DIMITRI

  Dimitri got in jail once. The soldiers caught him smuggling booze and poppy seeds, and as they could see his obviously guilty face, they tossed him in a cold, wet cell. He spent half the day there with people coming and going, rats eating his food. But the teacher never came to save him. Because he knew that he failed his task. It was that part of the punishment. But he had to find a way to get out of that cell soon.

  ***

  The second time he got in a prison cell was in the Underworld, and this time not alone. The teacher was there all tied up and gagged. The three judges of Zeus said that it was better that way. Probably because the teacher made Minos cry.

  The boy couldn’t hear even Hermes' voice inside that cold cell. As if he didn’t have power there.

  ‘’Won’t you say anything?’’ The boy asked his teacher, and he grunted.

  ‘’It’s your fault, you know’’He pouted. And now, they were both gonna die there.

  ***

  In Tartarus, a dog the size of an elephant and with three heads was standing right in front of them. At first, there was a heavy grout, but the dog took one sniff of the teacher and began to lick him with his giant tongue.

  ‘’Hey, boy’’ The teacher backed away, and the giant dog jumped far from them. Dimitri blinked, confused, and waited for his Teacher to finish cleaning himself from the thick saliva.

  ‘’What was that now?’’ He asked.

  ‘’Cerberos, the guardian of the underworld. ‘’The teacher finally sat back down and showed a score that they had to make a stop.

  ‘’He seemed to like you…’’Dimitri shrugged, but the teacher showed him the reason. The necklace of Cauduceus.

  ‘’He can smell him on that amulet, so we can be safe.’’

  ‘’I have a name’’ Hermes grunted.

  So that was a nice benefit for both of them. Dimitri kept rowing slowly as he was facing the dagger that the teacher had. It can hurt him. But how? He was immortal. How can he even have something like this?

  His mouth was drying, and his mind was turning lighter, emptier. There was a thick, heavy smoke being lodged inside his brain, making everything so difficult to think about.

  ‘’You never told me’’ He let out a stutter. ‘’Who taught you the spells?’’

  The teacher faced him, surprisingly nervous as he was studying up and facing the horizon now, watching how close they were to the shore, he answered.

  ‘’What spells?’’

  ‘’You know, your magic, you seem to have power.’’

  But the teacher shook her head. ‘’Oh, I have no power like that.’’

  Dimitri stood there stunned.

  ‘’Centuries back’’He admitted. ‘’I tried to learn rituals of other gods, I even took classes from Anubis to become his host.’’

  ‘’You did what?’’

  ‘’But they all failed, so I had to learn simply how to trap spirits. How to call gods in and cast them out’’ Teacher breathed heavily.

  ‘’And that dagger?’’ Dimitri leaned closer to him, and Teacher’s entire body began shaking even more deeply.

  ‘’It’s magic, right?’’ He finally landed the raft on the shore, and before taking any answer, the teacher jumped right to the ground and ran away.

  ‘’I have to piss’’He shouted and left the boy alone on the small island that was filled with strange trees. When the boy got to the ground, he also felt a need. To eat. He couldn’t remember how long it had been since he had eaten anything.

  He tried to think about what he would like to eat. What was the teacher making him go back to….

  ‘’Where was I again?’’ Muttered Dimitri until he found a golden tree with red fruits decorating the dark place.

  The boy walked closer to it and took a great look at the fruit. Pomegranate. Suit and sour pomegranate.’’His hand moved up to reach one of them, but a voice stopped him.

  ‘’Those do not belong to you’’ An old husky broken voice of a man. The boy turned to see a purple man who, with one glimpse, could command power and fear. That was not like the gods he saw before. Not even Thanatos could compare to him. His black ram coat was decorated to the ground, while his left hand was cut until the end, being replaced by a golden one, and his right hand was missing a wrist and was replaced by a golden skeleton. He couldn’t even look at his face. His face was covered with the skull of a ram.

  He lifted his staff with two sharp edges at the end, and the man forced the boy to bow.

