CHAPTER LXXXVIII:Death’s Whisper.

I felt a brief moment of excruciating pain. It felt like my organs had all switched places in a twisted game of musical chairs, but then it had all stopped. I looked to my left and saw nothing but a lonely river, to my right was Charon's boat with Charon in the boat holding the staff that he used to guide the boat.

"I wasn't expecting you for a few more decades," Charon whispered, his voice was carried across the tunnel.

I've never heard Charon speak, right? Why was I here anyway? Did I really die? It took awhile to register, but my heart had stopped beating. Was I even breathing.

"W-where am I?" I asked frantically looking around and saw more ghosts of the dead.

I stood up and almost backed up into the Styx, Charon caught me, "Hey hey hey, you don't want to fall in there kiddo."

Charon sat me on the stone pathway next to the Styx, his staff had turned into a scythe now which didn't help calm a frightened child. I tried to back away, but hit a staircase. Charon set his scythe down and took his hood off, his real face wasn't what I was expecting. Charon looked like he was twenty years old, with pure white hair and bright blue eyes.

"How to explain this….you died," Charon paused for a moment. "You were hit by a car, and you ended up here. You, sadly, died on impact."

I stared at Charon blankly and practically felt my heart switch places again, "What?"

Charon sat in front of me, he looked like he's had to do this a few times, "Your life has come to an end…..prematurely I might add. This is where the Greeks and Romans, or rather everyone now, comes when they die. You have two options now, would you like to know them?"

I spoke softly, still scared of Charon, "Yes please."

Charon smiled a bit, "Great, you can go down the River Styx to Elysium. The trip is free of charge, I don't think the fee would be a problem though. The second option is I can take you back to your mother, no injuries no pain, just going back to your normal body."

Charon's smile wasn't forced, I guess not seeing his eyes didn't help all these years. This encounter would explain why Charon always smiled at me. I cursed my father's name for letting believe Charon was heartless. I held up a two of my fingers, showing I wanted the second option. Charon smiled and picked me up effortlessly, we were walking back to his when he leaned down and grabbed his scythe. He stepped on the boat and sat me down, his scythe turned into a large stick and he rowed down the opposite end of the river.

I saw a bright white light then came to on a street. As Charon said I felt no pain and, as proven later on, I had no injuries. I remembered this day now, but I didn't remember the encounter with Charon. I believe that was a side effect of resurrection.

I woke back up in bed to see that Draco was gone, but Asclepius was there. I sat up slowly, and Asclepius looked at me and his eyes widened. He looked like he had seen a ghost.

"How did you change your eye color?" Asclepius asked moving in front of me.

"I used my powers to change my eye color, my sister helped me," I answered.

"Your….sister….you mean Kori Vlahos?" Asclepius looked around gripping his staff.

"She's gone now Asclepius, she just wanted to talk," I said.

"Why should I believe that! You have no idea what she's capable of!" Asclepius yelled.

"Cause I would be dead or gone either way!" I yelled back.

Asclepius thought for a moment about what I said before walking away. I stretched and stood up, I grabbed my jacket and threw it on. I sat back on the bed for a moment waiting for Hecate, or anyone, to come and grab me. I sat there for a few minutes, before Hecate poked her head around the corner.

"Are you okay now?" Hecate asked, standing in a door frame to the left of the room.

I nodded, "I feel great, better than I ever have in the last few years."

Hecate smiled, "Yeah, Asclepius told me about your eyes. Peridot green, just like Apollo, right?"

"Yeah, he was the first god I met. Besides Hades of course," I answered.

Hecate's smile stayed, she clearly understood why I chose my new eye color, "Alright then, follow me to the last trial."

Hecate walked out of the room and I followed her quickly. After some much needed rest I was feeling great. Hecate led me through a dimly lit corridor, there was pictures of the fourteen Olympic gods in their Greek and Roman forms. It was interesting to see that while the Greek forms wore togas and wreaths, the Roman forms wore battle armor and all of them had the Omega symbol on their weapons. My father looked the same in both photos to untrained eyes, but his eyes were different colors in both photos. On his Greek form his eyes were what I was used, which was the opal black color he normally had, while his Roman form had fiery red eyes shining through a blackened steel helmet.

Hecate led me to a small room with a single school desk and a board in front of the room, "This is your last trial, a exam cause Asclepius won't let me do anything fun IN MY FUCKING HOUSE!" She shouted the last part at the sky.

"I'm not gonna let you kill my patient in your blood sport Trivia!" Asclepius shouted back.

I looked around and didn't see him at all, he was using his Voice of God trick again. Hecate looked fucking pissed, her clothes flickered slightly but never fully changed. I took a seat and looked over the test, it looked simple enough. I'd rather be fighting though, I was tired of getting injured and resting at this point. It felt like all of the gods were against me.

"On your father's name I will kill you!" Hecate yelled back at Asclepius, before calming down. "Well you know what they say Mary, the pen is mightier than the sword."

"Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered automatic weapons," I said, quoting General Douglas MacArthur.

"You sound like Penny," Hecate shot back sitting by the board. "Anyway, you may begin."

I took the pencil that was on the desk next to the sheet of paper, and filled out my name and got stuck on the date. I looked up and Hecate pointed at a calendar, I looked over at saw that all of the dates that had passed immediately crossed it. It was Saturday January thirtieth, 2021. Three minutes to midnight, I thought to myself.