Misfits

Chapter 5: Hades’ Domain

Word of Lady Jane’s banishment spread rapidly throughout the compound, from the audience chamber to the kitchens — even down to the battlefield. Zev was fighting alongside some Asgardians they knew when they heard the news. 

“What? What is Hades?” they shouted to the fighter closest to them. 

“Greek underworld. Nasty place, from what I’ve heard,” the fellow replied. 

Zev’s stomach seemed to leap into their throat, mind racing. I need to tell Rune. The scholar would be the last to hear the news, closeted with his books and experiments as he usually was. 

As soon as there was a lull in the fighting nearby, they took off running in the direction of the library. It was permissible for anyone to leave the battlefield from time to time, so long as you didn’t make a habit of it.

They raced into the library and found their way to the room in the back where Rune normally worked. He was there, talking to the red-headed man from last night. Zev looked from one to the other. 

“Loki? That’s you, isn’t it?”

The man hesitated, then nodded. “I take it you heard about my father’s latest demonstration of sound judgment?”

“Yeah. This is insane! Jane didn’t deserve that.”

“I agree,” Loki said.

“Loki asked me to assist him so he can go help her,” Rune explained. “The gateway can get him there, but Odin and Heimdall are the only ones who know, well, knew how to use it.”

“Wow,” Zev said to their friend. “Who knew you had a rebel streak in you?”

Rune gave them a weak, nervous smile.

“Rune’s discoveries may be helpful here,” Loki added. “I can shield myself from Heimdall’s vision and create a distraction, but I need him to calibrate the gateway or I’m likely to find myself lost in the etheric realm or the heart of a star.”

“I’m coming with you.” Zev told him. 

Loki shook his head. “A Lycan in Hades would attract too much attention.”

“You can make me appear human,” Zev pointed out. Loki looked like he was about to argue, but they cut him off. “You may need backup once you get there and…Jane is my friend.”

Zev wanted to question Loki’s motives, but thought better of it. He did have a habit of betraying people and would no doubt love to get his hands on Ovaltine, or whatever the magical doohickey was called. On the other hand, well, his unpredictability went both ways. Zev just wanted to be certain there would be someone there who had only Jane’s welfare in mind.

Loki cocked his head and stared at them for a moment. Zev had the uncomfortable feeling that he knew what they were thinking.

“Very well,” he said, finally. Turning to Rune, he asked, “I assume you’ll need to adjust your calculations to accommodate two people?”

“Three,” Rune answered shakily. “I’d better go as well. Who knows what you’ll have to do once you get there? The shift in affinities most likely applies to all afterlife dimensions, not just Valhalla.”

“Right,” Loki said with a sigh. “Three it is. How long until you’re ready?”

“Perhaps fifteen minutes?”

“Make it ten, and meet us by the entrance to the bridge. I have to get Heimdall out of the way.” 

With that, he turned and strode briskly out of the room, Zev at his heels.

As they approached the bridge, Loki cast an illusion to hide the two of them from prying eyes, then studied one of the bridge pylons closest to them. Nodding to himself, he raised his hand and sent a small current of magic toward the bottom of the pylon. Zev watched, but nothing seemed to be happening.

“What are you doing?”

“I can’t just blast the thing down. That would attract too much attention and bring the entire army running. It has to look like a structural fault is destabilizing the bridge.”

“Got it.” Zev watched as small cracks began to appear in the pylon and the metal slowly began to buckle. By the time Rune joined them a few minutes later, the surface of the bridge began to lurch as well. 

A figure on the far side of the bridge came running toward them. Heimdall ran past without noticing them, trying to determine the source of the problem.

“Now!” Loki hissed and ran onto the bridge, Zev and Rune following closely behind. The three sprinted the length of the bridge, stopping before Valhalla’s gateway. 

Rune touched a rune engraved on the side of the portal. It glowed with a warm yellow light, then he did the same with another, and another. 

After nearly a minute of this, he turned to Loki. “The coordinates are set, but, well, let’s just say I’m better with the theory than with the practical. You’ll have to activate it.”

Loki brushed him lightly aside and sent a blast of green energy toward the center of the gateway. The solid surface of the gateway was replaced by a swirling vortex.

On the far end of the bridge, Heimdall stopped his investigation and started running back toward them. 

“Let’s go,” Loki said, and the three of them stepped into the vortex.

Jane shook her head to clear it when the blast of energy around her faded. She found herself standing in a green meadow dotted with wildflowers and scattered cyprus trees. The air smelled fresh and the temperature was comfortable, for which she was grateful given that her armor had apparently been replaced with a light robe of yellow linen. Her boots were now simple sandals made of light brown leather.

