Zoni gasped, her eyes flying open. She was sitting in a small, wooden boat. Her hands and feet were tied with heavy, rough rope that bit into her skin.
She looked around in a panic. The sky was a bruised, eternal purple, and the water below was a vast, black mirror, still and terrifyingly deep.
An old man in a tattered black cloak sat at the prow, his long strokes with the oars the only sound in the oppressive silence.
He turned his head slightly, offering her a small, pitiful smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Don't struggle, child," he said, voice sounding warm.
"Where am I?" Zoni choked out, pulling at her restraints. "Who-who are you?"
"I am the ferryman," he replied softly. "And you are tied for your own protection. Many try to jump before they reach the gates." He nodded toward the black water. "You do not want to fall into the River of Hades before the judge has had his word with you."
Zoni went still.
The transition from life to death was not a peaceful drifting into sleep. For Zoni, it was the simply the opposite.
Her chest still burned with the phantom sensation of the statue's spike. It was a cold, invasive heat that refused to fade.
She resumed her quest to move, but her wrists were still bound. Panic came forth. "No, no... please. I won't jump." she whimpered, the sound lost in the vast, purple gloom. "I promise."
"Steady now, you will soon be free." He rasped.
"Am I... am I really...?" Zoni couldn't finish the sentence. The image of Jack's sneering face and Mia's triumphant eyes as they heaved her over the balcony played in her mind.
"Dead?" The old man offered a small, pitiful smile as he pulled back on the heavy oars. "Yes, you are very much dead."
Zoni's breath hitched, and she began sobbing, her body racking with the force of her grief.
She clutched her wounded chest, wondering why death felt worse than life. Wasn't she supposed to feel at peace?
The ferryman sighed, a long, weary sound. He had seen this countless times; the bargaining, the weeping, the sudden realization of a life cut short by cruelty or fate. He adjusted his grip on the oars, his tone softening.
"Cry if you must." he said. "It washes the lingering dust of the Earth from the spirit. I am Tadi, the transporter of souls. I have rowed this river since the first heart stopped beating. I've carried kings who begged for their crowns and beggars who went to their rest with a whistle. You, Zoni, are just another passenger on a very long journey."
"Where are you taking me, Tadi?" Zoni choked out, her eyes fixed on the water. "Is there a heaven? Will I see my mother?"
Tadi didn't look back. "You are heading for judgement. But the river only flows one way, child. We are heading for Hell."
The blood, or whatever remained of it in her spectral veins, turned to ice. "Hell? Why? I was a baker! I gave to the poor! I gave my own organ to a man I thought was dying! I've never stolen or killed."
"Judgment is a routine, not a punishment." Tadi replied calmly. "Every soul must be weighed. But do not be so certain of your innocence. Sin is a complex recipe, Zoni."
Zoni thought through his words as the boat glided toward a massive silhouette that began to dominate the horizon.
As they drew closer, her breath almost stopped. Rising out of the black mist were doors so tall their tops were lost in the bruised clouds above. They didn't just look scary; they felt like the physical manifestation of despair.
Tadi pulled the boat onto a strip of grey, ash-like sand. He reached out with a gnarled hand and untied her bonds. "Step out, dear."
"Huh? Wait... Please!" Zoni scrambled to the back of the boat, her fingers clawing at the wood. "Don't leave me here! Tadi, please, I'll stay on the boat! I'll row for you! Just don't make me go through those doors!"
"I am but the driver, not the host," Tadi said firmly, nudging her toward the shore. "You will be fine."
With a final, mournful stroke of his oars, Tadi rowed back into the mist. She stood alone on the ashen shore, feeling lost.
She took a step toward the water, intent on swimming after him, but the sound of the doors stopped her. It wasn't a creak; it was a groan of tectonic plates shifting.
A flash of blinding, violet light swallowed her.
When she blinked, the river was gone, and she was standing in a hall of impossible proportions. It was empty, dark, and chilled to the bone.
"He-hello?" she whispered. "Is anyone there?"
"Hi, Zoni."
The voice was like a silken ribbon dipped in liquid nitrogen—sweet, icy, and terrifyingly smooth. Zoni spun around so fast she nearly tripped on her hem.
Standing a few feet away was a woman who radiated a dangerous, predatory beauty. She looked to be in her late twenties, tall and statuesque, dressed in a royal red gown that clung to her curves like a second skin. Her hair was the color of dried blood, and her eyes, toxic.
Zoni felt a primal urge to kneel and an equally strong urge to run. "Who... who are you?" She stammered.
"I go by many names, love." the woman said, gliding forward with the grace of a panther. "But you likely know me as Persephone. Queen of the Underworld. Wife to the man who owns everything you see."
"I shouldn't be here," Zoni blurted out, her voice trembling. "There's been a mistake. I've been good! I was a victim! I was murdered!"
