Page 142 of Styx

It was as though we were slowly

falling out of the sky toward the ground.

Asteria and I both swayed, holding

each other’s hands tighter than ever.

The cold body of the vessel began to dissolve,

and I could see mist rising around me.

By the time our feet touched the hot earth,

the entire vessel had disintegrated into mist.

As it cleared, a large cavern glowed before us,

a hundred rivers of magma flowing inside.

I could see why it was called the mouth

of Tartarus. The entire cavern looked

like it was a molten hot maw

of a monster made of rivers of fire.

Asteria gripped my hand hard.

‘For Metis,’ she whispered,

as Leto, Perses, and Pallas joined us.

Boreas looked upon us as though afraid,

then disappeared up into the clouds.

Tartarus

There were only two realms

to the Underworld.

Where the mortals went,

and where the immortals went.

But where the immortals went

was not just a place, but also a God.

What else could keep the divine

clenched between its teeth?

A cage would never hold us,

we would find a way out of it.