Chapter 8 - Hermes - 

As they get closer to the three judges, they start to notice the stone statues look to be breathing, maybe it was their lack of food and water, they are so hungry they believe they are starting to see things that are not there, getting closer and closer, they realise they are not seeing things and the statues are in fact breathing. "Are they alive?", asked Sirosa, with a confused tone to his voice, "I, I think so", replied Odysseus, "but how can that be". Suddenly from behind a rock a voice says to the three of them, “this is Tartarus, anything is possible”. Startled, they all jump back and quickly turn to see who was speaking, all three with swords and spears in hand ready for an attack, they spot who is speaking, they all lower their weapons as what they see it is a frail old man, wearing a white robe and golden sandals covered in blood, resting against the rocks clutching his stomach from the pain, his face battered and bruised, Atheas approaches the man and asks, "what happened to you sir, can we help you". "No", the elderly man replies, "I have been judged, and I have been deemed unworthy to eat from the oasis, so I must suffer here for the rest of time, this is my punishment", he says to Atheas. "what is your name sir we will try and help you", said Atheas, with a saddened look on her face. The elderly man replies, "my name is.... is Hermes, messenger of the Gods, well I have heard my name now is the fallen god". Atheas’ face suddenly went from sadness to amazement, as she stood back with an amazed look on her face, she turned to Odysseus and Sirosa, both with the same look on their faces, expressions of amazement, she quickly turns back to Hermes, and asks, "you are Hermes, the messenger of the gods?" Hermes replies, "yes I am", "can I ask you something?", says Atheas. "Of course", replies Hermes. Atheas takes a deep breath, "do you possess a small coin with a hand inscribed on it", she asks. Hermes replies, "I did but it was damaged in battle long ago and half of my coin has been missing for many years now, the other half was stolen from me only a few days ago by a spartan general, that is who beat me so badly and for that I was deemed unworthy by the three judges and must now spend the rest of time in Tartarus".

"What happened to the man who stole it from you", asked Odysseus from behind Atheas? "he was deemed worthy by the three judges for defeating a god and was released back to the realm of Hades, along with the other half of my coin, but it is useless unless you have the full coin". "What is this coin", asked Atheas, "why is it so special, why did this man nearly beat you to death to get it from you", she asked? Hermes replies, "this is no ordinary coin, it is a relic of the gods, it is what grants any man the power of a god. You see every God is just a mortal, but if you are given a special relic, these relics can give you powers of a god, mine was my coin, it granted me immortality, speed, and agility. Zeus on the other hand, his relic is his gold lightning pendent he wears on his tunic, it grants him control over the skies and lightning along with immortality. Poseidon’s relic is obviously his trident, it gives him control over the seas and all creatures within the seas and everlasting life. But as I said the man who stole my coin will not find it useful unless he has the other half of the coin".

Atheas turns to Hermes and says, "that man was my father, he has the other half of your coin, I have seen it with my own eyes", Hermes looks at her with fear, "oh this is not good", says Hermes, "if your father merges the two pieces together, he will receive the power of a god and be a force to be reckoned with. Before he took the coin from me, he told me what he plans to do, he plans to collect all of the relics from all the gods and free the titans back to the world, I didn’t believe him because I thought he did not have the other half of my coin, but now I know he has the complete coin, his vision is possible, you must find your father and stop him, if he releases the titans back to the world all life will seize to exist".

"How do we do that", asks Atheas. "You must first receive your judgement from the three judges, if you are worthy you will be released to the realm of hades, there you can find Persephone, she can help you get out of the underworld. But if you are deemed unworthy, well, I will have company for the rest of time". Atheas turns to Odysseus and Sirosa, with a worried look on her face, they proceed to the small oasis and the stone platform. They reach the stone platform, when suddenly the three judges come to life, rocks crumbling and moving as they stand to judge over who ever stands in front of them. The first judge speaks, "I am Rhadamanthus, one of the three judges of the underworld, I will be the judge of your past". The second judge speaks, "I am Aeacus, I will be the judge of your present". The final judge stand’s tall and says, "I am King Minos, I will be the judge of your future, the final decision of your fate rests with me, step forward and state your name".

