"Charon! Do you know who—!"
Slam!
But before Mark could get out his words, the long stick in Charon's hand slammed into Mark's temple, and Mark felt his brain rattle from the shock as he almost fell off the edge of the boat. What the hell just happened?
"Hahahahaha! Did you believe striking a deal with me would be enough to save you? You demi-gods are all the same! So foolish!"
The shrill laugh from Charon made Mark's ears ring, and he groaned as he tried to get himself back under control. That hit was unbelievably heavy! A hand suddenly reached out to grab Mark as Charon prepared to throw Mark over the edge of the boat.
Right from the start, Charon never had any intentions of keeping to the deal they made. Charon didn't give a damn about keeping Mark's soul. He knew that even if he kept Mark's soul, the other gods would interfere and block him from using it how he wanted, so Charon decided that he would just spite the gods instead.
He would break the deal that they made to the Styx and use that opportunity to throw Mark into the river and get him lost in there. Breaking the deal had no negative effects on Charon, so Charon could rest assured that he would be fine. The only one that would suffer was Mark!
Mark felt Charon trying to throw him into the water, and he immediately started to struggle with the god. Surprisingly, Mark felt that his efforts were working. He thought that Charon would be a lot stronger than him because of that heavy hit that he felt rattle his brain, but Charon was not able to throw Mark off easily.
Does that mean that most of that power came from the stick rather than from Charon?
From what Mark could feel now, his power was not too far away from Charon's power.
Mark reached behind him to grab Charon's hand. Charon already had half of Mark's body off the boat, and throwing Mark off would be easy!
Charon was just a moment away from throwing Mark into the water, and Mark decided that all bets were off. If he was going to go into the river, then he was not going in alone!
Mark pulled himself forward while holding tight to Charon's hand, and Charon's eyes widened in shock as he realized what was going on!
"What the hell do you think you're doing, you foolish mortal!?"
Mark spat his words like a curse!
"Let's take a dip together, you bastard!"
[Thanatos scoffs at the User's tenacity. Thanatos watches keenly to see what method the user employs next.]
Mark sighed in irritation as he read through his tabs before he shook his head and looked towards the boat floating in the water again. Charon was sitting in the boat peacefully, and when Mark stepped closer to him, Mark could not see any reactions from him to show that he remembered what just happened. That meant that Mark was the only one who went into the past with his memories intact.
Charon was not sent back with his memories, so he didn't know anything about what just happened on the boat.
Good. Mark could work with this.
...
"So you are the one sent by the gods of Olympus. I was told that a demi-god would be sent to me, but I did not expect to see a boy your age. I have not been this insulted since that foolish woman dipped her son into my river. Achilles was his name, was it not... I hope you are at least more honorable than she was."
Charon said the exact same thing that he said before, and Mark only gave him short, clipped answers as he stated his reason for being there.
"I'd like to cross the river, but I have no coin. Would you like to strike a deal?"
Charon raised a brow at the statement. He did not think that Mark would try to strike a deal that easily. Usually, demigods would first try to get across the river for free. Or maybe they might even try to threaten him to get them across the river. It is only when they realize the stupidity of their actions that they try to strike a deal. It seems this demigod is different from the others.
"Are you sure you wish to strike a deal with a god of my caliber? It could cost you more than you are willing to lose."
"That would depend on the deal."
Charon's mouth split into a wide smile as he heard Mark say this, and he quickly made the same deal as before.
"I will take you across the river, but in exchange, should you fall to the temptation of the souls in the river and enter into the Styx, your soul is mine to do with as I wish."
Mark stared Charon down as he agreed.
"That is a high price to pay for a trip that would usually cost only one gold coin. So, shouldn't you make the deal more balanced by placing your soul on the line as well? I'll take the deal, but on one condition. If you fall into the river, then your soul is mine to do with as I wish."
Charon's eyes narrowed as he heard Mark say this, and he immediately spoke up angrily.
"You dare to bargain for the soul of a god? Have you no fear?"