Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Persephone ❯ Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne, the characters, these are copyrighted by their original creators. (I actually don't own the Greek mythology either. Go figure, ne?)

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Persephone: Chapter 4
by Katrina Kadabra

To say Allen was taken back by his final task would have been a massive understatement. But he nevertheless agreed to it. What else could he do? He had no clue how to go about accomplishing this assignment, but he figured finding the River Styx and following it to the entrance was a good place to start.
After tracking the dark river through numerous valleys and passageways, Allen soon arrived at an eerie cavern, where the river flowed directly in. This had to be it. Allen took a deep breath and stepped inside. There was no going back now.

Almost instantly, the floor beneath Allen's feet sloped abruptly downward. There was no light to be seen down the passage before him. Allen gulped and ventured forward. The walls of the cavern were cold to the touch and a musty aroma hung in the misty air. After a minute or so of hiking blindly down the river, a faint glow emerged from the darkness. Allen had found the dock where the river guardian Charon waited to take passengers across. He made no distinction between the living and the dead. As long as his passengers had a coin for him, he would gladly take anyone across. Allen did have a coin with him, so he was escorted down the river and farther into the depths of the lower world. When Allen arrived on the shore he thanked Charon and surveyed his surroundings. Van's palace, dark and majestic was within sight. Allen knew he couldn't take Cerberus without Van's permission, so he figured that was where he had to go. However, the three-headed dog blocked the entrance, snapping and growling. With a small shove, Allen pushed him aside and ran past. Cerberus couldn't leave his post, so he let Allen go. He knew his master would punish this mortal who had the nerve to push him around.

Allen started down a path, not really caring which one. How many places could these paths lead? The hero was anxious and well prepared for a real fight with Cerberus later on, but there was one major conflict. He couldn't even find Van to get permission. He had taken so many twists and turns that he finally came to a dead end. As he stood pondering where he should go from here, the ground beneeth his feet suddenly gave way and he fell into a pit.

"Ow..." Allen sat up and rubbed his head. The pit wasn't that deep; he would have easily been able to jump, but he couldn't see from this position what might be lurking right above his head, so he decided to take a moment to consider what to do next. It was dark and desolate as a chilly breeze swirled around him. Coincidentally, this was where Hitomi came to sit and relax every afternoon and in a few minutes she arrived and met up with Allen. She recognized the earth hero instantly and, needless to say, she was a bit surprised.

"You're Allen, aren't you?" she asked.

"Well, yeah. And you would be?"

"Hitomi," she answered, offering her hand to help him out of the ditch. Allen accepted graciously.

"You're Van's wife, right?" Allen asked.

"Yes. That's right," Hitomi answered, although she preferred not to be thought of with that particular title. "What are you doing down here?" she asked, changing the subject to that of which her own curiosity was dying to discover.

"Maybe you can help me," Allen suggested.

"With what?"

"I need Cerberus."

"You need what?"

"Cerberus," repeated Allen simply, as if it was a perfectly normal request. "I've been sent to perform twelve labors by King Eurystheus, and this is the last of the twelve. I have to do this."

"I know," Hitomi answered. "You killed your wife and children."

"How did you know that?" Allen inquired, rather annoyed. Hitomi sighed.

"I've learned a lot . Now, Allen, about Cerberus. I'll let you take him to the upper world, but you must promise me you'll bring him back tomorrow." Allen gave her his word and she then, true to her own, summoned the three-headed beast and ordered him to subdue to Allen. Allen was disappointed, for he would have enjoyed overcoming the monster on his own, but nevertheless, he thanked Hitomi and set out on his way. His meeting with her had been surprisingly pleasant, and he was rather looking forward to seeing her again. Hitomi didn't know quite what to make of the whole incident. Seeing Allen reminded her of everything she was missing down in this dismal place, and made her long for home. The dashing hero had been quite the gentleman, Hitomi had to admit, but she then decided to put him out of her mind. It was bad enough she had allowed him to take Cerberus; she didn't need to have Van find out she enjoyed his company as well.

Sure enough, Allen returned the next day and released Cerberus back into the underworld. Hitomi thanked him and was content to leave it that way until Allen made his confession.

