Fantasy Afterlife

[On A Whim]

How long had he been awake?

Watching the ceiling fan. Move. Around and around. The whirling motion put him into a daze as the thoughts poured out of his head. It was strange – this dream. He knew that he was himself and yet, he embodied someone completely different. He looked in the mirror and saw a stranger with his eyes. He no longer knew what to think as his identity dissolved over a matter of time like water running down from a tap. Once it was lost, it would be hard to restore.

What was his name, again?

There was a fog that was settling in, it’s ominous edges crawling at the tethered strands of memories that kept him in tact. He saw the pearlescent vehicles. He witnessed the edges of the pavement blur from the driver’s seat. He saw her auburn hair floating in the wind as she giggled and shrieked for him to stop.
Who was she? Why did he feel a rush of nostalgia and pain strike his heart when he saw her?

Her.

His intuition told him she was more than just a normal beauty. Her smile lifted his spirits beyond ways he himself couldn’t comprehend. Her eyes were beset with such kindness that he never wanted to look away. His gaze never drifting from her form whenever she appeared to him like a prophet. An angel. He wanted to unravel her mysteries and why she always haunted his vision. Day and night.

He needed to see her.

…

He sat up from the bed where he was previously on his back. His impression, the contours of his body, stuck within the folds of linen and cotton that sheeted area of repose. He must have been starring at the fan all day. It took a lot of effort to move. He felt his energy running low constantly as if he were being lulled to sleep. He didn’t understand the way this dream world ran. He used to be active. Now, he’s simply restless.

Dragging one foot in front of the other, he brought himself to the kitchen sink. Passing by he saw pictures of strangers posing with his body. Who were those people? Try as he might, he couldn’t remember taking any of them. Not a single one. It would’ve set a shiver down his back to know that he might be living with strangers, but his apathy ran stronger. Part of him didn’t care. All he wanted was to wake up – to get away from this warped reality and be back to his former self. Someone who was strong and self-sufficient.

He lifted the glass to his lips. Although his throat was parched dry, he could hardly feel relief, if he could feel anything at all. Everything that used to paint his world in a spectrum of colours were dulled to grey. He felt caged, trapped inside his own mind, unable to interact with the world around him. He tried to pull himself out of it once. He wanted to yell at the mirror. However, nothing came out despite his neck veins protruding outwards and his skin flushing bright red. He was so frustrated that he punched the glass.

Blood red.

Shards stuck on his fist. And still. No sensations.

He sat himself in front of the living room, choosing a different place to lounge and rot, and used the clicker to switch between channels. New, sitcoms, advertisements. Nothing was particularly interesting. All he needed was noise. Background noise. Something that told him otherwise that he wasn’t alone. Pushing the coffee table aside, he brought himself onto the floor.

One. Two. Three.

He counted in sequence in his head as he began to complete push ups. He didn’t want to succumb to the emptiness so he busied himself with distraction. This new body was weak, but he made it his mission to foster it’s potential for strength. He used to be able to look after himself. In fact, something told him that he was used to the spotlight. That he thrived on the attention he got. But look at him now. Aside from the mornings when he would pick up the mail and his neighbours would give him glares for his new demeanor, he didn’t interact with anyone.

This had to change.

He needed to get back on track.

Everyday he ran. It cleared his head from the fog. It made him feel invigorated and in control. He even stopped by the barbers once and got his hair cut and dye back to the way he knew it from before. Blonde. He threw away the old baggy shirts from the closet and replaced it with better fitting ones. He at least had to make himself presentable. If there was one thing he know absolutely about himself, he knew that he wasn’t built to quit.

He couldn’t remember backing down from anything.

Ever.

As he laced his shoes to run the next morning, he was caught by surprise. There was a pounding, scratching sound at his door. What the hell? He was just about to recall this surging feeling of annoyance, perhaps even rage, when he went to open it. Who, or rather what, can be making so much noise? He opened the door to put a stop in it once and for all.

Idea

 

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Luna​

88 trillion, 594 billion, 543 million 234 thousands 397... 88 trillion, 594 billion, 543 million 234 thousands 398... 88 trillion, 594 billion, 543 million 234 thousands 399... Wait, where was... that number? Hades shot up from his chair and reviewed his notes again. Devlin Colins. There was no mistake. Blond hair, long, slightly left to the size, unnaturally tall... Hades looked around through the fields upon fields of souls, the stale breeze passing through the meidows and the people in the upper still burping as annoying as ever, some obviously oblivious that they were yet to finish their trial of the afterlife. For each and everyone of them, Hades could count everything. Every aspect of their story, their life. Every crime and sin, every pleasure and joy. Hades never forgot a face. Yet, that face was not present here today. In the world of the living, one day of absence meant calling in, pretending to be sick. In the underworld, you went there BECAUSE you were sick. There was no excuse to take a day off, in fact doing so was highly illegal. Hades leaned over to cow skull on the table, pressed a tooth and spoke into it.

Moments later, the receptionist's voice echoed through the Cerberi chambers. We, Ceres, better known as Ceres 528 (or Luna, Crystal and Kat), was playing with one of her siblings, the two of us were chasing each other around while spashing in the less dangerous sub-rivers of the Stix, each chasing the other's tail and pawing it while giggling, occasionally nibbling playfully.

