'That boy... He seems interesting. Perhaps he'll be useful somehow... but for now, I must find his body.' Peni thought, as she walked through a town in Hell, thinking about pepper. 'I don't even know how to get out of Hell, I know of other worlds and realms, but...' Peni paused as she thought. 'An... Angel?' Peni thought, changing her subject entirely, as she looked at an Angel who seemed sad and scared. "Hey, what's an Angel doing here?" Peni asked, tilting her head to the left slightly.
"I was banished here... for failing my mission..." The Angel said, sitting on and staring at the ground.
"You're a female pepper too, right?" Peni asked, as she noticed the Angel's blue hair.
"I am. My name is Tenshi." Tenshi said, finally looking up at Peni. "Wait, you're one too?" Tenshi asked, not realizing Peni was the same as her.
"Yes." Peni said, reaching her hand out to Tenshi. "You seem lost, if you help me, I'll help you." Peni said, curious about why Peni feels the need for Tenshi to accompany her.
"I'm useless... And I'm no good, I was banished here because I'm bad..." Tenshi said, beginning to cry.
"What are you talking about?" Peni asked, grabbing Tenshi's hand and lifting her up. "Your wings are still white, you aren't even a Fallen, that's how I know you're good." Peni continued. 'An Angel needing a Demon to encourage them? How strange...' Peni thought, finding the situation to be odd.
"You're right... but..." Tenshi said, trying to come up with a reason she's bad.
"You're heart is still pure, even if the Gods see you as impure it can't change who you are." Peni said, trying to help Tenshi.
Tenshi stood in a shock of realization. "So... Zeus threw me down here... because he no longer wanted me?" Tenshi said, beginning to trust Peni.
"I can't really say, it isn't like I know what happened. But that is the most likely case, to me at least." Peni said, trying to explain that she was just guessing.
"I have to know why!" Tenshi shouted. "I must know why I'm now useless! Zeus raised me, I did everything he asked! How come now he throws me away? That is unfair!" Tenshi continued shouting, feeling motivated.
"Fine, I'll help you get your answer, but only if you assist me." Peni said, trying to get Tenshi to join her.
"Understood, I'll do my best to help." Tenshi said, agreeing to something that she doesn't even know about.
"Good. Now follow me." Peni said, walking away.
"O-Okay!" Tenshi said, feeling nervous but excited for whatever they're doing.
"So... Where are we going?" Tenshi asked, feeling a little bored of walking.
"We're going to Earth, or at least the one that Gods preferred. We have to find something there." Peni said, explaining a little to Tenshi.
"Oh, I've been there. That's why I'm here now..." Tenshi said, thinking of Shushu and pepper.
"Wait..." Peni said, beginning to put pieces together. 'It's obvious, that Earth was destroyed... turned into space dust. There's no way his body could have survived, but... Persephone wouldn't have had him appear in front of me without reason.' Peni thought, as she stood still, lost in thought.
"Hey? You alive?" Tenshi said, standing behind Peni, trying to get her attention.
'That ability... to destroy entire worlds... with a simple rainbow, it terrifies me. The more lives it consumes, the more damage it does...' Peni thought, trying to figure out how pepper's body could have survived. 'There's no way... unless there was some third party, but he never mentioned any...' Peni continued thinking, beginning to think that pepper's body is gone.
"Hey!" Tenshi shouted, becoming impatient.
"Oh, what?" Peni said, snapping back to reality.
"Why are you just standing there?" Tenshi asked, confused of Peni's sudden standstill.
"I apologize, I was lost in thought." Peni said, trying to figure out what to do.
"Oh, you're forgiven." Tenshi said, beginning to feel different about Demons. 'I thought Demons were evil creatures, but this one seens nice.' Tenshi thought, feeling like she's been lied to.
"I have an idea. We'll go through this door, come on." Peni said, walking up to a door.
"What's behind it?" Tenshi said, staying close to Peni.
"You'll see." Peni said, not feeling like explaining.
"Okay." Tenshi said, as both Tenshi and Peni walked into the door.
"Alright, we're here." Peni said, beginning to open another door inside the dark room.
"What?" Tenshi asked, not understanding what Peni means.
"Look." Peni said, as she swung open an old, wooden door to reveal a large moon that shined down from the sky onto dead trees surrounded by fog and mist.
"Wait, this isn't Hell, is it?" Tenshi asked, becoming confused.
"We went through a portal room, they connect to different worlds and are mostly found in the Underworld." Peni said, explaining what happened.
