The Reviver’s Passage: Chapter XVII
By: Prappies
Hestia, even after seeing the entrance multiple times at this point, could not help but to be astounded at the delicate architecture that had to have been utilized to create the door.
The god and she stood outside Greed’s Palace, saying their final goodbyes. Hestia stood to the side, as she watched the god and his brothers converse. She herself didn’t partake in the conversation, but stood close enough to where she could hear and listen to their every word.
The former night’s events were still ringing in her head after all.
She listened as the brothers laughed (just Animus and her god though, Avaricious stared blankly at them. Only a ghost of a smile playing on his lips.)
Animus slapped the god’s back, similarly like how young boys would interact with their own brothers back in the villages Hestia had visited. She couldn’t help but marvel at how similar brothers were, human or god.
Animus looked up and noticed her staring. She blushed, embarrassed at having been caught, and quickly looked away. Animus, as was his nature (despite his name of course), took no offense at her. He instead beckoned her over.
Her god, having been facing his brother, looked behind him to see what he was waving at. Noticing Hestia, he too called her to come over. Although his action was a bit more frivolous, he waved her over, as if she were a princess and he a noble whose status was below her. A teasing action. He sidestepped and moved his arms to call her forward. Hestia shook her head, still embarrassed, but listened to his request anyway.
She walked over to them, and gave a quick polite bow to the gods. While holding her hands up in front of her, palms together.
“Well this is the last leg of your journey isn’t it Hestia?” said Animus. Her god placed his hand on her shoulder, Hestia turned to look at him and he gave her a squeeze of encouragement.
“Yeah, I suppose so. Only the last bit of the journey left. I’ve got to fight Sin, and talk to your father to let Wally come home with me.”
“Well technically you’re only halfway through your journey, since you fought us two, and have two more left to convince,” interjected Avaricious, to Hestia’s surprise.
“Well, it’s something we can knock out at once. So I’d still call it the final leg.” grinned her god, as he moved his hand from on her shoulder, wrapping his entire arm around her.
“I guess so,” sighed Avaricious. His tone told Hestia he had no interest in arguing with any of them.
“Well, I do think we should warn you Hestia,” began Animus. Hestia refocused her attention onto the youngest brother. “Sin, he is not quite like the rest of us.”
“How so?” asked Hestia. Knowing that these brothers were far less than normal, she couldn’t help but to wonder exactly what the eldest and last brother was like. Animus was loud and brash, Avaricious was quiet and shy, and her own god was somewhere in the middle. Not as loud as Animus, but not quite favoring silence either. In her mind, these three brothers had already filled all possibilities of personality.
“Well, he is… what’s the word…” paused Animus. “More sinister.”
“More sinister than you and Avaricious?” Hestia asked, incredulous.
“Yes, more sinister than us, we may not be that sinister…”
“You both tried to kill me. I don’t know how much more sinister you can get than that?”
“Well, we are pretty good now so I don’t know why that bothers much….” winced Animus. His threats to her are clearly vivid in his head.
“Well you still did try to stab her a few times… can’t really defend that,” said her god, scratching his back awkwardly.
“Well that’s not important now. That’s a thing of the past. I like you now so, let’s let the past be the past ok?” sighed Animus, cringing internally. Avaricious shook his head, his hand wiping over his face. His eyes glinted with amusement.
“Can’t really move away from that forever,” laughed her god, “but we do have more important things to talk about. Continue telling Hestia about dear Sin brother.”
“He is pretty cruel…” Animus began stuttering over his words. He rubbed his palms together, and Hestia can’t help but to notice the stricken expression on his face. His gaze never once did meet Hestia’s. Neither of his brothers came to his assistance.
His face was slightly gaunt, and his hands looked sweaty. His eyes were a bit wide, with what seemed to be slight confusion. Hestia looked to her god, who didn’t meet her eye. He was staring straight at his brother instead, his expression unreadable.
Seeing as the god was going to be of no help to her, she turned back to Animus. With a small bow, she spoke.
“Thank you for your advice. Is there anything else I should be wary about?”
Animus, still, was not looking at the girl.
“Eh, I would say not. Just be smart, don’t be stupid. And understand…” he paused for a second, collecting his thoughts and putting it into words. He took a deep breath, and finished his sentence. “…know that not everything is what it seems.”
At these words, there were two immediate reactions. One from Hestia, who crossed her arms, thinking back to the previous night’s events. She knew that there were multiple things cooking under the surface of the truth she had been told. But, she had not expected one of the gods to say it outright to her face.
Apparently she wasn’t the only taken aback by this new development. Somebody beside her Hestia whipped her head around to see who it was, and was surprised to see that the sound had come from her god.
