Six of Crows: To Hell and Back

Part Three Kaz

Kaz woke up in his best clothing on the floor of a casino. It was busy and loud and had everything a casino needed. Nothing out of the ordinary. Except everyone there was dead. He was shocked. It worked, the Afterlife was real. He stood up and dusted himself off. There was an ornate mirror with flecks of precious gems embedded in the glass. When he looked in the mirror he saw Inej crying. He grabbed his heart and sighed. He looked for a heartbeat and couldn't find one. He still has moved his hand around and finally he felt a beat. He exhaled in relief. He touched the mirror and spoke.

"I'm sorry Inej, he's here and I'm going to find him and bring him back." The vision of Inej seemed to move and calmed down. It was like a collection of portraits. It was slow and not fluid but it was happening in current time.

"What do you see?" Kaz turned around. The voice gasped. It was a young girl. She had long light blonde hair and light blue eyes. She had a long blue nightgown on and no shoes. She was Fjerdan. Her neck and legs were covered in burns.

"What?"

"You—!" She regained her composure. "Everyone sees what they love most in the mirror. What do you see?" Kaz scoffed. This was the afterlife. He couldn't trust anything.

"What is this place?"

"Welcome to AM's Casino, it used to be called The Afterlife Casino, but our leader has changed in the past two years. Now what do you see?"

"My family," the young girl smirked.

"How common." Kaz stretched his hands.

"Now," he paused, "who are you?" She rose her eyebrows.

"Birgit."

"Why are you here? I'm here for my friend." He altered his voice to make him sound almost cuddly. He put his hands and his knees and reached her level.

"Oh! You killed yourself! A Drüskelle killed me! But I work for Sasha! He's our new leader! He's very kind." She gave Kaz a suspicious look. "Why do you care?"

"I'm just learning," Kaz tried to smile but decided against it. Besides he was relatively upset that she thought he killed himself. "What is this place? It doesn't look cruel?"

"That's because it's not, it's a neutral place. A place where people can just exist. No need for food or air. It isn't cruel in nature. Although we do have rules. You must stay in a hotel room after closing time or risk Punishment. Sasha keeps the constant troublemakers as his friends. You have a home too," She seemed to look far into him. "Kaz Rietveld." Kaz gasped in surprise. Could she tell that he was close to life?

"I want to find my friend. You work for the leader, will you help me?" She nodded.

"That's my job!" She smiled. Her hair curled up immediately. "What's their name?" Kaz smiled.

"Matthias Helvar," her eyes widened.

"I—I can't it's— you—!" She disappeared in a flash.

"Shit," Kaz sighed. "I'm in trouble now," Kaz decided he should make sure he has a layout of the land. He examined himself. His neck had a scar and so did all the places Inej sliced him. Even though his voice was raspy he didn't need his cane. He was as capable as he was before his "death" just with full mobility. He had to get more knowledge about this plane. He looked for the person to be the most helpful. He spotted someone around his age scowling at the banner that displayed the name of the Casino.

He was sketching out lines on map paper. He was dressed like a soldier. He looked like he was torn apart. He had brown hair and brown eyes. He had pale skin that seemed to never see sun. His movements showed anger and resentment. Kaz was sure he would help him. Kaz pushed back his hair and strutted over to the soldier.