Heaven and Hell

TWENTY-SEVEN

G U E S T S

———

THE SKY CRACKLED. A bolt of lightning slashed across the skies before the thunder clouds rolled in. The heavens darkened into an ominous purple-tinted gray.

Seated by the windowsill, Dimitri watched with silent interest as the first drops of rain fell. The sky echoed Dimitri's feelings rather well and it seemed as though they were both in tune. Earlier in the day, Dimitri had written down more entries on his little notebook. There were more deaths in the mortal realm and more people rejected from the gates of Heaven.

That meant that more souls would be arriving soon.

A knock came from the bedroom door, capturing Dimitri's attention and forcing him to turn. With a wave of his hand, the shut door opened itself. Such a little trick took Dimitri days to learn but it progressed enough. Training in the Heart of Hell certainly proved useful in enhancing Dimitri's innate magic abilities.

Fabian stood outside the door, a fist in mid-air and eyebrows high. His eyes were trained on the self-opening door, a smile threatening to burst from his lips.

"You've finally mastered the trick," he mused, gesturing to the door as he took a step in. "You wanted to see me?"

With another flick of his fingers, the notebook that was on Dimitri's writing desk soared over to Fabian as the latter reached out to grab it. Without turning away from the droplets that raced down the glass windows, Dimitri sighed.

"There are more dead. Lucifer left for Paradise again for who knows what. Calvin and I will stay here to search for more spellbooks to learn. I will have to trouble you and Wilhelm to fetch these new souls to the village."

"Might as well," Fabian flipped through the pages of the books, briefly glancing at the vastly different faces that were drawn. His hands stopped at one page, fingers holding the edge of the parchment but unable to move past it. "I need to check on the village, anyway. Wilhelm taught them a few fighting tricks a while back and it's time to track their progress."

The notebook felt rather heavy in Fabian's hands but he quickly realized why. With each passing day, more and more entries filled the once-blank pages. As the years rolled by and the lunar cycles bled unceasingly, more and more people were dead. All of this, the burdens and horrors of having to remember each and every soul that had ever lived, was something his dear brother had to bear alone. All he could do was stand there and watch, offering a hand that Dimitri could not take.

Dimitri must have noticed Fabian's sour expression because he laughed, a short burst of a chuckle that held amusement merrily. "What's with that look on your face?" He asked.

"If you ever need any help—"

"Nah." The spirit of death waved a hand in dismissal. "What is there to help? I like doing this. Taking care of the dead helps me to pass this never-ending cycle of time much more easily."

Pulling his knees close to his chest, Dimitri rested a hand on one knee. His eyes were torn away from the racing droplets of rainwater to muse at Fabian's needless worry but now that silence filled the air once more, he couldn't help but turn back. He needed something, anything, to help the time pass by.

"It's hilarious how although I still breathe, it seems as though I've already long died and returned into the hands of our maker," he murmured to himself, his warm breath causing the glass panels of the window to fog up for just a second before fading away. "Death is cruel to some, it seems."

Fabian's lips parted. He wanted to say something that could help console Dimitri. However, no matter how hard he searched, he could not seem to find the proper string of words to say.