DIS: Kril's Mission in the Underworld

by Leon Krilangi VII
LeonKrilangiVII @ Sheezy Art
Kril is Leon's.
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I must only have blacked out for a minute or so; when I awoke, the three judges were muttering amidst themselves, glancing at me every so often with very worried expressions. After finally coming to my senses, I carefully sat up and then got to my feet, and the judges turned their full attention to me again.

"My goodness," Aeacus said, "are you all right? I don't think I've ever seen such a violent Glitch before..."

Another term I was unfamiliar with. I would have asked Aeacus what a Glitch was, but then I began to remember things I had seen or done, people I had met, places I had seen, things I had been through from many years past. That, I realized, was the Glitch he was talking about: regaining my memories must've been an unnatural occurence in the Underworld, and mine had apparently been especially vibrant or excruciating.

"I remember...things from my past life...I remembered who killed me...All the names of my friends are coming back to me...The gemstone I needed to survive the conflict...Oh, great...!!"

Suddenly, I remembered my genesis into the underworld, how I had payed Charon's fare with that same gemstone. I began to panic; I needed that gemstone to vanquish the foe who had slain me.

"I need that gemstone!! Do any of you know how I can contact Charon?!"

Aeacus was about to answer when a great mechanical clangor arose nearby, and the judges returned to their posts with unexpected speed. As I tried to understand exactly what was going on, a small machination, similar in design to Charon's vehicle, began approaching me at high velocity. If it weren't for the glaring lights that shone their pale light from the front of the machine or the horrible mix of noises, I never would've noticed the metal giant; its jet-black paint granted it perfect camoflauge against the walls and roof of the Underworld caverns. Strange black frilled curtains hung on the sides of the massive vehicle, covering the tinted windows, and a large, gold-gilded ornamental skull protruded messily from the hood.

The vehicle skidded to a screeching halt just in front of me, and one of the doors opened as a thin, lanky man with thick, curly black hair and long, bony fingers stepped up and out of his seat. He looked around a bit before his eyes finally settled on me, and I would have sworn that his gaze had frozen me solid. As he locked gazes with me, a sort of half-smile, half-grimace formed on his thin lips, and he slowly approached me.

"You must be the glitchy little troublemaker I've heard about. I hear you've got some empty pages in your death certificate."

Intimidated, but not frightened, I replied, "Yes, I've some unfinished business in the world of the living."

"We'll see about that. It's not too difficult for my little brother to arrange to have those blank pages removed."

"According to Aeacus here, Zeus might have reason to ressurect me."

The tall, dark-haired man shot the judge an icy glare, sending a visible shiver down his spine, whispering, "(You're not supposed to tell them that, you idiot!!)"

Once he returned his attention to me, he continued, "Yeah, you might have a chance, but that's not for you and me to decide. It's up to Zeus to determine if your role in the grand scheme of things is worth revivin' you over."

"I'll take that chance," I replied, my confidence renewed.

The curly-haired man sneered at me before saying, "OK, then...You're comin' with me. We need to discuss your case back at my office. Get in the car, and hurry it up, OK?"

At this point, I had a vague idea of who this person was. As he approached his 'car', as he called it, I asked him, "Who are you?"

When he flinched and responded to me, at first, he looked at me like I had asked him to go jump into the River Styx. Then he shook his head, muttered something under his breath, and approached me again, leaning down into my face so our noses were point-to-point.

"I'm Hades," he said, breathing a toxic aroma from between his teeth as he spoke to me. "Good ta meetcha, kiddo."