WHAT'S WITH GODS AND ABDUCTING ME?

"I'm not dead?"

Was the first thought that crossed my mind when I had jumped into the black hole. I was so sure that that was the end of me, with the creepy lady's smile and all that. See if I ever trust grinning grandmas again. Anyways, I felt like I was suspended in the darkne–

"OUCH!"

Never mind. I just fell on a cold platform that suspiciously felt like wet marble. I said felt cause that's about all I had frommy senses. My eyes couldn't adjust to the darkness for the first time in my life, and I was hoping my sense of smell was just as bad cause I wasn't at all interested in smelling the water I could hear running from somewhere.

"HELLO!? Any body there?" I called to the darkness once I got up from the ground. No one answered.

Great. I'm trapped in a weird dark place with none of my senses except touch and possibly a demented granny with hair problems. I wonder what Flintheart is doing right about now.

"ARE YOU SURE YOU SHOULD BE WORRING ABOUT OTHERS WHILE TRAPPED IN HERE?!" a loud raspy voice broke through the silence.

"WHO ARE YOU?!" I shouted back to the voice.

"YOU CALLED ME A DEMENDTED GRANDMA! ONLY FAIR I CALL YOU WHAT I WANT! HOW ABOUT, NEW SLAVE. YEAH, I LIKE THE SOUND OF THAT. NOW BOW!"

"First of all, use your inside voice, you old hag! Secondly, I'm Mandrax, and I will not bow to people who abduct me just to be their slave," I answered back, trying to pinpoint the source of the voice.

"A good back bone on you, lad. That's good. I like it when they act arrogantly. Makes things more exciting," the same voice answered, but this time in a much lower tone. Suddenly, my eyes blurred, then I was finally able to see.

Not that there was anything much to see except the grandma who was in a chair(throne?) still smiling like she won the lottery or something.

"That's because I did, Max. It's about time you knew your master's name. I'm Acheron, one of the five rivers of the underworld!"

"Please stop reading my mi- wait did you just say one of the rivers of the underworld?!" I said in shock, then started backing away in fear. I'm really starting to regret being rude to her.

"As you should, slave. And no, I'm not going to stop reading your mind. As one of my jobs to protect the boarders of the underworld, I get a side quest to oversee any kind of pact being formed. So imagine my surprise when I saw a Furrha, a young one at that, barely fourteen years old I'm sure, attempting such a dangerous ritual. I've waited a hundred years since the last guy for a new slave."

"Seeing as I can't speak in my head, I'm just going to go on a limp here and say you're not planning on releasing me any time soon, are you?"

"Of course not! I would never pass up a chance to hold a monster as rare as your kind here. Never fear! You'll be treated well and become an immoral in my domain as long as you give your full life to me," she replied all too happily.

"How about, no. Do I get a say in this?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer.

"You owe me, and believe me, I always get what I want. So, are you ready?"

"What if I tried to escape?"

She started laughing at my question. She laughed louder in a crazy-like manner so much so, that she almost fell off from her chair. After what felt like ages, she finally calmed down and faced me.

"That's the first time anyone has ever thought of trying to escape. Be my guest, let's see how far you'll go," she said.

I narrowed my eyes at her, "Damned god! But aren't you one of the rivers of the underworld? Shouldn't you be, like, helping me cause I'm the disciple of Tartarus and stuff?"

"Maybe if the Boss was here, I would have considered. But even he knows that this is beyond his reach. With the rules of the Beastverse holding him back, I'm guessing he would be completely powerless to try and stop me" she answered back, clearly enjoying the rules that favor her.

***

[Yo, Bradley! You there?]

{...}

[Why, that useless system! When needed, he just disappears at the worst of times]

{Max!.... can't... talk. Scary lady... holding... me.... back!}

[Ah, I see. Don't try anything, ok. Let me think of a way out of this.]

***

"What are you doing? If you're thinking, shouldn't I be able to hear it?" she asked as a frown began to form on her face.

***

[Oh, good. She can't read my mind while I'm in here. Now, seeing she's a god, I can't possibly hope to escape her, so my only option is join her? Nah, this can't be the end of my story. How did that one guy escape from this? He did loose both of his legs as an exchange but-]

{That's... it!}

[What is? Wait, I told you to stop stressing yourself. She could destroy you at any moment!]

{If she... could, she... would have. But... I'm reaching.... my limit. The answer.... is exchange! Oh no-!}

[Bradley! Don't tell me you got locked out now, of all times?!]

***

Acheron seemed to have gone silent. Though in the system, time does move much slower than real time, so I wonder if the rules don't apply to gods. But the words that Bradley left me with...an exchange?

"Oh? You wish to exchange your life with something else? A leg, perhaps? Your whole family? But I'm sure you already know that you're a rare race. So what can you possibly offer me of equal value in exchange of your life?"

