As I followed Ruby through the incredible crowd, I was dumbfounded at the beauty of 'Main office'. Even though it was called an office, the architecture reminded one of some of the famous gothic cathedrals. The towering pillars embellished with beautiful carvings reached the lofty ceilings were adorned with paintings depicting various mythological creatures and different eras doing various activities together. Some were dining, some debating and a few mythological stories which were even known on earth.
The elaborately carved statues of females of various species like mermaids and angels standing or floating beside the walls holding a lamp acting as a lamp-post illuminating the surroundings in a gentle golden glow. The walls were also decorated with various paintings and portraits similar to the ceilings. The only difference from those cathedrals was the overload of gaudiness and lack of religious paintings.
Why gaudiness? Because everything was made of Gold.
Yes! Gold!
Instead of the solemn beauty of a cathedral, the office reminded one of how extravagant the one could be if one had all the gold in the world at their disposal. Who was the one that thought of this design? Did it even have some underlying purpose I didn't know? There were even a few precious gems and other materials that were decorating a few signboards and instructions on the small cabins that were the only thing making this place look like an office.
Everywhere my eyes could reach, the floor, the ceiling, the doors, the pillars. Even the curtains were made of woven gold.
The sight was too blinding. Good thing I was already dead and the brightness did not affect a ghost.
The other thing I noticed was my own body. Earlier, I always had this feeling that I had lost something important. But now that feeling had diminished considerably. Maybe I am getting used to moving around without a body, just the way one feels unusual when they start learning to swim, but later the feeling becomes natural, even comfortable.
After looking around at the extremely gaudy golden interior of the building, my attention was drawn to the crowd around me.
I saw a floating ball of blue flame (a wisp?), Zombies, a guy with an upper-body of a man and lower body of a horse (Centaur!), a group of pixies, some hot guys with huge wings,(Angels???).
There were all kinds of species of mythological creatures packed together in the hall along with a few human-like ones too, even though some of them had different skin colours.
Soon Ruby came in front of a counter while dragging me with her, while I was looking around like a country bumpkin. The place was one of the small cabins at the side and there was something written on the top with gems. I was flabbergasted that I could understand them even though I was seeing it for the first time in my life....in my death I mean.
It read 'In-take Window: Undead'
Pretty straightforward. It seems like there were other counters like this but with different Boards. I glanced at a few only to see there were indeed a few other categories. There was also an 'Unknown' section. Most of the counters were crowded except Undead and Elemental. The Unknown section had the longest line with the most bizarre-looking creatures.
Meanwhile, Ruby was chatting with the receptionist in the counter and suddenly I heard her angrily raising her voice.
"But she was Human, that is she was alive before. Then she died! So she's an Undead. Right?" Ruby said as she stomped her feet in displeasure.
"I am sorry Ms Ruby, She cannot be categorized as an Undead now even if she was a live human before. She doesn't have any visible undead characteristics as marked in this categorization checklist. So, I suggest you should take her to the elemental section or the Unknown section." The Blonde haired receptionist with two cute pointy horns peeking out of her forehead said in a professional tone. Only if she was not a mere 3 feet tall and looked like a child, she would have looked serious too.
"Well, as you can see, She Is A Spirit. Spirits are invisible, That's Why They Are Called Spirits. Also, it's a long line over there! I have other things to do! Just cut me some slack here Fify. I know how the system here works. No matter which counter I go through, the final classification is done by the Computerized system along with those wizards finalizing the results." Ruby looked desperate.
"As you know, even objects have spirits. Things that exist for a long time can gain sentience and form spirits. It's not exclusive to undead category. It would have been fine if she was a wisp or even a ghost. But she is not qualified enough to be an undead" Fify the loli receptionist retorted sternly.
So you need to be qualified enough to be an undead, and I certainly wasn't?
"I see you are leaving me no other options!" After saying this, Ruby looked left and right shadily and slipped something past the small round window. She is bribing the receptionist.
Dear Ruby! I thought better of you!
Wait!
Did it not look like a Lipstick?
The eyes of the receptionist FiFy brightened like North star in a moonless night, as soon as she saw the ordinary cheap lipstick in front of her which one can find in any Departmental stores on Earth. Indeed! the value of these things was different in different places. I would never have even glanced at these cheap goods when I was alive.
Fify hurriedly snatched it and hid it in the blink of an eye and made a difficult expression on her face, and said, "You are putting me on a tough spot Ruby." She sighed and continued. "I will help you out just this once because of our past friendship."