"Ting dong ing- Ceres 528, please report to master Hades in his chambers. Repeat, Ceres 528 please report to master Hades in his chambers. Penalty for disobedience is two months in the butthole of Cronus."

"Oh boy, for them to pull that one against us, this has to be pretty serious. Are you alright sis?" One of my sibling's head inquired with a tone of worry in their voice. Another one of their heads flashed me a grin. "Oh, the girl is in trouble! Don't worry though, I'll make sure to put your treats in a safe place...in my belly! Hahahahaah!" "That was not funny Halbert!"

"Relax, I'm sure I'll be fine! I don't remember doing anything bad at all, maybe it's some kind of mistake?" I attempted to reassure her. "Luna, are you really suggesting master Hades made a mistake?" "Oh no, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! Please, master Hades, forgive me!"

"If you want master Hades to forgive you, then just get moving, stop making us late!" Crystal complained, sighing.

I panted as I gave those finals steps approaching the door, and jus started hitting it. Not hitting hard like if I want to fight it, but hard like it was meal day and I really wanted one more dose, so I bashed the bowl. I sure didn't want to break anything, but I needed to get someone's attention right now. There were already tears in my eyes, and it hadn't even started raining yet. I didn't remember these dresses being so hard to walk on last time I went to the world of the living! I did not recall there being such tall buildings either though. I had been awestruck when I first returned, despite the urgency of my mission. There were so many more lights, everything was bigger, and the smell, the smell was so much better now! No longer was there smoke and gas mixed into everything. No longer wa every other voice calling for help in fixing this or that, or complaining about money, though there were still a lot of those. But those were just the good parts...

I soon found out that for some reason, all the carriages today were hanging out at the museum. I wasn't sure why, maybe there was a convention or some festival, but whichever the case, this was just a really mean move on their part. In fact, everyone seemed super laxed now. The policemen were wearing the wrong uniforms, none of the ladies were dressed right, in fact they kept staring at me, obviously in envy, since I was the only one using a state of the art corset and bonet in what seemed to be the entire city. I asked around for directions to the adress I was given, but the only thing people would tell me when I asked about transportation was pointing to me to these stairs that led to a hole in the ground, an alternative entrance to Hade, I presumed. Then I explained to them I couldn't go back yet, since I still needed to find the person in the photo. People would normally proceed to give me weird stares, except for this one person who began crying saying among the lines of "that's so romantic", to which I had to tilt my head, though I could feel the other two mes outbursting inside at what that woman in glasses said. She lent me her bike though, so I waved and thanked her anyway, taking off to the given adress with a million twists and turns and trying to read all those supposedly important posters. There were some really angry people on the day, screaming super confusing stuff like "You bloody jaywalker!" and "What the heck, it was red! It was red!". Some particularly mean ones even said I was crazy for some reason.

For thos reasons, for the day I just add, I no longer had the strength to wait patiently around for him. The living world was so nice, but also so different. I didn't want to be alone in it anymore! I wanted to go back! Go back home to the underworld!

"Mr. Devlin Collins! Listen carefully!" I said as soon as he opened that door. "You are dead. I have come to take your soul back to Hades, as it was by my mistake that you escaped. Please come without resistance."

[/div]
[/div][div class="POV CrystalP"]
[div class=B]

Crystal​

88 trillion, 594 billion, 543 million 234 thousands 397... 88 trillion, 594 billion, 543 million 234 thousands 398... 88 trillion, 594 billion, 543 million 234 thousands 399... Wait, where was... that number? Hades shot up from his chair and reviewed his notes again. Devlin Colins. There was no mistake. Blond hair, long, slightly left to the size, unnaturally tall... Hades looked around through the fields upon fields of souls, the stale breeze passing through the meidows and the people in the upper still burping as annoying as ever, some obviously oblivious that they were yet to finish their trial of the afterlife. For each and everyone of them, Hades could count everything. Every aspect of their story, their life. Every crime and sin, every pleasure and joy. Hades never forgot a face. Yet, that face was not present here today. In the world of the living, one day of absence meant calling in, pretending to be sick. In the underworld, you went there BECAUSE you were sick. There was no excuse to take a day off, in fact doing so was highly illegal. Hades leaned over to cow skull on the table, pressed a tooth and spoke into it.

Moments later, the receptionist's voice echoed through the Cerberi chambers. We, Ceres, better known as Ceres 528 (or Luna, Crystal and Kat), was playing with one of her siblings, the two of us were chasing each other around while spashing in the less dangerous sub-rivers of the Stix, each chasing the other's tail and pawing it while giggling, occasionally nibbling playfully.

"Ting dong ing- Ceres 528, please report to master Hades in his chambers. Repeat, Ceres 528 please report to master Hades in his chambers. Penalty for disobedience is two months in the butthole of Cronus."

"Oh boy, for them to pull that one against us, this has to be pretty serious. Are you alright sis?" One of my sibling's head inquired with a tone of worry in their voice. Another one of their heads flashed me a grin. "Oh, the girl is in trouble! Don't worry though, I'll make sure to put your treats in a safe place...in my belly! Hahahahaah!" "That was not funny Halbert!"

