The hallway in the afterlife was a mess. Goblins were working nonstop, their hands never once stopped and eyes not once looked up from their papers as Fei walked in. Although they were using human technology amplified by infinite, it was still too much for the waves of dead souls.
Fei slipped through the crowd and went straight to the elevator. There was one that could magically get you wherever you needed, human places included. It didn’t just go up and down but could also go sideways and backwards. It was something that Dohyun would like but it always made Fei feel nauseous from the movement. When she finally entered his office she only saw his back. She placed her hand on his shoulder and when he turned it was the first time in centuries Fei felt such dread.
“What happened to your eyes?” She asked reaching for his face.
“Nothing.” He said slapping her hand away. “We have more important stuff to discuss.”
“Your eyes burned. Where exactly did you go?”
“I went to check myself what is happening down there.”
“Are you insane? You went down to see Tartarus?! You could have been destroyed! Smoke!”
“You don’t have to exaggerate, Fei. I am Death.”
“That means nothing for the ancients. The underworld is a place of its own, far more dangerous than hell. Souls stopped being sent there after the coming of Christ. And Tartarus is even lower. It’s surrounded by fire and chaos.”
“I noticed.” Death murmured touching his eyes.
“You could have been reduced to nothing. The way down there is enough to destroy anyone.” Fei added.
“Yes, yes, I got it. Now, can I speak?” He asked looking already annoyed although his eyes were sore. “While I was there, I could hear whispers. They were alluring but at the same time stirred incredible fear in my being. It was...” He needed a moment to think what he wanted to say. “It was bad. We need to be careful with Hikaru and the rest. If Orpheus could feel the change, who knows what else did too. There are thousands of creatures and deities left in the world that we don’t even know about. ”
“What Orpheus said...about...you know. Do you know where it is?” Fei asked.
“No. I hope it is so well hidden that nobody will ever find it.” He said before he realized something. “Why? Do you know where it is?”
“...no.” she replied but they both knew she was lying.
Minjae followed Orpheus from the library for a while and noticed that he never entered the subway. Maybe it reminded him of descending into the underworld and returning without his wife or maybe he knew someone was on his trail. Either way, Minjae was not going to lose him. As a raven he had a lot of freedom and his eyesight was better than any human’s. He was so focused that he couldn’t believe it when suddenly Orpheus disappeared. Minjae flied several minutes and he couldn’t see Orpheus anymore. He literally vanished as soon as he reached the square.
When Minjae returned he couldn’t see Fei anywhere, nor Hikaru if he were honest. He could feel the tension in the library but he didn’t know what exactly was happening. Besides, last time he saw Fei and Death together it wasn’t the best of sights. Seeing them talk so much meant there was trouble in the afterlife.
“Oh, you returned.” Dohyun said waving at the raven with a frown. “I have a million questions.”
“Me too.” Minjae said in a serious tone. He did look very worried, more than Dohyun had seen him before. “Did anyone arrive from the other side?”
Dohyun shook his head. But he couldn’t recognize many deities anyway so it wasn’t helpful.
“Who was the guy that made a scene?” He asked seeing how Minjae knew that person too.
“Orpheus.” He replied but it didn’t seem like Dohyun was aware of that tale yet. “He is an amazing musician. His wife was killed or died and in krder to bring her back he only had to not turn and check if on the way out she was behind him. At some point, he did look because he couldn’t hear her anymore. Eurydice was pulled back into the underworld and he had to return to earth by himself and could never see her again.”
“So why does he think his wife is alive?”
Minjae bit his lip in annoyance. Dohyun was a very perceptive person which was both a flaw and a good point.
“I don’t know. But something is fishy and I can’t wait for Fei to return from the afterlife.” Minjae said taking a glance around the library. He noticed Eunbin wasn’t there anymore and his expression fell immediately.
“She went out for a moment, don’t fret. Hikaru is not here so one of the centaurs came up. I don’t know him honestly, he looks different.” Dohyun said pointing at the stairs, where a very tall man was arranging some books.
