Author Games: A Heroes' Charge

Fran Av Solen and Natalia Uralis

This is it. This is the beginning to the end.

The building the demigods stand before, all that are left, is a glistening thing. Thirty stories high with glass windows that look ready to break. And perhaps they will, the demigod's aura attracting hundreds of destructors. In Fran's eyes, this construction is innovating and inventive; to Natalia, it is a form of destruction. How many tress had to be cut down to make room for this thing? How many creatures were left without a home?

There's also the big surprise that they haven't been attacked in the minutes that they've been standing in front of DOA Studios. If it weren't for the final blessing from Artemis and Athena – who are now long gone – monsters and all other terrors would have found them. This blessing will diminish once they pass their "obstacle," one whom the goddesses didn't wish to name.

"We're here," Rechoe says in a whisper. To Fran Av Solen, this seems strange; his best friend is never quiet. All Natalia Uralis can do is nod and agree with the son of Hermes. The first part of the quest was just getting to Los Angeles. Now that they're finally here, finally, they've no idea what to do.

A timid girl suggests, "Let's just go inside. What's the worst they can do? Send us back and make us have a failed quest?"

Internally, Fran wants to run away right then and there. He'd rather go home on his own accord, not because some security guard told them to do so. It would be wiser to make his own decision. But externally, he follows behind Rechoe and Spiros, who lead the way.

Once inside, Natalia is baffled. She surely can't see the essences that are floating around, waiting for Charon. All souls, all waiting for rest. But she can feel them – their impatience with Charon, who is slumped in a corner. What he's exhausted from, she has no clue. All he does is steer people with his little boat. He has no reason to be tired, but the people should. It doesn't take but a minute for her to rush over to him and stand right in front of his face.

"What the Hades is she doing?" Fran asks Spiros, who looks at her in awe, and Rechoe.

Spiros begins, "I'd say she's being productive and getting things done. It would take decades, millennia, for him to notice us."

"He's going to get annoyed or something," Fran says with a quiver of fear in his voice, "And he'll either kill her or get us kicked out."

"Don't worry about it, Fran," Spiros replies. "She can handle herself, she's a big girl."

In Fran's eyes, this is the truth. To some contradictory extent. She is a big girl, she can handle herself. Most of the time anyway. He's always the cheery guy, the one who lifts people's moods up and gets them laughing again. But even he can't help but feel the toll of the haunting souls in the room.

Meanwhile, Natalia is giving Charon a piece of her mind. "We have to go in, you idiot. We're demigods on a quest; and unless you want some hundred or so monsters in here to destroy your studio, you'll let us go on your damned boat!"

Charon just looks at her, unblinking. "I don't have to do anything, so don't engage with me, little girl. And demigods, you say? I can hardly even sense you, so you must be some minor's spawning. As for the monsters, they'll target you, not me."

She takes a deep breath and unstraps one of her tomahawks. She swings it and manages to lodge it on his desk. At the sight of the blade, all the demigods rush forward, trying to take a peep at what trouble's little Natalia has caused.

Everyone is shocked, but Charon seems unfazed. "If I do this one thing, you must leave me alone for the rest of your lives. I say yours because you're to die soon enough if you go down there by yourself."