Fall of the Spectrum

Chapter Twenty-Five

Opting to let Gwen sleep in since her training would be postponed until after the preliminary hearing anyway, Phenex led the way down into the Spectrum's lower levels, where a portal to the Underworld was located at its core. The ether trails were dimmer here, comprised of much darker colours than those of the upper levels. What solid walls existed were hewn of granite, made of such a deep charcoal grey that if not for the flaming sconces on either side, casting their pale blue light over them—and his own, superior eyesight—Phenex doubted that he would have been able to see anything at all.

Or until they reached the portal, at least. Brilliant wisps of light swirled in the air, surrounded by a gold ring set into the stone floor. Forneus remained silent beside him, and when Phenex cast a curious gaze in his direction, it was to see a pensive frown shadowing his features.

"I don't like coming here, either," he said, guessing at the other's silence. "But if we can clear Hercules' name..."

He didn't need to finish. The tension melted from Forneus's shoulders, his expression softening into a rueful smile. "I know. Shall we?"

Phenex nodded. Expelling a pent-up breath, he stepped into the portal's ring, shuddering as frigid air washed over him. He could feel Forneus close behind him, silent save for his footfalls, muffled though they were against the crystal walkway. There was a sudden rushing sensation, then just as quickly, everything slowed to a halt.

The chill that came with passing through the portal receded, and even Forneus's presence seemed to vanish as they journeyed through a whirlwind of dancing lights to wind up at the base of a grassy knoll. Where the granite walls had been seconds before were rolling hills, dotted with sprigs of bluebell and heather, wild mustard and foxglove; their sweet fragrances mingling in the air and wafting toward him on a gentle breeze.

Above, the sky was pitch black, hundreds of thousands of stars twinkling down at them from beyond a thin layer of cloud cover. The scent of rain hung heavy in the air, though Phenex knew it would still be another mortal day or two before the deluge came.

"The Elysian Fields. I've not been here in over two hundred years," Forneus murmured, stepping forward to take a closer look at the ring of laurel trees no more than a stone's throw from the portal's entrance. Taking one of their waxy leaves between his thumb and forefinger, he cast a backward glance at Phenex. "Apollo's doing?"

"Surprisingly, no." Phenex began making his way up the first hill, silently beckoning Forneus to follow. "I think Persephone just added them last century. Hades wanted her to be happy, so he left her in charge of turning the Fields into the paradise they were meant to be."

"Demeter would be proud," was Forneus's reply, and the two of them lapsed into comfortable silence.

In mere moments, they'd traversed the last shallow slope, their footfalls silent as they stepped from the lush grasslands and onto a wide cobbled path of rainbow fluorite. Streaks of pink, violet, and green coalesced into a swirling pattern that continued from one cobble onto the next, specks of brilliant white from the stars above reflecting on the path's glassy surface.

Erebus. The path that connected each section of the Underworld—from the rewarding beauty of Elysium and Valhalla, to the punishing grounds of Helheim and Tartarus and those in-between. Originally, it had belonged to the Greek and Roman pantheons alone, but upon creating the Spectrum, the High Council had decided to merge each of the afterlife realms into one. For those that they couldn't, they'd provided portal access points, each of which could be found along Erebus itself.

Fortunately they wouldn't need to venture far, as the lesser prison was part of the Underworld proper—and a much more civilized place compared to the primitive realms of pain and suffering from long ago.