In the distance, she spotted some gentle, rolling hills, partly covered in cultivated fields. A large, single-story wooden house stood on top one of the hills, with smaller dwellings clustered around it. She could hear music that sounded like a cross between a recorder and a bagpipe — a sweet, slow melody that fit in well with the view.

This is Hades? Either Odin sent me to the wrong place, or they have a serious marketing problem. 

She began making her way to the little village, trying to think of something to say without arousing suspicion. 

I hope English works here like it does in Valhalla. Rune had told her that Asgard had an enchantment that allowed people to speak in their own language and be understood by anyone, and that carried over to the afterlife version. 

Upon entering the village, she discovered the source of the music. In a central courtyard, a woman played an instrument that looked like two reed flutes held together with string. Several people lounged nearby on the ground or on cushions, listening to the performance and eating grapes, olives, and some sort of flatbread. She didn’t see anyone actually working in the settlement or in the fields. The contrast between the pastoral, relaxed atmosphere of this place, compared to the rigid schedule and martial intensity of Valhalla, was striking and disorienting.

The listeners watched her approach with expressions of curiosity, but without any apparent concern or alarm.

“Um, hi,” Jane began. “I just arrived here, but I’m not sure where I am, exactly.”

An older woman with long, gray hair smiled indulgently. “A newcomer! We don’t see many of you these days. Welcome to Elysium!”

Elysium? As in the Elysian Fields? Jane vaguely remembered it as the name of something like a Greek version of Heaven. It certainly  seemed to fit. I didn’t know that was part of Hades. Or is it?

She had been expecting dark caves filled with gray, hopeless wretches suffering for all eternity — or a blasted, barren, lifeless landscape. This place seemed idyllic, like the Shire or something out of a 19th century landscape painting.

The woman who had spoken stood up and offered Jane an intricately decorated ceramic plate of food. “I’m Cora,” she said. 

“Jane,” Jane replied, suppressing the urge to offer a handshake. She had no idea what ancient Greek greeting customs were like. She took the plate gratefully. No knowing when she might have a chance to eat again.

Seems unfair that we still have to worry about things like that.

“Jane? That’s an unusual name.”

Oops. “My parents were a bit eccentric.” Jane decided to waste no time. Who knew what would happen if someone realized that she was actually trespassing here? She needed to find out where Laevateinn was, and this didn’t seem a likely place for it.

“So, have you ever met Hades?”

“Lord Hades? He visits this sector once in a while. There’s always a festival in his honor when he does. I’ve only seen him from a distance — which is plenty good enough for me.”

“I see. Where does he spend his time then?”

“He resides in Tartarus. We don’t require much of his attention. We’re quite happy here, really.”

“I’m not surprised,” Jane said. “This is…lovely. So, I know this probably sounds like a strange question, but if I wanted to go to Tartarus, how would I get there?”

“Tartarus? Why in Zeus’s name would you want to go there?”

“It’s…a long story.”

Cora gave her a long, searching look. “If you want to go to Tartarus, you’ll need to head south.” She pointed in the direction she meant. “It’s a long walk. Lord Hades’ lands are extensive. Are you certain you truly want to do this?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“Alright, perhaps half a day’s walk from here. This road should take you there.” The “road” was more of a dirt path.

“Thank you. I appreciate your hospitality — and really, I wish I could just stay here…”

“You’re on quest, aren’t you?” Cora intoned the word “quest” as if it was a sacred matter.

“Well, yes, I suppose I am.”

“Very well. I wish you good fortune.”

Jane was touched and thankful for Cora’s helpfulness. She finished the food she’d been given, handed the plate back to Cora with her thanks, bid the woman farewell, and set off without delay, 

Loki, Zev, and Rune stepped out of the portal and into a scene that struck Zev like something out of one of the horror movies they’d watched on Earth. The three companions found themselves in a large cavern with sputtering torches and scorched-black moss on the stone walls. Fires burned in various places around the space, and the smell of sulfur was thick in the air. 

Loki looked like himself again, but he now wore an emerald-green tunic embroidered with gold, with a black cloak over the top. Rune was dressed similarly, but in a white tunic with yellow embroidery and a gray cloak. Looking down, Zev examined their own appearance to find disconcertingly hairless limbs emerging from a plain white tunic.   

An anguished cry captured their attention. Not far from where they stood, a man was chained to a rock, screaming in agony as some sort of molten metal splattered from a cauldron, searing him drop by drop.

Rune shuddered. “This is horrible! Who would do this?”

