The Cult of Dionysus

Callida

Luke nods his head around a corner, and I carefully take a peek. The center of Elysium is a magnificent garden, with a fountain in the center that seems to gush rainbows instead of water. Jasmine bushes adorn the golden archways that are lined with benches and picnic tables. I try to imagine being dead, deciding to go have a picnic in the park with my other dead friends. It's almost comforting.

Of course, the view is ruined by the seemingly hundreds of gray-green spirits that swirl around. They shriek an awful sound, a mix of crying and anger. Their eyes glow green. They swirl around in a frenzy, reminding me of the Haunted Mansion at Disney World.

Another weird thing about the Underworld: everything reminds me of a twisted version of Disney World.

"They're excited." I mumble.

"There's more than there were yesterday." Luke whispers. "How are they getting out?"

"A section of the wall around Asphodel was broken." I tell him. "I patched it up though."

"Oh." He has his eyes fixed on the spirits. "Makes sense. Hey, you said you're not dead, right?"

"Yeah."

"So... hypothetically, you could still die."

"Yeah."

"And you're risking your life to save this guy Leo?"

"Yeah."

He shakes his head. "He's a lucky guy."

"I'll make sure to tell him that."

Luke scoffs. "If he doesn't realize on his own, send him back down here."

I chuckle. "So, here's what I'm thinking. We can't just run out there. There's too many. We need to bottleneck them somehow, like Frank did with the cow monsters on the bridge in Venice."

"Who's Frank?" Luke frowns. "And when did you go to Venice?"

"Long story." I shake my head. "If we just run out there we'll be overwhelmed." I point to a narrow alley on the other side of the plaza. "There."

Luke follows where I'm pointing. "Okay, I can bring us over there. Then what? We just fight in the alley? They can still attack from above."

I pat my backpack. "I have something that'll help with that."

Unfortunately, we've been in this spot for a little too long. One of the phonies spots us and lets out a guttural howl. Other ones join in on the howl, swirling together in our direction.

"Oh, that's not good." Luke backs up a little.

"No?" I ask sarcastically, summoning my thyrsus. "Ready to get whacking?"

"Where'd that come from?" Luke asks, staring at the five-foot long pinecone-topped staff that appeared in my hands.

"Long story." I grin. "You've missed quite a bit since you died."

"Clearly." He hefts his baseball bat, reminding me of Coach Hedge. "What happened to your arm?" He nods at the pale pink lightning-shaped scar on my arm.

"Oh, my friend Jason accidentally blasted me with lightning." I swing at the first phony. It dissolves into a cloud of swampy green smoke.

"Lightning?" Luke asks, swinging at his own envy-ghost. "Son of Zeus?"

"Jupiter!" I correct. "Yeah, Roman demigods are a thing now too."

"Oh, I know that. There's some here."

"Oh, nice!" I cut through phonies like butter. They're not hard to fight, but there's just so many.

"So, how'd your boyfriend die?"