8To those that have read this far, thank you! It makes it worth spending my time writing this, knowing at least someone actually spends time reading it.
"Reborn?" I questioned. I pulled my hand away and pushed Sebastian away. I held the bead strongly captive in my hand, as I made space between us.
Sebastian removed his hoodie. A young man was revealed. His eyes were locked in mine. I felt drawn to him, nor did I want to come any closer to him.
Sebastian drew his gaze away. "You think it is impossible to be reborn, don't you?"
"Of course! Dead is dead. There can't be any life once you're dead!"
"That's just too sad to believe."
"Then prove it!"
Sebastian stretched out his hand. He stretched his fingers. Waving to me, he motioned me to grab his hand. I gave in to the temptation to know, even though the Voice was screaming to not trust him. Sebastian's hands enveloped around mine. He opened my hand gently, picking back the bead he had given me. He dropped it on the roof and put his heel on it.
"Where we are going Souls can't escape," he said. "Do you trust me?"
"No," I said, grabbing his hand tighter. "I don't."
My head felt like floating. My heart was racing until it stopped. My body felt like being wrapped around and squished into a tube. My vision blacked out, several minutes after I felt my body return to normal. My legs felt feeble, and I felt backwards. Sebastian grabbed my waist, keeping me steady. He was speaking noises to me of which none I understood.
I rubbed my eyes, until light reached me again. I widened my eyes, taking in the whole surrounding.
"Where…" I mumbled. "Where am I?"
I looked around to see… nothingness. In front of me, there was a gigantic gate, and beyond, a black mass. The mass seemed to shift, yet I couldn't see what rested in the midst. I turned my back to Sebastian to see what he was looking so proudly at. Only now I saw that we were standing on a ridge, passing between the darkness. At the other end of the passage, there was a tower. It looked like a reversed pyramid, sinking through the soils of Earth.
"Welcome to Hell," Sebastian announced.
"How," I mumbled, "did we get here?"
I turned around to see Sebastian pulling his hoodie over his face again. His lips curled upwards, leaving me in the unknown. He started walking over the ledge towards the Tower. Unaware, my feet started following him.
I kept staring into that black mass, until I felt wary. I stretched my hand out to the gate, wondering how it would feel. It was a worn out Silver color, contrasting the surroundings. With the side of my hand, I stroke against it. I leaned in to be able to reach it better, though it didn't seem to have any effect. I stepped closer, when Sebastian pinched his fingers in my shoulder.
I blinked several times. My left foot was hanging over the ledge, seeking guidance in the black mass. It was that thick that I could no longer see the toe. My leg was sticking through the gate, and where my leg crossed the silver bars, a wide hole opened to let me through.
"Don't wander of the ledge," Sebastian warned.
I pulled my leg back onto the ledge, watching the gate close itself and regain its former state. "Can't the dead cross this gate if it isn't closed?"
"It's not the gate holding the dead in Hell," Sebastian said. "Now, hurry up. Master is waiting."
I walked next to Sebastian now. We were almost shoulder to shoulder because the ledge wasn't that broad. Sebastian suggested I should walk in front so he could keep an eye on me in case I'd be drawn into the black mass again. I refused simply because I wanted to have an eye set on him as well. So we walked next to each other.
I watched our steps move synchronically. My thoughts were wandering with Tristan, though. Sebastian had crushed that bead, supposedly containing his soul. I still couldn't quite believe any of the stuff Sebastian had been telling. On the other hand, everything at the moment screamed that Sebastian was telling the truth.
I hoped Tristan would forgive me for the mess I was getting into, in which I had dragged him along. I also hoped he wouldn't freak out when his soul return to his body. If Ysaline hadn't discovered his body in the meantime, he was still lying between the boxes and old magazines.
I snapped out of thought when Sebastian halted. He used both his arms to push open the copper port at the foot of the pyramid. To my surprise, an old man was guarding the entrance on the other side. He was constantly flipping a golden coin in his hand, and unlike Sebastian, his face was visible. From the side, he looked tired. An old man, yet still lively and well. We passed him without saying a single word to each other, and I noticed the empty look in his eyes.
"Morias," the man spoke, "have the goddesses spoken already?"
"Not yet," Sebastian answered simply. He pulled me around the corner, before I could ask who the goddesses were. He placed his hand over my mouth and laid his finger on his lips.
"Let go," I said, as I tried to bite his hand. "Who was that man anyway?"
"Wait until we are on the next floor. I'll tell everything you'll need to know."
We climbed a set of stairs. Sebastian might have mentioned it would take an eternity before we reached the second floor. Forget the goddesses, or that old man. I needed a bottle of water, a meal and a place to rest my legs. "Don't they know about elevators in hell!" I complained.
"Stop whining." He stopped and sat down on the steps. "Rest here for a while. I'll tell you everything you want to know in the main time."
"Start with that man from earlier."
"His name is Charon. I believe you've heard of him before? The ferryman who takes the death across the river Styx? He's the one. There is no actual river here though. A poem made that up millennia ago, still everyone thinks it is true. Anyway, Charon is dead and still awaits the ordeal of the goddesses."
"What ordeal?"
"Body, spirit and soul," Sebastian said. He pulled out a knife from his belt, and attacked the wall. He carved three overlapping circles. In the outer parts he wrote what he said just now. "These three parts are granted by the goddesses. Clotho is the Fate of birth, Lachesis is the Fate of Live, and Atropos is the Fate of Death. They are called Fates because they are an invisible force controlling the events of mankind. Nothing matches their strength."
He paused a bit waiting for me to take everything in he just said. I didn't need much time to understand what he was saying. It was just a bit hard to believe.
