“Watch it, idiots,” I whispered into the mic.
“Focus guys,” Kuro’s voice flittered through my mind. “After this turn, we’ll be at the Gates and Cerberus will be there, he’s the Guardian of the Gates. He is mostly there to prevent people from leaving, but I’m sure he won’t be eager to let us in. We need a plan if we’re going to defeat him. His three heads are the biggest problem, but with five of us that shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Woa-woa-woa-woa, hold up. Five? There’s six of us, including you,” Firestar said. I had to agree with his math.
“You really think a cat would fight a dog?” Kuro’s bell swung in the air as she looked at Fire.
“Oh yea… sorry.”
“Who here has offensive attacks? Not you’re specials, but the normal power.”
This time I spoke up; I had done a lot of research of who could do what after I had used my special. “I manipulate energy, Ice can explode things from a distance up to seven feet away, and Forest can stun living things temporarily.”
“Okay, good. You three will attack. Dark and Fire stay with me. No one use your special. Retreat if he is too strong; he won’t follow you. Once a single person retreats, everyone does. Water goes left, Ice center, and Forest right, got it?” I wondered if this is what the cat had been considering on the way here. She had given the plan to us without hesitation, and without room to argue. We all muttered our agreements and Kuro’s bell swung away toward what I was assuming was a wall. There was a faint light coming from up ahead which gave us a little visibility. Firestar and Darkstar followed Kuro and I felt Forest and Ice come closer to me.
“On three,” I whispered as we got to the edge. “One…two…three!” We all leapt around the corner, already in a fighting stance. And boy were be surprised. The Gates were beautiful, in a scary way. The outer frame was solid gold, gleaming in the feeble light that torches to either side gave off. The inside of the frame was made of bones, mostly skulls actually. All of them looked polished by time, and most didn’t look like they were from any creature I knew of, though I could pick out a few human ones. I guess Hell wasn’t just for humanity. The doors themselves were about thirty feet high and were a reddish mahogany. There were also gold knockers on each door, the same as the outer frame, as if anyone could reach them that high up. Each knocker was the shape of an almost human head baring fangs and with two horns on either side of its head. The final piece was two scythes locking the doors shut. The bottom edges of the blades that were used for scything had a rusty tint to them, but for some reason I doubted it was rust. I didn’t want to consider the other possibility.
Oh, let’s not forget the huge, three-headed dog taking a nap in front of them. Patches of fur were missing all over its body, and the fur that was there had a dirty look to it. I’m sure at some point in time, the grey coating to Cerberus had looked pretty, but now it just looked like some mangy stray dog. One that could tear the head off of a rhino in second, but still mangy. “Look what’s sleeping on the job.” I forgot to whisper, and between what I had said and my comrades shushes, Cerberus lifted his heads.
“Oops?” This time I whispered, even though it was too late. Forest and Ice just glared at me before launching themselves at their assigned heads. I took a few seconds to gather energy around me, first at my feet to get a powerful and high jump, then at my fists as I came crashing down on the left head’s muzzle, hitting him right between the eyes. The force of the impact made me step backwards a couple of feet to regain my balance on his muzzle. Yea, this dog was huge.
Cerberus crossed his eyes in surprise as he tried to look at me. When I had attacked him he had been watching Ice battling with his head, completely distracted from the jumping girl, which would be me.
A slobbery, pink tongue tried reaching for me, but I nimbly jumped and did a back-flip to dodge it, landing closer to its eyes, out of licking range. The head tried once more to try and lick me but I was too far back for his tongue to reach. Cerberus started to shake the head that I was on to try and dislodge his unwelcomed passenger. I started stumbling around and I knew that I was going to fall. Somehow I had made it to the end of his nose before I made my descent.
“Crap!” I shouted as I fell off of his nose, my arms flailing like a windmill. I got in control of my arms and tried to find something to grab onto, but there aren’t many things floating around in the middle of the air. My left hand suddenly made impact with something warm and slimy. I looked up to see that it was in one of the dog’s nostrils. Before I could say ew, my hand was slipping and I was hurtling to the ground again. Stupid dog snot can’t save anyone.
