I don't really know the demons Dark hangs with in the demon realm, but after meeting Kobelle a few days ago I certainly recognized her. I was anything but happy to see her seeing as how she is the reason I didn't get to spend time with Dark the other night, but I tolerated her being in my home. "Your name is (y/n), isn't it?" she asked. "Yep." I replied, drying the dishes. She went dead quiet, and I continued to wash my dishes in the sink. "Um...Arioch...Dark...he's dead." I chuckled. "Dark has the gift of immortality." I replied. "How?" she asked. "If he didn't tell you, I won't tell you." I replied. "(Y/N), he entered a death match with Andromeda and lost..." her voice cracked. I stopped what I was doing and asked myself if that was logical. It seemed so. "Don't you care? I thought he was your best friend." "He is." I replied. "I just feel like this is some kind of unfunny joke." I felt her disappear from behind me. She returned moments later holding Dark's obviously dead body. I dropped my dish and it shattered on the floor. "Do you believe me now?" she asked. I stared at her while she held up Dark's stiff dead body. My breath escaped me and so did my words. Anyone but Dark. I'd take Mark dying before Dark. I couldn't bring myself to speak. I touched his body, and it was colder than usual. I looked at Kobelle and then disappeared into my room, trying to comprehend that my best friend, arguably the most powerful and unique demon in history is dead. Kobelle came into my room, thankfully without Dark's corpse. "He's gotta come back."I said, tearfully. "He's my best friend, we were supposed to live together forever. He made me immortal." Kobelle stayed quiet. "This has to be a joke. He's alive." I insisted, wiping my eyes. "He's gone, hon. Forever." Anger flooded me. "No he's not! If you think he's dead, you're a fool! He's coming back...you'll see!" she looked saddened. "I saw him die. I saw the whole thing. Andromeda just...killed him instantly. He'll have a replacement soon." "I don't want a replacement! I want MY Dark!" I'm sure I sounded like a toddler throwing a tantrum, but I didn't care. "I don't either, but he lost the death match. He's dead." I sniffled. "Bring me his mom." Kobelle raised an eyebrow. "Who?" she asked. "His mom, Lilith. She can fix this mess." "I have no idea who she is, but Dark doesn't have a mom. None of us do." "He does. He's different. I swear it's true, and I can prove it." I said, getting up. "Come with me." I said. "Where are we going?" "To his place." I heard Kobelle sloppily attempting to snap her fingers. "Hold on, I'll get us there. I'm still getting used to this whole demonic powers thing." I waited impatiently until she delivered on her promise. We stepped through the portal and were in Dark's living room. "Wait here." I said. I rummaged around under Dark's bed until I found his photo album. I blew the dust off of it and took it to Kobelle. She flipped through the pages, making a wide variety of confused and shocked faces. "What is this?" "His life." I replied. She looked at me. "I wasn't supposed to tell anyone, but this is an emergency." I said. "Don't share this information with anyone." She swore she wouldn't. "This is crazy." she remarked, handing the book back. "But I'm afraid it changes nothing, (y/n)." I stared at her unchanging face until I broke down and wept, realizing she was serious. Nothing could bring him back.
DARK
I groaned a bit and let my eyes adjust to the darkness. Great, what kind of fucked up bullshit did I get myself into? I have no idea where I am. I don't even remember how I got to wherever I am. Either I got super shitfaced or I knocked my head on something pretty hard. I clumsily got to my feet and started walking toward a dimly lit room. My steps echoed loudly and I felt on edge. Whatever this place is, it's creepy...even by demon standards. I can't remember the last time a place has made me feel so uncomfortable. I entered the room and was greeted by a very tall, well built being. "Hello. I've been waiting on you, Arioch." he said. "And you are?" I asked. "Anubis. I oversee dead demons. There aren't too many of you." I raised an eyebrow. "I'm not dead." I said. He laughed. "You are most certainly dead. I don't deal with the living, Arioch. Sign here." he said. A clipboard and pen floated to me. "What is this?" I asked. "It's just a form acknowledging that you understand you're dead." "Sorry, but I don't acknowledge that I'm dead, Anubis." I said, pushing the clipboard and pen away. Anubis sighed. "Do I really have to prove to you that you're dead?" I nodded. He grumbled something about not getting paid enough to deal with shit. "Fine then. Follow me." I followed him and he sat me down and made me watch Andromeda kill me. I must've watched the tape a billion times before it hit me. "I'm sorry, but I can't tolerate being dead." Anubis laughed. "It's not a matter of tolerating it, it's a matter of facts. The facts are you're dead, and you need to sign that form so I don't get my ass