DIMITRI

  The boy watched the boys of his age playing outside the house with a red ball. How happy were those smiles that they were wearing? No matter if they fell with their knees and had mud in their clothes, the boys were still happy.

  Dimitri felt envious while he was reading once again about medicine. And he knew that after the study he had to clean the entire house from his Teacher’s laziness and Pup’s releases.

  He faced a Teacher who was cooking in the pot, either poison or lunch. But judging from the horrendous smell, Dimitri couldn’t tell the difference. The teacher was a great doctor and also a terrible cook. Dimitri still remembered the time that he died by tasting the chicken broth his teacher once made. He could still feel all the pepper in his tongue.

  ‘’Why don’t you take a maid?’’ Dimitri asked and looked around the dirty room that he had to clean later.

  ‘’You have enough money to buy one cheap, and it wouldn’t be a bad thing for a woman to be here-’’Smugged Dimitri, and the teacher glared at him angrily.

  ‘’So you want me to buy a slave so you won’t do the jobs that I gave you, which’’He moved now closer to me. ‘’Let’s not forget they are the only reason that I took you in?’’

  Dimitri looked away and pouted. ‘’You don’t need to call her a slave-’’

  ‘’You said the word’ buy’,’’He corrected the student.

  The boy rolled his eyes and moved back to his studies, but he couldn’t stop listening to the other boys laughing. And his Teacher did notice them and let out a tired breath.

  ‘’Fine, go play with them.’’ He waved his hand in the air, and a smile grew on the boy’s face.

  ‘’You mean it?’’He slapped his hands on the table.

  ‘’Just be home when the sun sets’’ His teacher’s voice was calm and steady.

  The boy now jumped on his Teacher’s arms and hugged him tight.

  ‘’Thank you, thank you.’’

  The Teacher let out a heavy grunt and pushed Dimitri away. ‘’If you do that again, I will make you clean the privy in the pleasure house.’’

  He didn’t realize when they ended up in another wild forest. Or that they were close to a river now. When did it happen? When did the sun already set?

  His gaze shifted to his Teacher, who was once again placing the necklace around his golden scar.

  ‘’Where are we?’’Dimitri asked and watched his Teacher sitting near the river.

  ‘’Epirus.’’He explained.’’And this is Acheron, one of the rivers that lead to the underworld.’’

  Dimitri knew one thing for certain. His teacher actually went insane.

  ‘’Usually’’The teacher stretched his arms and legs. ‘’When you die, you have to go from the river Styx with the ferry man but’’Pup now pointed at Dimitri.’’He will notice fast that we are not souls.’’

  Dimitri tried to play the game his Teacher was playing. ‘’What if we…pretended to be dead?’’

  ‘’If we pretend to be dead, we need burial coins, which means we need to do a funeral. And who appears in funerals?’’

  He expected Dimitri to answer, but he actually couldn’t think of the right name.

  The teacher sighed in disappointment. ‘’The acheron is less dangerous as it needs a small price’’He sat near the river and from his bag he took an iron mask, now covering his whole face.

  And Dimitri watched the full-body covered teacher taking a few deep breaths before he started speaking.

  ‘’How long has it been? When my mother pushed me out, I was welcomed by a warm smile and a cruel shadow, trying to cast me out of existence. So cold. I was so cold. I couldn’t see anything. I could not hear a word. Other than my siblings’ screams and pain. I did not want them. I do not want them to scream. I want them to just stop screaming. And they did. When they were all so close to me, they stopped. When all the anger stopped, their cries of pain, all of them moved to me. And their pain became all mine. One of them broke the prison with a copper scythe. Told us that we could fight against the cruel shadow. And the pain that was now gone, hope filled their bodies.

  The pain that I was holding from my family belonged to me. And I knew that I helped them.

  But once again, another shadow appeared. This time, six figures emerged with thunder from the sky erupting. And this time, I took my brother's pain. I can still listen to it even if he crawls to the deep end of the road.

  Then, the punishment came for me. I shall take everyone’s pain. Every emotion, fear, anger, and corruption shall be mine and mine to endure of the fallen. Mothers, warriors, children, animals, men, monsters…all mine.

