Shinigami Chapter 4: The Face of a God
Heero groaned and sat up. He sighed and leaned back, propped up on his elbows. He peered around the dark room. "What...?" he muttered aloud.
A light chuckle answered him. "You are awake, then," the voice said. The voice was female, Heero was positive of it. It was light and musical and reminded Heero of small bells when she laughed. She had a very heavy Scottish accent.
"Obviously," Heero replied sharply, glaring into the darkness.
There was a quiet shuffling as the source of the voice moved. "Mm... Touchy," she said thoughtfully.
Heero struggled to a sitting position. 'I feel so weak,' he thought. He then realized that he was in a bed, covered with two silk sheets. He was stripped down to his boxers and was surprised at how warm it was.
Heero's arm flew up to shield his eyes as the door opened. He slowly brought it back down as a shadow moved into the doorway. He couldn't see her face, but could see what looked like cat ears on her head. "Shinigami-sama will be pleased to hear you are awake." With that, she pulled the door closed and Heero could hear her footsteps fading down the hall.
He sat there for what seemed like hours - though his mental clock told him it had only been minutes. He finally swung his legs out from under the sheets but hesitated to put his feet on the floor in fear of something attacking him. 'This IS Shinigami's doing; I wouldn't be surprised.' But he lowered his bare feet to the floor. It felt smooth and cool under his feet. He sighed and proceeded to rise and carefully make his way around the room.
His foot lightly bumped the leg of something. Upon further inspection, he found it was a simple wooden chair. He assumed the cat-girl was sitting there when he had woken up.
He quickly straightened up and stood still as he heard footsteps in the hall. His arm shot up to shield his eyes once again as the door opened. When he brought his arm down, he saw, not Shinigami as he had expected, but the cat-girl's shadowy figure in the doorway.
"Shinigami-sama has given permission for you to come out and explore a bit," she told him. "I will be your guide - under Shinigami-sama's orders. My name is Jemima," she said. She reached over to the wall beside the door and flipped on a light. Heero squinted and winced as the light hit his eyes. He blinked hard to clear his vision and found that Jemima had left, closing the door behind her.
He glanced around at the bright room and a confused expression crossed his face. It was so beautiful! Like royalty. The bed was much bigger than he thought and a purple canopy was draped over it. The bed was a lighter shade of the purple canopy.
The floor was made of what looked like stone with swirls of dark blues, purples, and reds with specks of gold scattered everywhere. On the high walls were painted majestic mountains in shades of blue and purple with white snow capping the tops and streaming thickly down the sides like white lava.
Heero quirked an eyebrow. "Gee, I wonder what his favorite colors are?" he said sarcastically. He rolled his eyes and turned back to the bed. Shinigami had given him a choice as to what he would wear. His jeans and green tank top lay on one side of the bed while on the other side lay a pair of dark navy slacks with a matching long sleeved shirt. He shrugged to himself and pulled on the slacks provided for him. He put on the shirt and looked into a mirror. The shirt wasn't tight but it wasn't baggy. It seemed like it was made just for him.
He shook his head and opened the door. He stepped out and looked around. Long hallways stretched out on either side of him. "Eh... Jemima?" he called softly. He timidly took a step to his left but stopped short when he heard a door open behind him. He turned around to see a small - maybe 4'4" or 4'5" - cat-like girl standing there, frozen in mid-step, her hand still on the doorknob behind her. She stared at him with large, golden eyes. She had a short cat muzzle with a little black cat nose and long whiskers.
She grinned at Heero and closed the door behind her. Her teeth were also catlike and flashed a brilliant white. Her long, black hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail around her ears. Her hands were human enough, except that she had no nails, but Heero could barely make out small slits on the tips of her fingers. She must've seen him looking at her hands, for she curled her fingers, flexing them, and cat claws emerged from the slits. She wore a green tank top and pink short-shorts. Her feet were exactly like her hands - with retracting claws. She had a long cat tail trailing behind her, twitching every once in a while. And she was completely covered from head to toe with short, black fur.
Heero sighed as he stared at her mismatched clothes. He couldn't help but notice them.
Jemima followed his gaze and burst into laughter. Heero quirked an eyebrow. Jemima sighed and nodded. "Yes, I know I don't match." She looked down at her clothes and twirled in a circle. She then lifted her amused eyes back up to Heero and grinned. "I don't like to match, it's boring," she said, flapping a fuzzy, black hand.
Heero glanced down at his own perfectly matching clothes and turned a light shade of pink.
Jemima tilted her head curiously. 'He really shouldn't blush in a dark blue outfit - it's too obvious,' she thought. "I really don't care what Shinigami-sama thinks of my clothes since he was nice enough to let me choose what to wear. When he sees me dressed funny, he usually just laughs and shakes his head." She chuckled. "So, why don't we get you something to eat?" she suggested and turned around, motioning for him to follow her.
Heero followed obediently. "Why do I need to eat if I'm dead? I am still dead, aren't I?" he asked.
Jemima chuckled again. "Yeah, you're still dead," she confirmed with her heavy accent. "And this place-" She spread her arms, "-is much different from the rest of-" she stopped and her gold eyes met Heero's sapphire ones. Her eyes widened as she realized what she'd gotten herself into. Shinigami had told her not to mention the rest of Summerland to Heero.
Heero arched his eyebrows expectantly. "Different from the rest of what?" he asked, a warning tone in his voice.
At that moment, Jemima's eyes grew so wide that Heero began to wonder if she was really similar to a cat. Then she looked like she either silently hiccupped or she was lightly hit in the chest with something. She smiled nervously. "The rest of Hell, is what I was going to say," she began in a very convincing tone. "But I just thought you might get nervous or something knowing that you're in Hell. It's different here because people get weaker faster and can't get their strength back unless they eat something. In the rest of Hell, the souls don't do anything, so they don't waste energy, so they don't eat anything."
