Chapter 49 - Psyche

“You’re trying to kill me!”

I blurted out the words before my brain registeredthat it wasn’t smart to yell at a goddess, even if she was sort of your quasi-mother.

“On the contrary,” Aphrodite responded, twirling a golden coin over and under her fingers, “I’m savingyou.” She flipped me the coin and I caught it over my head. “The coin will ensure you get safely into Hades.”

“And what about coming back out?” I demanded.

Aphrodite laughed, throaty and indulgent. “Smart girl. You did pay attention during our visits.” She materialized another coin and tossed it to me.

I put the coins into a little wooden box and tucked it under my arm. For my second task, Aphrodite told me to take the box to the Underworld and borrow some of Persephone’s beauty. To hear Aphrodite tell it, the stress of everything that’d happened between me and Eros hadmelted away some of her eternal glamour. Andsomehow, although Aphrodite was already prettier than everyone else anyway, Persephone would gladly give up some of her own beauty to make Aphrodite feel better.

In my opinion, that wasn’t likely. Never mind that humans don’t go into Hades and come out alive –- or come out at all for that matter.

So, setting aside the fact that my task was basically doomed to failure, all I had to do was get Charon to ferry me into Hades, sneak past Cerberus the three-headedguard dog, find Persephone, convince her to give me some of her beauty for Aphrodite’s benefit, get back past
Cerberus, and get Charon to ferry me out of Hades. Ohyeah, and I had to get half-way across Greece before even meeting up with Charon.

No problem.

“Don’t be so traumatized,” Aphrodite said, probably noticing the glazed-over, scared-half-to-death look in my eyes. “You’re a demi-god, remember? You can do it. Besides, I’ll take you to Charon myself.”

My heart lightened by the weight of a feather. There was still a ton of crap to get through, but at least onepart of this trip would be easier. “Thank you.”

The words were barely out of my mouth when shegrabbed my wrist. Salt water rushed into my mouth andmy face was pelted by sea spray. I choked back the panic of drowning and tried to crunch the sand out from my teeth.

As quickly as the ocean assault began, it was over. As we regained our footing on solid ground, Aphroditelooked refreshed, her cheeks glowing. When I reached upand felt my own hair, I was convinced I looked like I’d just lived through a hurricane. Great.

Our new location was obvious even though I’d never been there before. There’s only one way to get into Hades and that was through the gates in the AlcyonianLake.

Aphrodite’s hand lingered on my wrist before she released me. “Here you are then,” she said. “See you onthe other side.”

“How will I get back? To Olympus, I mean.”

“When you make it out, I’ll come fetch you.”

When. She’d said when, not if. Could it be that she was actually rooting for me now?

With another burst of sea spray, she was gone. And I was alone staring out across the endless blackness of the lake.

From a distance, I heard small splashes comingtoward me. As I watched, Charon emerged from themist, plunging his pole into the water as fast as heseemed capable of moving. He paused only once to rubthe sheen of sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.

He stopped paddling when his boat nearedthe edge of the lake, letting it glide into the bank. His yellowed teeth were exposed beneath a widesmile. Despite being covered in grime, there was something soothing about Charon. I saw kindness in his brown eyes and no trace of menace in his smile.

“Psyche, you’ve finally come to join me,” he said as he held out his weathered, crooked hand.

I smiled back, although weakly, and took his hand as I stepped into the narrow wooden boat. “I don’t plan onstaying, but I could use a ride if you don’t mind.”

Charon covered his heart with his hand andsighed. “You are as I’ve dreamed. So perfect,” he murmured. “Even Helen didn’t come to me until she was an old woman. But you…” He caressed a strand of my hair between his fingertips. “No wonder Eros didn’t want to give you up.”

That got my attention. I locked eyes with Charon, no longer caring that he was fondling my curls. “What do you mean Eros didn’t want to give me up?”

“Ah, there is so much in the way of the gods that you don’t understand. Do you even know why Eros brought you to him in the first place?”

