"When you told me we had to gather coins, I didn't think you meant we would have to do something like this." The voice at the other end of the phone complained to me.
"Listen Miles, the only way to enter the underworld with your body intact is the Trish Route, and the only way to get on that route is to enter with a coin willingly given." I explained to him back.
"So why am I begging in the streets?" He shouts in complaint.
"Nothing is more willingly given than what is given to a beggar. Especially one that is looking extremely miserable, so you screaming through a payphone to me is spoiling your image."
He began saying something but the line was cut off, maybe his time was up.
I went back to my begging, sitting cross legged, holding my container and looking like a broken old man who needs the alms to survive.
It was a rather enveloping character for me, one in which once I started, I got so in character that I sometimes forget I don't need the money.
Although the next coin I got broke me out from my beggar reverie.
A Greek Drachma, in my cup. As I looked in it, my sense of direction changed, everything felt wobbly.
"What is this?" I screamed out loud, hoping it was all somehow in my head and we hadn't yet moved out from the train station where I was situated.
That first scream was meant to call the attention of passersby or anybody watching.
"No need to shout or call for help." I heard a grating voice that sent chills to my spine.
"Who are you?" I asked it, fearful of what to come.
A voice that could intimidate a god, wasn't a weak voice.
"Isn't that sweet of you, you're not afraid of me but of the mortal." The voice said mockingly in my other ear.
"Don't worry, he's already with her. She's been watching you for a while now, Sire Maalik." He made a slithering sound when pronouncing the Sire, which made me think of a reptile creature, although why I think it's a He, I don't know.
"Now she wants you, so you must sleep." I felt myself getting drowsy, but I managed to answer one more question before my consciousness completely left me.
"Who's she?..."
🌌
I opened my eyes and saw myself on a bed under the night sky. At least it seemed like the night sky but the stars were moving and way too vivid to be the earthly night, plus for some reason, the sky was red.
Looking down from the bed, I saw that it was on a field with grass and soil.
Still trying to decide if it's safe to come down from the bed, I heard a voice "So you're awake."
It was the same grating reptilian voice I heard before I blacked out.
My head hurt as I tried remembering what happened.
The call connection with Maalik in the phone booth was cut short so I left the booth.
Reaching where I first sat to start begging, I noticed the feeling of someone watching me.
I looked around and my eyes landed on a man with a black overall jacket and a hat.
He seemed to be talking to no one in particular and he looked pretty harmless and paid no attention to me staring at him.
Regardless I didn't like the sight of him, I took my cup and began walking away.
Suddenly he started moving towards my direction, his gait suggested he was sliding other than walking.
I began running now, hearing a jingle in my cup. I looked in and saw a weird coin, a denomination that I haven't seen before.
The more I paid attention to the coin, the more sluggish and confused I felt.
I put the coin in my pocket and continued running.
The confusion continued, slowing me to a stop.
Everything was weird now. Up was down, down was up, sideways was mixed.
Seemed like I was walking on clouds but on the right side of the clouds only.
I saw a bird flying through the buildings then as it came towards me, it morphed inside out too.
Instead of feathers and flesh, I saw it's lungs and blood vessels, wondering how it flew with only skin.
My shock and curiosity overwhelmed whatever feeling of disgust I may have felt from seeing such a sight.
Suddenly, everything fell back in place, yet I was on the floor now.
Then I heard the grating voice.
"That took way too long for a regular human."
"Who are you?" I asked it back, closing my eyes as the world began spinning again.
"He's still awake." Seems Demeter's Coin didn't work brother.
"I should whack him? Mid-trance? Okay."
The sound of something hard hitting my head knocked me out.
Now I heard that voice again, but this time it was way better, from grating to a loud type of raspy, major improvement.
You can come out of the bed, come to the room.
I got out of bed and started walking.
I had no direction in particular, I just walked on.
Soon I saw the sky getting brighter, leaving its reddish tint to a pure white light, now looking like a real building, except everywhere was white.
I walked on, for about 10 minutes, and when I felt that the sight of white was about to make me run mad, I saw a door.
Opening the door, I was greeted with a white room.
Except, this room, the walls had stains of red, green, gold and other colors in it.
I received no further information so I just stayed in the room, trying to figure out what was happening here.
After 30 minutes of trying to compare theories, I concluded that this had something to do with the door, Maalik and Mary in order.
A while after, Maalik walked into the room.
He seemed in far worse shape than I was and I saw in his eyes, true terror.
"What happened?" I ran to him.
He barely regarded me, looking at the walls. He walked towards them, studied them briefly and touched it.
"I'm guessing it's not some pretty wallpaper?" I asked nervously.
"It's blood." He stated flatly.
"Blue, Green, Gold and Purple...?" I asked, looking for any hope.
"It's not only human blood that has been spilt here." He said again.
I took the newly terrifying information with good faith.
"Okay, No problem, so it's a wall decorated with stains of blood." I said, trying to make light of the situation.
"So why are you so scared?" I asked again.
"A god's blood is gold in color." He said faintly.
I looked at a particular wall which was all golden blood, and then I felt the blood drop from my face.
"That's a lot of gold." I said out loud
"It came from a lot of gods." A new voice said.
I turned around to see a woman blue in colour with sparkles on her body like the night sky.
Her eyes were white and her hair black as coal.
"You!" Maalik screamed at her.
I looked at him, and saw him shake with anger.
"Why raise your voice O keeper of Death?", Is it wrong to keep trophies?" She asks him, smiling.
Maalik kept on looking at her and I felt his animosity growing.
"Who are you and where are we?" I asked her.
"I'm Eris, your humble hostess and the goddess in charge of the little room I like to call, The Madman's Nest."
- All images used are made by me using Canva
@strega.azure ...
