Free Mutiny by Artist Arthur Page A

clouds. Her shirt’s light blue and sheer so the white tank underneath is visible. Her hair is out and she has on sunglasses that cover her eyes. I automatically lick my lips, since she looks hot. I pause because and think I might actually be drooling.
    Krystal’s not alone, but then there’s nothing new about that. She’s always with the clique she hangs out with, Sasha and that new girl, whose name I forget—and Jake.
    â€œYou know these students?” Charon asks.
    I nod my head. “Why?”
    â€œThat’s why you were chosen. You are going to help me conquer them.”
    â€œConquer who? Krystal and her friends?”
    â€œThey’re interfering with my destiny.”
    â€œThey’re just kids, like me. And you are… What exactly are you?”
    The emptiness around me grows very cold, like I’m suddenly in a deep freeze. Then it gets hot and sweat actually pours from my face. Something grabs me around the neck and squeezes. I’m gasping and gagging and this feels real, like at any minute I’m going to pass out on this spongy ground and get sucked into an abyss.
    â€œI am very powerful. I will one day rule. You would be wise to help me. If not, you will die,” said Charon.
    Just like that, my throat is released and I breathe in gulps of air that is polluted with all that black smoke swirling around the cloaked figure.
    Okay, the choice is help him or die. That seems simple enough. Like the blue shirt or the red one, pick one and get dressed.
    â€œWhat exactly do you want me to do?”
    â€œYou must first prove you are worthy. Show your loyalty to me by doing whatever I ask.”
    I’m thinking Charon’s demand is way too open-ended. I mean, what if he asks me to jump off a cliff or something insane like that? It wouldn’t be any crazier than me being in a place called Trance and deciding if I want to live or die, though.
    â€œIf I prove myself, what happens to me? Do I get to go back to my life as if nothing’s happened?”
    â€œFrom this day forward, your life will never be the same.”
    No kidding. If this was a dream, by now I would have awoken with a mix of dread and confusion coursing through my body.
    â€œYou help me, and you will be rewarded with powers beyond your dreams.”
    Powers? Who wants powers? I’d much rather breathe the polluted air on earth and walk the streets with kids who have real bodies, not smoke screens. But anyway I hear myself asking, “And if I don’t help you?”
    Charon lifts his arms again and this time the black cloud comes closer, shadowing me as the image I see now is not one of sunshine and suburban bliss. It’s dark and tinged with a red aura. Skeletal bodies move aimlessly around in this inferno as three-headed beasts bark ferociously.
    â€œDeath,” he says.
    This is a different place. It’s still evil, but I can see there’s a different kind of suffering here. It’s crowded with terrified, emaciated beings clinging to and practically peeling off the walls. Their mouths are open, though I can barely hear them. But I can easily imagine their wails and moans.
    The jaws from the head of the three-headed beast open up to roar, but then quickly clamp shut. Another creature appears. This one is huge and tall and humanlike, but with grotesque features. The other two heads of the beast encircle him, intent on attacking the giant. The fight is brutal and I get the sense that the fight will be waged to the very end. This is Hades, and I so don’t want to be in this place.
    â€œOn the sixth day,” Charon says, holding his arms in the air. A breeze begins to blow around me as I stand perfectly still. “Of the sixth month,” he continues. “At the sixth hour—you will be judged.”
    Dream or reality, there’s this deathly silence. I figure he’s waiting for my answer, so I shrug, thinking I’ve got nothing to lose,