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Grace was unusual in her approach. She could be outright strange at times. Charming, yes, at least if someone asked Persephone. But strange. Yes, most certainly strange.
Persephone eyed the muse. “You know this is not going to work.”
Grace gave her a self-assured smile. “You will see.”
“There are still rules down here,” Persephone said. “Charon will not just take you…”
They were standing by the side of the Styx, right where Charon’s boat was supposed to anker. The green waters of the Styx were calm this night – though technically down here it made no difference, whether it was day or night.
Sure enough. The creaking of wood announced Charon’s arrival. The ferryman looked at them. And he was so clearly surprised to see them again.
“What are you doing here?” he spoke in the hissing voice mortals barely understood. And so far there was not enough of a mortal in Grace.
Grace stepped forward. “I want to visit my friend.”
“She cannot just go in and out of here,” Charon muttered, though he did not seem as convinced of his words as one should expect.
“I told her that,” Persephone replied.
“Haha.” Now Grace grinned – to no surprise to Persephone. “I have come prepared.” She got out the small paper box. “Charon, would you like to play a game of Uno?”
The excitement from the ferryman was almost palpable. He almost squealed, as he saw the card game. “A game?”
Grace shot Persephone a smug grin. “I think he is agreeing.”
Persephone groaned. “I cannot believe this…”
“What do you say, Charon?” Grace asked.
The ferryman motioned toward his boat. “Go right ahead.”
No, Persephone could not believe any of this. But sure enough, they were sitting on board of the ferry just a few minutes later, with Grace shuffling the cards.
“Now say, Charon, have you ever played Uno before?”
“I have not,” Charon said. The excitement was still there. He had shrunken down to a more manageable size for him to actually be able to hold the cards.
“It is fairly easy,” Grace offered. “You need to put down all your cards. You can only put down cards on those of the same color. Oh, yeah, there is gonna be a pile in the middle and we all go one by one.” She got one of those black cards from the deck. “This you can use to change the color.” She got out the next two cards. “With those the next person to go has to draw two more cards. And with this we will go the other way round.”
“Wait,” Persephone said. “You are not saying I am playing, right?”
“Oh, do not be a prune,” Grace replied.
“You are most certainly the strangest muse…”
“And somehow you still love me.” Grace lifted an eyebrow.
Persephone sighed. She shook her head in disbelief, before she looked at Charon. “I guess I am playing.”
The ferryman giggled. He outright giggled. “Finally. Some company.”
A chuckle. “Unbelievable.”