  But you knew that, didn’t you? You have appeared so many times here, putting your body inside to take away each pain someone caused you. I can see your pain, I can feel it. Just like I can feel everyone’s pain. But you can still see it too. The pain is never gone. Not when you have a heartbeat still. The pain will never be gone, will never be mine if you still breathe.

  And you want to take a passage through the end, don’t you? And why shall I give you the pleasure of two beating hearts to cross me and bring me more painful memories?’’

  The teacher finally took a gasp of air. Dimitri tried so hard to understand. He had seen his teacher drifting when he was explaining things a few times, just like the first time they met. When Thetis tried to attack the ship, Dimitri could now remember how strange the Teacher’s tone shifted.

  And he knew that the voice that spoke out of his teacher’s lips was not his.

  The teacher now grunted and stood up, irritated as he kicked the river’s steps with his foot.

  ‘’Stupid, stubborn River god’’He cursed and walked further, making strolls around the forest.

  Dimitri blinked as he took a good look at the cold river. Was he the one speaking?

  The teacher called him a god, but how could it be? Then again, such a strange story was coming from the river’s echoing voice.

  ‘’Can’t you use the necklace?’’ Dimitri asked, and the Teacher took a deep breath. He was expecting to explain, but the teacher never responded.

  ‘’Why do you want to go there?’’Dimitri shot his next question, but still did not answer. Why would his teacher want to travel the world of the dead?

  The messenger of the gods said a name, didn’t he?

  ‘’Who is Paris?’’ asked the boy, and the teacher turned his head to him.

  ‘’This is the one you want to see? If he is there, isn’t he already dead?’’

  Still no answer. And Dimitri began to get furious.

  ‘’Listen, I will follow you’’He kept walking even closer. ‘’I will do whatever you ask, but I am not a fool, what…’’

  He is a slave; he has been trapped for all those years.

  He imagined his teacher being trapped in an iron cage with no light to touch his cold skin, while he wished for another outcome.

  ‘’Just tell me the truth for once’’He faced down.

  And finally, the teacher replied.

  ‘’I simply owe a favor to someone.’’He lied between his teeth. ‘’That’s it. Alright?’’

  Such a stubborn man. Dimitri understood that it was the truth, but not the entire of it. And he might later know the whole story. Or at least before Hermes or any other strange god would appear and kill him in an instant. Dimitri pouted and looked back at the river. He talked about pain, misery, and anger. That is what he is taking. Memories of pain. But the river sounded all so tired of it.

  ‘’What if you gave him a happy memory?’’ Dimitri suggested.

  The teacher looked at him as if he spat out the dumbest idea.

  ‘’Look, you seem like a man who has a lot of pain, I mean, which hungry pain god would resist someone like you?’’

  His teacher arched his brow.

  ‘’But he clearly doesn’t want you to cross the path with that price. So, what if you finally take out of your so cold heart a happy memory to give?’’

  The teacher kept staring at him while the pup began digging a giant hole.

  ‘’He will take my pain whether he likes it or not’’said the teacher as he now began running to the river and taking a deep dive. Seeing that the body of his Teacher was not to be seen, it made Dimitri curious about how deep the river actually is. So he decided to lower his finger and touch the dangerous water.

  ‘’I wouldn't do that if I were you’’ A charming familiar voice spoke right behind the boy.

  When he turned his head over his shoulder, he found Hermes resting on a thick branch of one of the pine trees. The young boy now held his breath and looked back to the water, expecting his teacher to get out and help him.

  He said that Japan would stall him. Dimitri thought

  ‘’You will forget a few painful memories, but the pain ohh’’He moved his shoulders with a chuckle, and he let a humming sound out.’’The price is really painful.’’

  ‘’What are you doing here?’’Dimitri asked and tried to hide all his fear he had for that god.

  The god let out a yawn. ‘’Just watching you and your teacher’s attempt to go to the underworld without me failing’’

  He sounded so joyful from the depressed truth. But Dimitri decided to keep watching the river. And that made the god of messengers irritated.

  ‘’You know, in my time, the mortals were more obedient when I was standing in front of them?’’

  ‘’Was the Teacher obedient?’’ Dimitri asked, and he couldn’t think of Odysseus as a man who would kneel, even to a god.

