DIMENSION: RED ORIGIN DIMENSION (AKA HELL)
"Judgment will not come back." The stranger sighed. "You will be stuck here, forever. We will not re-evaluate again."
"No." I looked toward Mister Umbrella. "You can't stay here! Are you nuts?" I tapped on the side of his head. "Thank you for coming down, and trying, but I've . . .always been a lost cause." I could feel tears well up in my eyes, but I would not let them fall. Not in front of him. "Go."
"It doesn't make sense." Mister Umbrella uncharacteristically grabbed the stranger roughly. "She needs to be human again, she needs to go back! What, does no one care about the apocalypse? We can't both be from the red dimension. One day, we are supposed to be together to end the apocalypse."
"There is no apocalypse."
"Not yet, but leave Jewelsy here, and I guarantee something will happen."
"No more excuses. The third plane has spoken." The stranger tried to pull himself away. "Now, whether you are on red or blue, you're still a selective seer. Your theory would not even matter if she came back." He held his briefcase tightly. "The seers of the third plane do not make mistakes. She stays, you go."
"I will stay."
"Mister Umbrella!" I shouted at him again. I wanted to ring his neck, what was he trying to prove? "You did what you could. Staying here will not help."
"This is not your decision, Julie Mars." Mister Umbrella turned his attention almost in a glare. "I told you once, I am not a genie. I would rather live in hell than live with regret. My decision." He let go of the stranger and threw the ripped pieces of paper toward him. "No deal."
The stranger shook his head and faded away.
"You can't go back if you stay!" I shouted. "Stop this, and go back!" I was on the verge of really losing it. I didn't want to drag down Umbrella, I didn't. I caused enough pain for the funny man. For my old friend.
"The end will be around the corner." Mister Umbrella smiled at me. "There is no place I would rather be."
I bit my lip in frustration, but they still felt like I shoved them in hot coals.
"You are touching your lips again." He turned me gently to face him. "Are you okay?"
I sucked my lip. "I'll be okay." I felt him stroke my lips tenderly.
"He singed them. His darkness is so evil. I'm sorry." He blew on them. "They'll be better one day."
"Can I put band-aids on them?" I tried to joke. I was still upset by the fact he didn't leave, and that we could never leave. This was our life now. His breath had helped when he blew on them, but they were still painful. Like a habanero burn that wouldn't leave my lips, they only seemed to get hotter. Mister Umbrella blew on my lips again. It reminded me of a cold, spring breeze. I wished though, that the effect would stay.
"I am stuck here, but I should have a little left over magic. Close your eyes, Jewelsy."
I closed my eyes. I felt a small brushing against my right lip. I shuddered. The feeling was not a toxic heat, but a cool kind of warmth. It was more than a spring breeze, and it was slightly moist. Oh, I had wished it were moister. When the coolness left, my right side felt better. Now, I could feel all the heat on the left. As I wished the same thing would happen. I felt relief come to the left side. Still, I wanted more. I opened my eyes, catching mine with his.
He was surprised, let go slightly and leaned on his side. He forgot he didn't have an umbrella and stumbled. "Habits die hard." He went to adjust his tie, but it was non-existent. "Very hard." He coughed. "Better?" His voice almost squeaked.
I touched my lips with my tongue. The burn was gone. "Much. Thank you." Thank you. He kissed me to make the pain leave, what was I supposed to say? I couldn't slap him because, well, I didn't want to. I couldn't grab him and kiss him back, although my odd mind really wanted to do that.
This was Mister Umbrella in the Sky! This wasn't a crush in school. "How did. . ." I really didn't want to have to ask, but I doubted someone who hung out with kids had the faintest idea about real relationships. "How did they see the soul mate kid apocalypse thing?"
"How did they see the soul mate kid apocalypse thing? Oh." He rubbed his head, since I suppose he couldn't fix his tie anymore. "There are levels of different planes. You can think of what the average human can see as level one, and what selective seers are on as level two. Some seers are granted extra power to see the third level. That third lets them see what could happen in the future." He gestured between us. "The Boogeyman could see it, as well as the highest Superiors I suppose."
"Okay." With that question answered, I didn't know what else to ask. The selective seers hell is what I had always imagined real hell had been like. I wonder if this was the same in the afterlife? The thought gave me chills. Stuck here for eternity.
We walked and talked with Boogeyman now behind us. I kept hearing a warning after warning about how I had to stay in good spirits. I had not had to think positive in years about myself, but now I had no choice. If I didn't think positive, I would be changed into those demon-like seers.
"Wait." Mister Umbrella stopped and let go of my hand for a brief second. "I want you to see something from our new home. Even in darkness, beauty exists." He reached down and grabbed something I had not seen before. It was a fiery rose. Its petals glittered in the darkness, almost like it had been on fire itself. "The fire rose. The red dimension has been trying to keep these out for years. They are like weeds to this place, unloved and unwanted." He handed it to me. "If they can survive, we can."
I took the flower and gave it a light sniff. I expected sulfur but there was a passionate aroma, a combination of jalapeno and strawberries mixed together. Intoxicating. We held hands and crossed the beach of the lava sea. If the lava had been water, and the flower had been a real rose. . .
We were having a romantic date in hell. I looked toward Mister Umbrella but he didn't seem to catch it or understand it. How could I fall for someone like him? He was so annoying, especially the way he talked. But, well, maybe it wasn't as annoying as I thought.