pepper waited, still thinking about why he can sense reppep, but then it hit him. 'It's not just reppep...!' pepper said, feeling fear as he stood in place. "They're here too! They're all here!" pepper shouted, his hairs stood up as he felt nervous, unsure of what to do.
"Who? Who's here?" Thirteen asked, thinking pepper is talking about Hades and Ceberus.
"They're like me... but different." pepper said, as he continued walking, no longer feeling nervous.
"What does that mean?" Grimm asked, wondering who pepper's talking about as much as Thirteen.
"You'll see..." pepper said, as he began to follow the sense of his enemies.
"We're in the actual dungeon now, if they're in here then they're unable to leave their cage." Grimm said, looking around.
"...This way." pepper said, after a pause.
"Okay..." Thirteen said, as both her and Grimm followed pepper.
"There you are, you bastard!" pepper yelled, as he rushed towards his sense of reppep.
"H-Hey, wait!" Thirteen shouted, as she began to run to pepper.
"What the heck...?" Grimm said, as he walked to follow them.
"You!" pepper yelled, as he slammed his fist against a stone bar. "reppep!" pepper continued yelling, as he looked past the bars and saw reppep sitting in what looks like a cell.
"Heh heh..." reppep chuckled, as he looked at pepper with tired eyes.
"What's so funny?!" pepper asked, wondering why he laughed.
"Nothing, really... I just didn't expect to see you here..." reppep said, softly.
"I guess that's fair... But why the hell are you here?" pepper asked, wondering if reppep is following pepper.
"Why...?" reppep asked, as he stood up. "You're the one who sent me here, or did you forget?" reppep said, walking closer.
"I probably should have thought about that one..." pepper said, feeling slightly disappointed in himself.
"Doesn't matter. I'm actually glad you're here, kinda." reppep said, as he glanced behind pepper to see Thirteen running their direction.
"pepper!!!" Thirteen yelled, as she grew closer.
"Oh, Thirteen." pepper said, as she stopped next to him and started to catch her breath.
"Don't 'Oh, Thirteen" me! What the hell? You left us behind!" Thirteen shouted, angry at pepper.
"Oh, right. I'm sorry, I was distracted." pepper said, feeling bad.
"Well... if you're sorry then I'll forgive you... But don't do it again, please..." Thirteen said, with a sigh of annoyance.
"Yeah, I'll try." pepper said, as he nodded his head in agreement.
"So, what's going on?" Grimm said, as he caught up with Thirteen and pepper.
"Just questioning this guy... But he seems different some how..." pepper said, as he looked at reppep, trying to figure out what's different.
"Tell me, pepper... How's Utsu?" reppep asked, sounding genuinely concerned.
pepper waited a second and thought before he spoke. 'What the hell does this guy care if Utsu's okay or not? He can't hurt her anymore.' pepper thought, wondering if he should even respond.
"And, I'm glad you took her from me, by the way. I hate what I did to that poor girl..." reppep said, looking sad.
'Who the hell is this guy?' pepper thought, as he looked at reppep with a face of confusion and surprise.
"Wh-What's wrong?" reppep asked, as he looked at pepper's face.
"I killed you because you treated Utsu bad and was just a terrible person... How come you don't seem like a terrible person right now?" pepper asked, not even sure if reppep can answer the question.
"Oh, right. After you killed me... I remember being grabbed by a large hand, and I saw Spooky Scary Skeltons leave when my soul left my body." reppep said, as he began to pace around the cell to think clearer. "Then... I woke up here, in this cell, but I felt... different... I felt as if a weight had been lifted off my entire body..." reppep continued, still pacing.
"Hey pal, could you knock that off? It's a bit annoying... sorry." Thirteen said, looking a bit bothered.
"Oh, my pacing? My bad." reppep said, as he began to stand still.
"So, what does that mean? Was your guilt lifted?" pepper asked, trying to piece it together himself.
"Oh, nothing like that. I think it was... my evilness, if that makes sense..." reppep said, doing his best to put it into words.
"Evilness? What, you're a good person now, just because you died?" pepper asked, feeling suspicious.
