The Chthonic Academy

Mel was getting ready in her room. The format was pentagonal, had a door to the entrance hall and another to the bathroom. It was much lighter than Mac's. Its walls were white with misshapen black streaks running across them like tree roots. Several almost translucent white cloths ran along the ceiling and served as curtains for the only window. The view showed the endless, quiet fields of the underworld.

A young man was sitting in the armchair playing a lyre. He had the same ghostly appearance as Sisyphus, but he was far more beautiful. Mel listened to the beautiful song while fixing her bangs in the bathroom mirror. She was very excited for the first day of school and could barely contain the excitement.

“There are eight people in the class. Will that Lampad be called too?” Mel asked.

The young man stopped singing, just kept playing the strings of the lyre in a heavenly way.

“I don't know who you're talking about, lady, but I can see you're pretty excited for this.”

She came out of the bathroom showing her appearance to the ghost.

“What do you think?”

Before he could respond, the doors to her room flung open. Hades glared at the entire scene. The god had his suit unbuttoned and only half of his shirt tucked into his pants, showing off the king of the underworld in a not-so-honorable way.

“I knew I heard music from here! How many times have I told you not to bring ghosts into your room? Orpheus, get out of here!”

The youth's ghost just disappeared from the armchair as Mel answered her father's fury with her own.

“Didn't we agree to knock before entering?”

“Just like we agreed not to summon the dead in your room. Besides, you're late. Mac and Angela are already downstairs.”

Just because she was mad at her father, Mel took longer than she needed to and stomped off towards the palace entrance.

There she found a luxurious black and gold carriage, with Mac and Angela already seated. At the front were two skeleton horses being led by Ascalaphus, known as Ask, the young man with green hair who tended the orchard.

Mel entered the carriage unsteadily.

“Why are we going in this thing?”

“My father said so,” Mac replied, “you know he has his eccentricities.”

She always hated it when Mac talked my father as if she had no right to be there. She had also been raised by Hades since she was born, and had never even seen the god she was genetically connected to.

“TAre you ready?” asked Ask, handling the dead horses.

The carriage started crossing the city. Everyone who passed by was curious about the residents of the palace. Mel and Mac were dying of embarrassment and trying to hide in the middle of the transport. Angela loved it and waved to everyone who looked in her direction.

The path took much longer than necessary. If they were in a motor vehicle they would have spent half the time. Soon they were on a road out of town, in the opposite direction where Mel had lost her way the day before, past the bank of the Cocytus River into fields of green grass.

The large body of water was crystal clear and considered the most normal of rivers by those coming from the surface. For those who never left, it was just another river with unique properties like the other four that crossed the underworld.

It didn't take long for them to see where the academy was. A two-story building, the building was black with white stone making up the details. A small pier was over the Cocytus and sports fields had been outlined in the surrounding grass.

Honestly, they expected a little more. They saw a small man in a black uniform waiting at the entrance. The man was the oldest person they had ever seen. Not even ghosts who died of old age had skin so wrinkled and hair so white that it only crossed the side of the head, leaving room for a bald spot.

“I am Geras, the instructor of the Chthonic Academy. Now get down from there, you're already late.”

They weren't used to being treated with disrespect and didn't know how to react to the old man's authority. Ask turned to them with a confident smile.

“I'll come back for you later. Let’s see if I can convince Lord Hades to send a more modern vehicle.”

“What?” asked Geras irritably. “You are Ascalaphus, aren't you? You are part of the chthonic students.”

The young man laughed at the joke, which Geras was not happy about.

“Do I look like a clown to you? You can get off that carriage, I can see that we have a lot to train with that skinny body of yours.”

He looked to the three for help, something none of them could give. Afraid of what Geras would do if he didn't comply, he lowered his head and went inside with the girls.

“Where are the other students?” asked Mel looking for someone in particular.

“They're already in the room. They arrived on time, unlike you.”

Everything Geras said sounded like a scolding. Mel didn't care, she was anxiously waiting for Rete to be with them.

The interior of the building was made of wood with no notable features. It was just a school building with bathrooms and lockers and classrooms.

Geras opened one of the doors and they saw nine desks in front of a blackboard. The windows faced the Cocytus, being a beautiful view of the river. Four of the desks were already occupied and it didn't take long to recognize who was there.

In the front row, Thanatos and Hypnos. The older brother with his usual impeccable posture, while the younger one was sleeping with his pillow propped up on the table. No one was in the middle row and they saw the other two in the back row. Angela greeted Momus who was making folds with the pages of a notebook and, to Mel's sadness, the last girl was not who she expected.

Sitting next to Momus was a tall girl. At seventeen, she wore her dark blue hair in a ponytail. She looked nervous and smiled at the four who entered.

“Come on, come on, I don't have all the time in the world! Sit down!”

Mel noticed that Mac calculated with all the care in the world where she would sit. There was an empty chair next to Thanatos and Mel knew Mac's crush on him. Not caring about it, she sat down behind Hypnos and in front of the tall girl, beside the windows. It didn't take long for Angela to sit next to Momus, with the door to her right.

Thanatos turned around, noting the delay of the last two students. Ask seemed to be waiting for Mac's choice, who, in the nervousness of the situation, sat in the most central seat, next to Mel and behind Thanatos.

Finally, Ask went to Thanatos's side in the front row and the two shook hands amicably.

“Right. Let's start with introductions. I am Geras, as you already know, I am the god of old age, so treat me with respect!”

A hush fell over the room after Geras's introduction, which made him even more angre. He took a ruler and hit Hypnos's table, who woke up with a scare.

“Sons of Nyx! We have to set a good example here!”

“Hypnos! God of sleep, I guess. I like to meditate and have my eyes closed.”

The answer didn't satisfy Geras and Thanatos intervened before his brother could take more scolding.

“I'm Thanatos, but I think I know everyone here. Anyway, I'm the god of death and the captain of our team.”

Momus clapped his hands which caught Geras' attention.

“Your turn, little brat.”

“Oh yes, of course, old Gagaras. We are also children of Nyx, but not as popular as Thanatos. I like to think of myself as a god of banter even though no one has given me any titles.”

It was possible to see the blood in Geras's head rising when being called 'Gagaras', something that didn't seem to intimidate the young man.

“I'm Angela,” she said, drawing attention, “I think everyone knows me here too. I have divine blood, but I'm not a goddess of anything in particular. At least for now.”

“Very good!” exclaimed Geras. “Next!”

Mac, Mel and Ask also made introductions. Neither of the first two was a goddess of anything specific and Ask didn't even know if he could classify himself as a god, he only knew that being a son of rivers, he had divinity in his blood.”

In the end, only the tall girl next to Momos had not spoken up and noticed the gazes in the room in her direction.

“Ah, well, I'm Oizys, sister of Momus. And Nyx's other children too, but Momo is the closest and…”

She was clearly uncomfortable being the center of attention and was unable to complete her introduction.

“Why are there nine chairs in the room if there are only eight on the team?” Momus' question changed the focus.

The response began with the tapping of the ruler on the boy's desk.

“Have you ever tried to arrange eight chairs evenly in a room this size? Impossible! Quiet now, I just want to hear questions involving death and sports competitions.”