“That’s Pirape, though.”
Dohyun had to rub his eyes twice in order to see the resemblance. It still looked like two different people.
“He adopted an appearance that won’t draw attention on him.” Minjae explained.
“He’s 2 meters, how is that not drawing attention?”
“Centaurs are tall creatures. They can’t change that.” Minjae added seeing how Pirape probably heard them. The centaur glanced at them over his shoulder with a chuckle and both raven and human stopped staring at him and talking behind his back.
“I wonder where Fei is...”
“She’s in the warehouse.” Pirape said approaching the two men. “But I advise you don’t bother her right now.”
“By the way Pirape, have you ever seen someone simply vanish before your eyes?” Minjae asked growing serious once more. “Orpheus just spoofed away in front of a building.”
“Which building?” The centaur asked with a frown. “Was it a restaurant?”
“It was an...old restaurant, yes. But I didn’t see him entering. I couldn’t really see much from above but I noticed he didn’t take the subway either.” Minjae added seeing how Pirape held some answers.
“None of us do. Icarus doesn’t either, haven’t you seen that? We don’t like going underground.”
Minjae hummed in understanding while Dohyun wrote everything on his laptop.
“Why don’t you like the subway? Does it remind you of the underworld?”
Pirape laughed out loud. It was a very loud and yet pleasant sound that echoed throughout the whole building.
“No. It’s just very noisy and people tend to watch us very closely. For some reason they feel the differences when they are down there.” The centaur explained and stopped right when Eunbin walked in.
It was hard not to stare at Pirape but Dohyun’s cough in the background and a nudge towards Minjae made her focus on the raven.
“This library has a lot of charming men, doesn’t it?” She asked very boldly. “How come it isn’t more popular?”
“I keep telling Fei that we need real marketing but she doesn’t do anything. She has...a lot on her plate.” Minjae replied looking into her black eyes while his hands were starting to get sweaty.
“It’s a pity. This is a really nice place and it has good prices too.” She complimented the business but in Minjae’s ears, the compliment was for him.
“Minjae, why don’t you invite this beautiful woman to help you with the flyers tomorrow?” Pirape started surprising everyone.
“What flyers?”
It was sudden but the centaur magically pulled a whole box of flyers from some place under the table. That wasn’t there, of course, but Eunbin didn’t know that.
“You could go around that restaurant you told me about. The one you want to check out after seeing great reviews.” Pirape added with a smile.
Dohyun couldn’t believe that the same centaur that was so stiff and had the professor vibe in the warehouse was now creating an opportunity for Minjae to both hang out with the girl he liked and check out why and where Orpheus vanished.
“Well, are you free tomorrow?” Minjae asked Eunbin who seemed impressed with Pirape’s quick thinking.
Fei didn’t return to the library after her chat with Death, instead she went into the warehouse. The subject of their discussion made her melancholic. She started to think about all those times she felt alive and lucky to have been created. The way towards the scrolls from back when she had the appearance of a nymph was long but she used it as a moment to reflect. Life was not always about joy and love but it wasn’t all about death and war either. It was a mix of experiences and meetings and it was fullfilling. It was nobody’s fault that it all stopped or at least it became a pending situation. She missed those times.
When she arrived in the section she wanted to, she went straight for three scrolls. They were ancient but the magic of the warehouse kept them in the same condition as when they were written. But it wasn’t the words that interested her but the drawings. Those were special to her. She caressed them softly with a heart that longed for the past. Fei stood there for hours until she got up and went in the very heart of the warehouse. It had the mark of Athena on the polished tiles. Athena, the goddess of wisdom. Many loved her, prayed to her, named a city after her and built an amazing piece of history that was a ruin now. The modern world wasn’t that great but it had its own positive things. It would be terrible to have the world become something else, something that could resemble hell.
She closed her eyes and felt a vibration that came from under Athena’s mark. It wasn’t strong enough for the centaurs to feel but that was also because they didn’t believe in it. Very few deities knew about the Thief of Words and even fewer believed in its existence.
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