Chapter 26: Achilles

Alex couldn't help but marvel at the scene in front of him, appreciating the harmonious music flowing into his ears and his attention wholly focused on the music like a sunflower faces the sun.

The crowd was silent and the sounds of the orchestra rang out clearly in the auditorium, as if making a single sound would offend the gods.

The next track they played was refreshing, floral, humble yet at the same time, divine, like spring dawning on the snowy white landscape and turning it a bright shade of green. It was similar to Tchaikovsky's Waltz of Flowers.

Time passed by so fast while the crowd was entranced by the music and they soon concluded their play and the spectators, as if sluggishly awoken from a deep slumber, looked a little listless but proceeded to clap loudly, to which Alex also did the same.

From the distance between him and the pedestal, he noticed that there she was, Crista, looking at him and waving.

He waved at her and stood up, walking in slow steps and shortening the distance between them.

When they were face-to-face, she asked him with a slight smile on her face "How did I perform?"

"It was incredible." He responded simply, as this truly flawless performance didn't need any more words.

By now, he noticed a strange change that he probably should have picked up earlier. For the entire time they have been in the House, he hasn't heard a single curse coming from Crista. He was just making assumptions, but he thought that cursing was maybe a coping mechanism she had developed to deal with the loss of her relatives, and now that she had reunited with them, she didn't curse anymore.

"Crista, it's very nice to see you so happy." Alex stated.

Crista gave him a bittersweet smile and said "Well, some of my sisters have been lost eternally, their souls too broken to be in the Underworld still, but I feel like I needed this....which is why, I can't thank you enough."

'Why should I be thanked? In fact, I feel like I should be hated for feeling envious that she is this happy and wondering if she'd ever come back...?' Alex thought to himself but didn't say out loud.

The two looked at each other, their reflections each shown on the eyes of the person facing them, and as they say, eyes are the windows to the soul.

This staring contest was however, interrupted by Elana, who looked unusually cheerful and exclaimed to Crista "You did great, Crista. You upheld the musical talents of our species and stood out despite your extremely short training!"

"Ah...Thank you.." She spoke in a slow manner and her cheeks turned a bit rosy.

Elana then turned to Alex and told him "You came here for Achilles right? We're going to pay him a visit so if you'd like to come, then let's go."

Alex, equally stunned out of his entranced state, slowly nodded and followed Elana's lead along with Crista by his side while the crowd from earlier applauded the two as they passed by.

As the 3 were navigating through the House, Elana kept giving them information about Achilles.

"Achilles might be a great warrior first and foremost, but he is also one of the most talented mortal musicians. He also has nymph blood in him, explaining his musical excellence."

"I often go to teach him the ways of instruments, but the Underworld population being very blabbing, misinterpret it as the two of us sharing an intimate relationship. He is much much closer to being a nephew or relative than he would ever be a lover."

"Speaking of love, don't mention anything about it in front of him. He hasn't had the luckiest love life, and the labour contract he signed with the King restricts his movement, prohibiting him from visiting his lover."

"He might seem a little...melancholic."

With the two listening carefully to her, they promptly reached their destination, a large door in one of the emptier corridors of the Outer House.

Elana then knocked gently on the door and they heard a mellow voice "Enter."

She then opened the door, unraveling the interior design of the room.

It was simply decorated, and beyond that, the room was a bit gloomy, hosting dull colours and minimalistic decoration that also made it feel empty and depressingly spacious.

In the center of the room, on a plain bed was sat Achilles.

He had medium-length blond hair reaching to his shoulders and covering one of his eyes.

The other eye held a wheat-coloured iris and a dark pupil. He wore a very simple shirt and pants that exhibited his athletic physique.

He was handsome, but as Elana pointed out, he had a melancholic air about him, from the droopy eyes and shoulders, to his sluggish movement, he looked lifeless.

Achilles was currently playing a simple tune on a lyre, and did not raise his eyes to look at them.

"Hello, Achilles." Elana greeted him.

He didn't greet her back and kept playing on the lyre, this time at a louder level.

"You have some guests." Elana told him.

He still didn't pay them any heed and was solely moving his long fingers on the thin cords of the instrument.

Elana turned to Alex and whispered to him "Tell him about the purpose of your visit."

He nodded and said quietly "Hello, Achilles. I'm here as sent by the god of war, Ares to bring you to the mortal domain for a military conquest with the god."

Achilles, finally paused his play and very slightly raised his eyeline to look at him.

After the two exchanged a look, the voice they didn't hear too much of simply asked "Are we passing through Elysium?"

'Elysium...? I suppose we'll have to go through it to leave this place' Alex pondered for a moment then nodded.

