"You were pretty great, you know," Charlotte said. "With the shadows. You say you don't like to talk, but…"
"I wouldn't have been in time if it hadn't been for you commanding them," he said. "And with the chair. That was pretty great. I would have been a goner."
They were chattering now, voices and hearts light, the world seeming like a great, bright place where two cousins could work together to save it-even in that dark home of the Dead. They crossed the great expanse of the Plains, reached the bridge made of bone, and began to cross.
Suddenly, in the middle of the bridge, Charlotte stopped and turned around. Zee followed suit. Legions of Dead were behind them, watching and waiting, but for what? The cousins stared helplessly. For moments they stared at each other, the Living and the Dead, unable to move.
"Zee…," Charlotte said. "Your grandmother… we never…"
"It's okay," he said. "When I was in the cave, well, I thought… I knew…" He trailed off, touching his chest, smiling a secret smile, the smile of someone who knew he was being watched over. Zee squeezed Charlotte's hand, and they turned their backs on the Dead and made their way to the Outer Banks.
They arrived at Philonecron's little clearing to find Mr. Metos on the ground, surrounded by about five hundred shadows, with Mew sitting watchfully on his leg. When he saw them, Mr. Metos looked as happy as it was probably possible for him to look-which was fairly impressive, considering half his liver had been gnawed off. Mew sprang up and let out a loud, happy chirp.
"Mr. Metos!" Charlotte ran up to him. "Mew!" She picked up her cat gently and buried her face in her fur. "Oh, you poor, brave baby." She kissed the cat a couple of times and then turned her attention back to Mr. Metos. "Are you okay?"
He nodded, "Reasonably. I'm healing already." He motioned to his bloody abdomen, and Charlotte winced. "Hey, I got an Immortal liver out of the deal," he added grimly. "And you two?"
With rushed breath and overlapping voices, Charlotte and Zee told their stories. Mr. Metos seemed particularly satisfied to hear of Philonecron's end.
"But won't he make trouble in the Upperworld?" Charlotte asked.
"I doubt it. Stripped as he is of his connections to the Underworld, I don't think his powers will last. He will wander about helplessly until he finds a group of Immortals to join and make petty trouble. Nothing to worry about. Energy schemes, mutual-fund bilking, insider trading, Department of Defense, that type of thing. And until he becomes accustomed to living up there, he'll be quite uncomfortable. Now… perhaps we should get out of here?"
"What about the shadows?" Zee said.
The shadows, who had stood at attention at the sound of Zee's voice, were lined up, waiting for their next command. Here, on the other side of the river, they looked small, like the children they had come from.
"We're taking them with us. I was able to merge the replicated shadows into their hosts."
"But there are more," Zee said. "A few in the lab."
Mr. Metos held up his hand. "I know, I know. A few of my trusty soldiers here got them. We have them all, and once they're up in the Upperworld, they will find their way to their humans. It's in their nature."
"But some of them are from England," Zee said.
"Yes. They'll come with us through the passageway. We will end up at the door at that hideous Mall. There are doors like that all over the world, but it is all the same door, if you get my meaning- the shadows will find their way. Now, if you children will help me up…"
Charlotte put down Mew for a moment and grabbed Mr. Metos's hands, and Zee moved behind him and lifted him from the back with his good arm. It was a long process, and Mr. Metos made little grunts as they helped him up.
"An A for both of you," he said with a pained smile. "Oof."
He moved as if to start off, but before they left, Charlotte had to ask him something. She looked at him shyly, chewing on her lip. "Mr. Metos… is there something we can do for the Dead?"
He shook his head and winced. Zee stayed behind, supporting him. "Awful, isn't it? I'd heard about it, but I'd never seen it before. This is just what I was telling you before. The gods do not care about mortals, not at all."
Charlotte thought about this for a moment. "Well, what about Persephone?"
"What about her?"
"And Orpheus. You know. Orpheus was in love with that girl-"
"Eurydice. Yes, Charlotte, I'm familiar with the story," he said drily. This was one of Charlotte's favorite myths-or used to be, before she found out it was real. Orpheus was a musician, and he fell madly in love with Eurydice, and then she died and was sent to the Underworld. But Orpheus was so heartbroken he went after her and pleaded with Hades for her return. Hades wasn't moved, but Persephone was. She begged Hades to make an exception, just that once. And he did-except he told Orpheus to walk out of the Underworld without looking back to see if Eurydice was following him, and just at the end he looked back. Eurydice was taken into the Underworld forever. She was still here, now, though Charlotte hadn't seen her. She would have liked to.
"Well," Charlotte said, "Persephone helped Orpheus. She convinced Hades to let Eurydice out."
"She was doing it for her own ends," said Mr. Metos curtly. "She was just causing trouble for Hades. No god or goddess cares about people. You don't see Persephone helping them now, do you?"
"I guess not," Charlotte said. They hadn't seen Persephone at all. Charlotte gathered she didn't like being around Hades very much. Charlotte could hardly blame her.
"I promise you this," Mr. Metos said. "I will make sure the Promethians look into it. Perhaps there is something we can do for the Dead, maybe a way we can convince Hades to acknowledge them or at least to control the Harpies. I don't know what, but I will try. Now… can we get out of here? Speaking of Harpies, I'd really rather not see any more today."
Charlotte couldn't argue with that. With Zee supporting Mr. Metos and Charlotte carrying Mew, they prepared to set off, back through the Outer Banks, toward the passage to the Upperworld. Mr. Metos motioned toward the awaiting shadows. "Zachary, will you do the honors?"
Zee nodded and turned his head. "Shadows," he called, "follow me!"
Going up the passageway was twice as arduous as going down, but Zee and Charlotte barely noticed. They were going back home.
What a sight they must have made- the boy, the girl, the cat, the bleeding, groaning man, and the five hundred-odd shadows-working their way up to the world of light.
They were glad of Charlotte's water and her cereal bars. (Good thing she hadn't told Charon about those!) Soon it grew too narrow for Zee to support Mr. Metos, and at a few words from Zee two of the shadows picked him up and carried him-much to Mr. Metos's consternation.
"I could get used to this," Zee whispered, nodding back to the shadows.
"Don't start getting a big head on me," Charlotte said.
They were largely quiet on their journey back-just about everything that was to be said had been said. All there was left to do was concentrate on home and the home-like things that would be waiting for them.
"Zee?" Charlotte whispered. "Do you think we'll wake up tomorrow and this will all have been a dream?"
"I don't know," Zee said, "but I wouldn't mind going to sleep to find out."
That sounded good to Charlotte.
She led the way this time, cradling Mew in her hands, her cousin following her and Mr. Metos and the shadows behind them. Again Zee's watch provided the only light, but it did not matter so much this time. She knew her cousin was behind her and that they would keep each other safe.