To Judge A Soul

Chapter 2

 Decim receded back behind his bar and stood in wait for his next guests. He received their memories, and then they appeared before him through the two elevator doors. They looked around in awe and confusion. There was a man and a woman together walking and murmuring in discomfort, until they saw Decim. They gasped slightly and Decim bowed.

"Right this way, please. Welcome to Quindecim. Have a seat." Decim smiled effortlessly, something only Chiyuki taught him to do. He glanced over and Chiyuki's dummy that was sitting patiently, waiting to assist with the judgments. However, she could never really help him again. She was gone, but her memory remained with him.

The man was wearing a full black suit with a red tie. The woman was wearing a light pink, pleated, mini skit. She was also wearing an off the shoulder maroon shirt that was held up by small straps. They walked to Decim over at the bar and sat down. Decim's smile remained as he said, "A pleasure to meet you. My name is Decim and I will be your bartender. You will most likely find this a strange questions, but I'm afraid I do have to ask it. Do you remember anything prior to your arrival here?" The man and woman looked at each other uneasily. The man finally answered first. "No, nothing."

"I think I remember driving somewhere..." The woman thought she might have remembered something, and this brought back slight remembrance for the man.

"Now that you mention it, I think I remember something like that too..." Decim nods and replies, "Yes, very good. Thank you for indulging me." He looks at them and the man looks back questioningly.

"Well, besides that, tell us about this place."

"One moment, please. I will now explain somethings about your situation. This is important. Please pay close attention." Decim glanced at Chiyuki's dummy once again and a pain shot through his heart. He shook his head and continued. "Number 1. I'm afraid I cannot provide you with any information regarding your current location. Number 2. Now that you are here, we shall have you play a game." The woman looked at Decim and asked, "I'm sorry, play a game?"

"Yes. Number 3. As for game selection, that will be determined by roulette." As Decim said this, a board dropped down behind him and he moved to the side.

"This, will determine what game you will be playing. The stakes of the game-" Decim stopped himself. He knew the rules, but he couldn't follow them knowing what his new goal is. He wanted every guest he had to look at life as though it was worth living. Forcing these people to do the games under the pretensions that they will die, would not help him accomplish that.

"Number 4. Don't worry, this is the final point. Until the game is completed, you cannot leave." He knowingly skipped the actual rule. Decim refused to give in to what he was supposed to do, over what was right. The woman looked at Decim with slight annoyance and shrieked. "Huh? Forget that. I'm out of here." She got up from the bar, and walked away. The man followed her as she stormed around looking for an exit. They finally gave up and returned to Decim at the bar when they could not locate the exit.

"You are not permitted to leave the bar until the game is completed, I am very sorry for the inconvenience." Decim bowed and the two guests sighed.

"Well, we don't have a choice then, do we? I would really like to speed this along so that we can leave." The woman nods her head in agreement and her orange hair ruffled against her shoulders.

"Thank you very much. Now, if I could have you press this button, please, then the game will be decided." Decim pulls out a box with a button on the top. The two looked at each other once more. The woman smiled at the man and said sheepishly, "Well, umm, it couldn't hurt, could it?" He chuckled slightly and smiled back. He replied, "I don't suppose so."