Fantasy

A/N

I did quite a fair read of fantasy, Medieval Fantasy for the most. This genre is one that’s appealing to me a lot, along with Science Fiction. Probably because most of the authors use the settings of other world to retell the story of Humankind…

One author in Wattpad has an interesting approach of fantasy. Rotty’s books (@rotXinXpieces) talk about people, complex and true, with flaws and feelings. Along her books you can find werewolves and vampires. But there is a series focusing on gods and the Underworld.  No need to say I am a fan of this series (3 in fact if we follow all the protagonists). What is really marking is the psychological evolution of the characters. You are there with them, you can almost feel the way they feel… and you feel for them.

I asked Rotty if I could use her Underworld Universe to set my little piece of Johnny’s returning home in the Fantasy genre. She accepted without question. I am grateful for that, as I am not so familiar with writing Fantasy…

So, here is a Fantasy version of When Johnny comes marching home. It is sure to be different from all the precedent posted so far… I hope you will enjoy it all the same.

Incidently, this piece falls also under the Fanfiction genre ^^

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I was waiting patiently for my next target to move in range, having a hard time concentrating. Since this morning when I received confirmation my commanding officer signed my permission, my head was on the clouds.

I was in this war for too long, I didn’t even know anymore what and why I was fighting. My skills with the rifle got me in there, as in any other conflict. They told me I was one of their bests, an elite among their snipers. I just knew I did my job well. This is what it was: a job. Target in view, kill, next target.

The day before, I had a dog in my visor, I almost took it down. I just wanted a break, I needed it, I was starting to lose sight of myself. So, when this morning I had confirmation that my leave was accepted, I was relieved. Finally, I could go back home.

Not that I had a home to go back to. I signed when I was sixteen years old. I lied on my age, but it didn’t really matter. When I signed with the French Foreign Legion, they told me to forget who I was, that they didn’t want to know who I was; that I would become a new man and get a new family, brothers I would fight with and protect as they would protect me.

It would soon be Christmas and I had a permission. I could go back home, my home from before, but I wasn’t sure there would be any parents to welcome me or old friends to party with. I was alone, truly. I probably would just end back in camp and enjoy my free time with whichever comrade on permission also.

Thinking of trivial things like that wasn’t really in my character. I had to remind myself I was on the job, and I should have paid attention to my surroundings. I could hear my radio almost shouting at me, the guys manning the drones had identified a convoy coming on our direction, including tanks. This area was supposed to be only with small groups of infantry without heavy cavalry support.

It was too late, I didn’t have the time to fall back and take cover. I just hoped I was not staying on the path of the panzer. I tried to situate it through the sight of my rifle when I heard a deafening explosion. The sound was followed directly by a bright light, and then, darkness slowly surrounded me. My senses started to weakened, the ringing in my ears to fade, until only the thump of my heartbeat remained. This also faded as the darkness embraced me. I was falling and I didn’t care. It was finally my time…

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

A bell was ringing. I could hear a bell ringing. I felt water. I was immersed in water. What happened

Looking around me as I woke up, I found myself lying on a floating log. Not far from me, a boat was coming into my direction. The bell sound came from this boat. I could see figures standing on the bridge, immobile passengers looking at the expense of water in front of them. While the ferry was approaching, I felt hands, multiple hands trying to grab me from below the surface. I started to panic, I started to sink. The boat was getting closer and I managed to catch a lose hawser, towing me efficiently.

I was out of the water in a moment as the ferry moored. Lying on the quay I took in my surroundings. I was in a strange place, I didn’t remember anywhere that looked like it. I was drenched, tired and lost. No one was really looking at me, no one was taking notice of me. It was definitely a strange place. Bustling with activity, colourful people going their merry way. There were tall men and sexy women, small kids and playful animals in the streets.

Not far from where I stood, I could hear some kids playing, chasing after one of them. The small boy, running toward me, stopped, surprised, when he saw me. This boy was as strange as the place. He had red hair and green eyes. He was just wearing his shorts and a t-shirt that seemed two sizes too small. What surprised me the most were his pointy ears and what looked like bat wings on his back. Were the kids going to a costume party?

