2.37 Go To Hellias

       The stench of days once vowed to leave behind were even worse than Neter remembered. As he neared the tunnel entrance, however, they began to mingle with new, unfamiliar vapours, assuring him his reasons had been valid. A distant scream broke the silence ahead, he stopped for a moment to listen… The screaming continued, assuring him it wasn't an imaginary sound byte... The screaming continued on and on... This was what Zara had described...

         Deeply disturbed by the reality of things she had disclosed, already being encountered, before arrival, he pushed forward until the glowing light of the TLS hallway illuminated the path ahead. As he reached the entrance to the tunnel the screaming had stopped… Listening for any sound, he trod quietly toward the greater opening from where he could see the place had changed immensely since he had been here last, had the tunnel layout not been the same, he wouldn't have recognized his whereabouts at all. From the shadowy entrance he could see out into the hallway Zara spoke of, there was movement, a shadow darted across the wall, the sound of authoritarian voices resonated from somewhere, but he couldn't make out what was being said. The stench was unbearable here, odors of death and rotting meat polluted the air with heavy smoke, it was like walking into a giant cremation chamber, he had forgotten how bad the nightmare had been.

         Suddenly the screaming began again, a desperate voice pleading for mercy with tortured agony… Again! Pulling his hood over, he crept out into the hallway, clinging to the shadows. He scanned the entrance for the sign, there it was, just like Zara had described, freshly wiped clean enough to read 'HELLIAS'.

         He shook his head in dismay and glanced down the adjacent tunnel where the screams and yelling were coming from. There was nowhere to hide, she was right about that, too. He glanced across the hall into the room of cells. Just like she had described, there were Gens caged...

         Everything was as Zara had described, the cells filled the underground chamber, dozens of bodies lay motionless, they all had bandages on their heads like she had arrived with. He inched towards the room, clinging to the shadows watching for guards, of which she had warned.

         Nel spotted his shadow dart across the wall. Already awake, she got up to take a look... 

        Their eyes met as he crept into the room. 

         Neter froze.

         Nel gasped… It was the god of Death!

         Quickly, Neter placed his finger over his lips, gesturing for her to remain silent. Spooked, Nel stepped back from the cell door and tried to look away but she couldn’t, and it was too late, too!

         But as Neter approached her cell, she realized she wasn’t to be afraid of him, in fact this was just like a dream she had dreamt of some strange journey in which they had made friends… She pointed to the reception, warning.

         Neter scanned the reception area. Unable to detect any movement, he approached her door and scanned the lock mechanism.

         "Don’t be afraid" he whispered. "I’m going to let you out."

         "The guards are over there, it's the only way out!" Nel protested, panicking.

         Voices travelled in from the reception area to prove her case. Neter studied the gauntlet briefly. "There's another way out" he whispered, pointing to the hallway. "Behind the rocky pilaster in the hallway there's an underground passage, the sign says Hellias but don't be afraid of it, it’s just a name."

         Without any coaxing, Nel fled to the tunnel, trusting the most unlikely character and his dangerous directions to Hellias, because her dream told her to and she had nothing left to lose. 

         Neter watched her go then moved past the cells in search of others eager to escape their personal hell. But those who were awake weren't happy to see him. "The sign says Hellias but don't be afraid" he coaxed, "It’s just a name!" But they feared his presence, they didn't even want to look at him, let alone heed his advice, they all knew who he was. He was the god of Death!

         Unable to coax them out of their cells, Neter had to move on, there was no way to convince them of the truth, nor was there time. If they were too scared to even investigate an alternative fate, they would most certainly be too afraid to pass Aquilla when they got that far.

         As the sound of a guard's footsteps approached the cells, he ducked behind a radiator and clung to the shadow. The uniform stopped outside Nel's cell to examine the open door and checked his clip board.

         "Zoltan! We got another runaway!"

         Moments later a heavily armed guard came marching in from the reception, studied the lock of the opened cell door, ran his fingers up the bars and slammed the door shut.

         "Aquilla!" Angry, he marched over to the tunnel entrance to search for the beast.

         Covered by the drama, Neter bolted into the reception and slipped out the door unseen, ducked behind a storage bin and paused to catch his breath and figure his next move. Hearing no alarms, he scanned the now highly evolved Underworld before him, an unbelievable transformation had taken place. The stench was unbearable here too. Orientation re-established, he crept along the wall towards the Hub, ducking into the shadows to stay out of sight. There was a sign down the hall, pointing to a stairwell, the stairwell to the headquarters building. 

         He studied the movement in the Hub from behind a stack of bins for a while, noticing the many workers disappearing up the stairs with boxes. The train tracks, storefronts, lighting and signage was all new, but one sign had been there since Aquilla fled the city. 'AS BELOW, SO ABOVE'. He shook his head in wonder at the slogan on the old gold plated wall plaque, amazed to see it was still there and how far the agenda had moved along.

         When the Hub was still for a few minutes longer, he crept towards the stairwell and opened the doors, listened for sounds but couldn't hear anything. He was about to head up the stairs when a loud boom echoed from the tunnels behind him. He glanced back over his shoulder, wondering now, should he venture above or investigate below? Everyone was seemingly engaged in some activity below, perhaps this was the perfect time to investigate this newly developed Underworld.

         He returned to the Hub and took a moment to scan the façades and signage, quantifying the numerous transformations that had remodelled Aquilla's old stomping grounds. Tracks leaving the Hub suggested there was now a working underground transportation system to the populated islands once only accessible by ship... Zara had mentioned an underground train ride... An aged and faded sign above one of the tunnels read 'FINA', confirming his hunch. Zara had mentioned Fina, too...

         With renewed determination, he followed the tracks into the tunnel, but as he made his way down into the long dark passageway, the odors of death seemed to get worse... It wasn't a good feeling down this tunnel at all...