  ‘’Sorry, sir’’His voice shook like a leaf.

  His golden left hand reached the boy’s chin and lifted him up. While his right skull, cut one of the pomegranates.

  ‘’All you had to do was ask…’’The man whispered gently, and the boy looked shocked as he gave him one of them.

  ‘’Thank you, sir.’’The boy forced a smile, and he broke the pomegranate in half.

  ‘’Strong grip’’The man laughed. Was he a king of some sort? ‘’You must have been a great warrior.’’

  The boy laughed as he took a few seeds and gave them to the man. ‘’No, sir, I was…’’His words were now cut. What was he before coming here? Why was he here?

  ‘’Zagreus?’’ Whispered the man with a trembling tone in his voice.

  The man hummed and began eating while the boy was facing the horizon, trying to think. What was happening? Where was he? Who was that creepy man standing far from the crowd with a closed dagger? His wounded face belonged to a barbarian, as his hair was a lion's mane, carved inside his skull. His dagger was covered and steady in his hands.

  That was his Teacher?

  The old man huffed and showed his staff. ‘’Have you eaten, boy?’’ He asked calmly of Dimitri.

  But he shook his head and tried to poke one seed.

  ‘’Stop, boy’’ The teacher shouted, but it was too late as he took one seed inside his teeth and tongue.

  So, the Teacher jumped on the boy and choked his throat. Dimitri was terrified, but he could see his teacher’s expression, that he was mortified from what he had just done. SO mortified that he put his two fingers inside the boy’s mouth, pressing his tongue and..

  The boy turned around and began puking into the black grass.

  ‘’What are you doing?’’ The boy coughed and spat thick saliva at the old man’s sandals. His fingers dug deep into the mud, and he tried to concentrate.

  The teacher did not answer, but the old man helped the boy stand up with his golden, cold grasp.

  ‘’No words to speak girl?’’ The old man huffed.

  The teacher kept his silence.

  ‘’You can hide your scent, you can fool everyone’’He had a deep, stoic voice now with his golden left hand squeezing Dimitri’s shoulder, almost breaking it from the pain. Who was that man?

  ‘’But I am the place. I am its ruler, I am its existence. Whatever the place sees, I see.’’

  There was an arched brow coming from the Teacher.

  ‘’And I cannot let you continue. ‘’He moved Dimitri close to his cold, ram body. ‘’You have escaped long enough for your trials.’’

  ‘’I came for your nep-’’ The teacher tried to speak, but the man cut him off.

  ‘’Did you know?’’He culled. ‘’Or is it an excuse for you to mess things up again?’’

  There was silence, and Teache moved the dagger inside the bag.

  ‘’Now, let’s go, girl. You and your boy.’’His deep, pearly white eyes looked down at Dimitri and felt a sudden cold wind touch his heart.

  ***

  The jail cell that he was in back then had easy handcuffs to get out. He simply had to bite his shirt and not scream when he would dislocate his thumb. But that wasn’t enough for him to escape. He had to tire the guards. So, he began telling stories.

  ***

  But the prison in the underworld had chains that belonged to beasts. He could not even move while his teacher was hitting his hands against the cold wall. He wondered for a second what he was doing, but it turned out that he wanted to break his hand. To breathe it so much for the bones to appear.

  ‘’Hmpff mhhhmm ffffm?’’ Muffled Teacher behind the metal gag.

  ‘’How is your fault?’’ Dimitri shouted‘’Maybe cause of your trial.’’

  ***

  Three judges were standing in their cold thrones. Three sons of Zeus and the old man, the king of the Underworld, Hades was at the top of all of them, sitting on the pale snow throne with his wife at a throne that was made from black thorns. When the beautiful woman saw the Teacher now in chains, she waved hello at him.

  ‘’It’s been so long’’ She giggled, and the old man faced away. ‘’Why did you bring them here?’’ She let out a childish pout.

  ‘’My beloved wife, you need to stop having friendships with heinous people.’’The god pointed with his half-golden hand at Teacher.

