Hours later, the soft lull of the boat gently shifted Alena closer into Damari's arms, letting the sweet smell of her flow over him in calming waves.
Inhaling the heavenly scent, Damari brushed a few strands of her hair behind her ear, whispering to himself that everything was going to be all right as he held her even tighter.
The cloaked man had yet to speak to Damari since offering the two of them passage across the steaming river, the clouds of smoke that lifted off of it's boiling surface reminding Damari fondly of the mist that would rise steadily off the ocean's surface in the early morning hours when he would be preparing his boat for another day at sea.
A muscle twitched subconsciously in his arm as he was reminded of the strenuous efforts he would put through his body, day in and day out, and it made his heart clench with sorrow of thinking how far away he was from his family.
Without knowing, Damari had tightened his arms to such a degree that they nearly squeezed the daylights out of Alena as she struggled to grab ahold of the slippery slopes of consciousness.
As one eyelid successfully opened, a deep bellied groan rose up from her throat, her left arm coming up sluggishly to shade her eyes from the unwelcomed light in the underground cavern.
"Alena?" Damari murmured quietly. "Are you okay?"
She groaned again before dropping her hand to her side to stare up above herself, the green tinted mist floating low past her face, tickling the skin under her nose.
"I feel as if I really need to stop passing out."
Damari's soft laughter made a tentative smile come across her face as she felt his hand move from her arm to reach down for hers.
Almost as if time itself slowed down, Alena watched as Damari's hand gradually came into contact with hers, his work roughened fingers encompassing her fingers with care.
The heat that had seared inside her hours before flared up again, flames licking at the pit of her stomach and spreading throughout her body from the top of her head to the tips of her tail.
A look came into Damari's eyes that Alena had only seen once before, which had happened to be when she was missing more than just her dignity.
His eyes reminded her of the ocean in all its magnificence in the midst of a storm, lightning flashing and thunder crashing, waiting for just the right moment to combust spontaneously in a cacophony of wind and rain.
Alena could feel herself melting in his arms, struggling to put some sense into the quickly fading reservoir of restraint.
But just as she felt like she were about to plummet off a rocky edge into the somewhat pleasant unknown, the heat turned into a soothing salve that relaxed all the bones in her body and eased the throbbing from any major injuries she could have required.
She couldn't explain the peaceful air that rushed through her system so quickly, but as soon as she let out a comfortable sigh and looked back up to Damari she gasped aloud.
His face had grown visibly paler and his eyelids fluttered with exhaustion as he leaned against her body heavily while she sat up to hold him close, allowing him to rest his head on her shoulder as he struggled to catch his breath.
"Damari, what's wrong?!" Alena questioned loudly, not caring for the appalling looking man that stood at the helm of the boat, quietly guiding the boat to an unfamiliar portion of land on the approaching bank.
"Just..tired..is all." he mumbled, tugging his hand at her wrist in attempts to pull away from her.
"What are you doing?" she hissed, until she felt an all too familiar twist as Damari weakly struggled to pull his hand form hers.
Staring down at their hands, she could see the silver mark quivering back and forth in her skin, the warmth that had spread throughout her body now visibly generating from the symbol etched on her.
She could feel it just as strongly as her heartbeat and didn't realize until she had placed two of her fingers on it that underlying the beating of her heart was another, beating in concord with her own.
Releasing Damari's hand slowly, she felt the warmth subside until it was only a faint caress on her skin, leaving her to look at Damari in disbelief.
"The..the bond... it-it.."
Damari rubbed her shoulder reassuringly and leaned his head against the boat while inhaling deeply through his nose. "It's as Amphitrite said it would be."
"But you...you gave me..." Alena stuttered, placing her hands on his heaving chest as if to reassure herself he was there and that he was alive.
"I believe the word you're looking for is strength, Alena." He laughed quietly, suddenly deciding against passing out on the side of the boat and instead sitting up to stare out across the polluted waters.
"How could you do that?"
"I have no idea really, I just thought of any plausible way that I could aid you and it simply...happened." He sighed heavily, massaging his temple before gazing out at the land that they had gradually sidled up next to.
He looked over at the hooded man and back out to the questionable land mass. "Where exactly are we?"
The hood moved in slow, dignified movements as the man lifted the paddle from the water, setting it aside as his aged hand rose up to draw back the cloak that hid his features.
He was a disgruntled looking gentleman to say the least, whose ash colored beard suggested he lived somewhere quite as miserable, if not worse, than the Underworld.
With his lips stuck in a grim, disconcerting line and his nose tilted somewhat to the right in a ghastly appearance, it was wise to say that he was one that wouldn't come across well in a civilized conversation.
"The gates." he said gruffly, gesturing for the two of them to step off the boat. "This is my stop for all souls. I suggest you move along before they find you."
"Before who finds us?" Damari asked skeptically, his eyes sliding over the cryptic landscape, shadows dancing in the darkness of the imminent unknown.
"The shades." Alena whispered, coming to a stand on her feet, only noticing that she wasn't in her siren form when Damari's cheeks flushed crimson and he took off his chiton to drape readily over her bare shoulders.
