Bulldog head happily bounded toward the bone while the German shepherd, like a mom helplessly tagging along with the whims of her child in the supermarket, moved the front right paw.
However, the beagle, who apparently controlled the two back limbs, was not fazed by the bulldog's excitement.
It continued to sleep, sometimes huffing in annoyance, even as the two back limbs dragged along the tiled ground.
Ngeeee…
Suddenly, the doors creaked open and an old man clutching a large bouquet of amethyst crystals shaped like Lilacs entered the Hall.
'Huh?'
Surprised to see another soul in an unlikely place, Mikael and the old man stared at each other with wide eyes.
A second later, as if on cue, the two scrambled to hide themselves until they realized that they were the same – two souls wanting to escape from hell.
'That's the governor, right? If he's here, guards would probably flood this hall any minute now…' Mikael was tempted to push the governor out of the doors and lock it from inside.
However, he feared what might happen if the guards caught him and he decided to snitch on Mikael.
In the end, he chose to compromise.
Mikael approached the old man, "Umm.. Sir?"
But the governor wasn't looking at him anymore.
Instead, his eyes were glued on Cerberus who, like them, was surprised by the politician's arrival.
Even the stubborn Beagle woke up from the commotion and tilted its heavy head to observe them.
The old man's jaw dropped at the sheer size of monstrous Cerberus then he pointed his forefinger on the creature.
"Wha-What's that?!" the old man alternately looked between Cerberus and Mikael.
At this, the German shepherd's eyes narrowed, insulted by the rude remarks of the man who barged unannounced into his doghouse.
Finally, the Middle head decided that this new visitor is an unwelcomed guest and began to snarl alongside his left brother.
GRRRRR….
Grrr!
"Woah! Cerby, please calm down…" Mikael said in a soothing tone then he turned toward the old man.
"Sir, I know you also want to come back to the world above and I understand you. In fact, we have the same goal. So, why don't we help each other?"
"What do you mean by that?" the governor asked, his eyes alert to detect any malice in Mikael's expression.
As a seasoned politician, he learned to read people's intentions based on their body language and right now, his instincts told him to at least hear the young man's proposal.
Moreover, he figured that the monster dog listens to the boy.
"That crystal… I want you to leave it."
Mikael noticed the old man's eyebrows twitch and his hand tighten on the crystal flower.
'Maybe the governor thinks I want to steal the flower? Ugh! I don't even want that stupid flower!'
Indeed, a thief is hostile to a fellow thief.
Before the situation escalated into something ugly, Mikael explained, "I want you to leave it because it's dangerous! If you escape with that, the god of the underworld will chase you to the ends of Earth! And if you lure the god above, who knows how much destruction that will incur?"
"Why would he? There are lots of plants in that garden! This isn't even the most expensive so why would he spare so much effort into retrieving something so small?!" the man snapped back.
"Haah… I guess you haven't been to the courtroom? 'I' have seen the god! He's crazy about his wife and their pretty little garden! Why would you even want to steal from a god? It's not worth it."
"Heh. You think it's not worth it? REALLY? Imagine if I plant this on earth and cultivate it, I'll have money growing on trees – LITERALLY!" his eyes glinted with hideous greed, and as if he was done bickering with Mikael he said, "You know what? I don't need your help."
He headed toward the blocked exit, now unafraid of the growling dog that guarded it.
Just as he tried to glide past Mikael, Mikael grabbed the crystal "I said to leave it here! I heard it's cursed!"
"I don't want to! And are you an idiot? Of course, they'll say it's cursed! They're just saying that so you won't steal it! Arrgh!"
Cerberus watched the two souls scuffle in amusement.
Their tug of war ended with the crystal flying toward the beagle's head.
Bonk!
A loud noise echoed across the room.
Four pairs of eyes cautiously glanced at the beagle whose forehead was hit squarely by the tumbling crystal.
Gulp
Mikael audibly gulped as the immovable Beagle menacingly turned in their direction.
The back legs slowly stood.
GRR!!
All three heads finally reached a consensus.
They DESPISE the rude old man.
The two-story tall monster prowled threateningly; a predatory gaze locked on their target.
"Uhh! Uh! It wasn't me! HE threw it!" the old man screamed as he pointed at Mikael.
GRaaAAaaaAHHHhhH!
Cerberus pounced, like a beastly lion catching its prey.
Within the blink of an eye, the governor was trapped in the monster's paws and the three heads alternately bit on his ghost body.
"AAAH! STOP!! PLEASE! I WON'T DO IT AGAIN! PLEASE! AAAAHHHHHH!" the governor's pleas were soon drowned by the sound of his ripping flesh.
Instead of blood, black haze erupted from his wounds.
His once greedy mien crumpled into a mess of tears and snot.
"Stop… please stop…" his screams turned into sobs.
Then Mikael heard voices coming from the other side of the entrance.
"Hey! Why is the door unlocked?!" a low voice barked.
"I-I don't know, chief! Kenjiro-san and Jason were supposed to guard the doors today…" another stuttered.
"If anyone managed to go through this hall, Lord Hades will NEVER forgive us!"
The creaking door jolted Mikael into action.
Now that the exit was unblocked, he speedily drifted toward it and pulled it open.
Ngee… Bam!
Simultaneously, the entrance opened while the exit closed.
A gory scene greeted the guards as Cerberus munched on the governor's head.
"Sir! Isn't that the crystal we are looking for?" the skeleton guard pointed to the amethyst lilacs that glowed a beautiful purple under the hall's lighting, a huge contrast to the broken chew toys lying in its background.
"Yeah… so that means the old man's spirit now rests inside Cerberus" the chief noted the black haze rising from the bulldog's mouth.
"Well, all's well that ends well… let's just take the crystal back and report to Lord Hades."
"But sir… are we going to report his intrusion to the hall?" the cowardly guard nervously asked.
"Of course not! Do you want to guard Tartarus for a hundred years? Because I sure don't. So, we keep this to ourselves. Understood?" the chief put his bony arms on his subordinate's shoulder.
"We will tell him that the both of us caught the sinner, okay? Who knows, maybe we'll get a promotion and guard Elysium next year."
As the guard retrieved the flower, the chief approached Cerberus and affectionately patted its three muzzles.
"So, you caught the bad guy, huh? Our cute Cerberus is such a good boy!"
After which, they went back to the entrance, unaware that they already let one soul escape.
-Chapter end--