1. Cry Havoc
Charon gathered his robes and strode down the marble hall. He didn’t care that the ferry was left unattended – Cerebus would make sure nobody would climb in there. The hood whipped off Charon’s skull-like bald head as he walked.
Hades needs to know.
The guards outside of the chamber of the dead crossed their pikes at him. He slammed down his steering pole and they removed the pikes. He thrust into the hall and heard…
Laughter.
Of course, Persephone was here, this was the winter season. Hades, usually so dour and angry, would kick puppies during the summer months above in the West, but here, now, his wife was there, and she brought love and laughter to the place. Charon, however, was not in the mood for that.
The laughter halted. Hades was lying prone on his settee, while Persephone, half-dressed, was showering him with kisses. He was also half-dressed and a sheet barely covered his nether regions. Charon didn’t look much further than that.
He dropped to his knees in the middle of the court while Hades rose, angry. “What is the meaning of this interruption, Charon?”
“That psychompomp is back.”
“Which one?”
“The one you fired last year. The necromancer.”
Now Hades got to his feet, ten feet of hugely muscled man, not caring that the sheet fell from him. “The black necromancer?”
“Black no longer, my Lord.”
“I thought the spirits enacted a pact with him.”
Charon continued, “He summoned a soul this eve, pulling her away from the shore. I saw it, and heard his voice commanding her to return to a body he had made for her.”
“What is so special about this soul?”
“It exists by shadows.”
Hades looked thoughtful. “What is it you demand of me now, Charon?”
“The spirits will tear him to pieces for eternity, my Lord, as the spirit of StarWyng did.”
“That is no concern of mine.”
He looked up. “The prophecy, my Lord.”
Hades ground his teeth, a not pleasant sound. Persephone put her tanned hand on the her husband’s alabaster forearm. “Husband?”
Hades took a deep sighing breath. “I made a deal with Harmonia to protect a man and take him on as my one of my reapers. He failed at that, taking the spirits that he reaped – and spirits around that were free and wild – and used them for his own purposes.” He turned to Persephone. “I withdrew my protection and he was killed by his lover’s demon mentor.”
“He is not here?”
“Because another elemental returned his life to him, and his soul snapped back to it.”
“What is this prophecy?”
Hades looked down at Charon. Charon said quietly, “That upon his death, my Lady, he will take my name and mantle and staff.”
“So he has forced another spirit to do his will. This means the spirits will haunt him until he dies.”
“The spirits will be forceful, led by StarWyng or his brother.”
StarWyng was an Aerian, an alien with a strong sense of morality – her own morality. She and Grim had been at odds with each other since meeting, since Grim never kept the secret that he killed his brother Phillip to gain power. StarWyng hated him from that moment, even though she, like many others, gave him chances to redeem himself.
This last time, StarWyng had torn Grim to shreds in the Umbra, over and over and over. Finally a pact was extracted: no more using spirits or lower demons, for his own work. Hence he took up swords, but could not stop using nether magic to take life from elsewhere to heal himself or others.
Now, it seemed, he had regressed again, and gone back to commanding spirits.
Hades looked to Charon. “Then we will let them loose and any who choose to follow.”
Words: 636
Notes: Depending on StarWyng’s player, she may participate. If not, I’ll use Phillip. Grim won’t die. He’ll be haunted, though he’s damn sick and tired of owing people.