Tenchi Muyo: No need for paradise.
By Brendan O'Donnell
Kiyone stood at the entrance to The Corridor. She shuddered as she
contemplated the meeting she was being called to. She looked at the door just
inside. It was bright red with a black 1 painted at its center. Taking a deep
breath she entered the gray hallway. She had no idea how long it would take her
to reach the black room 666. The office of the fallen angel, the supreme ruler
of Hell. The place she had dwelt since she had died.
Kiyone walked foreword, trying to distract herself from her reason for
being here by counting the doors as she passed them. By the time she reached
600 she felt ghost pain throughout her entire lower body. Ghost pain because
she didn't have a real body anymore. She ignored the illusionary pain as she
pressed onward. At door 665 she paused to stare at the next door, a dull orange
door with a red 1 painted on it.
*I guess I've got a longer walk then I thought.*
Kiyone pressed on. As she walked she found herself unable to avoid
thinking about her life and her death. She thought about the afterlife she was
trapped in as well. It became a distraction from the false pain in her phantom
body as she kept up a pace that her physical body would have killed itself
matching.
She thought of her death. Ironically Mihoshi, who she would have bet
everything she had to be it's cause, was over a hundred light years away when it
happened. The Galaxy Police had admitted that the paperwork for three of their
scheduled leaves had been misfiled, and they were granted extended leave with a
bonus to compensate. She had managed to insure that she and Mihoshi spent their
vacations on different planets, separated by eight hundred parsecs. Three days
later Kiyone had been walking home from a bar with a guy she had picked up when
she managed to trip and fall over a small bridge and suddenly she was here in
hell.
Hell was something else that didn't match here expectations. She had
expected perpetual torment, but instead the torments occurred at seemingly
random intervals. The first time she had been reading the instructions for
filling out the form asking for details on why she was in hell, and as she
perused page 98 she had suddenly found someone else's life flashing before her
eyes. Specifically the life of Kamageri, who she and Mihoshi had arrested for
armed robbery in their first year of partnership. Mihoshi had always thought he
was innocent, but Kiyone had gotten tired of her actions and closed the case.
Now she could see his life clearly, could see his innocence, and how the arrest
had destroyed his life so totally.
The rest of the time was a torment of a more subtle nature. It didn't
seem too bad, but the torment arose more from a lack than anything that she had
to deal with. There was no happiness, no kindness, no hope. And of course the
bureaucracy that she and everyone she knew hated so much was here, with even
greater intensity and power. Agony, emptiness, and frustration. Hell was worse
than she had imagined.
Suddenly the fact that she had passed a black door with the number 645
intruded on her consciousness. Looking up she accelerated her pace, coming to a
halt as she reached her goal.
She looked at the door. It was utterly black, except for the red numbers
proclaiming it office 666. Kiyone raised her hand and fought down a wave of
fear. Reaching out her hand she prepared to knock.
"Come in Kiyone." said a deep voice inside the office. Kiyone blinked a
moment, then opened the door and stepped inside.
"You wanted to see me..." What was the proper title to call him, she
wondered.
The fallen angel looked up from a desk that looked like a red copy of her
supervisor's. In fact the entire office looked exactly like her supervisors
only subtly wrong. "That I did. Using the Mortal time rate as a reference,
you've been here for six years. I was reviewing your case."
Oh no... "My. . . Case?" She said, trying and failing to keep the fear
from her voice.
"Actually it was at a request from the opposing realm, but looking things
over I have concluded that you can be released a lot sooner than expected, right
now in face."
Kiyone blinked. She wasn't aware that she could be released from hell.
"Released?"
"To Heaven's care. In fact the angel who'll be looking you over while you
make the transition should be at the gate really soon. If you'll just fill out
the forms."
Kiyone looked over the firms. *There has to be some sort of trick.* She
thought to herself. *Should I go along with it? What am I thinking?!? This is
my chance to get out of hell!!* She picked up a pen and quickly signed her name
to the appropriate places.
"Excellent!" He raised his hand and suddenly they were standing by the
gates she vaguely remembered passing through when she had arrived. He punched a
sequence in a shadow in the air by the edge of the gates and they silently
opened. Satan walked through the gates, and Kiyone followed.
"Heaven's sending an angel to look after you while you're adjusting." The
dark one said. "She should be here any minute. Or less." He added stepping
aside as a brilliant light suddenly appeared from nowhere, and a white clad
figure stepped up to them.
"KIYONE!!" Kiyone froze as a figure in white suddenly grabbed her. She
was all in white, she now sprouted wings, but the blond hair and that awful
voice were exactly as she remembered.
"Oh Kiyone!" Mihoshi continued. "It was so awful after you died, I mean
I tried to do my best to make you proud, but the chief kept yelling at me, and
there were those partners who went crazy and had to be locked up, and finally I
wasn't paying enough attention and a smuggler managed to shoot me. But the
worst part of it was that when I got to Heaven I couldn't find you. I looked
all over and I even tried to check with Hells records at a friends advice. I
can't believe that anyone actually thought you belonged in hell. Well don't
worry, I'm here now and we'll be together forever!"
"F-Forever?" Kiyone slowly turned her head and looked at the Devil, who
was closing the gates of hell behind him with a big grin on his face.
"Wait! I changed my mind! " Kiyone screamed as she ran for the gates.
Satan smiled as he walked away from the gates of Hell, listening to
Kiyone's screams. "The mind is it's own place and can make a Heaven of Hell, A
Hell of Heaven." He chuckled to himself.
