“We’re almost there, I think.” Hunter said as he looked at the quickly advancing West coast. He was a little nervous to go back to the underworld and what made it worse was that he didn’t know what was waiting there. He didn’t know why he had to go there. He just knew he had to go there. He was comforted by Denny and Philippa talking behind him either. “Hello?! Almost there!” He shouted back, pointing at the water.
“We can see that!” Philippa said indignantly. Hunter sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. Of all the quests he’s been on, so far this was his least favorite. He leisurely swung back on forth on the back of Ulysses trying to calm down a little. He imagined himself turning around and launching an arrow into Denny’s face, feeling relief that he wouldn’t be bothering him anymore. With the bow of Hercules, Denny’s head would probably explode. The poison from the arrows would dissolve his body quickly and then possibly feeding into the pegasi and—“Where are we supposed to be?” Philippa asked, flying up next to him. Hunter shook himself and looked over.
“It’s a tall building. DOA Recording Studios.” He said, descending and then scanning the ground below. He saw the street and pointed. “There.”
“Wait. We’re going to DOA Recording Studios?” Denny said suddenly, looking a little worried. A lot worried actually. “I—We can’t go there.” He said, looking Hunter in the eye. He looked back and didn’t see the small tinge of mischief that he had seen before. He saw actual worry.
“The underworld is scary, but it’s nothing to worry about.” Hunter said carefully. “I’ve been in and out. No sweat.” I needed a god’s help, but no sweat. He thought to himself. “We’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it.”
“No. You don’t understand. I can’t go in there.” Denny insisted. Hunter was about to encourage him, but something in Denny’s voice convinced Hunter that he might be right. That he couldn’t enter the Underworld.
“Why?” Hunter asked cautiously.
“What? What? What do you mean? Why?” Denny asked frantically. Hunter glanced at Philippa.
“Why can’t you enter the Underworld?” Hunter asked, reaching for the Nemean Lion claw holstered at his waist. He was suspicious from the start and this was just reinforcing his suspicions. Denny glanced at Hunter’s hand and then straightened out. Still looking nervous, but not as frantic.
“Never mind. I got confused for a second.” Denny said, flashing a smile to Hunter and Philippa. “Let’s just go. Sounds like fun.” Hunter kept his hand on his knife as they landed on the street much to the chagrin of a nearby sleeping homeless man who proceeded to stand up in a huff, panic for a moment, and then run off. Hunter glanced around and then left Ulysses in an alley nearby.
“Alright. Let’s go in and let me do the talking.” Hunter said with a nod, glaring at Denny who looked like he was about to explode. Hunter walked to the door and grabbed the handle, taking a deep breath. He finally swung it open and stepped inside. Hunter took a quick look around before resting his eyes on Charon who looked up, his glance turning into a vicious glare.
“You!” Charon shouted from his podium, pointing accusingly at Hunter. “I was promised a promotion. I let you through. No promotion. Come here.” Hunter cursed under his breath and hurried to the podium.
“Listen. Just—“ Hunter stopped talking when Charon stopped glaring at Hunter, but let his eyes rest behind him. Hunter turned around and looked at the very nervous looking Denny. Hunter furrowed his brow and looked back at Charon. “What?”
“N-Nothing.” Charon said quietly before clearing his throat. “Umm…oh! My promotion! You lying snake!” He said angrily, turning back at Hunter.
“Listen. It’s on the way.” Hunter said with a convincing nod. “Hades. He uh…last time we were here,” Hunter thought quickly trying to come up with a good lie. “Well, he told us to come back. We went and we talked to him and he was thinking about it, but he said to come back if we really thought you deserved a promotion.” Charon looked at him for a moment and narrowed his eyes.
“Really? I have a hard time believing you.” Charon said quietly. Hunter nodded vehemently.
“Yeah. Absolutely. So here we are. To move you up the corporate ladder. To break through the…whatever it is.”
“Glass ceiling?”
“Yeah. That. And if you don’t believe me,” Hunter reached into his pocket and pulled out the bag of drachmas Will had given him. He loosened the opening an dumped it out onto Charon’s podium, but instead of drachmas, sand dollars fell out. Hunter froze, wondering why Will would do that. Charon suddenly gasped and looked at Hunter in shock.
“What can I help you with?” Charon said, his expression turning polite suddenly. Hunter hesitated a moment before putting all of them back into the bag. Charon frowned a little. “Please, sir. Would you like to ride on the ferry? I would be more than happy to assist you with that.” Hunter chuckled a little and placed three sand dollars on the podium.
“Yes, Charon. I’d like to ride the ferry.” Charon nodded enthusiastically and greedily nabbed the sand dollars.
“Of course, sir. Right this way, sir.” Charon left his podium and opened the elevator for him. Hunter got on and watched as Philippa followed him and then Denny. For some reason Charon was glaring at Denny as he entered. “Interesting company you keep, sir.”
“Do you have a problem with satyrs, too?!” Philippa said angrily. Charon raised an eyebrow.
“Satyr. Huh. No not at all. Funny creatures. Love their music.” Charon said with a nod. The way Charon was treating Denny made Hunter worried. It was almost like they had a history. Denny reluctantly got onto the elevator and Charon started his way down. Hunter took a deep breath and waited for the spot on the ride where the elevator switched to a boat and the suited man named Charon turned into the hooded skeleton named Charon.
Hunter watched as everything changed and glanced at Philippa just to see if she was okay. She looked fine, but that’s not what caught Hunter’s eye. There she was. The lady in the dress from Hunter’s dream. Standing in the place where Denny was with the exact same look of nervousness and anxiety.
