"Me!"
He grins and I double over, gagging.
"Don't barf on me, child. That is repulsive."
"I'm sorry—it's just your little Fury-friends decided to poison me with some lake water!"
I cough a few times before lifting myself up, staring blankly at Hades.
"I can't take it seriously that you're my father."
I scratch my head, still holding onto my stomach that's doing somersaults.
"Neither can I...but you can be useful. Which is why you're here."
"Well, father, you look like one of the kids in my school. One of the losers. Maybe it's the blue hair. Or the piercings. I thought you were supposed to be old?! You look like a goth Chad."
Hades blinks twice before frowning.
"A Chad? What the hell is that? And I'm not goth, child."
"A Chad is a fuckboy. You look like a goth fuckboy. No offense."
He gives me a tight smile.
"I didn't go through all of the trouble and suspense to get you here for you to act like a bitch, doll. I'd suggest you fix your attitude before I feed you to Cerberus."
"Feed me to who, father?"
A three headed demon looking thing appears, and Hades pets it.
"What is that thing?!"
"Watch your mouth. This is Cerberus, my pet dog."
"Oh no, no. I think you're mistaken. That's not a dog, that's a Tasmanian devil with two extra heads. It's hideous."
The thing growls at me and I jump back.
"Keep it away from me!"
Persephone comes back, and smiles down at the monster.
"Awww, who's a good boy?"
She pets all three of its heads, before coming back over to me.
"Here you go, Aiden. I made you this tea...it should help the effects of the Lethe water. And before you know it you'll remember everything! Hopefully. How do you like him?"
She smiles at Hades then me.
"Isn't he just like a cute little dog?"
"More like a werewolf."
She frowns.
"Come on...he isn't that bad." Hades makes a face at me and when Persephone turns around he changes it to a smile.
"I love my daughter. So much."
Persephone sighs.
"You'll warm up to each other."
She takes my hand, pulling me towards him.
"He's your father! Give him a hug!"
I look at her wide eyed.
"You can't be serious."
"Persephone, you're taking this a bit far."
"Oh be quiet. This is the first step to father-daughter bonding, okay?"
"I do not want to bond, I want to take over the earth. Big difference. I want to kill people, not hug them. Not everything is sunshine and rainbows."
Persephone discreetly smacks him before turning back to me.
"Well?"
I look at Hades awkwardly.
"Please don't kill me."
I unpleasantly give him a pat on the shoulder, turning back to Persephone.
"Does that work?"
"I guess so. You've got to start somewhere! Are you liking the underworld? I heard a friend of ours Alec brought you down here...did he treat you well?"
"Persephone, you're like a therapist. Why the hell are you down here where people rot and die?"
"Well of course I'm going to come down here to visit my little sugarplum!"
She squishes Hades's cheek who looks like he wants to murder us both.
"Persephone, why don't you take Cerberus on a walk? Go talk to one of your friends or something...I need to talk to my...lovely...daughter."
He looked like he was going to barf when he said lovely.
"Okay! Have fun you two! Maybe you can find a common interest you both have? Wouldn't that be nice!"
She takes the three headed thing with her, and exits the space.
I feel another headache coming on fast.
"I feel like I'm going to die. Is that a part of the underworld charm?"
"Well everyone down here is dead you idiot."
"Thanks for that. Wait—you're dead?"
"What do you think? I'm a god. I've been down here for centuries. Me and the rest of the gods are over millenniums old."
"Well Jesus. You look like a twenty year old emo guy."
"I'm not emo, child."
"And I'm not a child! I'm 18! Adult!"
"Will you shut up for once?!"
I shut my mouth and he sighs.
"Finally. You were getting on my nerves. Now that you're quiet, have a seat."
I sit on the floor.
"Aiden, there was a chair behind you."
I look behind me, and then lean against the chair.
"I happen to be comfortable down here."
"Okay then."
Hades smirks at me.
"I'd like to see how much you really are like me, doll. What can you do?"
I scratch my head.
"Eat? Sleep for fourteen hours?"
"Lazy bitch. What can you do power wise?"
"I don't think I have powers, bitch."
He glares at me before grinning again.
"Do you do anything special?"
He appears behind me, bonking my head with some sort of bident.
"Teleporting?"
I look up, and frown. He's gone.
"What the heck?"
He reappears.
"Or turn invisible?"
"Uhh...bibbidi-bobbidi-boo?"
Hades gives me a look.
"You must be able to do something...I couldn't have had a child that is completely and utterly useless."
"Hey!"
A knock is heard at the door.
"Hello?"
"Xenodice. Come in."
A girl slides through the door, and gives me a look.
"This is the girl? That's your daughter?"
"Yes. I don't know what she does yet..."
He looks down at me.
"At the moment she's just a useless mortal."
"Rude! I'm not useless!"