  ‘’Funny, that’s what my mother told me about you.’’ Her pearly white teeth were glowing in the dark place, and the old king wrapped his hands around his scrawny waist.

  Dimitri turned to his teacher, who seemed actually comfortable with the queue,n and he smiled back gently.

  "Lady of the Underworld'’He bowed with his shackles, kissing the floor. ‘’Charming as always.’’

  His gaze glared at Dimitri as he was commanding him to bow too. The heavy scent of cold fruits and musk made the boy’s mind feel heavier than before. There was a sudden interest growing in the Queen’s gaze. The boy could simply stare at her radiant, cold old beauty forever. Meanwhile, the man was removing the ram from his head, and it showed his true face. That was not an old man. He looked at least forty years of age with his slick, long hair and his golden, scarred face showing tremor into the boy’s soul.

  ‘’Alright, so which one of you is angered?’’ Dimitri asked, and the teacher sighed and showed the three men who were sitting on the thrones.

  ‘’These are the three sons of Zeus, the ones who judge everyone’’He explained. ‘’When people die, you -’’

  ‘’Silence, Lyssandra of Illium.’’The first man with long dark hair spoke and lifted his golden sceptre.

  ‘’My apologies’’Teache lifted her hands.’’You were taking too long’’

  The next man was wearing a strange black cloak, while his sceptre was made of silver.

  ‘’You appear in front of us today for your trespassing into the underworld.’’

  There was a disappointed pout. ‘’The caduceus should have worked.’’They mumbled.

  ‘’And so’’The next man with the copper sceptre spoke. ‘’You will also be judged for your final journey.’’

  There was an expression of terror coming from the Teacher but the boy stood there silent, waiting for someone to explain to him.

  ‘’Great,’’the teacher nodded. ‘’Sure, you can do that…after I go and free your relative, alright?’’

  And she tried to take a few steps away, but the shackles dropped her body to the floor.

  ‘’I know where I am heading,d alright?’’She spoke back. ‘’Seriously, your job is useless.’’

  The man with the golden sceptre frowned while everyone was staring at her.

  ‘’Oh, the guy who saved orphans and damsels in distress is going to Elysium? Shocking’’ Mocked Teacher.

  ‘’Dear, I think you need to calm down’’The queen spoke, and the teacher nodded. And the boy stood there stunned as he saw his Teacher actually showing respect to someone.

  Now, the three judges found Dimitri in all silence. ‘’You will need a person to speak on your behalf. Is that him.’’

  ‘’I suppose-’’Dimitri tried to speak.

  ‘’No’’ The teacher disagreed. ‘’He’s a nobody, I found him in the streets yesterday.’’

  The golden sceptre smiled nervously. ‘’Careful, now you shouldn’t lie in the court.’’

  The teacher's brow narrowed and turned to the boy.

  ‘’Listen to me, all you have to do is beg those people to let you go and send you back.’’

  Where is back? The boy would remember that he was once on a ship? Where would he find that ship?

  ‘’I prefer to stay here.’’His voice was calm and reasonable, but that madeTeacher irritated.

  ‘’Boy, you cannot be here. The trial is about my soul, showing everything of what I have done and being judged.’’There was a deep breath. ‘’And I know’’He jerked his head to the judges. ‘’Those idiotic geezers know’’

  The man with the golden staff frowned while the king and queen held their laughter.

  ‘’That I will be punished for eternity, they are trying to slow me down, you don’t have to be here.’’

  ‘’But I might help you’’Dimitri insisted.

  ‘’Listen to me’’He showed his hands. ‘’I have done…some things.’’

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  ‘’Making gods hate you and killing the right people, I know that. I can help you’’ The boy moved his fingers at his Teacher’s wrists.

  ‘’I want to help you.’’

  The teacher realized soon that the boy was very stubborn. So he nodded and told him to stay near. The three judges lifted their staffs and pointed near the Teacher, making a white light glow from his chest, slowly moving farther. A black scale made of bone appeared in the tin air, with the bright light sitting now on one of the scales. For a second, there was balance between the light and the thin air. But then, the light seemed to go heavier.

