Phlegethon

The six classmates were dressed in casual clothes and were carrying picnic baskets and other paraphernalia. Mel and Ask were the ones who showed the most fatigue from the exercise they did before going to relax.

Soon they felt the heat and light coming from Phlegethon. The river meandered across the border of the underworld to a far worse place, and instead of water, orange magma followed its path.

Eventually bubbles came up in the liquid and burst causing a huge noise, at other times magma geysers rose and splashed everywhere, including in the direction of the group.

“Nothing more beautiful than a river that explodes,” said Momus, running close to the shore in order to dodge the magma going towards him.

Mel and Thanatos spread a long cloth beside the gray lands of the Phlegethon and opened a parasol with the sole purpose of defending themselves from the magma.

On the other side of the river they could only see darkness. Looking in that direction affected her senses and it seemed that the whole world went silent. Mac was turned suspiciously looking there beside Angela.

“Something's wrong.”

“What do you mean?” replied Angela trying to enjoy social contact with Mac.

“Well, my father barely lets us leave the city, let alone come to Phlegethon.”

“That's true, but I myself have been here a few times with my friends and I have no doubt that Lord Hades knows.”

She could see the suspicion on Mac's face as she turned towards Thanatos, far enough away not to hear the conversation.

“Well, first of all, he always lets you do whatever you want.” Angela tried to ignore Mac's comment. “But that's not the point. Thanatos would never do something against the rules, he's too straight for that.”

“Maybe he doesn't know it's forbidden.”

Thanatos called everyone and took a bag that he carried on his back the whole day. As they went, the two exchanged last words.

“We are on the side of Tartarus, as if he does not know that it is forbidden for us.”

Even though she was afraid of getting a bad reaction, Angela put her arm on Mac's shoulder and smiled at her.

“We came here to enjoy it, try to relax and not think about it. After all, how often do you have a free day with Tan?”

Immediately Mac blushed, thinking how much Angela knew about her feelings and feared how much Angela herself felt for him.

They had no more time for this conversation, as they arrived at the meeting and Thanatos was removing his colleagues' weapons from the bag.

“Before they protest, I brought this for anyone who wants to train, I'm not going to force anyone, but it's good to be prepared in case someone wants it.”

Momus was the only one who looked excited, took his maracas and ran towards the river, extending its chains and causing an explosion on contact.

“Now I can make my own river explosions!”

Thanatos looked at Mac handing over her scythe.

“If you want, we can train, I think you're ready for a more advanced technique.”

She looked at Angela not knowing what to do, yet she had to think about this situation on her own.

“I'm tired now. Maybe later. Don't you want to eat something?”

The god wasn't very happy with the answer and sat down on the parasol next to Mel. Mac felt uneasy wanting to do something, luckily the screams made her focus on something much easier to deal with.

Ask, who was digging something in the ground, almost was hit by magma from an explosion caused by Momus and Mac angrily approached.

“Watch out for the others! If you want to explode, do it further away!”

Under the umbrella, Mel and Thanatos watched Mac trying to help Ask, but Mel was more focused on her lamp lying on the ground.

“Tan, do you know anything about magic?” she asked sadly.

The young man snapped out of a trance when Mel asked the question.

“I don't know, I'm sorry. Classes not going well?”

“They're doing terrible, I hate my ghost teachers.”

He let out a laugh at his friend.

“I don't understand magic, but I know a few things about souls and you have a natural talent with them.”

Mel looked into Thanatos' eyes trying to understand what he was talking about.

“My father who brought the teachers, I didn't even know who they were. In fact, I don't know their names to this day.”

“I'm not talking about that. You call ghosts to the palace of Lord Hades, don't you? And talk to the dead out there, even in the punishment fields.”

“That's nothing. Is that sometimes it's easier to talk to the dead.”

“No, it's not, Mel. Ghosts hardly ever communicate with us, let alone in a friendly way, you have a talent for that.”

She sighed, thinking this wasn't the talent she would like to have.

“Well, I'm going to practice a little. I can't speak for your talent with magic, but I can tell you have something special about souls.”

The god got up leaving Mel alone in her thoughts again.

During the afternoon they continued interacting. Angela and Momus played volleyball, Mac helped Ask find small crustaceans buried in the gray lands, and they all ate together. Processed goods brought in by Momus, a fruit pie made by Ask, and sweets Angela had ordered.

When everyone was satisfied a larger geyser splashed towards them, the parasol protected them from any damage, being completely invulnerable to magma, however the river was more agitated. Bubbles formed and quickly exploded as a huge body appeared.

The creature was about five meters tall, its body made of hot rocks connected by magma. The face resembled a stone mask with two horns and an expression of fury. He started advancing towards them ready to attack.

“Prepare for combat!” shouted Thanatos, picking up his scythe. “Now it's for real!”