Everyone looked at me with confused stares. I wanted to ask the man who spoke through the light many questions, but I had no idea what I should ask. I didn't have an opportunity to ask anything anyways since the light had already disappeared.
"What was that guy on about?" I asked Kagashi.
"I'm…not sure," Kagashi said. "But of what he said is true, then we need to arrange a meeting with him and Devil as quickly as we can."
"Can we trust Devil though," Leonna asked. "Hearing that name isn't very convincing."
"You can definitely trust her."
I haven't heard that voice in a long time. It was Kay.
"She saved my life and kept my world alive," Kay said. "She promised me that she would fix my world and protect my family, but she needs Kuro's help or else-"
"Calm down Kay," Aria said, running her hand across his back. "We don't want to overwhelm them. We'll explain everything when the time is right."
Kay took a few breaths, then nodded and went back to his seat.
So his world was almost destroyed. Was this what Aria meant when she said that he had been through a lot?
"Can I at least give them-"
"Patience Kay," Kagashi said. "Not until the time is right."
Kay remained silent after that.
Kagashi then pulled out a small orb from his pants pocket and crushed it under his foot. Black ashes formed from under his foot, like smoke from a machine in a factory. It swirled around and formed into a portal-like shape.
"I can't remember the last time I took someone with me to see Devil," Kagashi said. "Hiro, Kay, Xylvia, Yuno, and Leonna. You guys are with me. Aria, Norman, Sora. I want you guys to stay with Jayden. Keep him company."
Sora quickly got off her seat and ran to the room that Norman was staying in.
"Are they close?" I asked.
"It's more of a one-sided crush if you ask me." Kagashi said.
"It'll never work out," Yuno said. "Sora's way too much of a wuss to try anything."
"Don't say that," I said. "Love is possible for anybody."
"Hmph. I guess I'm not anybody then."
Yuno suddenly walked through the portal that had just finished forming, not even waiting for Kagashi to go first.
"Another long story?" I asked Kagashi.
Kagashi simply just shrugged his shoulders and walked through the portal. Seems that everybody's got a story to tell. And Kay and Kagashi are keeping secrets.
Who exactly is Devil? Who's Kuro? What happened to Kay's world? What's Yuno's story? And why do I get the feeling that I'm forgetting something?
All of these thoughts swirled around inside my head, just like this portal that stood in front of me was. It was like it was telling me that all the answers to my questions lay on the other side of this warp tunnel. I knew that going through this tunnel was a whole other world waiting for me with even more questions that need to be answered, but I also knew that the answers I get from that other side would be worth all the trouble I had to go through.
"Alright." I said after a composed breath.
I then took my steps through the portal. And on the other side…
…I bumped into Yuno and fell to the ground.
"Watch where you're going you weirdo!" Yuno exclaimed at me, not even fazed by my accidental encounter.
I hastily picked myself back up and did all I could to forget that moment ever happened.
"You guys took too long, so I went to see what was holding you up." Yuno said, even though I never even asked for an explanation.
I barely paid any attention to her, because all of my focus was on the world that I had walked (stumbled and fell) into.
The sky was blood red with a pitch black moon that could be mistaken for a black hole painted onto it. The town was bustling with many demonic creatures. All men and women with half human, half fantasy creature features. They all had human faces had legs and arms and even bodies that were human, but some had horns, some had tails, some had many different a shades of colors that no ordinary human could ever have. Most of them had tails and sharp teeth.
The building were made of a weird kind of yellow brick with brown rooftops. They all looked like castles. Some large, some small. However, none of them could compare to the gigantic castle that resided on a hilltop that looked several miles away in the distance.
"How come we didn't just teleport to the castle directly?" I asked.
"The security up there gets more and more intense the closer you get to the castle," Kagashi said. "There are nine gates that we have to get through in order to get to the castle. Also, while it may look like we're ascending, we're actually descending."
"Descending," Leonna said. "How does that work?"
"Well, we're in Hell," Yuno said. "So that's kinda common knowledge."
"This is Hell?" I asked.
"What? Wasn't what you were expecting?"
"I thought it'd be a little…hotter?"
"A lot has changed over the past thousand years from what I've been told." Kagashi said.
"So, which gate are we in?" Xylvia asked.
"We're in gate zero. This town is inhabited mostly by the people who were born and raised in this place. Rarely will you ever find people from other worlds here in this town."
"Where would the foreign people be at?" I asked.
"Some reside in Gate two. Some in Gate three. Some in Gate six. I'd say that most of them are in Gate seven. Gates one, four, five eight, and nine should be completely empty."
"They have train stations here," Yuno said. "They'll only take us up two gates at a time, but that'll be much faster."
Kay suddenly walked through the portal before it disappeared completely.
"What held you up?" Yuno asked.
"Aria." Kay said.
"Figured."
We all followed Kagashi to a station where a lady in a uniform was punching tickets for the people who were boarding one of the two trains.
"Ugh…disgusting…" Yuno murmured.
"What's got you in a bad mood?" I asked.
"The train that everybody's getting on goes to Gate two." Kay said.
"What's in Gate two?"
"Not something that you should worry about, because we're not boarding that train no matter what."
*One Long Line Later*
"I'm very sorry, but the train to Gate one is undergoing maintenance right now," the lady said, her spiky tail wagging happily around. "However, the train to Gate two is-"
"NOOOOOO!!!" Yuno screamed, looking like she was going through a breakdown.
"-is still open for more people." The conducted finished saying.
"Guess we have no choice…"Kagashi said with a long sigh.
Kagashi handed the lady some kind of pass and dragged Yuno bu the collar to the train.
"Alright guys, let's get going." Kagashi said.
"WHYYYYY?!" Yuno continued freaking out.
What the hell is she freaking out about?
*One Uncomfortable Fifteen Minute Ride Later*
The minute the train doors open, an incredibly strong gust of wind knocked me off my feet. Both Xylvia and Leonna fell with me as well. Yuno was still pouting like a little kid, but Kagashi and Kay were still standing perfectly fine.
"I don't like that I'm used to this wind." Kagashi said
"Neither do I." Kay said.
"Kill me now…" Yuno said.
We walked together and away from the large group of people. I tried to keep up with Kagashi and Kay, but the wind was way too strong for me to keep my balance. The last thing I saw before the wind carried me to a nearby building were Xylvia and Leonna also being carried by the strong gust of wind.
I landed with a hard *thud* through a wooden door. I could no longer feel the wind blowing me everywhere and I felt a warm atmosphere around me. I picked myself up and took a look around. There were at least twenty or thirty girls wearing veeery revealing lingerie. Honestly, I could barely even call it that.
There were a few fully dressed people here as well. All men sitting at tables with mugs that were probably filled with beer in there hands.
"Oh my," one of the girls exclaimed. "This ones quite the looker!"
An uncomfortable feeling began to surge up as chills ran up my spine. I was clearly being given signs to leave this place.
I turned around to leave, but the wooden door suddenly turned into a wall.
"You can't leave until we're both satisfied," a women wearing black "lingerie" and blood red hair. The wings and tail on her back flapped and wagged excitedly, which just made me even more worried. "You'll be my customer for today."
A few of the other ladies groaned and said stuff like "dammit" and "no fair."
"Follow me please." The red-haired black "lingerie" lady said.
Someone please help me…