If not for her sneaky actions earlier, one would truly believe her claims on her friendship. Then Fify the receptionist took out a paper from the drawers beside her and gave it to Ruby.
"Don't let anyone know about this. Okay? I'll be in trouble!" Then she shut the window to the counter and left her chair and ran off giggling happily.
"How troublesome" Ruby mumbled under her breath. She took the form and turned towards me.
"Ms Pearl, Now touch this paper!" She said while pointing towards the blank page in her hands. I complied without a second thought. I had no idea what to do either way, so I thought I might as well follow her lead.
As soon as I touched the Paper, I felt as if it was sucking my soul/me in. I subconsciously resisted the pull and hurriedly pulled my hand back in a panic.
Soon the paper glowed with a soft blue glow and a lot of information 'magically' appeared on the paper. Like my name, Date of birth, and Date of death and other things that are normally asked in a form. But the things that piqued my curiosity were the few bottom-most lines of the page.
Cause of death: Prank gone wrong by students due to incredible Bad Luck.
'Species unidentified, Please contact the research department!'
Priority grade: S
Ruby took back the paper from my hand and carefully read my details. Even though I was feeling as if she was prying into my personal information, but there was nothing I could say. I was already dead anyway, so who cares if she knows that.
After taking a look, she seemed visibly shocked. She gawked at me carefully and then said with a cunning smile on her face," It seems like your 'incredible Bad Luck' is my lucky charm ex-teacher. Let's go!"
Ruby's mood seemed to have gotten better. And her comment on my death hurt my heart.
It was as if her feet had grown a pair of wings. She literally dragged me across the expensive-looking golden floor. The only fortunate thing was I didn't have a body, so it didn't hurt as she dragged me. But that doesn't change the fact that I was scared out of my mind!
By the time I came to my bearings, we were already not in the Main Hall of the office. We were in front of a corridor which had a Huge plaque magically floating right under the ceiling.
It read 'Research Department'
P.S: Please abstain from barging into any rooms. It could result in life-threatening consequences.
Somethings fishy about the P.S., but that's none of my business. Actually, if I think about it closely, everything about this whole office is weird. Where is my grim reaper? Where is my Book of Judgement, Heaven, and hell, My RETIREMENT!!!!!!!!
There's nothing otherworldly about this place other than the whole gaudy look of this place and suspiciously clean and sparkling floor even with the number of people passing by.
Ruby probably knew her way well around here. She entered the long and spacious corridor as she dragged me and entered the first room on the right.
It read, 'RECEPTION'.
Behind the desk was a mermaid. The lower half of her body was inside a glass pool filled with water through which I could see her beautiful and multicoloured tail swaying gently. Her upper body which looked like a human had an otherworldly beauty to it. She was also wearing the same receptionist uniform that we saw Fify wearing earlier in the Main Hall. But the thing that surprised me the most was, she was playing with a smartphone. YES! A REAL SMARTPHONE!
The beautiful mermaid seemed busy in her own world as she didn't notice us. Actually, the whole research corridor was empty. Ever since we got here, this was the first time I saw other 'person'. The whole place was eerily quiet.
"Hello, Ms Marina! Could you help us out?" Surprisingly, Ruby asked this mermaid in a respectful tone, contrary to her casual tone with Fify. It seems like even receptionists had a different status.
"DANg!!!!! Which B**** Dared to INterrupt Our Game. I was so close to killing all those M********** off." The mermaid started cussing in her sweet and elegant voice.
Her eye moved away from her phone onto me. I felt that I would be killed the next second. But soon she moved onto Ruby. And Ruby's Face didn't look good.
"It was you! Wasn't it?" She had her gaze fixed onto Ruby.
Marina took a deep breath and calmed down soon after.
"Hello, Ruby. What brings you here. This is not a place anyone can roam around. You know that, right?" The harshness in her tone was evident on her face. She didn't care about whatever we might have to say.
But hearing this the smug face Ruby returned. She yanked out the application form ad smugly put it on the desk before Marina.
Marina received the form with a palpable amount of annoyance on her face. But as she read through the form, her eyes started to widen. By the time she reached the end, she was visibly spooked.
"A Rank S Priority? How Unusual!!" Marina scrutinized me from head to toe. "That means you'll have to be assessed by the Grand Mage and the Director himself."
Marina then 'stood up' from her fish tank. and by the time she was out, she had two visibly human legs, and at some unknown time, she had also worn the skirt. (Thankfully)
"Let's go!" After commanding, she led us back to the Research Corridor and walked deeper into the department with us on tow.