Hyperion shook off whatever was worrying him, focusing again on the task at hand … getting us through this portal.
“Let's move,” I said, impatient to find Cronus. The dull ache in my chest that had been there ever since he was killed seemed to grow with each passing moment we were apart. I needed to hold him in my arms, more than food, or air, or water.
I needed him for survival.
“Hold on to me,” Hyperion warned, and despite those instructions, he was the one who latched onto my arm, hauling us both into the swirl of power.
“Ugh,” I cried out, as we were spit out into a realm so dark I could barely see my fingers in front of me. Icy water surrounded me, splashing up to my waist and hitting the underside of my boobs. “What the fuck?”
“Stop moving,” Hyperion said, his voice deadly serious. “And for the love of everything, do not get any of this liquid in your mouth, nose, or eyes.”
Excuse me?
“What? Why? What's wrong with it? It's touching my vagina right now, so you better not tell me anything is going to wither and die from this shit…”
Yeah, I was panicked and frantic, but for fuck's sake, you couldn't just give a warning like that and not tell me why.
“It's too dark,” Hyperion said, freaking me out even more. I didn’t know if he meant the lack of light or the water that was trying to cop a feel. The entire realm seemed … flooded.
“We should not have resurrected them all.”
This part I understood … maybe. It sounded like he was talking about bringing all the Titans back. Poor old man was mumbling to himself though, so nothing was too clear.
“You had no choice,” I reminded him. “If this world, to some degree, reflects the human world, then letting the sins loose would have destroyed both lands eventually. You did what you had to at the time to survive, and now we will do the same here. Starting with you telling me what's up with this creepy water.”
Hyperion smiled. I saw it even in the dim light. “This level should not be flooded, so that tells me this is from the deep, a system of primordial ooze that lives far below this realm, kind of like that demon you destroyed. It all comes from the same place. The same goo that the Erynomus was born in. It's not going to wither your—” he cleared his throat “—any of your parts off, but it can be poisonous when consumed. It's probably best we don't linger too long in it either way.”
He started to move through the dark water, and as I followed, I noticed it was obviously thicker than water, giving the goo theory a lot more credence. When I lifted some in my hands, it clung for a few seconds, dark but still opaque somehow.
When it dropped back down, there was a small splash and Hyperion glared at me. I shot him a sheepish smile. “Sorry. It's just super weird and I’m curious by nature.”
Somehow, he didn't look like he believed me. “Be curious about something else, Maisey.”
#GrumpyGramps #I’mTheOneWithTheExposedVagina
We continued to wade through it, and thankfully it got no deeper, so it was never in any danger of coming close to my mouth. “So, how large is the sixth level?” I asked when I couldn't handle the silence any longer. “And if we could just use portals, how come Cronus didn't use them to get between the levels?”
Hyperion didn't look back and I stayed right behind him in his wake. The water was well below his waist, lucky long-legged bastard.
“The portals don't work back the other way without the coin,” he said shortly, reminding me of the three coins Thanatos had given us so that we could pass freely through the underworld without dying. “So, if Cronus ended up in the seventh, his only option of returning is to walk in a continuous spiral, and that would take longer than a human lifetime. I've walked these lands many times, and I promise, it's further than it looks.”
Of course it was. Thanatos was like a real estate agent or a used car salesman, trying to tell us it was only five minutes to town, or the mileage was low as fuck.#LiarLiar
But I was grateful he’d given us the coins so that we could use the portals. It sounded like if Cronus had to walk his way to the upper level, I’d be a ninety-year-old woman on my death bed.
“With this black water goo, will the next portal still be there?” My voice was low and I sounded a little defeated—not the way I wanted to sound, but it was also hard when I was still so far from Cronus.
“I'll find it,” Hyperion said, and unlike me he sounded sure and determined.
Unexpectedly, tears sprang to my eyes. “I'm so glad you're here with me,” I choked out.
Why was I so emotional lately? Oh yeah, I’d seen the Sin of Death kill the love of my life and now I was in the underworld trying to bring him back.
#NoBigDeal #Hormones
He stopped, turning back to see me. “You okay? Were you thinking about Cronus? I promise he'll be fine.”
“I'm always thinking about him,” I said, sniffling. I made a move to wipe my nose, but he stopped me before I could.
