welcome to the underworld

hello, wanderer, what brings you here?

your skin doesn’t glow

your eyes aren’t hollow

your breath doesn’t smell of fear.

what do you seek in this godforsaken place

this forgotten place?

the sun can’t reach you here, darling

you’ll have to survive without it.

don’t get me wrong, i’m happy you’re here

i was getting lonely.

see here the styx, her rushing waters

stop! don’t touch!

unless you want to be subjected to the pain

of all drowned mortal souls

encompassed into one single fatal drop.

no, i didn’t think so.

Styx is merciless, unforgiving

but she won’t bother you

as long as you leave her

alone.

see here the asphodel, named after a flower

that tastes of

nothing.

all you can do here is wait.

wait for nothing

wait for everything

never stop waiting.

the waiting in itself becomes

boring, dull.

but you’re not a shade are you?

you’re not ready to flit in and out of existence

dependent on those up above

who must remember.

once forgotten, always forgotten.

remember that.

what more do you want?

i can’t show you the elysian fields

life isn’t that simple

you must cross the river lethe

don’t slip off the bridge

don’t fall into

oblivion.

what’s that i hear?

you want to see tartaros?

you want to see hell itself?

no way, i can tell you are too

fragile. breakable. mortal. sane.

once you’ve seen that inferno

no sane thought will pass through your head.

here, the realms of night.

perhaps it fools you, young mortal

with its calm facade

but Night is more terrifying than tartaros.

believe you me, Nyx is the most

primordial

ancient

of gods and she must not be crossed.

you have a lot to learn, i see

no, you cannot visit Hades

high in his tower

counting mortal souls as a

miser counts his coins.

he is protected fiercely by

the gods in grey

and they

are as formidable as they sound.

i won’t let them take you.

i’ll keep you here, on the outskirts of this realm

flitting in and out of life.

it’s a lonely existence, i am well aware.

all we can do is hope

Thanatos blesses us with

a peaceful departure.