Atheas takes a step forward and speaks, "I am Atheas, daughter of Lysander". All three judges lean forward to get a closer look, as tall as mountains, as they lean forward, they cover the oasis in darkness, "your past is full of blood and pain", says Rhadamanthus, "your present is filled with love and determination", replies Aeacus, "your future is clouded with difficult decisions, you have been judged worthy and are free to enter the realm of Hades, you can also relish in the oasis", says Minos. Atheas then runs forward and starts drinking from the waterhole, she turns and grabs an apple from the tree and starts eating.

Next Sirosa steps forward to receive his judgement, "state your name", shouts Minos, "I am Sirosa, I do not know my father, I am a spartan soldier". Rhadamanthus leans in to take a closer look at his past, "you Sirosa", he says, "you are the son of Zeus, your past is filled with love and hurt". Sirosa’s eye widened, he thinks to himself, "it must be true, if the three judges know who I am, then my father is Zeus, then I am a demigod", Aeacus leans forward to give his judgement, "Sirosa, son of Zeus, your present is filled with confusion and doubt". Finally, Minos stands tall once again to give his final judgement, "Sirosa, you are a brave soldier and a worthy ally, but your future is shrouded in doubt, I find you worthy to enter the realm of hades". With a dash to the waterhole and apple tree, Sirosa stuffs his face with food, finally Odysseus steps forward for his judgement, but he appears to be very nervous standing in front of the three judges, "state your name", commands Rhadamanthus, "I am Odysseus, son of Lysander", replies Odysseus, Rhadamanthus leans in to see his past, "your past is full of hate and violence", Odysseus hangs his head as he hears his past judgement, Aeacus leans in to deliver his present judgement, "your present is full of jealousy and sadness", again Odysseus’ head sinks lower, finally Minos moves forward for the final judgement, "Odysseus, son of Lysander, your life to date, has been filled with rage and hate, but your future is unclear, you will betray a loved one and hurt another, you have been judged worthy, you may relish in the oasis and enter the realm of hades", a huge sigh of relief on Odysseus’ face, he was free to leave.

As the three of them filled their faces with food and stocking up on water for their next journey, Minos turns to them and says, "when you are ready, enter the waterhole", with that final word the three judges retreat to their original positions and almost freeze, until their next judgement.

They finish their food and water, then turn to Hermes one more time and thank him for the information and help, Hermes smiles, then he disappears from their sights, "where did he go", asked Atheas. "he has been judged unworthy sister, he will spend the rest of time in torment", said Odysseus, "come, we must leave this place". They gather their things and step up to the waterhole, "they said enter the waterhole", asked Sirosa, "yes", replied Atheas. Atheas steps forward and stands inside the waterhole, she takes a deep breath and goes under, after about one minute she stands up from the waterhole and can’t believe what she sees, still in the underworld surrounded by mountains of fire and smoke, but it is not Tartarus, this is someplace else, she takes a closer look at her surroundings and in the distance she can see what appears to be a huge castle or building of some kind made of black bricks, a mote of fire surrounding the castle, she steps out of the waterhole and is instantly dry from the heat of the underworld, after a few moments Odysseus and Sirosa appear from the waterhole, with the same look on their faces they too can’t believe what they are seeing.

"We have made it to the realm of Hades", said Sirosa, "we must now find Persephone, she is our way out of the underworld", "I am guessing we will find her there", says Atheas, as she points to the castle in the distance. They start their journey to the castle, while walking they discuss their judgements, mainly Odysseus’ judgement, they are all wondering about his future and the loved one he will betray, Atheas cannot help but wonder will it be her. After discovering that her father now possesses the power of a god and is planning on killing all the gods for their relics, she now knows she must find him to stop him before he destroys the world and releases the titans.

