Arrivederci 🔪

VII

Three Weeks Later

Prudence woke up. She woke up in a place that wasn't known to be existing on Earth. "Stand," a strange voice echoed in her ears. Panting and gasping, she stood up. There was a tall man standing in front of her with two sleeping guards surrounding her. "Welcome to the Afterlife For Those Who Took Their Own Life," said the man, "now bow to me. No backtalk allowed,"

Prudence bowed. She thought this man was a real king. "Who are you?" she whispered.

"I am Titus Volucius from Rome. Back in the year 476, I died. I threw myself off of a rocky mountain. I did not want to watch my family, friends, and acquaintances perish and my country to fall and never exist again...I knew it was the end. And after I died, I came here. Iry Turgunu was the king of this place before me. He couldn't rule anymore, he was so old. So he got on a boat that took him to his Next Life, and my turn is next. I'm just waiting for someone proper to come and take my place so that I can move on to my Next Life. For 1539 years I have been waiting, and still, nobody who is ready has come to rule this kingdom. However, I came up with a plan. Little by little I started freezing cities around this world to such a low temperature that not a single living thing would survive. San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Las Vegas are gone. They don't exist anymore. Some people ended up killing themselves because they thought that it was the end of the world. Just like me, they did not want to watch their loved ones die and their homes fall. Those who died by suicide have come here and I will choose a king eventually. I just have another destination point to destroy: Naples, Italy. Maybe I can find a good ruler there. My home country..."

Prudence: "You can't kill Naples!! My brother lives there!!"

Titus: "Oh! Your brother! I'm so sorry, but I can't change that now...I already sent Riel-ne to freeze that city, and I cannot prevent him from doing it. It's impossible,"

Riel-ne was a half snake half parrot that had the ability to drop the temperature of anything as low as negative two hundred seventy degrees Celsius (negative four hundred fifty-four Fahrenheit). Titus sent this creature to destroy the city, however, once Riel-ne left the business grounds, there was no turning back. It was impossible to prevent the creature from doing his job.

"You can't kill my brother!!" wailed Prudence, grabbing on Titus' transparent leg.

Titus thought for a minute. He didn't want Prudence to get upset. Eventually, he came up with a plan: "There is only one way of preventing him. However, if I tell you, you must do it. Would you like to know?"

Prudence calmed down a bit. "Is it challenging?"

-"In order to avert Riel-ne, your goal is to eliminate him,"

The girl backed away. "Kill him?! I can't do it!!"

-"Hold it! I'll give you instructions if you want to save your brother from freezing to death,"

Prudence agreed to listen.

Titus: "You will be released back into the real world, however, you won't be visible to anybody. The only people you will be visible to are your brothers and Riel-ne. Your body will be transparent, you'll be able to go through walls, street signs, and people. Once you appear back in the real world, you are required to secretly release your brother Frederick from prison because you'll need his help on the mission. Your next step is to get to Manhattan as quickly as possible. You and Fred will arrive at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport directly at one thirty a.m on a taxi. Your brother's and your goal is to climb on top of a black airplane that will fly to New York. There is a secret entrance in the back of the plane, and before it takes off, you two will enter the plane and hide. Once passengers start taking their seat, take a seat in the very back of the vehicle, because those are the only seats that will be available that flight. Once you get to New York, make your way to Central Park. There, you will encounter a billionaire that will give further instructions,"

Prudence was frightened: what if she wouldn't make it? Nevertheless, she loved her brother. He was the only person that truly loved her, he was her best friend when she was alive. "Prudence?" Titus conquered, "is this a deal or no? Either you risk, or Naples will vanish for good," he held up his hand for Prudence to shake. The girl squeezed her eyes shut, and very slowly...

She grabbed Titus' hand.

"Perfect. One thing to remember, Prudence. You have five days to complete the mission. When the countdown is over and if Riel-ne won't be dead, Naples is gone, both of your brothers will perish, and your soul will be eaten by Riel-ne, which means you'll disappear forever. You will never go on to your Next Life if you fail,"

-"I'm ready,"

Titus put his hands up in the air, as Prudence started getting struck by lightning. "Good luck," the spirit whispered. Seconds later, the girl was gone.

Titus then walked upstairs and began to watch Prudence from a screen. "I'm going to watch her and speak to her. She will hear my voice in her brain," he turned the screen on and just stood there, watching Prudence begin her mission.