Thanatos' words finally brought clarity to my mind. I now fully understood what the phrase "no chance of reincarnation" truly meant for background characters. Even in death, they must continue to perform their roles—as tormented souls endlessly weeping on the banks of the Acheron, never allowed to move on. This wasn't just Hell... it was something even worse.
"Why... why would you do this to them?" I demanded, disgusted. "This is insane! You can't treat them like this."
"Can't I? Oh... how touching. Are you truly that concerned for them?" Thanatos sneered with mock sympathy. "Tsk. I think you should be more worried about yourself... because you're next."
"What? You're saying I'm going to end up like them?"
"Exactly. Glad to see you're quick on the uptake."
"No! You can't do that! I'm not even dead yet!" I protested.
Thanatos stared me down before bursting into a mocking laugh.
"Oh, please. 'You can't do this to me, Hades!'" he mimicked me with a cruel grin. "Who do you think you are, background character? Whether you're dead or alive makes no difference. The only ending for you is the same—you'll become one of those damned souls of the underworld. It's unavoidable."
His words dripped with disdain. To him, background characters were worthless, expendable, not even worth a second glance. But who was he to judge me? He knew nothing of who I truly was.
"I'm not dead yet. And I won't become a wailing ghost like them. I'm getting out of here. And I'm taking everyone else with me," I declared with unwavering resolve.
"Help? You?" Thanatos looked genuinely confused. "What could a background character like you possibly do to help anyone?"
"Anything. If these background spirits unite, if we stand together, anything is possible!"
Thanatos smiled and gave me a slow, sarcastic applause. "How courageous. Truly, I must applaud your bravery, little background character."
But there was something sinister in that smile. Thanatos was planning something—something unpleasant.
He reached into a pouch at his waist. I instinctively stepped back, heart pounding. Whatever he was reaching for, it couldn't be good.
His hand emerged, holding something small and silver. A flat, round object engraved with the image of Hades. A coin? No—I recognized it now. An obol.
Why was he showing me this?
Without a word, Thanatos tossed the obol into the crowd of restless spirits. At the sight of it, they erupted into screams of joy and frenzy. They surged toward it like ravenous beasts.
One spirit managed to grasp the coin, only to be torn apart by the others in a savage scramble for possession. What I witnessed horrified me. Those once weeping souls were now monstrous, feral wraiths, willing to kill each other for the slim hope of reincarnation.
"Why would you do that..." My voice trembled with rage. Thanatos had crossed a line.
"Nothing much," he said with a smirk. "Just testing your little theory. You said they'd work together? Look at them now. A single obol shattered their so-called unity in an instant. Still think you can save them?"
I had no words. He was right. The souls had turned on each other like beasts, all for one silver coin.
Still... there had to be a way. There had to be.
Thanatos observed me with mild curiosity, his expression just as troubled as mine.
"You're not giving up, are you... background character. You really believe there's a way to help these wretches, don't you?"
His eyes narrowed. I felt unease creep into my soul. When the god of death looks at you like that, nothing good ever follows.
My right eyelid twitched.
As you know... that only meant one thing:
Something terrible was about to happen.