I shook my head. “Sit,” he said, “I’ll tell you while I paddle.”

“Oh, your coin,” I remembered, opening the little box and taking out a golden coin.

He took it slowly from my fingers and then sniffed it, long and deep. His eyes rolled into the back of his headwith pleasure. When he opened them and saw mewatching, he explained. “It smells of you and Aphroditecombined. Truly divine. I will … treasure this.” He tuckedthe coin into a pouch and plunged his staff into thewater, pulling us away from the bank.

I sat nervously on a narrow bench at the back of theboat. “About Eros —” I prompted.

“Ah yes. Eros came to you at his mother’s bidding. Hewas supposed to make you fall in love with amonster. But you bewitched him.”

“That’s impossible. The first time we met, he couldn’t stand me.”

“Don’t be silly. He just didn’t want to be hurt again.” Charon paused again to wipe at his brow. “Anyway, hecame to shoot you with one of his arrows, but when hesaw you, he simply couldn’t do it. And he nicked himself with the arrow instead.”

Memories flooded back on me. “Then that wasn’t adream? The archer in the garden was Eros.” I was somehow relieved by this information, like knowing it’dbeen Eros and not the most deranged prophetic dreamever meant I wasn’t going nuts.

But just as quickly, another realization popped in behind that one.

“If his arrow…” My lower lip started to tremble and tears welled up in my eyes. I bit my lip hard to stop theteary aqueduct from overflowing. “He didn’t really loveme then. Not on his own. It wasn’t real.”

“Does it matter why he loved you? You won the heart of a god.”

“And I lost the heart of a god. If his love wasn’t real to begin with, what chance do I have that he’ll take meback?”

Charon stopped paddling for a moment and lookedback at me. “I’d say your chances are better thanaverage.”

“Thanks,” I said, only half believing him. After we sat in silence for a moment, I asked, “What did you meanwhen you said he didn’t want to give me up?”

“Aphrodite went into a real rampage after you refused her son. First she sicked Eros on you, but that wasn’t
enough. So then she promised to send you here to me. Of course, I figured you’d be dead when youarrived. But I think I like you better alive.” His chuckle came out hoarse. “You are heavier this way though.”

“Oh … sorry.” Was I supposed to apologize for not being dead? “Charon, can I ask you, how do you knowall of this?”

“I hear things,” he said. “Of course, most of my information came from the gods themselves.”

“So you actually talked to Eros — about me?”

Charon ducked his head as we entered a cave. Thelight nearly extinguished behind us. I could barely evensee Charon just ahead of me in the boat, still pulling us forward. “Eros stood right where you stood on the bank of that lake. You can be sure he was quite angry when I told him his mother intended to send you my way.”

“How long ago was that?” I moved to the edge of my seat, anxious with anticipation.

“It’s been weeks. Before you went to him.”

I dropped my head. So much had changed in the past few weeks. Maybe he hadn’t wanted me dead then, but I still had no clue whether he cared now.

Lost in thought, I gazed down at the water, barely visible in the darkness. It sounded like we kept brushingagainst branches as we slid through the water. I strained my eyes to see what we skimmed against. The water swirled like an inky pool and gray wispy figures began to
emerge. Their long, snakelike fingers clawed at the sides of the boat, but had no more effect than if we werebrushing past a weed. I watched in horror as their soundless mouths opened in screams and their hazy eyes chased us as we passed.

“Wh…what are those?” I asked, barely able to speak myself.

“You’re no longer in the land of living. Those are shades, lost forever in the Acheron River.”

“I don’t understand. Why aren’t they in theUnderworld?”

“No coin,” he answered. “You don’t think I haul dead people down this river for free do you?”

I looked back down again at the shades and watchedthem slip beneath the water. Like clouds of smoke blown away in a breeze, they disappeared under the surface. “You can’t just leave them here,” I said, scrambling forward in the boat to get closer to Charon. “You must have so many coins already.”