"Relax, I'm sure I'll be fine! I don't remember doing anything bad at all, maybe it's some kind of mistake?" Luna attempted to reassure her. "Luna, are you really suggesting master Hades made a mistake?" "Oh no, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! Please, master Hades, forgive me!"

"If you want master Hades to forgive you, then just get moving, stop making us late!" I complained, sighing.

Upon arriving at the living world, Luna soon found out that for some reason, all the carriages today were hanging out at the museum. I wasn't sure why, maybe there was a convention or some festival, but whichever the case, this was just a despicable display of unprofessionalism. Like, seriously, what sort of professional would just leave their post like that? There was
duty to be served, so I at least would serve it.

But it wasn't even the most annoying thing about the living that day. One of them at one point suggested we had ROMATIC ties to our target. OBVIOUSLY NOT! We were going to be professionals! [/div]
[/div][div class="POV KatP"]
[div class=B]

Kat​

88 trillion, 594 billion, 543 million 234 thousands 397... 88 trillion, 594 billion, 543 million 234 thousands 398... 88 trillion, 594 billion, 543 million 234 thousands 399... Wait, where was... that number? Hades shot up from his chair and reviewed his notes again. Devlin Colins. There was no mistake. Blond hair, long, slightly left to the size, unnaturally tall... Hades looked around through the fields upon fields of souls, the stale breeze passing through the meidows and the people in the upper still burping as annoying as ever, some obviously oblivious that they were yet to finish their trial of the afterlife. For each and everyone of them, Hades could count everything. Every aspect of their story, their life. Every crime and sin, every pleasure and joy. Hades never forgot a face. Yet, that face was not present here today. In the world of the living, one day of absence meant calling in, pretending to be sick. In the underworld, you went there BECAUSE you were sick. There was no excuse to take a day off, in fact doing so was highly illegal. Hades leaned over to cow skull on the table, pressed a tooth and spoke into it.

Moments later, the receptionist's voice echoed through the Cerberi chambers. We, Ceres, better known as Ceres 528 (or Luna, Crystal and Kat), was playing with one of her siblings, the two of us were chasing each other around while spashing in the less dangerous sub-rivers of the Stix, each chasing the other's tail and pawing it while giggling, occasionally nibbling playfully.

"Ting dong ing- Ceres 528, please report to master Hades in his chambers. Repeat, Ceres 528 please report to master Hades in his chambers. Penalty for disobedience is two months in the butthole of Cronus."

"Oh boy, for them to pull that one against us, this has to be pretty serious. Are you alright sis?" One of my sibling's head inquired with a tone of worry in their voice. Another one of their heads flashed me a grin. "Oh, the girl is in trouble! Don't worry though, I'll make sure to put your treats in a safe place...in my belly! Hahahahaah!" "That was not funny Halbert!"

"Relax, I'm sure I'll be fine! I don't remember doing anything bad at all, maybe it's some kind of mistake?" Luna attempted to reassure her. "Luna, are you really suggesting master Hades made a mistake?" "Oh no, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! Please, master Hades, forgive me!"

"If you want master Hades to forgive you, then just get moving, stop making us late!" Crystal complained, sighing.


I was just having so much form seeing the world through Luna's eyes, this newly grown and even more challenging world of the living, that I didn't have much thoughts or say, except for when that lady in glasses said something about romance, ewwwwwwww! I'd catch the cooties from that guy, why would I do that? I'd much rather play with my fellow kin back in the underworld.[/div]
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Spoiler: Phone-friendly version

• Luna
• Crystal
• Kat

• 
  
  
  
  88 trillion, 594 billion, 543 million 234 thousands 397... 88 trillion, 594 billion, 543 million 234 thousands 398... 88 trillion, 594 billion, 543 million 234 thousands 399... Wait, where was... that number? Hades shot up from his chair and reviewed his notes again. Devlin Colins. There was no mistake. Blond hair, long, slightly left to the size, unnaturally tall... Hades looked around through the fields upon fields of souls, the stale breeze passing through the meidows and the people in the upper still burping as annoying as ever, some obviously oblivious that they were yet to finish their trial of the afterlife. For each and everyone of them, Hades could count everything. Every aspect of their story, their life. Every crime and sin, every pleasure and joy. Hades never forgot a face. Yet, that face was not present here today. In the world of the living, one day of absence meant calling in, pretending to be sick. In the underworld, you went there BECAUSE you were sick. There was no excuse to take a day off, in fact doing so was highly illegal. Hades leaned over to cow skull on the table, pressed a tooth and spoke into it.
  
  Moments later, the receptionist's voice echoed through the Cerberi chambers. We, Ceres, better known as Ceres 528 (or Luna, Crystal and Kat), was playing with one of her siblings, the two of us were chasing each other around while spashing in the less dangerous sub-rivers of the Stix, each chasing the other's tail and pawing it while giggling, occasionally nibbling playfully.
  
  "Ting dong ing- Ceres 528, please report to master Hades in his chambers. Repeat, Ceres 528 please report to master Hades in his chambers. Penalty for disobedience is two months in the butthole of Cronus."
  
  "Oh boy, for them to pull that one against us, this has to be pretty serious. Are you alright sis?" One of my sibling's head inquired with a tone of worry in their voice. Another one of their heads flashed me a grin. "Oh, the girl is in trouble! Don't worry though, I'll make sure to put your treats in a safe place...in my belly! Hahahahaah!" "That was not funny Halbert!"
  
