Hero of Rome

In the fifth circle, Marius endlessly battles phantoms of his old rivals in the River Acheron. The fury of his endless political feuds now fuels an eternal war beneath the waters, where he drowns again and again, choking on his own rage.

A woman jumped onto Horatius’s back out of nowhere, impaling him in the head with a bone shard. The former bandit fell as she toppled him, only to disappear, most likely respawning at the temple ruins. The lady responsible, shrouded in what looked to be tattered black robes, beamed with joy in having murdered him.

“Let’s go Max!” Camilla said, springing to her feet. The other Romans I had slain all shuffled in shock for a moment before charging.

Camilla seized my hand and dragged me away from the horde of angry Romans. I was too stunned to process everything that happened that I forgot I was still completely naked.

“Uh,” I said as we ran, blushing while I tried to cover myself.

“Oh come on, Max, it’s not like we didn’t live together as bandits,” she said as we sprinted down the ashy river bank. “Man, that felt so good to do again.”

“Again?”

“Oh yeah. He was the first person I killed, again, once I was brought here. Makes me smile every time.”

“That’s great. Good to see you too. What exactly is the plan?”

Camilla looked back for a moment. “There’s a cave up ahead where I’ve been staying. We will have to—”

A loud, ear-splitting set of howls interrupted her. Camilla’s face drained of color.

“Of course,” she muttered, looking up at the temple ruins as she came to a stop.

I followed her gaze to see what she was so afraid of. Then, I saw it. With three heads, the monstrous dog, about the size of an elephant, glared at us with eyes of fire from the top of the stairs. Its skin was completely black, reminding me of a very large pitbull. Only, this pitbull had molten fire in its three mouths with razor sharp teeth. If I had to guess, it was an instant kill if bitten.

“Follow me and do not stop unless you want to be taken,” she said, before taking off in a dead sprint back into the Roman horde.

“Wait!” I said, but what I assumed to be Cerberus howled again as it spotted us. The monster bolted from the top of the mountain, aiming directly for me.

Camilla didn’t have to convince me to run.

I ran with every ounce of strength possible, trying to catch up with Camilla who weaved through the Romans on the right while keeping a healthy distance from Cerberus on the left. The Hounds of Pluto moved incredibly fast despite its size, or maybe because of it. The gap between the two groups that wanted to kill us.

Because I was naked, this truly felt like a nightmare I had growing up. Instead of waking up nude in school, I was in hell, the Roman version anyway, and running for my life, or death, completely exposed with a good chance of dying again. Even though I would respawn at the ruins again, I had a feeling that being caught by Cerberus would not result in a pleasant experience.

Come on, come on! I thought, pushing myself to exhaustion as my stamina dwindled dangerously low. Although it was a shadow of what it once was, my physique had maintained the large amounts of muscle I had put on through months of training and fighting. If I had been my weak and scrawny self that I started off as, Cerberus would have an easy snack.

Camilla and I just cleared the Roman horde as the monstrous pitbull thundered onto the river bank.

“What exactly are we to do!” I said, my legs heavy from running. “I don’t have any money for Charon!”

Two denarii flashed in Camilla’s hand as an answer. Seeing them brought me back to when I buried her and Octavia, her sister. We had placed a denarii in each of their mouths to help them through the Underworld. Only, Octavia should be here with us, running for her life from Cerberus. Her absence made me shiver.

“We’re going to have to jump!” Camilla said, pointing ahead.

Charon, wearing a black robe, was a good several feet from the rickety pier, pushing himself and an older Roman who watched us with apathy. The river of souls beneath them churned as the boat swept forward.

The pounding feet of Cerberus sounded behind me, drawing ever closer. Not only could I smell the rotting beast now, but I could feel the heat from its fiery breath on my backside.

“What happens if we fall?” I said, preparing to jump. I had swam once before, but that was when I was alive. There was a strong chance it was entirely different as a soul.

“Swim if you want to drown!” she said, leaping from the pier and onto the boat.

Here goes nothing, I thought, jumping just as Cerberus snapped its three teeth behind me. Camilla landed inside the boat, landing feet first on the older man and kicking him into the River Styx. He screamed the moment he submerged. I was not as lucky to land on the boat. Instead, only my top half made it. The instant my legs dipped into the bone-chilling water, I understood why the old man screamed. Bony fingers wrapped themselves around my feet and thighs before attempting to drag me down.

“Camilla!” I screamed, trying desperately to heave myself up. There must have been dozens of souls clamoring to bring me down.

“Grab my hand!” she said, holding onto the rim of the boat while snatching mine. Straining against the weight, she struggled to pull me up, little by little. The souls were enraged at this, clawing me now in punishment. Camilla pulled harder, making me feel like I was being torn in half.

I was just about halfway up when something popped out of the water.

“You stole my heart!” Olympias screeched. The mother of Alexander the Great had black leeches of hair smeared over her pale face as she lunged at me.

I took my free hand and clocked her in the face. Another scream exploded from her mouth.

Camilla pulled me up just in time before Olympias could retaliate. The hands clawing my legs caesar as Charon smacked the dark waters with his black paddle. I laid panting from exhaustion on Camilla. The only sounds I could hear was our labored breathing and the piercing howl from Cerberus who frothed with fiery rage on the river bank.

