The Beauty and the Omega

Chapter 2: Leonidas the Ferryman

“Just another day in the Underworld,” muttered Leonidas flatly under his breath.

His tattered, gray cloak swayed from side to side as he untied his small, wooden boat. Stepping into it, he used his oar to push off from the river bank and set off down the River Styx.

It was a quiet morning as the boat bobbed lazily down the dark waters, surrounded on each side by a grassy bank. The sky above was the usual dark, stormy gray, although it rarely rained here in the Underworld.

Leonidas took the opportunity to pull his tablet from his pocket. He fiddled with the buttons for a moment, cursing under his breath as he tried to remember how to turn it on.

“Damned technology!” he muttered in annoyance. “This human witchcraft has no place down here!”

Finally, the tablet screen came to life as a bright, white light flashed before him. Leonidas shielded his eyes from the harsh light, cursing once again.

As the applications appeared on the screen in brightly colored squares, Leonidas scanned the options for the New Death Check-In App. Tapping the screen, he brought up his intake log, where dozens of new souls were shown as assigned to him today, It was his average workload these days, since the ever-increasing population of Earth meant more deaths every day that needed transportation.

He pulled up the profile for his first intake of the day. As with all other souls, he needed to know if he was delivering them to the Elysian Fields or to one of the circles of Tartarus, although it didn’t matter to him either way.

Name: Brooke Bailey

Age: 23

Prior Residence: Beverly Hills, California, United States of America

Occupation: Social Media Influencer and Model

Cause of Death: Impact from a vehicle in motion

Destination: Unknown

Leonidas blinked. Unknown? How could the destination be unknown? It should show as either the Elysian Fields or Tartarus.

“Damn it,” Leonidas hissed. This technology was such a pain, and now there was a glitch that would throw off his entire day.

With a sigh, he pulled up the remaining profiles from his daily intake log and reassigned them to his brothers, the other ferrymen of the River Styx. It would take all day now to figure out where she belonged, and there were procedures to follow for this sort of situation.

He just hoped he would have time to take his lunch in peace.

He checked the time for Brooke Bailey’s arrival, but it showed she’d just landed moments ago.

“I better hurry,” he sighed, beginning to actively row his boat ahead.

Anyone else might not know what to look for, since the banks of the River Styx were relatively unimpressive and had no distinctive features. It would be easy to get lost, but not for Leonidas, who had spent centuries ferrying the souls of humans to their final destinations.

A small, wooden post with a tattered, gray ribbon marked the spot where the new souls appeared. Leonidas saw a limp figure lying face-down in the grass, so he tied his boat up to the post and stepped out onto the ground.

Approaching the unconscious figure, Leonidas rolled his eyes. Although this was common when souls first arrived in the Underworld, he didn’t have time to dawdle today.

Using his oar, he poked the figure in the side a couple of times.

“Wake up,” he said sharply.

The figure began to stir, and he set his oar down on the ground beside him. He pulled his tablet back out of his pocket and began to pull up the tedious welcome script.

“Ahem,” he began, clearing his throat. “Hello. My name is Leonidas, and I will be your friendly guide on your journey to eternity.”

The words came out flat and hollow as he read through the script, which he found utterly ridiculous.

“You have died.” he continued. “This is a completely natural part of the circle of life, and we ask that you remain calm and keep your hands and feet inside the boat at all times. If you have any questions about death and the afterlife, please feel free to ask me as I ferry you to your final destination. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your final life milestone of death, and I hope you will rate your check-in process as ‘Excellent’ at the end of our journey together. Welcome to the Underworld.”

Leonidas glanced up from his tablet and realized that the young woman in front of him was sitting cross-legged in the grass, staring up at him with a mixture of shock and confusion. He was rather surprised at how beautiful she was, but then again, he had to remind himself that it wasn’t very often that they received souls that were this young at death. Typically, his assignments consisted of a majority of elderly souls, so pretty, young women were a bit fewer and far between.

“I-I’m dead?” she asked.

“Yes,” he replied simply. “Your profile says you were hit by a moving vehicle.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head emphatically. “No, I’m going to be late for dinner with my friends. We were supposed to get wasted on sake bombs before hitting the club!”

Leonidas sighed.

I don’t have time for this.

“No, ma’am. You are deceased. Now, get in the boat.”

“No.” She crossed her arms and glared at him.

“Yes,” he replied through gritted teeth. His annoyance was growing quickly, but he couldn’t afford any more poor customer service scores. “Get in the boat, please.”

“No! I’m not dead. My newest makeup palette drops on Tuesday, and I can’t miss that.”

Leonidas used his tablet to navigate to his script titled, Handling the First Stage of Grief: Denial.

“Denial is a very common reaction upon death, particularly if the manner of death was sudden and/or traumatic,” he read aloud in a monotone voice. “Please remain calm and allow me to offer my support to you during this time. There is nothing to fear about death, and it may take time to fully accept your fatality as you grieve the loss of your own life.”

His eyes practically bulged out of his sockets at the next step. Offer the customer a comforting gesture, like a pat on the shoulder or hand, to create rapport and trust with him/her.

With a sigh, Leonidas stepped toward the young woman and patted her shoulder gingerly.

“There, there,” he said, attempting a comforting tone.

However, it didn’t seem to work as she stared at his hand dubiously.

“What are you even wearing?” she asked, examining his gray robes up and down. “Is that a piece of old rope you’re using as a belt?”

“Yes,” he replied slowly, trying to suppress the annoyance in his tone the best he could.

“Fine,” she said finally, standing to her feet and dusting the grass off of her slinky red dress and her long, tanned legs. Leonidas examined her body with slight interest for a moment before shaking his head and turning toward the boat.

“A little help, please?” she asked, exuding a haughty attitude as she stepped toward the edge of the shore.

Leonidas stooped over to pick up his oar from the grass, and he glanced up to see her already waiting for him impatiently beside the boat. Her tall heels would make it very difficult for her to get in.

“You might want to take your shoes off for the time being,” he suggested, suppressing an eye roll as he stepped up beside her. He placed the oar inside and held his hand out to support her as she stepped inside.

“I’ll be fine,” she said, her tone dripping with attitude. She reached her hand out and placed it delicately in his as she stepped carefully inside. Leonidas glanced away, feeling the heat rising to his cheeks. Her  short skirt rolled further up her thighs when she spread her legs to clear the gap between the boat and the grassy riverbank. 

Suddenly, she lost her footing and began to fall. She emitted a shriek of surprise as she began to tumble forward. Acting quickly, Leonidas scooped her up into his arms to prevent her from falling into the river and flipping the small boat.

He held her tightly against his chest as he steadied his balance. Even though she was dead, her body still felt warm in his arms. Their faces were only inches apart, and as she stared up at him with wide, hazel eyes, his breath hitched in his throat. 

“You’re going to be a handful, aren’t you?” he sighed.

“I’ve been told I’m high-maintenance,” she winked at him, and a small smile played on her cherry lips.