I followed the girl like a lost little puppy, for all I knew she could've been leading me to my death! I followed her barely visible figure blending into the night as the walls twisted morphed into creatures of my imagination. While it took everything in me not to jump and hide she looked confident and unnerved by the creepy maze they called a Colosseum.

"So, how exactly do you know I'm a demi-god?" I asked adjusting the strap of the backpack on my shoulder and trying my hardest not to cling to her like a little kid. "I only found that out for myself this morning, so how did you know?"

The girl let out an exasperated sigh before she replied, "It was the look in your eye when I got onto the bus really."

What look did I have? I wanted to ask.

"It's this desperate and forlorn look all of us have when we're on a quest," she went on as if reading my thoughts. "What really made me sure was you coming here, at night. There's only one reason why someone who would travel eight hours across the country and beg to be let in at this time."

"Have you been on many quests?" I asked.

The girl turned a corner and I followed, "No, but I've been dying to get one for the last two years."

I thought of how I got my quest and wished the whole thing had never happened, not at the expense of my mother getting hurt.

"Why would you want that?" I really couldn't fathom why anyone would want the attention of the gods. Then again it was nice to know who my father was let along find out that Zeus was alive and kicking. Maybe one day it would be cool to meet him but him abandoning my mum like that was not cool.

The girls head tilted back but she answered me anyway, "My dad told me that my mother is Demeter. Now that I am old enough I wish to meet her, among other things."

I pursed my lips in consideration as I did the mental math, "So, you're like my cousin or something?"

The girl scoffed, "As if, we're related alright but it doesn't quite work the way as it would with full-blooded humans. We're more like very very very distant cousins."

"Do you know how many of us there are?"

The girl spun around and looked me dead in the eye, "Look here busboy, I didn't sign-up for the family history lesson. You're going to have to pick things up on the way."

She didn't leave any room for argument as she marched up to a wall which I quickly realised was a dead end. A simmer of anger bubbled up in me, now was not the time to get lost in this place! My mother's life depended on it. I was about to voice exactly what I was thinking, but when the girl placed her palm on the wall it glowed gold.

I took a step closer in awe and noted that underneath her palm was a symbol engraved on the stone. It was a Greek symbol, one that I did not know, not that I was an expert in Greek.

"How did you know to do that?"

"Enough with the questions." the girl snapped, "You'll do as I say from here on out."

I folded my arms across my chest finally sick of her attitude.

"You don't even know why I'm here." I pointed out, "You can go right ahead into the underworld without me, you'll never win the favour to see your mum."

The girl ran her tongue across her teeth, before saying "Fine."

"Great," I said in an upbeat tone, "Let's get some things out of the way, my name is Giorgio, not busboy. What's yours?"

She glared at me so hard I almost crumbled under her stare.

"Isabella."

I smiled, "That wasn't so hard now was it? It's nice to meet you, Isabella. Here's the mission, we need to open the underworld so that Thanatos can get back in."

Isabella stalked towards me menacingly, "You mean to tell me the god of death is not in there!"

She pointed back towards the stone which had stopped glowing the moment Isabella removed her hand.

"Nope, he's stuck out here." I said, "We've got to get him back in there."

Isabella rubbed her temples together, "How on earth did he get stuck here? Do you know what that means for the rest of us up top?"

"Of course, it's why he sent me."

Isabella turned to mutter to herself as she absorbed the new information. "This is really, bad."

"I know, now we don't have time to waste," I said brushing past her to stand in front of the wall.

I pressed my palm against the Greek symbol and watched it glow gold and warm under my palm, its heat grew gradually, hotter and hotter it got. Everything in me screamed to move away but my palm was stuck.

"Isabella!" I shouted, my voice was high and panicky.

"It's fine leave it there until you feel a pinch," she said reassuringly from beside me.

