sunlight and shadow | Glowfic Constellation

And so off he goes, furious into the Underworld itself. Perhaps even as a shade, he’ll never see death’s lady. Since she’s apparently too busy to answer his prayers.

Hermes

"You know, it's not that bad. The Asphodel Meadows—probably where you're going, sorry, bud, I don't think Elysium is for you—but they're looking pretty nice! Not on fire at all anymore. You might have fun! You'll meet lots of new people. Speaking of new people, here they are. Toodles!" Hermes says at the speed of light while he guides the new soul through non-spaces between spaces.

h̔̽ͦ̄̐͂ͯ͊͏̡̹͚̙̪͎̥̹r̵̘̞̤̗͌͋r͕̭̣̜̈̕r̘͉͖͒͜ň͍ͤͯ̓͒ͥ̇̀ȇ͈̤̳̞e͌҉̞͙͍͕̖̹̼ͅẽ͌ͩͣͥ̔ͮ͋̑́҉̻̙̱̬̳̱͙̹h̴͉̼͍ͪ͌͋h̳͍̅ͩ͂́ͅh͔̰̊̔͛̏̚h̡̻̗̖̟̾ͮ̎́ͮ̽

The place he's taken to is an underground riverbank. The cavern they're in is ridiculously huge, the kind of place that'd need to be placed either very deep underground or inside a mountain, if it followed the strict mandates of physics. But it doesn't.

There is what seems to be a temple of sorts, made of metal, jutting out of one of the cave walls, with bronze stairs leading down from its imposing closed doors to where he and other recently dead people are. There seem to be about twentyish other people, and most of them aren't talking to each other, with a handful of groups of two and three and this one couple plus their baby. Everyone has a sort of ethereal, not-quite-human quality to them, the little blemishes and imperfections that one accrues through life gone or smoothed over, everyone's idea of their self influencing what they look like more than the mandates of biology.

And by the river is the boatman, Charon himself, standing tall and motionless by his barge. A soft plume of purple smoke wafts from his skeletal mouth but he does not move like he's breathing at all.

He had time to make sure he had something to pay Charon, before his death. Since it took a while. A drachma should be more than enough to cover the cost for crossing the river of Styx.

Strange, though. He would have expected this side of the river to have more shades, begging for small coinage to pay for their passage.

There don't seem to be such beggars here. Perhaps the stories were false? But when the boatman of the underworld says Ḧ̶̡̪͓͙͉͎͇̫̳̗̘̈͜͜ͅę̸͙̠̬͙̦̦̲̏́̌͝g̸̛̫͕͔̺̩̤͔̻̜̺̫͉̘̦͐̅͂̏́̌̉̿͊͝͝h̴̬́͂̍̌̓̍̇̊̈́̂́̔̀͋l̴̨̜̦̞̭͈͙͚͙̞͍͎̲͚̈́̅͊́́̍̋̐͜͝ą̸̪̰͚̠̳̼̟̣̩̂̀ǎ̸̛̛̻͌̉͗͛̐̍̿̏̔͛͘̕a̸̫͂͂̏͗̍̐̾́̂̿͊̐̓̕͘͘͝a̵̧̟̪̻͙̗͐́̋̎̇̇̕ͅa̶̢̢͉͎͉͚͕͋̍͆̇̍̎͘͜͜h̵̛̥̻̤̺̝͙͔̬̤̼̻̗͙̟͕̅̎̿̒̎͐̉̓̽͠ and the shades start boarding his barge he does make sure to collect obols from every one of them.

The couple with the baby look somewhat nervous about this, though, and seem like they almost expect Charon to refuse them entry, but he accepts their money with no complaint.

How lucky for them. ... Or maybe not, but it's not like it matters to him much, does it. Nothing really matters anymore.

He'd had dreams of exchanging his drachma for several obols and paying for other shades' passage, once. When he was alive. From a mixture of having just been through a truly shitty experience, and there being no obvious need to barter with the ferryman himself for someone else's passage means it really doesn't matter. If Charon wants to keep the five obols worth of extra payment, that's fine by him. The dead only need money the once, as he understands it.