  "Relax, I'm sure I'll be fine! I don't remember doing anything bad at all, maybe it's some kind of mistake?" I attempted to reassure her. "Luna, are you really suggesting master Hades made a mistake?" "Oh no, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! Please, master Hades, forgive me!"
  
  "If you want master Hades to forgive you, then just get moving, stop making us late!" Crystal complained, sighing.
  
  I panted as I gave those finals steps approaching the door, and jus started hitting it. Not hitting hard like if I want to fight it, but hard like it was meal day and I really wanted one more dose, so I bashed the bowl. I sure didn't want to break anything, but I needed to get someone's attention right now. There were already tears in my eyes, and it hadn't even started raining yet. I didn't remember these dresses being so hard to walk on last time I went to the world of the living! I did not recall there being such tall buildings either though. I had been awestruck when I first returned, despite the urgency of my mission. There were so many more lights, everything was bigger, and the smell, the smell was so much better now! No longer was there smoke and gas mixed into everything. No longer wa every other voice calling for help in fixing this or that, or complaining about money, though there were still a lot of those. But those were just the good parts...
  
  I soon found out that for some reason, all the carriages today were hanging out at the museum. I wasn't sure why, maybe there was a convention or some festival, but whichever the case, this was just a really mean move on their part. In fact, everyone seemed super laxed now. The policemen were wearing the wrong uniforms, none of the ladies were dressed right, in fact they kept staring at me, obviously in envy, since I was the only one using a state of the art corset and bonet in what seemed to be the entire city. I asked around for directions to the adress I was given, but the only thing people would tell me when I asked about transportation was pointing to me to these stairs that led to a hole in the ground, an alternative entrance to Hade, I presumed. Then I explained to them I couldn't go back yet, since I still needed to find the person in the photo. People would normally proceed to give me weird stares, except for this one person who began crying saying among the lines of "that's so romantic", to which I had to tilt my head, though I could feel the other two mes outbursting inside at what that woman in glasses said. She lent me her bike though, so I waved and thanked her anyway, taking off to the given adress with a million twists and turns and trying to read all those supposedly important posters. There were some really angry people on the day, screaming super confusing stuff like "You bloody jaywalker!" and "What the heck, it was red! It was red!". Some particularly mean ones even said I was crazy for some reason.
  
  For thos reasons, for the day I just add, I no longer had the strength to wait patiently around for him. The living world was so nice, but also so different. I didn't want to be alone in it anymore! I wanted to go back! Go back home to the underworld!
  
  "Mr. Devlin Collins! Listen carefully!" I said as soon as he opened that door. "You are dead. I have come to take your soul back to Hades, as it was by my mistake that you escaped. Please come without resistance."
  
• 
  
  
  
  88 trillion, 594 billion, 543 million 234 thousands 397... 88 trillion, 594 billion, 543 million 234 thousands 398... 88 trillion, 594 billion, 543 million 234 thousands 399... Wait, where was... that number? Hades shot up from his chair and reviewed his notes again. Devlin Colins. There was no mistake. Blond hair, long, slightly left to the size, unnaturally tall... Hades looked around through the fields upon fields of souls, the stale breeze passing through the meidows and the people in the upper still burping as annoying as ever, some obviously oblivious that they were yet to finish their trial of the afterlife. For each and everyone of them, Hades could count everything. Every aspect of their story, their life. Every crime and sin, every pleasure and joy. Hades never forgot a face. Yet, that face was not present here today. In the world of the living, one day of absence meant calling in, pretending to be sick. In the underworld, you went there BECAUSE you were sick. There was no excuse to take a day off, in fact doing so was highly illegal. Hades leaned over to cow skull on the table, pressed a tooth and spoke into it.
  
  Moments later, the receptionist's voice echoed through the Cerberi chambers. We, Ceres, better known as Ceres 528 (or Luna, Crystal and Kat), was playing with one of her siblings, the two of us were chasing each other around while spashing in the less dangerous sub-rivers of the Stix, each chasing the other's tail and pawing it while giggling, occasionally nibbling playfully.
  
  "Ting dong ing- Ceres 528, please report to master Hades in his chambers. Repeat, Ceres 528 please report to master Hades in his chambers. Penalty for disobedience is two months in the butthole of Cronus."
  
  "Oh boy, for them to pull that one against us, this has to be pretty serious. Are you alright sis?" One of my sibling's head inquired with a tone of worry in their voice. Another one of their heads flashed me a grin. "Oh, the girl is in trouble! Don't worry though, I'll make sure to put your treats in a safe place...in my belly! Hahahahaah!" "That was not funny Halbert!"
  
  "Relax, I'm sure I'll be fine! I don't remember doing anything bad at all, maybe it's some kind of mistake?" Luna attempted to reassure her. "Luna, are you really suggesting master Hades made a mistake?" "Oh no, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! Please, master Hades, forgive me!"
  
  "If you want master Hades to forgive you, then just get moving, stop making us late!" I complained, sighing.
  