The heat under my palm grew and grew until it got so hot it was almost unbearable. Right up to the moment where I thought I would pass out I felt a pinch in the middle of my palm then all the heat went away. Reflexively I immediately pulled my arm to my chest cradling it against my chest. The wall before me puffed and groaned and the stone fell apart, crumbling into little pisces. I scampered back Isabella following until we stood at a safe distance from the falling debris.

When the last stone fell we gapped at the black hole before us, but inside there was a sky cast in an angry red filled with black clouds. A dark river kissed the horizon, its waves lapping against the shore.

My heart squeezed in fear.

"Come on, let's go," Isabella said gripping onto my hoodie and dragged me inside.

My feet crossed over from solid stone underneath my feet to black sand as I suddenly stood on a beach. I glanced behind me but the Colosseum was gone, instead, it was a stretch of beach filled with a sea of transparent bodies. I jumped when I noticed one staring right at me, he was dressed in a suit with missing shoes and with hair that spiked up in all directions. When I tried to examine his face though, he disappeared.

"How,-"

"You're not dead," Isabella said in a way of explanation, "You're not at liberty to see who they really are. The harder you look the less you'll see."

I nodded in appreciation for the explanation, but it didn't help that as I looked around all I could see in my peripheral were bodies.

"There's Charon, he's loading a boat now, we better hurry if we want to get on. Who knows how many more years it will take for him to get back to the shore."

"What?" I shouted after Isabella but she was already running through the dead.

I ran after her, trying my best to not bump into any of the dead souls. At the edge of the riverbank, there was a boat I hadn't notice before. A man who looked as solid as Isabella and I held a clipboard in his arm as passengers boarded. He looked like one of the homeless men I'd often see every time I entered the city. His clothes were singed and torn, his hair was a birds nest and his beard was long and tangled.

I gulped down my fear at meeting yet another famous Greek legend who would most certainly leave me stranded for all eternity or at least until I too was one of the dead.

Isabella pushed past the dead and presented herself directly to Charon.

"Two tickets for the underworld please," she said as if it was as normal as ordering food from McDonald's.

I squeezed in behind her, silently apologising to the souls behind me.

Charon looked at her then at me with narrowed eyes, except his eyes weren't eyes. They were black holes filled with flame. "Names."

"Isabella and Giorgio," she said without missing a beat.

Charon looked at his clipboard and ran a pen down his list. "You're not on here."

"True," Isabella started, "But we'd like a ride today and we have payment."

Charon smiled, revealing yellowed crooked teeth. "Let's see it then,"

Isabella looked to me, "Oh"

I rummaged through my backpack until I found the golden Drachma that Thanatos had so kindly given me. I waved it in the air to show Charon we weren't freeloaders.

To my surprise, Charon laughed, "You think one Drachma is going to get you a ride?" He laughed louder.

I looked at Isabella for help but she looked just as confused as I did.

"The price has gone up for you demi-gods," he went on once he stopped laughing. "Especially since what's been happening in the world. I'm afraid you'll need more than that."

He turned around but Isabella was quick to shout, "Wait!"

Charon slowly turned and had a small smile spread across his lips as if he knew we'd offer to pay him more. That slimy man!

"I have something more valuable," She said begrudgingly, but as I looked at her, she had no bag, no coat and her pockets looked pretty much empty.

Isabella fished in her pocket and pulled out a tiny purse, only the type cute girly girls would keep. I frowned, what on earth could be in that thing? First, her fingers dipped into the purse, then like something out of Harry Potter her whole hand plunged inside but it was impossible. The purse she was holding was no bigger than her hand so how...?

"Got it," she mumbled, her hand began to pull back.

First, a golden tip showed then the rest of it came out in all its glory, a golden bough with gold leaves sprouting at the ends. It fainlty glimmered then dimmed as she held it in the air.

Charon gasped, "How'd you-. Never mind. Get in."

Isabella and I didn't waste time getting into the boat, carefully walking to our seats so as not to disturb the dead. Charon grabbed the golden bough from Isabella's grasp with vigour and made his way to the front.

"To the underworld!" he shouted.

The boat lurched forward and we set sail across the river.