Love Across Lifetimes

Rose couldn’t believe the weird turn of events that had occurred. She never thought that her feelings for Justin were anything more than being close friends. But seeing that huge rock about to crush him, her world stopped. She couldn’t lose him, she wouldn’t. That’s when she knew. She likes him a lot more than she has let herself believe this whole time. Then, Justin’s admission that when he thought she was dead, how afraid he was. She knew that he felt the same way for her. She had a feeling for a long time that Justin had a crush on her, but never thought it was more than a crush. Then, if all of that wasn’t weird enough, they had already spent half of the time for the quest in the Underworld. She had assumed that they had been underground for part of a day. They had to hurry. Once she told the group about her dream, they all looked worried. Grace seemed to lighten the mood when she said they were nearly there. The gates to the palace would soon be in sight. Now, they were all walking toward the palace across the plains. She kept looking over at Justin, then he would look at her. They would meet eyes and immediately look away blushing. Rose tries ignoring the butterflies in her stomach. But everything felt different. She feels like she has a new purpose in life, something new to keep her going. After walking for a few hours, they arrive at the entrance to Hades’ palace. “How are we supposed to get inside?” Charley asks. “I could try and summon an earthquake to break the door down,” Justin suggests. At first, it sounds like a good idea, but then Grace asks, “Can you control where you cause damage?” He thinks for a bit, then, “Probably not…” He says discouraged. Rose pats his shoulder, “It was a good thought, but let’s try something a little stealthier. Grace, do you know of anything?” “I might be able to tunnel under it. Let me see how deep the wall goes.” Grace closes her eyes, surveying the underground layout. When she opens her eyes, she looks surprised. “The walls don’t go deep. I can easily tunnel under them.” “Sounds good. Let’s do it somewhere away from the main entrance, we should try to be as inconspicuous as possible. In this case we need to be as stealthy as we can, we don’t want to cause undue attention to ourselves.” Just like in the tunnel of Orpheus, their way is only lit by their Celestial Bronze weapons. Luckily, they weren’t underground for too long. Grace starts sloping upward and shortly they broke the surface. One by one, they climb out of the hole. “Alright,” Justin starts. “Minos most likely will be in the throne room. Grace, any idea where that would be?” “It’s in the center of the palace, but I’m not sure how to get there.” Rose looks around the entrance of the palace. It looks like there is only one way to go, either they are in the right place, or it is a trap. Or both. “Well, there is only one way to go for now, so we might as well take it. We don’t have much else of a choice. Everyone, just stay on the look-out for any traps or dangers. Grace, keep scanning to see if any dead are coming our way, hopefully they aren’t attracted to your presence.” We make our way down the cavernous hall, Justin in the front, Gabe bringing up the rear. It’s a slow pace, but if they go any faster, they could set off a trap, or alert monsters to their presence. Grace is constantly scanning around them, looking for tunnels, pits and zombies that might entrap them. They check out every door, trying to find the throne room. In a few rooms, they have to kill some monsters or zombies so they won’t raise the alarm. Everything seemed to go fairly smooth. “Does this seem too easy to you guys?” Justin asks. Charley nods, “Yeah, I was just thinking that, but what choice do we have? There is only one hallway, so it isn’t like we can go down another one.” Rose looks ahead of them, “Hey you guys, do you think that’s the door we need?” Everyone looks straight ahead down the long hallway, at the end of the hallway is a large, ornate door. It sticks out like a sore thumb compared to the other doors. It must be the throne room. “What else could it be?” “Well, shall we see who is home?” Justin says. He brandishes Riptide and takes off running toward the door. “Justin wait!” Rose yells after him. “We need a plan!” It’s too late, Justin runs into the door and breaks open the doors. The group runs after him. “That Barnacle Brain better not get hurt! Because I’m gonna kill him!” Rose puts on a burst of speed to get there first. A few feet away from the door she hears it… A blood curdling scream from her best friend. She can’t see him yet, but she knows that he needs her. She comes through the door, seeing Justin curled on the floor in the fetal position. He looks like he is having a seizure because he is shaking so much. She looks up to the throne, to see Minos. He is holding a scepter made of bone that is glowing purple and radiating an energy that puts chills down Rose’s spine. She rushes to Justin and picks him up to hold him in her arms. Trying to comfort him in anyway. The rest of the group circles around them. She hears Minos chuckle, “Hello little demigods, so glad you could join us.”

Notes