 'Get your shit, man.' He told himself. Without another word, he started to walk towards the east, searching for a more quiet place to relax so he can regain his energy and look for trails on their target's current location and whereabouts.
He used his remaining strength to hide their presence amongst the shadows all around them. This way, anyone or anything can't see nor hear them. 'This will be the death of me.' He thought. He badly needed a break.
As they continued to walk, they found a man rolling a huge boulder in an uphill battle. Looking at him alone makes you feel more exhausted. Of course, Isaac recognized this man from the myths.
"Friggin' Sisyphus." The Furies with him made low screeches of confirmation as well.
When Sisyphus was almost winning, the boulder rolled back to the ground, crushing him in the process.
"AAAAARGH! I'M TIRED OF THIS!" Sisyphus yelled out of frustration. Then he turned to the side and said, "Is anyone there?"
They are just a few meters away from him, but because of Isaac's magic, they aren't visible to the soul of the former King of Corinth.
"I must be imagining things…" He said while massaging his leg which was beginning to fix itself already. "These must be the works of freaking Tartarus! I hate it here!" He pounded his fist on the ground after finishing his speech of hatred.
'Tartarus?' This didn't sit well for Isaac. 'Are we near the mouth of that pit?'
He regretted his decision to walk further left. They should've gone the other way around. 'Ah shit. Now we have to go back. But those ugly bats are there. Damn this.' He gritted his teeth from this very unpleasant predicament.