Greek Times for a Future Girl

The Arabian Night

Well, nothing too significant happened after the Canathus incident, other than Pain showing his face after getting over his embarrassment. But this particular day was different. Different because it wasn't going to lead to any other adventure I've gone on. How exactly? Well, here's how it went:

The day started like any other. I got done with school and I went to the Underworld to do my homework, which was to make a small, grape catapult for Daedalus' class. I was on my way to test out the final product, that is, until I felt something tug on my dress. I looked down from my desk and saw my imp co-workers/best friends had come in. I could tell by the looks on their faces they wanted something.

"What is it now, boys?" I asked them.

"We were hoping you could help us out with a new arrival. He doesn't quite 'fit in', shall we say?" Panic explained as he made air quotes out of it.

"Please tell me it's not another live one." I begged, really hoping it wasn't another King of Thessaly problem.

"No, no. This is different." Panic assured me, but a slight tone of worry was still in his voice.

"Yeah! This one gives us the willies!" Pain said as he clung onto Panic.

"Okay, you big chickens, I'll go check it out." I assured them with a giggle.

They lead me out of my room and down to the River Styx riverbank to a line of souls waiting to enter the Underworld. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but there was an unusual gap in the line. Which, by the way, does not happen often. Like, at all. So, that gap might've been where this mystery soul had been standing in.

"He was right here!" Panic whined, pointing to the empty spot in the line.

"Yeah, a real complainer." Pain explained to me.

"Well, what did he look like?" I asked.

"Tall, uh, dark, um... W-well dressed." Panic started.

Something about that description sounded very familiar to me, like I've heard a similar description before. And behind the imps, I saw the ghost of a man who matched the description as he started walking to us. Needless to say, I recognized him immediately.

Pain continued: "And his beard was so, uh-"

"Twisted?" I said, my eyes not removing themselves from the soul.

"I'm assuming, that was just a lucky guess, right?" Panic gulped, his eyes getting bigger than normal.

"Not as much as you think." I told them, pointing to the soul.

Pain and Panic turned their heads and not even a second later, both of them screamed and turned into chickens and started running around the place, leaving me to deal with this stranger. Who, to me, was no stranger at all.

"Are you in charge here?" the soul of Jafar asked me.

Yeah. You heard me. Jafar. The same infamous sorcerer villain from Aladdin. Down here after his death from the movie's sequel after Iago knocked his genie lamp into lava -long story. Why he was in the Grecian Underworld upon his death was beyond me, but in any case, I had a job to do. And apparently, it involved handling complaints.

"Sorry, but no. However, I'll gladly help you with any questions or concerns you may have. My name is Ariadne" I calmly introduced myself.

"Charmed." Jafar said in an unimpressed tone. "You see, there's been a grievous error."

"Clerical!" Pain clucked as he ran between the two of us.

"Sorry about the imps. They get spooked easily -well one of them does." I briefly apologized before getting to the point. "Anyway, your situation is no mistake, sir. You are, to put it gently, dead. It really isn't that big of an error, so if you wouldn't mind as to just getting in the River Styx so you could be sent to your assigned afterlife, it'd be great."