The Tales Of The Troublesome Three

Jake and James

"So," Alaya averted her eyes and looks at the pod door. "How are we gonna get down?" Hugo sighed, frustrated. "You threw our ride down this pit of hell." Alaya opened the pod door and looked down.

"The pods arent spaced too far. We could just jump down." Hugo bursted. "Easy for you to say, Ms. Long Legs! I'm 2 feet tall, you unreasonable twat!"

He was right, the pods were fairly spaced out, though Alaya could easily swing from pod to pod. "Hugo, you have a flying bird." Alaya deadpanned. "Besides, we'd have more pods to knock on on the way down.

Hugo begrudgingly agrees and hops on Feta. (Ps. Arthur is left at the bottom alone since he's too large.) "Hold up. What about Matthew and I?"

"Actually," Matthew scrambles around in a small chest, located in the corner of the pod. He pulls out a set of angel wings. "When i was still in heaven, my wife gave me a gift. This was originally the angel wing she made for the church's christmas play." Matt wears the wings and levitates above the ground.

"It apperantly works when you're dead!" Matthew sits back down. "I use this thing for when i'm bored or just want to venture out." The party inspects and hover over the wings in awe.

"When you're up in the air, you could see anything. You could see the thousands of pods, the portal, t-" Alaya cuts him off. "Portal? What portal?"

"You know, the portal you came from. It's been there for years. Mortals can enter and exit but souls cant." The party look at each other in confusion.

"Wait. Did you.. open a wild portal?" Matthew asks, his eyes wide. "Y-yes?" Alaya says, coming out more of a question than an answer.

Matthew's jaws drop. "Do you know what risks you took in order to open that portal?? You could've ended many gadgets and devices by opening this portal!"

"We very well know." Alaya deadpanned. "The risks are better than letting a tarrasque loose." Alaya says as she opens the pod door. "Come on, we dont have much time."

Alaya hangs of the edge of the door. Matthew wears his wings and flutter about with Tom on his back. Hugo jumps on Feta.

Alaya jumps to the closest pod, barely making it, making the rest cringe. "Should we knock on this door?"

"That's Bobby the drunkard. He i-"

"Next!" Alaya jumps to the next pod. "That's Steve. He-"

"Next." She juped to the next pod. "I have'nt told you about steve yet." Alaya shrugged. "Felt like he was a boring guy." Alaya sat down and huffed.

"We didn't even go that far." Hugo says. "Easy for you to say," Alaya smirks, mimicking Hugo. "You can fly."

"Touché." Hugo spat.

"Anyways, this place is for people who had a complaint from heaven or hell or who were simply forgotten." Alaya says laying down on the pod.

"WHAT THE F*CK?? JIMMY, THE SUN'S FALLING!" A voice was heard from inside the pod. That made Alaya sit back up and hold her breath for a second. "NEVERMIND. WE LIVE ANOTHER DAY!" The same voice says.

"Don, we're already dead." A different, calmer voice responds. "Checkmate."

"GOD DAMNIT!"

The party along with Matthew jump to the next pod. Once they reached there, they all burst into laughter. Once they calmed down, it was then they realised that the pod they were sitting in was larger than any other pod they've encountered.

A head pops out of the pod door. He wore a huge smile and had dimples and freckles splattered all across his face. His hair was a dirty blonde.

"Excuse me, do you need anything?" He says. "Would you like to come in?" He says, keeping his smile. "Actually, we were about to knock." The man smiled and helped them in. He had an aura around him that just made everyone happy.

"I'm Jake, by the way. That's my twin brother, James." Jake points at a man that looks exactly like him curling up to a ball at the corner of the pod. James gave off a very dark aura and energy.

James grunts and stood up. He extends his arms out towards Alaya. "James." He said in a monotone voice. Alaya shook his hand. "Alaya." She pointed towards the party. "That's Hugo, Tom, and Matthew."

They waved at him and took a seat at the cushioned floor. "So, what is it that you needed?" Jake says.

"Well, we'll get to that later. May i ask how you both died?" Alaya says. Jake's smile falters but then perks back up. "I.. I died of excessive radiation therapy. The doctors misdiagnosed me for cancer."

"I'm so, so sorry. How about you, James?" Alaya asks. "Suicide." He says quietly. "Mind I ask why?" Alaya says in a slight whisper, for she knows how sensitive the subject is.

James looked at the ground blankly. Jake placed his hand on his shoulder sympathetically. James took a deep breath and began.

"After Jake died, it felt as if the world had broken apart. He was the only family i had left. Our mom died when we were six. Our father found a new wife and abandoned us, leaving a check of money each month to pay the bills and food. Before the checks of money, we moved in with our cousin, Jackson. His business went bankrupt and he didn't have enough to feed two more people. When Jake was diagnosed with cancer, i had my doubts. But, i didn't say anything. If i had spoken up, if i had said my thoughts aloud," James started crying. "My brother might've still been alive."

Jake hugged his brother. "Shh." He said. "Remember mama's quote before she passed. 'How selfish of you to think you could change what has already happened'." That seemed to calm James down a bit.

"I am so, so sorry." Tom says. "But, would yo take another chance in an immortal life?"

The twins looked at each other. "It's worth a chance." Jake says. "What's the catch?" Jake asks.

"You'd have a form of an animal and be confined to one large area." Hugo says.

The brothers looked at each other and shrugged. "We can send a message to Jackson if you want!" Alaya says trying to get them to sign the contract. "You just have to sign here."

Alaya pulled out a contract and a pen. Jake shrugged then smiled. "Deal." He took the pen and signed on the golden line. James sighed. "If Jake's coming, i will too." He signed at the black line.

"How 'bout light for Jake and dark for James?" Matthew says. The twins nodded in agreement.