He gives me a look.
"Well, daughter, go with her."
"What?" We both say at the same time.
"What about it? I'm done with you now. Xenodice, bring her back when she isn't useless...better yet...take her somewhere special...stick the girl in the Minotaur's labyrinth. If she can survive that then we know she's special enough. Go on now."
Xenodice gives me a look before grabbing my arm, pulling me from the room.
When I turn my head over my shoulder my eyebrows furrow.
Hades is already gone.
********
(ALTHEA'S POV)
We finally arrive in the underworld after around six hours, and I already get a sick feeling in my stomach.
Something isn't right.
"Thanks again, Charon."
"No problem, Althea. Now you kids stay safe."
"We will!"
We all file off the ship, and they all turn to look at me.
"What do we do now?" Hediya asks, and I frown.
"Probably find Hades. Or Alec. If they were the last ones who saw her then they should know where she is."
Abriel rolls his eyes.
"What makes you think Hades will admit to where she's gone?! He's the one who wanted her here in the first place...he wouldn't rat out her location just like that."
I sigh.
"That's why we gotta convince him."
******
(AIDEN'S POV)
I turn my head to Xenodice.
"Who exactly are you?"
"Did you not hear him say my name? I'm Xenodice."
"Thanks for the sass, Xenie."
"Please don't call me that."
"So why are you here?"
She turns her head to me.
"I thought it was pretty obvious. I'm dead. Heracles killed me."
"Heracles?! I thought it was Hercules."
"That's the Roman name, sweetie."
She opens a door for me and her eyes sparks.
"Go on in. Nothing's gonna hurt ya, sweetie."
"Right..."
I step inside the room, and Xenodice closes the door behind us.
"So you see...your father is telling me to put you through the trials."
"The trials?! What the hell is this?! Military camp!?"
"Not exactly...more like a search in the Minotaur's labyrinth. All you have to do is complete it. You might come across a bunch of dead bodies...because no one's actually passed it. They all got eaten. But lucky you...you get a partner."
"A what now?! I'm so confused."
Someone appears, and I sigh heavily.
"Great. My partner's the cat."
"Cat my ass, bitch."
"I see you already know Alec then, Aiden."
"I do. Unfortunately."
"Great. He'll be going with you, even though you're meant to go alone. Your father doesn't want his only daughter dying so soon."
"Nice to know."
"Good. You can complete all three tasks? Hades will give you one of his powers, giving you ultimate power yourself. Immortality. Something your little god friends don't even have. Now are you ready?"
Alec rolls his eyes.
"I've done it twice already, Xenodice. I'm more than ready."
"And you, Aiden?"
"I guess so..."
"Good. You're going to Pandora, Medusa, and Arachne. You may come across Echo as well. And be careful you two...as the Minotaur is lurking. Good luck!"
"Huh?"
The floor falls underneath us and I start screaming, plummeting fifty or so feet before landing with a loud thud in a pile of vines.
"Ow! What the fuck!?"
I look up, and see Alec gracefully flying down as a little blue jay, before morphing back into a human and landing on his feet.
"Princess, you took quite the fall."
"I can tell, Alec, I can tell. Mind helping a girl out?"
I hold out my hand, and he lifts me up, crossing his arms.
Alec looks around at all the vines around us.
"We're really stuck in a labyrinth, aren't we?"
"I guess so." I wipe off the dirt on my pants, starting off in a different direction.
"Come this way! I think I saw a light."
******
(ALTHEA'S POV)
I turn my head around, seeing a Polaroid and a phone on the floor.
I believe that's what they call it...
I walk over, bending down.
My eyes catch on the small smear of red on the ground next to it.
Blood.
"Uhh...guys? You might want to see this..."
Everyone crowds behind me, and I carefully lift up the phone.
It doesn't turn on but by the case?
It belongs to Aiden.
I pick up the Polaroid, seeing a candid picture of Aiden and a girl with neon green hair, laughing.
This is hers.
The phone is hers.
Does that mean the blood is hers?
*******
(AIDEN'S POV)
As we walk further into the dark vines I start to hear small sobs.
And a whispering voice.
"What year is it?"
I snap my head around to Alec.
"Who the hell is saying that?!"
"The ghost of Echo. A nymph deprived of speech by Hera in order to stop her chatter, and left only able to repeat what others said. She was wandering around the mountains, until she saw a handsome young man, Narcissus. The Nymph fell in love, but could not speak to him because of Hera's curse. So, she was following him from the shadows, silently and in love, waiting patiently for the proper moment. At some point, Narcissus felt her presence and asked "Is anybody here?", to which Echo replied "here". A confusing and repetitive conversation followed until Narcissus called her to come out and make love with him. But, as soon as Echo stepped out, Narcissus told her that he'd rather die than give himself to a wood nymph. Echo, heartbroken, took refuge in a cave and lost her appetite for food or water. After a while, Echo started growing skinny from starvation until her body disappeared, living only dust and her voice.
