@amber_is_in_a_loop
So this is the first draft, but I thought I'd go for this version. Let me know what you think :)
Light was rapidly fading when Lillian’s eyes finally flicked open.
She woke with a start, uncharacteristic to the stillness of the surroundings she’d found herself in. Unaware of the situation to come, her first move was to wrap her arms tightly around her shoulders in an attempt to shield herself from the humid cold, an instinct quickly followed by:
Where, in God’s name, am I?
A quick glance around did nothing to reassure her: she was moving along a blue-tinted body of water, in a rather rickety boat, in the company of one drunk, one old woman, and one little girl and her dog. Running through multiple possible explanations in her head, Lili decided to keep her mouth shut and attract as little attention for as long as she could before she was eaten, or something along those lines.
Hugging herself tighter, the girl edged along the wooden flooring on her crossed legs, thinking as she went. You’re drawing a blank on how you got here, and you’re essentially alone. There’s no way to get out unless you jump into the water, but who knows how far you are from a shore? Seeing as Lili was now back to the boat’s edge, she reached up towards the railing and hoisted herself to her feet, looking out at the water and the barely visible shoreline ahead; it loomed grey and stony in contrast to the vibrant blue water that rippled beneath them, the latter alive with…
What were those? Somewhere between manta rays and sardines, thin glittering animals swam alongside the boat, bobbing up and down to an unheard rhythm.
“We call them Jinks,” said a voice. Lili froze, deducing as much as she could—it was a man, around 25 years, with no intention of being kind. Step by baby step, Lili turned around. In front of her stood a man in his 40s, expelling a glow of warmth onto her.
There go your detective skills.
“No one really knows how they reproduce, they just sort of… appear,” the stranger continued comfortably, the crow’s feet at the corner of his glittering tawny eyes visible against his tan skin. He paused, then asked, “How are you doing, Lillian?”
“That isn’t my name,” she blurted, direct in her fear. Her eyes were trained on the man’s as he turned to look at her, dim blue meeting bright tawny. “It’s Lili.”
The stranger nodded with the air of an adult humouring a toddler’s whim. “Of course, my mistake. You may call me Your Highness.”
Lili itched to submit, to bow and get out of this situation as soon as she could; but her wit worked faster than her reason, it seemed. “Are you royalty?”
“Does it matter?” Trained in subtext, Lili interpreted: I think we both know I have the power here.
“I would rather your name,” she told him finally, fighting to keep terrified insolence out of her tone.
“No you wouldn’t.”
“So now you have the power to read my mind?”
The sharp reply drew a playful grin out of the man. “So be it.” Leaning sideways on the rail they now both held on to, he turned to look at Lili. “I go by many names. The Messenger, the Thief, the Saviour, the Herder…” Lili’s unwavering glare shut him up. “Alright. You would probably know me as Hermes.”
Silence, before Lili’s gaze fell to Hermes’s shoes. “Where are your wings?” she demanded of his uncreased converses.
Only later would she come to regret her first words to a deity.
The latter arched a groomed eyebrow. “I’m sailing. Flying would defeat the purpose of being on a boat.”
Lili nodded along with the logic as shock began to settle. “Okay, okay. Hermes. It’s cool you exist and all, but why am I here with you? I don’t remember getting on this boat…”
Suddenly the godly swagger was gone from the god’s stance; it was that one second that set everything off. A flash of memory from her Greek classes and before she knew it Lili was sobbing, face contorted in fear. “It’s a joke, right? Please let it be a joke, please please please please.” She slid to her knees gasping, falling into herself. She shut her eyes, squeezing them closed to wake up from this and get away from the nightmare she was trapped in. “It’s a joke, it’s fake, this isn’t real. Gods aren’t real,” she cried breathily. “Right?” she demanded through her tears, looking up. But no one was there.
Breathing in deeply, she set herself back on her feet. “Stop, stop,” she muttered to herself, voice shaking. “Think about how you’re looking. Either, they’re deities and you’re proving the emotional weakness of mortals, or you’re looking like easy prey for some madmen,” she whispered under her breath, eyes wide and fists clenching. Conclusion, get over yourself. Smoothing her hair back and wiping away the emotions, she started towards the front of the boat.
“Please stop there,” ordered a peppy voice that Lili turned around to identify. A small blonde woman with a bob stood alone, brandishing a fountain pen.
“OKAY, YOU JUST APPEARED THERE,” Lili tried to say calmly. “I—YEAH, OKAY, FINE, YOU’RE GODS.”
The woman, unflinching, approached Lili. “You know what that makes you then, don’t you honey?”
Inside, Lili crumpled; but she squared her shoulders and nodded. “Hermes, he– he drives you. He drives the dead to the Underworld. And he’s driving me, so…” She couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence.
The woman smiled kindly. “Right. I’m Celia, by the way, and I’m going to need your name, planet, and manner of death please.”
Too overwhelmed to rebel, Lili obeyed. “I’m Lillian Nelson, from Earth. I don’t know how I died.”
Celia’s caring expression froze as she wrote in mid-air. “You don’t remember how you died?” Lili shook her head.
“Hermes?” Celia called in a high-pitched voice that Lili didn’t know how to interpret. The man appeared again, frowning.
“What is it, Cerberus?”
Celia reddened and looked as though she was going to object, but thought better of it. “Lili here does not remember how she died.” Hermes stayed impassive, though there was a stillness to his expression that suggested it was forced.
“Well, easier for all of us, we know where to take her. Straight to Sections you go,” he told Lili with a professional smile.
“Sections?” she asked quietly, unsure if she really wanted the answer.
“That’s right, sweetheart,” Celia cooed, her blush just barely fading.
And just as Lili prepared to ask further questions, a charming cove sprouted out of the water ahead, providing them with a destination as Hermes called out “Land ahoy!” with glee. Lili carefully walked up to the front of the boat, her heart dropping to the pit of her stomach as her terrified gaze swept the damp, lonely spot ahead: this was her Eternity.
