DEMIS (A Clash With Lightning)

29

The sky is dark and gray. Ban looks around and sees he's stranded on the side of a river made of solid black water. There's a small, rugged pier that he doesn't quite trust to handle his weight. His eyes widen when he sees people walking around in a ghostlike form. They are sheer and completely see-through. They pay his presence no attention as they excitedly bustle by, holding large gold coins in their hands.

They line up on the shore next to the dock, chattering amongst themselves happily. Ban approaches a group of people closest to the dock.

"Hey," he begins.

They look at him, their smiles dropping as they begin to anxiously whisper to each other. Ban almost rolls his eyes. He's used to people reacting to him this way.

"Listen. I just want to know where I am and what's going on?"

"You don't know, Ban?" A woman seems confused.

"How do you know my name?" His eyebrow raises.

"I'm sorry if I offended you." She holds her hands up and takes a step back.

"I'm not offended." Ban feels himself getting irritated. Why are these ghosts acting like this toward him? "Just answer my questions, please."

"Well... Your father is Hades, and this is the underworld. So of course, we know who you are," she explains.

"I'm in the underworld?" He can't believe it. Hecate had transported him all the way to the underworld. He isn't sure if he's quite ready to face it.

"Not quite the underworld, yet." A man corrects.

"What does that mean?" Ban asks.

"We're just at the outskirts of the underworld," he explains. "To get to our final destinations, we have to cross the River Styx with this!" He holds up his shiny soul coin with pride.

It's common knowledge that you can't enter the underworld without your soul coin. When someone passes away, their loved ones are tasked with the responsibility of placing the soul coin in their mouth before burial. If they're buried with their coin, they will have payment for Charon. If not, they are forced to wander the edge of the river for eternity with no way of crossing.

Ban isn't sure what he's supposed to do. Was he supposed to give up his soul coin to Charon? He isn't dead, and he doesn't have his coin. He gasps and drops a gold coin when it eerily appears in his hand. He stares in horror as his hand begins to disappear until he's in a ghostlike state, like the people in front of him. He tries to use his power to turn the form off and silently panics when it doesn't work.

"Looks like you're ready to cross," the woman says with a soft smile. She picks up the fallen coin and hands it back to Ban. "Careful with this. The lost souls would love to steal it." She points at a group of people huddled by some bushes, staring intently at the people holding their coins.

"When will Charon be here?" Ban questions.

"He left about fifteen minutes ago. The trip there and back usually takes about thirty minutes, so he should be back soon," she explains.

Ban nods as he looks around the area. His eyes stop on the lost souls with desperate eyes. He feels his heart tug as his feet carry him toward them. Their eyes widen as he approaches.

"Your majesty!" Someone shouts.

Ban cringes. How do these people even know who he is?

"We weren't doing anything!" A man shouts.

He loosely holds his coin in his hand as the same man's eyes flicker toward it.

"Don't try it," Ban warns.