Chapter 10: Plundered Junkyard and The Underworld.
Heaphestus was very possessive of his items, even those he thought were defective. As such, when he discarded his defective products he placed them in his Junkyard. While he was not the only god to use it, since he was the Blacksmith god, he was the one to use it the most.
Every item he discarded because it did not suit his standards was placed here. Even the Prototype of Talos was thrown in here to serve as a guard for his trash. Thanks to Anti Divination Magic, Constantine managed to ride into the junkyard without being spied on by the gods.
All around them were piles of Olympion Junk, anything the Smith God and the gods threw away. With a smirk, he jumped off Solomon, but he turned to the horse who seemed about to wander off.
"Touch nothing, not yet."
Solomon nodded as he waited patiently for Constantine to do his work. Vritra and Constantine began to walk through the Junkyard which was not protected. Hephestus just placed his trash here for it to rot.
While he was possessive, he wouldn't mind if Constantine took what he needed. Vritra flicked his tongue as he felt the desire to possess this valuable material like his kind often did.
"Is that greed I feel, Vritra?"
"Can you blame me? One man's trash is another's treasure. Much less for a dragon like me."
Constantine smiled as he opened his backpack. He looked around and he picked up what appeared to be the head of a bronze horse. Hephestus could use any material, but he mostly used Celestial Bronze.
Once he confirmed this was made of that, he placed it into his backpack. Talos didn't react just yet and would only wake if the items were taken out of the yard. He also took arms, legs, and other body sections from human automatons that didn't meet Hephestus criteria.
Beautiful shields, and swords, he even cut down a Celestial Bronze tree. He even found other items like Olympus Washing machines, fridges, and computers. He took them anyway and he just kept taking more.
He took items he could melt down or learn from. Once he felt he had enough for his future forging, he turned to Talos who was not activated. The statue was buried under the sand, so he walked toward it.
He raised his hand and with pure will, he grabbed the leg with his telekinesis. He then lifted and tore Talos out from the sand. The Automaton began to turn his head as this much was too much disrespect.
Constantine dropped him causing an avalanche of sand and godly junk. Talos began to pick himself up shaking the sand off. The statue was 200 feet tall and made of Celestial Bronze and regular Bronze.
Just as it got to its knees, Constatine kicked off the ground toward it. He appeared above its nape and he spun around slicing its head clean off in a single swing of his Black Power Sword.
A ring of fire melted through the neck of it which dropped to the ground in a thud. The 200-foot statue began to struggle before it fell limp and deactivated. With a smile, Constantine opened his backpack before sucking in the statue and its giant sword.
"I have what I need, let's cheese it."
Just as he was about to leave out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Megalomagic Statue of Hades that got Bianca Di Angelo killed.
'I did you a favor kid.'
He picked up the statue before throwing it in his backpack. With that, he whistled and called Solomon toward him. As the horse ran toward him, he jumped in the air spun around, and fell into the saddle.
With a bellowing neigh, Solomon teleported them once more, this time to Los Angeles. His target was the DOA Recording Studio which stood for Dead On Arrival as the dead were.
When Constantine, Solomon, and Vritra arrived in Los Angeles, they did so somewhere discreetly. Since riding Solomon around in Los Angeles would be annoying, he jumped off the horse.
"Come on big guy. Transform."
With a snort, Solomon released his true form and began to shapeshift until he looked like a giant Tibetan Mastiff.
"Better."
Solomon hated this form as he was not used to paws, unlike his durable hoofs. Though, he didn't complain much as they began to walk through Hollywood. Though, Constantine did pull the mist denser around them making Spine Splitter on his back look like a large baseball club.
Even his Black Blade and Shotgun were disguised so no one could tell much about him. The mortals could see him, but with how dense he made the Mist around him they forgot about him quickly.
Eventually, he reached the disguised entrance to the Underworld The DOA Studio. When he walked inside with Solomon and Vritra around his neck he looked around the place. Much like in the book, The Lightning Thief, Muzak played softly on hidden speakers.
The carpet and walls were steel gray and pencil cactuses grew in the corners like skeleton hands. The furniture was black leather, and every seat was taken. People were sitting on couches, standing up, staring out the windows, or waiting for the elevator. Nobody moved or talked, or did much of anything.