Heero's eyebrows raised in disbelief. He glanced around at his exceptional surroundings. "Hell, huh?" he said.
Jemima blinked, then chuckled. "No, no! You're in Shinigami-sama's castle in Hell," she quickly answered. Heero nodded in approval and she spun around and continued down the hallway. Reaching a pair of huge, thick doors, she grasped the round handle with both hands and pulled. She groaned as she dragged the huge door open enough for Heero to get through.
She panted slightly and motioned for him to follow her into the room. The inside was what appeared to be a small, simple kitchen that made the rest of the house seem rather superfluous. Heero looked around and felt comforted to see an ordinary wood table and chair set in the middle of the kitchen. To his left there was a sink and several cupboards on the walls. To his right there was a long counter along the wall with various utensils strewn across the top. A small stove and oven stood in the corner.
Jemima instantly busied herself with taking things out of cupboards and the refrigerator as Heero slowly walked up to the table and sat down. "So are you Shinigami's 'minion' or something?" he asked as he watched her.
She shrugged. "I don't really consider myself a 'minion' of Shinigami-sama, I'd much rather call myself a companion."
"Aren't there others like you who serve him?" He got up and put a hand on her shoulder as she reached for the dial to turn on the stove. "It's ok, I'm really not that hungry," he told her and snatched an orange from a bowl on the counter. He started to peel it as she answered his last question:
"Nope, I'm the only one here with Shinigami-sama." She pulled out a chair across from Heero and sighed. She reached behind her head and pulled out her ponytail. Her long hair fell over her shoulders and she ran her fingers through it. Not a single tangle met her fingers.
Heero nodded and popped a slice of the orange into his mouth. "Don't you get lonely?" he asked after a moment.
Jemima put her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her intertwined fingers. A thoughtful look crossed her features and she answered, "I suppose it gets lonely around here sometimes. Shingami-sama rarely ever stays in his castle for this long." She sighed somewhat sadly. "He is a very busy guy."
"How long have we been here?" Heero asked as he piled a small stack of orange peel in front of him.
"Well, Shinigami-sama came back with you unconscious in his arms five nights ago. You've been sleeping since then and Shinigami-sama refuses to leave here." She shrugged.
Heero blinked. "Don't hundreds of people die in five days? Who does his work for him?" he asked with growing interest.
Jemima frowned. She couldn't tell him that only a small number of the human population comes to his level and he really hadn't had any deaths to deal with himself in the past few days. So she cleared her throat quietly and came up with an excuse, "Nobody, but once he returns to work, he can gather up those lost souls that merely wander the earth when they're not taken directly here."
Heero nodded again. "That makes sense, I guess," he replied, finishing the fruit.
Jemima smiled sadly. She really didn't want to lie to Heero, but Shinigami had told her that Heero was a special guest who was not to know about the world around him.
She glanced at the small pile in front of Heero and with a wave of her hand, the peel disappeared into thin air. Heero smiled and pushed his chair away from the table. Jemima did the same and led Heero to a back door.
This door was smaller than all the others Heero had seen. It was still made of stone and Jemima only struggled with it a little. The door led into a heavily furnished living room - still in blues and purples. Heero's eyes were drawn to the gigantic fireplace in the far wall across from them. A pair of stone lions roared silently at them from their perch on top of the fireplace. Carvings of weeping angels and forlorn looking children were scattered everywhere.
As Heero continued to gaze around, Jemima went to a pair of doors whose size exceeded all the rest. She turned and waited patiently for Heero to join her. Apparently, there was nothing that had to be done in this room, so Heero went to stand in front of the doors next to Jemima.
When she made no move to open them, Heero glanced down at her. She felt his gaze land on her and did that silent hiccup-looking thing again. She nibbled her bottom lip for a moment before she sighed. "Shinigami-sama is just behind these doors," she said in a low voice. "He had wished to see you ASAP."
She then turned and heaved the left door open. She motioned for Heero to stay outside before going in herself. She stepped up to the throne near the back wall and curtsied. "Shingami-sama, would you like me to show Heero-san in?" she asked in a loud, clear voice which echoed quietly in the huge room.
A smirk appeared on Shinigami's lips. "Yes, Jemima. Thank you for taking care of him," he said and nodded to her.
She half-smiled back and turned to fetch Heero. Heero saw her through the open door and she nodded once to him.
He slipped into the room and glanced around quickly, not wanting to look at Shinigami. He saw a cloak - Shinigami's cloak hanging on a hook on the wall. His eyes widened as he realized that Shinigami was actually visible. His eyes snapped to the throne in the middle of the room. He froze immediately.
Shinigami sat comfortably in his throne, his right leg draped over the arm and his left on the floor next to it. His left arm rested on the other arm, his chin on his thumb, his forefinger extended against his cheek. His other fingers were curled over his smirking lips. His other hand held a fancy riding crop, tapping it lightly against his right boot. He wore a loose, white poet's shirt (1) which revealed more than it hid and tight black breeches over black boots. The rider's crop had a large sapphire mounted on the top. Heero assumed that he just had it for fun, not really riding.
Heero's eyes lifted to Shinigami's face. He could've burst into tears at this god's feet. Shinigami's smirk turned into a fierce, fanged grin. His violet eyes flashed at Heero as he remained frozen on the spot.
And finally, Heero's eyes trailed down Shinigami's long, chestnut braid that brushed the floor beside the throne.
XXXXX
1: The "poet's shirt" is something I got from my sister. Shinigami is dressed like Jareth in the movie Labyrinth. The poet's shirt is merely what we call this loose, open shirt. (BTW, it's tucked into his breeches).