“Next Shade, please!” 

Two millenia had passed since the Trojan War, and with it, countless waves of Shades flowing into the Underworld. Lethe had seen generations of Halkiases pass through her waters and reunite with their family on the other side. She met and listened to the lives of heroes and villains alike, from Ajax to Achilles, Aeneas, Odysseus and Romulus, and legions of others. She heard epic war sagas, wistful romantic stories, and tragic tales of woe and loss. Over time, she saw speaking styles change, fashions evolve, and beliefs waver. Every new generation brought on a new different kind of mortal, but one thing remained constant: the mortals would die, come to the Underworld, and make their way to her river. Believers were always happy to speak with her, excited to meet a goddess that they had only heard of in legend. Non-believers were less so, more confused by their afterlives than anything. Still, these mortals were quite interesting in their own right. Lethe turned her attention to the Shade in front of her.

He was a portly man, hairless on the top of the head, but with a bushy beard on the face. His ghostly figure wore a short-sleeved shirt emblazoned with what appeared to be several tropical flowers and a pair of wide shorts that fell to the knees. On his feet were a pair of odd shoes that Lethe had seen on many other Shades in this generation. They were a smooth-looking amoeba-like shape with several holes on the tops and sides. His looked to be multicolored in life, but were now various tones of wispy grey. It was an odd ensemble, to be sure, but fashions had changed much over the past millennia, and these oddities were normal. 

“Where am I?” the Shade scratched his head and peered at her.

“You are at the River Lethe, mortal.”

“Whazzat?”

Ah, a non-Believer, then. Lethe tossed her rippling aquamarine hair over her shoulder and fixed the Shade with a patient smile, preparing for a barrage of questions. She decided to go for the simplest response.

“You died. You’re in the Underworld.”

“The Under-what?”

“The Underworld. It’s– oh never mind. The point is, you died, and now you’re here,” Lethe said, shrugging. “Now mortal, speak your story so you may pass on to the afterlife.”

The Shade ignored her, choosing instead to stare at her, mystified. He reached out to grab at her hair. Lethe quickly ducked back, the resulting wave of river water temporarily dissipating his hand. His eyes clouded over before clearing again. He cocked his head to the side and looked at her.

“Where am I? Who are you? Why you so BLUE?”

Lethe sighed inwardly. Another accidental short term memory wipe. She really needed to be more careful about not letting Shades touch the water until it was time to take their memories.

“You’re dead.” she said flatly. “And I need to hear your life story before you move on to the afterlife, so start talking.”

The Shade frowned grumpily. “Nuh uh! Not dead. Just had too much molly, is all. Is why I keep seeing this blue lady.” He reached out to swipe at her again, but Lethe was prepared.

“δένω!” Lethe shouted, raising her hand. Glowing pale green roses growing along the banks of the river sprung into action. Thorny branches wrapped themselves around the Shade’s ghostly form and pinned him in place. Now thoroughly bound, the Shade stopped thrashing and looked bewildered at his predicament. He poked a thorn, and seemed amused when his bindings held firm.

Satisfied that the Shade wouldn’t be able to touch her, Lethe lowered her hand. 

“Now, why don’t you start by telling me who Molly is?”

The Shade frowned quizzically. 

“I don’t know nobody named Molly.”

“Yes you do,” Lethe sighed, exasperated. “You just said something about Molly. Is she an important part of your life?”

“I said I don’t know no Molly!”

“Okay, fine.” Lethe snapped. “You don’t know a Molly. Why don’t we start with your name, then?”

The shade shrugged. “Name’s Jim.” 

“Jim what?”

“Cooper.”

“Jim Cooper?” Lethe asked, pleased to finally be getting somewhere. “And how did you die, Jim Cooper?”

“M’not dead,” he mumbled. “You’re not real.”

“Yes you are!” Lethe felt like tearing her spiritual hair out. “You’re dead, and this is real, now tell me why you’re here so we can be done with this!”

“Not dead.” The shade said adamantly. “Had molly. Trip will be over soon and you disappear.” 

Lethe was done with this. “YOU’RE DEAD! AND BY GODS WHO IN TARTARUS IS MOLLY?”

Suddenly, the shade started fading. 

“He he he,” he laughed in glee, showing his crooked teeth. “M’ waking up! Bye bye hallucination lady!”

“Oh Tartarus!,” Lethe cursed. “ξεχνάμε!” She thrust her hands out and a wave of river water engulfed the Shade’s fading form. 

When the water finally receded, there was nothing there. 

Lethe flopped back into the river water. Out of the corner of her eye, a little glowing figure flew up to her. One of her sprites, probably wondering what was happening. As the sprite drew closer, Lethe recognized them as Eden, one of her oldest, most experienced sprites.

“Another Returner, my lady?” the little sprite asked, looking at the spot where Jim Cooper’s Shade was bound. 

“Yeah,” Lethe sighed softly. “We seem to be getting more and more of those nowadays. I guess the mortals have found a way to bring their dead back.” She rolled her eyes. “Either that, or Ascelpius is doing something again. You’d think he’d have learned something from the last time he did large-scale necromancy and Zeus killed him.”

Eden chuckled. “I was a much younger sprite then, my lady,” they smiled. 

Lethe returned their grin. “That you were, my faithful sprite. So what brings you before me, besides that earlier debacle?”

“Lord Hermes dropped by,” the sprite said. “He was looking for you, but thought it better not to interfere in your conversation with that nasty shade. It appears that it is time again for the Chthonic Conference. Lord Hades has summoned you to the House of Hades.”

“The Chthonic Conference, huh?” Lethe said thoughtfully. “Everyone will be there I guess…”

“Yes!” the sprite said. “Lord Hermes has already confirmed the attendance of many Mythicals.”

“Sounds like fun. Tell Lord Hermes I will definitely be in attendance.”

Eden began to float away.

“Oh, and Eden?”

“Yes, my lady?”

“I might be late. I have to pick up a few things first.”