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"THE FIELDS of Asphodel!"
Of course, a fleeting moment of what it would be like to endlessly stand in a field of wheat passed through Florine's mind. It wasn't as horrible as the nightmarish torturing that you had in the Punishments, but it was still a pretty dull thing to be condemned to, she thought.
Perhaps it was arrogant of her to assume she'd be put in Elysium, but Florine thought very highly of herself.
She thought she deserved a chance at an afterlife of bliss, of contentment and pure paradise.
But here she was, sent off to the Fields of Asphodel, to wander around aimlessly, maybe bumping into some souls she used to know, never doing anything more.
That used to terrify her on the occasion she actually thought about death.
But now that it was here, everything seemed so. . . Different than what her mind depicted to her.
The ropes vanished from Florine, and she shakily stood up, still trying to process what the judge announced. A small gateway appeared in the side of the wall, glowing a neutral yellow color. "Go on then. Consider yourself lucky we didn't just put you away for a hundred years or so before we got the proper paperwork."
Florine scowled at them, but stepped into the light, her middle finger stuck out, but hidden amongst the white light enveloping her body.
She knew they couldn't see it.
But it felt so good anyway.
Slowly, the light vanished around her, allowing Florine to reopen her eyes. She was standing at the front of a tunnel, legs shaking. Beyond was a sprawl of fields growing wheat and corn. It looked like she'd just stepped foot in the middle of rural Kansas.
The Fields of Punishment were a few fields over, but Florine could make out the faint screaming from where she was.
"Florine!" Silena Beauregard was slumped at the foot of the tunnel. Her eyes were sunk into her sockets, face gaunt. She wore an expression of true despair, like when you're a kid and you're stuck at the dentists' office, slotting a coin in the prize machine and awkwardly standing there for other patients to see as they're crossing the hallway, but that token never works and you never get your reward.
"Silena, you look terrible," Florine said. "What happened?"
The girl shook her head. She blinked unsteadily. "I was sent here. To the Fields of Asphodel. Beckendorf and I are separated. I thought I'd know no one here. . . until you just appeared, thank the gods."
"Aren't we just supposed to wander aimlessly around the fields? Like, is socializing allowed here?" wondered Florine with a shrug. "Whatever. I don't care about the Underworld's stupid rules. Come on, Silena." She held out her arm for Silena to take, and they both linked arms, walking side by side and approaching the never ending stalks of wheat. "You think we can just sit here on the side and watch people walk around in sadness?"
