The Truths Spoken In The Sea Of Lies

In which Rhea is not Rhea.

Misunderstood words,

Meeting lord of the emos,

The three of us go.

***

The Underworld in simple words was :

A little dark.

A little gloomy.

And, as always, hey! Full of dead people.

What are you gonna do?

"Grover give me the flying shoes please," Rhea said.

Grover frowned. "Why ?"

Rhea gave him a look and Grover pouted before he took off the shoes.

"Thank you !" Rhea grabbed the shoes from their laces in one hand as they continued walking.

They tried to blend into the crowd, keeping an eye out for security ghouls.

They crept along, following the line of new arrivals that snaked from the main gates toward a black-tented pavilion with a banner that read:

JUDGMENTS FOR ELYSIUM AND ETERNAL DAMNATION

Welcome, Newly Deceased!

Out the back of the tent came two much smaller lines.

To the left, spirits flanked by security ghouls were marched down a rocky path toward the Fields of Punishment, which glowed and smoked in the distance, a vast, cracked wasteland with rivers of lava and minefields and miles of barbed wire separating the different torture areas.

Even from far away, you can see people being chased by hellhounds, burned at the stake, forced to run naked through cactus patches or listen to opera music.

Rhea squinted her eyes. "Isn't that Sisyphus pushing the boulder ?"

Grover squinterd his eyes too. "Yep, that's him."

"Oh! There goes the boulder down the hill." Rhea pointed at the boulder that rolled down the hill.

"Even if I can't hear it I can tell he's screaming," Annabeth said. "Let's go."

"Is it bad that I find it funny ?" Rhea said and the other two shrugged.

The line coming from the right side of the judgment pavilion was much better. This one led down toward a small valley surrounded by walls, a gated community, which seemed to be the only happy part of the Underworld.

Beyond the security gate were neighborhoods of beautiful houses from every time period in history, Roman villas, medieval castles and Victorian mansions. Silver and gold flowers bloomed on the lawns. The grass rippled in rainbow colours. They could hear laughter and smell barbecue cooking.

Elysium.

In the middle of that valley was a glittering blue lake, with three small islands like a vacation resort in the Bahamas. The Isles of the Blest, for people who had chosen to be reborn three times, and three times achieved Elysium.

"Elysium is beautiful," Rhea said.

"That's what it's all about," Annabeth said like she was reading my thoughts. "That's the place for heroes."