"I've brought you as far as his Lordship allows me to pass, this is where you must depart."
Alena shivered beneath the thin covering and steadied herself as she moved to step outside of the boat and into the moist, marshy land.
Damari grabbed ahold of her arm to stop her, gesturing to her dry feet before slipping the leather sandals off his feet.
"You take them." He said with a faint smile, bending down to strap them onto her soft feet.
The sensation of his callused hands smoothing over her skin made goosebumps scatter across her skin and an almost imperceptible blush rise into her cheeks.
"I think we should head out then." She coughed, avoiding Damari's impish grin and looking to the cloaked man instead. "Thank you...?"
"Charon."
Alena nodded her head and placed a hand on the cloth covered shoulder, feeling the protruding bone from beneath. "Thank you, Charon."
The short jerk of his head was answer enough as Alena stepped out of the boat, the foreign feeling of her feet inside the sandals as she stepped upon land causing her to marvel at its craftiness.
"Cerberus is not present at the moment." Charon called out while Damari and Alena moved a few feet away from the floating vessel. "He guards the gates to the Underworld, as I'm sure you know, Siren, so I suggest you make haste. Lest you be encountered by his unforgiving nature."
Bowing her head, Alena whispered another quick thank you as Charon pushed off from shore before she moved briskly past Damari and towards the large, looming gates.
Chiseled into the dark, brooding rock, the gates held themselves high above the dank atmosphere, the crystalline cut obsidian giving off a faint glow from its sharp edges as a deep, haunting scream was heard from behind the barred gate.
Damari stepped up to the jagged looking bars as he leaned forward, pressing his nose against the cool crystal while he tried to listen closely to the ambiguous sound.
The scream rang out again, much more shriller in its intensity, as if it were fearful of an impending doom falling upon itself.
Turning back to Alena, Damari held his hand up against the bars. "How are we suppose to make it inside? The gates are sealed shut."
"When the guard dog is aloof as well as missing." she chuckled darkly, lifting up a handful of rusted over chains. "There is always a way in regardless of a solstice."
"The question is how do we find it." Damari muttered, patting the ground at the base of the gates wearily. "Perhaps this Cerberus would leave behind a large enough track for us to trace him with, do you think?"
Refusing to roll her eyes at his lack of knowledge, Alena walked a few feet away from the massive architecture, looking pointedly at a gaping hole that had been smashed into the glass-like rock.
"You do know who Cerberus is, yes?"
Damari looked from the large void to Alena, confusion written across his face as she sighed and walked through the opening with ease, sliding past the sharp pieces of rock that seemed to be never ending.
"He is a three headed dog that serves as head guard to the Underworld, Damari." she whispered, antagonizing him with a laugh. "Honestly, I would have thought you'd listened to the stories your mother told you as a child."
"I thought they were nothing more than old myths." he said, shock smoothing over his tone as he followed her through the passage.
Being careful in grabbing his hand, she let out a sigh of relief when the strength renewing from earlier didn't occur, pulling him rapidly down the hall that she was sure would soon be inhabited by beings other than the living.
"Do you think they are now?" she hissed loudly, barely having any time to take in her surroundings when they came to a two point intersection in the hall, both appearing to go off in no real direction.
"How are we suppose to know which way will lead us to the throne room?"
Alena tapped her foot unconsciously while staring down each of the halls, trying to figure out which one would be their safest choice of action in finding Hades, and no doubt, Persephone.
Instead of waiting for her to answer, Damari reached into the pouch that contained both the vile that they had drank from, some parchment and the brass spy glass.
Withdrawing it carefully, he began to raise it to his eyes.
"Wait, Damari!" Alena shouted, grabbing ahold of his wrist tightly, feeling hers tug in a ready response. "If you don't know exactly what you desire when you look into that glass you could die."
Damari pulled his wrist from her hand and gave her a devilish smile. "Starting to worry over me, are you, Siren? Besides, you've used it already, it's only fair that I am given a chance as well."
At his light hearted words, Alena scoffed and threw her arms up. "Alright, do what you please, but don't come pleading your case to me when you have snake heads like Medusa and are confused as to which way is up or down."
Shaking his head at her antics, Damari lifted the glass to his eye, proceeding to look from the left, to the right, and then back to the left again almost instantaneously.
"Alena," Damari said, pushing the spy glass closer to his eye, "am I suppose to be looking for a light, or suspicious looking characters."
"The light, Damari, why?" she asked, laughing as she moved to look down both halls, still seeing nothing. "You think you see a ghost of sorts?"
Lowering the brass slowly, he pointed to the left as he started backing up into the right.
"I don't think, Alena, I see."
Following his retreating form, she snatched the spy glass from his hands to peer into it, to find that figures of all shapes and sizes were passing not only through the hall, but physically through them without any notice.
Their skin was weathered, looking like aged papyrus that could be found in many of the temples surrounding Athens; while they walked as if every step were uncertain, every move uncalculated until they realized they had stepped in the first place.
With sunken in cheeks, teeth that barely hung to the soft, pink palets of their gums, and hair that fell in strings, Alena held no need to stay any longer than was necessary.
