walk the thinnest line to get me back
When Hina opened her eyes she stood on a river bank. It was unlike any other she had seen: polluted water caressing a bank of grey soil, wilting grass lining its surface.
The water below was almost black in colour, clouded with grey foam and littered with broken trinkets and other objects. A baby rattle floated along, tangled in the ribbon from a graduation cap.
Hina wished her heart had sunken into her chest. The void feeling made her feel worse. In place of her rapidly beating heart was a dead silence that echoed in her ears.
In the distance, a figure approached steering an old battered boat. As they neared, Hina noticed the sunken greyed skin, and wiry limbs poking out from a meticulously pressed suit.
"Charon," she whispered, her voice sounding far too loud in her ears. The silence of the Underworld amplifying everything.
"Coins for passage?" he asked, his voice like someone who had swallowed sandpaper. A boney hand extended towards her, beckoning her to step forward.
Hina knew she should have been happy. She was free from the gods, she could stay in Elysium forever, or choose rebirth. At the back of her mind, Hina knew she couldn't bare to see her friends again in Elysium, to face them as the coward she was.
She had done nothing to help fight, she was a scared little girl trapped in her mind, bearing a curse that wasn't hers to carry.
She could forget it all. Go to the river Lethes and let her past wash away forever. Yet it seemed like an easy way out. To simply let the world go on turning, to let the gods continue their chaos.
Suddenly, a gold coin materialized in her hand, Charon taking it quickly. "Lucky you," he graveled, summoning Hina onto the boat.
It rocked dangerously as Hina stepped onto the wooden ferry, murky water sloshing around. "Why is it so polluted?"
Charon gave Hina a twisted smile, paddling the boat away from the river bank. His bones cracked and popped as he steered them down the river Styx.
"Welcome to the junkyard of human miseries. Lost hopes and dreams end up here, you have discarded so many yourself."
Hina bit her lip, watching as Charon steered the boat around broken toys and other trinkets.
On the opposite side of the river, a towering black tent stood.
"Ready for your judgement?" Charon asked, his eyes following Hina's gaze.
The closer they got, Hina began to make out three figures standing in the opening of the tent. The figure in the middle was taller than the others, a white crown sitting on his head. A white glow enveloped his body, dowsing the river in a dim light.
"Hina Ito."
The voice pounded in her head, the man's mouth not moving. Hina stumbled to the back of the boat, her hands flying to cover her ears.
The boat slowed to a stop, bumping into the crumbling bank. Reluctantly, Hina stepped off, her shoes hitting the grass but leaving no mark.
The three figures drilled into her with their gazes. They were the judges.
Behind her, the river bubbled, murky water deteriorating the river bank. The judges swiftly turned to look, as Charon shifted uneasily in his boat.
"What was that?" Hina demanded. A swirling whirlpool developing downstream.
The three judges frowned.
"Things are still shifting. The events of the war have made a permanent scar on the future," Charon replied, his quant pole ripped from his hands by a strong current. "The Olympians' intervention by shaping the prophecy has set the world in unrest. Consequences are still revealing themselves."
Hina cursed. She faced the judges, her eyes narrowed in determination. "I know you can be reasoned with, let me go, please."
The spirit in the center frowned, and Hina realized he was Minos. "Why would we release you? What do you have to offer?"
"You must know the story of Er: the mortal man who was released from the Underworld as a messenger to foretell what the Underworld held. Let me be this generation's Er. I can deliver this message, warn the Greeks and Romans, they can help. Our parents are to blame but it's our burden to mend their mistakes. It's a demigod's only purpose."
The judges seemed taken aback. As they considered Hina's words, the river became more rapid, destroying anything in its path.
Charon grumbled in his ferry, splashing water off the boat as it crashed into his shoes and drenched his suit pants.
Minos fixed Hina with hallow eyes, the wreath of light surrounding him making his eyes appear even darker and empty than before.
"An interesting proposition, but what does this bring of your soul?"
Hina took a breath, her hands floating to her neck, running across the scars from her journey. "All my life I've been hounded by misfortune, and now it's prepared me to die. The Fates already have claim to me, and I think they want me to reclaim their power over prophecy. A cruel punishment, but I am here to protect Fate for the rest of time."
Minos' face contorted into a twisted smile, wrinkles suddenly sagging down his cheeks. The other two judges followed, their backs curving and hair growing rapidly.
"Hina Ito," Clotho rasped. The three judges slowly transformed into the the sisters, their features gruesomely growing from the shadows. "You always were clever."
Atropos lurched forward, her talonlike nails digging into Hina's skin, although she felt nothing. "You made your choices. Fix this mess and you might be free, show your father the path to paradise is often the road to ruins."
"I will." Hina kept her gaze firm on Atropos, determination sinking through her bones.
After years of fighting, Hina had to accept her fate. With a jolt, she felt her heart beating once again, the noise deafening after the eerie silence of death.
Her eyes struggled to adjust to the sunlight, blurred shapes approaching her from the front. She had sat up, ignoring the burning pain in her chest as she struggled for breath.
"Hina?"
It was unmistakably Piper's voice barely above a whisper. Before Hina could respond, Piper had barreled forward, wrapping her arms tightly around Hina's body.
As Hina weakly hugged Piper back, her eyes finally cleared. She tried to gasp as she took in her surroundings.
The amphitheater was full of demigods, the main floor full of perfectly lined up burial shrouds, with Hina sitting in the middle. Everyone had eyes of her, their expressions a heartbreaking combination of grief and shock.
She felt sick, recognizing the somber glances of her friends. Hina was wearing her own shroud that her siblings had made. It was made from pale yellow silk, embroidered with an arrow and a sun.
The thought of her friends seeing her body after her fatal fall made a broken sob escape her mouth, her arms tightening their grip on Piper. "Oh gods."
Chiron excused the rest of the campers, corralling the surviving seven of the prophecy to the Big House.
Hina was enveloped in a giant hug as her friends relayed what had happened to Leo. She felt completely numb as tears streamed down her face. It had been a full twenty four hours since the battle, yet Hina felt as if no time had passed.
As they dispersed to sit around the room, Jason and Piper led Hina to a couch.
Jason had the faintest trace of tears in his eyes as he gave Hina a second hug, whispering an apology for not protecting her.
The demigods sat in silence as Hina tried to compose herself and gather her thoughts.
Hina walked Chiron and her friends through her time in the Underworld, and the promise she made to the Fates. "Something big is coming. I don't know what or when, but I know we need to be prepared. I have to stop it."
**huge thank you to everyone for leaving all the comments over these passed few months!! my heart soars reading each and every one of them. thank you!!