Creak~
The wooden double doors opened synchronously, showing me the inside of the guild hall. Wooden tables and chairs were situated throughout the floor with people taking up some of the seats, their beers on the tables. The smell of alcohol and sweat was a familiar smell, one that used to bring good memories. And that moist feeling in the air... it was horrifying.
I walked forward, each footstep heavier than the last as the whisperings of others infiltrated my ears.
"What's this kid doing here? He got a death wish?"
"Dude, be quiet. He might hear you."
"What do you mean? Why should I care about that?"
"Don't you see his eyes?"
"Hm? Crimson eyes? You don't think he's a demon do you?"
"Of course I do, nothing else has eyes of that shade. He might just gobble up your soul if you aren't careful."
"Yea, yea, very funny. I'm more worried about my body being gobbled up. I heard they eat humans regularly."
"Well, I actually saw one..."
Whispers of such a type were audible throughout the entire tavern as I walked forward, lifelessly. I used to find these whispers disheartening, but now I didn't have the ability to. I don't even know why I walked forward anymore. Would it be so bad for me to die as well? Maybe I should just... I did hear there was a pack of star wolves nearby... so maybe after this, I should seek them out.
I went up to the front counter, and the lady there shuddered as she met my eyes for a moment. She ended up finding the countertop more interesting than my eyes and said, "What can I do for you?"
I opened my mouth before hesitating. It has been a while since I last talked, so could I even do it anymore?... I guess here goes nothing, "I... I would like to... disband my party."
My voice was rough and coarse. It was the voice one had after intensively crying for a while. But it still got the message across.
"Ok, then I'll need your adventurer's slate."
I took out the slate of rock in the bag attached to my hip and handed it over to her. She took it from my hand before going back into another room somewhere. It was then that the whisperings continued.
"Wonder what happened there, maybe his party was wiped out?"
"Or maybe he wiped out his party. Demons are vicious creatures."
"Yea, maybe there was some dispute about splitting the reward of a quest, and one thing led to another..."
"Here you go." The lady returned with my slate in her hands and now the party I used to be in was no more. I put the slate back into my bag before walking over to a table and taking a seat. I looked forward despondently as I tuned out others' whispers and glances. The only thing I could hear was the screams of my party members.
I could still feel the wind passing through my open wounds as I watched my friends have their limbs ripped apart. I could still see the orcs dancing under the rain of blood, guts, and pain-filled yells. But... the ones who only were tortured a little were the lucky ones. It was the females who really suffered.
A shiver went down my spine as I recalled all that I saw and heard. It was horrible. I shouldn't even be alive right now.
I hid my head in my arms on the table as I tried to forget. No matter how hard I tried though, the screams always prevailed. They wouldn't leave me alone. I felt sick to my stomach. I couldn't live like this. I shouldn't be living in the first place. I should just die. Tonight. Tonight I'll end it. I'm done living in this world. There is no point. All the people I loved are gone. All the people that loved me are gone. And now all I'm left with are paining memories and these detestable crimson eyes.
I could feel my body shivering as the feeling of mutilated bodies being tossed on top of me came back. The look on their faces, and the pained moans I heard before. It was obvious what the orcs did to my friends. What they did to my mom. What they did to my sister.
Hyperventilation took over as more memories attacked me. My dad being forced to watch. My best friend being slowly crushed to death in front of me. My powerless state, unable to do anything as I lay under the pile of my friends of family's dead bodies.
I am weak. I am horrible. Yet I'm alive. I shouldn't be. I'll fix that though. I'm done living with pain in every movement. There is no point to go one any longer. I'm going to kill myself-
"Hey, are you ok?"
I felt a hand being placed on my shoulder as a voice, seemingly coming from the heavens, slid into my ears with ease. I took my head out of my arms and took a good look at the person in front of me. Her face looked to be sculpted by the Gods, not a single deformity to be seen. But her healthy pink face was only an accessory compared to her eyes. Her eyes were a gorgeous sapphire blue, so clear that I could see my own disheveled face in their reflection. My eyes then followed down her waist-long golden blonde hair, observing the rest of her body. I was able to tell, even through the concealing plate amour she wore, that she had an amazing figure.
I was stunned, but only for a moment. I've seen beautiful women before... and... well... it only ends up bad when humanoid monsters get ahold of you. But what was it that she said again? She's asking me if I'm ok? What a dumb question. Of course I'm not ok. So instead of entertaining such an idiotic question, I just went back into my earlier position to drown in my sorrows. There was no point in trying anymore. So I just won't try.
"Hey! Despite that hideous eye color of yours, Hato still tried to be nice to you! The least you could do is say something!"
I brought my head up once again and got a good look at who said this. She had short brown hair, brown eyes, a face for sure, and obviously also a body. I didn't care to examine her as much as the blonde, instead just replying, "That's weird. I don't recall ever asking you to come up to me, nor do I recall asking for pity. Get lost-"
Bang!
Suddenly a fist flew into the side of my face, sending me out of my chair and onto the ground. Before I was able to get back up though, the short-haired brat straddled me and restricted my limbs from doing anything. The first punch, then the seconds, the third, the fourth, and the fifth. I didn't want to just be beaten so I tried to find an opportunity, and eventually, I did. Her punch was a little too close to my mouth and I bit onto her fist. My jaw locked onto her hand, as hard as it could. I heard her scream in pain as she quickly retracted her now bloodied hand. But I wasn't done yet. I used the blood in my mouth and sprayed it into her face.