Closing the spyglass, she turned to Damari only to find him sprinting down the hall in blind fear.
"Damari!" she shrieked, sprinting after him as his figure disappeared around a bend in the hall, the dark red interior massacering her eye sight as she ran faster.
"Damari! It's all right, they're just--oomphf!"
Dashing into a rock hard body wasn't something Alena had ever planned on doing, especially not just once, but twice since encountering the blonde haired sailor.
"What in the name of bloody Hera were you thin--"
But before she could finish, a hand covered her mouth in haste as her eyes began to adjust to where she had run into.
Instead of the same, dark and molten rock confining them beneath the earth's surface, fields of mossy green grass stretched throughout her vision as far as the eye could see.
Blue skies rained down upon the radiant fields, small dwellings scattering themselves in areas with plotting ground and soil.
However, they weren't like the regular houses that Alena had seen when she had been a young child in her family's company, or the houses that magnified largely in Damari's generation.
There was something off about this place, like everything was okay.
Life was good, there was no pain or sorrow, and all were given plentiful grounds laid with an abundance of food along with homes that kept them safe and warm from all harm.
Alena couldn't comprehend it all because the idea of everyone and everything being safe, sound, and alive made it sound as if this place were....
Flawless.
She sucked in her breath, the fresh, sweet smelling air filling her nostrils while Damari stared off in wonder towards the rolling hills that could be seen in the distance.
I know what this place is, she thought steadily, I know it too well, and we need to leave here before anything else goes awry.
"Damari, we need to go." she muttered fiercely.
"Now, why would you want to do that?" A voice calmly asked from behind her.
Alena's scream was short lived as she spung around to find a tall, dark haired man staring at her with eyes as intense and as dark as his locks.
His light olive skin created an angelic look about him, the pure white tunic and pants he wore clashing completely with his chestnut colored curls.
He cocked his head to one side in speculation, smiling gently to reveal perfectly straight teeth, making Alena groan silently in her mind as she tried to accumulate a plan of escape.
"I can see that you all are not supposed to be here as of present, is that correct?"
"Yes," Alena quickly stated, inching closer to Damari, "so we really must be going, we've simply lost our way among the rivers, His Lordship called Cerberus to his side not one hour ago and the other shades are in mayhem."
The man's hazel colored eyes clouded over for a moment. "Oh has he? I didn't hear of such a thing. I must find a way to remain in better contact with their Majesties, but if I may ask, Shade, what are you doing here?"
Alena plastered a fake smile across her face. "What do you mean? Mister..um..."
"Rhadamanthus."
"Ah, yes, Rhadamanthus," she laughed generously, "well you see, we were mixed up at the intersection along with the other shades because of the lack of guidance, there was no way to the judgement hall."
Rhadamanthus' eyebrows furrowed. "Then you should not be here, this land is only for the eyes of the blessed, those that have lived out a life of grace and servitude. If my brother Minos has not judged you yet, I suggest you return before I am forced to take drastic measures to ensure the safety and peace of these chosen few."
Alena raised her hands defensively, the creature inside her screaming to fight back, yet she resisted, knowing that murder would do no good in this land.
"We were leaving, please, do take pity on us poor souls, we only just wanted to--"
"Alena."
Damari's hoarse voice caught Alena's attention as she looked away from Rhadamathus to find Damari as stoic and as still as a statue, his spine straightened to attention while gazing at a small cottage that sat not too far from where they stood.
"What is it, Damari?" She asked worriedly, the color draining from his cheeks putting her nerves into overdrive. "Are you unwell again? Has your strength left you?"
"No." He said, his voice gruffer around the edges, his eyes centered dead on the small home encircled by plants and greens all alike.
"Then what is it?"
No response.
Shifting on her feet, Alena glanced strangely at Rhadamanthus who held a veiled look to his gaze now as he moved to the right of Damari's shoulder, an air of mystery wrapped around the two of them.
"Damari, what is it? Please tell me!"
Still, silence met her question, and Alena moved around the pair to see what was so enticing about this mysterious cottage in the fields.
It looked exactly like any of the others, she thought, livestock grazing the grass around the house, vegetation sprouting from the garden situated behind the back door of the house, even the same exact flowers placed in a pot on the windowsill.
However, the one thing that wasn't attached to all the other houses became painfully clear as Alena saw the occupant of this particular house step off of his porch and into the blazing sunlight.
His crisp, blonde hair curled just around the tips of his ears while the sun burned skin on his cheeks added a ruddiness to his appearance that wouldn't have been their otherwise if it weren't for his work in the outdoors.
His blue eyes were all too familiar, as much wisdom in them now as Alena had seen in their depths the day she spared him all those years ago.
Damari visibly shook as he moved closer to the figure, hands trembling with the strength to keep moving, the strength to overcome, yet the fear of not knowing what was to happen next overwhelmed him.
He knew he would have something to say, something that he had never been able to say to the man in all those years, every day that they looked out to sea together and even that day when he held him tightly in his arms and told him he would never leave them.
Damari knew exactly what to say because it was his father.
And Leon Callos was never a man to mince words.
~*~*~*~*~