Descent into Darkness

Gilles unfurled his tattered wings, sweeping Ars off his feet and gripping his neck as they plummeted towards the sea of corpses at breakneck speed.

Ars cried out in fear, "Stop, Gilles! We're going to crash!" but Gilles paid him no heed. 'Welcome to hell,' he said, leering at Ars with a wicked grin, who gazed back at him in terror and confusion

Fwoosh!

...

—!

"HAAAH!" Ars bolted upright as if jolted awake from a nightmare, but the nightmare felt too real.

He felt a damp chill beneath him as he struggled to move his heavy limbs. All around him, the air was thick with fog, and he couldn't see far beyond the looming rocks that hemmed him in. His confusion only grew as he tried to make sense of his surroundings.

He noticed a dark river flowing silently behind him, and a feeling of dread slowly creeped over him as he realized that he was ashore a dark river.

The River Acheron.

Despite the feeling of loneliness, he could hear the faint whispers of voices coming from all around him. He felt the warmth of it but there wasn't anyone near. Only the darkness that lingers everywhere.

Ars slapped his face several times, hoping to wake up from what he thought was a nightmare. But each time, he felt the sting in his cheek and the reality of his situation sunk in deeper. This was not a dream. He was really in the underworld, on the banks of the river Acheron, with no idea how he got there or how he could get out.

Slowly, he made his way towards the nearest wall and pressed his hand against it, trying to feel his way around. It was smooth and cold to the touch.

After several minutes of walking, he felt a gap on the wall.

It was a narrow chasm.

As Ars fit himself through, feeling the jagged rocks scraping against his skin, he could hear the faint sound of scurrying feet and flapping wings in the distance. The growls and hiss that only made him only uneasier. The air was thick with the stench of decay and rot, and the ground beneath his feet felt slimy and slippery.

After successfully passing through the chasm, Ars' eyes widen by the sight of a barren and desolate landscape with scattered skulls and bones on the ground.

While it was not as terrifying as Tartarus in his dream, the silence and darkness added to the overall sense of unease.

As Ars crept through without making his presence known, he couldn't shake off the feeling of uncertainty and dread that weighed heavily on him. The fear of something lurking in the shadows, ready to pounce at any moment, gnawed at his nerves.

As he cautiously moved forward, he noticed a rusted, broken blade lying near a pile of bones. The skeletal remains of what seems to be someone who fought for their life, trying to live. Ars couldn't help but wonder if he too would meet a similar fate.

Nevertheless, he reached out and grabbed the blade.

'Better than nothing.'

But as soon as his hand touched the blade, the skeleton sprang to life, grabbing his arm with a vice-like grip. Ars let out a blood-curdling scream, piercing the silence of the desolate wasteland.

In a desperate attempt to free himself, Ars forcefully pulled away from the skull's grasp, causing its arms to detach from the body. With a surge of adrenaline, he removed the skeleton's arm from his and used it to strike the skull repeatedly until it shattered into pieces.

The loud shrieks, growing louder with each passing moment was a sign for Ars to run away. Without any clear direction in mind, he stumbled forward, his feet pounding against the ground as he ran further and further away.

Ars kept running towards the darkness, his eyes were locked forward.

After what seems to be hours of him running, something stood up alone in the distance.

...!

Stumbling upon a grotesque sight—a massive withered tree, its gnarled trunks adorned with the rotting carcasses of human skeletons hanging by strips of their own flesh.

Macabre of the underworld.

The nauseating odor made his stomach churn, as though he was about to gag, but he felt completely numb. There was no sensation in his body, but chaotic emotions swam in his mind.

Ars felt a cold touch on his shoulder to which he instinctively swung his sword. Behind him was no one except a hound with glowing red scars around its body and eyes filled with blood lust as it lets out a snarl.

'A hellhound?'

It was the same size as him, and its fangs looked sharper and bigger than a normal wolf's.

'What the... I didn't know this existed.'

Ready to take whatever comes, Ars raised his broken rusted blade as the hellhound lunged at him, its jaws snapping with a sickening sound. Its fur was matted with dried blood, and eyes glinted with a feral rage.

The hound was fast, too fast for Ars's sluggish movements, and he barely managed to dodge its snapping jaws.

But he persisted, lashing out with his blade whenever he saw an opening, his breath coming in ragged gasps. The dog's hot breath brushed against his face, its fetid scent overwhelming him.

"Argh!..." Ars felt the hellhound's hot breath on his neck as its razor-sharp teeth sank into his flesh. He could feel warm blood gushing out from his neck.

"Fuck!..." he tried to stab the hound but his body felt weak to even thrust the blade deep.

Unable to even move his body due to exhaustion and loss of blood, his eyes closed slowly. Despite the feeling of its teeth deep sinking in his flesh...

He couldn't feel any pain.

Couldn't utter a single word.

Only his mind spoke.

'Damn.'

He felt like crying, but he was devoid of emotion.

Defeated.

...

...

...

...

...

"Haah...!"

Ars suddenly woke up, gasping for air. He found himself still lying on the ground with the hound on top of him, gnawing at his neck.

'I guess this is what is meant to be eternally damned.'

