Irium 46 Hell

"Ha!" With a deliberate cackle, Danny says, "It's probably the latter."

"GGRRR!!!" a really dangerous-sounding voice comes from behind, causing us to look back in cold sweat. Fortunately, the voice came from the Cerberus that Danny had summoned earlier. Unfortunately, if it's here, that means that there is no longer anyone keeping track of that fruit-seller for us. We have completely lost him. On top of that, we are in h.e.l.l. And in case you don't know, this is definitely not the most pleasant place to be.

"Well, at least you are safe." Danny says while looking at his Cerberus as he tries to find some positivity in the situation. But then, the sound of someone's footsteps echoes in the distance. Immediately, the two of us turn around to face the direction the sound came from and prepare ourselves; prepare to run of course, neither of us is stupid enough to think we stand a chance against someone from h.e.l.l. And to much of our dismay, it seems like the sound is growing louder, which means the person making that sound is coming closer.

"GGGGGRRRRRRRR!!!" the Cerberus a little distance away from us starts gritting his teeth in pure hostility towards the person that is coming towards us.

"That's a bad sign!" he sweats as he says so with an awkward smile. "If he is acting like that, then that means someone really strong and dangerous is coming here."

Well, the life of a protagonist. I'll get used to it. But for now,

"Let's run!"

Danny nods to my suggestion and with all of our might, we start running. But then,

"Where are you going, gentlemen?" a voice comes from a distance that we can probably reach with a back jump. In our astonishment, we look back at the owner of the voice, only to see a really tall man standing there with a gentle smile on his face.

"Wait!" Danny says as he gets a good look at him, "Aren't you-"

"Yes!" He cuts Danny off as he bows down to us and says, "I'm Lucifer."

Someone kill me! No, please, I'm serious here. Someone kill me right now!

*****

"What did you just say?"

Before I could have even composed myself from the shock of everything the doctor had said before, he says another ridiculously unbelievable and anxiety-inducing thing.

"Well, I guess I can repeat myself for you." He grins like before as he repeats his words, "Those two men, no, those two boys, at present, have been transported to h.e.l.l."

"That's …" I trail off. I can't call it unbelievable. Someone teleporting people to Heaven or h.e.l.l isn't impossible or unbelievable at all. But,

"Don't worry, Ms. Roswaisa. They'll be fine." His grin grows wider, "We made sure to teleport them close to where Lucifer is."

What!? That's even worse.

"The job's done." Then a voice comes all of sudden from a man who enters the roof we are on out of the blue. Or maybe it was just me who couldn't realize when he entered the roof. Regardless of that however, this man has a peculiar appearance. He is tall, old, his forehead is etched outwards and his mouth is really long. While his overall appearance is not anything striking, his face is quite odd. I don't think faces like these can exist in reality. And for that reason, it is hard for me to be able to really explain it.

"You are worrying too much over things that aren't important, Ms. Roswaisa." The doctor says as he walks past me, "That thing you see in front of your eyes in not a real human being."

"Huh!?"

"I saw him in a kid's show once. It was probably a show of about 100 or so years from now. And well, you know how those things were, the art style was so unique and everything. Looking at him made me think that his appearance would be perfect to draw attention to if he existed in real life." He looks at the old man and continues, "Therefore, I used a method I know to make a puppet with this appearance. I guess you could say - he is a Homunculus."

A Homunculus? This doctor is even capable of making a Homunculus? Are you kidding me? Just who is he?

"Who am I?" He tilts his head with a malicious grin and continues, "I guess I never really told you my name, did I?"

"No, you didn't." I say as I grit my teeth. "You just told me that you are a doctor and that I should call you that."

"True enough!" He nods to my words and then says, "I don't have any one particular name to be honest. All the names I have had are just forgeries that people gave me for their convenience."

That only confuses me more.

"I am someone who was labelled as a serial killer. To be honest, I am someone who raises serial killers." He says with a grin. "That is the best thing to remember me by."

*****

Lucifer, one of the most prominent figures in the Bible and a character that mythology lovers love to put in their stories, is sitting in front of us, on the other side of a table.

He is 6'5 tall with great physique and black hair on a beautiful face. Yep, that's what I'd expect of him. But,

"What is even going on here?" I look at Danny in confusion and shock as I ask, "Why, in Yato's name, is Lucifer … THE LUCIFER – offering us tea!?"

I point at the guy happily pouring tea into three different cups as I ask that.

"What's wrong with Lucifer offering us tea?" Danny asks in confusion.

"What is not wrong with it!?" I ask in more confusion, "This guy is supposed to be the king of the demons for crying out loud, why in the world is he friendly to us?"

"Look man, I don't know which interpretation of the mythology you believe in but Lucifer is one of the friendliest deities in existence." He says it like it's a matter of fact.

What the h.e.l.l is going on here!?

*****