Achilles looked to be indifferent but certain small details couldn't escape Alex's divine eyesight. The man's fingers, which were placed on the lyre, were slightly shaking and his movement turned a bit stiff, as if to minimize his shaking.

'Does he have something to do in Elysium?' Alex didn't read the Iliad and there wasn't too much information about Achille's personal life in Athena's libraries, so he didn't know too much about the possible causes for such a reaction.

Nonetheless, his movements returned to the usual and he resumed playing his lyre, no longer giving them the time of day.

"In a few days they will be departing, so be ready by then." Elana informed Achilles.

"Goodbye, Achilles." They bid goodbye to the man and left the room, closing the door behind them.

Elana then sighed and said "He's in a worse state than usual. I don't feel like he would have even wanted to train on the lyre..."

Crista, who was silent until now, stated with a dispirited expression "That man is heavily scarred. Only trauma or loss can cause someone to lose even the motivation to even speak or move. Recovery will be very hard...but I truly wish him the best."

She was probably right.

It was incredibly sad that they could not do anything to help him, but Alex hoped, that whatever he was looking for in Elysium, would make him happier.

To break the gloomy ambiance, Elana told them "Have you seen your temporary living facilities yet?"

They both shook their head, and wondered why they didn't do so any sooner as they just stupidly held their heavy bags on their back all day.

Elana laughed dryly and took the both of them from their arms and started running, pulling them in the process.

In one of the other halls of the Outer House where people didn't come to hang out, she finally stopped in her tracks and opened a heavy looking door, revealing the place they would spend their time in the Underworld in.

It was minimalistic and the colour scheme consisted of a gray-ish blue and a burgundy red.

There were two king-sized beds in the room and the rest of the facility consisted simply of a kitchen and a bathroom.

Speaking of kitchens, the two were starved and formal dinner takes place in a few hours and they couldn't wait that long.

Fortunately, the kitchen was stocked full of ingredients that were unexpectedly fresh for the Underworld and surprisingly, there was immense variety in terms of the ingredient.

There was butter, exotic spices, various meats and poultry and the most pleasing of all....rice.

Alex contemplated.

'What should we make?' He fell into deep thought and tried overclocking his memory to remember dishes from his planet he hadn't already made here.

Bingo!

There was one dish, that he was longing for the taste of and that he only ever ate in a wedding of one of his distant relatives.

It would be hard to make it authentically considering the lengthy preparation, but they had largely enough ingredients to make a simpler version.

Chicken Biryani was a dish that was hard to make well, but it was foolproof and delicious in any case.

He listed what he remembered to Crista, and it was decided that he would handle the preparation while she would handle the cooking.

They also were offered just the perfect, thin and long-grain rice for making it.

They therefore started the making of this fearsome dish, quite unauthentically and only backed by his meager memory of the taste of it and content he's seen on its preparation.

Alex chopped up some onions, some chicken and garlic and ginger.

He then cut up some butter, and put it under a weak fire, evaporating the milk solids and leaving behind a golden brown coloured oil, also known as Indian clarified butter, ghee.

Succeeding that, he roasted some of the spices required like black pepper, cardamom pods and coriander seeds, cumin and cinnamon then ground them up into a powder with a mortar and pestle.

He rinsed the rice too.

It was then Crista's turn.

She put the onions in the same cooking vessel as the ghee and slowly heated it up, and the onions started sizzling and when they turned transparent and the whole kitchen smelled fragrant, she added the bite-sized chicken, salt and the spices, further implementing a few drops of lemon juice.

By the time the chicken was cooked and the onions started caramelizing, Crista added water to the pan and to get some more depth of flavour, she also added some cream.

She took out the rinsed rice and put it in the wide vessel and covered everything with a lid, leaving the rice to cook slowly and steadily.

When the rice was looking just about ready, the whole dish looked close to completion and was shaping into a delicious looking rice dish.

The ghee covered everything in a layer of shine and the smell of spices permeated throughout the kitchen, making the two drool.

Alex portioned the food into two plates and they sat and dug in.

It was an explosion of flavour!

The chicken was tender and as the protein of the dish, went extremely well with the rice, of which you could distinctly taste every single grain, perfectly cooked and soft on the palate.

Occasionally, a bite held onions and by now they turned soft and sweet while still adding texture to the dish.

"It's excellent." They both stated at the same time.

Since she cooked, Alex cleaned the kitchen and was feeling a bit sleepy when he was over with.

Crista, meanwhile, took out some scrolls and an inkstone and seemed to be writing something.

He took a glance at her and then closed his eyes as he laid down on the bed, hearing her melodious voice saying "Have a good nap."