Chapter 27
CYDON
C haron was looking between me and Wren knowingly, like just his gaze could make me spill my guts about what was going on. Granted, it probably could, if I’d had any fucking idea myself. Finally, he huffed and turned toward Wren. “So you’re Cydon’s little bird.”
She gave him a weak smile. Her death was catching up with her. “So he tells me.”
“The mother of the Kuningilin.”
She nodded. “Though the title is new.”
Charon laughed, using his barge pole to move through the water, souls swirling around it like they could climb it to get on board. “Do you know why, in some parts of Europe, they call wrens kinglets?” He looked between us, but I actually had no idea either.
“I’m sure you’re about to enlighten us, old man.”
He snorted. “Who are you calling old? I’m not too old to throw you in the Acheron for a turn around the sun.” His words were softened by the laughter in his voice. We were friends, and I was pretty sure that if I fell in, he would pull me out. Like… seventy percent sure.
Rolling his eyes at me, he turned back to Wren. “As I was saying, there is an old fable—I couldn’t tell you where it started—about a flight of birds electing a king. They couldn’t decide if it should be the wisest, the strongest, the biggest, or the most fearsome. In the end, they decided that the bird that could fly the highest would become king.
“So birds of every kind raced into the sky, and one by one, they all dropped out, until it was just the eagle flying high above the clouds. When he began to tire and could no longer fly higher, a little wren, which had been tucked inside the feathers on his back, burst out and flew even further up than the eagle could manage. Thus becoming king.”
Wren tilted her head at him. “Am I the eagle in this story? Or the bird who cheated his way into becoming king?”
Charon shrugged. “You’re you. But I don’t think he cheated. He was always going to be at a disadvantage; all the smaller birds were. The bigger, stronger birds underestimated them, and in the end, the underdog won with cleverness. That is something to be applauded, in my opinion. Sometimes you can’t bulldoze your way out of a problem.” He looked over at me, giving me a heavy look. “Sometimes you have to think your way around it. Especially problems where the odds are not in your favor.”
We were silent, and I watched the bank on the other side of the River Styx get closer and closer. I wasn’t surprised to see Cerberus on the shore. It was his post, after all. But beside him was someone who was a surprise, and I stood a little closer to Wren.
The barge bumped up to the bank, and I picked her up, jumping off the ferry and onto the riverbank. I wasn’t risking her accidentally tumbling off the boat into the river. Charon helped Fea off the barge too, and if anyone was surprised to see a random person there with us, it didn’t show on their faces.
Wren looked up at the hellhound with wide, scared eyes. I guess he was pretty fearsome; he was the size of a house, with three snapping heads and paws that could crush a small car into a pancake. There was a reason he protected the gates of the Underworld, and it wasn’t because he was soft and cuddly.
“Holy shit,” Wren breathed, her arms around my neck tightening. “He’s not going to eat us, right? I know I’m already dead, but I’m not really down with being chewed up and shit out by a monster-sized dog.”
I snorted a laugh. At least she still had her sense of humor. “Nah, he’s fine. Basically a glorified Pomeranian.” I slipped her to her feet. “Wren, meet Cerberus, the fearsome protector of the entry to the Underworld. Never defeated, except by one ditzy girl with a honey cake.” I raised an eyebrow at Cerberus. “Twice.”
As I knew he would, Cerberus quickly changed from his hound form back to his human form. “Hey, Sephy said I had to let her pass. What was the harm in eating a honey cake for the effort? You know how hard it is to get a good honey cake in the Underworld?” Bounding over, he wrapped me up in a hug. If it had just been me here, I would have shifted into my dog form and we’d have run and played for a while, but I didn’t want to freak Wren out any further. Down here, my dog form was easily as big as Cerberus, but without the extra heads.
“It’s so good to see you, Cy. You don’t visit enough.”
I slapped him on the back. “I’ve been busy. I’m a dad now.”
Wren let out a choked noise at the mention of the boys, and I slapped my own head. How insensitive could I be?
Looking over at Wren, Cerberus dipped his chin. “Mother of Fate. It’s nice to meet you. Clee and Sephy have nothing but wonderful things to say about you.”
“Not Hades?” she asked lightly, and Cerberus laughed.
“Hades doesn’t have anything nice to say about anyone, except Sephy. Don’t take it personally. I’ve been his companion since nearly the dawn of the Underworld, and I’m pretty sure he barely tolerates me.”
Charon laughed, and so did I. It wasn’t true; anyone who’d seen them all together knew that the love between the guys and Persephone was something they would write sonnets about. Epic poems would be penned about their love. But they were very private, and other than Hades, Persephone’s relationship with the guys was kept pretty under wraps.
“How’s your mom?” I asked, and I watched Wren put the pieces together.
Cerberus was one of the great monsters of the Greek myths, and his parents were… “Holy shit, your mother is Ekhidna. I’m so sorry.” Wren looked pale, but Cerberus just waved a hand.
“It’s not your fault. She was trying to kill you. Anyway, being down here with me is better than being imprisoned beneath a volcano.”
That was true. “Typhon ate Lachesis, by the way.”
Letting out a belly laugh, Cerberus doubled over. “Good. Fucking old bitches. Bet she tasted like shit too.”
