47 The river of souls
Hahaha Surprise Chapter
You never saw it coming
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Finally, we leave the biomes and come to an important thing. The river of souls. The river of souls acts as the entrance to the Underworld. Originally the Underworld was surrounded by the river Styx.
Hades talked with Styx and told her about his plans to create the river of souls. And after discussing this they agreed on it. Hades made this river with many things in mind. At first, there was access for souls.
Unlike the mythology version, Hades had no interest in stopping souls from entering. He didn't want them to become lost souls and wander along the river of souls because they didn't have drachmas.
No, he decided to make the entrance free for souls. But only those that are deceased. Not living beings. Those had to pay exorbitant prices to enter.
Charon will be the one commanding the boat across the river of souls and bring the souls to the Underworld. The river first flows around the entire Underworld once, to collect all the souls that enter all over the place.
After that Charon commands the ship to flow along the river. The river of souls was very important as it housed 'souls'. These souls were artificial souls that were created over the course of time. The purpose of these souls that are inside the river is the purpose of devouring those who entered uninvited or unwanted.
That's right. The souls have the ability to check whether someone is allowed access to the Underworld. If someone doesn't pay or forces himself in, they will be devoured by them and all their belongings will go to Charon.
And those that have been devoured get turned into the same souls that live in the river. To be condemned to roam the river for intruders and enemies.
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The river of soals follows a set path through the Underworld that leads it through different dimensions and biomes. None of those that have been discussed are the ones the river passes through.
The river passes through the Shadow Dimension. A dimension created by Hades, that is connected to his personal shadow. This is the dimension where all his shadow soldiers live and reside.
They act as the main defence and attack force, in the off chance that something goes wrong or they are under attack.
Those who are on Charon's boat and ride through the shadow dimension will feel great depression, oppression and even fear. It is entirely dark and strange sounds can be heard all around. All around shining eyes can be seen, looking at the souls or passengers and judging their threat.
The river then leaves the Shadow Dimension and gets to the sorting area. This area is a long part of the river of souls. Its purpose is to sort the souls into either Elysium if they were good or the Field of Punishment if they were bad.
The third option is for the children. They are transferred to 'Wonderland' directly via teleportation.
Those who wish to go to one of the districts or biomes stay on the boat with Charon until they finally reach the arrival district. That is the place where you can choose where to go. It brings you directly to the 'Highway' from where you can go anywhere.
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Now let us talk about the Elysium and the Field of Punishment. Those are the two important areas in the Underworld. Although they are not fields but subdimensions to the Underworld. The Elysium is similar to what you might expect and therefore not very interesting.
Those who have been good and tried to make an effort their entire life go there to spend eternity there. They have access to food, drinks, entertainment and all the other things that you could hope for. There are activities to partake in, people to meet, places to see and more.
However, there are two options that those who go to Elysium can take. It is possible for them to work in the Underworld if they so choose. Where they can work is up to their talents or interests.
Elderly women or women in general are allowed to work in 'Wonderland' if they wish, others can choose to work in one of the many restaurants or hotels in different biomes. The choice is theirs but the Elysium is the place where they can stay if they want.
Another option for them is 'reincarnation'. Those that have been good have the choice to get reborn again in the world. They are allowed to make a choice on where to reincarnate. They are not allowed to choose whom or in what family. That is up to chance and they will have to make do with what they get.
That is the general gist of things for those who go to Elysium.
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Now the fields of punishment. Hades took a long time to design this dimension. He knew that many humans would not get to go to Elysium. And since he was in the DC Universe, he would have lots of souls come to the Fields of Punishment.
Therefore he had to make the dimension very functional. This dimension is located inside the 'Tomb Citadel'. An impregnable fortress that is guarded by Hades' divinity of boundary as well as thousands of shadow soldiers and others.
Troops are also located around the entrance of the 'Tomb Citadel', to make it even safer.
(Picture of Tomb Citadel)
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What could be found in the Fields of Punishments?
There was nothing healthy or beautiful or remotely nice to be found. There were large areas of bones. Lava flowed everywhere and heated up the environment. The air is poisonous and gives the most pain when you breathe it in.
