Grand Opening
Rowan walked into the office after giving Crowley a small see you later kiss on the lips. Gadreel immediately stood at attention when she walked in, eager to tell her the good news. However, they all had something to tell Rowan.
"Alright, Gadreel; what do you have?" she asked, standing by her desk, next to him.
"Castiel and I have found a passage into Heaven." He replied which made Rowan smile, despite the surge of stress that threatened to run through her body. Death's reapers would bring the trapped souls to the Underworld and everyone knows that about 151,600 people die each day, 6,316 each hour. That meant that Rowan probably wouldn't be able to work on opening Heaven just yet. She was going to be swamped with souls and they'd probably replace those she just sorted; making it a never-ending task.
"Rowan?" Gadreel asked, narrowing his eyes in concern as she apparently didn't hear anything he said after announcing that he found a way into Heaven.
"Sorry. What did you say?" she asked and he repeated, still with some concern in his eyes.
"It's at a child's playground, in a sandbox. I know Metatron wouldn't have left it if he didn't want a challenge." He said and she nodded, meaning that Metatron was hoping for someone to try to stop him.
"Okay." Rowan said, giving Gadreel a slight tap on his shoulder. "But the souls will be arriving soon. I can't say we'll get them sorted out quickly and you, Gadreel, won't be able to work in Glory right away." She added and he nodded, knowing full well what she expected of him. He was willing to help her no matter what. "Okay. Let's get started." She concluded, wondering about her Draugar; they would have to supervise the upper levels, making sure the souls have what they need. They would also have to make sure the souls in the lower levels got into their rooms and aren't leaving, not that it was possible.
She was going to need more helpers.
Rowan exhaled and walked out of the office, getting ready to welcome the souls. Gadreel and her Draugar followed her out to the entrance of the Underworld. As she stepped in, she saw Crowley sitting in one of the chairs in the center of the first row, with an iPad, one leg crossed over the other, waiting patiently. She smiled and it even seemed as if the stress was gone.
"I thought you'd be busy with construction." She said and he casually lifted his eyes up to her with a slight smile that was heavy with seduction.
"We're partners, Darling." He simply replied, but she looked like a lovestruck teenager. Her cheeks were blushed and her eyes sparkled. Crowley stood up, closed the distance between them, placed his hand in the small of her back and gave her a tender kiss on the lips.
"I'm going to have to take you up on that vacation offer." She said with a smile, looking into his eyes, forgetting that they weren't alone or had souls to welcome.
"Shall we postpone this?" Bjarni asked, getting a warning glare from both Rowan and Crowley. However, she wasn't feeling threatened; Rowan just tried to eat her and obviously regretted it. The worst that could ever happen just did.
"I need to put up some last touches." Rowan said, flicking her fingers and having some inspirational posters up on the walls, such as What doesn't kill you makes you stronger and Death is a part of life; it's just a lot less scary and painful than the rest of it.Then Rowan also had to throw up some posters meant to make some of the souls laugh, although they had to be in a pretty damn good mood to laugh at jokes like Always go to other people's funerals; otherwise, they won't come to yours and Give me immortality or give me death.
That last one had Rowan's Draugar pondering over it, as it seemed like a conundrum.
Then, of course, she did put up the If you can read this, you're dead.
Crowley gave her a slight grin at her posters, but then narrowed his eyes as she also flicked her hands, making tables appear where souls could help themselves to coffee, water and pastries. Then, there was a ticket stand and, on the wall, was a large screen with about ten red zeros. Clearly, the souls would have to take a ticket and wait for their number.
"Lovely." Crowley said as he looked up at the screen showing nothing but zeros.
"Alright. Ready." Rowan said and, as if Death was watching her, the portal began to shimmer, appearing in its circular glowing shape. Already, a couple of reapers came in with some souls. Rowan walked up to them with a friendly smile, gesturing to the souls to take a seat. Her Draugar showed them the coffee and pastries, inviting them to sit for a minute.
The reapers, one male and one female, were about to leave, when they noticed Rowan looking at them, expecting them to stay and listen to her.
"When you collect a soul, do you know if they're destined for Hell?" she asked and they looked too nonchalant as they listened.
"The King of Hell will know." The female said with a certain dislike for Crowley in her tone of voice, about to walk away.
"Well, thanks for your time. Wouldn't want to bother you." Rowan said, her voice chilled which made the reapers stop and turn back towards her as other reapers came in with souls, the Draugar guiding them to sit down for a minute, giving Rowan some time to talk with the reapers.
"Sorry." The female said as both her and her partner lowered their eyes.
"I'm the Queen of the Underworld. You'll show respect or I'll have you for lunch." Rowan said and when they looked up at her, to see if she was serious, they looked into her dark eyes and glowing pupils. Her expression was sharp and threatening.
"Yes, Your Majesty." The male reaper said, which made her content. Rowan relaxed and her glowing eyes faded back to a light brown. "You can decide who is unworthy of Helheim. Our only job is to guide the souls to the Underworld." He concluded and she nodded, satisfied.
"Go." She said and watched them leave. If given the normal circumstance, she would have thanked someone for answering her questions, but their lousy attitude just pissed her off.
Rowan turned to the souls, Bjarni handing her the iPad with her app up and working. She started with the first two souls that entered. The screen above had changed; the last zero had turned to a one and the soul with the first ticket stood up. Rowan looked at him with a friendly smile.
"Hello, Robert." She said and began entering his name into the new profile on her app. His name was Robert Smithson, a sixty-seven year old who retired two years ago from long distance trucking.