I panicked and started to gather energy under me, trying to break my fall. Hitting the ground after falling about twenty feet wasn’t something I wanted to experience. I slowed down until I was about five feet from the ground, then came to a complete stop. I was levitating in midair, limbs spread out like a starfish.
It seemed like there was a solid, invisible platform underneath me. I pushed my arms underneath me to try and stand up, and to my surprise it worked. I could still feel my hold on the energy, which I’m guessing was what I was perched on. With a little nudge from my thoughts, the platform sped forward and I fell off backwards, hitting the ground. I felt the energy disappear from my grasp once I had fallen.
As I shook my head, I pulled the energy under my feet again until I was a few inches off the ground. This time I moved it a bit more slowly and I was able to keep my balance as I performed a few circles, all the while rising up further from the ground.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I learned to fly.
Yup, you read that right, I can fly… like a freaking NINJA!
Wait, ninjas can’t fly.
Damn it.
I think the dog was just as surprised as I was, but he had gotten over the bewilderment before I did. I guess flying kids weren’t that unusual in a place like this. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I almost became dog chow by some really sharp teeth.
“Hit him in the eyes!” I heard Icestar shout from below me. I flew out of eating range and looked at his dog’s head. One of the eyes was missing and there were some suspicious bits of goo on the ground.
“Gotcha,” I hollered back before focusing on my doggy. I flew as fast as I could toward one of the eyes and right before contact I swung my feet up. If you’re ever given the chance to stick your feet into a giant eyeball, turn it down. Just trust me, turn it down.
I couldn’t help but moan in disgust as I pulled my feet out of the eye. Oh, and guess what? There are two eyes, which means I get to do it again! Yip-pee!
I flew backwards to re-aim, stumbling a bit on my energy platform. I think somewhere in the midst of this battle I had forgotten a very important detail. Cerberus is a dog.
And dogs have paws.
“Oomph,” the air was knocked from my lungs as I shot toward the ground. Apparently this doggy was now pissed.
“Waterstar! Are you alright?” Ice questioned as I landed next to him. I had landed on my left arm. I twisted it around a few times to be sure nothing was broken as I got to my feet.
“Oh yea, I am just dandy. Nothing feels better than getting smacked by an oversized paw!” I said while looking over to Forest, who was currently talking to Cerberus’s head.
“Forest! What the hell are you doing?!” I shouted while wondering how long it would take someone to become as mental as him.
After a few more words he took a few steps back. “Just watch.”
And watch we did. Forest’s dog turned toward the one in the center. At a speed that I didn’t realize was possible, the head lunged towards its companion and bit it in the neck. I saw blood start oozing between its teeth.
Ice’s dog let out a horrendous screech that I’m sure could be heard on Earth. My dog finally looked away from Ice and I just in time to get its remaining eye swatted by the other paw. My dog’s head tried to bite Forest’s but epically failed.
I leaned toward Ice, “S
o, you think you can explode the whole thing now?”
Before he could reply, Kuro, Fire, and Dark came around the corner. “No need for that.” Kuro said, “We can just go around now.” I nodded my head, a little disappointed.
Fire lightly pushed Foreststar. “That didn’t look like stunning.”
Foreststar grinned mischievously. “It wasn’t, Water got her facts wrong. My power is to mimic someone else’s, so I decided I’d try out Dark’s and if that proved wrong, then I’d go offense with either energy or explosions… or energy bombs.”
Dark merely laughed at being copied. “I’d never have thought of something that stupid; then again, I wouldn’t have a plan except turn out the lights and run.”
We all shared a good laugh before walking around Cerberus until we were directly in front of the doors. I still thought they were magnificently created, but now wasn’t the time to be all tourist-y.
“Okay, this is how it’ll go.” Kuro said, “We need blood to willingly be given from each of us. Does anyone have a knife?”