"I know it sounds crazy, but I'm telling the truth, and I'm not the only one..." reppep said, as he looked across the cell.
pepper was filled with fear from the sudden sight of Zero, Akuto, and to pepper's surprise, a face that looked familiar but he couldn't place where he'd seen this man. "Woah..." pepper said, as he felt sudden unexpectance.
"You know them?" reppep asked, not feeling surprised if pepper did.
"Yeah... though I don't remember that one too well..." pepper said, as he pointed at one of the men.
"I guess we didn't interact for long, so it's understandable." The man said, as he walked closer. "Allow me to re-introduce myself. I am Boris, we met in King Samuel's castle." Boris said, with a bow.
"Oh, right, Boris. You helped Utsu, right?" pepper asked, making sure he's thinking of the correct person.
"Indeed, I did. I assumed she was still with reppep until I saw you, so I played it off as I out two and two together." Boris said, as he began to think so hard that it was written on his face.
"You alright?" pepper asked, feeling a little surprised he's concerned for Boris.
"You... wouldn't happen to know Maruchi, would you?" Boris asked, looking into pepper's eyes, hoping pepper will say yes.
"I do, I met her while I was in Halloween." pepper said, as he began to remember Maruchi.
"That's great! How is she?" Boris asked, sounding excited.
"Well, I met her before I met you, and after I met you I left Halloween, I haven't seen her since. I'm sorry." pepper said, feeling bad because he understands how Boris must feel.
"Damn... No it isn't your fault, it's mine..." Boris said, taking the blame for everything that happened. "I... I need a minute..." Boris said, as he walked away, and pepper nodded.
"Wait, I don't see Godita, he was the first one I killed." pepper said, wondering what happened to Godita.
"I don't know anything, I haven't seen anyone other than us four and Hades." reppep said, feeling sorry that he can't assist pepper.
"I see... Well, if you guys would like to come with me, I'll gladly take you out of Hell with me." pepper said, offering to help them.
"I see, I assume you're going to the Gate then?" reppep asked, taking a guess where pepper plans to go.
"Yeah, I'm a soul or whatever too, so that's my only ticket out." pepper said, slightly hoping they'll join pepper.
"Well, since you're dead too, it'd be more trouble than it's worth. Those bars are made of grimmstone, and so is the castle." reppep said, not realizing pepper doesn't know what grimmstone is.
"What's grimmstone? I can't break it?" pepper said, feeling confused.
"Grimmstone is everywhere, here in the Underworld." Grimm said, explaining grimmstone. "Souls can touch it but they can't mess with it at all, you can't move it, you can't break it." Grimm explained, hoping pepper understood.
"Oh, wow, I had no idea something like that existed." pepper said, feeling like he understands.
"So, yeah. It'd be pointless to try." reppep said, giving up hope.
"No problem." pepper said, looking sure of himself.
"Didn't you hear me? It'd be pointless." reppep said, repeating himself.
"I heard you, I've just got a trick I can use." pepper said, as he closed his eyes.
"Trick?" reppep asked, as he watched pepper vanish infront of him. "What the..." reppep said, in surprise.
"See, I can teleport." pepper said, as reppep turned around to face pepper. "And I bet, if I try hard enough, I can teleport you guys out of here." pepper continued, as he began to think about how he'd do that.
"Hey, that's my ability!" Akuto said, as he walked up to pepper.
"Sorry, I would have died if I didn't take it." pepper said, wishing he could return the ability to its rightful owner.
Akuto grabbed pepper by the throat. "Give it back! You're why none of us have our abilities, aren't you?!" Akuto yelled, feeling furious.
"H-Hey, what happened to being good guys?" pepper asked, feeling confused.
"Hey, let him go!" reppep said, as he grabbed Akuto's arm.
"Let go of me!" Akuto shouted, as he punched reppep.
"pepper, are you alright?" Thirteen asked, wondering if she should do anything.
"Eh, I've been through worse." pepper said, as he teleported back outside the cell.
"Get back in here, motherfucker!" Akuto shouted, as he tried to reach through the cell. "Give me back my Oogie Boogie!" Akuto continued shouting, as he made himself look like a caged animal.