The others were coming closer, and the first one, who was looking at me intently few minutes before, looked now frantically around him, as if he was frightened by the mob coming to him. I could see a tail completing the costume, as he turned his back to me. The tail started to coil and uncoil in front of my eyes, the wings to flap. The way they moved looked quite natural. This boy was the image of the imp from the fairy-tales... Was I dreaming?

I could feel the ground under me. I could smell the river not far. I could hear the shouts of the kids approaching. I could see the colourful stands on the street. And I could almost taste the spices lingering in the air. All my senses were functioning. I couldn’t be dead. I was either dreaming or…

“You’re dead!” I turned the head to search where these words came from. A tall guy was standing, looking slightly amused at me. His air were white as the snow and he had piercing blue eyes. A stunning man with an attitude.

His smile deepened as he watched me intently. “Don’t fret. No need to ponder too much. You are dead and that’s final. It’s not the end, neither. So man up and go your way.”

I was baffled by this statement. How could I be dead and feeling so alive?

“Look,” the tall man continued, “look around you. Do you think you are anywhere on Earth right now? This boy with the pointed ears and the bat wings… This little bird… Look closer, but not too close, curiosity burns the man; it’s more of a dragon than a bird. See the woman watching from the cart over there? She got impressive horns… Do you really think you are alive? Perhaps dreaming?”

I definitely thought I was dreaming. I would wake up soon and find myself in the infirmary, back at the camp.

“I told you to stop fretting. You are dead. Now get moving or the soldiers will send you back into the river. And you don’t want to swim there, I tell you.”

The said soldiers coming to us were skeletons. Not just really thin men, but literally skeletons. You could see through the ribcages. I took a good look around me. I had to admit something was amiss. As the walking bones approached, I decided to take this man’s suggestion to the letter. I got closer to him and started to ask him more about this place. “Where am I? If I am dead, am I in heaven? I never thought the afterlife to look like this…”

“This is not Heaven kid. This is the Underworld. You are in Hades here. If you are Christian, you got the wrong path when you entered; Hell is the other side of the mountain you see there,” the stranger pointed to me. “What makes you think you shall have been to Heaven, anyway? You are a soldier, you killed and destructed… And, by the way, Heaven is not so great anyway. It’s boring."

“Well…” not sure how to answer this, I preferred to change the subject. “Anyway, what shall I do now? I don’t know this place, I have nowhere to go.”

“I don’t understand either how you could be here. You shall be either at the bottom of the river Styx, or on the Ferry waiting to be dispatched with the other souls. Well, not that it is my issue anyway,” the tall man retorted before turning his back to me and walking down the street.

Seeing this, I didn’t think much and ran after him. He was standing in front of a construction site when I reached him, grabbing his shoulder. I went almost flying when he pushed me away. A small push that sent me few meters away on my back. Something was really amiss in this place. Getting up, I approached again, making sure to be in his field of view, then I apologized. “Sorry to follow you like that. I really need some help here. And seeing you are the only one who seemed to care… I am Johnny, by the way.”

“Whatever. Name is Hector. Follow me,” was his answer.

Following the man, Hector, I walked down multiple street in this city. Everywhere I could see people from the fairy books my mother used to read to me: fae, imps, demons, dragons, vampires, and others I couldn’t really name. I felt like a character in a story, a fantasy. We ended up in a bar, my guide ordering something to eat and to drink. He started to explain how life was in Styx, and in the Underworld in general. It sounded like any other place in the World. The one I used to know anyway. He told me to keep a low profile, to stay away from others’ business and to try and found a job. I asked him about the army here. After all, this was the only job I knew about. He only suggested for me to go to the mansion and ask for a certain ‘Set’. He would be able to sort out things for me.

Hector was a strange man, abrupt and rude, but observant and friendly, in his own weird way. A contradiction. He could be a friend, but he didn’t seem like the type to welcome friendship easily. Nevertheless, he left me with the directions to a hotel and some money so I could pay for a night.

I took a stroll in the streets, trying not to wander too much so I could find my way back. I started to like the place. It was bustling with activity, people from all cultures, and species I should add, I could smell spices in the air. It was the best feeling I had since a long time.

This night, I went to bed not wondering if I would still be alive the next day. I started to accept that I could be dead, and that death was not an end in itself. It could be a new beginning. The next day I would go and find this man Hector told me about. I would see if he could help me with a job or some other directions. But I wasn’t worried. For once in a long lifetime I felt like I was back home.