"No!!!" I shouted at the top of my lungs and slapped myself hard across the face.
Just moments ago, I had nearly succumbed to the lure of the Asphodel Meadows. Even though Cerberus still saw me as someone alive, half of my body had already crossed into death. That meant the curse of this land's seductive power affected me too—though not as severely as it had affected Crab. He had taken the full brunt of it.
Crab walked toward me slowly, his eyes empty and dazed. My blood still stained his lips. He looked like a zombie, and judging from the glint in his eyes, the taste of my blood must've pleased him. Behind him trailed the spirits of the meadow, and it wasn't hard to guess what they wanted from me.
But then… something strange happened.
The spirits that followed behind Crab weren't coming for me. Instead, they lunged at him—biting his arms, legs, and torso—until his own blood began to pour out.
What was going on? Why were the spirits of the Asphodel Meadows attacking Crab? Wasn't he one of them now?
Wait… Of course!
Crab, like me, was half-living and half-dead. Though Cerberus had judged him as already dead, a part of his body still clung to life. That living half was what the spirits were after—they wanted fresh blood.
The spirits swarmed Crab instead of me simply because he was closer. They ignored me completely, far too busy feeding on him. If Crab died, I would be their next target.
Yet, Crab stood there blank-faced, completely unfazed by what was happening. The wicked spirits were draining the blood from his body hungrily, and he didn't resist at all.
This was bad—I couldn't let the last living part of Crab die. I had to separate him from the spirits. But they clung to him like ticks to a hound, feeding on his flesh and blood, impossible to shake off.
"Kinos!!! Can you hear me?" I called out, trying to reach him.
"Mhm…" came his usual short reply.
I didn't know what else to do. I was out of ideas, cornered. I couldn't save him. Was Crab really going to die here?
No. I wouldn't let that happen.
But how could I save him?
SCREEEEEECH!!!
Suddenly, the spirits let out a collective wail of pain. A green smoke began to pour from their bodies, and one by one, they melted into mist.
The flowers and grass across the meadow wilted, their stems curling and collapsing like dominoes. The once emotionless land of Asphodel had become a land of agony.
The spirits of the meadow were now learning what true suffering really was.
"What's going on?" I cried, stumbling backward to escape the spreading green haze.
But I was worried about Crab—he was trapped in the thick of the green mist. I couldn't reach him.
As the smoke thinned, I saw that the spirits had all vanished. Only Crab remained, standing still in a daze. Strangely enough, he was completely unharmed.
I watched as green blood that had poured from his wounds slowly flowed back into his body. The bite marks closed up and vanished.
Poison! His green blood was toxic.
What on earth had happened to him?
I tried to recall… where could he have gotten such a potent venom?
Crab's fate had only ever been intertwined with a few key figures: Hera, and the hero Heracles.
Wait…
I remembered now. During his "minor mission," Crab had been sent by Hera to interfere in a battle. His task was to assist a monster that was locked in a deadly fight against Heracles.
And I'm sure you've already guessed who that monster was.
Yes—the Lernaean Hydra, the serpent with eight heads that dwelled in the swamp of Lerna.