Nope, Charon is definitely giving him his change. Not taking any more than he needs to.

Great. Now he has no idea what to do with his extra obols, then. If there were any beggars he’d hand them off, but there aren’t. He could scatter them on the riverbank for someone else to find, but there’s no guarantee they’d be picked up by anyone in need. So there isn’t anything obvious to do with the coins besides pocket them. So he does, and gets onto the boat.

Once everyone is on the boat, Charon steps onto it himself, lowers his oar, and pushes it into the water.

The gigantic cavern does not seem to have any ways in or out other than the temple he saw and wherever this river is taking them. The water flows along lazily, and where it meets the end of the cave it grows foggy though some light can be seen from that direction implying that this would be "outside", whatever that means in the Underworld.

They spend a few seconds in fog, with the pattern of light suggesting they're going through a tunnel towards the light, but when they're finally out the river has become fog. Or clouds, or something. Regardless, it is no longer regular water.

And the "outside" is, clearly, the Fields of Elysium. There is a long, golden fence that stretches on for miles to either side of them; behind them, the place they came from is a hill, or mountain, getting very quickly too foggy to discern its height; and up ahead is a gate that opens to let them into the proper Fields. Charon continues to push with his oar, slowly, as the world unfurls ahead of them.

It's beautiful, of course; large fountains in the shape of mermaids pour more cloud-water down into the river, beautiful busts and sculptures of heroic deeds, lovely brooks and meadows and ponds with water nymphs, the occasional fish breaking the surface of the Lethe almost playfully, and of course, the houses. The houses are almost palaces, themselves: big, luxurious, well-decorated, wide open. Other souls of the dead mill about, converse, rest in the shade of the plants that block the fake sun in the fake sky while drinking wine and reading books, reciting poetry, sparring, making love, running. It's truly paradise.

The dead man doesn't expect this to be his stop. Hermes himself had said as much, and besides, even by his own judgement, he wasn't particularly heroic in life. Certainly not in death. But he'll look out upon the Fields of Elysium and think bitterly of what could have beens, if death's lady had been there when he'd wanted her. Maybe he could have gotten in here.

Maybe.

And maybe he wouldn't have liked it so much. When Charon stops at a small wooden pier with steps leading up into an imposing temple, a group of three friends—clearly warriors—start to step out of the boat, only to have Charon stop one of them.

"Hey?"

Ȟ̷͇̲̤͔̾͒̕r̵̢̡̟̣͎̣̓͊̈́̀̈ȁ̸̧͈͔̀͘g̴̰̓̈́̽̀̓̕ḧ̶̻̯̪͍́̉͆͊̀͒͘̕e̷̡̙͙̥̪̣̺͒̿̂̐̄ę̷͓͎͗e̵̢̛̪̦͍̦͛͛̓̄̍͠ͅe̴͈̬̠̔͊̅̍͛̄̚͜͜h̶͙̀.̵̢͎̝͖̥̞͌̏̓͜͝

"He's with us," says one of the friends, who didn't get barred by Charon.

"Are—do you mean I don't—I'm not going to Elysium?"

G̷̡̢̯̟͍̜͒͝h̸̨̹̮͊e̶͎̽k̶̨̛͎̭͈̫̮̈́̈ā̷̢͔͍͖̗͓͇̪h̸̡̢̥̦͍̜͕̅i̸̘͖͙̙̼͉̖͓͘ȋ̶̞̹͈͓̇́̀͒͗ͅi̷̧̧͑̋̀͆̿̐͘h̷̨̢̰̻̻̜̱͕͆̈́̏̇̒͋̈́̀h̶͉̪͒̏̕.̶̡̡̲̥̆͌ͅ

"Wait, no, come on, man, you can't—"

