Chapter Six

The next Task


Hades hung out in his accounting room for most of Aphrodite’s tour, if he even decided to show his head out and Persephone would give him the evil eye. He sat in his chair, his head resting in his hand watching his smoky tv screen and watching mortals above he pulled out a remote and began flicking channels with utter boredom. Till he found Psyche and sat up and looked out the open door, Persephone was showing Aphrodite their many rivers and Hades turned back to the screen.
“So Aphrodite actually disapproves of this girl, I wonder why?”
Hades looked back at the screen then saw male after male showing off for her attention as she walked past, he blinked as she paid none of them any attention.
“Arrogant little girl aren’t you?”
Hades then saw watching Psyche was Eros but from afar. He rolled his eyes.
“Geez she’s just a mortal, what type of mortal attracts that type of attention?”
“A mortal with a curse.” A female voice replied.

Hades looked up suddenly. He looked at Persephone and then looked round trying to look past her to see if Aphrodite was still around, Persephone stepped to block his way.
“But guess who placed the curse.” She added.
Hades looked at his wife, “Oh I don’t Hecate or someone?” Hades guessed.
Persephone rolled her eyes.
“No ‘Dite herself.” Hades looked at Persephone his attention grabbed.
“What? your kidding right?” He asked totally intrigued to why the Goddess of love suddenly had a nasty streak.
“Nope, this girl got all the offerings ‘Dite should of cause of her beauty, she gave them to ‘Dite in the end, but when it got to the point where people starting throwing rose petals at that girl’s feet ‘Dite got angry.” Persephone explained, “She told me most of the story, and she says to expect her down here sometime in the next few days. So I want to get her in and out as soon as possible.” She added.
Hades looked at Persephone.
“C’mon babe you still don’t trust me? Geez nice.”
“Hades hon I can’t count on both my hands of the number of affairs and flings you’ve had, it’s just too many.” Persephone remarked.
Hades looks at her.
“Hey what am I suppose to do while you’re away for six months, sit here twiddle my thumbs and count the souls as the float past?” Hades asked.
Persephone rolled her eyes.
“Look all I do is go and visit my mother, you can hold out. I don’t know why I bother with you.” She remarked.
“Because I kidnapped you?” Hades offered.
Persephone sighed.
“Oh you are the most impossible God I have ever met.”
Hades grinned and Persephone smiled, it was that grin that reminded her why she kept coming back apart from the link with the fruit.

Psyche kept walking looking round all the guys showing off to her as she walked past, and all she wanted was to be left alone and to find a hotel to spend the night. She watched the sun about to set and she looked at her sun dial and she sighed, she had better hurry, everything closed when Apollo’s chart had carried the sun all the way across the sky. Psyche found a hotel and she went in and got a room quickly, she was about to pay, when they guy offered her a bargain for a free room.
“You work here in the office tomorrow while I’m off on duty and you can have free board here for as long as you need.” The man offered, “Because you have such a pretty face.”

Psyche hated that... but she had no working skills what so ever, so she accepted it with a smile and went to the room, and she lay there as the sun went down, looking at the ceiling thinking to herself.
“I wonder what the next task is... probably something where I’m going to be facing life and death... again.” Psyche sighed.
She crawled under the cover and lay in the middle of the big bed by herself and silently she wished Eros was with her at that moment, a new face, in yet another strange city.
Psyche had turned in to somewhat of a wanderer now, because of Aphrodite’s tasks.
Every time she went to go home another task would take her further away.
“I never did anything to you Aphrodite, so why do you do this to me... all I want is to live with Eros carefree and happy.” Psyche remarked.
Psyche rolled over in the bed and closed her eyes and attempted to sleep, she knew it would take a while so she thought of happy thoughts of her and Eros to help her fall asleep much easier.

Eros stood outside the hotel looking at Psyche’s door and he sighed to himself. He knew she felt like she was suffering and she was suffering because of him,
“Maybe just one night, won’t hurt.” He said to himself when Hermes zipped up behind him.
“Hey cat, no ya don’t, your mother is back home asking for you, get this she got Apollo to pick her up while he was setting the sun. Now before she clicks and you get your Godhood removed.” Hermes remarked.
Eros sighed and he nodded he spread his wings and he flew off back to Olympus no words, Hermes sighed and he zipped off after him.

Hades sat with a large cartoon of popcorn beetles in his lap watching the television.
“Oh this is a good show, they’re bringing pain and suffering on themselves and I don’t have to lift a finger.” Hades made himself more comfortable.
Persephone stood at the doorway watching Hades watch the screen and she sighed.
She was going to have to coax him away from the screen, maybe causing a bit of trouble up top tomorrow for Hercules and Meg, that would be interesting. She knew to Hades he was still looking at a way to seek revenge at Hercules for firing him in that vortex of souls. She had pain and panic tell her the story on why she was kidnapped. He had been kidnapped to make the Olympian Gods angry and Hades was on trip of proving his power, why he had picked her it was beyond Persephone, but company and cheering up was what he needed. From there she grew to like him and admire his evil intentions, she found it fun, exciting and different to cause trouble for the good team, from which she had once been a part of, now here she was helping Hades to try and get his way in to Olympus to rule, help him gather back his pride.
But now was the time to start getting back on track and they would pay Hercules and Meg a visit tomorrow if not the day after if she could coax him away from that tv screen. She didn’t know why but she found real time tv very boring. But Hades channel surfed in that time to find someone else suffering or dying.
“Hades hon are you coming to bed?” Persephone asked from the doorway.
Hades looked up from the tv screen.
“What huh? Oh babe, um, maybe.” He replied.
“Well if you don’t come now you can sleep on that chair tonight!”
“Yeah, yeah, okay, I’ll sleep here.” Hades remarked his attention back to the screen.
Persephone sighed and then walked off to bed.

