Apparently, I'm Dead

Chapter Three

A moment of silence for RBG, a fighter for women's rights, and an amazing Supreme Court Justice. 

Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING YOU RECOGNIZE.

SOME TIME EARLIER

PERCY JACKSON

I grab onto her hand and don't let go.

The next time my eyes open, I'm standing in the lobby of a hotel. I look around, disoriented. I notice someone sitting at a desk. I walk towards it, shaking the sleep out of my eyes. "Um, hi? I think that I'm in the wrong afterlife. I should be in Elys-"

The man at the desk groans. "Hunding! Get over here! I do not have the time for Christians who think their afterlife is the only one that exists!"

I shake my head. "No, sir. I'm not Christian. I-"

Another man, probably Hunding, makes his way to the desk. "Okay kid, so this is the land of the honorable dead, blah, blah, blah. I'll take you to your room now."

I give up. They're not going to listen to me, and besides, I have a gut feeling that I shouldn't tell them who I am. Hunding tosses me a small key. "Here, kid. The mini-bar key. You'll be here for a while, you'll want it," he nods wisely.

I nod, but I barely hear him. What does he mean, I'll be here for a while?

I follow Hunding to an elevator, where he presses the button for floor 19. When we exit the elevator, there are people staring at me, then looking away as soon as I glance at them. Lots of... very brightly colored hair around here. Red, lime green. Interesting.

Hunding hands me the key, which has a strange symbol carved into it. It looks like an M, except really tall. He sees my confused look and says, "Ehwaz. It's the rune for horse." I smile at the rune and press it to the door. It unlocks.

Hunding smiles at me and then turns to leave. I stop him. "Um-Hunding!" He looks back. "Um-Thanks for showing me around and stuff. Here, I have some money..."

I shove a $10 bill into his hands. He looks at me, astonished. "Whoa. Thanks, kid." He walks away, still staring at the bill as he enters the elevator and goes back to the lobby.

I peer into my new bedroom that apparently I am staying in for a while. It's huge, about double the size of my old apartment. There are pictures all over the walls that I don't know how they could have gotten there. Pictures from camp, of me as a child, even one that I think I lost on a quest one year.

There's an enormous pool of water that seems to be inspired by a beach. It has sand all around it and there seems to be fish in its depths. There's a section that seems to be designed after a tide pool. I exhale and stride through the door to get to the pool.

As soon as I cross the threshold, a blast makes me fall forwards onto the giant, comfortable bed. I gasp for air as a sudden influx of power rushes through me. I can feel so much water. It's everywhere. I can feel it in the pool, in the air. There's something strange about some of this water I can feel. It feels slippery, almost. I shiver. I don't like the feel of it.

I sit there for a while, eyes closed, just feeling all the water around me. I never realised the extent of it before. My consciousness ends only when I can't feel the water anymore. I can feel people in their rooms, reading books and making pottery. I can feel every movement that happens in this building, and it's completely overwhelming.

I know that I need to calm down. I stumble across the room like a drunk. When I reach the edge of the pool, I kneel down and touch the water. Immediately, a sense of calm fills me. I dive into the water, feeling it rejuvenate me. It washes out all other feelings of overwhelming awareness. All I can feel is this pool.