Rogue Adventures - A Tale from Neverbeen Universe

7

The news came as a surprise to him, and it was not a pleasant surprise at all. Quickly he gathered his bearings and paced out of his office and down the corridor. Something needed to be done about the issue, and fast. First this ruckus in Hell, rumours that two Pandemoniae had crashed into each other, and now this!

Azrael hurried towards his colleague's and former mentor's office then knocked at the door and impatiently waited to be invited inside.

"Azrael-san," Thanatos greeted with a polite nod. Azrael could see he was knee-deep in paperwork of today's souls. Still he wanted the older Reaper's help; they had worked so well together during the past few incidents that he had automatically sought him out for his wisdom and calm readiness to help. "What is the matter?" Thanatos asked, slightly concerned. He had to have seen something in Azrael's eyes.

Azrael stepped closer and took a breath to calm his nerves. "Mister Vulture, something terrible has happened!" he exclaimed.

Thanatos blinked. "I see. So the Pandemoniae really have collided, just as Lucifer-dono informed us." He calmly rose from his seat.

"No. That's not it," Azrael shook his head, frustrated. "That was a false alarm. The Pandemoniae are still intact and rotating normally. Apparently, Mister Cerberos has been tricked."

"Tricked? Please, elaborate," Thanatos asked with a polite gesture.

"He has been tricked," Azrael repeated and explained, "so that the portal to Thisside was left unguarded. Mister Cerberos went to check on the allegedly collided Pandemoniae and inform Mister Morgenstern, which allowed the culprits to escape. They left the portal open! Undeads in the realm of the living, imagine that! We must hurry and catch them before they wreck havoc!"

Thanatos frowned slightly. "That, indeed, is concerning news. Do you have knowledge of the place where the portal has connection to Thisside? So we can trace them immediately."

Azrael sighed. It was a good thing, he had come to Thanatos. The older male was always a voice of reason and knew the right course of action when Azrael was on the verge of being at his wit's end. "Yes, thank you. Mister Cerberos resumed his position as gatekeeper, but left the portal open until he gets further instructions. We can go there and follow them."

Thanatos took a last sip of his coffee cup, fixed his tie and straightened his jacket, then joined Azrael, who felt much calmer now that his colleague was with him. Together they walked briskly out of the Reapers' Bureau and towards the portal to Thisside. The giant hellhound was sitting there in attendance, his ears sharp and alert. Azrael was sure none would pass Cerberos now. Thanatos asked him for further detail where the culprits went, but he didn't know and he wouldn't leave his guard again to help them track the escapists.

Azrael felt for him and understood his reluctance to abandon his primary duty again after being tricked. So the two Reapers left the Otherside on their own and looked around the site of the portal as it closed behind them. "Where could they have gone?" Azrael wondered and peered into either direction. He couldn't see anything extraordinary anywhere.

"I don't sense any unnaturally faster approaching deaths from the village nearby, so the probability is high that these gents have not ventured there," Thanatos informed.

Azrael nodded absentmindedly and wracked his brain over where he might have gone if he was an undead walking Thisside. He strained his eyes to see beyond the normal things and perceive the otherworldly. He was good at noticing such things, this was his strong suit. But right now it failed him. The only supernatural being he could sense with his eyes was his colleague Thanatos. Azrael clenched his eyes shut and rubbed at the closed lids. He sighed. "They are nowhere to be seen," he had to admit current defeat. His shoulders sagged and he felt he had disappointed the older Reaper.

"Please don't give up just yet, Azrael-san," Thanatos said. "Let's search the area. They only have about one and a half hour's margin, and we can travel faster than the speed of light." So they searched the perimeter of where the escapists could possibly have reached during this short time of freedom, provided they traveled at a reasonable average speed. And the longer it took without finding them the more Azrael worried. By the time the whole area was searched he almost despaired.

"This is impossible. They have to be somewhere. Either we haven't looked everywhere, which we have, or we calculated the distance wrong," he exclaimed.

"There is a third possibility," his former mentor stated. "If one of these gents is able to teleport, they can easily exceed the area we have examined."

Azrael almost threw his hands up in despair. "But that means they could be anywhere in Neverbeen Universe now!" Still Thanatos remained calm and collected, and this fact was the only thing that kept Azrael from freaking out. So in his despair he asked his colleague: "What do we do about it?"

Thanatos thought for a moment then answered: "If I may, I suggest we seek the counsel of an expert in detecting and capturing gents belonging to the Otherside."

At this point Azrael was grateful for any form of help, so gladly accepted. With a word and a blow, they returned to the Otherside to meet that expert Thanatos had in mind.