When my senses returned, I found myself staggering out of the Asphodel Meadows, the ominous vibrations of Domos Haidou fading behind me.
A strange, warm light replaced the underworld's cold glow, and before I could even process the fact that I had narrowly survived an encounter with death, the environment shifted again.
I blinked, and suddenly, I was back in the main lobby of the underworld.
The space was eerily normal, with its marble floors, faintly glowing chandeliers, and the hum of what I suspected was supernatural HVAC.
It felt like a particularly empty lobby—except, of course, for the two figures casually leaning against a ghostly reception desk as if they had all the time in the afterlife.
"Ah, Carl," Thanatos said smoothly, his dark robes flowing with an almost cinematic flourish. "Welcome back."
"Thanatos," I said, forcing myself to sound more confident than I felt.