Of course, he could tell these were all the souls of the dead as they were transparent. One could see through their bodies and sitting behind the security guard's desk was a raised podium, so one had to look up.
He was tall and elegant, with chocolate-colored skin and bleached-blond hair shaved in a buzz cut. He wore tortoiseshell shades and a silk Italian suit that matched his hair. A black rose was pinned to his lapel under a silver name tag.
(Image here)
Constantine walked toward him with Solomon at his side.
"Sir Charon, I need to enter the Underworld."
Charon leaned across the desk and nothing could be seen behind his glasses except Constantine's reflection. Charon though seemed to be intently staring at Vritra around Constantine's neck and even at Solomon.
More so at Constantine himself as he could not get a good feel for him.
"What for?"
He spoke in a British accent, and rather than lie, Constantine was honest.
"I wish to see my Mother Hecate. She is Lady Persephone's handmaiden and I need to speak to her in person."
Charon thought about it.
"That may be so, but I don't work for free. That Dragon around your neck looks valuable."
Vritra hissed and bared his fangs which dripped with Draconic Venom laced with Divine Energy. Even a god would suffer to be afflicted with that.
"I am no pet, Ferry Man."
"Shame, how about the horse? A unique breed of horse, that I could sell him for at auction."
"Charon, stop trying to sell my friends. Here."
He reached into his pocket and he pulled out 5 Drachmas. His Mother Hecate had left his Father a bag of 100 of these golden coins in case Constantine ever needed them. The moment, Charon saw those coins he reached out with Greed.
"Real drachmas. Real golden drachmas. I haven't seen these in centuries."
Charon tapped his finger on his desk as he looked at Constantine.
"Five? You can do better."
Constantine smiled as he pulled out another five.
"Ten, take it or leave it. Do me a favor now, and in the future, we can repay it. Maybe get you a raise by talking to my Mother and Lady Persephone? Wouldn't you like a better suit than the one you got now? Looks nice, but you deserve better right?"
Charon glanced down at his silk Italian jacket and imagined himself in something even better.
"I must say, lad, you're making some sense now. That raise is just what I need and the boat's almost full, anyway. I might as well add you three and be off."
Constantine handed off the 10 coins and he even added in an extra 3.
"Consider that a tip for being helpful."
Charon grinned as he led Constantine to the elevator. Vritra sunk back into his soul and to make it easier, he sent Solomon back into the familiar space, a Dragon Deus familiar magic.
Charon was curious about that, but it made it easier for him. When the elevator opened, it was already crowded with souls of the dead, each one holding a green boarding pass. Charon grabbed one spirit who was trying to get on and pushed them back into the lobby.
"Right. Now, no one gets any ideas while I'm gone, and if anyone moves the dial off my easy-listening station again, I'll make sure you're here for another thousand years. Understand?"
He shut the doors before putting a key card into a slot in the elevator panel starting the descent. It didn't take long, but the elevator stopped going down and instead began moving forward. Before long, the air turned misty and the spirits around him started changing shape. Their modern clothes flickered, turning into gray hooded robes.
The floor of the elevator began swaying as they were now on the River Styx. Constantine, gripped the handle of The Black Sword tighter as he prepared for anything. Charon's creamy Italian suit had been replaced by a long black robe. His tortoiseshell glasses were gone.
Where his eyes should've been were empty sockets, like Ares's eyes, except Charon's were dark, full of night and death and despair. When Charon saw Constantine looking at him he smiled.
"Well."
"You look good."
"Aw, thanks."
The flesh of his face was becoming transparent, letting Constantine see straight through to his skull. When he looked over the edge, they were on a wooden barge. Charon was poling him and the dead across a dark, oily river, swirling with bones, dead fish, and other, stranger things—plastic dolls, crushed carnations, soggy diplomas with gilt edges.
Constantine nodded.
"The River Styx."
He bowed to the river to pay respect to Styx one of his Ancestors the Mother of Nike, his great, great, great grandmother. He could swear he saw a feminine face appear in the river and grin at him. Charon respected that, but he had complaints.
"Polluted, for thousands of years, humans have been throwing in everything they come across—hopes, dreams, wishes that never came true. Irresponsible waste management, if you ask me."
