Rios awoke in his bed, his head pounding from the fall. He saw his father on the other side of the room, turned away from him, “Father.” He turned around. “How long have I been out?”
He held up 2 fingers. “Two days.”
Later that night, Rios couldn’t get to sleep and he tried to figure out if the dream he just had was just a dream or not until he heard a whispering. Soon, he realized the whispering was indeed, a spirit whispering into his ear, and he listened. “Rios, I am the man you talked to when you were out. Listen closely. Go into the woods, and walk north until you come to a meadow. Fall to sleep in the meadow and I will personally take your body into the spirit realm. Once there, go to Tartarus, see Hades and convince him to let Ardona go. Don’t ask any questions. Do as I say.”
Rios walked until he found a meadow and laid his head on the dew covered grass. Within minutes he was sound asleep. He woke up what felt like hours later only to find himself at the gates of Tartarus. He was capable of getting through the gates easy, for the man had made Rios unstoppable to the spirits. Soon he reached Hades. “I have come to make a compromise with you. I need you to release Ardona.”
Hades only laughed. “And who do you think you are, walking into my domain, only to demand for me to release Ardona?”
Rios stood tall in his place “I am Rios. Son of Ardona.”
Hades looked amused. “Rios, son of Ardona, how much are you willing to give up for your mother’s freedom?”
“My life.” Rios replied firmly.
Hades stood up off of his throne. “Since I don’t care much for your mother’s captivity, I’ll let you have her for a rather small fee. I want half of your life span.”
Rios was about to agree until he realized that he didn’t know how long he was to live. What if he already reached his halfway point in his life? But, then again, he was only a demigod, a mortal, and Ardona was a goddess, who people worshipped and lived for. After considering this, he accepted.
“She will be released into the god realm. Now, Rios, half of your life span.” Rios felt the life draining out of him, but, when Hades was done, he was left alive, barely. Rios blacked out, only to wake up in the meadow, next to a woman. The woman was his mother, Ardona, as a human.
“Thank you Rios. But, I worry. I may be a goddess, but I myself do not know how long your life span was originally.”
