Chapter 29: The Story of the Dead

The Underworld - final destination and resting place for souls.

As humans know, many gods exist here.

First, there's Hades, king of the underworld, along with Thanatos the god of death, Lethe the goddess of forgetfulness,

Styx the goddess of absolute oaths, Hypnos the god of sleep, and Morpheus who rules dreams...

However, they weren't the only ones in the underworld.

For example...

"Ferry fare."

"Sob... What...?"

Despite being a high-ranking deity, son of Erebos the god of darkness and Nyx the goddess of night...

"Don't have it? Then I can't take you across."

"Uh... eh? There's something in my mouth..."

"Open your mouth then, I'll take it myself."

Suffering from daily hard labor of rowing his boat without missing a day...

There's Charon, the ferryman of the River Acheron.

"Right, one obolos (1/6 drachma) is correct. But only one coin again, tsk."

A male god with white hair, an exhausted face, appearing as an old sailor.

Isn't Charon, the ferryman who endures daily workloads rivaling Hades and Thanatos, truly the real worker of the underworld?

***

When someone dies in the world of the living, they first meet Thanatos's avatar and their soul is dragged to the underworld's entrance...

Then they encounter the first river of the underworld, the River Acheron.

While waiting at the wide, quiet riverbank, an old man rowing a boat calls for the souls.

"To think I'm dead... ugh... but what are those things?"

"Why ask when you already know? I can't let you cross the river without paying the fare."

Charon, the ferryman of the River Acheron.

He absolutely won't let the dead cross the river unless they pay one coin (1 obolos).

That's why there are always many wandering souls crying sadly at the banks of the Acheron.

Stories of Charon have spread to the world of the living.

That's why when burying the dead, families usually place a coin in their mouth.

But travelers who die in foreign lands and are eaten by beasts,

Souls of those who died in war and couldn't receive proper burial because their bodies weren't found,

Those who received divine punishment and left no trace of their bodies,

Such souls couldn't find peace even in death.

One might think Charon must be incredibly wealthy since the dead gather at the River Acheron every day, but...

Whoosh Splash

The ferryman Charon can only keep coins from the second one onward - the first coin must always be thrown into the River Acheron.

This is the law of the River Acheron, which is why Charon is always poor.

"Sigh... Working to death but my pockets are always empty."

Speaking of Hades' past life...

Isn't this passion pay, practically unpaid slavery?

"We're here. Get off, you lot."

"Sob... sniff... Yes..."

"Mother... I'm sorry."

"Damn... I should have dodged that knife..."

Almost as soon as the souls board Charon's boat, it arrives at the other side.

Thus Charon lets the souls disembark and rows away again after a few strokes.

After crossing the River Acheron, next is the River of Lamentation, Cocytus.

"Ugh..."

"Mother... waaah!"

"So cold..."

This river reflects the souls' past images, causing them to fall into grief.

Regrettable memories from life, moments of love shared, memories they want to remember.

And their current situation of facing death while leaving all that behind shakes the souls' hearts.

After crossing the River of Lamentation with gloomy expressions, what the dead face is...

The River of Fire, Pyriphlegethon.

"What... the river is burning?"

"Flames everywhere..."

"But it's not hot?"

Fire in the world of the living is hot.

The souls hesitate momentarily at that memory, but soon realize they can't feel the heat.

"It really isn't hot!"

"Yeah, maybe because we're already dead."

Fire catches on the souls' bodies but there's no sensation of heat.

Rather, feeling refreshed as if washing away old dirt, the souls cross the river again.

After being purified of worldly filth in the River of Fire, Pyriphlegethon, they face the River of Forgetfulness.

The River Lethe.

"Go that way..."

Goddess Lethe, showing off her beautiful silver hair, occasionally appears at the riverbank to guide souls.

Following the goddess's gesture pointing across the river, the dead jump in.

"How much further... ah... uh..."

"This river isn't much different from... eh..."

Though the souls don't suffocate, the water of forgetfulness that naturally enters their mouths makes their memories of life fade away.

Sometimes souls with extremely strong grudges don't forget their memories of life, but this doesn't apply to ordinary ones.

Following their instincts forward, the dead finally reach the last river before entering the underworld proper.

The River of Hatred, Styx. A long, wide river that coils around the underworld nine times.

Sometimes Goddess Styx guides the dead herself,

but today her attendants hurry the souls along.

After crossing the river and walking a bit, the dead soon see Hades' fortress.

