The Other Prophecy Child

Loneliness

Getting to the gate was easy enough, especially since Cerberus had been kind enough to clear away all of the spirits so we didn't have to push through them. Getting through the gates was another story entirely. The minute we passed through one of the metal detectors, alarms, bells, and sirens began blaring from every direction around us, the sounds all apparently coming from nowhere. Before we could make a move to run, one of the ghouls that was manning the gate we passed through appeared in front of us.

We stopped dead in our tracks and the ghoul looked us up and down. He was dressed from head to toe in a black hooded robe that looked like it had been stolen from a tomb, which was entirely possible. His body was completely covered so that even his face was hidden from sight. All I could see from under his hood were two glowing red orbs like two small flames were burning in his eye sockets. I knew that the ghoul must have looked similar to Charon under his garments.

"Magical items detected," he said. His voice reminded me of a zombie movie I had seen a few years ago.

My friends and I were stiff as boards as the ghoul got closer to us. He stretched his arm out to us, revealing a bony, skeletal hand. In an instant, his arm shot forward and snatched Sarah's dagger from its sheath. She barely even had time to react to it. The ghoul held the blade close to his face. I thought that he was staring at it, but it almost looked, and sounded, like he was sniffing it like a dog would when it found something new and strange.

"The work of Aphrodite," the ghoul said as he lowered the blade, "Such contraband is illegal in the Underworld."

"Give that back," Sarah said. Her voice was weak and only barely audible. I could see her trembling as the ghoul turned its eyes to her.

"You are in no position to make demands," the ghoul retorted, "I keep watch over the gates of the dead. My job is to keep contraband like this from getting in." The ghoul sniffed the air. "And you have more, don't you?"

Justin flinched as the ghoul turned on him next. He tried to back away from him, but two more appeared behind us and kept Justin from going anywhere. The specter in front of us walked up to Justin and its face came within inches of him. It looked him up and down, as if trying to guess where he might try and hide any magical items from security. As fast as he had with Sarah, the phantom's arm shot forward and snatched the ring off of Justin's finger. The little piece of jewelry instantly grew into its deadly bow form. The ghouls seemed unfazed by the transformation.

The specter held the weapon up and inspected it in the same manner he had done with Sarah's dagger. It hissed in disgust at the weapon when it was finished. "The work of the sun god," it said, "I HATE the sun." The other two hissed in agreement with their friend. The ghoul dropped the bow and Sarah's dagger and then looked up at Justin again. "Anything else?"

Justin was shaking and looked like he was having a hard time remembering how to talk. Sarah stood motionless, like she was afraid that any slight move would cause our three tormentors to attack us, while Sarena stood close by to her, trying to put on a brave face. I stood and looked at the three phantoms in turn, each of them standing silent and motionless, waiting for Justin to turn over his last magical item

Under normal circumstances, I would've been terrified along with my friends, and I still was to an extent. However, I knew that they wouldn't hurt us, Hades wouldn't allow it. Actually, I was surprised that they were even getting in our way. They should've been aware that I was on my way and had orders to let me pass. Maybe they just needed a bit of convincing. I looked over at Sarena, and an understanding passed between us.

The ghoul made a move toward Justin, but I stepped between the two of them. The specter stopped cold and stared at me with his glowing red eyes. None of them had paid any attention to me until now, likely because I had no magic items with me, and the one in front of me almost seemed to not care that I was standing in its way. It reached out to grab Justin, butI moved in front of him, making sure he would have to take notice of me..