DIMITRI

  The boy was blind in the darkness of the road. Where could he possibly go? He was rushed into loops of monsters, gods, and his immortal teacher. Whispering to his ears lies about things that he thought he wanted.

  He never wondered what he could actually want all those years. What did he want from the start of his life? What was he praying for? It didn't matter anymore because he was simply following the orders of everyone powerful to crush him like a bug.

  The way to Tartarus became even more dangerous, as the deep sound of nothing stopped, and the growling of invisible beasts began. The boy, now frightened, moved his hands for combat. His feet stopped from the fear, eager to see something so terrifying attacking him. But nothing was coming. No steps were approaching him, no heavy breathing. Was this a trick of this place?

  However, it took one second just to lower his guard, and a wild shadow pinned him down. Heavy snarling echoed in his ears with claws so sharp to tear the boy’s flesh apart. He couldn't move his hands as the paws of the beasts began to trim his bones. The thick saliva of it was dripping right to his face, and the boy felt a sudden pain from it. A sudden burning comes from the salivating beast’s mouth.

  But he did not scream. He kicked, he tried to hit it with his own head, he gathered all his strength to simply move his hands. But he did not scream; he wouldn’t even dare to give to this pathetic creature the pleasure.

  Suddenly, a bright light appeared from Dimitri’s forehead, and the beast backed away.

  Confused, the boy stood up and touched his head, remembering Persephone laying his lips on his skin. Was that a protection? A gift coming from the pleading goddess?

  Didn’t matter because he could now see his enemy. A beast made from shadow and fur with eyes made of gold.

  The light vanished, but the boy could still see the beasts’ eyes. The creature that had only fear written on his gaze.

  He wanted to continue. The boy had to keep walking. But, he moved his fingers inside his belongings and pulled out his own very knife.

  The monster began growling again, understanding that its bluff did not work. And as soon as he jumped, Dimitri drew his knife inside the beast’s belly. Thick liquid dropped on the boy’s face.

  He couldn’t get scared. Not now.

  Frozen the beast it was, it tried to attack again, squirming to the floor. So the boy attacked again. He wouldn’t be anyone’s food. Again and again, he was stabbing it, and he didn’t realise that more beasts were approaching this incident.

  ‘’Who is next?’’The boy dug even deeper with his knife, feeling the organs of the beast. Did that mean that this one also had a heart?

  No, it couldn’t. Beasts do not have hearts, gods don’t have hearts, his teacher did not have a heart.

  And when he finally stopped, and each beast now vanished from the fear of moving even close to him, the boy remembered how to breathe and vomit.

  ‘’What did I just…’’He muttered, but more whispers came inside his empty mind. He simply had to keep walking. With bleeding hands and face, he began to walk again.

  He realised soon that without a lantern, the place was cold, making his body shiver. He tried to find branches to make a fire, but he hesitated, thinking he would track more beasts. But how would he stop this cold wind shivering through his skin?

  He stopped walking and tried to find something to help him out. Herbs couldn’t help without a fire, or those thin pieces of clothing. He tried to ignore the dagger that was whispering strange tunes to the boy’s ears.

  Then, he found a flask of liquor. It could stop the pain and give him warmth for just a few seconds.

  His teacher always told him to have one inside his sack for the cold times, but he never actually tried it. His throat was burning up, his mind was turning dense. And yet, the boy didn’t give up.

  But he wondered for a second. Why was he walking? He had no reason to do whatthet king was telling him to. And still, he was doing it. Was it out of spite for the foolish god? He was threatening him, using him all this time like a puppet. The boy wondered if he could ask that king to kill this pathetic god. He wanted him gone. He wanted…

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  ‘’Those are not my words’’His mind began to rush, and he stopped walking as he felt the warmth of the alcohol deep into his skin. And that he is now right in front of a wall, endless in both height and length. Stones were carved with detail, showing images of the history of the world.

  And right in front of the door, a giant was guarding it with a pair of hands that belonged to fifty men.

  The giant growled as he saw the boy.

  ‘’Let me pass’’He commanded the giant. His thick brow lowered deep, and four of his hands moved down to the ground so he could lower his body better to see the boy.