  Upon arriving at the living world, Luna soon found out that for some reason, all the carriages today were hanging out at the museum. I wasn't sure why, maybe there was a convention or some festival, but whichever the case, this was just a despicable display of unprofessionalism. Like, seriously, what sort of professional would just leave their post like that? There was
  duty to be served, so I at least would serve it.
  
  But it wasn't even the most annoying thing about the living that day. One of them at one point suggested we had ROMATIC ties to our target. OBVIOUSLY NOT! We were going to be professionals!
  
• 
  
  
  
  88 trillion, 594 billion, 543 million 234 thousands 397... 88 trillion, 594 billion, 543 million 234 thousands 398... 88 trillion, 594 billion, 543 million 234 thousands 399... Wait, where was... that number? Hades shot up from his chair and reviewed his notes again. Devlin Colins. There was no mistake. Blond hair, long, slightly left to the size, unnaturally tall... Hades looked around through the fields upon fields of souls, the stale breeze passing through the meidows and the people in the upper still burping as annoying as ever, some obviously oblivious that they were yet to finish their trial of the afterlife. For each and everyone of them, Hades could count everything. Every aspect of their story, their life. Every crime and sin, every pleasure and joy. Hades never forgot a face. Yet, that face was not present here today. In the world of the living, one day of absence meant calling in, pretending to be sick. In the underworld, you went there BECAUSE you were sick. There was no excuse to take a day off, in fact doing so was highly illegal. Hades leaned over to cow skull on the table, pressed a tooth and spoke into it.
  
  Moments later, the receptionist's voice echoed through the Cerberi chambers. We, Ceres, better known as Ceres 528 (or Luna, Crystal and Kat), was playing with one of her siblings, the two of us were chasing each other around while spashing in the less dangerous sub-rivers of the Stix, each chasing the other's tail and pawing it while giggling, occasionally nibbling playfully.
  
  "Ting dong ing- Ceres 528, please report to master Hades in his chambers. Repeat, Ceres 528 please report to master Hades in his chambers. Penalty for disobedience is two months in the butthole of Cronus."
  
  "Oh boy, for them to pull that one against us, this has to be pretty serious. Are you alright sis?" One of my sibling's head inquired with a tone of worry in their voice. Another one of their heads flashed me a grin. "Oh, the girl is in trouble! Don't worry though, I'll make sure to put your treats in a safe place...in my belly! Hahahahaah!" "That was not funny Halbert!"
  
  "Relax, I'm sure I'll be fine! I don't remember doing anything bad at all, maybe it's some kind of mistake?" Luna attempted to reassure her. "Luna, are you really suggesting master Hades made a mistake?" "Oh no, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! Please, master Hades, forgive me!"
  
  "If you want master Hades to forgive you, then just get moving, stop making us late!" Crystal complained, sighing.
  
  
  I was just having so much form seeing the world through Luna's eyes, this newly grown and even more challenging world of the living, that I didn't have much thoughts or say, except for when that lady in glasses said something about romance, ewwwwwwww! I'd catch the cooties from that guy, why would I do that? I'd much rather play with my fellow kin back in the underworld.
  

Tags: O On A Whim

 

[On A Whim]

“Ha ha ha ha!”

The bellowing laughter came from the pits of his stomach. Once severe and furious, his expression changed to utter disbelief and amusement. There was a young woman dressed in an old gown, perhaps, slightly delusional, who stood in front of him claiming that he was dead. He didn’t know what drink he had that night to turn this previously monotonous dream into a strange, wild one, but he didn’t seem to mind it. Every single time he went on a bender, he had crazy dreams so this wasn’t an exception. Beer, whiskey, vodka, and maybe a shot glass of absinthe.

“Definitely absinthe!” He muttered to himself as he slammed the door shut.

With the tears of laughter still rolling down his cheeks, he finished limbering up inside. He grabbed his ankles, stretching his thighs when he realized that it had been too quiet again. Aside from all the commotion that the odd young lady brought, he was in fact alone once more. He could feel his ears ringing, bells like warnings suddenly infiltrating his head as he put his hands up to his head to escape the phantom sounds.

WOOO! WOOO! WOOO!

He cowered to the floor, closing his eyes, the sound was in full blast. His temples violently quivered as his body wanted to protect itself. His heart was beating a mile a minute and he was absolutely perplexed at what provoked such a piercing intensity.

WOOO! WOOO! WOOO!

‘STOP!’ he mouthed the words from his mute lips, but it was an action in futility. The more he fought the feeling, the higher the decibel multiplied.

WOOO! WOOO! WOOO!

The pain was becoming intolerable. He felt his cranium liquifying, brain cells dying, among the other signs of stress on his body. Against his better judgement, he let go of his right hand to find a pillow or any object to block the noise with.

…

There was a fraction of a second of silence before a voice with a heightened sense of urgency brought him out of the daze.

“Hello! Hello! Sir, can you hear me?!”

Intrusive lights were shone on his sensitive pupils. In the distance, he could hear a multitude of sirens wailing as it signalled what authorities may be on site. He was no longer in his living room as his lens viewed the world on it’s back. The street lights were pointing down towards his chin and the pavement towards his head. The woman in front of him was upside down.

She looked distressed, but he wasn’t fully certain. He could barely keep his eyes open as his own consciousness felt adrift, like the tossing and turning of waves, he was numb.

