“Bit of a problem there.” Pollixa said, still sitting in the dust of the ghostly flowers and tall grass that had had the color bleached out of them.

“Yeah?” I replied.

“You’ve got your largest army in human history, yes, but most of them are going to be like Fish. Probably worse. Actually, almost certainly worse since they’ve have had longer to fade over centuries or millennia or maybe even longer. They’re not going to be in much of a state to fight or coordinate or obey orders. It’s not just a matter of convincing your army, they may not be able to function as one even if they wanted to.” She pointed out.

“Two things.” I said.

“Go ahead.” Pollixa said, swiping some dust off her clothes.

“First off, even those that are faring badly are able to follow instruction or at least move with a crowd. We saw that with the judgment and the path there from ferry. Even before that strange pull started up near the Hall, even the borderline mindless figured out how to wander their way through darkness to Charon without dropping their coins, line up to get on, pay the Ferryman, sit down and stay seated, get off and walk all the way to be judged. They can be directed and they can move intelligently. We just need to figure out how to start that process.” I said.

“And the second?” She said.

“I’d like for my grand horde of unending soldiers to be a reality, but I’ll settle for a group of those that still have kept their color and their reasoning skills like us. All I need is a team of good men to bust some heads and find us a way out.” I said.

“And good women.” Pollixa added.

“And good women.” I agreed. “I’ll take anyone that wants in.”

I scanned the area, Fish, Pollixa and I had been dropped off in the transfer on a bit of a hill that gave a better view of the Fields of Asphodel. In the sea of misty ghosts, there were patches of color, dead humans who had resisted their legends and identity rotting away through force of will or through having achieved everlasting fame and glory in the mortal realms.

“Let’s go scout some of those livelier ones for recruits.” I said, pointing. “Come along, Fish.”

Fish mumbled something and followed after Pollixa and I, the three of us walking the drab foliage, our movements causing it to collapse only for it to reform moments after we had passed away from it. Heading in the direction of the nearest group of more stabilized individuals, we pushed through worn out shades of the ancient dead, their substance like smoke and the features so obscured and warped that they appeared faceless. I could not make out what skin or hair color they had nor their gender nor their body types. They didn’t seem angry or irritated when we moved through them or pushed them aside in our collective wake, they just whispered nonsense and gibberish too faint for me to parse and understand.

After a bit of walking, we came up on a group of seven men, six talking amongst each other around a fire that was more mist than flame and one that stood standing a short distance away, perhaps a few steps. An outsider? Someone without enough clout or favor to get into the main circle? The six around the fire were playing with cards that seemed to be made from pressed plant matter from the flora around us. It was ingenious what people had accomplished, when I had heard of Asphodel, I would have never thought that they would have invented things like this strange fire or playing cards. The stories and legends of the afterlife just gave off the impression that the dead drifted and stumbled around without anything to do.

“Hello there.” I greeted them. Pollixa stood a half step behind, and Fish started to walk past before I stuck an arm out in front of him much like a father might stop his son or daughter from walking out into the path of a hovercar.

The group of six ignored me. I looked at Pollixa. She shrugged.

“Hey, I’m talking to you.” I said more firmly.

“And I’m not.” One of them replied casually.

“We’re new here.” Pollixa explained, stepping forward.

The man looked up and sneered, brushing long black hair out of his face. “Yeah, I can tell.”

“Piss off, newbies.” Another man said, younger than the first.

A man with tan skin and tight blond curls looked slyly at Pollixa. “Well, the shmuck and his pet Blur can piss off, if the girl wants to stay for a while and maybe get down on her knees and open that sweet mouth wide-“

I looked at him coldly, making my expression as clear as possible what kind of trash I considered this slime to be and he stopped short when he saw how I was looking at him, like he was something vile I had stepped in and was trying to scrape off my shoe.

“Have something to say?” The man said.

“You know,” I said casually to Pollixa. “On second thought, Fish’s slime isn’t the most disgusting thing I’ve seen down here now. I might have to take another bath in the Styx if I have to endure this guy’s presence any longer.”

She giggled and the man reddened.

“Why don’t you leave then?” He spat.

“Calm down, Kassian.” The man who had talked first and who I suspected was in charge of this group said.

“Don’t tell me to calm down, Anaximandros!” Kassian snarled. He turned back to me. “Leave, jackass. No one wants you here. Take your stupid Blur and your stupid little whore of a girlfriend and stop bothering us, unless you want a fight.”

“She’s not a whore and she’s not my girlfriend, but I’ll still knock your teeth out for you over the matter, if you want.” I said, giving a frosty smile.

“Very well then.” Kassian said, dropping his playing cards haphazardly and standing up and walking around the fire. I wondered if it was hot at all or just gave off light and the man avoided it out of instinct from his days as a living human. I couldn’t feel any warmth at any rate, but the Fields of Asphodel in general were chill and damp enough that it was not like the heat of even a roaring flame could not be dulled and dimmed even a few feet away.

“What are the rules of the fight?” I asked.

