Chapter 209 - The Man In The Dark
"Wuahh!" Alfonso jumped back for the fright.
He took several steps backs until he stopped; he saw that creepy shadow in the mirror.
After several minutes withouth doing anything, Alfonso notice that this shadow wasn't doing anything, so, he, slowly but surely, began to walk towards the mirror, of course, every step came along with Alfonso looking at the shadow to see any small changes, just in case, Alfonso took out his eyepatch and was ready to lunch the power of time if it was needed.
One, two, three,…
After ten steps Alfonso was at his previous position, looking at the mirror, his reflexing couldn't be seeing, only the shadow with its creepy eyes looking at him.
"What the hell is this thing?" Though Alfonso.
He lifted his cane and poked at the mirror.
Nothing happened.
"…"
Alfonso didn't close the distance and poked a few more times just to make sure.
Nothing happened.
Alfonso took some deep breaths and, with all his bravery, lifted his finger and poked in the mirror.
Nothing happened.
"…"
Alfonso put his entire palm on the mirror; however, there was no reaction.
Alfonso took out his hand and though.
"This happened because I used the power of time to stop it… right? It's the only logical explanation to this unusual phenome"
He used a little bit of the power of time and put in his palm.
"Let's try it" Though Alfonso.
He put his palm on the mirror once again.
This time, however, there was a reaction.
The shadow grow larger and larger until it finally taped the surface of the mirror.
Alfonso was surprised, this shadow was absorbing the particles of time.
His curiosity surpassed the fear and he still 'filled' the shadow.
He wanted to see what the hell was going on.
The surface of the mirror become pitch dark, it was so dark that it seems more like a vortex than could shallow everything.
Alfonso was about to put out his hand when he notice that his hand didn't touch a hard surface, instead, his hand entered the mirror.
Alfonso was alarmed and tried to retrieve his hand, however, to his surprise, his hand wasn't retrieving; on the contrary, it was being swallowed by the mirror!
"HELP!" Shouted Alfonso.
Little by Little his body was being swallowed by the darkness.
.............................................
"WHAT IS HAPPENING!?"
Demeter and Artemis came running when she heard Alfonso shouting.
To their surprise, Io was already there, however, when she notice both of them she shake her head.
"I don't know, when I came here, my lord wasn't here, however…"
Io turned her head to the right, Demeter and Artemis looked at the direction of Io and saw a dark mirror.
"What the hell is that?" Said Artemis.
"What's all the commotion?"
"Ahh~ my head, I need more wine"
Two voices came from behind; they were Aphrodite and Dionysius, who were woken up by the yelling.
"Alfonso's soul power is gone, I can't feel it" Said Artemis.
"Me neither" Said Demeter.
"Auntie's man is gone? How come? I felt his aura here just a couple of minutes ago" Said Dionysius.
"I don't know, however, there is something strange in the room" Said Artemis while signaling the black mirror.
The four gods walked towards the mirror and looked at it. In that instant, Demeter face changed, she touched the mirror and put some of her soul power on it.
She bitted her lips so hard that blood came out and her usual cherry face changed into a fierce one.
*PAM!*
She punched with both hands the black mirror.
"FUCK!" She shouted.
"D-Demeter?" Asked Aphrodite in surprise.
"What is going on, Demeter?" Asked Dionysius who sobered up in that instant.
"Demeter?" Said Artemis.
Demeter stood there for some seconds before turning around and saying with a shaking voice.
"That's an entrance to the underworld, to the Hades!" Said Demeter.
Everyone was surprised by this revelation.
"An entrance to the underworld!? How is this possible?" Said Aphrodite.
"I don't know, however, Alfonso has entered from here to the underworld, I am sure of it" Said Demeter.
"How could this happen? The entrances to the underworld can be counted with one hand and most of them have been sealed through the years, why an entrance to the underworld would appear here!?" Said Artemis.
"I don't know, however, if Alfonso is there, we must follow him" Said Demeter
"We can't" Said Dionysius.
"With our current powers we can't force our entrance to the underworld, and, even if we could, we will die in an instant, we aren't welcomed there after all" Said Dionysius.
Demeter looked at Dionysius in anger, however, after some seconds, she calmed down, she knew that he didn't mean it in a bad way, he was just stating a fact.
The four of them looked at each other and furrowed their eyes.
Then they looked at the black mirror
Demeter looked it with a fierce gaze.
"YOU ALREADY TOOK MY MOST PRECIOUS THING ONCE, IF YOU DO IT A SEOCND TIME, I SWEAR THAT I WILL GIVE A FUCK ABOUT OUR AGREEDMENT BACK THEN AND I WILL BE SURE THAT NOT EVEN YOUR SOUL ESCAPES FROM MY PALMS!" Shouted Demeter.
"I SWEAR IT!"
.............................................
Meanwhile…
"Where am I?" Asked Alfonso.
When he was swallowed by the shadow, he fainted for some time, before waking up.
When he looked at his side, he could only assume that he was in a sort of cave, and not any cave.
"It seems to be an underground cave, for all the humidity in this place" Though Alfonso.
He walked and walked for who knows how long and nothing.
"This cave is huge, however, funny enough, I don't felt any tired despite the fact that I have walked for hours" Though Alfonso.
He kept walking for some more minutes before he saw a silhouette in the dark.
"Who is there!?" Shouted Alfonso.
"Ho? How strange!? To see someone walking in these parts of the underworld, I thought I was the only one! A happy surprise, a happy surprise indeed!" The silhouette shouted while waving his hands to Alfonso, like a happy child.
The silhouette walked towards Alfonso and it became clear when it was a few centimeters away from him.
"Bongiorno!" Shouted the man.
Alfonso looked at the man; he was tall and handsome and had a somehow childish face despite being an adult. He was a wearing a classic red outfit from the late medieval age.
He had a happy smile on him and looked at Alfonso with curiosity.
"He- hello" Said Alfonso.
"My friend, how come you also came to this place? Are you also looking for your beloved one?" Said the man.
"Also?"
"Yes! You see, I came here a long time ago in a odyssey to find my beloved one, and I found her up in the skies! She was still as beautiful as I remembered, no, she was even more beautiful! She seemed happy and enjoyed every day to its fullest, I couldn't bear to told her to come with me and I wasn't worthy enough to enter that place just yet, so, I talk with the person in charge and he told me to atone my sins here, waiting for those who seek the underworld for different proposes, so, my living friend here, you are my last visitor! This is indeed a happy occasion!" Said the man.
Alfonso was utterly surprised, not only because of the history of this man, but because, he, based on the appearance and way of talking of this man, knew who he was.
"Excuse me sir, may I ask for your name?" Asked Alfonso.
"Sure! My friend" Said the man.
"Il mio nome é, Dante, Dante Alighieri"