The god looked horrified. His unreadable expression quickly turned to rage when he realized what his brother had just said. He mouthed some words that Hestia couldn’t catch, but judging from his expression, it was nothing all that kind.
Animus’s nervous stature quickly changed course as he gave his brother a cocky little wave. Avarvious just sighed in the background.
“Brother…” warned the god. His rage was loud and known on his face, but in his voice it was soft and quiet. Yet the rage was still heard, clear and known.
Animus did not cower to the treats of his elder brother. Instead, he gave him a pointed look. “Brother, I think the secrets held between the two of you have been held for long enough. You have a long walk. Take the walk, and talk it all through. You owe her this much.” said Animus.
Hestia couldn’t agree more. She had already planned on questioning the god, but this just made that future conversation a whole lot easier. Yet, looking at the god, she couldn’t help but to laugh. From the expression he had on his face, she was sure he would start growling if it hadn’t been such a frowned upon act.
“You do owe me,” said Hestia, her arms still crossed as she spoke to him. He glowered down at her for a few seconds. Hestia, used to his strict antics at this point, did not back down. It took a while, but he finally groaned.
“Yes, it does seem like I owe you quite a little bit,” he admitted. “Very well, as we walk to my father’s castle, I will answer any questions you may have. And I will not hold anything back.”
His glower turned into a warm, but tired smile. He held his hand out to her. “Henceforth, there will be no more secrets between us.”
Hestia looked between him, and his outstretched hand. The smile on the god’s face began to wane.
“Hestia?” he asked imploringly. When her eyes returned back to his face, he shook his hand again, and pointed to his hand using his eyes. Hestia smiled, and grabbed his hand with her own.
The god then reached over his other hand and encompassed her small hand in his own large hands. He shook her hand so enthusiastically that Hestia was sure her hand would be pulled off.
The god then looked over to Animus and Avaricious, who had remained silent throughout Hestia and the god’s heart to heart.
“Happy brother?” mocked the god, looking over to Animus. Instead of taking offense at this, Animus raised both his hands up in surrender. He was smirking.
“Happy brother,” answered Animus. “It’s getting late, you should get going. Wouldn’t want Hestia here falling asleep halfway to the palace.”
“No we would not,” smiled Hestia.
“Well then,” the god looped his arm through Hestia’s. Hestia froze for a second before turning to look at the god, he was grinning down at her. “We best get going.”
“Yes,” she said. She pulled her arm from his elbow and turned to the brothers. One regarded her with a warm smile, and the other with a grim expression. She, once more, owed to both.
“I really cannot thank the both of you for your help. Avaricious,” she turned to the grim looking god. “Thank you for housing me after our fight.”
Avaricious gave her a grunt in response.
“And Animus..” She turned to the youngest of the gods. He was regarding her with a smile. “Thank you for advice… and not killing me” she added with an afterthought.
“Ah you are too kind!” laughed Animus. “No need to bow to us. There is really no need. Right, Avaricious brother?”
Avaricious, it seemed, thought differently. “I quite like this. Do keep bowing.”
His eyes shone. He looked very pleased to see a mortal bowing at his feet. Greed, after all, was his name. Hestia smiled to herself.
“Ok, now get going! You can’t stay here forever.” Animus waved them off. Hestia and her godly ally took their leave.
Hestia watched as Animus waved to them, bidding them farewell. She waved back as she walked further and further away.
The castle, which seemed as enormous as a city when they were so near, was shrinking in size very quickly. The edges of the castle blurred with the distance, and so did the two small gods who dwarfed in comparison to the architectural delight.
Their silhouette was gone far before the castle was gone. Within 4 minutes, the voices of farewell from Animus were simply too intermixed with the winds for Hestia to hear anything. Within 6 minutes, they too were nowhere to be seen. And within 30, the castle of Avaricious was nothing but a speck against the maroonish red sky of the underworld.
Most of their walks had been very repetitive of each other. Long walks with casual silence and small talks. Often accompanied by the god giving her little pointers on how she could improve her swordplay and such.
This walk started off quiet. There was nothing much to talk about, all that was to be said had already been said with Animus and Avaricious. But this time, where before there had been a casual silence, this time there was an awkward silence.
The god was avoiding her eyes. His eyes remained fixated on the empty space in front of him.
The objective was to avoid enemy souls at all cost. They came across a few of Avaricious’s souls, with their sweet-talks and their empty promises. When such a soul crossed them, the god would step in front of Hestia, before she could even process the presence of enemies, and pointed his hand at them. They screeched in an agony Hestia could not process, before running off in the opposite direction.
Whatever magic it was the god had used to send them in such a morbid frenzy, was invisible to the human eye. Hestia frowned lightly, a grimace on her face. She looked pityingly at the souls as they twitched and screamed under the spell the god put them under.
