νεκρός || Annabeth Chase x Fem!OC

Vol. 1.5-3: I finally realize how cold it is

TEMPEST

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It was pretty late when we got back to New York.

I had to keep a hold on Claude the whole time so he wouldn't float off. Annabeth managed to find us a piece of rope, so I had to tie me and Claude together. He didn't look very happy about that, but I didn't mind.

Luckily, mortals couldn't see Claude, so we didn't have to buy him a bus ticket. I let Annabeth have the window seat again (she likes looking at buildings and stuff) and made Claude stand in the aisle. He blabbed the entire time, and practically shrieked every time a mortal would pass through him. Each time they did, they got a little shiver and then sat down, looking kind of chilly. I guess mortals don't realize that most of the time, when they get those little chills, there's a ghost nearby.

As we got closer to Lionel's cemetery, Claude straight up threw a tantrum and plopped himself down on the ground, crossing his arms and sprawling his legs. Mortals gave Anne and I weird looks as we screamed at Claude. It looked like I was dragging around empty air. We finally got him to cooperate when Annabeth bought him a really big pretzel from some random street vendor. That's kind of the cool thing about New York- it can be eleven o' clock at night, and some random dude will still sell big pretzels.

Claude snacked on his pretzel, and Annabeth asked me how eating food works for the dead. I felt kind of weird explaining so much about ghosts, because in a way, I was explaining a lot about myself. I told her about how sometimes, ghosts like to eat to feel human again, and that ghosts can still taste. It makes them feel recognized, too.

"So, like, in Mexico, when they do Day of the Dead, and they put out all that food?" She asked me.

I nodded. "Yes. That's actually one of the most important cultural practices, believe it or not. The dead become much less restless if you feed them every once in a while. Like I said, it makes them feel not dead anymore. It's also a good idea to bury them with their material possessions."

"So, graveyards are their home?"

"Yes," I said. "Or, if a person is cremated, they are bound to the general vicinity of the urn. And, if the ashes are split apart- Okay, so, for example. Man and wife get divorced, have a lot of kids. Let's say man dies, and the kids are all grown up and each want a share of the ashes. That means his spirit can manifest where each share of the ashes are. So, if one kid lives in New Mexico, he can go to New Mexico to visit them, but if we wants to see his kid in England, he can do that."

"What about ashes scattered at sea?"

"Most of the time, that's just not a very good idea," I answered. "Those spirits will just choose not to manifest."

"But, how do the ghosts work if they're in the Underworld? Like, in the Fields of Asphodel, or Elysium, or the Fields of Punishment?" Annabeth asked.

"Well, not all people choose to be ghosts. They sometimes like to just pass on like normal- those are typically the ones who just feel like their life is done and they don't feel anchored to the world anymore. But, Charon has been really, really, really lazy lately, and its taking some people centuries to get ferried to be judged. Most of the time, they see how fucked his office is, and just decide to stay here for a little while."

"But, why doesn't anyone make Charon work harder?"

"Hades is overwhelmed with his own paperwork. In the past century, more people have been dying than ever before. World War II especially destroyed that. Hades is still dealing with claims and grievances from that. Then he yells at his employees, since he's basically the CEO. You never want an issue to get to the CEO."