With a snap of Lorelei's fingers, her scythe manifested in thin air. The girl looked down on her computer and typed something, before looking up again at her.
Within moments, the pearly gates of gold creaked and opened for the grim reaper, and the guards bowed towards Lorelei.
Before setting foot inside, she stared at the young girl.
"Where's Kayleen?"
"She's on temporary leave, ma'am."
There was a sound of a whirlwind just behind her, and the young girl craned her neck towards the sound.
"What do you mean on leave?"
"It's a private matter that I can't discuss, ma'am. If you may, please step inside."
There was another sound.
Lorelei shook her head. "Kayleen can't possibly be on leave. She guards the gates rain or shine, in sickness or in health! See, she's like wedded to the gates themselves, that overworked slave."
The little girl pursed her lips. There were a pair of footsteps behind Lorelei, and just as she was about to turn around, a heavy arm rested on her shoulders. Without missing a beat, Lorelei had the arm of the stranger in her grasp, squeezing with all her might. The stranger didn't budge and she looked around to see a familiar face plastered with scars.
God, how she hates that face.
"Samael."
The man smiled and looked down on Lorelei. "Long time no see, Ley."
Lorelei scoffed and let go of his hand, moving away from him as if repulsed by his presence. The man didn't stop smiling even when he talked, something that irritated Lorelei, "Well, I didn't expect to see you in a commotion just as you returned from earth, Ley," He chuckled and turned towards the temporary keeper of the gates. "Hello, Blair.
The young girl named Blair, bowed towards the obnoxiously tall Samael, in which he beamed even more. Lorelei rolled her eyes.
"The hell brings you here, Samael?"
"Didn't you notice? I mean, I expected you wouldn't, but it's nice to get surprised by you from time to time, isn't it?" He gestured for the other man behind him to come forward.
No surprise that Lorelei didn't notice the man, she admitted herself, but damn does it piss her off when other people say it as if she doesn't know it herself.
The man behind Samael came forward, albeit a bit frightened. He had black-rimmed glasses and his face was dotted with a large amount of freckles that were even more apparent with the light directly at him like he's on the spotlight.
"I brought a soul." Samael smiled.
"I didn't ask." Lorelei turned away from the two but just as she was about to walk towards the gates, Samael took ahold of her and moved his face near her that she could feel his hot breath at the back of her neck.
"Don't tell me you've come here empty handed again, have you?" Samael wrapped his arms around her shoulders and in her peripheral vision, she could see a hint of mockery in his eyes. "Try harder."
Lorelei felt a lump in her throat, but she stared at Samael and challenged him to a fake smile contest in which she was sure she'd lose, but it's better to be real than be a corporate ass-licker.
"I have all the time in the world." She said with the fakest smile she could muster.
"But they do not."
Lorelei scoffed at him and turned away, accepting her defeat for now. Before she could walk inside however, Samael called out to her. "Safe travels Ley!"
She rolled her eyes and imitated a gag expression as she entered the gates. She could hear Blair's tiny voice as she accommodated Samael with his soul.
"Welcome to the Afterworld, how may I help you?"
The scenery changed from a forest in the middle of nowhere to a bustling city that resembled Greece just as her foot took a step inside. From the outside, beyond the gates were just a continuation of the forest of where Lorelei first appeared.
Columns and columns of pearl and gold filled the streets, horses galloping as they bring carriages on their backs. The sound of chatter and laughter filled the air, as the bustling city of the afterlife went about on their daily business. However, Lorelei heed them no mind, the bustle of her environment only making her mood more sour. She walked, or stomped, towards the very center of the capital where a large clocktower stood, walking past familiar people on her way.
"Lorelei!"
"Hey Ley!"
"Back so soon, Ley?"
Lorelei smiled curtly at them, before continuing on her journey towards the clocktower. On the way, she spotted her favorite ice cream shop across the plaza and hurriedly bought a plain vanilla ice cream in a strawberry cone before crossing the road.
She walked towards the entrance of the plaza where a stocky man of European descent guarded it.
The man looked her up and down in a vexed expression before asking, "ID please?"
Lorelei fished for her ID in her pockets (thank god her skirt has pockets) and handed out a black card at the man, who grabbed it forcefully, receiving a shocked expression from Lorelei. Without another word in, he opened the gates and just like how he had received Lorelei's ID, she also did the same, forcefully taking back hers.
She side-eyed the man and went inside the plaza, noticing a familiar redhead sitting on a bench, reading a book.
"Amaia?" Lorelei shouted and the girl reading the book looked up surprised to hear someone calling for her. Once she saw Lorelei, her eyes widened and twinkled, and she rushed to her and engulfed Lorelei in a tight hug that could almost suffocate her.
"LEY! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN, I MISSED YOU!!"
"Ow, ow... A-Amaia, you're sq-squeezing me, ow!"
"Oh, sorry..." Amaia let go of her and Lorelei gasped for her breath. Amaia pursed her lips as she waited awkwardly for Lorelei to regain her composure. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see elderly reapers looking at them, and she flushed as bright as her hair.
"So what brings you here?" Amaia asked. "You didn't bring a soul with you so I guess you had an important meeting with the Cerberus?"
"The fuck is that?"
"Oh, you weren't here, right, I forgot to tell you..." Amaia replied sheepishly. "It's the new council name."
Lorelei thought for a moment before answering, "I'm here to see them."
"See them? For what?"
"Just a question. Nothing really of importance. Anyway, I have to go now Maia." Lorelei frowned. "Just write me a letter and I'll write one back! See ya!"
Amaia shouted a goodbye to her as Lorelei ran towards the clocktower, pressing the "C" button as she entered, which transported her instantly at the center of a large chamber with high glass ceilings. In front of her was a large table so high, where three people sat behind it, examining her down below.
Lorelei curtsied at them, and the first one spoke "Lorelei, nice to see you again."
The second amused. "How's the promotion going, little one?"
"Oh don't pressure her!" The third replied. This one was a woman. "To what do we owe a visit from you, darling?"
"I just have a question, a teeeeeensy little question." Lorelei smiled awkwardly.
"Speak." The first boomed.
Lorelei flushed in embarrassment before replying, "Grim Reapers aren't allowed to take lives themselves, right?"
The three nodded.
"So, uhm, can Grim Reapers influence it? Like they can help but it's of the humans's own act that will kill them."
"Ooh, they can indirectly, yes." The third smiled.
"I see. So what if, hypothetically..."
"Just a hypothetical question, Lorelei?" The first spoke.
Lorelei nodded. "What if I, a Grim Reaper, hurt someone from Earth?"
"Pardon?" The three asked in a chorus.
"Hurt someone but won't kill them, you know? And it's not the soul I'm gonna reap."
"To what is this question for?"
"Nothing..."
The first paused and stared at the other two. They were chattering for a moment with themselves before looking down at Lorelei.
"I see no problem with that."