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"Your soldiers bring the Earth more devastation than all the restless souls together," Demeter said, worrying about her kingdom.

A languid sigh echoed through the spacious hall, creating a semblance of noise, similar to the rustle of leaves in a windy weather. This barely audible sound was more eloquent than any words. It meant that the Thunderer was tired, and when he was in such a mood, everyone around could get in trouble. The gods quieted down, cutting their dispute short.

"We'll intervene as soon as necessary. Until then, let them deal with the issue without us!" Zeus waved his hand, signaling that the discussion was over.

There was absolute silence, so characteristic to the Heavenly Palace. But suddenly the golden Gate swung open under the impact of hundreds of thousands of souls. They screamed, raged, hovered around confused and surprised Olympians.

I woke up suddenly, like from a nightmare. Actually, I did not know what was that dream. It seemed so real because I still felt the coolness of the Heavenly Palace on my skin and the smell in the air of the hall.

However, I was not in the Heavenly Palace but in my room… hovering in the air. I was lucky that Jackson was not in the room, and he did not see me soaring under the ceiling.

"How will I get down?" I asked myself. But the interesting thing was that it did not scare me, though I got into this world just a day ago. I was getting used to this life, but it was not clear whether it was good or bad.

Little by little, I was getting down to the floor, though it wasn't easy. Now, the gravity was different for me than for others. This was very unusual and fun, and I started enjoying this.

I heard voices in the kitchen. Hasn't Jackson gone to work? I hurried to the noise, but slowed down in the hallway. That was the last thing I needed. My friends came over. They surrounded my boyfriend and were laughing at his barely witty jokes. The sense of humor was not his strong suit. Everybody knew this, but my friends stubbornly pretended that he was devastatingly funny. Mickey and Rosy never change; they could not resist a handsome guy, even if he dated their best friend. The most important was that there was not even a slightest hint of sulking for ruined plans of last night. They probably did not remember anything, like every time they have a drink.

"Good morning!" I greeted, and only then they paid attention to me.

"Darsy, baby, you're up!" Jackson was glad to escape from the grip of those pushy ladies.

"Hi, girls! What are you doing here? And why aren't you at work?"

"It's Saturday, babe!" Jackson reminded me, trying to be considerate.

"And what are you doing here?" I repeated my question to my friends.

"What? Come on! Classes start on Monday. We have to throw a party and celebrate the start of the semester!" Mickey said.

"I even know where we'll go and what we'll wear!" Rosy echoed.

"Not a chance. After last night, I'd never go anywhere with you again! I thought I'd die after how much alcohol you poured into my booze. I don't know how long it'll take me to recover after that party…" I mumbled the last sentence to myself.

"Darsy, what are you talking about? We didn't!" Mickey pretended to pout. "And even if we did, we had a lot of fun. Come on, Darsy. Don't be stubborn. Let's go to the party. When will we have another chance to party? Later on we'll have classes, work, and everything else."

"No, don't even coax me into that! By the way, have you found some job?" I sat at the table and made a sip of hot coffee.

"Oh! Just thinking about work makes me feel tired!" my friend overacted with her comic grimace, put the back of her hand to the forehead, and closed her eyes. The only thing left to be done was to roll my eyes in affirmation of her poor acting. "And how was your interview?"

"I'm still waiting for the results. They promised to call next week. There's another interview today. I told you about it…"

"Is that the cashier's position at the supermarket?" Rosy asked.

"Yes," I nodded, putting pancakes into my mouth, a specialty of Jackson's. He prepared them every Saturday for six years in a row.

Mickey snorted. It was no surprise; she was from a very wealthy family and didn't have to work for life, and their maid always went for groceries for them. So she did not need to go to places where I was supposed to work. Once Mickey had to go to the supermarket herself… After this, she was visiting a psychoanalyst for three months because of the shock. The only shopping she did not faint from and even enjoyed was exploring the clothing boutiques. But even there she behaved like a real princess, ignoring and humiliating the sellers as if they were plague-stricken. Rosy was absolutely obsessed with Mickey. They were inseparable since the age of five, and even their houses were nearby. That's why they behaved almost the same way as if they were not friends but sisters.

We became friends five years ago when I joined the team of cheerleaders. In order to fit in at a prestigious college, I had to pretend to be another person for a long time, imitate all these glamorous ladies and act as if I was rolling in money when in fact I was not. In the end, everything was revealed, but Mickey and Rosy forgave me, and we continued to be friends, despite the fact that I was not from their circle. I admired these two daredevils like crazy, but oftentimes I was the one to get backfired by their tricks, just like it happened the last time.

I quickly finished the first cup of coffee, and I needed an extra one of the invigorating drink. Thank god there was enough coffee in the coffee maker for another cup. But before reaching it, all of a sudden the world froze again. I got surprised and dropped the cup. The image of a teenager emerged before my eyes and then I felt the lingering pain in my arm. The guy committed suicide, but the strange thing was that it was not the pain in his arm but in his heart. I felt it as if it was mine. He was betrayed. For a brief moment, I myself wanted to end the life.

It was not a mere betrayal of a girlfriend. His parents abandoned him because of one strange incident with the joint. It was not even his weed. They recklessly accused their son and left to serve the punishment instead of trying to figure things out and help him to get out of prison. The only thing they bothered to do was to pay the judge to keep it all a secret. His father was a well-known lawyer in Boston, and publicity could damage his reputation. His mother was comforted in the arms of a young lover. It was shocking how cynical people could be and how pure was the guy with his soul and spirits, even having such parents.

He was translucent. But this time I didn't get scared, nor I thought it was a joke of my friends. I knew it was a soul to be guided and that it would not rest until the Balance was restored and the Force was returned to the new Carrier.

Looking at the guy, who desperately was in need of peace, I realized how important this job was.

I used to think there was nothing after death. There was only emptiness. But it turned out that everything was just starting after death. The soul was eternal, as well as its suffering. Only Charon could stop the aimless wandering. This guy needed Charon this very moment, but, unfortunately, Charon did not bother much about this.