But Charon shoves him forcefully with his oar so that he falls onto his rump, back in the barge, and says, sounding pissed off, Ò̸̡̡̘̝̪͊̔̽k̴͙̳͙̭̎͆̅͋l̷͓̪̬̠͌̋̈͌ã̷͎̖̯̱͎̮̥̳̒͌̅̇͠g̵̮̺̤̪͖̘͐́h̸̨͖̲̫͗̈́̌̽͗͛e̵̛͚̟̩̭̼͖̍̎h̵̡͍̥̽̔͝h̷̛̘͇̰͈̱̱̩͒̔͆͌̅.̴̛͕̤̱̍̑̚͝

"—forgive me, Lord Charon. I was out of line."

"Atrokos?"

The man forces a smile and says, "Don't worry about me, friends. I—guess I wasn't sufficiently heroic." He tries to chuckle but it's a bit too reedy to be any convincing. He swallows dryly and clears his throat. "It—it has been an honour serving with you."

"Atrokos, you can't..." says the third one.

"The gods have made a decision," he replies. "I—I'm sorry. But, um, live your best—afterlives. Okay?" He clears his throat again, and blinks several times. "I'm sure you will be very happy here."

The other two throw Charon an absolutely venomous look, to absolutely no reaction, but they recognise the folly of challenging a god in his domain. They look at their friend, but he turns around and takes a proper seat on the boat, and when that's done Charon pushes the riverbank away again, so that the barge can go on its way.

Atrokos... is shaking a bit. Apparently that's a thing you can still do, after death.

That’s the gods for you. Weighing in from on high, with no care towards the people they hurt. He looks away, towards the river of clouds.

“You have time to drink of water from the Lethe,” he says to Atrokos in an undertone, while still not looking at him. “If you’d rather forget. It’ll likely be the only chance any of us get.”

He startles. "What?" Then the words catch up with him and he turns to stare at the river. "Oh," he says, weakly.

How the fuck do you make a decision like that on your way between the Fields of Elysium and the Asphodel Meadows, that's not enough time to decide something like that. He's looking vaguely sick.

The man from the one couple whispers something to his wife then walks over to Atrokos and puts an arm around him, which is what tips him over to breaking down crying.

Well. He tried. And it's not like he'll drink from the river himself. Even if he does kind of want to forget the pain of his own death, there are too many other things he'd like to remember.

The boat continues its slow ride. At some points the non-Euclidean nature of the river and the entire Underworld becomes a bit more obvious, when they can see bits of the river in the distance that seem like they should be upstream of where they are but which they never went through, or when going past a large house leaves them in a completely different area of the Fields and no way to see the place they were at just a moment ago; this is probably for the best, as the Fields do seem to be large enough that if they were to ride along the entire length of the Lethe (if such a thing even makes conceptual sense) this trip might take unbearably long.

But soon enough they are going through another set of gates and approaching another hill/cliff/mountain's entrance, the water fogging it up enough that they can't see beyond. The Asphodel Meadows are probably just over yonder.

The cavern darkens as they pass, until it's so dark it seems impossible to even see their fellows in the boat. From ahead, there's a faint glow that brightens as they get closer, warm and welcoming. Then they turn a corner, and the light catches in the river itself. Or, to be more precise, it comes from the river itself. It continues to brighten as they proceed, until it's the brilliant orange glow of flame. They have reached the river Phlegethon.

What follows is surely the Aphodel Meadows. Its entrance is not as ostentatious as Elysium's, and clearly built for a bit more volume of traffic. It rises from the fiery river with an efficient practicality of sturdy stone, with only minimal accenting in bronze instead of gold. The cobblestones on the path from the docks are a simple and plain grey, unassuming and practical. The rock (solid, not cobbled together like the road) that makes up the walls of the buildings and the banks of the rivers is a deep, muted purple. At a glance, it's rather intimidating, but...