“Sarah! Sarah! I need help here! There’s still some response from this male! We need to do C-Spine and get him to a hospital quickly!”

He could barely make out the footsteps, the lids of his eyes were heavy so his vision was fading. He felt a slight tingling sensation in his limbs as if his soul was gently being ripped apart from his body. It wasn’t painful, just hauntingly serene.

“Oh my god! Is that Devlin Collins?!”

…

Once he opened his eyes, he was back on his dream estate. He could feel the rug burn on his lower legs when he was squirming in the living room from the noise. He must have jerked so hard that his jogging pants bunched up to his knees. His back was covered in sweat. Left hand still gripping the other side of his head tightly as his right arm was loose on his side.

The clock mounted on his wall read that it was still ten o’clock in the morning. The whole experience lasted a minute or two at most. Yet, the outer world seemed to be perfectly in tact. There were no signs of earth quakes, damages on his floor, shattered glass and windows that would have splintered from such a blaring disturbance.

What the hell was going on?

He sat up slowly, eying the black screen on the television suspiciously. He remembered turning it off last night. He hasn’t touched the clicker since then. He neither owned a radio or speakers and his mobile phone, in his pockets, were completely free of any notifications. So, what exactly made that noise? Why was it that he seemed to be the only one affected by it?

Was he finally starting to go insane?

He ran to his bedroom and opened the windows to test his theory. He could hear the cars passing by the street, he could see people chattering below him, he saw a dog barking up a tree near the sidewalks, probably eager to chase a squirrel. Everything out there was normal. He had gotten a sudden urge to feel his ears. Fingers skimmed over soft skin, heart dropping to the floor, there was no signs of liquid.

There were no signs of blood or damage.

Then, he recalled the eccentric woman’s words. “You are dead!” He couldn’t be. He simply couldn’t be. His mind unravelled quickly as the phrase repeated itself over and over like the klaxons from before.

You are dead. You are dead. You are dead.

He ran back to the front of his house, feet almost stumbling across each other, blonde hair drifting out his face as he couldn’t wait fast enough for his answers. He opened the door to her once again. This time, he grabbed the female aggressively pulling her inside his home. He tossed her towards the wall, both his laboured breath and his hands slammed either of her sides, possibly surprising her. His gaze was heavy and intense. He wasn’t in the mood for her theatrics.

She couldn’t escape him now.

THUD!

He temporarily let his left arm go only to have it bound up in a fist. He slammed his knuckles down next to her head. The punch indicating that she needed to talk. Or else the next one was going to land on that pretty face of hers.

Idea

 

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Luna​

I found myself raising an eyebrow at the man's sudden outburst of laughter. Was laughter an expected result of this? Maybe I should have looked it up before I left. There weren't many cases of souls escaping back to the world of the living, and even among those only about half were reported, as depending on the Cerebrus the intel for the report might never be caught either because the Cerberus captured and brought back the target by sheer force or because they were just too lazy, negligent, embarassed or savage to write a proper report to Hades.

Thus, I decided to give him a bit of time to recover from his innitial shocked reaction and give at least let me apologize for my mistake and take him back to the underworld, as many spirits did when they accidentally wandered off the meadows. Yet, instead of taking anything like a reasonable approach, I suddenly found a door slammed on my face.

"Eh?" I just kinda stood there dumbfounded for a solid minute or two, trying to process the fact that someone just shut the door on my face after I told them the truth. It was like they didn't want to know the truth or something! Naturally I raised my fists, banging on the door trying to minimally hold back, but already with tiny splinters geting attached to the human skin I was donning. Ouch! "C'mon let me in! Or just come with me, that's even easier! It's not like it's gonna kill you! You're already dead, you CAN'T be killed! Hey! Hey! Open the door! C'mon!"

Eventually, even those bangings on the door began loosing strength. Sometimes I wondered what would be like if I had a "strength" head, I could actually just burst in and take that soul no problem. Unfortunately, the closest I had was Kat, and she wasn't that great for that kind of job either. I was just thinking I would just have to wait, when suddenly the door opened again, leaving me very confused. Out of nowhere and without much of a warning, a hand popped out from within, grabbing and pulling me in with my surprise, then lightly pushed me against the wall and they jammed a fist into said wall like some sort of threat. I sighed, realizing they knew little to nothing.

"Look, you probably don't get this, but it's really humiliating for a Cerberus like me to get tossed around like some rag doll by a stray soul, just plain disagracefu. I had hoped to not have to do this by force , but you are taking the freelance option away from me." One of the benefits of being a gaurd dog of the underworld was that I had this little set of powers, one of which was always overcoming souls physically. Even if this guy was possessing a stranger's body, so long as I held back enough, I was still strong enough to be stronger than him, though that wouldn't necessarily mean I could just up and drag him out of the place, unfortunately. I sighed. "Please allow me to explain. A few weeks ago, you perished. Your soul was transported to the underworld, but while it was my turn to keep watch of the gates, I was a bad girl and got distracted, and you ended up fleeing while I wasn't looking and possessing the body of another human, Neo. your soul is falling part more and more, Devlin Collins! I am here to take you back to the underworld ASAP, so please come with me. That said, I'm really sorry about what I need to do now, but ufnfortunately. our records show loose souls tend to be very stubborn, so protocol says we need to make a show of power. This will only take a few moments. Thank you for understanding."