Psyche was woken up the next morning by a knock at the door and she got up and opened it and looked at the man running the hotel.
“You have half an hour then I want you to watch reception for me, I’ll be back before Apollo’s chariot reaches the other side of the sky.” The man remarked.
Psyche nodded and she shut the door to get ready.

Psyche was at the reception in ten minutes and the man showed her how to mark the scrolls on who was coming and going, he then looked at Psyche as she was taking everything in, he smiled to himself.
“I’ll see you tonight.” He remarked and walked off.
Psyche took a seat behind the reception desk and made herself comfortable, she hadn’t been there five minutes when the door opened and Aphrodite came walking in.
Psyche looked at the Goddess.
“No annoying spiral hearts this time I see.” She drooled.
Aphrodite nodded.
“Oh yeah, those come with the gig, but I appeared outside a few meters away so you wouldn’t hear.” She replied.
Psyche nodded.
“So has my next task been assigned oh jealous one?” She asked.
Aphrodite looked at Psyche.
“I am not jealous! I do not like get jealous!” The Goddess protested.
Psyche rolled her eyes.
“Well as you can see I’m kinda working here so I won’t be able to do the task till I’m off shift okay?”
Aphrodite smiled and nodded.
“That’s what I expected, so here’s your task, you are to travel to the underworld and in this small flask I want you to collect some of the river Styx and then bring it back up here and I will meet you in the morning, that’s it, easer than collecting wool.” Aphrodite remarked.
Psyche nodded.
“So you want me to go to the underworld huh?”
Aphrodite smiled.
“Well there is no river Styx up here is there?”
Psyche rolled her eyes.
“Why don’t you just say that my task is to fall over dead, that would be so much easier.” She drooled.
Aphrodite looked at Psyche.
“I would but you can be revived that way.”
Psyche blinked, she suddenly realised why Aphrodite had gone to the underworld in the first place. She had figured the Goddess was heading there with Hades driving it seemed pretty obvious.
“You want no evidence of me being dead, hense you want me alive yet untraceable, smart, so I take it if I pass this task, then my next lot will be to keep heading towards Hades Domain, over and over and over, till I fail.” Psyche remarked.
Aphrodite smiled.
“You like got it, so while your down there you might as well stay there.” She said and turned on her heel and walked out.
Psyche shook her head.
“Don’t count on.” She growled.

Hades was watching his smoky tv screen and he smiled.
“Ooooh a guest I just love guests, time to set out the alarm squad...” He remarked and jumped up from his seat.
Pain and Panic were walking the hallway when Hades floated up to them and they looked up at him as he grinned.
“Uh boss! Like what are you doing here?” Pain asked.
Hades looked at him.
“I run this place or did you forget that?”
“He thought you might of gone topside with Persephone that’s all.” Panic replied.
Hades blinked.
“WHAT?! SHE WENT TOPSIDE AND SHE DIDN’T TELL ME!”
His hair exploded and the two imps ducked as flames filled the room.
“I CAN’T BELIEVE THE NERVE OF THAT WOMAN! SHE DIDN’T TELL ME! I’M HER HUSBAND DAMNIT I DESERVE TO KNOW!!!” He exclaimed.

Pain stuck his head up.
“Maybe it’s that time of year again?” He offered.
Hades shook his head. “No she was there only two months ago.”
“Maybe she just wanted to see her mother again?” Panic offered.
Hades shook his head. “She doing this to get at me, she wants attention, well two can play at this, I’m not going to bend to her will, I run the underworld not her I was running it before she came here.” Hades remarked.
“But boss, you kidnapped her.” Pain remarked.
Panic ducked and there was a sudden streak of fire where pain stood and when it cleared a charred pink imp stood and blinked making two white eye shaped from underneath the charred body, and he suddenly fell over with a thump.
Panic looked at Hades.
“Are you just going to carry on doing your underworld duties boss?” He asked meekly.

Hades looked at Panic.
“Yes we’re getting a visitor tonight a mortal whose going to attempt to take some of the river Styx as part of a task, I want to make sure she doesn’t leave.” He remarked.
Panic nodded.
“I’ll get the alarm system up right away boss!”
And with that he ran off.
Hades looked at Pain’s charred body, he sighed and glided off. “I’m going to find some worthy dead warriors to do some all night guarding.” He remarked.
Pain blinked again and spoke out in a puff of smoke. “Ow.”

Psyche rested back int he chair and just spent the day relaxing, she was not at all worried about the upcoming mission. She would just follow the advice as it came to her, and she would follow it directly and she would fine.
“This will be easy.” She said to herself.
Though she knew she was going to expect some troubles, she just hoped that guiding voice would guide her this time, that was the only thing that worried her, but it was gone soon after she thought she should worry about it. Something told her that it was going to help her and wouldn’t stop.

The door to the reception opened and Psyche blinked as she saw a rainbow streak and then Iris appeared in the reception. Psyche sat up and looked at the goddess who smiled brightly at her.
“Iris!” Psyche exclaimed surprised.
“I have passed your message on though I didn’t need to, he’s watching you and will always be watching you.” Iris remarked.
Psyche smiled. “He is?” She asked.
Iris nodded.
“He will guide you when you need it.” She added.
Psyche blinked suddenly, that voice in her head, that had helped her with gathering the wool, that had been him. He must of instructed the bugs to help her with the pile of sand and seeds as well.
“So he will help me tonight?” She asked.
“I would answer that but you already know the answer child.” Iris replied.
And with that in a rainbow streak the Goddess was gone the door closed behind her.

To Be Continued...