"Oh, that's convenient." Tenshi said, following Peni as she walked into the fog.
"Not as convenient as you'd think. They're one-way portals, we can't go back." Peni said, trying to follow a sense.
"Wait, we're stuck here?!" Tenshi said, becoming worried.
"Yes, unless we find a portal of some kind. Those portal rooms were placed by some mischievous God, I forget his name." Peni explained, trying to get Tenshi to stop worrying.
"Oh..." Tenshi said, trying to register everything.
"Just stick with me, we'll be fine." Peni said, before she stopped.
Tenshi bumped into Peni. "Oops, sorry." Tenshi said, backing a little away.
"Do you hear that?" Peni said, listening as much as she can.
"Hear what?" Tenshi said, beginning to listen through the trees.
"It sounded like... humming." Peni said, not looking worried at all.
"Humming? What world are we on, are there dangerous creatures?" Tenshi asked, becoming nervous.
"We're on Halloween, it's likely a Ghost, they tend to like the fog, according to my books." Peni said, beginning to continue walking.
"There's an opening over there..." Tenshi pointed out, practically hugging Peni from behind, as she tried to hide behind Peni as they walked.
"Yes, and it sounds like that's where the humming is." Peni said, walking towards the opening in the trees.
"It's just a rock?" Tenshi said, looking at a big rock that moonlight seems to pour on, inside the opening in the trees.
"It isn't a rock, it's a boulder. And there's someone around here..." Peni said, beginning to be on her guard.
"What?!" Tenshi shouted, causing the humming to stop.
"And now they know we're here..." Peni said, knowing it can't be helped now.
"S-Sorry..." Tenshi said, feeling bad.
"It's fine, just be ready in case we need to fight." Peni said, trying to get Tenshi to stop worrying so much.
"Is there... someone there?" A girl's voice said, sounding cautious.
"Yes." Peni said, trying not to hide as if they're a threat.
A girl walked out from behind the boulder, her hair was blue and had spots of gold, she wore a beautiful black dress, and her voice was mesmerizing. "Who might you two be?" The girl said, as she came closer.
"I am Peni, this is Tenshi." Peni said, introducing both of them.
"You were right, she has to be a Ghost, her skin is so pale." Tenshi said, not sure if the girl will hurt them.
"I am a Ghost, my name is Kumetsu." Kumetsu said, bowing as she introduced herself.
"You don't seem to want to attack us, are you a friend?" Peni asked, mostly trying to help Tenshi feel more comfortable.
"Oh, I couldn't use my ability if I wanted to, I no longer have a partner, I need one to use it." Kumetsu said, closing her eyes.
"Oh, I'm sorry..." Tenshi said, feeling bad for Kumetsu.
"Don't be, he no longer appreciated my voice anyway, he changed some time ago." Kumetsu said, shaking her head left and right.
"I see. Well, we could use your help." Peni said, beginning to think to herself. 'Why do I feel like I need her and Tenshi?' Peni asked herself, knowing she won't get an answer from herself.
"Sounds more fun than sitting on this boulder, sure." Kumetsu said, giggling a little.
"Why do you need us, Peni? You never told me." Tenshi said, tilting her head.
"That's a good question..." Peni said, putting her hand on her chin. "My goal is to find the corps of someone who died on Earth." Peni continued, turning her back away from Tenshi and Kumetsu.
"Earth? You mean... the one that Zeus had destroyed, right?" Tenshi said, beginning to realize Zeus might not be as good as she thought.
"I guess." Peni said, as she turned back around to face the two. "His name is pepper, he appeared in Hell directly infront of me-" Peni said, getting cut off by Peni.
"pepper? You mean the male pepper that wears a white suit, red bow tie, and black dress pants?" Tenshi asked, wondering if the same guy she fought before.
"You know him?" Peni asked, curious of Tenshi's affiliation to pepper.
"Wait... white suit?" Kumetsu said, thinking. "You mean the guy with the weird spider legs?" Kumetsu asked, realizing she knew this guy too.
"Wait, you know him too?" Peni asked, wondering how they both know pepper. 'I guess this guy gets around...' Peni thought, not understanding how pepper could have even gotten to Halloween at all.
"I met him almost two weeks ago, that's when he killed Godita, the one I was with." Kumetsu explained, remembering what happened. "He searched for me, but gave up rather quickly, he must have been busy." Kumetsu said, beginning to walk in a circle. "I hid because I was worried he'd hurt me somehow, like Godita sometimes would." Kumetsu finished, as she stopped walking.