Almost at the castle, they decide to take a few moments to rest and gather their strength, Atheas turns to Sirosa, "Sirosa, now that you know you are the son of Zeus, what will you do?", she asks. He turns to her, his eyes starting to water, "I need to find him and find out why he left me and my mother all those years ago". "If you are a demigod", asks Odysseus, "why do not you have any powers". Atheas replies, "he does not have a relic", Odysseus, "did you not listen to Hermes, the gods are given their power, through relics. The only thing Sirosa has of his father is his shield, and I do not think Zeus would hand over a relic to a baby", Atheas says.

As they reach the castle mote, surrounded by rivers of molten lava, they cross the bridge and reach the door. Odysseus steps forward and knocks three times, the door slowly opens, they peak their heads inside and take a closer look. They make their way through the entrance hall, everything is black, the floor is so hot they can barely stand still for more than a few seconds, as they continue to walk through the castle, Odysseus knocks over a vase that was sitting on a small table, suddenly from the distance they hear a women’s voice, "who goes there!" she shouts, then they hear footsteps, they all draw their weapons and ready themselves for what is coming. To their surprise, the woman walks from around the corner, tall, slim with long blonde hair, a golden flower crown sitting on top her head, wearing a green and black tunic with gold lacing. "I am Persephone goddess of the underworld, why have you come here", she asks. Sirosa and Odysseus, both with their jaws dropped to the floor in sight of her beauty, they cannot speak, Atheas steps forward, "we are looking for a way out of the underworld, we have been deemed worthy by the three judges and we need to leave, we have also spoken to Hermes and he told us to find you as you would aid us in leaving the underworld". "You are correct in saying that I know how to leave the underworld, but first I need something from you, you must bring payment with you if you wish for me to let you leave the underworld", "what is it you want", asks Atheas. "I wish for an apple from the depts of Tartarus, I am afraid I have grown tired of all the rotten meat from the dead bodies down here, an apple is what I require, then I will let you leave". Atheas, to her delight reached into her satchel and pulls out an apple, one she picked from the oasis, she hands the apple to Persephone, with delight on her face Persephone smiles and starts to eat the apple, enjoying every moment.

"Oh, thank you so much", she says to Atheas, "you have no idea how awful it is living here with Hades". "Why do you stay here, why can’t you leave", she asks Persephone. "When I was stolen by Hades, I asked him to grant me leave to go back to the world, he agreed but only if I was to eat pomegranate seeds", "why pomegranate seeds", asked Atheas. "pomegranate seeds are the food of the underworld, once you eat them you will remain a slave of the underworld, Hades made me eat four seeds, so every year I can spend six months in the world, the other six months I must return to the underworld and serve Hades". Atheas looks down with sadness, "that is no life to live", she says to Persephone. "That is the way of the gods Atheas", says Persephone.

Wondering if her father came to Persephone, Atheas asks her one more question before they leave, "have you been visited by anyone else over the last few days", she asks. "I have not, you are the first to visit me in many years", said Persephone, "why do you ask", she replies. "We are searching for my father, he has stolen the coin of Hermes and plans to kill all the gods, he wants to retrieve all their relics and release the titans back to the world, we need to stop him", she tells Persephone.

"If this is true Atheas, you will need to leave right away and not waste time talking to me, please come with me and I will show you the way out", they follow Persephone through the castle and into a room full of documents, it appears to be a library, thousands and thousands of documents line the walls of this room, "is this your library", asks Odysseus. "Yes, well when you have six months a year in this place there is not much one can do but read". Persephone then gestures her hand and one of the walls begin to move, revealing what looks to be a moving mirror, "step through the mirror and you will be brought back to the world, please hurry if Hades finds out I know of this he will not be pleased, now hurry, go, go", "thank you Persephone", says Atheas. she leans in to give Persephone a hug and with that they step through the mirror and find themselves in a field, surrounded by fresh air and cold winds blowing in their face. They all take a deep breath and breath in the cold air, they all turn around and to their amazement they realise where they are. "we are home" says Odysseus.