P. Hoover - Solstice

I feel wetness on my toes and realize the sink is flooding over. I turn off the water, undoing the stopper so the water will empty. I watch it as it goes down, swirling faster once it gets near the bottom. Shayne asked me not to talk to Reese. And now, being far away from Reese, I don’t want to find out anything from him anyway. He makes me think of a hyena searching for scraps of meat.

I walk out of the bathroom, back down the hallway, and head into the darkness of the downstairs. The steps seem to last forever, taking me from the emptiness of our upstairs to the forest that is our home below. Two places so near to each other, but so different. Among the plants, I’ve always lost myself. Like it’s another world.

As soon as my feet hit the cold tiles, I know what I need to do. Shayne asked me not to talk to Reese. But he didn’t mention anyone else. I need to go to Hell and talk to someone there. Maybe Charon. Or Rhadam. One of them might tell me something. Minos enters my mind, but I shove him aside. His brutal eyes had caught mine and accused me, and I know I can’t go back and see him again. Not alone, and hopefully not ever.

But I will go to Hell. Alone. Without Shayne. And I will get my answers.

I call to the Underworld because I can sense the river of silver skimming under the surface of Earth. It almost seems to reach up and pull me to it, like it could seep into my veins and make me part of it. I’m not sure if it will work, if I’ll be able to go without Shayne, but the earth opens up for me. It recognizes me and accepts me, swallowing me whole and holding me close on my journey to the Underworld. Silver liquid fills the void around me, and then I’m there on the banks of the River Acheron, and I see Charon by the docks, waiting. He’s got his eyes closed—like he’s taking a cat nap, but when I look in his direction, they flip open and grow wide. I guess he wasn’t expecting to see me. I’m not sure I was expecting me to make it here either, yet now that I’m here, everything feels as it should be.

I walk to the dock, trying to pretend I belong here. Trying to play my part. I’m not sure if Charon will take me across the river based on his reaction, but he recovers well and waves. Relief floods through me when I see his familiar face, and I know he’ll help me.

“I wasn’t expecting you.” He pulls the boat up against the dock and moves aside so I can get in.

Only then do I remember the payment. My face falls, and I shove my hands in my pockets, trying desperately to find some kind of coin. But my pockets are empty.

“I can’t pay you.”

Charon takes a step back and bows so low to the ground I see the bald spot on the top of his head. “I could never take a single drachma from you. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”

Relief floods through me; everything is falling into place. For a second, I feel like a co-conspirator. “Does that mean you’re really alive?”

Charon stands back up, and his face creases into the smile I love. “It’s been up for debate many times.”

“And…?” I step into the boat.

He unties the rope, and I sit down, in the middle this time, near enough to Charon so I can talk. After we get out on the water, I plan to ask him my questions. To see what I can learn.

Charon shrugs and picks up the pole, already shoving it in the water to move the boat forward. “Let’s just say I don’t think I’ll die anytime soon.”

I see my opening. “Will I?”

Charon looks at me, and our eyes catch. The smile sinks away, and then finally, he looks out toward the water. “The monsters are a bit restless these days.”

He’s trying to avoid talking. But I’ve got him pinned like a mouse in a labyrinth with no exit, and I’m not going to lose my opportunity, even if he is poling faster, trying to reach the shore sooner.

“Do you know who I am, Charon?” I figure I can’t get much more direct than that.

Charon looks back at me and nods. “You’re Piper.”

Before I can say anything else, a monster bumps into the side of the boat, sending a spray of water up and drenching me. At the touch of the water, a wave of sorrow overcomes me, and I break down crying. I’m sobbing though I don’t expect Charon to come near me or comfort me, and he doesn’t. He’s probably seen this a million times before.

“It’ll pass, Piper. I promise.”

“I just want the lies to go away.” I’m still crying, but as the water drips off me, the sadness slips away with it.

Charon doesn’t say anything, and we cross in silence. Before I know it, I’m jolted when the boat bumps into the dock. But I don’t stand up.

“Aren’t you getting out?” he asks. He’s hopped out ahead of me and has already tied the rope, holding out a hand to help me.

I sigh, but it comes out mixed with a sob. Am I destined to never know anything? “Maybe I should just go back home.”

Charon purses his lips. His eyes flicker around—at the shore with the giant trees towering above, toward the empty tunnel in the rocks ahead, then back at the water. The wails of the sorrows tear at me, and each time I hear one, I see a monster jump up out of the reeds and snatch it from the air.

“Piper.”

I turn back to Charon. “What?”

He’s not looking at me. His eyes are still focused on the tumultuous water. Overhead, the crows call out their song, echoing around from one tree to the next. “Things in the Underworld haven’t always been this bad.”

I hold my breath. Maybe he’s going to tell me what I want to know. “In what ways?”

Charon points to the water. “The monsters are vicious now. The realms are getting out of control. Even the Elysian Fields. There’s talk of other gods gaining entry. Not to mention the overlords are seizing more power every day.”

I think of Minos. Of Ares appearing in Asphodel, if only as a shadow. Of Hell not working correctly. “How long have things been going wrong?”

Charon turns, and his milky white eyes meet mine. “Eighteen years.”

When he says it, it’s like I’ve been punched in the stomach. It’s the same amount of time my Earth above has been in the Global Heating Crisis. A Hell of its own with a sun which only gets more powerful by the day. Eighteen years. There’s something connecting my Earth above and this Hell below. Eighteen years. It echoes in my mind.

It’s the same amount of time I’ve been alive.

Are the secrets I crave somehow tied to the physical sufferings of the worlds both above ground and below? And am I somehow involved?

I open my mouth to respond, but I can’t think of anything to say.

“Please be safe,” Charon says.

I snap out of my thoughts and see him reaching back into the boat. I stand up and give him my hand so he can help me out. And no sooner am I on the dock, walking away from the boat, than I know it’s already slipping away through the reeds and the swampy water behind me. And just like everything so far, I only have more questions and still have no answers.

I stare at the ten tunnels. I don’t know which one to choose. I don’t even know where the others go. And Cerberus is nowhere to be found. I think he would have led me in the right direction.

The sixth tunnel is the one we took last time, but when I walk up toward it, I’m hit with hatred. A red fungus suddenly covers the edge of the cave’s mouth. I turn from it because the thought of taking that path makes me want to vomit. I step in front of the tunnel to its left, and the nauseous feeling is replaced by happiness. Green ivy covers the opening.