The price of My Afterlife.

Charon I

My eyes drifted from one end of the horizon to the other, nothing but water from one end to the other. The smell of salt coated my face, and my ears burned red from the whip of the wind. I could hear the flapping of my windbreaker, it mimics the sound of the sails flying above. I gently walk over to the railing of the boat, and continue scanning the area around me. 

The walls of the cavern are vastly tall, so much that you can not see the ceiling of the cavern. Rubies, emeralds, diamonds, and other jewels are perfectly placed in the jagged walls of the cave. The light is provided by a few sources, but my favorite are when the glow worms light up around the jewels and send colorful specks of light all over. People say the Underworld is a terrible place, but I think that at night, it is more beautiful than the great halls of Mount Olympus. 

I hear the waves getting rockier, and the boat is slowing down, we must be getting close to the shore. I stand up from sitting on the rails of the boat and walk over to the captains stand. All of my sailors are asleep so I turn on the shore alarm. In a moment the men are awake and file out onto the deck. They attend their stations and begin the process of lowering the large tapered sails.

we hit the coast, and all the men trampled off the ship. There long transparent arms bumping into each other as they fight to be able to sense the ground. All of my crew are souls that in their former life were expert sailors. They serve me because there version of heaven was to be back on a sailboat again.  

The sand of the underworld is always warm, the styx river heats up the bottom of the beaches. My favorite spot is right here on the beaches of the styx river, the warm sand and the heat from the river makes it the best place to get a good night's sleep. Plus you never have to worry about rain, only the usual sprinkle of mist from the tops of the cavern. All in all this place is what i would call the least terrorful and ugly place in the world. That myth just was made up by Hera because someone called Mount Olympus less spectacular than the Underworld. Now no one came to visit, and I think that has made Hades kind of an introvert. If only people knew about this world, it would be more popular than Circe's Siren Island. Except less deadly. 

"HEYYYYY, CHARONNNNNN, YOU COMING?" My second in command calls after me.

"James, You know I like the boat better." I wave him off with a smile and watch as he runs to catch up with the others. Then I turn back to the river and Look out onto the connecting lake, it was small, but beautiful. There are only about four houses around the house, one is mine and the crews. That house is the largest, It's looming presence makes all the other houses small in comparison. I sigh and walk down to a small row of docks. I stop next to small polished looking yacht, It was a gift from Hades to me for my years of service. I do have to admit it is a step up from the dinky boat I used to sleep in. 

The faux fireplace was left on, and the yacht felt like the inside of the styx river. I sat down on the sectional, and noticed a small envelope on the coffee table. It was black with gold laurel branches and leaves imprinted on it. there was no address on it, only the word written on it was in in gold cursive that connected to the leaves. Like the text was made from the branches themselves. 

The word that was imprinted on it was SAFFRON. 

I threw the envelope onto the table, it was obviously sent to the wrong person. I'll give it to Hermes when he is over next. The heat of the fire, and the softness of the couch lolled me asleep after a while. 

I woke up to an alert, the one signaling that waiting souls have met capacity. It was time to take the ferry out again. I get up, grab my robes and head out onto the docks again.