CHAPTER 1

''I inquire for your decision again Neferpitou, do you wish to pass on, or be judged?'' Yule asked no sooner than the light had dissipated from the door, which had just closed.

With her head ducked, both eyes were vigorously rubbed by both hands in an attempt to clear her vision, Pitou answered her.

''I will ...'' she murmured, still rubbing her eyes in a childish manner. Yule must've been annoyed at her child-like gesture and swatted her hands away from her face.

She opened her eyes and blinked.

Once. Twice.

Her pink orbs focusing until she could see the woman before her clearly. Yule hovered above her in a dominating stance, wild raven curls bouncing around her face, standing out because of her pale complexion, not to mention her white clothes almost blended in with her skin. Pitou could see Yule's growing annoyance, shimmering deadly in those blazing red eyes of hers as they glared at her.

Feigning an innocent look, Pitou raised a finger to touch her chin, acting like she's pondering her decision.

"Nya~ I think I'll stay for a while more" she answered, flashing her signature cheshire smile.

There! The woman's left eye twitched, ever so slightly.

The emotionless, cold and hard woman was now starting to lose her cool. That totally amused her.

"but your friend has already made his decision. Choosing to pass on. You, however choose to remain"

True, she chose to stay here.

Not only to see the growing annoyance on Yule's face, but to wait for a certain dead soul like her to come. Although she knew that it would take a very long while for his arrival.

After all, the king was indestructable.

Even so, she would still waiting for his arrival. To accompany him in his next life. That is if he chooses the pass through the door.

''Youpi made his decision since he failed to know that he would be reborn if he chose that door'' she answered simply, putting on her signature cheshire grin. Her tail swishing back and forth gleefully.

Again, Yule's left eye twitched, twice. Obviously containing her anger, and Pitou couldn't help but widen her grin at the sight.

It amused her earlier when Youpi had arrived in the room.

Confused just like she was. But understanding dawned on him when she had told him that they were both dead. Of course Yule was supposed to provide the other necessary details, but she thought that it wouldn't hurt if she'd explain it to Youpi herself.

The result, he chose the pass door immediately to ''be with the king''

As if he'd be with the king now that he was a newborn... Er... That would depend what creature he would be when he passed through.

"that is the result you gain by explaining the rules half-assedly" Yule snapped. If she wasn't talking in monotone, Pitou'd think that Yule was already screeching.

Maybe if she could provoke her more then maybe, just maybe, she could see Yule erupt like a raging volcano.

Before she could even utter another word, Yule disappeared in a flash. Showing an act of disrespect for the very first time.

Her eyes widened in wonder after witnessing Yule disappear again, she couldn't help but analyze what could be the woman's ability. She could sense Yule's strong nen aura, hidden beneath her zetsu. But oddly, there was something strange about her aura. An essence that she couldn't quite name nor explain.

Must be because she's the guardian of the room. Or because of her ability probably.

It couldn't be an ability similar to Meleoron, She couldn't feel Yule's presence so it wasn't invisibility, was it?

To test her theory, she swiped her arm around the spot where Yule disappeared, hoping to hit an invisible limb.

But there was none.

Strange.

The woman wasted her wonderfully powerful aura on a teleportation ability?

Her nerves twitched in excitement as she imagined it. How wonderful would it be to engage in a death battle with Yule. To try to coax it out of the woman through anger.

Now that would be much more entertaining than counting dead souls that passed.

A creak caught her attention, making her scan the room in one quick glance.

Nothing was out of place.

The big room still remained ridiculously white and too bright to be normal. The doors on her left and right were still closed, except for the door across from her that was now creating a loud creaking sound as it opened.

'171' she thought amusedly as she counted off another soul coming to pass. At least this was momentarily entertaining; helping her to pass the time.

Oh wait, didn't Yule say that time ran differently in that room compared to the mundane world?

She couldn't remember.

The door finally swung wide open, revealing a very familiar face to her. Although it wasn't the face that she was half hoping to see.

Pouf took a graceful step closer to her, his Amber eyes scanning the room in a single glance until they fell and met hers. His eyes instantly widened in recognition and in a flash, Pouf was in front of her.

"Pitou! Where are we?!" he asked as he panicked, looking more like the psycho that he was.

Giving only an exaggerated sigh as an answer, she decided to keep her mouth shut. She knew Yule would appear any minute now.

And there she was, in exactly the same place she'd disappeared from. Moving closer to where they stood.

This made her think twice about considering invisibility as Yule's ability.

"To answer that question, you are in the Crossing Room" Yule started, her expression just as passive as usual. Though she could easily hint out the glint of annoyance within Yule's eyes.

"Here is where souls come after death. You are here, because you're dead Shaiapouf. Souls are lead here to choose between these two doors: the 'Pass' '' Yule pointed at the door on the left wall.

''And the 'Judge'' ' pointing at the right.

''The Pass door is what will take you back to the real world, as a newborn, in a new life. On the other hand, the Judge door will look at everything what have you done in all your life, including the past lives your soul has had and will judge you based on them, ascending you to paradise or dragging you down to damnation. So I ask you, what will you choose Shaiapouf?''

A lingering silence filled the room. Pouf staring intently at Yule, deep in thought, and Yule staring back, looking almost bored.

While Pitou remained seated on the immaculately white tiled floor. Swaying her tail enthusiastically as the two individuals in front of her remained passive, almost like statues displayed in museums that the humans had.

And what beautiful statues they would be!

From Yule, she saw Pouf drop his gaze to look at her. His amber eyes reflecting the deep thought his mind was engaged in. He had already decided on his answer. That was sure since she could easily see the resolve in Pouf's eyes.