  ‘’Oh, your Teacher was a power of its own, you should have seen him when his madness made him kill an entire kingdom,’’ Sung Hermes.

  Dimitri laughed at the idea of his teacher doing anything like that. If that actually had happened, wouldn’t he already know from myths and history? Was this another of the gods’ tricks?

  ‘’You have faith in your Teacher’’ The god flew down from the tree and approached the boy.

  Dimitri nodded.

  ‘’But you won’t get to the destination. Not without a price crossing this river.’’

  Dimitri now tried to keep his eyes on the river.

  He was expecting the god to attack him or force him to say anything important, but he did not. He was simply standing there with him, watching the river and waiting for a sign from the teacher.

  ‘’So why are you here?’’ asked Dimitri again, and the god tilted his head to the right.

  ‘’We share the same goal, Dimitri.’’The god explained.’’Your teacher and I want the same thing. It’s a shame that he pushes me away, isn’t it?’’

  He had no thoughts about it, but the boy could see the way his teacher was reacting against that god. He didn’t know what exactly happened between them, but he knew that he couldn’t be trusted.

  ‘’So you are expecting that he will join you because he will fail entering the river?’’ Dimitri thought.

  ‘’Smart boy’’ complimented the god, and his slender fingers touched the cold water, making the liquid glow bright.

  ‘’He cannot cross it all alone…as if he won’t be willing to give up the memory he makes him smile.’’

  So the god heard Dimitri’s thoughts. And that made the boy proud as he was right to say it to his teacher. His plan would succeed.

  ‘’But why won’t he?’’Dimitri asked the god. And Hermes leaned closer to the boy, forcing him to take a step closer to the cold river.

  ‘’Would you give a memory that brings you joy and hope if your eternal life were filled with misery?’’

  Dimitri was about to reply with a yes. But he took a moment to think. His teacher wanted to free the man that was called Paris, but his pride wouldn’t let him sacrifice a memory for him. Maybe the thought that it was something deeper than a favor was wrong.

  ‘’Thought so’’ Hermes spat and looked around his clothes.

  And Hermes showed out of his green robe a copper coin with the face of a man wearing a helmet engraved on it.

  ‘’What’s this?’’asked Dimitri.

  ‘’I am the patron of thieves, Dimitri.’’He explained to him. ‘’Whether you like it or not, it’s my duty to take care of you’’

  Dimitri had no gratitude for the words that came from a god who kidnapped him as bait.

  ‘’So, if you get tired of your teacher or when he finally decides to push you away-’’

  ‘’He would never do that’’ Dimitri shouted like a kid.

  The god laughed.’’Or when you decide to leave him’’

  This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

  ‘’I won’t do that either’’

  This made the god irritated. ‘’Take this’’He grunted. ‘’And flip it.’’

  The boy now looked at the coin he was offering once again with chills falling right down his spine. A gift from a god was being offered to him. He never expected something like this would ever happen, and especially not from this one.

  And of course, the boy who had trust in his teacher declined it by looking away from him.

  The god pressed his lips into a thin line from disappointment and moved his hand with the coin away from the boy.

  ‘’Stubborn as your teacher.’’ He rasped, and he started flying away. ‘’Well, I will leave you to it then, as you will have to take care of his wounds.’’

  A few seconds after Hermes had fled, Teacher’s body snapped out of the body, gasping for air. Dimitri’s eyes darted, watching the man’s body trembling as his voice echoed in pain. When he found the strength to get out of the water, he kept trembling with his gaze painted in fear.

  ‘’Teacher?’’ Dimitri asked as he was trying to reach out to him. But when his hand was a breath away from the teacher’s hair, Odysseus slapped it away.

  ‘’Get away from me’’He shrieked with his face showing a wild, wrinkled expression.

  When he finally decides to push you away.

  It made Dimitri sick.

  The boy lit a fire while the Pup was resting on the man’s legs, both sitting in silence and comfort. Seeing his Teacher now, with all the fake beard and heavy cosmetics being cast out by the water, Dimitri could see that the man had less masculine features.

  Sometimes he forgot that his teacher was, in reality, a woman.