My first aim was a punch to the stomach. if the first didn't connect I would try a second. If that failed too, I would step on him, punch his face, and then throw a punch at the stomach for good measure (and out of spite, most likely, like how dare he avoid two of my punches? I was only trying to help!). One he was in some way with his defenses lowered, I would shove him into a room with a bit more space. After that I was to basically sit on him and try to keep him from getting up again. While I was the least "fighty" among us three heads, I could probably take care of such a simple task without having to switch.

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Crystal​

From within Luna, there was a big emtpy room, with only a bit of basic furniture. I was sitting one of the smaller couches, holding a large, thick book in my hands.

"Luna, don't worry about the laughter. It's probably nothing unnusual. We don't have a lot of reports, as about the Cerebri that had to go capture souls were pure imbeciles who couldn't write a decent report, if they could write at all. So, restrain yourself for now." After a while more of observing the situation, I flipped a few pages on my book, and continued. "Alright, so the next step in protocol is to have a demonstration of power. Make sure to properly apologize for the inconvenience, you hear! "

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Kat​

"C'mon Luna what are you doing? Punch harder! Punch faster! Don't let us down Luna, don't be an embarassment to us three!" I complained from the other end of the room Crystal was in with her stupid book. What was THAT gonna tell us about how to act? We needed to go with our guts! With our fighting spirit!

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Spoiler: Phone-friendly version

• Luna
• Crystal
• Kat

• 
  
  I found myself raising an eyebrow at the man's sudden outburst of laughter. Was laughter an expected result of this? Maybe I should have looked it up before I left. There weren't many cases of souls escaping back to the world of the living, and even among those only about half were reported, as depending on the Cerebrus the intel for the report might never be caught either because the Cerberus captured and brought back the target by sheer force or because they were just too lazy, negligent, embarassed or savage to write a proper report to Hades.
  
  Thus, I decided to give him a bit of time to recover from his innitial shocked reaction and give at least let me apologize for my mistake and take him back to the underworld, as many spirits did when they accidentally wandered off the meadows. Yet, instead of taking anything like a reasonable approach, I suddenly found a door slammed on my face.
  
  "Eh?" I just kinda stood there dumbfounded for a solid minute or two, trying to process the fact that someone just shut the door on my face after I told them the truth. It was like they didn't want to know the truth or something! Naturally I raised my fists, banging on the door trying to minimally hold back, but already with tiny splinters geting attached to the human skin I was donning. Ouch! "C'mon let me in! Or just come with me, that's even easier! It's not like it's gonna kill you! You're already dead, you CAN'T be killed! Hey! Hey! Open the door! C'mon!"
  
  Eventually, even those bangings on the door began loosing strength. Sometimes I wondered what would be like if I had a "strength" head, I could actually just burst in and take that soul no problem. Unfortunately, the closest I had was Kat, and she wasn't that great for that kind of job either. I was just thinking I would just have to wait, when suddenly the door opened again, leaving me very confused. Out of nowhere and without much of a warning, a hand popped out from within, grabbing and pulling me in with my surprise, then lightly pushed me against the wall and they jammed a fist into said wall like some sort of threat. I sighed, realizing they knew little to nothing.
  
  "Look, you probably don't get this, but it's really humiliating for a Cerberus like me to get tossed around like some rag doll by a stray soul, just plain disagracefu. I had hoped to not have to do this by force , but you are taking the freelance option away from me." One of the benefits of being a gaurd dog of the underworld was that I had this little set of powers, one of which was always overcoming souls physically. Even if this guy was possessing a stranger's body, so long as I held back enough, I was still strong enough to be stronger than him, though that wouldn't necessarily mean I could just up and drag him out of the place, unfortunately. I sighed. "Please allow me to explain. A few weeks ago, you perished. Your soul was transported to the underworld, but while it was my turn to keep watch of the gates, I was a bad girl and got distracted, and you ended up fleeing while I wasn't looking and possessing the body of another human, Neo. your soul is falling part more and more, Devlin Collins! I am here to take you back to the underworld ASAP, so please come with me. That said, I'm really sorry about what I need to do now, but ufnfortunately. our records show loose souls tend to be very stubborn, so protocol says we need to make a show of power. This will only take a few moments. Thank you for understanding."
  
  My first aim was a punch to the stomach. if the first didn't connect I would try a second. If that failed too, I would step on him, punch his face, and then throw a punch at the stomach for good measure (and out of spite, most likely, like how dare he avoid two of my punches? I was only trying to help!). One he was in some way with his defenses lowered, I would shove him into a room with a bit more space. After that I was to basically sit on him and try to keep him from getting up again. While I was the least "fighty" among us three heads, I could probably take care of such a simple task without having to switch.
  
  
• 
  
  From within Luna, there was a big emtpy room, with only a bit of basic furniture. I was sitting one of the smaller couches, holding a large, thick book in my hands.
  
