pepper walks down the path that Peni told him to follow. 'There isn't really much here...' pepper thought, as he looked around. 'There's the castle, sure, but that's literally it, aside from the bunch of houses infront of me, but there's no trees, no grass, just... rock.' pepper thought, thinking of the greenery of his planet. 'There is that strange, dark abyss, it seems to completely go around the back of the castle, wrapping around it.' pepper kept thinking to himself, trying to make everything seem quicker.
pepper finally makes it to the group of old houses that was infront of him. He walks through, minding his own business, and he walks past a girl, she wore all black, her hair was pink and eyes were red, she also had a black hood over her head but it was decently see through, the girl was quite pretty, to pepper's surprise he was slightly attracted to her, but he knew he had no time to worry about some unknown girl, so he continued walking, ignoring the girl.
"Hey, who the hell are you?" The girl said, as she stood up, looking at pepper's back.
pepper turned around to face her. "I'm pepper." pepper said, answering her.
"Okay. What are you doing here?" The girl said, sounding bothered.
'She reminds me of Niku... Oh yeah, This is Niku's home isn't it?' pepper thought, beginning to forget about the conversation.
"Hello?!" The girl shouted, as sge walked closer.
"Huh? Oh, sorry. I'm here to leave." pepper said, snapping back to reality.
"Leave? Just who do you think you are?" The girl said, beginning to inspect pepper. "Blue hair... White skin... You're not a Demon, are you?" The girl said, as she touched pepper's body.
"Uh... No, I'm obviously not." pepper said, confused about what the girl's doing.
"I see... So, you must be Human?" The girl asked, observing pepper's legs.
"No, I'm a pepper." pepper said, still confused about the girl.
"Wait, is your name pepper or is your species pepper?" The girl asked, looking up at pepper.
"Well, both are correct." pepper said, not understanding her confusion.
"I see..." The girl said, as she stood up.
"So, what's your name, if you don't mind?" pepper asked, not knowing what to call her.
"Um, just call me Thirteen." Thirteen said, looking away as she said that.
"Alright, Thirteen." pepper said, pausing for a moment. "Why do you care who I am?" pepper asked, trying to get answeres.
"You don't seem afraid." Thirteen said, looking into pepper's eyes.
"Why would I be?" pepper asked, beginning to worry if he should be scared.
"Because... I'm death." Thirteen said, her expression didn't change.
"Death? What does that mean?" pepper asked, only gaining more questions.
"Don't you get it? I'm a Reaper, I could just take your soul if I wanted, but it seems like you're already just a soul.
"Well, you didn't, so I take it that you didn't want to." pepper said, brushing off what she said.
"Well... Yeah, I don't want to, but what if I did?" Thirteen said, getting up in pepper's face.
"I dunno, all that matters is that you didn't do that, why worry about what could have happened when it's in the past?" pepper said, as a question, though it was more if a statement.
"Jeez... I don't understand you... Can't you feel the death coming off of this town?" Thirteen said, trying to get pepper to understand that he should fear her.
"Is that what that is? I thought it was from the castle." pepper said, shrugging it off.
Thirteen stood in silence with her mouth cracked open slightly. "...Seriously?" Thirteen said, in surprise of pepper's stupidity.
"What?" pepper asked, confused about her disappointed voice.
"Whatever, why are you passing through the Reaper's Domain?" Thirteen said, trying to see what pepper's up to.
"Is that a problem? Sorry, I had no clue this place existed." pepper said, trying not to cause trouble for anyone.
"No, it's not a problem, it's just that all the Demons fear us, so it's odd seeing someone." Thirteen said, trying not to make pepper think he's breaking some law.
"Oh. Well, like I said, I want to leave, so I need to get into the castle and find the gate, I guess." pepper said, explaining his goal.
"You do realize that a soul can't leave without their body waiting for them, right?" Thirteen said, thinking pepper's an idiot.
"Yes, I have someone working on that." pepper said, turning around and walking to the castle again.
"Hey!" Thirteen said, running to catch up to pepper. "What are you doing?!" Thirteen yelled, shouting at peoper.
"I'm going to the castle, like I said." pepper said, as they walk.
"Yeah, but we were in the middle of a conversation!" Thirteen said, still yelling at pepper.
"Okay? I don't really have the time to sit and talk, we can talk while we walk." pepper said, not sure why she's so mad.
"Okay... fine." Thirteen said, sounding odd.
"Is that a problem?" pepper said, trying not to be a burden.
"No, I just haven't really talked to anyone in a while... Especially not someone who wants to talk to me." Thirteen said, not seeming as loud and hostile.