  Silence was kept with the Teacher facing the fire dancing in the forest.

  ‘’Shall I go find something for you to eat?’’Suggested the boy. ‘’Maybe I can find some birds, or hares.’’

  The teacher shook his head in disagreement and started caressing Pup’s fur.

  The boy thought about the god’s words. That he had to treat the wounds of his Teacher. But he had no blood or scars on his body.

  ‘’Did something happen when I was away?’’The teacher finally spoke.

  He was about to say the entire truth. That the god found them, that he was watching them, and tried to trick the boy into leaving Odysseus.

  But the memory of the wild expression of his teacher made him back away.

  Get away from me.

  The rage in his eyes and voice. He had never seen him like this. He didn’t know if he actually knew his teacher anymore.

  ‘’Nothing’’He lied.

  The teacher raised his brow and returned his attention to the warm fire.

  ‘’What happened down there?’’ asked the boy.

  The teacher’s lips trembled, and Pup began whimpering from the expression.

  ‘’It had to work’’He whispered as he was covering his face with his hands. And then, Odysseus took a deep breath and stood up once again.

  ‘’I will try again.’’

  ‘’No, no’’Dimitri disagreed and moved closer to him. ‘’It brings you painful suffering you shouldn’t’’

  ‘’How do you know that?’’Asked the teacher suspiciously.

  Dimitri held his breath as he remembered Hermes’ information.

  ‘’You were screaming and shaking’’ Dimitri explained to save his secret. ‘’It’s obvious that you were in pain.’’

  ‘’I will be fine’’He walked right past him.

  ‘’No, you won’t. And it will not work if you don’t give a memory that is-’’

  ‘’Don’t you think that I know that?’’ The teacher began arguing. ‘’Don’t you think that I want to…’’His voice shook once again. ‘’But still I cannot give it to him, I cannot give one of them away.’’

  ‘’You are immortal, you will make another one.’’

  ‘’It’s not that simple, I will give’’

  In that moment, Dimitri saw that his teacher would reveal more things than he should have.

  And then, he stopped.

  Dimitrii nodded with lies and was about to spit from his lips. ‘’You shall rest. And… try tomorrow?’’He suggested.

  The tired gaze of his teacher gave the silent agreement. And he walked back to the campfire, resting with Pup.

  When a few minutes passed and Dimitri heard his teacher snore like a wild animal, he knew that it was time to make his move.

  He stood up and walked right back to the water.

  The boy would have done.

  Be everything for his teacher. Even when the seed of doubt had taken root.

  He took a deep breath and looked up to the sky.

  ‘’Whoever god is above me,’’He whispered.’’Give me strength.’’

  And with that, he jumped into the river.

  The moment his body was in the water, a million invisible daggers stabbed his skin nonstop. His heart started beating faster with pain conquering his body as his mind was rushing into a million thoughts. He tried to retreat, but the pain would not let him. He was at the river’s mercy.

  And in front of him, there was a strange old man with a body that was a form of water. A cold crown of rocks and bones was formed on his head as on his long beard; there were echoes of screams, prayer, and cries.

  ‘’I know who you are’’The man’s brooding voice echoed in Dimitri’s mind.

  ‘’And you are far too early.’’

  He couldn't breathe. He couldn't talk. But he could still think, even with all the pain.

  Please, give my teacher and me an entrance. I will give you something in return.

  ‘’Your teacher gave me enough suffering, why should I take more?’’

  What about a happy memory?

  The god looked at the boy, confused, and he let out a laugh.

  ‘’You don’t know, do you? If I take a memory this precious, I will take every part of it. The people who were in this memory will no longer exist for you. ‘’

  So this is what the teacher was talking about. He would lose them. Not just the memories, but the people who were on it.

  And Dimitri would forget them, too.

  ‘’When I take the memory, soon, the emotions you had for them will vanish, and then, you will forget them completely.’’He explained once again the god, trying to push him out of it.

  ‘’Is this what you want?’’

  Dimitri did not have any more seconds to think.

  I want my teacher to get to the underworld.

  The god’s watery eyes snapped wide, and he slowly nodded. And the pressure of water hit right on Dimitri’s forehead.