“Thank you,” I whispered, suddenly remembering I was still very naked and on top of her. I jumped off of Camilla and covered myself again, making her eyes roll.

“Payment,” Charon said, his voice hoarse and rattling.

I turned to look at our tour guide of hell. The shadow of a man before me was so old that I could see his skull beneath his papery skin and fickle beard. He simply looked like someone draped dry and see through flesh over a skeleton. Charon held out his bony fingers to us.

“Payment,” he repeated, wheezing, “or you go back in the river.”

Camilla wasted no time and paid him two denarii.

The smallest flicker of a smile edged on his lips. Without another word, Charon turned around and continued paddling us forward.

For the first time in the Underworld, I took a breath of relief.

“It’s good to see you, Max,” Camilla said, sitting down. Her eyes lingered on my body for a moment too long, her pale cheeks blushing. “Here, put this on,” she said, taking off the black cloak and handing it to me. “It’ll be easier to focus if you’re clothed.”

“Thanks,” I said, wrapping the cloak around my waist while leaving my chest exposed. Camilla’s reaction to my nudity was clear enough: she still harbored feelings for me.

“So, want to tell me why you’re here?” she said, her previously enamored face darkening as she pondered my recent death.

I sighed, laying back against the wall of the little boat.

“I have a bad feeling it was Caesar who did this,” I said, shaking my head. “We were beginning to colonize the new world—”

“The what?”

“Oh. America. Where I’m from.”

Camilla frowned. “How did you cross the ocean?”

“Lightning,” I said, smirking. “I ferried our men back and forth. While exhausting, it allowed us to make a foothold. Anyway, the vaccines we used to spare the natives of disease were tampered with. My best guess is Caesar. He was none too pleased that we weren’t eradicating them with smallpox. I was seeing days into the futures but the medicine messed with my mind. I didn’t see the betrayal from my top men until it was too late. My guess is that Caesar threatened their families. If they didn’t kill me, it would be their wives and children instead.”

Camilla was silent for a moment, hugging her knees as she watched me. “I’m sorry Max. That is truly awful.” A tear bled from her eye as the silence resumed. And then, she whispered, “My death was for nothing then.”

What? “Camilla, no, that’s not even close to true. The story isn’t over yet.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m heading back up there to take down Caesar.”

Camilla cocked her head as if I were crazy. “Max, death is final. There’s no way up.”

“Actually there is. The System created the Underworld based on a story by Dante.” Camilla’s eyes tightened further from confusion. “Basically, there’s nine rings of the Underworld. The final ring will be where Pluto is. It’s the most dangerous of them all. I need to get to it and defeat him. Once I do, the System will grant me my life back.”

Camilla blinked several times as if she couldn’t believe what I was saying. “You’re serious?”

“Dead serious.” Pun intended.

Camilla laughed in disbelief. “You, Max, continue to surprise me. Need a companion for this?”

“I thought about doing this alone, but I think you’ll do,” I said, smirking. She smiled at that. It felt refreshing to not think about death since coming here. “Thank you, by the way, for saving me back there. Horatius looked pissed.”

Camilla chuckled. “It’s not the first time I’ve killed him here.”

“Will I respawn every time I die back there?”

She nodded. “If what you said is true of these rings, you do not want to die. It’s only going to take you back each time. And Pluto’s hounds, Cerberus, will have someone ready to snatch you up again while it chases us.”

“Why is it, though? Isn’t hell bad enough?”

“Sometimes death isn’t enough of a punishment for your enemies. Everyone we have destroyed is down here with us, including Persephone.”

The thought of the Cult of the Eternal Night’s leader made me shiver. She had been so easy to kill, yet she used it to her advantage to possess Octavia in order to use the Orb of Morpheus.

“Pluto’s got her enchained with him,” she continued, “but she knows how to get what she wants. Now that she knows you’re here, she will stop at nothing to have you tortured for eternity.”

A sadness leaked from her eyes.

“That’s what happened to Octavia, isn’t it?”

Camilla slowly nodded her head, looking away. “I was too slow. Cerberus got her the moment we arrived. I… barely got away to hide.”

Silence grew again between us. There was no way to ease the pain she felt. She couldn’t rest even in death because of her sacrifice. I reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing it lightly. Her watery eyes found mine. Hers were filled with surprise. She squeezed my hand back.

“If I had to guess,” I began, “Persephone likely has your sister in Tartarus. I’m assuming that’s what the ninth circle is. If we can get to Tartarus, we can defeat them and free your sister. Then, we can all go back up.”

“That’s why I like you, Max,” she said, still holding my hand. “You are relentless in your pursuit of justice, even if it kills you.”

I had a strong feeling that her usage of “like” was inadequate, that she meant so much more. She had told me she loved me just before she died. In remembering that, I realized my holding of her hand might come off the wrong way.

With one more gentle squeeze, I let go of her hand.

“Thank you, Camilla.”

As we sat together, I almost forgot that we were traveling over the souls of the dead. It wasn’t until a notification appeared that the temporary respite vanished.

Location Discovered: Fields of Asphodel (1/9)

Charon stopped the boat, planting his oar on the shore of the fields. I turned to look at the fields spreading out before us. The sight instantly sent a shrill down my spine.

This was not going to be fun.