“You!” Hunter shouted, pulling his knife from his belt. “I knew it!” She bit back some choice words and then glared at Hunter.
“Look! I’ll explain this all soon, but right now, you have GOT to get me out of here.” She said, looking genuinely worried.
“I could have told you it wouldn’t work.” Charon said, looking at the woman. Hunter raised an eyebrow.
“Tell me what’s going on.” Hunter said, glaring between Charon and the woman, standing in front of Philippa. “Now!”
“That point. Where everything goes from surface to underworld? Well—“ There was a loud groaning and several shouts. Hunter looked off in the distance to see a bright flash of light shoot off and crash into the wall above him. Hunter watched as a man appeared in the light and fall past them.
“That looked like…” Hunter looked over the side of the boat and saw Apollo laying there, struggling to stand up. Hunter looked back at where he came from and saw other flashes of light struggling against a giant cloud of darkness. “Typhon.” He breathed.
“Do you see why we have to get out of here?!” The woman said frantically. Hunter sighed and debated his options. He looked back at Philippa. He couldn’t chance her getting hurt. He didn’t even want to think about her getting hurt. They had to get out.
“Charon, take us back up.” Hunter said quietly. He looked at Charon. “Back up, Charon! Take us back up!” Charon scoffed.
“No can do. Once I’ve started, I can’t just—“ Hunter pulled out the bag of sand dollars again.
“The rest of them if you take us back up, now.”
“Yes, sir.” He said before nodding and causing the boat to turn around in place and start moving back up to the surface. Hunter looked at the woman and grabbed her, putting his knife at her throat.
“Whatever you are, you’re going to answer some questions.” Hunter said firmly. “You’re powerless here in the underworld. Why?”
“Don’t flatter yourself.” She said eerily calmly. “I could outsmart you 5 times over.” She pulled away and turned around. Hunter finally looked at her. There was something familiar about her. It made him angry. “If you’re trying to place me, you’re thinking of my brother.” She said with a nod. Hunter’s eyes widened.
“No…You can’t be. There’s—“
“Dolos. My brother. Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Apate. Goddess of deception, fraud and now trickery and mischief thanks to you. I just like to have a little bit of fun, you know?” Hunter’s fists clenched. He couldn’t believe that this would come back to haunt him still. When he killed Dolos he assumed that he was done with it; that chapter of his life was complete, but now Apate was here.
“Stop, Charon.” Hunter said, pointing his knife at Apate. Charon glared at him before remembering all of the money that was in store. He stopped the ferry and leaned on the stick. “What do you want?” Apate giggled a little.
“Well, revenge sounded nice, but now I just kind of want to screw with you a little.” She said with a wink. She vanished and reappeared behind him. “And no one said I was powerless.” Hunter grabbed Philippa and yanked her next to him. She drew a knife too and took a stance. Apate just giggled.
“Then why did you lose your disguise?” Philippa asked.
“Well, that little switching point shuts off everything for a little while. Stuff that I was using, I can’t use anymore. Not within the confines of this boat.” She said with a sigh. “Sadly, I can’t leave the boat while it’s in midtrip either.”
“Well, then you’re trapped!” Hunter said, taking a step forward.
“Yes, but I can make it worth your while, if you untrap me.” Apate ran a few fingers through her hair and then produced a pair of aviator sunglasses. “You can use these. Here. Try them on.” She said with a friendly smile, holding them out for Hunter to take.
“How do I know this isn’t a trick?” Hunter said, looking at the glasses cautiously. Apate scoffed.
“What’s my end game then? I give you these and you burst into flames. Now, Charon is pissed at me for losing his money and I still can’t leave. Take these sunglasses.” Hunter looked at Philippa asecond before gingerly taking the sunglasses from her. He slipped them on and looked around.
“Cool. Free sunglasses. And Why do I need this?!” Hunter asked, taking them off and holding them. She scoffed and took them from him. She put them on him and sighed.
“Think…satyr.” She said, rolling her eyes. Hunter furrowed his brow a second. Satyr. Satyr. Shortish. No feet. Hooves. Hunter felt a tugging for a moment and then looked down to see hooves instead of feet. “Ta da! Now, get me out of here, please?” Apate said insistently. Hunter took off the sunglasses and put them in the collar of his shirt.
“Charon. Take us up.” Hunter muttered. Charon nodded and the boat started moving back toward the entrance. “You are going to leave. You are not going to bother us again. You’re a goddess and even though the other gods are busy, I’m sure some of them would be less than happy with you making this quest difficult.”
“I totally get why my brother hates you.” She said with a pout. Hunter’s stomach clenched.
“Hates? What do you mean ‘hates?’” Hunter said quietly. “Dolos is dead….” Apate chuckled a little and that’s when the boat turned into an elevator.
“Goodbye, Hunter.” She said with a giggle before vanishing. Hunter froze and didn’t even notice the elevator stopping. Dolos had to be dead. He had caused so much pain for Hunter. He just had to be dead. Hunter’s heart ached and he started shaking a little. After his first quest he had nightmares. Nightmares that Dolos was back and that he was coming for him.
“Hunter, she’s lying.” Philippa said, taking his arm. They walked out of the elevator and out of the building. “She’s the goddess of trickery and deceit and mischief and you just tricked her. Hunter, don’t listen to her. She’s lying.” Hunter took a deep breath and nodded, hoping that his worst nightmares hadn’t come true.