  The three judges saw the change and turned to the Teacher.

  The copper man began speaking with a dead, cold monotone.

  ‘’She was born outside wedlock. Death and fear surrounded her from her first breath. But the people around her tried to raise her, give her love. With her faith and curiosity growing, the Fates could see her future being bright. The love for her god was leading her to the right path. But none could have predicted what happened.’’

  There was silence with the soul turning brighter. Dimitri was now in a wild forest with a blazing fire dancing around an ancient building. A horde of monsters was shading red in their black armor while they were dragging a small girl outside.

  ‘’Let me go’’She screamed and kicked her feet, escaping and falling to her knees, trying to pray. Dimitri was trying to understand who that poor little girl was, with her blood falling to the grass. But taking a closer look, her wild hair, her scars, her wild face. However, those puny expressions did not belong to his Teacher. The look of broken faith and love was not hers.

  Everything returned to normal, and the boy faced his Teacher whose face had no emotion.

  ‘’Lyssandra’’ the golden man spoke. ‘’Do you admit the beginning of your madness?’’

  Madness? Dimitri couldn’t believe those words. He saw her place getting raided, people dying, and her getting hurt.

  Teacher growled.

  ‘’Do you admit?’’He asked again.

  ‘’I suppose’’ She spoke by force, and the scales changed just a little, lifting the soul higher.

  The queen let out a heavy breath, and the king held her hand tight.

  ‘’It will be alright.’’He whispered to her ear, but Dimitri managed to listen to it. What was about to happen?

  Now, the silver man opened his mouth. However, as the place changed again, they all could listen to his husky voice, explaining everything that was happening.

  ‘’She was a slave for barbarians. Her scars were luring the people for either pity or mockery. But she did not lose her faith and lovforto her god. In that cold temple..’’

  ‘’Stop’’ The teacher grunted, and everything returned to the cold room.

  ‘’How dare you command us’’’ The golden man spoke, but Teacher replied with a hiss of a cat.

  However, the silver man began speaking.

  ‘’She did resent her god. Her madness grew to a beautiful, deranged tree with flowers blooming. Inside the pollen, there was the bitter poison for everyone to taste. She wanted to become a goddess like you, and that caused her to hurt people like a fool.’’

  ‘’How foolish’’The copper man spoke outloud. ‘’For someone like her, thinking…’’

  The silver man kept speaking. ‘’Even when her god was sent in her feet.’’

  ‘’Stop’’The teacher commanded again and turned to the boy. What was it about now?

  ‘’Lyssandra’’ The queen stood up. ‘’You can let it go.’’She tried to command her. Even though Dimitri could seas e clear as day the expression of guilt.

  But instead of continuing, the golden man spoke with his emotions to the roof.

  ‘’Shall we speak of what you really did?’’He was holding his smile with all of his strength.

  ‘’Minos’’The copper man spoke and jerked his face to the scales, which were trembling.

  ‘’You insolent woman manipulated your way to the world. You did everything for yourself and made sure to destroy all your enemies.’’

  ‘’That’s not true’’The teacher argued, and the chains pushed her down.

  ‘’You even managed to manipulate gods to take your side’’Minos growled, and the boy turned to his Teacher and tried to face away. ‘’Can’t help my charms,’’ And tried to smile at the giant bull.

  Dimitri covered his face with his hands. ‘’Teach, stop’’ He grunted.

  ‘’Yes, please do’’The king bowled from above.

  The teacher finally broke his flesh enough for his bones to mess with the shackles. But Dimitri was furious enough to ignore him. Then, the teacher finally removed the gag and spat out thick saliva. ‘’Boy, listen, you have to find a way to get out and find my things without anyone noticing you.’’

  His big eyes snapped. ‘Are you kidding me? Go do it yourself.’’

  ‘’Come on, kid. Still mad? I told you that I have done things'’

  His eyes darted. ‘’You told me shit.’’