  "Luna, don't worry about the laughter. It's probably nothing unnusual. We don't have a lot of reports, as about the Cerebri that had to go capture souls were pure imbeciles who couldn't write a decent report, if they could write at all. So, restrain yourself for now." After a while more of observing the situation, I flipped a few pages on my book, and continued. "Alright, so the next step in protocol is to have a demonstration of power. Make sure to properly apologize for the inconvenience, you hear! "
  
  
• 
  
  "C'mon Luna what are you doing? Punch harder! Punch faster! Don't let us down Luna, don't be an embarassment to us three!" I complained from the other end of the room Crystal was in with her stupid book. What was THAT gonna tell us about how to act? We needed to go with our guts! With our fighting spirit!
  
  

Tags: O On A Whim

 

[On A Whim]

Dev’s patience was running on a very thin wire. Everyday there was something new that his body experienced – fatigue, nausea, and now hallucinations. Why was he so ill? He remembered taking care of himself. He watched his diet. He wondered why this dream world would bend its reality so that he was completely his opposite. Part of his mind recognized that it might be karmic energy or some kind of spiritual encounter that needed to relay a message to him as was the case with ‘Ebenezer Scrooge’; however, his guide was unlike anything he expected. This girl was quite peculiar, if it was the correct phrase for it.

Aside from her clothing, there was something so odd about her speech, a certain formality that has since the beginning of the twentieth century been diluted to favour slang and simpler words. If he were to be completely honest, he was tuning her out almost completely. He cared neither for her complaints nor her suggestions at how to properly treat a lady. He wanted direct answers and she seemed to be talking in riddles, making up these fantasies about the underworld and how she had let him loose. Did she really expect him to believe that? He personally never believed in an afterlife. Once your time is up, you’re done. Perhaps, it was why he choose to live as recklessly as he did. The consequences of death were as far away from his vision as he passed the car ahead of him. He lives for the seconds of pure liberation – it was as if nothing, absolutely nothing, in the world could touch his soul.

Time was precious. Time was limited.

Yet, this dream, it felt endless…

His intellectual threshold could only hold so much. He had the urge to lash out at her, to stop the non-sense spewing from her lips, and perhaps, even shake some sense into her. None of the words drew meaning to him. Who the hell was Neo? What the fuck was a Cerberus? Why was she talking about loose souls and protocols in the underworld? The way he saw it, hell was a place of torment, all fire and ashes and cinder, not an office that had rules. Much to his demise, she left him with more questions than answers. Perhaps, even more so when she spoke her final words and thanked him. What kind of trick was she trying to pull? He wasn’t going to let her go because she was polite and had manners. Clearly, they weren’t finished here.

Shifting his weight, his face drew closer to hers an expression of exasperation cemented unto it, when he felt her squirm and move beneath him. Then, he felt it. His eyes widened in surprise as his arm caught his stomach to where the pain radiated outwards. It stung, but it wasn’t nearly strong enough to move him from his position. “So you wanna play dirty, huh?” he spat at her.

He moved back allowing the girl some space to move. His arms automatically went into their defensive stance, covering the neck and torso like a boxer, whilst his feet shuffled on the ground. He wasn’t a spring chicken. This wasn’t his first fight and he highly doubted that it would be his last. The only difference between this and his usual scuffles was that he was completely sober and his opponent was a woman. Otherwise, he would’ve probably tackled her down to the floor already and smacked a beer bottle to her head. His temperament was already bad as it was without drinking, alcohol seemed to only amplify those feelings.

He could see her charging at him, feet first. Was she trying to stomp on his chest? He easily moved out of the way as he continued to tire her out. With speed, she threw a knuckle close to his head that he nearly got away from. The impact broke the bridge of his nose, red dripping onto his shirt, the slight crack of the bone heard as he set it back in place. “Try again, little girl!” his words now taunting her, trying to get her to lose herself in aggression in one fight. “That didn’t even hurt,” he mocked her with fake tears as if to say, she wasn’t going to win this one.

Too predictable, sweetheart.

He was watching her intently. She seemed to be going through a pattern of attack and those never boded well against him. He could see her shoulders jerking back as she moved forward. She was going to throw another low punch. As soon as her fists were within the vicinity of his stomach, he intended to grab her arms and twist her around, like a prisoner with cuffs. He was going to take her weight and lift her from the ground, if she didn’t squirm, and toss her out his front doors. She was too crazy, he concluded to himself. She was calm one minute and then, volatile the next. What did she want from him? He still never understood.

Even for a dream, he had to admit that everything felt so vivid. So lucid. He felt the exhaustion within his own body as the adrenaline diminished. His arms were beginning to shake for they were losing their energy to move. With the sweat dripping from his forehead and his heavy breathing, he could tell that he was exhausted. His ‘dream body’ mustn’t be used to fights. In fact, this body wasn’t built to fight. It was too tall, too fragile, and not muscular enough to withstand their interactions. If he didn’t end it soon, he was going to pass out from mere exhaustion.

One last time.

Dev mentally prepared himself for what he was going to do next. He took a breath in, inhaling the air, oxygenating the blood as his eyes completely narrowed to his target. He had his shoulder hunched, almost as if he were a werewolf, and he charged at her. With full force. No barres held and everything he’s got in him propelled him forward fast as he anticipated the impact to be very forceful. Perhaps, forceful enough to move her out and rip the outside doors of its hinges. He wasn’t so much intending to kick her out as opposed to just shoving her out of his way, just like he bumped his opponents’ cars when they steered to close to his lane.

Time to show me what you’re made of, girlie.

Idea