Redemption [malexmale]

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty

The Ferry was not what I expected, but neither was Hades.

It was extremely large and spacious. The souls aboard the ship didn't react to us. They stood around and seemed to be in a daze. Occasionally, one would whimper and sob, another would scream, but they would eventually fall back into their eerie trance. It made my skin crawl to think of an afterlife like this.

We were all gathered in the Captain's quarters. A giant room lined with sofas along the windows, which currently had the blinds pulled down for less exposure. A flat screen television, a couple of small round tables, a fridge and cupboards, a sink, and a bathroom. It was luxerious, but Charon didn't seem to notice. Unlike Cerberus, who sat cuddling all over Blaine, and Ambrosius, who was trying to distract himself by sulking in a corner, Charon sat quietly in a seat, taking bites out of a peach Alexion had given him, and now the two just sat in silence together, watching the television.

It was a strange situation, but I was thankfully Ambrosius and Cerberus had stopped arguing. Charon had made it quite clear that if either one of them made another comment that he would toss them overboard and allow them to enjoy the torturous waters of Acheron, and the screaming souls of Styx.

He was very convincing.

We came into port at Styx first. Even from our spot at the docks, that looked more like a ghost town in itself, I could see that Stxy stretched on for quite a ways. It would certainly give places like New York or New Orleans a run for their money. The window was cracked open slowly, so the heavy scents of fish, oil, and exotic foods could rush into the room. The sound of music wafted through the alleys and streets. Chatter and a bell ringing loudly somewhere in the distance to signal that it was exactly noon.

"Okay," Charon said, getting to his feet, "Theo is supposed to meet me in a moment. I would say try hiding, but you can't hide from Theo."

"Hades can't even hide from Theo." Cerberus drawled. Blaine bristled at the mention of the second youngest son of Hades, but said nothing more as he shrank back beside Cerberus, one leg folded over the other and arms folded over his chest.

And as if he were Beetle Juice having his name said three times, the air rippled and Theo appeared in the room. For a moment, I was completely caught off guard by him. I don't know why I expected someone a little more dangerous and deadly in appearance.

And he was deadly, but not in the sense I had imagined. Theo was no bigger than Charon, both in height and weight. His muscles were just a bit more defined and shown off by the fact that he lacked a shirt, only wearing a pair of tight leather pants that cupped a surprisingly nice backside and a long red and black cloak that fell over his shoulders and pooled near his knee-high boots. His hair was tick and wavy, cut to his shoulders, and a deep blood red that matched his eyes that were outlined with incredibly long lashes. There was something about him that was almost feminine, until he spoke with a deep Greek accent that I imagined vibrated his chest.

"The fuck are these fuck nuggets doing here?" Theo demanded, seeing Cerberus and Blaine first. I wasn't really caught off guard by his vulgarity, considering Cerberus and Ambrosius seemed to have the same trait. Pity that they all seemed to inherit Hades's worst traits... Then again, I couldn't really think of any good traits for the god, so I suppose it wasn't their faults.

"We're going to Hell." Ambrosius answered flatly. Theo looked at him, caught off guard by his presence, and I was surprised to see an interested twinkle in his red eyes.

"You? Holy hell, you've gotten bigger," He exclaimed enthusastically, "Ugh! At this rate, I'm gonna go back to being the shortest! Fuck you and your hormones, you shit."