Every breath you take feels like it kills you and it is as if thousands of knives puncture you from the inside.
Soulsand can be found almost everywhere. It spawns naturally in the Field of Punishment and has special properties. Soulsand has the effect that every step you take, hurts the soul and since you no longer have a body in the Fields of Punishment, it hurts even more.
A special structure that can be found in the Maze of Regret. The Maze is an endless, ever-shifting labyrinth filled with towering, thorn-covered walls. Souls condemned to this punishment must navigate its intricate passages.
No matter where they go, they will wander the entire maze one way or the other. That adds to the punishment and has them experience everything the Fields have to offer.
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But! There is hope. The Fields of Punishment are called that because their purpose is to punish those who deserve it. However, that is not all they are doing. Just as the Maze of Regret, the Fields of Punishment also serve as a way to 'cleansing'.
To reach this 'cleansing', the souls must go through the entire maze. But the maze does not just torture the souls physically and spiritually. It also tortures them mentally.
As souls wander through the maze, they encounter ethereal, glowing orbs. When touched, these orbs trigger holographic displays of their past misdeeds, allowing them to relive their actions from both the perspective of the victim and the perpetrator. These orbs appear until you have seen all the memories millions of times.
And you can not advance the maze before you see them as many times as the maze deems appropriate. Now what about those that liked what they did? What about those who love to see their past actions?
Well, as souls progress through the Maze, they carry with them a physical representation of their remorse – a symbolic weight. The weight increases as they approach the centre of the labyrinth, where they must confront the core of their wrongdoing.
This weight is not just weight. It carries with it, pain and suffering. It doesn't matter whether you like pain, the dimension takes away your preferences and makes you experience pain that no one likes.
The power of boundaries from Hades makes sure that everyone suffers, no matter what they liked or didn't like when they were alive.
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Souls must continuously navigate the Maze of Regret. Even if they reach the centre, they are not immediately freed. No now comes the part where they will start to be cleansed.
'Cleansing' is made up of three parts. The first part is called the Izanami. This is an illusion that allows souls to experience and feel all the things that happen inside it. They will be confronted by all those that they have hurt or killed and they will not be let out until they see the wrong in their past actions.
That is the only way to get out of Izanami. Izanami can't be tricked by words or tricks. There is no escaping it. Not unless you have truly changed.
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After Izanami, the next step is the 'Penance Field'. Just like the penance stare from Ghost Rider, the Penance Field lets the souls experience all the things they did from the view of their victims.
Now it would make sense to have the Penance Field before the Izanami, but that is not the case. The Penance Field is only there for suffering. And just like the Maze, it doesn't matter if you like your actions or are crazy. Those would not have made it through the Izanami.
No those that pass the Izanami, are in their right mind and will experience everything and suffer fully.
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Now on to the last step. The last step is the full cleansing. This means that they will give up everything that made them who they were: memories, character, likes, dislikes, etc. They will lose everything that made them who they were and leave them in a 'blank' state.
To undergo this cleansing, they will have to enter the 'Washingmashine of cleansing'. The name tells you what it does. Souls go inside the 'Washingmashine of Cleansing' and the machine begins the process of cleansing. Like a normal washing machine, the machine spins at high speeds to get the laundry clean.
Only that this time the laundry is the souls and the dirt is their state of being. Their characters, memories, likes, dislikes, emotions, everything is pressed out of them. Now after this process is over they have been fully cleansed.
If they have gone through those three steps, they are cleansed souls. What does that mean? These souls have been turned, into Asauchis. They are like a white canvas, ready to be painted on.
What do these Asauchis do then?
Asauchis have a variety of different uses. They can serve as servants in many different households, act as defenders of the realm, fight, be used as building materials, take jobs and many more.
Their look is the same as the Asauchis from Bleach. They are white humanoids with teeth as eyes.
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What happens with those that do not make it through the Izanami? These souls will also get everything stripped from them. But unlike Asauchis, they get cursed to a life as Piglins. And they are condemned to serve the Underworld forever!
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This is something I like a lot. I like how the Field of Punishment turned out and I think it has potential to be used in the future, on certain villains ...