I slowly raised my hand, feeling a little awkward that none of the guys had one, but I did. What can I say? I love to fight, no way in hell would I go anywhere without at least seven knives. Okay, maybe only four.
“Everyone, prick your finger and hold it anywhere against the door. Water, can you get my paw first?” Kuro held out her paw so that there was no arguing. I kept all my weapons in tip top condition, so it didn’t take much time for the door to have our sacrifice.
There was a thundering creaking sound as the doors swung inward. This was it; we were finally going to rescue the animals. Damn the past forty-eight hours had passed quickly.
But what I saw inside the Gates would haunt me forever. And I mean forever.
Demons in every gross, vulgar, and revolting form crawled across the area on misshaped legs, sometimes even missing limbs, the scarred remains hanging uselessly off of their emancipated forms. There we all kinds of demons, none looking the same as any other. It was like some scary approximation of life drawn up by a blind, demented artist. Often the demons would have some bizarre combination of scales and fur, a science experiment gone wrong. Some would stop to look at us before going back to dragging crates of who knows what. Their mouths were always open and insects wove their way between rotting teeth, though all seemed razor sharp and teeming with infection. Their skin sagged in some areas while was bone tight or non-existent in others, giving off a zombie like impression. Almost all of them were missing one or both eyes.
I stood without moving as I watched a demon with one eye suddenly jumped another one that was walking next to him. It moved its hand, trying to get at its opponent’s face, but kept missing as the other demon desperately tried to block it. The first demon then changed tactics and bit into the neck of its victim before plunging its hand into the eye socket and pulling out the eyeball before squishing it into its own eye.
“Come on, let’s go,” Darkstar said, disgusted while he grabbed my arm and pulled me down the hall that the others had already gone through. I felt numb and paralyzed as he continued to drag me, barely being able to walk unassisted. I felt my mind becoming fuzzy as I kept thinking about the brawl.
“Kuro! I don’t think Water is okay.” Darkstar shouted toward the cat
Kuro stopped the progression and waited for Dark and I to catch up before she told him to lean me against the wall, and I could feel my back slide down it until I hit the floor, but I don’t really remember actually leaning against it. I could feel tremors lacing themselves through my muscles, causing me to be tense all over my body. I was slack-jawed and staring at nothing in particular. My thoughts were jumbled, nothing was coming straight. Why was I here, and where was here? Who were these people, what were we doing? Kuro put her face right in front of mine so that I had to look at her eyes. I barely focused on her pupils, which had expanded to cover her entire eye. “Did you look at any of the demon’s faces?” A talking cat, what? I weakly nodded my head. “Ah, great, that means we need to break the paralysis, and the only way to do that is to make her eat one of their eyes.”
Somehow this reached my subconscious through all the fuzzy thoughts. “Hell no!” I shouted as I stood up. After taking a look at Kuro, I saw that she was joking about eating an eyeball. I glared at her and said, “Haha, very funny.” The cat seemed to shrug her shoulders and continued to walk down the path. Apparently it was just a good shock that I had needed. I shook my head and ignored the concerned looks from my companions. Demons suck.
Chapter 9: Lucifer’s Pets
DARKSTAR
Hell was difficult to describe. The first part that we had entered where Water had fallen prey to the demons mental paralysis wasn’t even the beginning of that. If you think of this in terms of a house, that was like the antechamber. Impressive, but hardly close to the real thing. As we passed through a tunnel and into the main part- or what I am assuming is so due to its vastness- was a lot more complex, and in a way, beautiful. The wall behind us arched up into nothing. I could find no discernible end to it, even with my ability to see past the darkness. It was so large, that our footsteps, nor those of the demons, echoed whatsoever.
Everything was put into a dull contrast. The brown, earthen hues were the most definable in the cavern, and all color seemed muted, even that of our hair. It was like a shadow had been pressed against our eyes, not letting us see in full light. Speaking of which, the feeble light that shone through the cavern emitted from hollows in the wall where unwavering flames stood. At a closer look, I realized that it wasn’t fire, nor a light bulb even remotely similar to the one Edison invented so long ago. It seemed like energy itself just glowed from the lantern, which was made of pale stones that seemed similar to weathered bone.