“You do know you don’t have to go that overboard right?” she said, watching as the 5th pair of souls scampered off to only god knows where. “Just scare them off.”
“This is more effective. When did you start feeling pity for the souls?” asked the god, flexing his fingers. Hestia suspected he cramped them from using them so much to clear their path of souls.
“Slightly yes,” she admitted. “It looks like you are torturing them.”
“Didn’t you slice a few in half with your sword. How different is this from that?” the god raised his eyebrow.
“That was quick. You are torturing them over a long time frame. That’s something cruel.”
“2 minutes is not a long time…”
Hestia smiled “For torture it is.”
~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Much like the last two times Hestia had crossed it, the chasm was as orange and as violent as before. The river, whose waters closer resembled that of fire moving in a more fluid way, than of water itself, was a site of familiarity and growth to the young woman.
To think that not even a short while ago, this was the scariest thing she encountered on her trip to the underworld. Hestia could only scoff at that idea, now knowing what else the Land of the Dead holds.
The bridge was thin and unsteady, with ropes thinner than hair, and wood flooring less stable than a failing marriage. One misstep and boom… down into the fiery waters one will go. No life, no Wally, and no reincarnation.
But, once again, worse has happened. And Hestia has gotten through that worse. And so, Hestia took her first step.
The distance between the bridge and the river was a lot smaller this time. The bridge was only a few meters above the flaring waves, Hestia guessed maybe 2-3 meters up.
As she stepped, the floorboards moaned under her mortal feet. She heard a creak, and felt the bridge bend under her weight. But, the bridge did not let up.
She felt the god walk right through her, a warm feeling filling her as their bodies connected and merged. As he walked through her, she turned translucent, fading away slightly into the background before taking on his more physical state. Only after he had passed her. He walked fast, much faster than Hestia would be hobbling across. He walked like how one would walk on a sidewalk, calmly and with purpose.
He had somewhere to be after all, and he knew the bridge was no risk to him. He was lighter than a feather. Because at the end of the day, even the feather had weight.
Hestia took her steps slowly and softly. Pressing as little weight on one foot, before taking her next step. She tried to as evenly distribute her body weight as possible.
The god reached the otherside before she was even halfway across. He turned to watch her. He rested his hands on the rope railings, holding it as steady as possible for her, even if she was too far behind for it to have made any difference. She gave him an appreciative smile nevertheless.
“You can walk with a little more speed,” he prodded.
“I’m working on it.” said Hestia, ignoring his advice. She continued with the same speed she had started with.
Step by step she continued on, one foot after the next. Her hands gripped the rope railings so hard she was sure to see blisters when she finally let go.
Just shortly past the halfway mark, she took one more step. A step she figured was no different than any of the others she had taken before. It was just a step, how harmful could the step be?
She found her answer when the wood floorboard, the old, diseased floorboard cracked. And then completely broke under her. Her left leg fell through the hole and lodged itself there.
Hestia screamed.
She screamed as she felt her balance fall apart. Now with one leg firmly lodged in the tight hold, there was not much she could do as the bridge tipped over, flipping sideways. Now she was holding onto the rope bridge which was now on top of her, and her leg slowly began to slip out of its hole.
“HESTIA!” yelled a voice
She turned to look at the opposite side of the chasm, the god stood there, absolutely stunned. He watched her with wide, panicked eyes. He made a motion forward, as if he was to come to her air, but then he stopped. His eyes then moved from her to the chasm below her. The waters spewed up and around, a scarily close distance to Hestia herself.
Her leg fell from the hole, and now she was dangling from the bridge, her feet almost skimming the surface of the waters. To avoid the splashes of the water, she pulled her legs to her chest, her thighs now in excruciating pain.
She looked back to the god, who still hadn’t moved. He was hesitating to come to her aid. His eyes were still on the water below. Hestia’s heart dropped.
She didn’t think he was going to come to her aid.
From what he said, the river was dangerous to even a god. One touch, one drop of its waters would imprison her in the underworld for all of eternity. She would never be able to reincarnate and enter the cycle of life again. While he too would be chained to the underworld forever, the consequences were far worse for her than it was for him. Hestia looked down at the waters, wondering when a single splash of water would manage to jump high enough to scrape her foot, damning her eternally.
She closed her eyes.
And still his fear chained him to the floor of the otherside, chained onto the safe ground off of the bridge.
What was a mortal to a god anyway? They died, and left. A god was superior. Was risking his own life really worth it? For the life of a human girl.
She felt the bridge bend once more, she swore internally as she got even closer to orange waters. She pulled her legs higher up.
Suddenly, something gripped her wrist, and began to pull her up. She looked up and was greeted with a vibrant pair of red eyes.
He stood on the rope like a tightrope walker in a circus. Moving with a lot more flexibility and dexterity than one. Hestia hadn’t even seen him climb onto the rope.
