Chapter 6: Afterlife Rules With A Water Spirit

Feeling dejected, I left the horrible Customs building and trotted to Halfway To Heaven, the little place I had been with to sit with the Devil and Grim. The restaurant name really was ironic, huh. I wasn't even halfway to Heaven. I was halfway to Hell. Ugh.

"Back already?" Grim said jovially. He promptly removed his hand from poking the Devil's face with a chopstick and waved at me.

"Well...I didn't make it to Heaven," I decided to say. "Some document issues. But they told me to go to Hell."

Grim's eyes lit up like stars. I couldn't help smiling, it was cute. Seeing a glint in those dark eyes was beautiful and it almost made me forget my mission. "Awesome. I'm sure you will adore Hell, Kayla Marie. You can stay in the Palace! Right, Lucifer?" He stared pointedly at the Devil. The Devil frowned and shifted under his gaze, then nodded reluctantly, grumbling something under his breath.

The girl with pretty blue eyes came out again and served us. I noticed now that it wasn't just her eyes that were blue. Her entire body was sheathed in shades of blue: baby blue, robin blue, and azure. She stood tall, which wasn't much because her head barely popped over the table surface. Hair flowed around her face in wavy streams and her eyes twinkled.

Surprisingly, she didn't seem to fear the two beings from Hell. I guess if she had been here to witness their crazy behaviour that was so unlike what you would expect from Hellish beings, she wouldn't feel afraid.

I smiled at her. She was so cute! I loved how she was all blue. I didn't know how but it was such an interesting fashion statement. And I loved blue hair. It always looked good.

She smiled back and then dropped her eyes as if ashamed of her actions. The little spirit walked quickly back to the kitchen. I stared after her.

"A water spirit. Usually would be leaking water like mad but it appears an enchantment has been placed on her. She is probably bound to this place," Grim explained.

I looked down at my food. How would I ever betray these people...how would I even betray them in the first place? I had no skills, no powers. The Devil would kill me instantly. And if he didn't then the Heavenly King would. I quite liked Grim and the Devil though...they were fun to be around.

You could not do it.

And what, huh, stupid? There's no choice. Ajax is rotting because of you. You should fix this mess.

By creating another bigger mess?

I groaned and stuck my spoon firmly into my food, taking a huge bite and chewing fiercely to get rid of my stupid inner thoughts. It was just like Frank Zhang, in which Ares and Mars fought in his head. Except I wasn't a hero and I wasn't good like him.

"I...take it you enjoy the food," the Devil said after an awkward pause, directing the remark to me.

"Of course!"

I looked at dear old Grim who had replied cheerfully and enthusiastically, and laughed a little. He was anything but grim.

Grim's eyes suddenly glazed off as if he was thinking of something. I got that. I did that a lot too. He bit his incredibly attractive lip and leaned towards the Devil. "Lucifer, I have to tell you something."

"Why can't you say it telepathically?" The Devil asked.

"Okay, but I'd prefer we talk. This is important. I don't like how my voice sounds in my head."

"How does it sound?" I asked curiously.

Grim reddened and one side of the Devil's mouth quirked up. "He sounds squeaky and high like a baby."

"Aww," I cooed at Grim, smiling impishly. It was fun to tease Grim. He blushed furiously and took back his spear from the Devil, brandishing it around like he was going to skewer us anytime soon.

The Devil nodded at the door of the restaurant. "Let us go outside and talk, then."

Instead of walking like normal people would, the Devil and Grim disappeared in two twin puffs of black smoke and reappeared just outside the doors. Some of the black smoke drifted near my Heavenly Platter of food and I swatted it away, annoyed.

"It isn't poisonous. It's just mist," a soft voice like bubbling water said. I turned to see the water spirit from earlier.

"Ooh, hi," I said immediately. "You're a water spirit, right?"

The waitress nodded shyly and slanted her gaze to the floor. "My apology for speaking to you, Ma'am."

"Huh?" I asked. She had to be very messed up if she had to apologise for speaking! Maybe a horrible boss. Possibilities began to flit through my mind. "You don't have to say sorry," I rushed to reassure her. "I would love t o talk to you, really."

"I'd be delighted to," said the waitress softly. I loved her voice so much. It was beautiful and ever changing. Sometimes it sounded like a bubbling spring, other times it sounded like the ocean waves gently lapping against the beach.

"Sit down," I suggested, patting a seat.

"No, no. Ma'am, I'll get dissolved," she said hastily. "I would rather stand."

"Don't call me Ma'am. What's your name? And what do you mean dissolved? Like into water vapour?"

She sighed and a little blue droplets came out of her mouth. "Yes, Ma'am, you are very clever. Instead of being killed, my essence, or soul, is simply dissolved into water vapour and scattered in the air. My name is Ianthe. It doesn't mean water, because my mother thought I was to be a flower spirit."

"Ah," I said. Conversation lagged. We stared at each other, not knowing what to say.

"So how is uh, life here?" I asked. "And don't call me Ma'am!" I warned.

Ianthe averted her eyes. "Would you like me to tell you about Hell? I have overheard a little- oh! Forgive me for overhearing, Ma'am!"

"Woah, Ianthe. Stop calling me that!" I chided.

She gave me a watery smile. "Ma'am, Ma'am," she chanted.

So the meek little water spirit did have some, uh, spirits in her after all. I beamed back and said "Yep, please tell me all you know."

She led me to a table by the window, with an excellent view of the sky and the more-than-twenty-foot-drop onto Earth below. I gulped down my nausea and took a seat.

Ianthe began quickly. I liked that she didn't take her time talking about irrelevant things like most people did. "Hell is basically the capital of the Underworld. Spirits that have sinned enough to go to the Underworld but have enough good deeds end up there. It is a luxurious place, with big buildings and castles and hills. In fact, it is prettier than Earth and full of colour and vibrancy. The Devil Prince you met earlier is the heir to the Underworld. The Underworld Royals live in a palace which is reputed to be beautiful."

I nodded, signalling to Ianthe to go on. It was quite interesting learning about this. Although I still didn't want to go there.

"Hell is beautiful, Ma'am, but the Underworld is not, and you must remember that. Outside of the capital, rogue spirits live in the other dark states, and some do not even remember their past, they are so consumed by evil. They will rob you, torture you."

She paused and looked out at the view sorrowfully, then said in a hushed tone "It is not good to meet one. And Ma'am, you must know by now that you cannot possibly die since you are already dead. However, your body is still subject to sickness and curses and torture. And the rogue spirits, the rough country spirits, will not hesitate to do evil to you."

"Shoot," I whispered. "But there are borders separating the capital and the rest of the Underworld, right?"

Ianthe nodded. "But still some slip in. Or some send their monsters to do their jobs for them. Monsters of the Underworld are scary. They, too, have a base in the Underworld much like the spirits, only theirs is further out, at the boundaries of the Underworld. I have heard that they consist mostly of Noluxes and Uncryptons."

They sounded really scary. Seriously. I shivered.

"No fear, Ma'am. You will be safe. One last thing: once you arrive in Hell, you will be ushered to a station where you will be given a choice. I'm not sure what choice...but from what I have heard, it sounds difficult."

"Yay," I sighed.

Ianthe's eyes grew wide. "I think your friends are coming in. I will leave first." She turned into a tiny droplet of water and slipped on the floor, sliding back into the kitchen.

Now, I'm sure some of you might think that Kayla is kinda dumb for accepting the Heavenly people's orders. But you have to remember, in a way, she's doing it for Ajax who she says deserves it. I mean, the dude actually wanted her to go to Heaven and sacrificed himself! Yep. Pretty nice of him (lol).