The aesthetic of Hollywood during the day was much different than its night time counterpart. The city's clock ticked spilled paint sunrises, rippling heat waves on melting asphalt, napalm skies, oil spills across every evidence of natural light available to the dressed eye. When Jack tumbled out onto the gravel of the Hollywood hills, it was at the point where the napalm had started to leave behind traces of purple. He stood to his feet. Idyss and Pitch stepped out gracefully behind him, but then again, they probably weren't thrown. The three of them currently stood on the side of a mountain, and looming up behind them was the giant 'W' of the Hollywood sign. The lights of the city began to light up one by one, and the sky was only bright for two minutes before the pollution blotted out the stars.
"Hollywood?" Jack questioned. Pitch already began to make his way down the mountain. Jack wasn't sure where it was they were going, but it seemed Pitch already knew.
"Entrances to the different realms all follow a similar pattern. For the underworld, they appear at the locations of famous demises."
"Hold on," Jack waved his hands around. "So we're going to the place where some famous person was killed?"
Pitch's laugh was unsettling. "As fun as that could be, that isn't the kind of famous demise I was referring to. Deaths known by the entire world. And while that includes the murders of famous people, it also includes natural deaths and the sites of famous stories of the average person's passing. Salem village, the building in Chicago that was once the World's Fair Hotel, the house of John Wayne Gacy!" With each example, Pitch's wild eyed look got bigger and stronger. He glanced back at Jack with an evil looking grin. "Just to name a few."
"It also includes places like Bunker Hill, Elvis' mansion in Tennessee, the site of the ancient Greek kingdom where Perseus passed away," Idyss interjected, giving Jack a calming pat on the shoulder. "What sir Black is trying to say, is that the entrances appear anywhere where there's been an important presence of death."
It didn't make Jack feel any better. "Great. So who's six feet under are we going to?" He wished he hadn't asked. Suddenly, a cracked smile spread across Pitch's face.
"Oh it's one of my favorite stories."
The trio had left the mountain and walked through the streets of Hollywood. There was no clear direction as to where they were going. Pitch took a right, then a left, then two more rights. He squeezed them through several narrow alleyways, cut through at least four gated back yards, and finally stopped. Before them was a chinese knick knack shop that looked like the termites had well overstayed their welcome. Cloudy glass windows were filled with tea cups stacked on top of one another, chopsticks with fancy paper wrapped around the edges, Totoro plushies, and golden lucky cats. A sign with broken neon flashed some of the letters for "Ni Hao Shop." Jack stared at the shop with disbelief.
"You're joking right?" He stared at Pitch's dirty reflection. "This banged up old shack is the entrance to the realm of-" He bit his lip when a hand smacked the back of his head.
"Yowch!" Jack rubbed the back of his neck. "What was that for?!"
"You're talking too much." Pitch droned monotonously. "Take a look around for a moment. Where are we?"
Jack turned and observed the streets. One street sign read West 39th. Farther away, he caught the intersecting street sign, Coliseum street. The neighborhood seemed pretty overdeveloped, Ni Hao Shop was practically smushed into the space between two larger buildings. He shook his head.
"I'm drawing up a blank. Little help?"
"This," Pitch said with a terrifying smile. "Is the original site of the Black Dahlia."
Jack and Idyss exchanged wary glances. There was a heavy buzzing that filled Jack ears when Pitch mentioned Black Dahlia. Like blood rushing to his head all too quickly. It broke when the bell of the door jingled. Pitch was waiting for them to follow him inside.
The inside of the shop resembled what the outside advertised. The only difference was the collage of Korean boy band posters that lined the shop's walls. Behind the counter, a short, annoyed looking woman stood with crossed arms. Her head tilted up at the sound of the bell, but she quickly returned to her original stance when she saw no one was there. She grumbled a few words as the trio passed her behind the counter.
"Wasn't that Thai?" Jack asked Idyss behind him. The dog shrugged.
"Wouldn't be surprised if it was. Nowadays nothing ever fits the description."
Pitch had stopped at a curtain that led to what Jack assumed was the back room of the shop. However when Pitch pulled it aside, Jack's breath hitched. Suddenly, a Thai woman running a Chinese bazaar wasn't so strange anymore. Behind the door frame was a long, black hallway. A torch was alight every few meters along the wall, bringing to light that the bricks were covered in hundreds of drawings. From deep inside the hall, a lukewarm breeze trickled outside. It carried the scent of mildew and wet wood, along with a faint, foreboding hum that echoed off the walls.
"Where does this one-" Jack started but stopped himself when he saw the drawings clearer. Men and women in white dresses and skirts. All of them plastered on their sides so that only one eye was visible and their appendages all at right angles. Jack swallowed his nervousness. "We're going to the Anubis." He stated.
"Apparently so." Pitch nodded. They all stepped inside and made their way through. As they walked, the torches became less frequent, the humming crescendoed, and the images changed. At the beginning of the tunnel, the depictions on the walls were just normal civilization imagery. Women with large bowls on their heads, some walking through tall grass and wading in a blue river. Men on boats casting fishing nets, or carrying stones on their shoulder or pulling heavy ropes. The farther down they traveled, the images changed from ordinary ancient egypt to birds with human heads. Animals, an enormous man sitting on a throne with a cylinder on his chin. Humans with animal heads, all of them ordained with jewelry and carrying strange looking staffs. The same huge man sitting on a throne appeared several times.
