The Arrival of Change
As the ship arrived at the shipping dock after it's tirelessly 3 day journey from across the ocean, both the anchor and the land bridge lowered off the ship to let the passengers off. The first person to get off the ship was a tall, young, handsome man with chocolate brown hair and a pale skin complexion. He took a moment to breathe in the fresh sea breeze and the fact that he was on solid ground, (sort of). He was so happy to get off that floating stomach torture chamber that they call a ship.
With one hand grabbing tightly on a oversized brown bag and the other a roll out suitcase, he started walking down the pier. But suddenly he heard a voice yelling for him. "Adrian! Wait up!" It was his childhood friend, Joan. She and him came together on the ship to accomplish a mission. She had long, bright, gold, bleach blonde hair, icy blue eyes, and a pale skin complexion. Soon enough she was able to catch up to him and slap him upside the head for taking off without her. Joan and Adrian look like normal humans, but they're anything but that. But in this world, nothing is normal.
Like you could be walking down the street and the next thing you know you suddenly see a human sized fox creature standing on two legs wearing a suit waiting for the bus. Then the next thing you know, a pair of twin children with paint brushes for heads run past you chasing after a cat. Or if your unfortunate enough, accidentally come across a gang entirely made of humanoid plant creatures ready to mug you. But even in this world, there are some things that are even more strange.
Two of those examples are walking down the pier as we speak. Joan, though looks human, is anything but that. She is probably the most strangest creature on the planet that God has allowed to live. She is 2/5th's human; 1/5th werhuman (cat); 1/5th (dog-like)Holy Dark Cupid; and Angel hybrid. I will discuss on how she came to be later on in the story. But despite her dark heritage, she's actually on the Heavens High Council. And it is due to her heritage and abundance of power that God sends her on many reconnaissance missions to spy in Hell.
She's the only one who can do this without being tainted, so she has her work cut out for her. Adrian, also is no exception on being counted as normal. He is actually a rare hybrid species of human and dragon. He and his family have been the gatekeepers of the "Void" for over centuries. The "Void" is a place where time itself can't reach. It is a place that no matter how much stuff you put in, it will never be full.
It's basically a separate dimension out of the multiverse of dimensions and worlds. He is the current gatekeeper, and when someone threatens him or pushes the wrong buttons on him or tries to get into the "Void", he transforms into a menacing brown dragon! He's so scary that not even Grim Matchstick can hold a candle next to him! But protection and recon missions aren't what they're here for. They arrived at Inkwell Isle for the High Angel Convention. It was a once in every decade event. It is where Heaven's high angels get together on Earth and cleanse away all the nuisances that are plaguing the land. Like demons and imps. And later, if there were any family of the angels that were alive, then they could spend the rest of their time with them before they have to go back to Heaven. They, Joan and Adrian, were given an invitation to come to this event. But unfortunately they arrived on the last day of the event. And the invitation only tells them where it's being held, country wise. But not exactly where it's being held. But even then it's hard to find out where the country is because the directions for the places are in coordinates.
Only God and his angels can find the meeting place because of the location powers that He has given them. So Joan and Adrian had this last chance to find the place before another ten years go by again. They received the invitation 6 days late for some weird reason. And she definitely was not missing this event. Not to kick demon butt, but to see and spend time with her mother.
Her mother is the representative of multiple races. Which also includes the angels of Heaven and the Holy Trinity. She's always constantly busy with work that she hardly has time with Joan or the rest of the family. And she, Joan, knew she was going to be there. So she intends to surprise her Mom by arriving at the convention to spend the rest of the time she has left on Earth with her. As she and Adrian were walking down the pier and had reached the border between the pier and the solid ground, she suddenly stopped. She wondered why God chose to have the convention HERE of all places. She heard about the rumors about how the Devil himself is located somewhere on this Isle and how he lives in and runs a casino that, if you're not careful enough, will rob you of your money, precious possessions, and soul.
She also heard that a while back, a pair of young heroes defeated him and saved many soul contracts. But then several years later, they decided to work for the Devil in his casino as waiters. "Just when I thought that this place had changed for the better. Guess not." Then as she took a step forward, she suddenly remembered an old memory of when she was young, and when she was living on Inkwell, and holding hands with the boy she ever loved. Singing to their favorite song as they skipped down the dirt road to his house. The next thing she knew was that they were at a small cottage in the woods. It was the boy's house! But how did she get here? She didn't remember a single thing that happened.
"How did we get here Adrian?" He said that once they stepped onto the ground, she suddenly dozed off and had a strange blank stare and were walking in the wrong direction. He also said that he tried to snap her out of it, but she was persistent on coming here. "I know that you used to live on Inkwell Isle for a while. Anybody you know live here?" She peered into the cottage window to see if anyone was there. But the lights were off, and not a single soul could be seen. She suddenly moved away from the window, and started to head down the road. Until they eventually ended up in a almost empty plot of field. The only thing that was there was a gravestone with some flowers in front of it. On the stone, it said, "Here lies Elder Kettle. A loving, caring, and protective person and father figure." She instantly remembered him! She remembered that she met him while visiting the boy, that she liked, at his house. Elder Kettle treated her like she was his own daughter. She never felt so welcomed by someone other than her own family, friends, and family's friends. Even though he was a total stranger who knew nothing about her, he still welcomed her with open arms. But she also remembered that the last time she saw him alive, was the time that she had to leave. But before she did, he made her promise something. He asked, "Please, if something happens to me before my boys grow up. Take care of them and protect them. Please?" She felt so moved and confused. Did he know what exactly she was and how powerful she was? Is that why he asked her to protect them?
But she promised him either way that she would. But in the end, she was never able to fulfill her promise. She bent her head down and put her right hand on top of the gravestone. She began to weep profusely and kept saying, "I'm so sorry! I failed you! Please forgive me!" Adrian didn't exactly know what was going on, but he understood in a way. And he knew that all he could do was to just support and comfort her as best as he could. An hour went by and they somehow made it to the city. Adrian called a cab, while Joan put a pair of thick reader's glasses on and arranged her hair in a way that people wouldn't see her red eyes that were tired from crying. They got in the cab and drove away. She thought to herself that as long as she didn't go anywhere near THAT casino, everything would be fine. But no more than a few minutes went by that Adrian yelled to the cab driver that this was their stop. Joan was confused, she couldn't detect that they were close to the convention. So why did they stop? The cab driver peeked over at the place that they stopped at and looked over to them and gave them a look that could only be described as, "Are you crazy? Do you have a death sentence?!"
But Adrian reassured him that this was the place. They got out of the cab with their things in tow. And as Adrian was about to pay for the cab fare, the cab driver refused to take the money. He replied, "Kid, if you're going in THERE. Then you're going to need all the money you can get." Joan was confused about what he said and was about to ask him about it. But before she could, he said, "Good luck, kid! You're going to need it!" Then he sped off out of sight within a blink of an eye, leaving only car exhaust behind. As Joan was coughing because of the exhaust, she still didn't understand what he meant by that, until the smoke cleared. As it cleared, she turned around to see the last place that she wanted to be. It was the Devil's Casino! Her mouth dropped open and her pupils dilated to the size of peas. On the other hand, Adrian looked excited with a smug smile on his face and a determined look in his eyes. With his hands on his waist and bags in his arms he proclaimed, "Well, let's get going!"
To be continued... In chapter 2! ;)