***

"Eek..."

"Ah... ah! Over there..."

Hades' fortress spread across the entire underworld,

The majesty of the pitch-black castle visible from afar intimidates the dead.

Walking along the wide road stretching from the River Styx to the fortress,

a massive gate leading into the underworld's fortress appears.

And before the gate stands Cerberus, the three-headed monster, bearing its teeth.

"Grrrr..."

"Arrrrr..."

The foam-filled drool dripping from sharp fangs contained poison.

The majesty of this divine beast, with the Storm God Typhon as its father and empowered by Hades, terrifies the souls.

However, seeing approaching souls, Cerberus steps aside as if uninterested in them.

The underworld's divine beast, faithfully following Hades' orders, only tears apart souls trying to leave.

As the dead cautiously pass through the massive gate guarded by Cerberus,

underworld administrators appear to guide them somewhere.

"Come this way, humans. Wait here for a while as there are others still being judged."

"And most of you will live in the underworld, so what you need to keep in mind is..."

"Your memories of life probably disappeared crossing the River Lethe? We'll teach you about the gods again."

The souls moved to what seems like a building or plaza-like space and listen to explanations.

New knowledge enters the minds of souls who've forgotten their memories of life,

and the dead begin to understand their situation.

"Judgment...?"

"Was I a good person in life?"

"I'm nervous..."

An administrator approaches the dead who are frantically absorbing new knowledge.

"It's your turn now. Everyone from you to here, follow me."

The dead get up hurriedly and follow the administrator in order.

They're now moving to where Hades passes judgment.

When about hundreds of souls gather in a wide open space, what they see is a male god with black hair and eyes.

With a very tired face and holding parchment, this was Hades, lord of the underworld.

He was receiving reports from administrators while shuffling through piles of documents on the platform.

As the underworld god waves his hand as if bothered, his divine power manifests and black wind sweeps through the crowd.

An emotionless voice reaches the souls who stagger from the black wind brushing past their bodies.

"No souls for Tartarus or Elysium, then next..."

"You lot move this way."

"You will now proceed to the judges."

After Hades' simple screening to filter out serious criminals, heroes, or special cases, they receive trial from the three brothers Minos, judges of the underworld.

The three brothers Minos examine in detail the severity of sins committed in life and pass appropriate punishment.

Sometimes they change the procedure, with the three brothers judging souls first and sending difficult cases to Hades.

"You committed crimes of killing three neighbors and stealing property in life..."

"Then let's sentence you to labor on the outskirts of the underworld and repairing the fortress."

"Is that old man the next soul?"

Minos.

Born between Zeus and Europa, he was king of Crete in life,

but after death, he became judge of the underworld along with his two brothers.

Their judgments were famous for being fair, so Hades trusted the three brothers Minos and left the judgment of souls to them.

Those who committed great sins serve their punishment in the underworld,

while those found to have little or no sin in the brothers' judgment get to live in Hades' fortress.

The scenery of the world of the living and the underworld isn't that different.

Just that dead souls are all semi-transparent and don't consume food.

Here too exist laws and order, jobs and rules.

In the underworld space as vast as the world of the living, souls not yet reincarnated were talking.

"Will I get to reincarnate soon too?"

"I want to stay here, become an administrator of the underworld."

"Goddess Lethe looks so beautiful today too..."

"Watch your mouth, she's the lady of the underworld."

"Wasn't that Goddess Styx?"

Souls who have cleansed their sins begin preparing for reincarnation in order of arrival to the underworld.

If during this process a soul refuses reincarnation and wishes to stay in the underworld, they may be allowed to remain after consideration.

Those who stay in the underworld usually receive job assignments from administrators or lesser gods.

Guard patrolling the underworld, servant to gods like Hades or Hypnos.

Or roles like repairing the vast fortress or building homes and spaces for souls to live in.

"Looks like dust has gathered here... should clean a bit."

"There's a hole in the fortress? This needs to be repaired quickly."

"I heard Lord Hades' handmaiden reincarnated?"

"Really? They'll probably recruit again soon. Should I apply?"

Also, souls of the underworld adapted to the gloomy underground world could see in front without light.

Though Hestia's hearths placed here and there give the dead reassurance and warmth, they don't really need the light itself.

Thanks to this, they're more familiar with night than day, darkness than light.

This is the daily life of souls living in the underworld.

It was one axis of the massive system where life and death repeat.

But what if this cycle breaks...

Wouldn't that be a disaster?