“Hades,” Loki answered, grimly. “Though, from what I’ve heard, this is nothing compared to the Christian Hell. At least some of these prisoners are released after a year or so.”

“How do we find Jane?” Zev asked.

“Needle in a haystack,” Loki answered. “We have to find Laevateinn and hope she finds her way to the same place.”

Zev said nothing. Their suspicion regarding Loki’s motives was aroused, but they didn’t have a better suggestion.

Loki swiveled his head from side to side. “That way, I think.” He pointed to their left.

“What are we looking for?” Rune asked.

“Hades’ headquarters. Chances are, he’ll keep any precious possessions close to hand.”

They wandered from cavern to cavern, witnessing various forms of torture that Zev wished they could un-see. Loki seemed to have some idea what he was doing, so the other two simply followed him. 

Jane was beginning to wish she’d asked Cora for some water for the journey. She had no way to track the time, but she guessed that she’d been walking for more than 4 hours. The lovely rolling hills and pastoral settlements had given way to low, craggy outcrops with sparse vegetation and no end in sight.

She followed the path around a jumble of rocks — and stopped cold. 

The path ended at the shore of a lake that stretched as far as she could see to either side. The water was still and dark.

“Well, shoot. Now what?” she asked the empty stillness.   

She squatted and scooped up some of the water with cupped hands. She was tempted to drink it — she was that thirsty. She didn’t know much about Greek mythology, but she knew enough to know that drinking from rivers or lakes in Hades was probably a terrible idea. She sniffed it. It smelled like water, nothing more.

From this position, she could see that the path actually continued into the water. Not knowing what else to do, she stood up, let the water pour from her hands, and took a tentative step into the lake.

This is probably bad for these sandals, but no way am I going barefoot in that.

Nothing happened. She took another step, then another, until she was standing in water up to her knees.  She could see the path sloping down under the water ahead of her. There was no way she could walk it. Maybe she was just supposed to swim?

On a hunch, she kept wading out into the lake until only her head was still out of the water. Well, here goes nothing. She took a deep breath and stepped forward so that she was fully submerged. 

As soon as she did so, she felt herself being pulled downward. What had felt like a solid lake floor disappeared and she was falling fast. The water around her swirled and vanished little by little, until she was falling in total darkness and nothingness. Her flailing arms could find nothing to grab on to. 

She braced for a very hard landing, but it didn’t come. Her lungs complained — she was still holding her breath. She let it out and inhaled tentatively. Air. It smelled very faintly of sulfur.

The astrophysicist in her tried to pay attention the rush of air around her. If I fall long enough, I won’t have to worry about hitting the ground. I’ll burn up before that happens!

The seconds slipped by, but it didn’t feel like she was accelerating. The friction was no worse than when she started falling. The sulfur smell was stronger now. Okay, maybe this is like some sort of elevator? 

Finally she felt herself slowing. She touched down lightly on solid rock to find herself standing at one end of a long tunnel dimly lit by torches along the walls. Looking up the way she’d come, she saw only solid rock above her. 

No way out but through.

She made her way cautiously through the tunnel. Just as she emerged into a larger, cavernous space, she felt a cold mist swirling around her. It coalesced a few feet in front of her and assumed the form of a man, slim and handsome, his short, curly, silver hair offering a striking contrast to his olive-brown skin. 

“May I help you?” he asked, in a low, pleasant voice.

“I’m sorry,” Jane replied, doing her best to look innocent-but-confused. “I… I seem to be lost. I was looking for —“ She hesitated, trying to think of a convincing story.

The man gave her a tight-lipped smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I think I know what you were looking for.” He looked her up and down. “I know every face of every soul in my dominion. You, my dear, do not belong here.”

My dominion.Oh no, please don’t tell me this is Hades himself!

Jane decided a half-truth would be more convincing than a plain lie. “I was in Elysium,” she said. “I was wading in a lake and then I fell. Can you tell me how to get back there?”

Hades’ cold smile remained. “Nice try,” he said. “Cerberus — here boy! Guards!” 

Another mist gathered and settled into the shape of a dog. It was roughly the size and shape of a greyhound, but sported three heads, each growling and displaying razor-sharp fangs.

Huh. I thought he’d be bigger, Jane found herself thinking as a dozen armored men ran toward them from the other end of the cavern. Her instinct was to run, but she doubted she would get far with that dog after her. 

“Seize her,” Hades said to the guards. “Take her to the fortress. I’ll question her later.”

Jane said nothing as two of the guards grabbed her by the arms and marched her away. She looked back over her shoulder. Hades appeared to be talking quietly to Cerberus.