The other person on the bank cleared his throat, clearly tired of being ignored. “Are you not going to introduce me, Cydon?”
Thanatos was a bit of an enigma in the Underworld. Little known, and much more in line with the Christian visage of an angel, he had huge black wings that sucked in the light, and skin that had never seen the kiss of the sun. He looked like death, and that’s exactly what he was. But he was also my old friend.
“Depends. If I introduce her, are you going to steal her away from me and into those gates from which she can never emerge?”
Thanatos gave a heavy sigh. “Obviously not, Cy. If I wanted her, she’d already be drinking from the River of Forgetfulness.” The River Lethe was just past the gates to the Underworld, and it was Thanatos’s job to take you there and make you drink, so you’d forget your life and enjoy your afterlife, I guess.
“In that case, Wren, this is Thanatos, the God of Death. Thanatos, this is my Wren.”
He bowed at the waist, his wings shifting behind him to counterbalance the movement. “It is an honor to meet you, Wren. Sephy sends her condolences that she couldn’t meet you down here personally, but Hades is away, so she’s in charge. She’s using the time to redecorate the throne room. A few less skulls and a few more flowers, apparently.” His lips twitched, and I could imagine them sneaking around putting out lilies of the valley in place of a giant’s skull.
Wren raised an eyebrow. “Maybe there’s a middle ground, and she can use the skulls as planters? Good, uh, sustainability?”
Cerberus laughed loudly. “Oh, that’s a great idea. Can you imagine pansies growing out the eye sockets of those who tried to usurp him? So disrespectful. I adore it. I can’t wait to tell her.”
There was a brief tinkle of a bell attached to the side of the cliffs that formed the gates to the Underworld. Charon sighed and picked up his barge pole. “Well, death waits for no man. There was a full moon last night, and I swear, it always results in an influx. Plus, if they have to wait more than ten minutes, they succumb to temptation to lean too close to the river.” He rolled his eyes. “Wren, it was lovely to meet you. I hope to see you again on better terms. Cydon, come and visit soon. Bring some of that wine we like.”
I waved. “I’ll bring a whole case, and we’ll try recreating 1460.”
Charon shuddered. No matter how long your memory was, you always remembered that one time you drank so much, you nearly re-died.
Wren gasped and patted her pocket. “Oh! I forgot.” Grabbing a coin, she held it out to the Ferryman. “For my ride.”
Taking the coin, Charon flipped it, and it landed into the river, the souls swirling around it like fish around a pellet of fish food. “Thank you. It’s a little known secret that every time I’m paid, I throw it in the river, and that coin pays for another passage. It lets a soul rise from the Styx and climb onto the barge, allowing them to cross into the Underworld finally.”
She immediately reached back into her pocket and pulled out the second coin. “Everyone deserves a chance.” She tried to hand it to him, but he shook his head, a soft smile on his face.
“Ah, the universe chose well. Keep it; you never know when you might need it. I’ll take it from you then.” Jumping easily onto the barge, he waved as he pushed off.
I turned back to Thanatos while Wren was distracted. “Where is Hades?”
Thanatos just stared at me. “You know where he is, Cy.”
“And did they come up with a solution?”
Thanatos shook his head. “No, old friend. There is no easy, ‘get out of jail free’ card here.” Apparently, they’d been playing the Monopoly game I brought down last time. “But we both know that there’s a loophole for everything, even death. You just have to find it.”
I wanted to roar in frustration, but Wren needed me to be calm. Composed. We couldn’t both break down. “Maybe if I could talk to Hades? Or we could summon Apollo?”
Thanatos curled his lip at my father’s name. There was no love lost between my father and just about any God in existence. “The only person you could summon who could solve this problem would be Zeus, and he is not welcome in the Underworld.” Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen on any plane of existence. “Cy, if she steps foot into our domain, she will never leave. Right now, no one is coming for her. She is a child of no faith. But I find it interesting that her guide is a Celt, don’t you?”
I looked at Fea. I hadn’t realized she was from the Celtic Pantheon. “Do you know who she is? Have you met her before?”
Thanatos shook his head. “I’ve never met her, but I can tell where she belongs, if that makes sense. Sometimes it helps when it’s a busy day on the other side of the Styx.” He looked at Wren. “I’ll tell you what Hades will tell you. You have two choices. You can join us in here, where you’ll enjoy the Elysian Fields and eventually, be reunited with your Gods.”
In one thousand, two thousand, three thousand years. Who knew?
“Or you can trust that the universe doesn’t want to fuck you over one more time, and remain open to her guidance. You were her chosen one, and there has to be balance. Have a little faith.”
Fucking Mythics. Always so damn cryptic.
Stepping away, I wrapped my arm around Wren once more. “Thanks, Thanatos. I’ll bring you Candy Land next time I come down for games night. I think you guys will like it. Say hi to Hypnus for me.”
He inclined his head. Cerberus changed back into the hound, and slobber landed at my feet. I glared up at him. “Ew, I was in the splash zone.”
His middle head chuffed a laugh. “Annwn is that way.” He lifted his chin, pointing left. “Good luck.”
The realm of the dead for the Celtic believers. I looked over at Fea. “Lead on, soul guide.”
Wren gave the guys a little wave, and we followed behind this stranger provided by some mystical force with unknown intentions, trusting that she was leading us toward happiness.