Persephone tilted her head, a small, mocking smile playing on her lips. "Oh, we know. We watched the whole thing. The statue was a bit much, honestly. A tad gauche."
"Then why am I in Hell?"
"Because, love," Persephone said, reaching out to twirl a lock of Zoni's hair around a perfectly manicured finger, "you were too good. You were so busy being a martyr that you sinned against yourself. You allowed vipers into your bed and let them feast on your kindness. Tell me, was that twat's dick really so magical that you couldn't see he was a monster? Or were you just that desperate to be loved?"
Zoni flinched as if she'd been slapped. Shame, hot and bright, flooded her face. "I loved him..."
"Hmm. And look where that got you," Persephone snapped, her friendly tone vanishing. "A hole in your chest and a seat in my lobby. It's a shame your mother isn't here to keep you company, but she was far more sensible than you. She's... elsewhere, with sky daddy."
"My mom..." Zoni collapsed to the floor, the mention of her mother breaking what little resolve she had left. "They killed her, didn't they? They told me... Mia told me just before I fell..."
"She did," Persephone said, her voice momentarily softening before she sighed. "But enough of the waterworks. I have a schedule to keep. Get up, Zoni. It's time for you to go to the pits. Time to get burned!"
"No!" Zoni lunged forward, throwing herself at Persephone's feet and grabbing her ankles. "Please! Give me a chance! I can't end like this! I can't leave them up there to live in my house, with my money, using my kidney! Please, I'll do anything! Anything!"
Persephone let out an annoyed huff, raising a hand to summon the demons to drag the girl away. But as Zoni's fingers gripped her skin, the Queen of Hell froze.
She looked down at Zoni's hand, then back at her face. A strange, haunting look of recognition crossed her features.
The icy aura around Persephone vanished. She reached down, her touch surprisingly gentle, and tilted Zoni's chin upward. She searched Zoni's tear-filled eyes for a long, silent minute.
"It's you," Persephone whispered, her voice filled with a sudden, breathless wonder.
"Me?" Zoni sobbed, confused. "What do you mean?"
Persephone didn't answer immediately. Instead, she smiled—a genuine, warm smile that transformed her from a terrifying deity into something almost sisterly.
She hauled Zoni to her feet and wiped the tears from her cheeks with a silk handkerchief that appeared out of thin air.
"I think we can work something out, love." Persephone said. "There is a way."
Hope, ignited in Zoni's heart. "I'll take it. Whatever it is, I'll take it."
"Careful what you wish for, darling," Persephone laughed, but the humor was dark. "Don't rejoice until you hear the terms. Come."
With a snap of Persephone's fingers, the hall vanished. Zoni found herself seated at a heavy wooden table in a small, stone room lit by flickering black candles. On the table lay a single sheet of yellowed parchment and a quill dipped in ink that looked suspiciously like blood.
Persephone suddenly appeared behind, leaning over her shoulder. Her breath smelled of pomegranate and ozone. "Read it carefully, Zoni. This isn't just a return ticket. It's a commission. Seal it with your thumb, and the deal is done."
Zoni's eyes raced over the elegant, terrifying script. Her heart hammered against her ribs, the terms of the contract making her breath catch in her throat. It was a tiered system.
Without a moment's hesitation, Zoni pressed her thumb into the ink and slammed it onto the parchment.
Persephone arched an eyebrow, genuinely surprised. "You didn't even hesitate. Are you sure, Zoni? Did you read the fine print?"
Zoni looked up, her expression harder than Persephone had ever seen it. "I'm sure."
Persephone let out a delighted laugh. "Alright then." She pressed her own signet ring onto the paper, and the room flared with a sickly green light. The contract shimmered and split into two identical copies.
Persephone took a copy. "The other one's yours, babe."
Zoni rolled hers up with trembling hands. As she secured it, she looked at the Queen. "Um... just out of curiosity... why? Why help me? I know there are no free favors."
Persephone leaned against the table, her eyes twinkling. "You saved me, Zoni. Four years ago, when I was on Earth in human form, I got into a bit of... trouble. You intervened."
Zoni searched her mind, but it was a fog. "Really? I... I don't remember."
"It's okay. Our earth memories are the first things death takes." Persephone said, waving her hand dismissively. "Don't stress your head. It doesn't matter. What matters is that I owe you, and I always pay my debts."
She clapped her hands in excitement. "Now, let's get you back."
They walked back toward the towering black gates. As the light of the living world began to bleed through the cracks, Zoni slowed down. She looked at the scroll in her hand, her stomach churning.
"Mrs Persephone?" she asked, her voice wavering. "Regarding the contract... do I have to actually kill them?"
Persephone stopped at the threshold, her face silhouetted by the rising sun of the Earth. She looked back at Zoni, her smile sharpening into something truly demonic.
"Yes."