reamed by the big boss." "The big boss?" I asked. "Yeah. I used to be the big boss, but...I stepped down. Now I just prep dead demons to be judged. I took a big cut in pay, a big cut in attention, I don't have a nice office anymore, I-" "Okay, I get it. Someone stole your shine. Shit happens." I said, cutting him off. Anubis just looked at me. "Alright, sign the form, Arioch." "And if I don't?" "Then I'll get my ass chewed, and when you get judged, it'll count against you." I rolled my eyes and signed the form. "Thank you." he replied. "Now let's take a look at that file of yours." he said, opening a filing cabinet. "Arioch Asmodeus. Two names? What's the occasion?" "I'm just a bit different." "I see that." he replied, reading through my files. "Immortal?" he asked, looking at me. "That has to be a mistake." "It's not..." I replied. Anubis furrowed his brow. "Ah, I see here. You entered a death match and lost. How unfortunate." he said. I didn't respond. "I've never seen an immortal demon here before...and I never thought I would. You've added yet another accomplishment to your rather impressive track record." "Great, another gold star for Arioch. Now send me home, this is no place for me." "If by home you mean back to your old life, I'm afraid I can't send you back. Death is permanent. This isn't where you're going to be though. You'll either be punished or rewarded. Osiris will take care of that. Come on, he doesn't like to be kept waiting." I reluctantly followed Anubis to Osiris, another well built tall man. Anubis handed my file over to Osiris who read through it carefully, looking up at me now and again. "Looks like you lived quite the life. You're half good and half evil. Half of your life has been spent carelessly fucking strangers, manipulating, mistreating people and demons alike,being selfish, and showing little emotion where it was due. The other half consists of great sacrifices, a strong pursuit of justice...and love. Bits and pieces of love." he stared at me. "How did you come to the afterlife?" "Death match." I replied. "Tell me more." I explained the story of Andromeda and Kobelle and he grew troubled. "You used the feelings of someone who is in love with you to lift a curse. That's dangerous behavior. But...you saved the one who cursed you. That's noble. You're a mixed bag, and honestly, I'm not sure what to do with you." "Send me back." "Death is the final frontier. Seriously, it's not fucking space, it's death. This is it. The end." I refused to believe that. "I like deals, Osiris...you too, Anubis. How about we make one? Don't tell me there's NO way you could send me back. We all know that's bullshit. Sending me back is against the rules...it's immoral or something. Everyone's morality and/or willingness to follow rules and such has a price. What's yours?" Neither of them spoke. "I don't like what you're implying." Osiris said. "Implying? I stated a fact. My price is simple: impress me. If a being doesn't impress me, they don't stay in my life. I might fuck them for a bit when I'm bored, but they're not a permanent fixture. I am totally indifferent to them." "K, you're not making a good case for yourself, Arioch." Osiris said. "I'm getting tempted to punish you instead of reward you. Sounds like you're promoting stirring up emotions for the sake of doing so. That's considered evil." I snorted. "Look, Osiris. I'm fucking shallow. Wanna know how deep I am? Turn me sideways and slap a ruler against my side. I am almost always indifferent to other beings because I'm a selfish, self important, perverted, opportunistic, manipulative bastard. I am all about me, myself, and I...but you can't deny, those who've impressed me have been protected from everything and well cared for. Without me, they'll be fucked...and I'll be fucked without them. I have to go back...name your price." Osiris and Anubis shared a look. "We see your argument, Arioch, and this is a bit unconventional...but if you can battle your way through the underworld, unassisted by your demonic powers, we'll send you home...but you can never enter another death match again no matter what...because if you come back, you will not be given another chance. You also have just 48 hours to do this, and you have a lot of ground to cover. " "Deal." I said, extending my hand. "Are you sure? You will basically be a human here. No teleporting, no healing your injuries, you'll need to eat and drink and we won't provide food or water, you'll be subjected to monsters who guard this place...challenges, both physical and mental...you will have so much to do and so little time to do it." "Look I'm not giving up my chance to get out of dodge." "If I rewarded you in the afterlife, you'd live like a king." I cracked up. "I was a king once in the demon realm. Did not go well..." "If you're sure, shake on it." Osiris said. I shook his hand. "Best of luck to you, Arioch. Your challenge begins now." I faced my personal hell with a smirk on my face. "See you in an hour."I said, walking off into it.
