Chapter Forty-Two
The Big Downstairs
The air was thin and cold, seeping into their bones. The snowy ground stretched out in all directions, a landscape of white. Not far from the rock now, the little troop of demigods where silent.
Constantine was still recovering from his run in with the sirens, embarrassed that he had been tricked. Lola looked nervous, not knowing what might await her below. Stephan was hungry.
Noel walked just behind them, looking back every now and then. The Pegasi were long gone now, not even specks in the distance. Her heart sped up the closer they got to the rock, craning their necks to try and see the peak that had disappeared into the clouds.
"It really does look like a dick." Stephan observed, falling back to walk with her.
"Hm." Noel wouldn't really know, not in detail anyway. She got the idea though. "You don't seem scared."
Stephan actually giggled. "Scared? I'm shitting my pants."
"You don't look it." Said Noel with mild disgust, our lovable germaphobe.
"My take on it is the less scared I look, the less scared I'll be." He shrugged. "Learned that from Gabriel, you know."
"He never looked scared." Noel recalled, thinking of every time she had seen Gabriel fight something.
"Sad, isn't it?" asked Stephan softly. "That he got to the point were fear wasn't even a facial expression anymore."
"I hadn't thought of it that way." They fell silent for the rest of the walk, and soon they reached the base of the rock. A skinny, tall crack was the only opening or blemish on the rock's smooth surface.
"Well." Constantine looked at them. "Here we are."
They all stared at the opening. "I can't believe we made it this far." Lola said. "I mean, I thought we would but it still seems crazy."
"We're literally going to hell." Stephan jumped up and down slightly, trying to keep warm. "Any guesses on what the temperature will be like?"
"If there aren't hot geysers like in cartoons I'll be heavily disappointed." Said Noel gloomily.
"Well." Said Constantine again. "Let's go."
One by one, they slipped through the crack.
The rock sealed as they stepped through, plunging them into darkness.
"Whose got the flashlight?" inquired Constantine as Lola yelped.
"Who grabbed my butt?!"
"Sorry," said Stephan, not sounding sorry at all, "I thought it was my backpack."
"Be serious Stephan, please." Constantine turned on his flashlight, illuminating the cramped passageway. "Looks like the only way is down."
"The big downstairs," Stephan grumbled. "For some reason, I thought I'd be going up."
"Really?" Lola quipped. "I'd expect you'd be right at home."
"Stop it." Noel said quietly. "We need to be focused."
The two sobered, and together they made the descent down the steep, turning steps. Somehow it got even colder the deeper they went, until everyone was shivering in their heavy coats. It seemed like forever before they reached a for in the road, one pitch black, the other had a faint glow.
"Any ideas?" asked Stephan.
They all agreed the light tunnel was the best option, and Noel tried not to remember the "myths". The journey of the dead she recalled involved finding a fork in the road, and being judged – sent to either Asphodel, Elysium or Tartarus. The light grew brighter, until they entered what appeared to be a very clean, modern waiting room or lobby.
Several grey skinned, unhappy looking people milled around. Some were reading magazines with a Royal or a Kardashian on the cover; some watched the news on a hanging television.
"Act dead." Stephan advised.
Not knowing what exactly that meant, they all huddled together. A woman in a pencil skirt and a bursting blouse walked by, hardly even looking at them and handed out a few sheets of paper. "Take a form, fill it out and wait at the side." She said dully, going back to her desk. At the side was a set of giant double doors guarded by two dead security guards.
"Excuse me," a woman with a large tree branch through her eye socket tapped Noel on the shoulder. "Hello." She smiled.
Noel gulped. "Um, hi."
"May I ask how you became deceased?" she inquired. "Your complexion is so pink!"
"Um," Noel hiccupped. "Heat stroke."
"Asphyxiation for myself." Stephan said cheerily. "And you?"
The woman glared at him with her one intact eye, stalking off.
Constantine shot Stephan a glare. "Please don't piss off the zombies, Stephan. C'mon." he led them over to the furthest set of seats. "We need to get through those doors somehow," he glanced around, surveying the scene. "Maybe we can –"
At that moment at least fifty people flooded the waiting room, soaking wet and wailing. The single secretary jumped up, calling to the security guard for help and who had let all these people through at once?
"Come with me." Hissed a voice. They all turned to see a slight figure, a hood covering their face.
"Who –?" asked Noel, but the person pushed them towards a large potted plant.
