JUDGEMENT HALL
1295 Words
3. Azrael's POV
"There's nothing I can do, Azreal. The orders from the top guys was to bring back that soul and I don't see her around you now. Do you?" Allistor asked me.
I was standing before this annoying guy who seemed not to care at the very least.
A few moments ago, I watched Daisy Malloy get rolled into the ambulance.
Heard one of the paramedics say 'she's going to be fine.'
That was when I decided to turn back and return to headquarters. Of course, I already had my query waiting as the news of my interference seemed to have upset the balance of nature so greatly that everyone knew already.
I got to headquarters amidst stares, whispers and odd glances from everyone who saw me enter and then I encountered Ruke as he was walking across the hallway to meet with me.
"I'm fried, right?" I asked him.
"Allistor is here. And boy, he does not seem happy." Ruke said.
It was hard to tell if he was actually excited about the news with his modus operandi of delivery or he was just nervous for me.
"Wait, they had to have him come?" I asked.
"Well,. just brace yourself. He was pulled off his vacation and he doesn't seem one bit excited to meet the miscreant." He said.
"Miscreant?" I asked him, raising my brow.
"Sorry, you. He used that term. I mean, I know I shouldn't but I had to be direct." He explained.
"You just had to watch me get pinched." I said to him,
"You know how these old habits get, just gotta weigh the impact. So tell me, on a scale of one to eternity, how scared are you?" He asked me.
"Perhaps, if you can go fetch the scales of death, I might organize a search for my undead heart just for you." I chipped in.
"You could have just said the figures and..." He started.
But alas, we were in front of the elevator.
"And we're here. I'll fill you in later." I said right as it opened.
"I'll say I wish you luck but in our line of work, there's only dead luck." He said right as the elevator doors closed.
I said nothing further as I braced myself for what I was going to witness. Suddenly, the elevator took a really high speed as we were making for the very depths and soon, the doors chimed and opened.
I stepped out and entered the door right in front of me. This was the only door on this floor.
One way in. One way out.
At the entrance to the door were bold letters spelling out the words...
'JUDGEMENT HALL'
Regardless, I entered.
Allistor was already inside there on the seat backing me. He did not seem to take any notice of me and I was actually beginning to wonder if he was sleeping.
Silly me. Do demons sleep?
"Um, Allistor...Sir..." I was quite uncertain as to what to refer to him as.
"Shhh." He said and after a moment, he wheeled around to face me with a boyish pout on his face. "You ruined it!"
"Huh?" Were the only words I uttered.
Allistor looked rather comly as he sat stretched out on the chair with one leg over the arm of the chair.
He would pass for a very handsome human youth with long black hair cascading around him. He wore an old century Roman toga and was exposing one part of his chest or dare I say biceps. The only odd thing about him that might just make a difference when placed against actual humans was his golden pupils. They looked like they could compel one to do something.
"And you're him, the miscreant!" He said excitedly.
Alright, I guess that name was going to stick like glue.
"I'm Azreal, if that's what you intend to ask.
"Uhhhh, gutsy! I like that. Entreats me to want to drain that soul of yours. Such a pity. Such a waste." He said.
"I was summoned here." I said.
"Actually, I was summoned here from my vacation because one reaper wouldn't do his job properly!!!" He was agitated now and sat up slowly. "Why didn't you do your job?"
"I am supposed to be off suicides. I haven't had a single suicide case since..." I started to explain.
"Not my business, bud. The rule is, you get an assignment, you damn well see it through to the latter. Now, where's my soul?" He asked me.
"She's alive. Listen Allistor...sir, you have to help them understand that I don't handle suicides anymore. I haven't had to treat one in a long time. Say seventy human years." I explained.
"And so, just because something is non occurring means it's no longer existent?" He asked me.
"No but you can help me make them understand. I swear, I would bring in a thousand souls..." I was saying.
"Blah...blah...blah... there's nothing I can do, Azreal. The orders..." He was saying but I was barely listening.
What was it with this one soul?
Why did Daisy look like Holly?
Why did it have to fall in with me all of the sudden?
"Azrael? Hello? Azrael?!" He interrupted my thoughts.
"Sorry. I was thinking." I said.
"A grim reaper who thinks. That's why you failed today. Reapers don't actually think. They just act. I mean, what's there to think about?" He demanded.
"So, what's my fate? Do I get vaporized or what?" I demanded.
We had been told stories of reapers who ended up getting vaporized after breaking the code. It was a state of total banishment from existence and weighing in on what I had done, I would probably be vaporized.
It was considered capital punishment for reapers and it was championed by the one and only....ALLISTOR.
"Let's see...it seems that you are one lucky bud. You have been granted a second chance." He said to me,
I would say that in all these centuries of roaming the world collecting souls, I have never breathed out in relief like I did now. I could really rush over and embrace the demon seated across from me who right now was conjuring a bowl full of vine fruits.
"Well?"
I realized he was waiting for me to say something. How rude of me.
"I sincerely appreciate the second chance. I'm very grateful and I promise, this sort of oversight would not repeat itself. I'll make certain that further souls I collect would...." I was saying when he cut in again.
"By further souls, you mean?" He asked me.
"I meant I have to keep collecting souls, right?" I asked him.
"Of course." He said as the claw of his index finger unsheathed.
It was black and the most pointy thing ever.
It was the dread of every reaper and I was beginning to think he had been joking around. He was definitely going to vaporize me.
But then, he jabbed the claw into the bowl of vine, catching about three.
"But first, you must bring back the soul of Daisy Molly." He said with darkness in his eyes.
"But..." I started.
"You have forty eight human hours and you cannot fail." He said as his eyes burned brightly.
For a moment, I felt the heat of hell and could see the thousands of tormented souls through his gaze.
"But..." I was still going to try and plead my cause.
"Ciao." He said as he ate the vines in his claw.
Before I could argue further, a strong wind whooshed me out of the hall and I found myself ascending through a whirlpool and that instant of my insides churning, I knew where I was headed.
EARTH.
I had an assignment to complete.
- Writer