... care has clearly been taken to make it feel more cozy and welcoming than the starting color scheme implies. Warm fluffy carpets the color of rich gemstones, comfortable looking park benches, careful accenting of lighter colors to balance out the dark. Instead of great carvings depicting fantastical events and brave deeds, there are cute little white stone and bronze park benches, and large decorative mushrooms kept in some of the (many) vases and pots around. All lit by little streams of fiery water carefully diverted from the main flow, to make decorative fountain designs or rivulets of fire, or pouring eternally into little containers that look and cast light like lanterns. Contained in the lantern-alikes, the light given off is changed from a fiery orange to something else, blues and reds and greens and purples and even a bright and cheery yellow, evocative of something festive, here in the deep dark. The welcoming building ahead of them has various sections, neatly labelled by (colored) banners, denoting HOUSING ASSISTANCE and EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES and REUNION ARRANGEMENT and GRIEF COUNSELING and BARTER AND TRADE and many others, further on and in.

Compared to Elysium, it's bustling and lively. There are clearly places where one can get away from the crowds, little quiet stone gardens lit by small streams of flame and decorated with less precious gemstones, but. ... This isn't necessarily a bad fate, either. Its denizens don't seem unhappy or bored.

Atrokos is looking mostly resigned by the time they get there, but he does show some interest when he sees all of that. Charon slowly pulls up and, when they're close enough, gestures in the direction of that building. No wretches on the barge, today; everyone's last stop is here.

M̵̨̘̯̭̘̫̈́́̈e̸͉̭͇̱̼̪̹͆̅́̅͗̌̀k̸̨̤͇̪̖̪͚͖͒͌͛͒̕͝ḫ̸͎̰̖̘̀̽͛̽͊ͅa̷̛̹͖̳͂̋̓̊̓̉ą̵̨͋̎̈̕ͅa̸̢̧̲̘̠̞͑t̷̡̡̡͉̩͕̞̹̀͛̀̿̎ẖ̶̛͇͖͓̬̣̍̐́͊ͅh̸̢̛͓̭̞̫͔̖͑͐͆͝ͅ is what he eloquently says, and once all of the shades he's transporting are off the boat, he pushes away back the way they came, ever so slowly.

The couple with the baby talk for a moment then go immediately for Housing Assistance. Atrokos stares numbly and looks clearly tempted to go for Grief Counseling but decides this would be Bad so he instead makes his way to Employment Opportunities.

But they're all stopped by a tiny shade holding a little bowl. "Hello!" it says cheerfully. "We are collecting any money you might have leftover to help any souls that could not bring their own buy passage in anyway. If you have anything to spare, it would be appreciated!" And based on the look of dawning understanding on the faces of the couple, they were probably recipients of this fund, up there.

.... Oh. There's one shade who has more money than he needed, and didn't know what to do with it. Okay. Sure.

In go his five obols to the bowl. He gives the tiny shade a little tentative smile.

"Thank you!" the shade says, brightly. "Your donation will ensure five more souls can get here without any trouble." The other shades that came with him on the boat don't seem to have any extra, but this one smiles brightly at them nonetheless. "On behalf of the Lady Ebuette I would like to apologise for the current state of the Meadows, we are going through renovations so some things are still under construction or being changed as we speak, but it is all so that the Meadows gets to be all it can be! Do you want any guidance in your new home?"

"Lady Eh...bwhat? How do you even pronounce that?" he asks, because that sounds absolutely foreign to him. "Uh. How does... housing work, here, I was expecting Asphodel to be a bit more, um. Empty?"

"Oh I'm not sure I'd have called it empty, but the river overflowing did cause some problems a while ago," they say, thoughtfully. "Anyway! I can take you inside to show you how housing works? The basic idea is everyone gets a small amount of free living area, multiple people living together can add their amounts, and the size and number of public facilities increases with population."

"Oh. Uh. Okay, sure."

So he is led to the Housing Assistance area where the couple and baby are talking to another shade behind a counter who looks extremely excited to be there and who is showing them 3D illusions of possible living arrangement layouts. There are two other shades in line behind them, and then him.