The god managed to pull her up halfway, changing his grip so now he was holding onto her upper arm. He used his free hand to grab her other shoulder, and pull her up entirely.
With one last pull, he managed to pull her up on his lap. He held her with one hand on her back, and the under holding up her knees. He then looked to the otherside. Wondering how he would get them both safely across the precarious bridge.
“I’m going to throw you,” he stated, after not much thought. He loosened his grip on her, and began to gently swing her back and forth.
“I’m sorry what?” she hissed. She didn’t have time to reply before she found herself flying through the air. She didn’t even have time to scream before she crashed against the red rock on the other side.
She groaned as she pushed herself up, inspecting the bruises on her shoulder, from when she crash landed. She made a small “s” sound as she touched the scraped skin gingerly.
When she turned back around, the god was slowly making his way back to her. His arms flailing up around him, and his feet one in front of the other. Walking on the thin rope with as much balance as he could muster up. When he made it to the end, he jumped off and landed perfectly on both feet.
And just as he did, as if the universe was sighing a breath of relief, the bridge collapsed. She watched as the wood that she had stood upon once went hurtling into the tumultuous waters below. The river swept away the entrails, ripping and tearing it apart first. When it was gone, she turned to her savior.
He saw her looking at him, and gave her a smile.
A shaky smile, but still a comforting smile.
“Are you alright?” He asked her, walked over and offered her his hand. She accepted, and let him pull her to her feet. She landed a bit wobbly, but the god held her by the stomach to help her.
“Thank you.” she muttered.
“Your welcome,” said the god.
Silence followed their small exchange. Hestia was still breathing hard from the panic that had taken a hold of her. So close, had she been any closer she was a sure goner.
“I didn’t think you were going to come after me,” Hestia said.
“Neither did I,” admitted the god.
She laughed from the shock of it all. Near death and close to drowning, shock electrocuted through her body, her body not even yet realizing that the danger was long behind them. She buried her face in her hands.
She couldn’t believe it. The most simple part of her journey had been the most deadly. The god watched her, unease settling on his face.
When she had finally gotten control of her shock, and laid it down to rest. She asked him a question.
“What compelled you?”
The god looked even more confused. “Sorry?”
“What compelled you to rescue me?” She repeated, with a little more confidence.
“Well…” the god was silent. A sign that Hestia had come to associate with him thinking of a suitable answer. She smiled softly, she knew his next few words would be an honest truth.
“Because I brought you here on this mission. You risked your life numerous times on this mission, you have far more to lose than I do. Yet, you still agreed to come along, and work with me. A god who you don’t even know. A stranger to you. Yet you still agreed. If you were willing to risk it all.” He hesitated for a second, trying to find the right words. “Then I should be able to risk it all with you.”
Hestia felt her heart flutter. “I.. wow. Thank you…” she replied softly.
The god laughed. His signature laugh. A laugh that made her think his vocal chords had no way of making a pretty sound. His laughter was loud and harsh.
“Embarrassed now are you?” asked the god.
“Ever so slightly” she joked back. “I’ve never had a friend speak so warmly of me before. My friend for all these years had only been one man. And now that man is no longer near me. And for that same man, I am here.”
“He must’ve been a good ‘friend’ to you,” joked the god. Hestia rolled her eyes.
“Don’t jest,” she said a little too sternly. The god just smirked. Eager to change the subject, Hestia took in her surroundings.
The land past the bridge was no different than the land before. Greed’s domain had the same eerie feeling as Sin’s. The geography was the same, the sky was the same, the rocky floor was the same. Hestia could not see any differential markings from the two domains. Not yet at least.
“So this is ‘The Domain of Sin’ then?” asked Hestia.
“No,” said the god. “We still have yet to arrive there.”
Hestia raised an eyebrow. “So we are still in Greed’s domain? Even after crossing the river?”
“No, we are no longer in Greed’s Domain.” the god said. “We passed Greed’s domain after we crossed the bridge. But we are not yet in Sin’s Domain. We are in a domain in between the two domains.”
“Then whose Domain is this?” Asked Hestia.
To this, the god gave a nervous smile. A nervous smile, on the usually cocky god’s face. Many times before, the god had given a hesitant smile, that fluttered for only a second and was gone as quickly as it came. But never before had a nervous smile appeared. A look that gave the impression that he might be afraid of her answer. A god who looked like he would be afraid of the thoughts of a mortal. An astonishing thought.
“Well,” prodded Hestia, eager to hear what has the god in a nervous shamble.
“This is neither Sin’s nor Greed’s realm.” began the god slowly. “This is my Realm.”
<–The Reviver’s Passage: Chapter XVI The Reviver’s Passage: Chapter XVIII–>
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