“There are none, you weak bit-“ Kassian sneered.

“Okay.” I said, shrugging, cutting him off mid-sentence. Then I turned and brought my foot up in a kick to his face, crunching his nose, before striding forward and hammering him in the gut with my left fist. If he wanted a fight where we just used our fists and fought in a measured ring with a referee and timed rounds, he should have said so, but since he didn’t and since I was not feeling very charitable about this delightful human being right now, I did not feel all that bad. If he wanted to fight Adrias Lucion, grandson of Augustas Heraclides, as I was at war with nothing held back, then that was exactly was Kassian was going to get.

“I’ll kill you!” Kassian yelled, throwing punches that I ducked and whipped my head out of their trajectory.

I hit him with a right hook when I saw an opening and then gave him a few body shots, mostly warming up and getting a feel on how he thought and fought. He was a bit out of practice, but I would not have said he was untrained. Just rusty. Probably did not get into many real conflicts for however long he had been in the Fields for. I mean, who would he fight? Most of the people down here were like Fish and the others seemed to be his friends who he couldn’t get into constant serious fights going all out unless he wanted to be alone down here with just those who had dulled or decayed.

I evaded more of his attacks, keeping up a light rhythm of my feet and studying him.

“Fight back, coward!” Kassian said.

He was rusty, but I was also not divine or an Imperator anymore and I couldn’t count on brutalizing my opponents like they were made of paper and cardboard. I needed to make him foolish and brash. I needed to goad him. I smiled, I was very good at provoking people. I saw the fury in his face at my smile, Kassian thinking I was mocking him, and my smile deepened.

Oh, Kassian, my dear friend, I have not even begun to mock you. I thought as I laid a few strikes into his face, sending him reeling.

“You aren’t unskilled.” I said, circling him. “Do you want to know why you’re terrible despite that?”

He growled.

“I’ll tell you, since you asked.” I continued.

“I didn’t ask for shit.” Kassian replied, stepping forward and I stepped out of his way, causing him to whip around and chase me.

“Well, I’ll tell you anyways.” I said. “You’re not unskilled or untrained. A long time ago, maybe you would have crushed me when we’re both Unpathed and on equal grounds, no Paths or bloodlines or genetic engineering or psychic powers to make things unfair. A long time ago though. Now? Now, Kassian, you’ve rotted.”

“Shut up!” He said, his movements and blows growing more frenzied and erratic.

“You’ve decayed, dulled, rusted, and corroded. You’re the shadow of the shadow of the shadow of the man you once were. You’re less than the ghost of the person whose name you bear and whose face you’ve managed to keep over your time in Asphodel.” I explained.

“Fuck you!” He yelled.

“See, you do agree with me. You know, deep down, that it is true.” I said.

“No, I don’t!” Kassian said with fury in his brown eyes, getting in a few hits. His breath coming sharply.

“Yes, you do. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be getting so angry. It wouldn’t mean anything to you anymore than Heracles or Achilles would care if an ignorant child called them weak or cowardly. But you do care. My words stab at you because they mean something. That pain you feel when I speak? That’s the sting of truth.” I said, chaining punches together.

Kassian lost it and I took my opportunity, decking him, grabbing him by the waist and then lifting him up and down with punishing force onto the misty fire. He screamed and I laughed like a madman as I felt the flames lick my arms like lashes.

“So, it is hot.” I said, still laughing. “I was wondering.”

I stood up. “Well, gentlemen. It looks like I won, now let’s discuss what I came here to say-“

Then the five others around the fire got up and Anaximandros tackled me to the ground, the others stomping on my chest and my head when he moved aside, knocking me senseless and driving the wind from my lungs and filling my mouth with the taste of blood.

“Pollixa!” I shouted. “Help me!”

“I don’t know how to fight!” She said.

“Yes, you do!” I shouted.

“What!?” Pollixa said, shouting. “No, I don’t!”

Anaximandros broke my nose with his heel and Kassian, having gotten up from his scorching, drove his feet down on my balls, sending spots flashing in my vision. Apparently, he was not very concerned in fair fighting either.

Fish had drawn close but I only felt annoyance. I didn’t need Fish, who couldn’t lift five pounds with his barely substantial body, I needed Pollixa to remember the warrior and noble she had once been in life. I needed my sister in arms to break someone’s bones so I could either escape or figure out how to win a fight against six others that I couldn’t call on Heracles’s flames to obliterate them.

Fish screamed, and color and vibrance washed over him.

Fish shouted a second time and then bit down on Anaximandros’s arm. The man shuddered and writhed, life flowing out of him as Fish sucked his blood out of the arm, as Anaximandros faded and blurred, Fish grew in strength and vitality. Anaximandros ripped himself free and him and his five friends ran like scared fish from a shark.

Fish seemed triumphantly lifelike, rejuvenated and made whole.

“Who are you?” I asked him.

He seemed puzzled by my question as if he wasn’t sure why it was important.

“I don’t know.” Fish said finally. “Fish, I suppose.”