Chapter 14 - Hermes The Warrior

Chapter 14 – Hermes the Warrior

It was fifteen days later that Hekate pushed out Nyx and inherited Phoibos’ (Other name of God of Light, Apollo) territory.

Persephone was in a hurry as she pushed through the fog so thick she couldn’t see her feet below. Neither the freezing cold nor the unpleasantness of the swamp, which twisted her mind, were of any importance. Towards a random direction—with no confidence of knowing the directions of this bizarre forest—she ran in a straight line, knowing that Kharon’s dock would appear.

It wasn’t long before the open river appeared. Persephone’s face was burning red from the exertion. The mood surrounding the dock wasn’t like before. If you asked what was so different, she would say that it was so silent it gave her goosebumps. It was strange seeing the place that had been so noisy day after day, so quiet like this.

The dock, which was almost always cluttered with more than a dozen dead people, was empty. All that was seen was a boat made of leather floating above the black water and Kharon; the wicked, heartless boatman.

‘What’s going on?’ she wondered.

*

Kharon had been lollygagging for the past week. It was an unusual break for him, who had been so busy traveling back and forth between the two sides of the vast Acheron River dozens of times a day. This is because the dead were cut off suddenly, and the earth and the underworld were in turmoil. Kharon was merely a stand-in boatman on behalf of Acheron, not a man of goodness who wished for peace in the underworld. He was just casually lying on the sea.

“Kharon.” She shook the boatman awake. “Kharon. Wake up.”

“Where the hell did this ragdoll crawl out of? You came back?” Kharon muttered nervously. Actually, he couldn’t help but see the girl again out the corner of his eye and feel a spark inside of him.

He noticed early on, that the only day Persephone appeared was the night of the playful goddess, and only today did he come up with the idea that Hekate might’ve turned into that girl. Otherwise, she was just trying to get on his nerves.

She seemed to be unbothered even by his warning and stuck her hand out.

“What’s this?” Kharon frowned deeply. In the girl’s hand was soft gravel. Gravel weaved by the saltwater. Why this? She looked up at him, chatting triumphantly.

“It’s worth more than a coin. You can have it. In return, take me for a ride.” Persephone negotiated.

“I told you to scram. If you want to sink under the riverbed, go on your own terms.”

“You cram the dead in your boat by the dozen, but why can’t I ride? And how can the river be endless if there is a riverbed?”

“Do you even know how much a shadow weighs?”

“Since when do shadows weigh anything?”

“Shut up.”

Kharon turned around in a flash and, with his back turned to the girl, lay down.

*

To Persephone, there was no giving up.

She docked her head low to avoid Kharon’s notice and slid her toes up on the leather boat. As soon as her foot touched down, the boat sloshed side to side. She herself was so surprised that she jumped back from the disaster. Right away, an angry Kharon’s oar fell into the water.

“You stupid little girl! How many times have I told you that if you come here with a shadow you can’t cross without paying?!”

Persephone was in tears, “You’re so cruel.”

“You ragdoll! Are you serious?”

Kharon stood on edge, flashing purple bloodshot eyes and fixing his oar, to see if Persephone would kick something again.

“Can’t I just sit here with my eyes closed, not making a sound while you operate the boat? Or can you convince Acheron to let me through? Can you let Hades know that I’m here?”

“Why should I? Do you have any coins? Dammit— look behind you, you’re a girl who can’t even take off her own shadow. And you’re trying to force me? You are not dead. This is not the land of the living!”

“I really can’t ride?”

At last, Persephone’s eyes shed tears, that fell steadily. Kharon laughed at her with a ghastly look of indifference.

“If you don’t help me, I’ll still go, even if I have to swim through the whole river. And if something goes wrong along the way, I wish you feel guilty for not helping me Kharon.”

“You’ll be torn to shreds by deep-sea creatures.”

“They live down there?” She nervously looked towards the dark murky water.

She wrapped her arms around herself and pretended to wipe away tears, trying to gain some sympathy from Kharon. But he paid her no attention. Persephone noticed this and pursed her lips into a terse smile, while looking at his form with narrowed eyes.

“You’re obstinately lazy! Lying down like that, with nothing to do at all. Aren’t you afraid of Hades?”

“Have you taken a look around, girl?”

“I’ve been noticing it for a while now.”

“Is it just me? Or do you also think there’s some turmoil on Earth?”

Persephone tilted her head in confusion.

“I see. You don’t know what the King of Corinth did? For a whole week, I haven’t been able to transport the shadows of the dead, so it’s quite a big deal. You don’t know about that?”

“Where is Corinth?” Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“The land where humans live. You don’t know about Sisyphus either?”

*T/N: Corinth is a city; Sisyphus is its wise king.

“Who is Sisyphus?”

Kharon glared at Persephone with a fed-up look. She thought he would tell her off again but she was surprised when he answered, although he did so in a riddle.

“An impudent human with more wits than yours but fewer than mine.”

“What?”

Kharon slowly tilted his head up towards the sky and blew a raspberry with his tongue, rolling his eyes in annoyance at the little girl.

Kharon turned towards her and spoke again. “Is it resolved yet?”

“Wha—”

Before she could complete her word, she heard another voice speak right beside her. She yelped and jumped aside, almost falling off the dock, but was caught by the man’s cane around her waist. The man who had manifested out of thin air beside her.