With the mix of pain and blinding, she wasn't able to stop me from prying my hands out of under her. With two hands to my name, I was able to punch her right in the nose. She was sent back a bit and I got back onto my two legs. I breathed intensely as the amazing feeling of adrenalin from the fight flowed throughout my body. As useful as this feeling was, it was still something of a curse to me. I despised it. Because it was this feeling that let me be the sole survivor of my village being wiped out.
The short-tempered girl got onto her feet and looked at me while gritting her teeth in anger. She was about to pounce at me again when the same heavenly voice shouted at her, "Koromi! What are you doing?!"
Her hot-blooded face suddenly cooled down as she heard these words, and she tried to explain herself, "Well, I mean, Hato... He was just, so rude... not to mention those eyes..."
"Koromi!!! Do you think you would be nice to every person who approaches you after your entire party was killed?! And you know that whole eye thing is a superstition because of some stupid folk tale!"
Koromi got a lot more timid suddenly, and instead of responding just stayed silent while looking at the ground. That bloodthirsty feeling of mine finally calmed down as I turned around to look at the angle without wings. She slowly walked up to me and calmly said, "I'm sorry for my friend. She is still young and has been growing arrogant because of her strength recently. Do you mind sitting with me? I can buy you a drink."
She smiled beautifully as she said this. A smile that slightly exposed dimples in her cheeks, but they only accentuated the blinding glow her smile gave off. The smile was the first thing that made me momentarily forget about that night, though only for a moment.
It was a smile that made me think, 'Maybe there is something worth living for after all.'
___________________________________________________________________________
"Wake up boy."
I was brought to consciousness with an aching head. I tried to rub my head to lessen the pain, but it only increased as my long, dense, sharp nails scratched against my skull.
Wait, what?
I looked at my hands and they held those familiar nails along with pitch-black skin. I then looked around my body some more. Goat hooves for feet, sharp teeth, 8 feet tall, an extremely muscular build, horns on my head, and devilish crimson eyes. It was in my previous form, the form of the Demon King. But how?
It was then that I took the liberty to look at my surroundings. Around me were marble pillars that held up the curved marble ceiling. The ground was likewise marble, but beneath me was a long red carpet that extended so far behind me, I couldn't see the end. I then looked to see where the other end of the carpet led, and I was stunned beyond belief. It went up a small set of stairs and stopped before the large ebony throne. But that wasn't what had me so surprised. It was what sat on the throne and what lay next to it.
On the throne was a human-looking man who was just a little larger than me. He was wearing a mystical-looking red and orange exomis and had an orange flower-esk crown on his head. His hair was black and short, and his facial hair wasn't much different with an unkempt black Garibaldi beard. His eyebrows were in an infinitely down-casting scowl as he stared at me with his crimson-red eyes. And while his figure was a bit familiar, it was the dog next to him that gave away his identity. With the dog's large figure, three different heads, and snake tail, it was obvious where I found myself.
I quickly shook off my nerves and looked the man dead in the eyes and said, "I assume... this is the underworld?"
Keeping his uninterested aura, he answered, "Yes, it is."
Trying to push the conversation along, I continued, "And... you are Hades?"
"That I am."
Well, this was strange. Hades was a figure in the Jungle Region's Mythology who was said to control the underworld. I never thought it was true though. But I guess since I died and am here, then it has to be true. But I know for a fact that any soul that gets placed in the underworld won't have an immediate audience with Hades. So why was I here?
I decided it would be best to just ask Hades, I was already dead so what does it matter if I make him a bit annoyed?
"Then I guess I should ask, why am I here?"
He finally put some input into the conversation and replied, "I wanted to get a closer look at you, that's all. I heard from Persephone you were some bigshot Demon King in a sub-world. And now that you made your way to the real world, I wanted to check you out. You do show promise after all."
This made me extremely confused. Hades was something similar to a God, so I have no idea why he would be so interested in me. And what was it he meant by sub-worlds? I might as well ask.
"What do you mean by sub-world?"
"Well," he tapped his clipped nails against the arm of his throne and continued, "A sub-world is a world created by a person from the main world. There are many sub-worlds, worlds that are all connected to the main world in some way. Whether it be in a living person or an object left by the original creator, it has some connection to the main world. Think of it as a tree. The main world in the trunk and the sub-world are branches extending off of the trunk. What makes this interesting though is how you escaped your sub-world to the main one."
This only made me more interested, so to try to make him continue I replied, "Does that not happen often?"
"Absolutely not. In fact, I've only seen it happen two other times. But those two individuals had the permission of their creator to leave, so you are a very special case."
I soaked in his answers and looked around aimlessly for a moment before straitening my dead eyes on Hades once again and emotionlessly, "Ok, are we done now?"
It wasn't that I was ungrateful to have some of my questions answered, it was just that I didn't really have much use for such knowledge. I was dead after all. There was no more point.
Hades looked at me with a twinkle of confusion in his originally lifeless eyes as he spoke, "Do you not wish to know more?"
I just chuckled a little, "Why should I care to know more? This is the end of the line for me. I'm dead."
Hades looked at me and gave a huff of his own before responding, "You're dead? Come on now. There is no way my son could die so easily."
I blinked a couple of times, "What?"
And suddenly, I lost consciousness.