  ‘’And when you were given immortality, you didn’t stop there. ‘’

  ‘’That might be a mistake’’Dimitri cut the words of the judge and moved closer to his teacher.

  ‘’My Teacher is helping people. She wouldn’t have hurt innocents.’’

  ‘’Kid’’ Mumbled his Teacher.

  So, the form of the golden judge changed. The once human man grew taller and wider with alack fur and his golden stuff became two golden horns of a bull. His long neck now leaned out of his throne and closed to the Teacher and the student.

  ‘’Careful little runt.’’The giant bull huffed. ‘’Because your time will come soon and your trial won’t be nice-’’

  ‘’Minos’’ The king spoke, and Minos returned to his human form.

  Finally, the king stood on his high ground and turned to the boy.

  ‘’Lyssandra’’He looked back at the teacher. ‘’Shall I let you speak, or shall I tell your truth?’’

  There was once again a dark shade on her brow. But the boy still believed that his Teacher was innocent. He could still believe it until his Teacher gave up, nd the soul became bright like the sun.

  But there were no words, no scent, no touch, or even a song, to describe what the boy saw in that image.

  There was a temple in blazes. The blood of the victims was Gaia’s sweet meal, while the only remaining survivor was praying for -

  ‘’I told you to stop,’’ the teacher commanded, and everyone held their breath.

  Everything returned to normal, and the boy’s insides got out, beginning to make a mess on the cold floor. His eyes were darting as he was trying to look at his teacher and not cry.

  ‘’Lyssandra of Illium’’The king stood up and held his staff tightly in his golden grip.

  ‘’For thousands of years, you have tricked people and gods, and have destroyed everything in your path by your madness. You stole, Caduceus, that once belonged to the Herald of Gods, and you are the reason one of the sons of Zeus is now trappedino Tartarus.’’

  Silence.

  ‘’But you haven’t stopped.’’He kept talking heavily, and the boy could see the scales shaking again.

  ‘’You say that you broke into the underworld to save him. Why?’’

  The teacher faced down and remained silent. He couldn’t say it. Dimitri knew the face of guilt very well.

  So the king took a heavy breath.

  ‘’Lyssandra, do you accept your crimes?’’

  And her sharp gaze was lifted up, about to speak. Dimitri, however, had other plans.

  ‘’Objection’’He raised his hand in fear.

  He saw the horror. He saw the pain. Hermes had warned him about what he once did. That the Teacher had destroyed a kingdom. But those words did not give justice to what she actually had done. The path that she was walking was drenched in blood and destruction, with no light in her eyes.

  That was not his Teacher. Not the one he could hardly remember.

  ‘’Lyss..’’ His words couldn’t get out of his mouth.

  ‘’The teacher likes flowers. He has a garden of them back home. He sure makes me garden it most of the time, but now I know and remember…Few things. He taught me that. I also know that he cooks terribly.’’He turned to his teacher. ‘’How can you be a thousand years old and still not know how to cook chicken?’’

  The teacher simply pressed his lips into a thin line.

  ‘’Also, the first time I went to his house, I would have died from suffocation. Have you ever seen a pile of dishes, with a mountain of clothes and rats above it? I have.’’He pointed at himself.

  ‘’Do you have a reason to say those things?’’The golden man was holding his laugh.

  ‘’Yes, mister Bull’’He nodded and ignored Minos' red face. ‘’You say, and you showed someone who was considered a monster, but’’

  He tried so hard to hold those images back. And tried to force the remaining memories of his Teacher to the front.

  ‘’That is not the teacher that I know. Not anymore at least.’’

  He slowly realised that everyone, even the lost souls, were staring at him, studying the way his lips and truth were getting from his tongue.

  ‘’Centuries ago, my people believed in you, worshipped you. But now times have changed, people have changed their beliefs.’’He looked back at his Teacher who was all shocked.

  ‘’You’’He pointed at the king and queen. ‘’My teacher told me about the way you split the earth to just steal a glimpse at her bright eyes. You offered her the world and your kingdom at her feet. But she once refused you gave her time…’’

  Time changes people.

