Into the Netherworld (Real Terror Universe)

"I'll be right behind you then," Thomas told her. He wasn't about to let a young girl like Charlie step into the cave alone, especially since they didn't know what was in there, exactly.

"Ab initio ad fundum." Lily said loudly.
"I'll go after you." She anounced, She reached in her bag and grabbed a candle. She lit a match and lit the candle, then threw the match on the ground and stomped with her boot.
The symbols Ευλογώ μας πατέρα had been carved by her fingernail i8nto the candle. It roughly translated to Bless us Father. Lily was quite religious.

Charlie nodded and spoke the words loudly. "Ab initio ad fundum." Then she slowly made her way inside. A weird feeling came over her as she stepped into the mouth of the cave, but Charlie didn't stop.

Hanyer went wide eyed and followed his friend, no longer caring about his own nervousness.

(( I translated the phrase online, it says 'counting from beginning to estate' which make s no sense to me.... just figured I'd say that.))

((I translated it on a translator and it came out that way. But then I tested it Spanish to English, same phrase and it was wrong [Of the outset at the end]. On a different site it came out to 'From the beginning to the bottom/end'.))

Taryn decided she'd go after Lily, no minding being the last go in. She watched as Charlie and Hanyer entered the cave, which looked foreboding as ever. But it now stood as a challenge to her and she would not lose.

Lily gave Thomas a little shove.
"Go on Reaper boy." She said
"It's cold out here." Her breathe floated in front of her, it gave her icy eyes a slightly creepy look.

(I found a couple latin phrases on a website and combined them.)

"Sheesh. The abuse I put up with," Thomas commented as he enetered the cave, traveling deeper and deeper within. After what seemed like hours, but it was only about fifteen minutes, they reached a subterranean river. In the distance, he could see a boatman with a silver lantern approaching.

"Wait. Why does this seem familiar?" Thom asked himself, "I've heard about this before..."

Lily ran in after him, and stopped in her tracks when she saw the river.
"Jesus Christ." She said, "It's just the way I imagined hades would look" she added with dry tone.

"Oh, yeah. This must be the River Styx and that must be Charon," Thomas commented, remembering their mythology class.

The boat reach the bank and a fierce-looking boatman stepped out. He looked like a normal old man, but there was something otherworldly about him. He spoke, "You are neither dead nor dying. What is your business here?"

"I have the right to be here," Thomas said, unsheathing his scythe. The old man didn't look impressed.

"A scythe, a Reaper doesn't make, boy," he announced, "Why should I take any of you across?"

"Are you interested in artifacts? Ancient Greek?" She asked, not waqnting to have to call Thomas's grandfather just yet, it would probably mean some kind of cruel and unusual punishment like doing yardwork for the old guy all summer or something.

Charon looked at the young girl in interest. He stayed silent for a moment, but his eyes sparkled greedily. He spoke, "It depends. What kind?"

Taryn came in right after Lily and she was intrigued by the sight of the River Styx. And of Charon. He looked normal at a glance, but then everything started to change. Things became very vivid. Her vision penetrated the darkness, everything was very clear. And Charon's eyes looked like they had no irises. They looked deadly.

The witch business was kicking in again. It was a bit unsettling, she looked down immediately, letting her brain adjust. She kept quiet, listening cautiously. She had nothing to barter with for Charon anyway.

Hanyer felt insanely out of place and had the urge to run back to the entrance, but he stayed by Charlie's side. She was looking at Charon was interest, but she didn't say anything.

Charlie didn't think she had anything to offer and so she decided to let the others talk to him.

"Dagger and Sheath, Gold, with Sterling Silver accents. Museum Quality." She said, taking the sheath off of her waist.
"I forgot to mention that our attic is full of my grandmothers Greek collection, which is why I'm not supposed to be up there."

"Very well... I'll take you, across," Charon told her disinterestedly, pointing at Lily as if it was a great honor. The implication was, however, he was only taking her.

"Wait what about the rest of us," Hanyer asked knowing that Charon was probably only going to take Lily.

Charlie frowned. Getting across was going to be difficult. Prinny made a noise of distress and she turned to him. Closing her eyes she put her hands in front of her palms out.

"Reverto domus. Return home creature."

Prinny kweeted once more and then was gone. She turned to the others.

"He didn't liek being here, so I sent him back to his home."

"What could we do to get everyone across? I don't mean to be disrespectful, but If there's a way we could all get across without some kind o flife risking procedure, it would be appreciated." She didn't think that was a probability, but it was worth the try.

Charon eyed the knife greedily, obviously frustrated that he wasn't getting it so easily. He spoke, "Do you have anything else of value?"

"I'm not sure what ypu would call of value." She said. She placed the candle with the carved greek on the ground, laid out her tarot cards, her wallet, cellphone, an emptied out her bag; Some wooden stakes, a cross, a crystal bottle of holy water, and various withering old books of supernatural genre.

"Hmm..." Charon murmured to himself, taking the candle, tarot cards, her cell phone, and all the coins from the wallet. He took a sip of the holy water, but gagged and handed it back. He nodded at the group, "I'll take you. Just one question."

He held up a quarter, "When did Rome get a new Emperor?"

Hanyer was glad that he didn't have to search for something valuable. He didn't have anything important on him. He waited for Lily to answer.

Lily chuckled.
"I'm afraid we aren't from Rome, and it would take a long time catch you up on history." she answered.
"But If you can find a Social Studies text book from the books, it will explain everything." She gathered the things that Charon wasn't taking, and packed them back in her bag, but she left him a few text books, she figured, that it could be good for somebody like him to learn up on history.

Charon took the textbook thoughtfully, "I suppose my human history is rather rusty. I'll take this too."

With that said, he deposited every single piece of his booty into a sack far too small to possibly contain everything, but somehow did. He got into his boat and gestured for the teens to get in.

"Come on. I'm not getting any younger."

Charlie surpressed a giggled and climbed into the boat. Hanyer followed sitting next to her. He was still unsure about all this, but he didn't allow himself to really think too much about it.

Taryn stepped into the boat carefully, suppressing a laugh as well. She looked down the river, then at the ceiling. Something about it screamed No Turning Back. She was okay with that. Her face took on an easy smile. She wanted to see what it looked like beyond this place.