I had to turn away from the wall as Kuro led us further into the Underworld, always sticking to a patch of ground that seemed more trodden than others, though no demon stepped within it.
“Where are we going?” Waterstar asked from her position near Kuro. She was following the cat closely, as if relying on her to shield all of us from whatever dangers we may face here. It wasn’t a bad idea; at least Kuro knew what to expect.
Kuro flicked her tail before responding. She was speaking aloud now, versus the telepathy she had used back in the Cerberus hall. “Toward the Acheron river, which will take us into the true part of the Underworld. There isn’t a ferryman anymore, he was long dead before the Greek civilization that believed in him, but there are other ways of crossing. The dead need an angel escort, but we can manage in a different way.”
I had never heard of the river, but Forest seemed to recognize it. His brows furrowed in confusion as he considered what the cat had told us. “So… the Greeks and Romans had a pretty solid sense of life after death?” he asked slowly.
“Not precisely, but it is closer than other perspectives. This isn’t even a true death; there are points afterward that neither I nor Vladimir know of- I believe Lucifer does not either. Death is still a complex mystery, so don’t think you know what happens now that you have been here.” Kuro didn’t slow down at all during her explanation, and we were all left to ponder this philosophy on our own.
I kept my eyes open as we walked along the path. Bridges connected the two other sides together at near intervals, with curving designs set into the stone of stars and flowers. After a few inspections, I realized that the designs were made of all things from the world of the living, though it wasn’t precisely barren in the Underworld. To my surprise, things actually grew down here, probably more than they did back on Calsh. I bet it was because of the stunning lack of aforementioned gum wrappers. Trees twisted up in arching patterns, as if creating art within themselves. The most strange, and probably interesting, part of the trees was that there was no symmetry whatsoever, when nature normally is the epitome of such. I could probably lay for hours tracing the unusual branches and still never tire of the uniqueness. I wondered if Hell was as bad as people always made it out to be.
A little while later, I realized that the demons still were avoiding the path at all costs. If they needed to get across, they would use the bridges that covered the distance. I questioned Kuro about this, and her response was, “This path is only made for things from the world of the living, whether they be like the normal travelers that are dead spirits or the unusual ones like us.”
“But Kuro, you aren’t from the world of the living, are you?” Water asked.
The cat flicked her tail a few more times, as if annoyed with that observation. “Not necessarily, but I’m not exactly living either. I can still die, but I was created in a different way than most life forms, therefore the laws here do not constrain me fully, nor do I abide by them completely.”
Firestar walked next to me for a few moments and muttered, “Strange cat, eh?” I had to hold back a snicker. I really hoped Kuro hadn’t heard that; I bet the shadow-cat could be a fierce enemy if disturbed.
Finally, as my legs started to ache and my legs felt as if they were to give up, rushing water was heard ahead. I could hear my comrades sighing in relief; hopefully we would rest before crossing the river. If the distance we had just traveled was only the outskirts of the Underworld, then I was concerned about how large this place really was. We didn’t necessarily have a time restriction on getting the animals, but for breathable air’s sake, it would probably be a “the sooner the better” case.
The pollution of air on Calsh wasn’t unlivable, and the landscape wasn’t as harsh as some may think, it just took a sturdy type of person to live there. Most buildings had air filters, and the villagers who couldn’t have such luxuries didn’t fall plague to deadly air. It was just that laborious activities became harder. Calshians were sturdy people. We had more stamina than those on Earth, and our lungs had a larger air capacity. Calshian scientists have theorized that we have evolved to be able to sustain our self on the polluted air, and that is partially what causes our abilities, though not everyone has the powers like those in Star Rebellion. We are mutations of the human race, but our DNA is still similar enough for us to be considered human instead of some other species completely.
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