Ayinde studied Maliah as she bent over hugging her knees, rubbing her head. Despite standing and rowing the long boat, he had been doing it so long he didn't need to look where he was going. He could row to the other side with his eyes closed. No, the real mystery was this young mortal before him.

It was the first time he had seen a mortal awake before being rowed across the River of Remembrance. He found it curious and wanted to know why.

The only other time that he remembered a young mortal waking up before getting on the boat was….

Ayinde’s gold eyes widen.

…..when he met his wife. She had died and was in a daze but as an Aper was maneuvering her onto his boat, he spoke. And when Aylinde did, she began to wake up, snapping to quite suddenly.

If this young mortal had already been awake before getting onto his boat, naturally that meant that she had met Abioye. Who else could it be? Their older brother was in seclusion as he had been for centuries. Abioye was the only other one left. So did the contract appear? He hadn’t heard about the contract since his older half siblings were called by their father millennia ago. He and his twin siblings had to deal with their anger for decades afterwards.

Ayinde was deep in thought until he realized the young mortal had spoken to him. He looked up to see that she was looking at him curiously. To Maliah, this man looked a little like the one dressed in black from before. However, his gold eyes seemed kinder. He was completely bald and dressed only in a black wrap around his waist, with hanging earrings. The earrings look to be some kind of shell.

He finally gave a small smile and said, " Ahh, you're awake?"

Maliah furrowed her eyebrows, "Why wouldn't I be awake?"

She frowned before really taking in her surroundings. It was twilight, not fully dark but not fully light either. Looking up at the sky there was no sun or moon. The stars looked different here, closer as if she could reach up to touch the galaxy. Maliah craned her neck behind her and let out a gasp. A pyramid sat in the distance, a yellow-white beam of light shooting up from it. They were rowing to the other side, approaching a city that seemed to be surrounded by nothing but sand, making it look as if it was plopped down in the middle of a desert.

She looked back at the man who was quietly rowing, “Um, where am I?"

Ayinde looked at her curiously before asking, "Where do you think this place is?"

"Well we're not in Kansas anymore", Maliah said wryly looking around.

Ayinde couldn't help the chuckle. If she had this much spirit, she might be okay. Maliah looked back at him. It was still bothering her that he looked quite like the other guy. She wondered if they knew each other.

"Um, excuse me, sir…." Maliah started.

"Ayinde. My name is Ayinde", he said, surprising his own self by giving her his name. Usually the passengers he carried never inquired his name and he never gave it. It wasn’t like any of them was ever awake like this so it was probably moot point. But if his suspicions were true, this was not going to be the last time he saw her.

"Ayinde?"

Ayinde nodded.

"Okay Ayinde, do you know I saw a guy that looked like you?"

Ayinde’s eyes widened slightly. Even though he had his suspicions, he was still shocked to hear it confirmed, "Abioye? You saw my older brother? Where?"

Maliah frowned, “He was sitting at this small desk a few minutes ago but I seem to remember seeing him before that. But I just can’t remember where….”

Maliah rubbed her hand as Ayinde stopped rowing momentarily, the oar in his hand going slack. "Are….are you certain?"

Maliah folded her arms and gave a deep frown. But slowly she nodded.

Ayinde continued rowing.

Then it was beginning then.

If Abioye found his fated one then it was a matter of time before Amondi and Alimayu did. This was going to be simultaneously fun and horrific to watch. Ayinda pitied the fated ones of Amondi and Alimayu more than Abioye’s.

Maliah gazed at Ayinde and felt he knew more than he was saying. She looked over the side of the boat to the river. It rippled lazily and seemed to glitter at her. But the longer she looked, the more it seemed that it’s depths took on a greyish blue color. Maliah shivered. She couldn't help but to feel as though something was hiding in its depths.

But she also couldn’t help but to lean closer.

“Maliah Anderson….”

Malian felt herself being pulled. And for the first time Ayinde couldn't feel the usual sense of detachment he usually did. He knew this was something he shouldn't interfere in. Although Abioye wasn't as cruel as their oldest brother Alimayu, he wasn't sure if Abioye would feel grateful if she was dragged down to the depths.

He tried again, " Maliah, you must fight it."

He glanced ahead to see how far they were away from shore and for the first time, the shore looked far away. Unconsciously he sped up his rowing slightly,

Maliah gave a long blink, as her hand lifted. The blue-grey waters began to swirl and parted until a skeletal hand extended.

Distantly in her mind, Maliah screamed trying to pull away but seemed unable to break through. Closer and closer her hand got to grasp the skeleton's hand. Ayinde watched with bated breath as he continued rowing. The skeletal hand just floated, keeping up the pace of the boat.

Then two lights on the water appeared, the empty eyes of a skull. The slight glow got bigger and bigger, almost blinding Maliah, throwing her back to the accident.

She was coming the opposite way from the truck and suddenly it veered off the road toward the divider slamming through it. She tried to stop, watching the car in front of her slamming into it before catching on fire. She stomped on the brakes, but her car slid into the crash pile. She heard a pop and knew no more until she heard a deep voice jolting her awake.

Chest heaving Maliah snatched herself away from the edge slumping back. Her eyes shut tightly as she gasped, shaking from so many sensations hitting her at once. Especially that of the accident.

That happened?

It did. She couldn't have made that up. The terror of it all. Shaking she peeled open her eyes, that leaked a few stray tears and held up her hand. They trembled harshly and she swallowed.

But one thought kept running through her head and she looked up to see Ayinde eyeing her compassionately.

It took her a few moments of looking like a drowning mackerel before she could force the words from her throat, "Did...did I die?"

She kept her eyes on Ayinde who finally gave a slow nod, "So you are fully awake then."

"Awake?" She swallowed and looking around again

Then she looked back at Ayinde, really seeing him for the first time. And then she was suddenly hit with the mythology of a boatman ferrying souls.

A shiver travelled down her spine,"Is this...the afterlife?"

Before Ayinde could answer a loud shriek and a splash could be heard, making Maliah snap her head up. A young woman was screaming as she floundered in the water. Maliah watched in horror as skeletal hands started crawling all over her body, stripping her skin off the bones. As her flesh hit the water it began to melt until she was nothing but a skeleton herself.

All through this, Ayinde didn’t even blink or look, continuing to row on quietly. Tears glittered in Maliah’s eyes as the river stilled as if nothing had happened it’s glitter returning. The rower of the other boat was beginning to turn back around, to go back to the shore from where they came.

Tears began to stream down Maliah’s face, "What happened to her?"

Ayinde didn’t look at Maliah as he answered, "It depends. Some mortals awake up and cannot deal with the reality of their deaths. Others believe this is only a dream and you'll die if you wake up, so they throw themselves overboard in an attempt to wake up. Some cannot beat the dark enchantment of the river, allowing the souls in the water to have a meal."

Maliah held herself not wanting to look at water, "Souls? In the river?"

Ayinde nodded, "They are forever trapped here. Their soul’s dead. They have no judgement, only an eternity of nonexisting."

Maliah’s voice was small as she felt her throat go dry, "Will….will I become like that?"

This time Ayinde looked down at her. He gave a small smile, his gold eyes softening, "You are not a nonexistent soul that threw away everything. 

Your kind is taken across the River of Remembrance to be processed to see where you will be sent next."  

He paused before cocking his head once, "However, something tells me you are a special case…."