"Do you want to get through or not?" they asked, shoving them behind the plant. There, the figure ducked into a small tunnel. "Crawl, quickly now." Noel could now discern the voice as male.
One by one they quickly followed. The tunnel was pitch black and damp, made of the same slippery black stone as above. Soon though, they reached the end, emerging into a small orchard of pomegranate trees. Noel, blinking from the darkness, looked over at the stranger, confused.
"Hey, you look like –"
"Oh." Lola let out a sound half between a sob and a gasp of relief. She threw herself at the guy, whose hood had fallen back in the tunnel. A mop of dark brown hair the same shade as Lola's was nestled into her neck.
"Paul." Lola was crying, shaking in the guy's arms. "I – I'm sorry, I didn't mean –"
"Hey, it's okay." The guy flashed the others a sad smile over Lola's shoulder. "It wasn't your fault."
"Yes it was."
"Lola, no." Paul pulled back, tears streaming down a face that was remarkably like Lola's. "It was mine, I didn't look."
"But I..."
"It wasn't your fault." He said again, "You've been beating yourself up for nothing, so just...just hug me, okay?" Lola nodded, lower lip trembling.
Constantine, Stephan and Noel stepped back, standing beneath a tree. The twins were talking at a fast pace, still clutching each other.
"I can't believe that's actually Paul." Stephan murmured. "He looks...well, like he's aged."
"It is weird." Agreed Constantine. "I guess he's been aging with Lola."
After a few moments the twins walked over. "Guys," Paul nodded at them, smiling sheepishly.
"C'mere!" Stephan hugged Paul tightly. "We've missed you."
"A lot." Added Constantine, giving Paul a hug.
Paul stuck his hand out to shake Noel's. "It's great to finally meet you," he grinned. "Gabriel's told me a lot about you."
"You've seen Gabriel?" they all cried, mouths dropping.
"I get around." He shrugged. "I heard about Gabriel through the grape vine, you know how gossip gets around. News like 'The Big Boss kidnapped his son!' tends to move quickly. C'mon." he led them down a path. "There's the river Pyriphlegethon, which will take you to Hades castle. That's where he's keeping Gabriel." They scaled the rocky slope, and Paul told them about the past six months in Hades.
"As soon as I heard Gabriel was here I applied for a job at the castle. Wait until you see it, it's pretty weird. Not what you expected." He laughed under his breath, shaking his head. "Gods are crazy. Anyway, I got the job because I've had a pretty good reference from my other ones down here so far."
"What've you done?" asked Noel, curious.
"Various stuff. Elysium is pretty boring most of the time to be honest, but way better than Asphodel. I've got a runner job from the lobby – that's where I found you guys – and the castle. Every now and then I do gate duty, sort of like customs at the airport. You all skipped that part. I let all those people how drown on the boat through to distract the guards." Paul pointed to a dock house. "I get a boat from there to the castle."
Constantine gave Paul's shoulder a squeeze. "You've really thought this out. We owe you one."
Paul blushed. "Well, I knew you'd need some help when you eventually got down here. I didn't know how or when, so I've been building up relationships with as many people as possible. I'm pretty popular down here, way more than I was at school." He laughed.
Soon they reached the boathouse and Paul stepped forward. "Follow my lead, don't say anything." He told them. They went in under the archway, noticing there was no one around other than a sulky looking girl at the help desk.
"Paul!" she brightened, sitting up straight.
"Celia, you're looking fresh today." It was far from true. Celia's skin was a damp, grey colour and her hair and clothes were dripping water all over the floor.
She giggled. "What can I do for you today Paul, one ticket?"
"Five please." He corrected, leaning up against the counter. "For my friends."
Celia glanced at them. "They look...odd."
"I know, lucky folk." Paul shook his head. "Sun stroke, a nasty way to go but sort of worth it for that lovely pink glow, eh?"
Now appearing jealous, Celia punched in a few numbers. "Five tickets, here you go."
"Thanks gorgeous." Paul actually winked and led them through the turnstiles, letting out a sigh of relief. "Okay everyone, this is it. Welcome to Hell."
A/N: Hullo folks, I'm back, and only a week or so later! Impressive for me these days.
Question: Paul! Lola is reunited with her twin and a huge weight is lifted from her shoulders. Thoughts on that, and HELL? What do you think of Hell so far?
Rose