I frown.
"That's so sad."
Alec shrugs.
"Nemesis, the goddess of revenge against those who show hubris, decided to punish Narcissus for the treatment of poor Echo. The goddess made Narcissus fall in love with his own reflection that he saw in a pond near Echo's cave. Narcissus could not leave his own reflection out of love and starved to death, like Echo. Before he died, Narcissus cried out to his reflection. Echo's voice repeated his last words from the cave as Narcissus drew his last breath. To this day, Echo still repeats the last words or phrases of different people in caves or labyrinths."
"Jeez. That sucks. But she was just saying what year is it? Isn't that creepy."
"I guess."
We continue walking, me listening out for anything else strange.
"Shh...they're hearing us."
After a while we approach some sort of thing covered in vines, and I begin to pull them off.
"Are you gonna help me or what?! Or are you just gonna stand there and stare at my ass!?"
"The second one, sweetheart."
"Pervert."
I throw the last of the vines off, wiping my forehead.
"Phew."
"Are you really out of breath already? You barely did anything. Maybe if you ran like your mouth you'd be in good shape."
"Oh shut up. Not everyone has a seventeen pack, Alec."
"Hmm...right."
I heave open the weird trap door looking thing, stumbling backwards when a wave of dust hits my face.
"Ugh. Gross. You go first. I don't want to."
"And you think I do?"
I glare at him and he holds his hands up in surrender.
"Okay! Fine! I'm going."
Alec looks down and grimaces.
"I'm too thick to fit down there. Turning into a mouse it is.
He morphs into a mouse, launching himself forward.
I hear a small little thud.
"Uhh...you good?"
"Yep!"
I slide inside, climbing down the small ladder.
As soon as I reach the bottom the trapdoor shuts.
"Well I guess we're stuck now."
Alec turns back into a human, ducking to fit through to the other side.
I simply walk through.
"What's this? Are we inside of Alice in wonderland?!"
"No, Aiden...we're inside Pandora's Box."
*******
(ALTHEA'S POV)
I grab her phone and the photo, frowning.
"Heaven? Do you still remember where Hades lives?!"
"Yeah! Follow me!"
We all follow her through the creepy streets of the underworld, soon venturing so deep we come across a cave being guarded by a three headed dog.
Cerberus.
I move forward, smiling at the thing.
"Hey...Cerberus...remember me?"
I jump back with a small yelp when the thing tries to bite my hand off.
"Bad boy...it's only Althea! I just want to speak to your owner, okay? So if you'd just—"
"Althea. Hello, niece."
I look up, jumping back even further.
"Hades! Hey."
"Don't hey me, child. What do you want?"
I look up at him, blinking a few times.
"It's about Aiden."
"Aiden you say?"
He grins.
"Very well. Come inside. All of you."
******
We're all now sitting in front of Hades's throne, watching him intently.
"It's so entertaining seeing all of your eager eyes. You're all so little."
Zen narrows his eyes at Hades.
"Not even!"
"Yeah, right. What is it you'd like to know?"
Adalee's eyes widen.
"You're really gonna tell us?"
"You've got to ask the question first, dear. What are you expected me to tell you?"
He plays with a navy blue orb of magic that I watch go back and forth between his hands, before clearing my throat.
"Where is she?! Aiden?? And what did you do to her?"
"It's not what I did, sweetie. It's what they did."
"Who's they?!"
"The Furies. They poisoned the girl with Lethe water. She doesn't rennet much besides the fact that dear Persephone decided to give her some tea to fix it. Ruined the fun. Oh. And she's in the Minotaur's labyrinth."
"The what now?!"
My jaw drops.
"She'll die in there!"
"She has Alec, if that darn shapeshifter can't protect her I don't know who will. If she can complete all three tasks with Pandora, Medusa, and Arachne, I'll give her half of my powers, which includes immortality. She'll be even more powerful than her old man...too bad I'll use her for a weapon."
We all stare at him in shock before Lex shakes her head rapidly.
"Bring us there."
"What?!" We all say at the same time.
"We have to get her, Hades. Bring us!"
"Of course, Lex. Anything for my favorite niece."
He snaps his fingers, and all of a sudden we appear in the middle of nowhere.
Surrounded by vines.
And a Minotaur.
*******
(AIDEN'S POV)
I stare at Alec incredulously.
"How the hell are we in Pandora's box?! How does that work?!"
"You see all of the seven doors here?"
"Yes...?"
"Those lead to each of the seven deadly sins. Wrath, gluttony, greed, envy, sloth, and lust. We have to complete each of the tasks in here in order to free Pandora who will lead us onto the next thing. You ready?"