"You know me?" he asked and when she lifted her eyes up to him, smiled with warmth.
"I'm the Queen of the Underworld. That charming gentleman is the King." Rowan said, pointing to Crowley who never moved from his spot, who now watched them with a little dark grin. Robert just looked at Crowley, unsettled, and glanced back at Rowan.
"Souls don't go to Heaven?" he asked and she could see, despite his years of depression, religion was what kept him alive. Who was she to shatter his illusions? Not that Heaven was an illusion. It's just that things have changed.
"Of course. Many religions belief in the afterlife, it's just that the details vary." Rowan said, which seemed to please Robert enough to make him stop asking questions.
Rowan entered into his profile what she saw when she looked at him. Robert had a difficult childhood, abused by his father and badly treated by his brother. He got married to escape his life and had four children; three daughters and a son. He was worried about becoming like his father, but proved otherwise. He was a great father and a great husband who had become the exact opposite of his father. He gave of himself whenever someone was in need, even when he was down in his depression.
Rowan entered the level in which he'd stay.
Glory.
She looked up at him with a smile and gestured to Gadreel.
"This is Gadreel, he'll escort you to your final destination and explain everything." she said and watched as Gadreel and Robert walked over to the escalator, talking all the way down to the elevators.
The screen above now showed a two, calling the next soul.
A woman stood and smiled at Rowan. She was in forty-two, never married and never had children. She was married to her work.
"Hello, Charlotte." Rowan said and if the woman was surprised, she said nothing. Rowan created a profile for her, noting everything she saw. Charlotte Overton had her own department store and oversaw all the details of her business. She was active in charities and community events, showing that she was a trustworthy pillar of the community. Was she earnest in caring about others? Yes, but it was also to get people to trust her store. She wasn't a terrible person and she wasn't selfish, but she did keep the wages of her employees a little lower than the minimum wage.
"So, where did that man go?" she asked and Rowan lifted her eyes from her iPad screen with a slight smile.
"My job isn't to tell every soul that walks in here where other souls are going." She replied and looked down at her screen. Despite the fact that Charlotte Overton gave money in hopes to see some come back to her, she did help her employees when they were in difficult times. And, she still gave a lot to charities.
Heart, the second level of Helheim, it was.
Bjarni checked her iPad and nodded, stepping up to escort Charlotte to the second level.
"Follow Bjarni and she'll explain everything." Rowan said and watched as they left. She looked up at the souls waiting and found that the reapers were a lot faster than she anticipated. She could see some souls were confused and irritated that they had to wait in a waiting room of all places, like they didn't do that enough while they were alive.
Crowley stepped over to her, standing close as to reassure her.
"I could have a few Hellhounds if any of the souls become impatient." He said, which made her smile. The third soul now stood up and walked over to her. Rowan looked into his dark eyes and nodded. "I could also note those that are eligible for Hell. You could review them when you have a second." He added and she smiled, looking like she wanted to kiss him, but the old woman waiting cleared her throat. Rowan's smile faded somewhat and Crowley turned to look at the souls. Some had asked why he wasn't doing the same as the pretty woman in the black dress and his response was a piercing glare that made them shut up.
Rowan turned to the old woman.
"Hi, Everest." She said, surprising the woman. Everest Jones, eighty-five, died in a car accident because she didn't notice she was turning into the wrong lane, driving right into oncoming traffic. She claimed her glasses were fine, but she was pretty much blind.
"Have we met?" she asked, scrunching up her face. Everest could see, now that she was dead, but if she were still alive, she would simply see a dark shape standing in front of her.
"No. In a moment, someone will take you to your final destination." Rowan said and began typing things into Everest's profile. The old woman sighed and when Rowan looked at her, she looked at this deep set frown on Everest's face.
"Even after I'm dead I have to deal with young people and their damn texting." She said and Rowan raised her eyebrows. "I'm much older than you and deserve respect." She added and Rowan gave her a dark smile that chased away her foolish old frown.
"Believe me, Everest, I'm the oldest thing here." Rowan said with a chilling darkness in her eyes that made the woman shrink back. She returned to the profile, entering the fact that Everest wasn't exactly the kindest person that lived, especially to the young people, as she had put it. If toys fell on her property, she refused to let the children go get them. She would throw the toys out in her garbage and the nicest thing she ever told anyone was that they were in her way, so move it or get her handbag across their head.
Everest didn't really help others and when she did, she made them feel like they were imposing.
So, fourth level, named Cold, was Everest's final destination.
Raganhar approached to escort her to the fourth level and Rowan was relieved to see the old annoying thing go. But then, she had someone shouting from across the room, at one of the pastry tables.
"Excuse me, who's in charge here?" a young woman asked, her wrists slit and red, wearing clothes fit for a hooker. Her hair and makeup were a mess.
Rowan walked over to Crowley and that got the young woman's attention.
"We are. What's the problem?" she asked and the woman looked at them as if she didn't believe them.
"There's nothing but fattening sugary foods here. I want healthy foods." She said and Rowan arched an eyebrow at her. This young woman was a junkie and she wanted healthy foods? Who was she kidding? Instead of dignifying that with a response, Rowan flicked her hand and smiled darkly at the young woman.
When she turned her head, she saw a paper on the wall just in front of her face. And it read:
A moment to the lips isn't a lifetime to your hips if you're DEAD… so have a muffin.
When she turned back to Rowan and Crowley, both were grinning and returned their attention to the souls waiting to be sorted.