"It's the story of Moses." Idyss said. He must have noticed Jack staring so intently at the paintings. "The big fella on the throne was the Pharaoh, Ramesses. And those three down there," He pointed to the foot of Ramesses' throne. Two men with snakes at their feet faced away from the throne while a third man in red robes faced them in opposition. A larger snake stood in front of him. "The two in front are the royal magicians facing Moses in a duel."
"It's the only known record of an outsider defeating the royal magicians at their own game." Pitch added. "Before that, anyone who dared challenged the Pharaoh was defeated and sent to their dooms."
"Why is it so important that it's on the pathway to Anubis?" Jack asked, noticing the pictures change again.
"The story of Moses was one of the largest downfalls of ancient Egypt in history. His freeing of the Jewish people led to a massive collapse in the empire. Suddenly they had no one to build for them. No one to serve and work for them. They were left pretty much helpless." Idyss pointed to more of the story. "Ramesses' frequent denial of Moses' request to free the Jewish people caused various curses to plague the land. Flaming hail, locusts, plague, and eventually the killing of every non-Jewish, first born. Including the Pharaohs own so-"
"We're here." Pitch stopped.
Before them stretched stone stairs, leading up to a large doorway. A hieroglyphic portraying a balanced set of scales and a feather above them were carved into the stone above the opening. The stories inscribed on the walls had also changed. On one side, a woman stood before a set of scales. On one scale was the same image of a feather as the one above the door, and the other was a red lump. Behind the scales stood a large man with the head of a black dog, and a massive throne on which sat a blue skinned pharoah. On the opposite side of the wall, a man had fallen to his knees. Instead of the two men, a terrifying creature stood opposite of the man and the scales. Crocodile head, lion's mane and front legs, and a hippo's back legs and tail.
"Um, Pitch?" Jack hadn't noticed that he and the Sheep Guardian had started to climb the stairs. "What is that!?"
"Amit the Devourer." He said, without turning back. "A Goddess of destruction, responsible for punishing the souls that have failed their trials."
"What do you mean, their trials?"
Pitch heaved a sigh and turned, halfway up the stairs. "You really must brush up on your history. It's exhausting having to explain all of this to you." He shook his head. "In ancient Egypt, mortals believed in a trial of the soul before being able to move on to an after life. Their hearts would be weighed on a scale in comparison to the Feather of Ma'at. A powerful symbol of truth and order. If the heart was pure, it would be lighter, and the soul would be welcomed to paradise. However, if the heart was wicked and full of sin, the feather would raise higher. The Goddess, Amit the Devourer, would swallow their heart and their soul along with it. Denying them any possibility of a second life. Or even a second afterlife. They would simply cease to exist."
Jack stood at the base of the steps, frozen. Pitch rolled his eyes and kept climbing.
"I mean really. For someone who was friends with the Grim Reaper, it's laughable that you fear the process as much as you do."
"You know, maybe I'm talking to the wrong person. But the idea of a hippo-lion-adile swallowing my heart and soul doesn't seem very pleasing when the only thing weighing against it is a teeny tiny little feather." Jack had caught up with them and the three made their way up the stairs and through the door.
"Ugh. Modern solutions are so boring. No one likes a thrill anymore!" Pitch said, mostly to himself.
The temple they had entered was completely empty. At the far end of the massive, square room, a set of bronze scales towered over their heads. Behind it, at the top of a set of stairs, an ornate throne with a kneeling statue at its foot. Unlit torches hung from each corner. The three slowly entered the temple. Their footsteps clattered around the room. They were completely alone.
"I didn't think these guys could take days off." Jack muttered to Idyss. Just as he said it, the sound of running footsteps filled the temple. Idyss set a hand on his axe and Jack held his crook at the ready. The footsteps grew louder and a light began to form at the doorway to their right. The closer the light came, the more Jack understood that it was a torch being carried by a running child. The child finally came to a stop just before the doorway met the temple, huffing and breathing heavily from running. Jack couldn't help but stare. He wasn't sure if the child could see him or not, but he kneeled before him.
"Hey there!" He tried cheerily. The boy stopped and straightened. There was something oddly dignified about him. The boy didn't say anything. He just held his torch quietly.
"I'm Jack! Those guys over there are my friends. We've traveled an awful long way to find the Anubis."
The boy stayed silent for another long while before he sighed. "It isn't often that I get to take some time off."
Jack reeled back. The voice that appeared from the boy sounded nothing like a 9 year old's voice. He sounded like a young adult in his twenties.
"I should hope that this is important." The boy continued. "You know how hard it is for a deity of the dying to get any sleep?" Only then did Jack notice that this boy was dressed in a white shirt, black and blue pajama bottoms, and a robe with a dog on the chest.
"Forgive us for intruding," Idyss said. "But it is vitally important that we speak with the Anubis. The fate of life and death is at stake."
The boy didn't answer. Instead, he simply strode into the room. The torch disappeared from his hands and the ones on the temple walls burst aflame. The boy strode up the steps to the throne. As he sat, his form began to change. His body grew. His pajamas morphed into a black, wrap-around skirt with a gold belt filled with color, and a heavy gold collar that spread to his shoulders. More gold jewelry cuffed his arms, pierced his ears, and dangled from his ankles. His eyes were suddenly lined with heavy black, and a silver ring looped through his bottom lip. A long tuning fork appeared in his hand. Suddenly, the God of Death was seated before them.
- Hi everyone!
If you saw my previous update, you'll notice that chapter 9 was different before this and that what I have posted as chapter 10 is the original chapter 9. This is because I keep everything in a google doc and by mistake, uploaded the wrong chapter. WELL, lucky for you bunnies, you get two new chapters instead of one. I apologize for my mistake! Please enjoy the new changes.
With love,
- Nepenthe.