Magic In the Air| The Lightning Thief Male Reader Insert

11. Casual Conversation with the Lord of the Dead

The Asphodel Fields were by far the most depressing place I'd ever been.

That was saying a lot for me, I'd seen the inside of an Arby's before.

It was kind of like an extremely large cave, with black grass was flattened to the ground as a result of being stepped on for millennia and it was extremely humid. Dark trees came from the ground like they were trying to grow high enough to leave this place.

The ceiling was about 'far-as-fuck' far away. It was so high up that you you mistake this place for having no ceiling, like blackened storm clouds. Storm clouds with stalactites that looked ready to drop on any unfortunate soul unlucky enough to be standing underneath it. It wouldn't hurt the millions of spirits just standing around in the fields, but I'd hate to see what it'd go to three demigods and a satyr.

Despite the not so positive environment, we pushed on. We did our best to blend in while keeping away from security ghouls.

I admit, I may have spent a bit longer looking at the dead than I should have. I get it, if anything, they should be looking at me. I'm the one who's alive in the Land of the Dead, after all.

Some must've noticed that I was looking at them, because a few tried coming up to me and speaking.

I'll be honest and say it upfront: I had no idea what they said.

Okay so it was like I could 'understand' them, but imagine like their voices had been hidden behind a layer of TV static. The voices in themselves weren't loud, rather quiet actually, but the extremely loud staticky-sound stopping me from hearing them was basically stabbing me in the head because of its volume.

Because of it, my shoulder bumped into a poplar tree that held a spirit underneath it. At least, I thought it was a spirit.

Unlike the others who's faces were unclear, he could very clearly this person's features: dark brown skin with curly cinnamon brown hair with golden eyes. She was quite pretty, actually.

The thing that really put me off was the fact that she had color.

Okay, not that way.

While all the other spirits seemed kind of dull—I think 'stonewashed' was a good way to describe it, this girl was bright. I could clearly see everything about her.

She slowly looked up to me and I felt a chill go down my spine. By the looks of it, she did too.

"You're not supposed to be here," I said for some reason.

"You're not dead," she said with widened eyes.

"Wait, you can talk?!" I asked in surprise. "All the other guys are talking but I can't hear them, what's so different about you?"

She looked sick at this and shook her head. "You have to leave, this is no place for you."

"Says you," I mumbled and then cleared my throat. "Hey look, you look about my age. How long have you been here?"

She didn't respond immediately. "Who knows?"

There was a certain sadness in her eyes that I couldn't ignore. If I had been stranded in this place with no one to talk to for however long she'd been here, he'd most likely be the same if not worse.

"Do you plan on moving from this tree anytime soon?" I questioned.

"And go where?" She asked bitterly.

"Good point," I sighed. "I'll be back."

She looked confused. "What?"

"I'll be back," I repeated. "To talk to you. Lord knows you need some human interaction after being stuck in here so long."