halo 'n horns [klance au]

1. Dear Ol' Dad

https://theprojectava.tumblr.com/post/172348938413/everything-black-in-a-nocturnal-state-of-mind

Keith

Let's get one thing straight. It's not like I wanted to go up to Earth. I like it down here, where the stalagmites and stalactites are adorned with crystals and it's nice and warm and I'm never bothered by anyone except my brothers and the Blade. And, I mean, Him too, but I could never say that He bothered me because He'd get offended.

The Greeks called him Hades, the Romans called him Pluto, and Satan is another one, but I just call him Dad. Or Father when he's angry. Which is a lot of the time, unsurprisingly. He controls everything down here- who comes, where they stay, if they deserve a good afterlife or a bad one. Well, Shiro and Kuron are really the ones to do that last one, but Dad does it too, when he has time.

The Afterlife really isn't that bad, from what I've seen. It's dark. And damp. But it doesn't feel like death, it doesn't smell or burn or any of the other myths that have been made up about it. Frankly, it's insulting when people associate bad things with the Afterlife. I mean, they're going there anyways, why make fun of it?

It smells earthy, like damp dirt, which is understandable because it's technically underground. Technically, though. There's a barrier of some type that prevents the living from ever discovering us and it's pretty much undisputed because no living person has ever come down here.

When you die, you just sort of appear here and then you're sorted into 'good' or 'bad' by Shiro and Kuron respectively. My brothers always tell me it's more difficult than I think and Shiro says, "Good people can do bad things and bad people can do good things." And then Kuron rolls his eyes.

I've never been in the actual Afterlife, where the dead stay beyond the Gates- Dad forbids it, but he's told my brothers and me that for the Good, it's endless entertainment, and for the Bad, it's endless boredom. Seems legit.

I was fiddling around with my pocketknife, a small one from Kolivan, when I heard Dad's voice in my head. "Wake up. Come to the Throne Room." I guess he expected me to be sleeping. I could sleep but I didn't need to- only when I was little or when I'd done something exerting. Other than that, I slept to pass time.

Regardless, I slipped out of my room and made my way through the maze of tunnels that led to the Throne Room, the path (and all others) memorized by heart. It took me only a few minutes to get down to the cavernous area Dad claimed as the Throne Room, and he was waiting for me there when I arrived.

Dad was lounging in his "throne"- today it was a paisley loveseat with gold-plated feet. His legs were crossed, arms folded. Dad could appear in any form he wanted to flawlessly, but I could only change my appearance so I was always jealous when he turned into an eagle or a bear or anything like that.

Normally, I kept to my natural form, which was surprisingly comical. A generic humanoid teenager with a leathery tail that ended in a spade and seemed to have a mind of its own, plus two small horns that protruded from the pale skin of my forehead.

Dad's massive black wings were folded neatly behind him- how he managed to put on a suit with them baffled me. "Father," I greeted in a low voice, bowing slightly. He flicked his hand, dismissing the formality, and beckoned me closer.

"Keith, you've never been to Earth, correct?" He asked. His accent was unidentifiable. His black eyes were trained on me, hair slicked back.

I nodded. What was this about? Dad chuckled and a glass of wine appeared in his hand out of nowhere. He regarded me over the lip of his crystal cup, then stood, beginning to pace. I waited nervously, trying to settle my tail as it flicked behind me.