Persephone's Replacement by Arizona Tape

Author:Arizona Tape [Tape, Arizona]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Vampari Press
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

6

After a good wander around the Underworld, I ended up at the Harbour where the souls deboarded the Ferry. Most legends and stories about the journey through Hades only mentioned the ferry ride but there was a lot more to it. After they arrived here, they had to be registered and processed at the Terminal before the Three Judges decided their final destination. Quite a laborious process that required a lot of organisation and workers.

I let my eye travel around the Harbour, amazed by how many people there were. Most of the workers were recognisable by the greenish sheen of their skin, an unavoidable feat for the dead that took up employment instead of continuing on for their final judgement.

I wasn’t sure what kind of person would prefer to stay in this limbo and prolong their death, but then, was I that much different?

The sound of a horn disrupted me from my thoughts and I watched from the sidelines as another ferry pulled into the Harbour. While this part of the Underworld was under the Persephone’s control, it was the only place where workers from both sides needed to cooperate. And one single glance confirmed nobody liked it.

The ferry had to wait a while before a worker showed up to help the souls disembark. His tardiness didn’t seem the result of laziness or incompetence, just the overwhelming number of passengers from the previous ships. It was like Persephone said, the current infrastructure just wasn’t equipped to deal with this many people. Adding more workers could help with the issue but any and all recruitment was done in the Terminal and I had no illusions that Hades kept all the best workers for their side. Short-sighted, in my opinion, but not something I could change.

Or could I? I’d have to find out if it was possible to have our own selection process once I was sworn in.

I watched as the workers escorted the souls to the large building up ahead where they passed over into Hades’s territory. The clumsy exchange between the Persephone workers and the Hades workers was painful to watch so I made a mental note to address this issue in the next weekly meeting.

I turned and almost bumped into a woman with a pale complexion.

“Sorry about that,” the woman apologised.

“No worries,” I replied, glancing at the woman. She was about my height with kind eyes, and most remarkably, there were snakes in her hair. I quickly averted my gaze, not wanting to stare. While this wasn’t my first time seeing a gorgon, it was an unusual look.

I stepped back and gestured to the line of souls waiting to enter the Terminal. “Sorry, I think I’m in your way.”

She chuckled. “Aren’t we going in the same direction?”

I thought about telling her who I was but that would defeat the information I could acquire anonymously.

Instead, I played along and joined her in the queue.

“This is quite a sight,” the woman sighed as she stared off into the distance. “Never thought I’d be down here so soon.

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