She wondered what could it be?

''I will stay'' He bluntly answered turning to Yule.

"Just like Pitou, I will remain to consider my options"

Subtly, she could see the deadly glint within Yule's eyes glint even brighter, so much so that she thought Yule was about to attack them, but instead the woman nodded at Pouf's response. Disappearing again without saying another word.

With Yule gone, Pouf wrapped his arms around himself and stood beside her, leaning on the wall. The silence between them stretched, allowing herself to ponder what had happened during her absence, and how Pouf had ended up in the Crossing Room, dead. Just like her.

''The King,'' he murmured almost silently, that took her attention, looking up to him with curious eyes.

''I decided to wait because the king was poisoned by the bomb that killed me too.'' he said. Tears had began to form in his eyes.

''He almost died in the explosion, and we did everything we could to save him. He lived of course and yet in the end, only a poison was enough to overpower his system, including mine.''

How long had it been since she had died?

Didn't Yule say earlier that time in the Crossing Room can run faster or slower than the mundane world?

Surely a long time had passed already, enough for the king to have won his war against those weak humans, and rule the world under his strong dominance.

Surely the bomb was the humans' last resort of desperation to save themselves.

The king must've won. If only the poison that Pouf said had not invaded his system.

"It won't be long before he will be joining us here" Pouf finished, letting the silence eat at them once more.

She knew that.

But she had not expected that it would be so soon. Well from her perspective.

It was ironic.

The king was the strongest in the world. No one, nothing in the world could ever defeat or kill him, not even the strongest human. But with just a simple poison, he was going to die.

Silence filled the room again as the both of them remained quiet. She continued swishing her tail in an attempt to amuse herself since she couldn't have a normal conversation with Pouf. He wasn't himself really. She couldn't quite place it but, Pouf had changed. He's different.

It must be because he's dead.

Shrugging her shoulders, she returned her attention to the door across from her. Waiting for another soul to come by.

A couple more souls came by, all greeted by Yule in the odd, but same manner. Asking her and Pouf of their decision afterwards. Likewise, their answer remained the same. She and Pouf would still stay and ''consider their options'' when in truth it was to await their king's arrival.

Once again, the door across the room creaked open. As quick as the sound had appeared, she raised her head to look at the soul that had arrived. Apparantly Pouf had done the same thing as well.

The door, like always, swung open, this time finally revealing the soul that she and Pouf had been waiting for.

''Your majesty!'' they quickly dropped to their knees, bowing down to their superior. With a slight tilt up of her head, she had deduced that their king was not alone in his arrival.

Her pink eyes widened as she tried to focus. Making sure that her eyes were not playing tricks on her. But no, they weren't, she really was seeing the female Gungi master walking beside their king, hand in hand.

And Pouf had seen her as well, judging by the way he subtly glared at the human beneath his bangs.

''It seems we have ourselves a 'pair''' Yule's voice appeared behind her.

''A pair?'' Pitou asked, tilting her head to look at Yule who now stood beside her kneeling form.

''Yes, a pair.'' Yule bluntly replied, her gaze not leaving the king and the human female; who he had now placed behind him in a protective stance.

When had the king started to care more for this meek human instead of his own life?

Sure, he had wanted her to live when he had asked Pitou to heal Komugi, yet defending her was different. It was as if he would risk his life for her.

''A 'pair' is what we call when two souls who arrive here together.''

Yule continued explaining.

''Reason being that these souls are together for eternity, from their past lives, up until the next.''

From the corner of her eye, she could visibly see Pouf's hands clench into fists. His jaw shut tight as his glare intensified at what he'd heard.

''Where's Youpi? Is he not with you?'' The deep authoritative voice sent shivers down her spine, quickly gaining her attention. Turning her back into the royal guard that she was.

But she quickly noticed how that had easily changed the topic, taking Pouf's hatred down a notch.

''No, he chose the pass door earlier after he had arrived. Expecting that he'd return to your side, not knowing that he would be reborn into another life.'' Pitou answered, hoping to add more into her explanation if Pouf had not quickly interrupted her.

''I shall be choosing that door too your majesty!'' Pouf declared, remaining on his knees.

''So that I can continue still serve you with in my new life''

''What is your decision?'' this time it was Yule who had interrupted, her irritation now evident in the scowl that she now wore.

''You, Neferpitou and Shaiapouf? Now that your king had arrived, surely both of you had decided already.'' the Guardian added. But to her point of view, Yule looked like she was murdering everyone in the room with her glare.

Well who wouldn't feel like going on a killing spree when they're so consumed by their rage?

Poor Yule.

Yet she couldn't stop herself from agrivating the Guardian more.

It took a few moments before Yule's last words sunk in on her.

Wait! She never said to Yule that she was waiting for her king to arrive. Pouf didn't either. So how did the Guardian know of her reason for staying?

It was a question that was going to remain unanswered.

''What do you choose?''

Switching her gaze from Pouf and Yule, she looked at her king, asking this question to the meek human beside him.

Was it just her, or was there something in the way he looked at the human female that hinted ... Tenderness?

''You see...'' the human started, drawing her attention now.

''I don't mind which door, as long as I will be able to play Gungi with Meruem''

Shock.

That was the only expression that came from her.

Had she heard it right? The human wanted to be with the king wherever he goes?

Quickly she snatched a glance in Pouf's direction, confirming her suspicion.

Pouf was glaring at the human. But not with hatred.

But with screaming bloodlust.

AN:

Yeah I know , I suck ... I really do apologize for the wait ... Problems had been coming from all directions and I really can't catch all in one fell swoop ... *sulks in a corner*