Ash

Black.

The only thing the boy could see was black.

Moving his eyes did not help and neither did tilting his head.

He tried moving his body but he felt heavyness from every side pressing towards him.

Fish could swim in water and cranes were able to fly high in the sky.

The ocean was boundless and the sky had no limits.

However, if a fish was to dive too deep then the pressure would crush it.

The boy felt crushing pressure that gave him continuous suffering.

He tried opening his mouth but no sounds could be heard.

A deathly silence permeated throughout the space.

The boy closed his eyes and tried to get his mind away from the pain.

He remembered the days before his caretaker died.

The sun was high, birds could be heard singing, and a faint haze was present.

The child was running around and every time he was tired he would go to the woman and ask her for a story.

She would look upon him and smile as her hands patted his tiny head.

"Sure, dear."

"I am going to tell you the story of a mighty prince from a faraway kingdom."

"He had an incredibly handsome face and long, raven hair.

His body was strong, strong enough that not even 10 men could move him.

When his mother sent him to train, they say that he defeated all the royal knights in one day. When the queen found out she was incredibly proud and happy that her son was strong enough to inherit the throne. One day a princess from a nearby kingdom came in visit and in an instant she mesmerized the prince."

"Mother," said the boy

"What does mesmerized mean?", the boy asked with a clueless expression.

"Let me see...when you first saw the sea, the expression that you made."

The woman spoke slowly while looking at the boy.

She had a faint smile as the memories from then were truly special.

The first time she brought the boy to the beach to see the ocean.

He had wide eyes and with a short shiver from his small body tears began pouring down his rosy cheeks.

"You cried for a bit before laughing continuously for some good minutes."

She gave him a teasing look.

The boy looked curious but had no embarrassment on his face, he had a good memory, so he could perfectly recall that sight.

The immense ocean showed him something that he always wished was real.

This world had such an immense body of water, that meant that there were other places just like this one.

Each place with different people and looks.

He couldn't wait to explore the world and witness its different cultures and people.

"Ai...daydreaming again"

She kissed his forehead and told him.

"When you grow up I'm sure you will be a strong and handsome man that will shock the world."

The boy looked up and smiled while asking her "What comes after the prince meets the princess?"

She had a pondering expression as she tried remembering the rest.

"The prince sneaked up at night to meet the princess because he wanted to confess his love."

"When he got to her room the princess was surprised to see him but she welcomed him in. The prince confessed his feeling with sweet words and sugary gestures but the princess was getting paler and paler."

-Prince, oh prince, you should not have come here. My body is cursed by a witch and every time a man falls in love with me dies a terrible death.

"The prince, hearing the news, became afraid but since he had pride deep in his bones he refused to forget the want he had for the princess."

-My dear love, I will find a cure for your curse and then we will live our lives in eternal happiness.

"The princess wanted to stop him but the prince was acting possessed. In his search for a cure he found a dragon's den, he tried fighting the dragon but failed. The dragon saw his faith and decided to spare his life. The prince was not convinced and tried to burn the dragon to death. The result was obvious."

-Human, you are foolish beyond comprehension, you wanted to tame the fire by throwing coal at it.

"The dragon was incredibly angered and thus burned the prince to ashes on the spot. The prince believed he could cure the witch's curse, but in the end, he was also affected by it and died."

The boy looked confused and asked the woman what was the meaning of the story.

The woman looked through the windows and smiled.

"Usually stories have their meaning obvious, but this time I will let you discover the meaning by yourself. This story has been told since ancient times and is a very valuable piece of information for years to come."

The boy was confused and tried thinking of meaning, but as much as he thought nothing came.

Why would the prince go find the cure?

Was his love so deep? Was there nothing more to live than that woman?

The boy shook his head and decided to go and run some more, maybe he will understand it later.

Inside the deep darkness, a light could be seen.

A hand reached out and picked up some of the darkness.

It reached out repeatedly and after a while, some space was made.

The boy looked around and found out that the darkness was moving now.

He looked at the hand and noticed the darkness in its palm was squirming like a bunch of maggots.

The boy waited patiently to see what would happen.

Eventually, he was picked by the hand as well.

Compared to the hand his size was tiny.

Looking at the darkness around him the figures moved continuously and some sounds could be heard from them.

Weeping, faint screams and some words were continuously murmured.

The hand lifted and the light became overwhelming.

A flash later the boy looked around and found himself inside a foreign land.

Ash covered the sky and magma was seeping through the craters in the ground.

The figure who picked them up from what seemed to be a punch began speaking.

His voice booming everywhere.

-Line up and wait for judgment!

He pointed a finger and when the boy looked over he could see three individuals sending the shadows in different directions.

-L-l-lord, please let me say goodbye to my wife and children!

A shadow bowed and implored the being to allow it to see its relatives.

The being spoke.

-Go ask Hades, not Thanatos.