  The words were about to get out of his mouth, but a strange rattle stopped him as he felt a familiar bitter taste once again. But he had one more chance to save his Teacher’s life. And probably his own too.

  ‘’What makes my Teacher unaliable to change, too?’’

  Silence again. His hands were sweating as everyone faced the scales, which were in perfect balance again.

  Queen Persephone snorted as she faced the Teacher. ‘’He’s got a way with words. Just like you, dear.’’ Her lips formed a bow while the Teacher was trying to hide his face.

  ‘’Yes’’Growled the king. ‘’ That is a problem.’’

  The boy swallowed dry from this comment.

  The Queen was about to speak, but the King touched her hand softly and whispered something to her. So, she nodded in defeat and walked away, trying to not face Teacher’s wet dog face.

  ‘’So’’Dimitri leaned close to his Teacher. ‘’You and the Queen.’’

  ‘’I am getting judged right now,w and you are asking me about my love life?’’ The teacher rasped and turned to the boy who was nodding.

  But instead of answering, the teacher's face softened. ‘’You defended me.’’

  Dimitri’s face grew surprisingly warmer in the underworld. Of course he did. Even if any of those things are true…he surely had to be sorry.

  ‘’You are my family.’’He reminded his teacher. ‘’Defending you is simple.’’

  His lips trembled like leaves from those words. ‘’Kid, I have to-’’

  ‘’Lyssandra’’ The King spoke again. ‘’It seems that you ward defended you to touch my wife’s and my heart. ‘’

  All the judges were grunting and disappointed. ‘’It’s a trick’’Minos said.

  ‘’But answer my question’’Once again, a brooding voice.

  There was a cold pressure again. ‘’Do you repent for your crimes?’’

  And the Teacher's gaze snapped. ‘’What?’’ There was a tremor.

  ‘’You might have changed, so you might feel guilty for what you have done in the past years. Do you admit that you were in the wrong.’’

  There was the annoying silence again, with the Teacher simply facing the gods.

  ‘’Teacher?’’There was doubt in Dimitri’s throat.

  ‘’Thousands of years have passed, and you haven’t changed,’’the teacher growled.

  ‘’How dare you speak to the king’’Minos slapped his hands to the throne.’’To the first son of Old time-’’

  ‘’Those titles you give to yourselves mean nothing to me. ‘’There was a voice of a beast coming from his sharp tongue.

  ‘’And I believe that I have to ask you a question. Do you repent for your crimes?’’

  Everyone’s gaze shattered. Minos raised his staff. ‘’You insolent-’’

  ‘’All three of you were once mortals, being born from women who took the king of the gods’ attention. Your birth was considered a mistake, but you still got titles in both life and death.’’ His voice got bitter. ‘’Your crime of existence was rewarded.’’

  The scales began to shake once again, and the king raised his jaw. ‘’Where are you going with this?’’

  ‘’You are talking about my crimes while you are standing here with your scales reaching to Tartarus,’’ Teacher admitted. ‘’You who grasped a daughter from her mother’s arms got rewarded, the wars that you brought to the mortals were another sacrifice for your glory, while people were praying for you.’’

  ‘’They had to be punished to hold Eris accountable’’Hades tried to defend everything while Dimitri stood there and tried to understand what was happening.

  ‘’Did they? Or was it another way to punish the ones who defied them, the ones who were lesser?’’

  ‘’Lyssandra’’Growled Hades. ‘’You have to understand.’’

  ‘’I am a thief, I am a liar, I am a murderer.’’He admitted. ‘’I have been judged my whole life for things that you gods were being passed by. Like I am an example of my mortality, trying to reach you. The same crimes that you did and worse, I am being punished, and you don’t even blink. Only when it benefits you.’’

  ‘’If you are talking about-’’

  ‘’He saved me’’ There was a sudden crack in his voice, and he took one deep breath.