  Dimitri got out of the house with panic in his breathing and heart. His hands were all sweaty. What should he say to the children his age? What should he ask? Maybe it was better to get back to the house.

  However, fate changed when the ball fell right close to him. Each boy stared in anticipation. So Dimitri lifted the ball and threw it to the strongest-looking boy with the name Konstantinos, making him take a few steps back when he grabbed the ball back. Everyone faced him, stunned. The boy waited for them to look away, but instead, they all laughed and told him to join.

  The hot wind was making his body all sweaty, his shoes began to get dressed from dirt, and he even fell a couple of times with the ball hitting his stomach. The boy who hit him the most was Manuel, a clumsy boy who always apologised. But even with that, Dimitri loved the air moving all around him, the boys’ voices of encouragement and fun.

  After getting tired of tossing the ball, one boy named Marcus showed Dimitri and the rest of the boys a few spinning tops that his father gave to him. All of the kids placed them on the flat ground and were ready to make debts. Dimitri knew that well, and he watched his red toy move faster than the others.

  When he won, everyone cheered and grunted at the same time, but the third boy, who was called Nicholas, gave them as a reward two slices of placenta cake.

  The sugar melted on the boy’s mouth and thanked him again and again.

  After that, they began talking about their daily lives. Konstantinos seemed to struggle as his father wanted him to become a soldier when he grew up, and he was training roughly every day. Manuel’s father was also not the kindest of fathers, as his son was making a mess all around him. But not by accident. He explained.

  Nicholas was with his widowed mother, who was baking him sweets and wishing in secret that he could also bake like her. Marcus had other dreams. To travel around the seas, to meet new people and places.

  ‘’What about you, Jonah?’’Manuel asked Dimitri, and everyone faced him with anticipation, with his eyes looking up to the night.

  Oh no.

  ‘’Sorry, I have to go’’He said with panic in his voice and began running far away from them.

  He knew that he had made a mistake, and he knew that it would be a punishment.

  Wait…wait, no, stop.

  He was facing the door of the house and was taking a few deep breaths.

  I gave it to you, please, Acheron, stop it, stop.

  When I opened the door, I was expecting my Teacher to stare at me, furious with the Pup growling at the door. Instead, I found a table set for one with hot food on a plate. I took a better look at it and noticed that it was actually edible. Chicken and boiled vegetables that had a salivating scent.

  ‘’Oh, you are back’’ The teacher's voice echoed from afar.

  No, no, please.

  I faced him and saw that his expression was calm as he was trying to hide a smile on his face.

  ‘’I am sorry, I know that I am late but…’’

  ‘’I saw you ‘’ He interrupted him.

  And I faced back to the warm food.’’Is it poisoned?’’

  The teacher narrowed. ‘’Of course not, I simply asked the neighbors if they could cook something for you, and they pleasantly agreed’’ He explained and looked away.’’Of course, I gave them some herbs for stamina in the bedroom, but-’’

  My eyes opened wide as I heard those words.

  ‘’Is this for me? Why?’’I could feel my voice breaking.

  The teacher blinked and stretched his neck. ‘’I just…I just saw you out there, having a great time, and I thought that you might be starving’’ His face turned all judgmental. ‘’And I don’t want your stomach growling so…’’

  Tears fell right from my face and rushed back to the Teacher’s arms.

  ‘’Thank you’’I said with joy, flipping in my heart.

  The teacher remained stunned.

  ‘’I am sorry, I didn’t mean to’’I tried to explain as I am feeling my body moving away.

  ‘’What for?’’

  ‘’That I will forget you.’’

  The boy finally got out of the painful river to see the man he called Teacher shouting at him, with Pup barking at Dimitri. The teacher reached his hand to grab him, but the boy hesitated. Why was I hesitating? That was his teacher, the one he trusted, the one who saved his life…

  Wasn't he?

  The teacher finally grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him out of the water.

  Taking a few breaths, Dimitr tried to force the pain to get out, but his eyes were staring at the strange man who was leaning closer to him.

  Not a strange man, his teacher.

  ‘’Boy, what did you do?’’His voice was shaking as Pup began barking.

