After suiting up in the armoury, Adonis and Penelope met with Hades and Persephone at the entrance of the Underworld. “Be brave, child” Persephone told Penelope and had her one hand gently cupped underneath her chin. “I will, thank you”. “Adonis, take this for Cerberus” Hades said and handed a silver thermos to Adonis. “You still remember the changing paths of the Tartarus?”. “I do. Each and every one of them”. “Good. Keep in mind that the pathway will change by the hour”. “Yes, my king”.
“Penelope, I wish you the best as you journey through to Tartarus. Since Tartarus is in the depths of Hell and falls solely under Tartarus’ control, I will not have any way of knowing if the two of you are safe”. “We will both be fine” Penelope said and took in a deep breath. Persephone embraced Penelope first and then Adonis. “Take good care of her, my son”. “I promise I will” Adonis said and started to walk out into the cold strong winds. Penelope turned and followed suite.
Penelope and Adonis walked side by side through the sand storms and only spoke once they passed the entrance to the Elysian Fields. “What’s in the flask?”. “Hmm?”. “The flask, for Cerberus”. “Cerberus doesn’t take well to visitors. He is accustomed to me, but he might become violent upon seeing you. This flask contains his favourite animal’s blood; eagles”. “Good thing we are bringing him a treat then” Penelope joked but she received no reaction from Adonis. “Have you had another vision?”. “No. It’s not something I can control, you know?”. “I understand that, I’m just…”. “Anxious to feel complete again?” Penelope suggested and Adonis’s gaze intensified on hers. “Exactly, and it all lies in your hands”. “My hands? I don’t think it was me that was opening the locket and freeing your soul. I was seeing the vision in third person”. Adonis sighed and looked ahead at the dessert. “Never mind”. “What do you mean, never mind? What is it now?”. “I won’t explain it to you, the fates will”. Penelope groaned in frustration and continued walking.
Penelope noticed movement beneath the sand and stopped in her tracks. She shrieked when she saw that the movement was caused by a snake. “It will not harm you. It senses my presence” Adonis said calmly and held Penelope’s hands, dragging her away from the direction in which the snake travelled. “How does that work? You controlling the creatures? When I made my way from the house of Morpheus to Hades’ home, he told me that you had made sure there were no creatures in my way”.
“They have long ago accepted me as the prince of the Underworld, the next King to rule this world”. “So you just command and they obey?”. “It sort of worked with you that night, didn’t it?” He teased and Penelope immediately blushed as she struggled to get the dirty thoughts out of her mind. Penelope cleared her throat and picked up her speed. She heard Adonis laugh and then he caught up and reappeared at her side. “Have you ever been to Tartarus?”. “Yes, I was on two occasions granted permission from Hades and Tartarus himself. I was trained to memorise all 56 different routes to the dark pitted entrance of Tartarus. So I spent endless hours down there with Hades, memorising the route and then finding my way back to Cerberus at the gates of Hell”. “That’s amazing. And you haven’t forgotten?”. “I couldn’t, even if I wanted to. It is etched in the back of my mind”. “You are full of questions today” He commented. “Would you prefer to walk in silence? It’s a long way till the gates of Hell, isn’t it?”. “It is. And I wasn’t complaining, I like you best like this”.
Penelope thought that he must be lying to her. She knew he liked her best when she was all tied up, body crimson and bruised from his beatings. “Where are you lost?” Adonis asked her with a sly smile on his face. “I was thinking, why don’t you address Hades and Persephone as your parents? I know your birth story, but they seemed to have accepted you as their son. Hades is even keen on passing down his throne to you”. “I do love and respect them, and in the same breath I can say that I respect my birth parents as well. Even though I was born out of an incestuous relationship, they are still my parents. I guess I felt as though I would be cheating them to disregard their roles of my life”.
“I see. It makes sense. Where are your mother and father now?”. “King Cinyras’ soul wonders the Elysian Fields. As for Smyrna, I have no idea”. “Have you ever asked Hades for permission to meet with Cinyras?”. “No. I’ve never asked and he’s never offered. I’d prefer it to stay that way”. Penelope nodded her head in understanding, and then pursed her lips in a pout. “What about Aphrodite?”. “What about her?”. “Don’t you meet with her?”. “After I was killed by Ares, Hades forbade another Greek God or Goddess from entering any part of the Underworld. He signed a treaty with Morpheus as well, to make sure they couldn’t use him to get to me. And so, he no longer converses with the Greek Gods and Goddess through dreams”. “So you haven’t seen or heard from her since you died. How does that make you feel? Don’t you miss her?”.