  ‘’You do not belong here’’He explained with a strange, thin, and gentle voice. Dimitri restrained his smile as he wasn’t expecting that voice coming from that terrifying giant.

  ‘’Your soul is far too clean for this place.’’He explained and moved his other hand on the boy’s face. ‘’Clean and yet troublesome.’’He hummed. ‘’Go,’’

  ‘’No’’The boy raised his shoulders. ‘’You will get me inside there or else-’’

  The giant now tightened his giant gripono Dimitri’s face.

  ‘’Inside, there is a prison for the punishers and a trap for fools. I was once lured inside there by the one that I was calling brother. If you get in, you cannot get out without someone opening the door.’’

  ‘’Yeah, that’s why you are here-’’

  The giant laughed. Again, the boy did not expect that laugh coming from him. It was mostly like a giggle and a raven chokingonm breadcrumbs.

  ‘’You, mortal boy with limbs made from twigs, how can I possibly know that the voice inside that will call me belongs to you and not someone that is messing with me?’’

  The boy’s brow arched, and he tried to search his things. Should he give him the dagger as proof? No, he cannot trust a creature like him with it. And so, he pulled out the flask of influence.

  ‘’Sir, forgive me;;He bowed his head. ‘’Compared to you, giant with one hundred arms, guardian of Tartarus, I am nobody important. Hell, even an ant is more important than me’’

  The giant kept staring.

  ‘’But please, give me the gift to get entrance inside, and I will hand you the gift of the finest liquor from Cyprus.’’

  The boy began to search once again for his tinderbox and a fire striker, carefully so the giant wouldn't notice him.

  ‘’This’’One more hand appeared, and he grabbed the flask. ‘’Only a fly can drink this.’’

  And he smashed the flask into his hand, and one more grabbed the boy’s entire body, lifting it.

  ‘’And I do not work when I am working’’There was a grin now. ‘’Eat however.’’And he opened his mouth wide.

  The boy kicked his feet, punched the man’s grip, but there was nothing. So, he lit the firestriker and moved the tinder close, creating a bright light. A bright fire that he threw right into the giant’s hand that still had alcohol.

  There was a scream now, making the giant lose his grip and making the boy almost fallintoe his mouth. But instead, he fell right to his nose and began to climb it and touch his oily skin. He was right at the top of his head, and he fell right behind him, feeling the differenceine height and twisting his ankle.

  ‘’How dare you, mortal?’’The giant growled as Dimitri tried to open the heavy door. Nothing.

  As he was about to be grabbed again, the dagger was his only hope.

  So, he pulled it out, and he showed it.

  The giant moved back. ‘’How can you have such a thing?’’ He tried to move closer.

  ‘’Stay back’’He commanded him. ‘’Either open the door or I will use-’’

  ‘’Mortal, you have to let the dagger down.’’

  The boy was now in pain and anguish. Feeling his bones clatter all over his blood still dripping and with no more light to help him. Everything was going to fade dark.

  ‘’I do not like to be pushed around. I do not like to be tricked or lied to’’His fingers were about to open the cover of the blade. ‘’So open it, or I will kill you.’’

  ***

  ‘’Oh, it stinks’’Hermes muttered as he was holding his nose and walking with Odysseus past a corpse. ‘’I did not have the boy to be this violent’’He smiled and tried to make conversation with Odysseus.

  But no words were coming out of it. Not when he was running for hours to find his student.

  They were finally in front of the gate where the guardian was sitting down, with a defeated gaze. A bad thought came to Odysseues mind as he couldn’t see his student around and turned to the fat belly of the giant.

  ‘’He got in’’He explained the giant, and he took a look at Odysseus.

  ‘’You belonged once there. You might still have a cell to rest.’’

  Odysseus bowed his head and looked at the white light that the open door was beaming. As he was about to step in, Hermes grabbed him by the shoulder.

  ‘’He was once meant to stay there’’The giant explained the reason the god of thieves could enter.

  Hermes simply smiled at Odysseus while he pushed himself away from the god and started walking inside the eternal prison.