"Okay...?"
He smirks.
"Great. Where do you want to go first, malady?"
I grin back at him.
"Gluttony. Let's see how bad I do."
"Mmkay. I was gonna say lust but whoopdy-doo. Of course you chose gluttony."
"Yeah. Man whore."
"Bitch."
Alec approaches the door with a fancy G on it, scrunching his nose before immediately shutting it.
"It smells like shit in there."
"Too bad. Get moving."
I open the door back up, gagging before pulling Alec in with me.
The door shuts behind me.
The hologram of a girl appears, and she looks at us eagerly.
"On this table of food, only one item is not poisonous. The others are. You must control your gluttony, because if you choose the wrong dish you will die."
She disappears, and when Alec looks over to his left he sees that I'm not there.
"Aiden—?"
He snaps his head around, letting out a stream of curses.
He grabs my arm, dragging me away from a big ass plate of chicken nuggets and French fries.
"Calm down. I don't want to die and you're not going to be the reason I do, okay? Stay away from the chicken nuggets."
He looks at all of the food on the table, staring at a fruitcake.
"Get the fruitcake."
"What?"
"The fruitcake. Trust me."
I pick it up, and hand it to him.
Alec stares at it extra long, smelling it.
He gags and puts it back.
"That isn't the one. It's easy. You just do a smell test. If it smells like shit then it's obviously not it."
He picks up a meatloaf, making a stank face when he looks at it.
"This looks like shit. Literally a log of shit."
I start laughing and his eyes shoot to my face.
"I'm serious. It looks like a big ass log of shit."
He smells it, before smelling it again.
"I'm eating it.
"What?! No!"
Alec eats it, and retches.
"Ugh...ewww."
A small ringing noise is heard.
"Did we do it?!"
The door opens again and we walk out, watching as it shuts and a red cross goes over it.
"Okay. We did what you wanted. Now it's time to do what I wanted. We're going to lust, baby."
*******
(ALTHEA'S POV)
I look at the Minotaur with a horrified look.
"Harley. Harley set it on fire."
I back away slowly, and the Minotaur glares down at us.
"What brings you to my labyrinth?!"
"We're just trying to find our friend!"
"A human friend?"
"Well, yes, but—"
"Food."
And with that, the Minotaur disappeared.
Fuck.
*******
(AIDEN'S POV)
I give Alec a look from the corner of my eye.
"You're not gonna try and advance on me, are you?"
"Advance on you?! What do you think I am?! An animal? And besides...who uses advancing as a sexual word anymore?! That's so fucking weird."
"Not even!"
"You sound like an old hag. If anything I'd barf on you from that shit log of a meatloaf."
"Oh no that's even worse."
We approach the front of the door, and I squint at the letters scrabbled across it.
One rule.
No kissing.
"That's so easy!"
I rest my hand on the doorknob, and Alec grabs my hand.
"Trust me, babe, it isn't. I've done it before and failed within the first five minutes. You have to do something even worse if you lose."
"Worse?"
"Way worse."
"Okay. No kissing. You better not advance on me, kitty-cat."
I open the door, walking inside.
Alec walks inside as well and then the door slams shut.
We stand there for around three minutes and then stuff starts to kick in.
Lust starts to kick in.
Oh no.
I spin around, looking Alec in the eye.
A smirk stretches across my lips.
"Hey, you hot stud."
I inch closer to him, biting my lip.
"You wouldn't happen to want to...kiss me, would you?"
"Well, sugar lips, I don't think that would be much of a problem."
"Come here you sexy piece of human."
I grab the side of his face, pulling him closer when I get a sense, wrenching myself loose from him.
"Alec! We can't kiss! We can't!"
"It's not my fault you were advancing on me, sweetheart."
I roll my eyes.
"We can't let that happen again!"
I stand in the far corner of the room, my kind running with extremely explicit images of Alec.
I want to kiss him so bad...
A little peck wouldn't hurt, right? Right.
I slide closer to him again, stroking his chest.
"I've been having some explicit thoughts about you lately..."
"Oh really?"
"Really. You wanna help me make them true?"
"Sure thing, babycakes."
I grab the side of his face, pulling him in for a hot kiss.
I suck desperately on his lips, dragging him closer to me by the collar of his shirt.
"You're so hot, why didn't you ever tell me you were a good kisser?"
Alec smirks against my mouth.
"I'm a man of many talents, sugar. Kissing is only one."
He flips us around so that I'm against the wall, and we continue making out.
But then I hear a loud thud, and a growl of some sort of animal.
I quickly pull away, staring wide eyed into Alec's eyes.
We both freeze.
My eyes move behind him and I clutch onto his shirt in fear.
"Oh shitsticks."
Standing in front of us, with a bloodthirsty look on its face, is the Minotaur.
******