  ‘’What I am trying to say is… what have I done for the past centuries while you and the rest were simply feasting with your crimes being unpunished, and you showed no sign to the people that cared about… No, I am not sorry for my crimes.’’

  Dimitri’s eyes darted.

  ‘’Actually, I am glad that I did them, and I would do them again if that meant that you would actually all be forgotten and perish to the end of time with no worship, and I will enjoy every moment of it.’’

  ‘’Then why do you want to free him?’’ asked the king curiously. ‘’The god whom you loved and the god who abandoned you?’’

  Dimitri simply faced the teacher whose face was frozen, and then his voice cracked. That voice did not belong to the teacher but to a woman. To a crying, pathetic woman as she was screaming.

  ‘’So I can kill him myself’’ There was rage hidden for centuries. Arage so loud that it broke both the scales. shattering the chains to the judge's skin. Mykonos, the first judge with the form of a bull and the golden staff, began to cry.

  The teacher dug his fingers to his face, pressing his flesh as his breath became quick and his tough voice faded immediately.

  ‘’No, not yet, not yet’’ Lyssandra spoke. ‘’I cannot lose yet.’’

  Dimitri moved closer to her, speechless and afraid, with the judgepreparedng the punishment. Minos shouted to gag her mouth while she kept barking her rights.

  ‘’Let me pass, I let you judge me even if my soul doesn’t belong to -’’

  A dark plate covered her mouth, and Hades hit his staff three times on the ground. ‘’You will remain in the underworld chained and locked until we find the Herald to take you back.’’

  There was the gaze of hatred again, and Lyssandra tried to muffle her disagreement. And Dimitri felt the same way as she vanished away.

  And they looked now at the boy with no heritage, no experience from the centuries, no power. Just a way of lying and stealing.

  And he fell on his knees. ‘’Please, my King, you have to let my teacher go, she doesn’t deserve this.’’

  ‘’My boy, ‘’The king spoke kindly. ‘’For you, that you were dragged into that path, I can offer you a way back. Or, you can stay here and live as an immortal’’

  He narrowed his gaze. ‘’You actually look a lot like my son…’’

  The lips of the judges parted with a tremble as their gaze showed censored.

  ‘’Now, where was he again…’’

  ‘’My king he…’’The silver man tried to speak. ‘’Zagreus passed-’’

  Hades clapped his hands. ‘’Oh, you will meet him soon’He moved closer to him. ‘’What do you say?’’

  Dimitri stood there stunned. ‘’You are giving me options?’’

  Hades smiled. ‘’Of course I do.’’

  His brow arched and looked back to the place where Lyssandra once stood.

  ‘’But you gave no options to my Teacher.’’

  Everyone replied with a laugh. Cruel laughter came from the people who judged his Teacher cruelly.

  ‘’You saw what your Teacher has done, what she wants to…’’

  ‘’And I saw that there wanoan option. Not really.’’ He tried to stand his ground.

  ‘’The woman had the choice to make a better life,’’The copper man’s mouth grew sudden fangs. ‘’She chose hatred.’’

  ‘’She chose hatred ,and you’’He faced up to the king. ‘’You chose revenge against the on that wronged you once. And all you do with your power from your wrongdoings is judge people similarly to you.’’

  ‘’We are gods, our words are being worshiped for-’’

  ‘’Was ‘’The boy remanded the king. ‘’You are being forgotten and trying to haunt people to worship you again. Is this why you…’’

  If he comes back, maybe…

  The boy’s mind became blank with tingles down to his spine, three judges now glaring at him.

  ‘’Why don’t you want my teacher to free him?’’

  Little did he know that the question would make him end up in chains next to his teacher.

  After hours of trying to escape, the boy made it and realized that the door was actually open. The young boy faced the tree of doubt, now consuming his very own soul. Was that his teacher? He had no regrets. How stupid the boy was to try to defend him.

  There was blood, there was violence, and chaos. No, that couldn’t be. It couldn’t have been.

  Dimitri did not speak again to his still chained teacher and walked away slowly, hoping he could find a way back home.