  Dimitri had no strength to speak or even stay awake at that point. But his face returned to the river where a steady raft was waiting for both of them to enter. Even with the water moving within fast reach, the raft was staying still with no rope.

  ‘’I did it…’’Dimitri managed to say and rested his body on his Teacher’s body.

  He wanted to close his eyes. Just for a moment, he wanted to shut them down.

  ‘’I did it Teach-’’With that, his tired voice gave up on speaking and passed out.

  His eyes snapped when he saw himself being surrounded by the forest where he was resting. His head was still heavy, but his teacher was nowhere to be found.

  He looked left and right, only to find a man with gray skin whose only possession was his green cloth. His eyes were covered in a white fabric, and right at his long raven hair, a pair of wings were being popped.

  The man’s gaze was facing the fire he made, his long, sharp fingers being roasted to the flames.

  ‘’How does it feel?’’ The man asked. ‘’Losing part of you?’’

  Dimitri’s mind hit right to the realization.

  ‘’You tricked me, you wanted me to-’’

  The god laughed. ‘’Sure’’He let out a hideous snarl. ‘’Blame me, the god of deceivers, deceiving you’’

  Both of them stayed in silence, and the god turned to him with a blank expression.

  ‘’Alright, I now get why you would think that, but I didn’t.’’ He stood up, and Dimitri had to lift his head really high to take a look at the mighty Hermes.

  ‘’But honestly, I didn’t know you had it in you. Surrender your memories for your teacher who doesn’t even care about you’’He said all dramatically.

  ‘’He does care’’Dimitri corrected him.

  ‘And the god tilted his head. ‘’Do you really believe that?’’

  Doubt was found in his mind. What is happening now? His heart began racing with all the thoughts, the memories he had with him. He couldn’t understand if they were honest memories or lies he made himself believe.

  And the god grinned. ‘’You are losing your mind’’

  The boy walked around to take a deep breath and think rationally about what was happening. But he could not.

  ‘’What is going…’’

  ‘’You gave a god your memories, boy.’’ The god explained. ‘’And soon you won’t even remember your teacher, or…yourself.’’

  ‘’What?’’

  ‘’A part of your life will get erased. Soon the puny person you are’’He said and pointed at Dimitri. ‘’All the things you know, the people, will disappear.’’And he leaned all close to his face.

  ‘’You will be once again the boy who was begging in the streets and dreaming of a home.’’

  Those words cut deep in Dimitri’s heart.

  He would lose every knowledge, every emotion. Everything that he knew would be gone.

  And yet, the god was still there, standing with interest.

  The boy took a deep breath and faced him, ready to hear his next words.

  ‘’What do you want from me?’’

  A smile was forged on the god’s face, and his hand opened, showing him a glowing thread.

  ‘’When you entered the river, The Fates cut a part of you’’He explained.’’And here I have it’’

  His gaze moved up again. ‘’You will give it to me.’’

  ‘’Of course.’’The god spoke honestly.

  ‘’For what price?’’

  The god narrowed his lips. ‘’You will work for me.’’ He said simply.

  Dimitri scoffed. ‘’Work for you?’’

  ‘’Make sure your Teacher’s plan will fail, make him pray, beg for my help’’He explained his plans, and Dimitri wished he could unsee the expressions he was making.

  ‘’SImply, break your Teacher.’’

  ‘’I thought that you were at the same side.’’Dimitri tried to remind him.

  ‘’Yes, but it looks like I have to remind Lyssandra of a few things.’’

  That name again. When the god was trying to speak the truth of his emotions, it seems that he was always referring to his Teacher with his true name.

  ‘’ I cannot do that’’Dimitri spoke, and the god laughed and moved his fingers on the boy’s chin.

  ‘’Don’t you get it? ‘’He spat. ‘’You don’t have a choice.’’

  And his eyes fell back to his thread. He could feel the warmth of it, the memories that were his. He and now a god, was holding them as a prize.

  You don’t have a choice.

  ‘’So,’’The god moved right behind him, his fingers now tracing his throat. ‘’Dimitri.’’

  He couldn’t move his body, he couldn’t disobey him.

  Poison was squirming in his tongue, with his eyes darting from the fear. He had no power to fight against him.

  ‘’Do we have a deal?’’