"I want to see you again, Hitomi," he told her.

"I'm afraid that's impossible," she answered. "I only leave the underworld once a month to visit my mother on Mt. Atlantis, and you can possibly come to either of those places."

"I can't come down here again?"

"Not a third time, unless you want to face Death himself."

"I would do that for you," Allen confided in her. Hitomi felt her face turn bright red. Did Allen know what he was saying? Despite any affections he may have had for her, she was still the goddess of the underworld, Van's wife. And besides that, she didn't even know if she had any feelings for Allen herself. Hitomi sighed. She knew he had good intentions, but she wasn't so sure if Van would see it that way. She insisted that Allen be on his way and never venture into the lower world again. Allen promised her this much, but kept pondering on how he could see her again without going down into her kingdom a third time. It was a challenging puzzle, and he was not quick in logic. Little did he know, logic was unnecessary, for everything would fall into place for him.

* * * * *

"Come here. I want to show you something," Van told Hitomi one afternoon as he led her down one of the hallways. Curious, Hitomi followed closely as her husband led her to an area of the palace she had not yet seen. Not far from where she spent most of her time was the quarters her husband retired to every night. It looked very much like her own, except that it was considerably larger. However, to Hitomi, everything in Van's realm looked the same - dark and lifeless.

"It's… big," she commented, unsure of what else to say.

"Yes," Van agreed. "That's one advantage of having this entire palace to yourself - you get huge accommodations. Of course, this isn't what I wanted to show you." He turned to face the wall through which they had just entered, which was not a solid barrier, but a series of shelves covering the entire side of the room. Each level was filled with an assortment of vases and urns picturing various gods or major events, like a huge storybook laid out on the wall.

"Where did you get all these?" Hitomi asked in wonder.

"I've just accumulated them over years. Many of then aren't made anymore. This one, for example." He picked out a typical urn seemingly at random and handed it to Hitomi. Its image showed one of the gods of Atlantis, although she wasn't sure which one specifically. He looked to have a kindly disposition, and must have been a friend of Artemis, as he was surrounded by animals. "Who is that?" she inquired.

"You don't know?" Van asked her. Hitomi took a second look at the figure. He seemed isolated, with the rest of the Olympians in the background. The closest one was a likeness of Hera. Hitomi shook her head after a moment in response to Van's question. Sighing, he turned the urn around to reveal the name on the opposite side.

"Van!" Hitomi exclaimed. "That's you?" Van nodded. "But it looks nothing like you," she protested.

"Of course not," her husband answered, taking the urn and placing it back on the shelf. "That was before I came to live here." Hitomi sensed a long explanation was forthcoming.

"As you know, we're all siblings," Van began. "Zeus, Hera, Demeter, Poseidon, Hestia and I, and Kronos was our father. Somehow or another he found out that one of us would overthrow him, so he swallowed us."

"Swallowed you?" Hitomi asked in disbelief.

"How else do you rid yourself of an immortal? Of course, we were all infants at the time. Anyway, our mother managed to save Zeus by tricking her husband into swallowing a rock in his place."

"But how did you get out?" Hitomi inquired.

"Zeus came back some years later and rescued us. That's when our father was overthrown and Zeus took over."

"That doesn't explain how you came to be here."

"Zeus, Poseidon and I agreed to share the earth, but we still had to decide amongst ourselves who would guard the heavens, the sea, and the underworld. Naturally, since he had rescued us and controlled the thunderbolt, Zeus took the heavens. Imagine! Our youngest sibling ruling Atlantis! Anyway, since Poseidon was the oldest, he claimed the seas for himself."

"And that left you with the underworld," finished Hitomi.

"Exactly. So now you know my life's story," said Van, turning away from Hitomi somewhat embarrassed. Up to this point, the story he had just told was known only between his siblings and himself. This was the first glimpse Hitomi got of his more compassionate side buried beneath the years of disgrace and personal humiliation. Hitomi had not yet decided whether his cruel nature was merely a guise or not. She wanted to talk more to find out, but he seemed to be unappreciative of any company for the night, so she politely excused herself and stayed in her own quarters for the remainder of the evening.