Mist curled off the filthy water. Almost lost in the gloom, was a ceiling of stalactites. Ahead, the far shore glimmered with greenish light, the color of poison. Soon the shoreline of the Underworld came into view. Craggy rocks and black volcanic sand stretched inland about a hundred yards to the base of a high stone wall, which marched off in either direction as far as the eye could see.
A sound came from somewhere nearby in the green gloom, echoing off the stones the howl of a large animal.
"Cerberus is hungry, you got any food?"
"Course, I won't hurt the big pup."
"Good, Hades wouldn't like that."
The bottom of the boat slid onto the black sand and the dead began to disembark. From a woman holding a little girl's hand, to an old couple hobbling along arm in arm. A boy no older than 9 shuffling silently along in his gray robe.
Once Constantine was in the Underworld, Vritra emerged once more as hiding would do no good. Solomon did the same and returned to his True Visage. Charon whistled at that before he tipped his head to Constantine.
"Good luck mate."
Constantine raised a thumbs to Charon who returned the gesture. Once Constantine mounted Solomon, he slowly trotted through the worn-down path. The dead avoided him like the plague as he could destroy them at any time.
As they moved along, they reached the entrances to the Domain of Hades. Three separate entrances under one huge black archway saying, YOU ARE NOW ENTERING EREBUS!
Each entrance had a pass-through metal detector with security cameras mounted on top. Beyond this were toll booths manned by black-robed ghouls like Charon. The howling of the Cerberus was loud, but Constantine just felt bad as the big dog was a sweety.
The dead queued up in the three lines, two marked 'ATTENDANT ON DUTY', and one marked 'EZ DEATH'. The EZ DEATH line was moving the fastest. What he remembered was for the dead who feared judgment.
The others were for those confident or delusional to pass judgment. As Solomon walked toward the gates, the howling was so loud now it shook the ground. Then, about fifty feet in front of Constantine, the green mist shimmered. Standing just where the path split into three lanes was an enormous dog.
It seemed half transparent, like the dead until it moved and it blended with whatever was behind it. Only its eyes and teeth looked solid and he was looking right at Constantine.
A giant three-headed Rottweiler nearly the size of a small sauropod. The dead walked right up to him—no fear at all. The ATTENDANT ON DUTY lines parted on either side of him. The EZ DEATH spirits walked right between his front paws and under his belly, which they could do without even crouching.
The dog's middle head craned toward him sniffed the air and growled. Solomon unafraid continued to walk toward Cerburus. The middle head snarled then barked so loud he caused shock waves.
Eventually, when Constantine and Solomon were just a few feet away from Cerberus, he reached for his backpack. He reached inside and pulled out a preserved deer leg.
"Here, I can tell you hungry. I just want to see my mom, Hecate."
Cerberus started drooling so, Constantine tossed the deer leg at him. In one snap the middle head grabbed it only to swallow it in one bite. With that, Cerberus looked the other way allowing him to pass.
With Cerberus letting him pass, Solomon rode passed the Ez Line which Percy, Annabeth, and Grover took after humiliating Cerberus. He gave the pup the respect he deserved. However, when Solomon passed the metal detector, it immediately screamed and set off flashing red lights.
"Unauthorized possessions! Magic and weapons."
Cerberus started barking at the undead Spirit who turned off the alarm. He looked the other way as Constantine walked into the Underworld. He passed gnarled trees, spirits in the millions, and more dark imagery. The Underworld was as bleak as it was beautiful with diamonds, and other gemstones growing from the ground.
The Fields of Asphodel where the dead who didn't want to be judged waited for the rest of time. Solomon walked through the fields of trampled grass with the dead moving out of his way unless they wanted to be burned by his fire.
Before continuing, Constantine took a deep breath.
'Lord Hades, in your name I pray for protection and safe travels. I seek an audience with my Mother.'
He felt he could feel a connection form as Hades' focused on him. He could feel welcoming, respect and expecation. The feeling of Hades placing all his attention on him even made Solomon nervous. Vritra squinted his eyes, but he didn't cower.
Dragons didn't cower especially Evil Dragons. However, when the focus went away, it meant Hades was willing to see him.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone