Still not sure where or how this is going. Or really even where the rating will be so just let me know how I'm doing. Enjoy.
My fingers ache and blood drips in little crimson droplets off the tips. I find myself being forced to rest not for my own health but solely for the fact that the more damage I take the longer I must wait. I am far from worried, my body heals quickly.
"Sir?" My guard had been standing in the doorway for a few minutes. It seems he had not wanted to disturb my resting but in doing so just wasted both of our time. He is far from shy but the demons seem to have an unspoken etiquette ingrained in them that forces them to show compassion to others. It's an odd concept to me and I see no advantage to it.
"Yes Morphus?" I turn my chair and cross my legs. My elbows rest on the arm of the chair and my bloodied fingers fold together to support my chin . I feel the blood wet my face but it is nothing new to me and no cause for a panic.
"Sir! You're bleeding!" He rushes out into the hall to call my nurse and I sigh gently pressing my fingers to my temples. All this distraction is giving me a head ache, all I want is to get back to work.'
"Young Lord, just what do you think you're doing?" I sigh knowing the voice before I even saw her face. Deumos burst into the room in a flurry of activity that only exasperates the building pressure behind my eyes. "Just look at you. You're covered in blood! Let me see those hands."
My wrist are yanked from my temples and set to a swift examination. "Deumos, they have already healed. There is no need for such a fuss."
"Nonsense. I am not the least bit concerned with your hands boy when you were little you fell three stories and your head wound was healed before you wandered into the courtyard for help. It's why they are bleeding that concerns me." I sit back as she collects her powers into her hand, coating it in a dull red light, similar to that of the sun. The familiar cool of her magic entering my body is relaxing.
"You have been working too much. If you keep this up you will be dead within the week. As it is it will take me hours to unblock your channels. And your head! I have never seen such an utter mess. All tangles and wires I have no idea how you are even functioning right now."
"I do admit I have a bit of a headache." She just sighs animatedly and glances up towards me.
"A bit? Any normal demon would be dead by now, even your father would have been hiding in a dark room waiting for the pain to pass until he got a healer… There I got the majority of it but so much is tightly wound it will have to come undone on its own." She pulled her hand away and the pain went with it. I blink my golden eyes a few times now that everything is clear.
"Thank you Deumos." Leaning back I pop my knuckles staring at my bloodied hands. It's starting to dry to a rust colored red and the scabs underneath are already gone, forming soft pink scar tissue.
"I have been fixing your shenanigans since you were in diapers, this is nothing. I'm telling your father you need a week off." I twist to glare at the retreating nurse. "You give me the evil eye all you want but he was pushing for you to take some time off anyway. Says you need to have some fun in your youth."
"My Father never takes life seriously and the kingdom would have fallen apart by now if I hadn't divided the responsibilities."
"That may be true but you also gave yourself the majority of the work load and you need to rest. You aren't fully matured yet, you cannot move at this pace. Now Morphus keep an eye on him. No working on the harp." He nods and just as quickly as she blew in she's gone again. I rest my fingers on the bridge of my nose as I think of ways I could convince Father to let this blow over.
"Erm, Sir?" Morphus is still standing in the doorway. The worst part is I know he will enforce the rule because he is more terrified of Deumos than anything I could do to him.
"Yes, what did you want Morphus?"
"I had interrupted you early for an issue concerning the great gate." The great gate is the only way into or out of here. There is always something going wrong. "It seems we have…an unexpected visitor."
"Another diplomat trying to marry his daughter off to me?" It used to be a joke between the two of us but lately it has become far too true to be funny.
"No."
"Son?" The situation is indeed getting dire.
"No."
"Well spit it out, I have a long day ahead of me. Is there trouble in the outer providences again?"
"It seems our visitor is… human."
"That's all? A stray human spirit? Just send her to judgment like the rest of them, how is this a crisis?" I swear the people here get dimmer every season.
"Well you see, she's… alive?" Now at this my head shot up. A living human… here? There is no such thing, it's unheard off. "She was traveling with Orias, the new recruit from the north. A child he was guiding didn't want to come and ran to her demand she go with them."
"And she could see them?" This is unbelievable. It cannot happen. If humans can enter it could throw off the entire balance of the kingdom.
"It seems that way. When Orias shed his henge she fainted."
"Where is she now?"
"The white room." I raise an eye questionably. "She is hardly a danger to us, passed out or otherwise."
"Very well, I'll head down now. Double-check the locks and seals on the gate. Call everyone in and put this place on lock down. We need to figure out what is going on any why." I stand brushing a wrinkle off of my suit. When I look up Morphus is still here. "Yes?"
"You just may want to wash your face and hands. She will be terrified as it is." I pause and nod noticing his point. Humans are delicate little things.
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There was really nothing that woke me. The sheets were still cool and the room was soundless. Maybe that was it, I guess I can never really know. Happy to have enjoyed a nap I stretch in my bed. Even if it was a somewhat strange dream, I feel rested and relaxed.
"Good afternoon." I drop instinctively into a crouch on the soft mattress. My eyes and brain work trying to figure out who was speaking. It isn't that hard for me to pinpoint the voice. A boy is sitting in a chair dress in a black suit. His hair stands out starkly against his pale face and when he opens his eyes the golden amber is striking.
"I can assure you, there is no need for that. If you were in any danger you would have been harmed while you were resting." I look at the boy in front of me. He can't be more than a year older than me, maybe two.
"Where am I?" My eyes dart in the space around his form but never let the boy out of their sight. The room I am in is somewhat unsettling. Everything is a perfect shade of white. The walls, furniture, linens, even the light bulbs throw off a glowing pale color. He stands out drastically.
"Well isn't that obvious? You're in the white room." It's my first instinct to roll my eyes but I have no idea of my situation. One sign of disrespect and I could be killed.
"I meant as a whole. Am I even still in Colorado?" A dull red glows behind me and I force myself to drag my eyes from the boy. It's coming from a window, filtering in through the curtains. Did I sleep until sunset?!
"Well yes you could say that." He was really starting to get on my nerves. He hasn't moved since the conversation had started and his hands remain folded in front of his mouth.
"Quit being so cryptic. If you're looking for money you're out of luck, everyone who would pay is broke." I inch toward the window as he stares at me calculatingly. He sighs pulling his hands away from his face.
"You must really be human if you're this dense." He stands, brushing invisible dust off his coat. I inch toward the window hoping for a glance of where they are keeping me.
"Human? What are you talking about?" He raises an eyebrow and gestures toward the window. Much more cautiously I walk toward it. The white tile clicks against my shoes. I reach out for the curtains and glance back at the boy. He is standing perfectly straight with his hands behind his back. With a swooping sound the curtains part and I gasp.
A red ball burns above, fading a sky to a deep purple. Beings fly around in the area above us as beast mingle among the population below. An obsidian wall is erected around the city covering every angle I can see. Past it a red barren landscape pocketed with craters and geysers spitting steam. As I stare out the window a hideous gargoyle flies past slowing for a second when it notices me.
Terrified I stumble back into the lesser evil of the room. The boy waves his hand and the monster nods before giving one last hungry looking glance. His hands rest on my shoulders and I feel a jolt of electricity shoot through my body, warning me to stay away. I jump and his hands fall to his sides again. "W-where am I?"
"Your race has many names for it: The underworld, Purgatory, the End of Life ." He said it so simply I thought I had misheard.
"You mean hell?" It's impossible for me to do anything but stand there and stare wide eyed. My voice drops to a soft whisper as my mind catches up. "You mean… I'm dead."
"Therein lies the predicament of why both you and myself are here."
"Wait… hell? But I didn't think I had been so evil…" I registered his voice but I didn't really hear. Just the concept of not only death but of being deemed so evil floors me.
"We have a lot to cover. Have a seat." He returned to where he had been sitting when I woke and motions for me to retire to the bed. I can't do anything but wander over and ungracefully plop myself on the bed and wait for him to speak. I never thought I deserved eternal damnation. I mean sure I have been known to be a bit aggressive, and I haven't exactly respected my father but I don't feel like that warrants eternal pain and suffering.
He clears his throat and I glance up. My gaze has managed to drift to my folded hands which I admire greatly, thinking I may not be able to see them much longer. While I am not very religious I have heard the legends of hell, leading me to believe my future does not bode well.
"Yes well, Maka Albarn: Age 19, Caucasian race, raised in Death City Colorado by a single slightly drunkard father and abandon by mother soon after birth. Does this sound correct?" I nod numbly, my natural curiosity being the only thing to pull me back into reality.
"How do you know that?" His gaze hasn't left my face since we began. There is no file near him and his hands are folded in front of his chin. His eyes are shifting back and forth as he stares at me. His expression is analytical but while gazing past me he somehow seems to be looking directly at me. He only pauses another moment before speaking again.
"String 20948B-C2145. I have seen every moment of your short life and followed you through every step from the time you were a baby up until earlier today when you hit that white hair musician on the street." I jerked back slightly much more suspicious of the man in front of me. His long legs are outstretched and crossed not twitching in the slightest. As a matter of fact he doesn't move at all, not even to breathe. When he does uncross his hands the movements are fluid, so graceful it's almost inhuman.
"How did you know about Soul?" I tense as his arms stretch above his head fingers folding back together to crack his knuckles.
"You mean 90044D-W2998? Why wouldn't I know all of those under my domain? I know everything about every human in the world." And there it is again. The way he spoke of humans, as if he wasn't one of us. "As to your first question, no, you are not in hell. While there is little separation between the two nowadays it is key you realize that you are in the underworld. Not hell… at least not yet."
"How aren't they the same thing? I mean, I died and I'm here so…" I trail off as he regards me with curiosity, almost like a newly discovered animal, trying to decipher if I am a threat or not.
"No. This is where everyone returns when they die, and where everyone leaves when they are born. They wait until judgment then that decides where they go after." He has lowered his hands again and takes on a bored demeanor. I feel like a child being taught information it should already know.
"I don't understand." He sighs and rubs his hand against his forehead. I notice the tips of his fingers are a light pink, like freshly healed skin.
"You don't have to. If there is need we can come back to it later. I am much more interested in you, and more importantly how you are here." His look remains passive but I sense irritation just under his placid appearance.
"Oh the all-powerful demon man doesn't know? I thought you knew of everything in your domain." He bristles at the insult and I can't help but smirk a little. His fingers tighten into a nest as he places them in his lap.
"I am NOT a demon. As for not knowing, that is the only reason why you are currently alive in this situation but I believe it to be wise for you not to test my patience. Now I strongly suggest you tell me how you got here." His speech became more rapid but his body still emanated a sea of calm. I ponder a bit on what he could be if not a demon. Perhaps an angel? No not someone so emotionless and so…black.
"What makes you think I know how I died? I wasn't even aware of it until you told me."
"Did I ever say you were dead?" His eyebrows rise as he looks skeptically upon me. His gaze bores into me trying to weed out any lies or harm I may spew. Whoever he is, he seems to have a lot to protect.
"I'm not?" The question hangs in the air in an awkward stoic way. Well at least to me, to him it seems more calculating and devious. Like a lie he knows is being waved in front of him. After an internal battle plays across his eyes he sighs and begins to speak.
"No, not exactly, this is why we are wondering why and how you are here. Humans don't come here, none that have not already departed their earthly bodies at least. Who are you working for?" His question took me off guard and something in his gaze forced an immediate answer.
"I- What? No? I don't work for anyone. I'm just as confused as you are right now." I manage to sigh in relief with my maintained mortality. The concept of an early death is not one I want to think about.
"Very well," Must to my chagrin I find that he has been staring at me this whole time. His amber eyes lock onto me and drill deep into my soul as he stands. "That is all for now. I have deemed you as a neutral party, of no threat to me or my empire…for the moment. I will send in someone with sustenance for you shortly. We will speak again."
He turns and nearly floats to the door in the inhuman grace from before. Each step blending into the next in a mesmerizing way. "Wait!"
He stops as I shout and turns toward me. The amber eyes again finding mine. "Yes?"
"It's not that I don't appreciate the bed and your hospitality but I really should be leaving. I would love to stay for dinner but as it is my family is probably worried about me. I mean without me home my dad won't eat and Soul has probably been looking for me all day. I really need to go back." My train of thought trails off as I glimpse a flash of emotion in his expressionless eyes. A deep foreboding drains my soul. "What is it?"
"Maka, while you are not dead you are neither alive. Your soul has been ripped from your earthly form into a floating essence t that has recompiled into what you are now. As a result you cannot return to the human world…ever."