Good question. Wait...

"Hey! Privacy please. But yes, I would like to exchange my life for..."

Hmm... something just as rare as me. What do I have on me right now to save myself from this? The adamantium spear? Nope, that's out of the question. Maybe...

"I got it! My lightning ability! Wait, No! If I do that, then-"

"You'd never be able to use it again. Even if you use that power of yours to drain someone else. I like it! Such a heroic sacrifice!"

"Hold up, you hag! I have to think this through for beasts sakes!"

"Take your time. After all, I'm not going anywhere," Acheron shrugged.

Truth be told, what other option did I have? Bradley said I'm part of something big that required my absolute attention. So sacrificing my ability for the greater good? Nah, I'm not that noble. I just want to save my own skin.

"So, let's gauge my options:

option 1: I remain here and become an immortal butler who answers your every whim.

option 2: I sacrifice my lightning ability, one of the strongest in existence, but gain my freedom in the process.

I choose the latter obviously, cause let's be honest, even with my ability here, how could I possibly use it?" I told her.

"You sure about this? Apart from being my butler, I can make you my messenger. You'll have the chance to use your ability and maybe upgrade it to the best it would ever be. I'll even ask Hades to recruit you and make you a minor god if you feel like it," she tried again, a little edge of desperation creeping in her voice.

"Tempting, but I still haven't lived my life to the fullest. I have people to get to and find out more about my family. Is that bad? I'm I really doing the right thing, giving up a chance to be a god?"

"Yup, probably. But, I respect your choice. Hey, I'm not going to hold this against you, Max. Just know that I'm doing my job. But if it were up to me, I would have forced you to join me. Unfortunately, I acknowledge you sacrifice and therefore agree to this arrangement," she finished with a look of disappointment across her face that disappeared so fast that I thought I had imagined it.

She snapped her fingers, and I immediately felt nauseous and weak but otherwise, that was it.

"So, how do I get out of here?" I asked her after regaining some of my strength.

"I can take you back to the planet you were in but first, I have a question. Why are you so interested in your family? You mortals always amaze me with that issue. How sure are you that they didn't dessert you, left you to fend for yourself?" she asked.

I don't like where this is going but that got me thinking. Unfortunately, once I put my mind on something, I had to finish it.

"Don't you think I have a right to at least know why? I mean, my memories were taken from me by someone, and I'd like to know who. If they left me, I'm sure they had a perfectly good reason to," I finished quickly, hopefully to close down this topic.

"Now that's just lying to yourself and you know it. What if they don't have a good reason? Better yet, how sure are you that they are even alive?"

" I'm not sure, that's why I want to find out. If they were jerks, then fine. If they're dead, well... I can't raise the dead now, can I?" I shot back angrily. She raised an eyebrow in question.

"Deep down you already know the answer, don't you? Your afraid to face them. You think they rejected you, right? Answer me!"

"I DON'T KNOW!" I screamed at her. By now, tears were streaming from my eyes. "I don't know, ok! I don't even know if I want to find out! Do you really think I haven't asked myself those questions?! And why do you care?!"

"I needed you to be true to your self. Otherwise, you'll never be able to unlock your dark powers," she answered and a smile appeared on her face. I calmed down a little when I saw it. It surprised me cause seriously, how can a granny have such a beautiful smile with perfect whites?

"Listen well, Max. No matter how much hurt and pain they've cause you, family is still family. I mean, have you seen my sisters? Seriously, Styx is literally the river of hate. How do you think our family get togethers go?"

I stayed silent and wiped my eyes. Family is family, eh? At least she wasn't stranded by her family. But her words still had some weight on them. I'll have to face my family sooner or later, if they are alive that is. I guess I can hear them out at least. Acheron seemed to nod her head in agreement.

"I'll give you a gift then, since you have no ability to run on for now. Drink from my waters, it will drastically increase your strength before I send you on you way,"

"Wait, what? Why?" I asked, staring at the dark waters.

"Contrary to their appearance, they grant one immerse power. The titans drank from them when they went to oppose the Olympians, so Zeus cursed me to look like this. That should give you a good idea of their power. Now hurry, Boy. I can't stay in this space for long,"

"I gonna regret this, aren't I?" I said as I scooped the water and drunk from it.

Gah! The water tasted like the worst slushy blended with oat milk and red peppers. I almost vomited but held my mouth to keep it in.

" Well then, Max. Being a pleasure meeting you, now bye!"

"Wait! What are the side effect of the- AARGH!" I passed out. Acheron smiled sadly as she sent Max back to Planet 214.G.

"I tried giving you an out from all this, kid. I guess the three fates couldn't accept that. I just hope you'll make good use of my blessing. You'll need it," Archeron said and vanished back to the underworld.