Arteusa is uncharacteristically silent, appearing somewhere between awestruck and embarrassment; she's flushed all the way down to where human ends and horse begins, her eyes wide. 

Donos stops and turns to Chiron. Just as he was beginning to accept his new reality, this new information sends him straight back to his default denial.

"What is wrong with this place?" he asks. "How could our stay not be long? Is there a way back?" 

All thought of taking a much needed swim has been pushed from the front of his mind.

"Well," Zaela says, "It looks like I'm no longer the only one who has a beef with Heracles. Any idea where he ended up?"

"Only one way out that's ever been successfully used before. Not one that many are happy about. But when it gets too much for them to endure... they take it."

Charon turns around, towards the lake, and points out towards it.

"See that lake? It's harmless enough, sure. At the top. Its just water there. But down at the bottom, the heavy, slow waters of the Lethe flow. If you sink deep enough, enough to touch those black waters, you... well, you're gone. You're reborn, but the person who was you... they're dead. All your memories, what makes you you? Gone. Or so they say, I've never tried it myself. I doubt old Rhad would lead us astray, though. Get reborn three times, make it to Elysium three times, and you've earned your way onto the island that floats in the middle of the lake. Isles of the Blessed, they're called, though it's really just one island. After all, a tiny island is enough to hold all that have made it there. You thought few made it to Elysium? Ha!"

Charon turns once again, towards the golden gate.

"There's also another way, thanks to our good friend Jason. He can sail you out of this place, to try and get out the other way. Up. No one's ever done it, of course, but that doesn't stop them from trying. Because it's either fight and die before you become hungry, or eat. And once you eat, you're never leaving any way other than through the Lethe. Eventually, everyone gets tired of dying and takes a bite. And after a few eternities, everyone gets tired of existing, and walks into the lake. And then there's just the few that remain."

"Heracles? I've never seen him around here, so either he's not yet dead or he's made it to the Isles. He's just as immortal as I was, though, so I'd put my money on the former."

Donos stops in his tracks. 

"All of our memories gone if we sink to the bottom?"

Who would he be without the memories of his accomplishments? The battles with the pirates, the invading sharks, and the Kraken? 

He looks around at the quiet fields and the small village ahead.

"I must admit that for a paradise, this is rather mundane. I can sense the boredom flowing through you from here."

Then he looks out to the island.

"Can you not just swim to the island? It is not far."

"Go ahead and try. You'll die from exhaustion before you make it a tenth of the way, and then you'll find yourself back here again. Looks can be deceiving, down here in the Underworld.

Donos is tempted by the challenge. He swims as effortlessly as dry-landers walk. But he senses more than idle exaggeration in Chiron's words.

He turns to the others.

"I know not what your course will be, but I shall abstain from eating until we learn more of this place."

He then turns to follow Chiron.

"If you are to be our guide, lead on and show us what paradise looks like," he says. "And please show us where Jason resides."

Arteusa, her wonder at meeting Chiron forgotten, nods at Donos's words. She frowns, her brow furrowed. "I agree; I will follow you in abstaining from food until I feel comfortable with the idea," she says, a little hesitant, unsure at feeling trapped in a place she's always been taught was unequivocally a reward for great deeds in life. 

Kaneis seems unperturbed by the appearance of words of Chiron. Rolling her eyes and picking up her shoulders in a brief sigh, she says; "I'm interested in what your friend Jason has to say." She might be vain, but Kaenis would loathe to toss away her memories and deeds. There's no rush, she thinks, although one eternity of waiting around is enough.

"Ah, a fellow victim of Hydr- eh?" On realizing the implications of Chiron's initial statement about Elysium, Rhaecus seems to just straight up deflate. He listens in a deflated state until Chiron finishes with his explanation.

"So, what's the problem with the people on this side of the lake? Don't tell me, they're boring... But from what you say, it's like a second life once you commit to staying. Life is just a journey towards death and if choosing Lethe equates to death then... It's not so different is it?"

"Well. That's not to say that it would be the more interesting option..."

"Life here... well, it's not exactly life. Struggle and hardship gives life meaning, and in paradise, none of that exists. The gods expect us to just frolic in the meadows for all eternity, but that's not real living. I mean, we're dead, but you get what I mean."

Chiron starts moving towards the town and the lake.

"Come along now, meet the gang."

Rhaecus follows with an exaggerated show of something close to childish pouting, dragging his feet and looking lifeless... Even more than a depressed corpse could.

Zaela follows without saying a word, but you can tell that she is not enthused at the thought of meeting more people. 

Kaneís will happily follow, interested in how many of the fabled tales Elysium will manage to live up to.

Donos has never frolicked. He is not even sure exactly what frolicking would look like. But he suspects that you do not use a trident and shield while doing so.

He follows along with the others.

Arteusa follows as well, though she keeps back, not quite daring to approach the other centaur; she'd been raised on stories of him, as all centaurs were, and now she found she did not quite know what to say to him.

As you head down to the little town, the few people that you see stop and stare. The most eyes are on the non-humans of the bunch, especially Arteusa, but you all get your share.

"Pardon them. New blood is just about the most interesting thing that comes around these parts. Anything to spice up their dull afterlives. Especially with the group you've got going on. Satyrs are incredibly rare, though those close to Dionysus get in from time to time, but I can't recall a single centaur whose made it into Elysium. Other than me, that is." 

Chiron stops in the middle of the town, and points to the water.

"Jason's probably getting ready to sail out, you should meet him by the water. Before you go straight there, though, you might wanna check in with the kids. They're in the furthest building towards the lake. You'll probably hear the hammering from within."

"Okay but... Kids? How did children end up in Elysium?"