By Brendan O'Donnell
Kiyone stood at the entrance to The Corridor. She shuddered as she
contemplated the meeting she was being called to. She looked at the door just
inside. It was bright red with a black 1 painted at its center. Taking a deep
breath she entered the gray hallway. She had no idea how long it would take her
to reach the black room 666. The office of the fallen angel, the supreme ruler
of Hell. The place she had dwelt since she had died.
Kiyone walked foreword, trying to distract herself from her reason for
being here by counting the doors as she passed them. By the time she reached
600 she felt ghost pain throughout her entire lower body. Ghost pain because
she didn't have a real body anymore. She ignored the illusionary pain as she
pressed onward. At door 665 she paused to stare at the next door, a dull orange
door with a red 1 painted on it.
*I guess I've got a longer walk then I thought.*
Kiyone pressed on. As she walked she found herself unable to avoid
thinking about her life and her death. She thought about the afterlife she was
trapped in as well. It became a distraction from the false pain in her phantom
body as she kept up a pace that her physical body would have killed itself
matching.
She thought of her death. Ironically Mihoshi, who she would have bet
everything she had to be it's cause, was over a hundred light years away when it
happened. The Galaxy Police had admitted that the paperwork for three of their
scheduled leaves had been misfiled, and they were granted extended leave with a
bonus to compensate. She had managed to insure that she and Mihoshi spent their
vacations on different planets, separated by eight hundred parsecs. Three days
later Kiyone had been walking home from a bar with a guy she had picked up when
she managed to trip and fall over a small bridge and suddenly she was here in
hell.
Hell was something else that didn't match here expectations. She had
expected perpetual torment, but instead the torments occurred at seemingly
random intervals. The first time she had been reading the instructions for
filling out the form asking for details on why she was in hell, and as she
perused page 98 she had suddenly found someone else's life flashing before her
eyes. Specifically the life of Kamageri, who she and Mihoshi had arrested for
armed robbery in their first year of partnership. Mihoshi had always thought he
was innocent, but Kiyone had gotten tired of her actions and closed the case.
Now she could see his life clearly, could see his innocence, and how the arrest
had destroyed his life so totally.
The rest of the time was a torment of a more subtle nature. It didn't
seem too bad, but the torment arose more from a lack than anything that she had
to deal with. There was no happiness, no kindness, no hope. And of course the
bureaucracy that she and everyone she knew hated so much was here, with even
greater intensity and power. Agony, emptiness, and frustration. Hell was worse
than she had imagined.
Suddenly the fact that she had passed a black door with the number 645
intruded on her consciousness. Looking up she accelerated her pace, coming to a
halt as she reached her goal.
She looked at the door. It was utterly black, except for the red numbers
proclaiming it office 666. Kiyone raised her hand and fought down a wave of
fear. Reaching out her hand she prepared to knock.
"Come in Kiyone." said a deep voice inside the office. Kiyone blinked a
moment, then opened the door and stepped inside.
"You wanted to see me..." What was the proper title to call him, she
wondered.
The fallen angel looked up from a desk that looked like a red copy of her
supervisor's. In fact the entire office looked exactly like her supervisors
only subtly wrong. "That I did. Using the Mortal time rate as a reference,
you've been here for six years. I was reviewing your case."
Oh no... "My. . . Case?" She said, trying and failing to keep the fear
from her voice.
"Actually it was at a request from the opposing realm, but looking things
over I have concluded that you can be released a lot sooner than expected, right
now in face."
Kiyone blinked. She wasn't aware that she could be released from hell.
"Released?"
"To Heaven's care. In fact the angel who'll be looking you over while you
make the transition should be at the gate really soon. If you'll just fill out
the forms."
Kiyone looked over the firms. *There has to be some sort of trick.* She
thought to herself. *Should I go along with it? What am I thinking?!? This is
my chance to get out of hell!!* She picked up a pen and quickly signed her name
to the appropriate places.
"Excellent!" He raised his hand and suddenly they were standing by the
gates she vaguely remembered passing through when she had arrived. He punched a
sequence in a shadow in the air by the edge of the gates and they silently
opened. Satan walked through the gates, and Kiyone followed.
"Heaven's sending an angel to look after you while you're adjusting." The
dark one said. "She should be here any minute. Or less." He added stepping
aside as a brilliant light suddenly appeared from nowhere, and a white clad
figure stepped up to them.
"KIYONE!!" Kiyone froze as a figure in white suddenly grabbed her. She
was all in white, she now sprouted wings, but the blond hair and that awful
voice were exactly as she remembered.
"Oh Kiyone!" Mihoshi continued. "It was so awful after you died, I mean
I tried to do my best to make you proud, but the chief kept yelling at me, and
there were those partners who went crazy and had to be locked up, and finally I
wasn't paying enough attention and a smuggler managed to shoot me. But the
worst part of it was that when I got to Heaven I couldn't find you. I looked
all over and I even tried to check with Hells records at a friends advice. I
can't believe that anyone actually thought you belonged in hell. Well don't
worry, I'm here now and we'll be together forever!"
"F-Forever?" Kiyone slowly turned her head and looked at the Devil, who
was closing the gates of hell behind him with a big grin on his face.
"Wait! I changed my mind! " Kiyone screamed as she ran for the gates.
Satan smiled as he walked away from the gates of Hell, listening to
Kiyone's screams. "The mind is it's own place and can make a Heaven of Hell, A
Hell of Heaven." He chuckled to himself.