Acting impulsively, he took his broken and rusty blade and thrusted it deeply into the hound's neck, causing it to whimper. In response, the hound's fang sank deeper into Ars's neck, but he didn't feel any pain. He continued to stab the hound's neck deep in flesh until it finally perished.

With a deep sigh, he pushed the hound off him and scrambled to his feet. Blood no longer was pouring down from his neck.

'Huh?' Ars looked at his arms and body in confusion. He noticed that it was very pale, as if all the blood had drained from his body or dried up.

Without giving it much attention, he limped his way through the tree and leaned on it, taking a moment to catch his breath. He closed his eyes, but sleep eluded him.

Despite the wounds which the hound inflicted on him, he felt no exhaustion nor pain. It was as if his body had become numb to everything.

He looked at the sky which was engulfed by darkness. The absence of the sun and the moon left the place in a state of perpetual darkness, with no way to tell the time.

Ars felt a cold touch again on his shoulder. Slowly, he turned his head to see what it was.

There, sitting in a squat position, was a girl who appeared to be a ghost. Her face was pale and lifeless, except for her piercing, curious gaze. Her body emanates a green glow.

"Hm." Ars shifted back his stare to the sky.

"Hm?" the girl mimicked the sound Ars made in a confused tone.

The girl just continued to stare at him, her glowing presence casting an eerie light on the surrounding darkness.

Ars, who was starting to feel confused as well, turned to look back at the girl who was staring at him. They held each other's gaze for a moment.

"..."

"..."

"WAAAAAH!" Ars shouted in alarm as he jumped away from the girl. "Who are you?"

"Waaah!" the girl mimicked him again.

The girl stood up, raising her hands to balance herself. "Who are me? I'm... me!"

"Huh... Where are your parents?"

"Parents...?" she responds, tilting her head sideways.

'Oh, genius me. I'm in the underworld...'

With Ars too confused to even care, he began to walk away. "I apologize if I disturbed you," he said, continuing his journey to uncertainty beyond the darkness.

"Where are you going?" the girl asked.

"I don't know."

The girl rushed towards Ars and grasped the hem of his clothes, "Can I come with you?" she asked eagerly.

Ars turned to her with a furrowed brow and asked, "And why would I?"

"Becau-..." The girl gasped in surprise and exclaimed, "Orthy!~"

"Orthy?" Ars felt a warm wind blowing above his head, prompting him to turn around. His eyes widened in fear as he saw a two-headed dog standing before him.

"An O-Orthrus...?" Ars muttered, eyes fixed on the towering monstrous creature before him.

Chomp!

The Orthrus lunged towards Ars and clamped down on his head with its powerful jaws. The creature began to shake its head vigorously, dragging Ars' body around like a rag doll. Despite the violence of the attack, Ars found himself strangely unfazed, almost bored even, as he felt the thick saliva of the beast soak through his clothes and onto his skin.

"Orthy, put mister down this instance!" the girl tried to stop the Ceberus from gnawing down Ars' head. Ars thought to himself that there's no way a mythical beast such as Orthrus would obey a command of-... a little girl...

Thud!

Ars felt the thick saliva dripping down his face as Orthrus finally lets go of him. As he stood up to his knees, it was no doubt that the monster before him is the legendary two headed beast, Orthrus. The brother of the three headed beast, Cerberus.

The little girl pouted, "Why did you do that?"

To Ars' surprise, he heard a resounding voice ringing in his head as the Orthrus replied, "I simply thought he posed a threat against you." He realized that the monster was using its mind to communicate, as its mouth did not move.

Ars was taken aback by the fact that the Orthrus could speak, though he supposed it wasn't too surprising given that it was a mythical beast.

In confusion, he turned to the little girl and asked where they were.

She beamed at him and said, "Oh, this place? This is Hades!"

"Hades?" Ars repeated.

The girl nodded eagerly. "Yes, Hades is the place where me and Orthy will live for eternity!"

"Eternity?" Ars repeated again, his voice trembling. "How long have you been here? Am I going to be here for eternity, too?"

"I've been here for so long now!" the girl replied cheerfully.

'Well, that wasn't helpful.'

The girl thought for a second before she giggled excitedly, "Oh! Orthy knows!" She looked at Orthrus, who seemed reluctant to do so.

After a while of the little girl persuading Orthrus, he finally spoke, "I... am known as Orthrus of the underworld. And she is Minerva," he said with a sigh.

"That's right! I'm Minerva!" she chirped in.

"Nhng, yes... It's been thousands of years now since we've met each other," Orthrus continued.

'Thousands of years...,' he thought to himself, feeling uneasy. "Wait, so am I going to be here for eternity?" he asked.

"If you wanted to," Orthrus replied with a hint of reluctance.

"...?"

Orthrus lets out another sigh, "Do you know River Acheron?"

Ars tried to recall, thankfully remembering what Gilles had told him in his dream. "Yes."

"You can leave this place by passing through the said river," Orthrus said, bringing a slight sense of relief to Ars, but also some uneasiness.

"To do that, you must meet with the ferryman of Acheron."

"Ferryman of Acheron?" Ars repeated.

"Yes. The man I hate the most, Kharon."