Charon turned on me, rocking the boat more than I liked, and locking me with an icy glare that was visibleeven through the blackness. I backed cautiously to my seat in the rear of the boat, knowing I’d overstepped some invisible line.

Still.

“Maybe these souls died on the battlefield and weren’t recovered,” I pleaded. “Or maybe they died at sea. Or maybe … maybe their families were just too poor to spare a coin to line your pockets. It’s not fair for you not to take them.”

Charon threw his staff into the boat, where it clatteredagainst the sides. “So now you’re going to tell me how to do my job? Fine. You row the damn boat.” The boat bucked as Charon thumped himself down on the seat.

I sat in stunned silence until the boat bumped against the wall of the cave. Without Charon steering, we wereadrift on the river. Never mind that I’d never paddled a boat before, I certainly wasn’t going to sit around in adark cave waiting for the current to dump us back in thelake.

Reaching forward blindly, I felt around the boat until I grabbed Charon’s staff. The weathered wood felt smooth, almost polished, from the years of use. I plunged thestaff into the water, striking the bottom of the river, and used it for balance while I stood. It took all of my weight to move us forward against the current. With a heave, I quickly moved the staff forward, digging again into the silt on the river bottom, and put my weight into pullingus forward.

After just three pulls, I was starting to feel breathless. I didn’t know how much farther we had to go, but I was already doubting I could make it.

“You’re not so light … yourself,” I panted at Charon between breaths.

Charon snickered. “Must be my heavy heart fromdrowning all those poor souls in the river.”

His sarcasm fueled my determination, giving mestrength when I thought I didn’t have any left. “You’re just … a lonely old man,” I heaved. “But not too old … to change your ways.” I paused from my rowing, resting my head against the staff. Charon was looking back at me, waiting. I shoved the boat forward again. “You’re never too old … to change.”

“What do you know about being old? Or about change for that matter?”

“I might not be old … but I know I’ve got some things to change if I make it out of here.” I shoved the boat forward again, but this time it slid to a grating halt.

“Well, what do you know?” Charon asked. “You actually made it the rest of the way. I’m impressed.”

I was so relieved to not be paddling, that I staggeredout of the boat and fell backwards into the sand. Sprawled on the cool shore, my chest heaved and my hammering heart slowly returned to a more normal pace.

Charon knelt down beside me. I heard the sand near my ear crunch under his boots. “How about a deal?” heasked. “I’ll promise to start bringing some souls into Hades without coins — if they have a good excuse — if you’ll do something for me.”

I closed my eyes and sighed. What choice did I have? Didn’t I owe it to a world full of impoverished shades not to damn them to eternity in a river?

“Sure,” I answered.

His calloused fingers closed around mine. “Good. Let’s get going then.” With an easy pull, Charon raised me to my feet and let me go.

I shook my head in confusion as we began walking. “What’s the favor?”

“You’re giving me a vacation while I accompany you through Hades. As the daughter of Aphrodite, I think you’ve got enough clout to get me the afternoon off.”

“That’s it? That’s really all you want from me?”

Charon turned and looked at me. His eyes were dull, tired. “What more could I want? I’m getting some timeoff to spend with the most beautiful woman in the world. Isn’t that enough?”

“Shush! Aphrodite’s mad enough at me as it is. Don’t you dare get me into any more trouble with praise likethat.”

Charon started walking again, leading me toward afar-off light. “I didn’t say you were the most lovely immortal, did I? I’m not stupid.”

We walked in silence for a little while, coming upon torches that lit a narrow path. Shadows began to danceacross Charon’s face as the flames flickered. The effect made his face appear angry one moment and concernedthe next.

I took a step onto the path, but Charon grabbed my arm and pulled me back. “Wait,” he called.

Screeching and hopping, I looked down at my feet, afraid I was about to step on snakes or into a pit or something. Charon chuckled at my graceless little dance.

“For the record,” he told me, “Eros would be a damn fool if he didn’t take you back.”

Chapter end