Hades' warrior

17. Elysium or Tartarus

"So, how's it going?" Hades asked me. He was sitting on his throne and was supposed to be making sure that the furies did their jobs right. I was standing beside him on guard duty.

"How's what going?" I asked as another soul walked up the stairs to find out their judgment.

"You know...death?" He asked back.

"Ah. It's great. Thank you." I replied. "Though I do need to talk to the manager about the stench."

Hades let out a laugh. It got him a few weird looks from the dead but he didn't seem to care.

"And Apollo?"

"Great. Though I do have to ask, Daphne, the daughter of a river god who turned into a plant - "

"A laurel tree." Hades corrected. "What about her?"

"Well...Apollo called me by her name." I said slowly. Hades turned his head to look down at me.

"Apollo called you Daphne?" He asked incredulously.

I nodded slightly. "And Artemis laughed when she saw me." I looked away from him as I continued. "I look like her, don't I?"

Hades didn't reply. I didn't ask again but turned my attention back to the dead.

"Elysium!" The fury in the middle said loudly. The old woman bowed a little, muttering a few words of thanks and then followed a guard towards the door to Elysium. "Next!"

I walked forward to stand in place of the previous guard. I had to take the next soul and guide them, either to Elysium or to Tartarus.

One of the furies smirked at me. I looked at the next soul and realised why. I immediately removed my knife from its sheath and held it on my side. I tried to control my heart but it refused to slow down. It was almost as if my body just decided that it was going to give me a rush of adrenaline for no godly reason.

He stood in front of me with pure hatred in his eyes. I grit my teeth and dug my fingers into my palm to stop myself from lunging at him with my knife.

"James Collen. Forty five. Amanda Heavens."

The middle fury walked to him and placed her hand on his head. I could feel his eyes on me as the holographic screen popped up beside him.

I grit my teeth harder as I saw the scene unveiling in front of me for the second time. He walked into a church, packed with people, with a machine gun in his hand. He walked right to the front as the people slowly started to point at him, their faces filled with shock.

A woman was shown on the screen as she dropped to the ground screaming. The screen turned back to the man as he pointed the gun at them. Just as he was about to shoot, a girl fell on him from the back. Before he could free himself of her grip, she slit his throat. Collen staggered forward clutching his throat with his free hand. Everyone in the church ran towards the entrance to leave.

The girl stood in front of him, her knife dripping blood. She flipped the knife in the air, such that she was holding the sharp edge and threw it. It hit his arm, forcing him to drop the gun. He fell to his knees beside the girl's feet. He looked up at her and whispered something but it couldn't be heard because the holographic image didn't have sound.

Everyone had left the place. The girl dropped the knife near the lifeless body and began walking towards the entrance. I stared at myself walking out of the church, praying that I walk a little faster. But I knew that nothing was going to change.

And then in less than a second, the entire church blew up with me inside.

The holographic screen closed as the furies turned to him.

"Elysium!" The middle one's voice boomed.

"What?" I exclaimed. "That's bloody ridiculous. He was going to kill everyone in that church."

I looked at Hades. "You can't seriously let him go to Elysium."

Hades didn't reply. He looked at her in awe and surprise.

The furies turned to my direction and said one word. One word that made me realise that I had more enemies in hell than on earth.

The single eye looked right into mine. "Tartarus."

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