‘I wouldn’t expect you to. I’m just not sure I can help.’
‘You literally said this is your world and you can manipulate the laws of physics if you want to.’
Styx cackles. ‘He said what?’ Hades glares at her but she just howls louder, doubling over with her hysteria. ‘Somebody’s mighty full of themselves. Or are you just bragging in an effort to impress –’
‘That’s enough.’
Styx lowers her voice into an awful impression of Hades. ‘I’m the king of Hell and I control physics now. It’s not a whole realm full of gods who make it run. Nope, I do it all myself because I’m the king and I have a big crown that doesn’t fit on my big head.’
‘He said he could shorten distances,’ I say.
‘Oh, you mean those magical doors that Hermes, god of travel, installed?’
I turn to Hades and he just shrugs. ‘I didn’t have time for the full explanation – you were running out of the front door.’
‘So what can you do?’ I ask. ‘Other than your little smoke hands?’
Styx doubles over again, clapping her hands over her mouth.
‘I can certainly try to help you,’ Hades says, in what I canonly assume is an effort to change the subject before Styx gets her breath back. ‘But I don’t think I can split a realm by myself.’
‘Would you care for my assistance, my king?’ Styx manages. ‘I am but a lowly goddess of a river that runs through a realm controlled by a mighty and all-powerful being but –’
‘Okay, you’ve quite made your point. Will you do me the honour of assisting us with this?’ he asks.
‘The honour is mine, my liege.’
‘You can stop it now.’
‘Oh, I absolutely will not.’ She winks at me and I feel guilty at my startled laugh. We’re here to help trapped and terrified souls – it doesn’t feel right to be having fun while we’re doing it.
‘Can we just do this, please?’ I ask. I’m not sure I have the strength to remain standing much longer, let alone exert some godly force over this realm.
‘It will be difficult,’ Hades says. ‘Impossible, even. I do not say this to offend, but your impetuous manner may be better replaced with patience. The rift you’ve made is incredible but even the strongest gods would struggle to do more in a single day.’
‘We need to at least try,’ I insist.
‘All right.’ He nods, meeting my eyes in what I can only take as an effort to be sincere. ‘Tell us what you found – and how you did what you’ve done so far.’
I feel foolish saying it out loud, making clear how little I garnered from research before my impulsiveness took over. ‘Not much. I just read something about Athena creating an olive tree for Athens – it was less about creating the tree and more about finding a link to her own domain: intelligence. Thetree was a clever thing. She created something they could use – a plant that makes oil they can burn in lamps, use in ceremonies, make into soaps and perfumes, even eat. You need to link whatever you’re trying to do to your own domain. So I guess this one is easy for you, Hades. Styx, maybe think about diverting a stream from your river to run between the two halves? I was thinking of flowers, imagining their roots stretching down, and then I felt something else. It’s hard to explain.’
‘No, that makes perfect sense,’ Hades says.
‘Your flowers must be pretty powerful,’ Styx says, casting a sceptical glance at the rift.
‘Not powerful enough,’ I say. ‘Come on.’
I crouch to the ground, burying my hand in the dirt again to better connect myself to the roots. Hades stays standing, shadows shivering along his arms, then stretching out and fading into the air of the realm like he’s merging with it. Styx heads to her river a few metres away and slips her hand into its waters.
I close my eyes, trusting the others to do the same.
My flowers have spread this far so connecting to them is easy. Their thin, fragile stems flutter against the edges of my mind, and their fragrant scent floods my senses. I push past them to the roots and the mud and the earth beneath. And then I search further, past the nutrients they need until the flowers stop being relevant altogether. Dry dirt and acidic sting and there – I feel it, the pulse of this land that first begged me to fill it with flowers.
I latch on to it before the feeling can escape.
‘I can’t do it.’
I hear the voice distantly. It must be Styx. I can feel the land stretching round her river, and it’s more than just the land – it’s the realm. I can feel her river too and the air crackling round Hades as he pushes against it.