Adonis looked at Penelope, his brows etched in a playful frown. “Who is asking me this? The Penelope who is here solely to complete her quest? Or the Penelope who desires me more than anything else in the world?”. Penelope stopped walking, but averted her gaze to the ground. “And don’t say that you don’t desire me, Penelope. I feel it, all the time. “It’s like ecstasy to my veins”. Penelope looked up at Adonis and then in front of her.
Why was Adonis asking her this? He had to have known the answer, but of course, he probably wanted her to say it out of her own will. He was right, she desired him. So much so, that he was always on her mind. But what did Adonis want from her? She couldn’t offer him much, besides being his plaything in bed. A man like him couldn’t possibly be with a drab like her, someone of lower stature from a messed up family involved with the wrongs of the past. She didn’t see herself as worthy enough of a man destined to be the King of the Underworld. But now was not the time to be pondering over this. “I think we’ve reached” She said and continued walking.
Adonis stood still, as he watched Penelope walk ahead of him. They were, in fact nearing the entrance to Hell. But why hadn’t she answered him? Why was she avoiding the obvious? He knew that she wanted him. He could smell it on her. Could sense her need. Could feel her desperation. If this was a game, he would emerge as victorious. He smiled to himself. Females really were something, but however they were, you couldn’t live without them. He jogged his way over to the gated entrance of Hell and held his hand against the large black gate, along with Penelope, pushing forward to open it. Adonis uncapped the thermos and handed it to Penelope. “Here, you will need to gain his trust by feeding him. If he feeds, you know that he trusts you”. Penelope took the flask from Adonis’ hand and shivered slightly when their skin brushed each other. She didn’t look at him while she took the flask from him. “Follow me” Adonis said and walked past the gate.
Penelope looked around her. They were in a dimly lit cave that smelt of dust. Penelope coughed and waved her one hand in front of her face, clearing the air of dust for her to breathe. She clutched the thermos with both hands nervously as she followed Adonis. The cave was slightly starting to get lighter, easier to see, but also much warmer. As they continued to walk through the cave, the brighter and lighter it seemed to be getting. Penelope could now feel the heat of the flames and had to shield her eyes from the brightness of the fire. Penelope collided with Adonis’ back as he abruptly stopped walking. “Sorry” She mumbled, squinting her eyes from the bright fire. After her eyes adjusted to the cave and the fire, she opened her eyes fully and examined her surroundings. There was fire everywhere. As if the walls of the cave were a waterfall and the fire was the water. Adonis slipped his fingers between his lips and let out a long high pitched whistle. “Just hold out the thermos, he’ll come to you” Adonis said and pulled Penelope in front of him. Low multiple growls filled the silence of the cave and soon Penelope noticed three pairs of glowing red eyes approaching. She took in a deep breath and stepped onward.
Finally, Cerberus was completely visible and Penelope almost lost her balance at the sight of the beast. Cerberus was pitch black with jaws the size of a whale. His teeth were razor sharp and enormous, dripping of saliva. He walked in her direction and Adonis let out another whistle. One out of the three heads of Cerberus looked at Adonis with his ears pricked. He seemed to have recognised him as he was heading to Adonis. But then another head noticed Penelope and the thermos of blood in her hand and then the creature came rushing to her side. Cerberus was so huge that she was sure she looked like an ant in comparison to him.
“Throw it in the air” Adonis instructed and she threw it up in the air and then stumbled backwards into Adonis’ arms, just in time to be saved from the fight between the three heads of the hellhound for the thermos filled with eagle blood. Once Cerberus was fed, he went to the middle of the cave and pounded his paw into the dirt. The ground shook for a second and then the rocky floor moved apart, revealing a staircase made of clay and earth leading down further into the ground. Adonis gave a shorter whistle and ran his hand fondly through the fur of the large 3 headed dog. “Let’s go” He said and led Penelope down the stairs. Penelope whipped her head around as she heard the stoned surface closing above her head and looked up to see Cerberus growling down at her.