"For me, Zeus had told me to accompany a man named Shushu. I never understood why, but apparently it would have made him stronger." Tenshi said, beginning to explain her story. "Zeus tasked Shushu to take care of pepper, obviously meaning that he wanted pepper dead. Shushu was very rude to me, though most people have been." Tenshi said, beginning to get off topic. "But anyway, when we met pepper he was fighting a black haired girl, I kinda feel the same connection to you two as I did to her and the other two with that pepper guy." Tenshi said, getting off topic again.
"Do you not know what this connection is?" Peni asked, confused on why Tenshi didn't just say they were female peppers.
"Zeus told me to ignore those feelings, but sometimes it was hard..." Tenshi said, looking down.
"Well, Zeus has no say over you anymore." Peni said, trying to get through to Tenshi.
"But, he taught me to be good!" Tenshi said, still trusting Zeus.
"No, he taught you his own ideals, you are your own person, do what you think is right." Peni explained, hoping that was enough.
"...I suppose... you're right... But-" Tenshi said, slowly, as Peni cut her off.
"Just because a God tells you what's right and wrong doesn't make it right or wrong, it's what's in here that makes it right or wrong." Peni said, poking Tenshi's chest.
Tenshi blushed a little, as she didn't expect Peni's finger to be so warm and soft. "Y-Yeah..." Tenshi said, looking away.
"Do you understand?" Peni said, getting closer to Tenshi, trying to get Tenshi to look at her. Tenshi's face became extremely red. "What's wrong?" Peni asked, not understanding why Tenshi's acting weird.
"Umm..." Tenshi said, trying to form words.
"Look at me." Peni said, as she touched Tenshi's chin to her her head to look at her. "Your face is red, are you sick?" Peni asked, beginning to feel concerned.
"N-No, I... uhmmm..." Tenshi mumbled, as she looked at Kumetsu for help.
"I understand..." Kumetsu said, walking closer to the two. "Basically, she was never allowed to learn about who she was, riiight?" Kumetsu said, smiling widely.
"Y-Yes... that's what I think..." Tenshi said, trying to get ahold of herself.
"I already got that much..." Peni said, backing away from Tenshi.
"She'll just need to learn from experience, though it may be too late... But it's worth a shot, isn't it?" Kumetsu said, shrugging her shoulders.
"I guess it's our best shot." Peni said, shaking her head. "But, what I was saying..." Peni said, as she paused to remember. "Once we find his corpse, we need to resurrect him, somehow." Peni continued, feeling like she's doing an impossible task.
"Resurrect? We can just pray for that, though we'll need to gather a bit more people." Tenshi said, brushinh that part off.
"Pray? Even if it's that easy, a God would never just help us resurrect a pepper." Peni said, not understanding Tenshi's logic.
"You guys keep saying 'pepper' but I don't know what that means..." Tenshi said, feeling bad she doesn't understand. "But it reminds me of some things Zeus would tell me, and a book I read." Tenshi said, remembering things.
"Book?" Kumetsu asked, curious about which book.
"Yeah. It was about how you could gather ten female peppers and have them pray to someone named Kokoro, then she'll be able to grant a wish." Tenshi explained, as her face finally returned to normal.
"Where did you read this?" Peni asked, geeling suspicious about the book's details.
"It was one of Zeus' research books." Tenshi said, curious about why Peni would ask.
Peni and Kumetsu looked at each other for a moment. "Alright, then we'll try it, might as well." Kumetsu said, smiling as she shrugged her shoulders.
"Indeed. Thank you Tenshi, you've already been extremely helpful." Peni said, not really sounding authentic.
"You don't have to make fun of me... I know the book sounded strange." Tenshi said, feeling upset that Peni said thank you without any enthusiasm.
Peni hugged Tenshi. "I wasn't trying to be mean." Peni said, trying to make her appreciation clear. Tenshi's face went red again. "Seriously, thank you." Peni said, as she stopped hugging Tenshi and looked into her eyes.
Tenshi stared back, feeling mesmerized. "...Mhm" Tenshi mumbled, failing to speak.
Peni pat Tenshi's head. "You're kinda cute, for an Angel." Peni said, with a small smile.
"Well, what now?" Kumetsu asked, feeling bored.
"I guess... we look for more of our kind." Peni said, trying to figure out which way to go.
"When pepper left, he went that way with some strange pumpkin." Kumetsu said, pointing through some trees.
"Alright, we'll follow his old trail." Peni said, beginning to walk the direction that Kumetsu pointed, followed by Tenshi and Kumetsu.