"When a child is born, each of the goddesses grant the child their respective gifts. A body, soul and spirit. Only those who posses all three of them, and strengthen them, can live a happy live." Sebastian marked the center point, in which all three circles overlapped. "if you fall between two gifts, you may find you paralyzed. Normally, if the Grim like me don't get involved, a person loses his spirit."
"Then if Charon is dead, what state is he in?"
"Normally…" Sebastian pointed at the center. "He has been reborn over fifty years ago, the thirty-seventh time in a row. Like I told, it's not the gates that keep the dead down here. In fact, Charon could easily walk out Hell even without being reborn. He's the only one I know who can pass savely through the Mist."
Sebastian looked at his wrist. A watch appeared from under his sleeve. It looked expansive and there was something engraved in the sides. I squeezed my eyes a little, trying to bend the dull light on the markings so I could see what was written.
"Sebastian Morias, Son of the Reapers, guardian of the Fates," Sebastian told, when he saw me. "It's an honory position, only granted to a few. The watch is just a present for selling yourself to the goddesses…"
Sebastian stood up, and continued upstairs. I was still looking at the circles he had drawn, until he yelled my name once more. "Don't wander alone in Hell. You'd lose sight of everything," he warned.
With two steps at a time, I caught up with Sebastian. He had advanced a great deal as well, and was waiting for me in front of a wooden door.
"Security in hell isn't really a strong point in hell isn't it? There isn't even a lock on here."
"This floor is called 'Chain of Minos'. It isn't supposed to be locked down. I'll show you what happens here next time.
After another set of stairs, we reached another door. Sebastian turned the brass knob and with a lot of metallic noise, we entered the room. The way I saw it, we entered a room with endless hallways. To the left, there was a room with the number 506 carved in the wall. Curious, I opened the door before Sebastian could stop me.
I had the glimpse of something that would have gone for a five-star hotel room. The room was clean and bright. It was shining compared with the rest of the tower. Sebastian quickly closed the door before I had the time to see everything.
"What are you doing? You don't simply walk into other people their rooms!"
Behind Sebastian, the door opened again. Sebastian turned around and pushed me back with his arm. I stumbled backwards where I hit the door at the other side. It was a man that had opened the door. He was taller than Sebastian, and definitely stronger than him in mere strength. His skin was dark and his hair short and black. He came into the hallway, crossing his arms as he looked down at Sebastian. "Morias. I should have know it was you. What are you up to?"
"Beezle," Sebastian said. "I'm bringing this girl to my master. It her first time here."
He looked over Sebastian's head into my eyes. "What would your master want with that slut?"
"Take that back!" I yelled. I ran past Sebastian, but he grabbed on me before I could reach him. Beezle raised his eyebrows. He smiled faintly, "At least the slut has spirit." Sebastian had to strengthen his grip.
"What is all this ruckus. There are people trying to rest in here," a girl said behind them. "Oh, Morias you again…"
Willow pulled herself loose from Sebastian as he weakened his grip. She turned to see the woman. Her long brown hair covered more of her body than her clothing did. It was almost silly she was wearing a similar watch as Sebastian.
"Azazel, I was just punishing Morias for trespassing in his superior's room," he smiled devilish. He held his hands in front of his chest as he cracked his fingers.
"Look, Bee, I don't have time for you now. If you want to fight, I want to take you on any time of the day, after I took Willow to my Master."
A vein pumped near Bee's left eye. I saw him clench his fist, when Azazel walked between Sebastian and me. She hugged his arm, and whispered in his ear. "Fine," he shrugged back. Pointing fiercely at Sebastian, he said: "You should watch your back."
Sebastian placed his hand between my shoulders and pushed me away from them without saying anything back to Bee.
"Look what you've gotten me into!" Sebastian said when they had reached room number 350. "As if I don't have enough enemies at the moment."
He picked up the pace, turned left at room 270 and right at room 620. From there the numbers were rising again. Every door so far, looked exactly the same as the one before that. Sebastian hadn't looked over his shoulder once, thus trusted as much that I would follow him.
I thought about turning around and running back, and was ready to blame the Voice on poisoning my mind with such foul ideas. I realized the Voice hadn't come up once since they entered Hell.
"Here it is," Sebastian announced. "Six hundred sixty-seven. Go in here and my master will greet you."
Sebastian opened the door for me. I stared at Sebastian for a moment, thinking perhaps he wasn't the bad guy.
"By the way, Willow. I don't know what master has been planning for you, but I'm sure your life will change drastically. So… I'm sorry for everything."
I nodded before entering the dark room. It was covered in silk sheets. It was hanging from the ceiling, against the wall, over the floor and furniture. The sheets were colorful, and had something beautiful about them.
I didn't stay long to admire the craft and began to search Sebastian's master, but it seemed I was just walking circles in the room. I called out "master" once but there was no answer. Silence dominated the room. After another search, I came to a halt. I considered that Master wasn't home and I should tell Sebastian, but I didn't see a door any longer.
"Master?" I yelled once more.
"Morias? Have you fulfilled your mission?" a faint voice asked. An child around her sixteen years old entered, dressed in silk robes. She had long black hair, and a fair skin. She was tall, about the same height as Bee. There was something about her that seemed to familiar, but she couldn't point it out exactly.
"Oh, Willow. I see," she fainted surprise. "Let me introduce myself. I'm Clotho, Fate of birth, one of the three godde…"
"Sebastian explained most of the Fates already. So what does a goddess need from a mortal like me?"
"Spirit, huh? Good, good. You'll need that," Clotho praised. "So, What would you like? To forget or to be forgotten?"
Thanks for reading. if you liked it so far, please make a short like "good story", and anything else you'd like to add ;)
next update will be slow; either next monday or tuesday (19/01) or by the end of January.