"That isn't very fair, don't you have friends?" pepper asked, as they walked.
"No, everyone is scared of my kind, most of us were hunted and killed years ago." Thirteen said, trying to not get into any details.
"Well, I enjoy a good conversation, and I'm not scared of you, so let's talk. It'd be boring without conversation anyway." pepper said, trying to make her happy.
"I'm a bit nervous... I'd rather you talk, just to get me used to it." Thirteen said, looking ahead of them.
"Okay. Though I'm not sure what to talk about." pepper said, trying to think.
"Maybe... tell me what a pepper is, I've never heard of that before." Thirteen said, realizing that may have been rude.
"Oh, okay. I don't really know too much myself, but I'll explain what I know." pepper said, not bothered by it in the slightest, Thirteen felt better hearing how calm he sounded. "Um... Well, us peppers can sense each other anywhere, though it is tough for me in the Underworld, but even right now I can sense my girls." pepper said, as he pointed up and to the left a little, his finger slightly moved, as if following them. "They're moving fast. Those soldiers must have taken them on their jets." pepper said, as he put his finger and arm down.
"Soldiers?" Thirteen asked, curious about who pepper's talking about.
"Yeah, a massive swarm of soldiers appeared out of nowhere and destroyed my planet, but before that they killed me and took away everyone I love, that being my eleven girls, they're all peppers too." pepper said, beginning to feel more determined to leave the Underworld.
"Oh my. And who are these girls?" Thirteen asked, trying to talk about anything.
"Oh, my girls, there all so wonderful. There's Kumo, she's the first one I met, she's super cute and sweet." pepper said, closing his eyes as the thinks about Kumo. "And then there's Utsu, she's got some problems, she gets scared easily and doesn't smile often, but she smiles when she eats candy." pepper continued, beginning to miss them all. "And Niku, she's a bit of a handful, but she can be sweet sometimes. She always keeps the girls in check, oh and her cooking is amazing, tastes so good, after everything is over I can't wait to eat her food again!" pepper said, becoming excited. Thirteen began to giggle a little. "What's wrong?" pepper asked, smiling as he looked over.
"It's just that you sound so happy when you talk about them, you care about them a lot, don't you?" Thirteen said, feeling slightly jealous.
"Of course, it might be pepper nature to care for them, but I know that I genuinely love every single one of them, even Kujo, but I'd like to know more about her." pepper said, thinking about how Kujo must feel right now.
"Kujo?" Thirteen asked, curious about Kujo.
"Yeah, Kujo is the most recent of my girls, she thought that I did something but realized that I didn't and for some reason she decided to join me, the same day I lost them all." pepper said, pausing for a moment. "She must be regretting joining with me, but she didn't really have anywhere else to go..." pepper said, starting to blame himself.
"Don't worry about all that, you just need to get out of here and save them, right?" Thirteen said, beginning to feel more comfortable with talking.
"Yeah, you're right." pepper said, beginning to smile a little. They both began to walk in silence for a while, as they both thought about things. pepper thought about his girls, and what he'd say when they reunite. Thirteen thought about how she'd like someone who cared for her like pepper cares for his girls, but she wasn't sad about that thought, she felt happy to think about it.
they both thought for over twenty minutes as they walked, until pepper broke the silence. "Looks like we're almost there." pepper said, able to see the castle rather clearly.
"Yeah, seems intimidating, doesn't it?" Thirteen said, as they stood to admire the beautiful castle.
"Indeed, it is, but I can't feel intimated by it yet." pepper said, as he started to walk again.
"Me either, once we get in there, we have to stay focused." Thirteen said, walking next to pepper.
"Exactly." pepper said, agreeing with Thirteen. "Wait, 'once *we* get in there'?" pepper said, confused about her saying we.
"I decided to help you, however I can, I'd like to see you get your happy ending." Thirteen said, smiling at pepper.
"I see. You don't have to, you know?" pepper asked, making sure she actually wants to.
"I know, I just want to. I've been bored anyway." Thirteen said, not changing her mind.
"Well, what can you do to protect yourself? I might not be able to help you in some scenarios." pepper asked, making sure it isn't suicide for her.
Thirteen pulled out a scythe from under her hood. "I know it screams typical Reaper, but I didn't have much of a choice." Thirteen said, looking down.
"What does that mean?" pepper asked, feeling confused.
"I'll tell you about it after we get through Hades' Castle." Thirteen said, not wanting to have pepper be distracted.
"Okay, sounds good to me." pepper said, feeling determined to get through any obstacle they have to face.