"Nevermind us, pepper. Just go without us, I don't think I could ever make eye contact with Utsu again, or even Tetsu..." reppep said, feeling a bit sad.
"Are you sure?" pepper asked, making one hundred percent certain that reppep would like to stay.
"I don't deserve freedom anyway, everything that I did to Utsu... I want to rot here forever." reppep said, turning away from pepper.
"Alright, if that's what you want." pepper said, as he started to walk away with Thirteen and Grimm behind him.
"No! Get back here, asshole!" Akuto yelled, as pepper ignored him.
"Then, this is goodbye, reppep, and Boris, and you too, Zero." pepper said, as he grew out of sight from them, though he could still hear Akuto yelling and screaming.
"Jeez, he doesn't shut up, does he?" Thirteen asked, with a sigh.
"That guy doesn't sit well with me, even now... I think he was just born evil. I saw the look in his eye as he held me by my throat... he enjoyed that." pepper said, as he determined Akuto is still evil.
"Well, I'm sure my father knows where we are, if he didn't already, there's no way he didn't hear that screaming." Grimm said, feeling like it won't be easy to get to the Gate.
"What do you mean?" pepper asked, not quite understanding.
"It's usually quiet in the dungeon, believe it or not. So I'm sure he noticed that it became noisy." Grimm said, explaining a bit more.
"Ah, that makes more sense." pepper said, as they continued walking through the dungeon, passing cell after cell, they all had no more than four people inside, many weren't even human.
"The Gate is through these doors, it isn't just something we can walk to either, we'll have to work together." Grimm said, as opened the doors for Thirteen and pepper.
"Right." pepper said, as they all walked inside the room.
"So, what do we need to do exactly?" Thirteen asked, wanting to be a bit more prepared.
"You'll see when we get there." Grimm said, avoiding an explanation.
"Grimm?" A woman's voice called out.
"Huh?" Grimm said, as he directed his attention toward the voice.
"Grimm, is that you?" The voice spoke again.
"Mother?" Grimm asked, sounding confused.
"It is you, Grimm." Grimm's mother said, as she walked up to Grimm.
"You shouldn't be here, mother." Grimm said, wondering why she's here.
"You're one to talk, you know how furious your father is?" Grimm's mother said, not sounding very upset with Grimm.
"Well, I'm just helping my friends." Grimm said, defending his actions.
"I know, I don't mind what you're doing, but Hades surely will not forgive you." Grimm's mother said, hugging Grimm.
"Thank you, Mother, but we're short on time, so I can't stay and talk." Grimm said, as he walked past her. "Come on, guys." Grimm continued, calling for pepper and Thirteen.
pepper and Thirteen begin to follow Grimm, walking past Grimm's mother as they so. "Wait, Grimm." Grimm's mother said, asking Grimm to listen.
"Yes, Mother?" Grimm asked, as he turned around.
"My Mother tried her best to help me, so I'd like to do what she did and help my child." Grimm's mother said, looking at Grimm intensely. pepper took a good look at Grimm's mother, her hair was black and curley, her eyes were both green, she wore an outfit that definitely fit the Queen of the Underworld.
"Fine, if you wanna come then you can come too, besides you've been wanting to escape Father, haven't you?" Grimm asked, as he allowed her to accompany them.
"Yes, I miss the sun and the flowers on Earth!" Grimm's mother said, feeling happy that Grimm let her join.
"Earth is destroyed." pepper said, not feeling bad to shatter her hopes.
"What?" Grimm's mother asked, as she looked at pepper.
"I said, Earth is destroyed. Zeus destroyed it in his successful attempt to kill me." pepper said, repenting himself.
"Oh, you must be pepper. I'm Persephone, Grimm's Mother." Persephone said, introducing herself at an odd moment. "But I'm referring to the original Earth, the one that Gods used to rule over, that's the one I love." Persephone continued, explaining what she meant.
"I see... I didn't know they used to rule over the other Earth..." pepper said, mostly talking to himself.
"We don't have time to talk, we've gotta do this before my Father catches up." Grimm said, trying to get everyone to focus.
"Right." pepper said, as they all kept walking down the grimmstone hallway.