Death

Surprise! Dead Girl is Super Dead!

"Excuse me? Uh, what do you mean I'm dead? This is the fourth damn time it's flip-flopped on me, so I'm going to need some proof," I snarled, and Ness looked smug.

"Proof? Okay, I can do that. Do you think that Pluto would just let you go back to the real world? Hell no! He wants his queen and his power all in one. So first, you get married, since you're dead. Then, you go missing in the war. He's a schemer, my dear Mort."

I glared at the floor, tapping my foot. "That's not proof of anything but the fact that you hate Pluto."

Ness was a vision of innocence as she walked past me, towards the door. "Think about it, and then ask him. You'll see if he's lying," she whispered, and then leaned towards me to plant a kiss on my cheek. "It's very hard to lie to a demon, since they're the masters of deceit. I am deceiving you, but so is everyone else in the Underworld. Just find one person you can trust and throw away the rest."

With that, she was gone, leaving me with my mouth gaping open and a tingling spot on my cheek. Damn her. Why was it always like this?

I'd loved her, a long time ago. I really had, but she couldn't say the same. She just didn't know the effect she had on me- or, maybe she did, and she had just been playing with me for our entire friendship. Whatever the case, Ness was in the past now. I needed to move on.

"Wait," I said aloud. "Isn't there supposed to be a meeting or something in here?"

"Yes."

"Who said that? Show yourself!"

"I don't matter. You, on the other hand, are quite interesting. Welcome to the meeting."

The doors swept closed, and I rushed towards them, jiggling the handle. Nothing. It was locked. So, even though I was swiftly growing reluctant to use the shadows, I closed my eyes and felt for the darkness around me. It began to drift towards me, obscuring me like fog. This was a strange darkness, I decided, and opened my eyes.

From the depths of the foggy shadows, the handle of something was visible. I grasped it in my hand, pulling, but it didn't move.

"Too bad. I guess the shadows of the Underworld haven't quite accepted you yet. You'll have to be dead first."

"Okay, what the hell? Am I dead or am I alive? Because, apparently, I can't tell the difference! Now, mysterious voice man, whoever you are, I've had quite enough of this dead-undead-living thing, and I'm even more fed up with hearing voices. So identify yourself and make it easier for all of us."

"If it will make you more cooperative, then very well. I am called Alexander. I come from the land of heroes to bring your ghost, for you are fated to fight. Come with me, and paradise will welcome you as one of its own," he said, and I sat down hard.

"You have got to be kidding me." The shadows dispersed, flowing away into the walls and onto the floor. "I am not a hero, mister, so I'm afraid you've got the wrong demi-human."

"You are the only demi-human. The others are all traitors. The land of heroes will not accept villains."

"I don't know if that's true. Everyone's a villain in someone's eyes, right? If I do what you say and I fight, then I'll be the villain of the demi-humans. No, I'll be a traitor," I said, my logic finally returning to me after so long a time in an illogical land.

"That is accurate. But the council of heroes has decided that the reapers are in the right, and so you have the soul of a hero."

"I'm not a hero. I'm a girl who sold out because she wanted to go home. I thought an adventure would be exciting, but I hate having power and I hate these damn plot twists. It seems like every few seconds I'm finding out some new way that the universe has decided to make me miserable!"

"I'm inviting you to paradise."

"Yeah, and I'm not dead! I'm alive, and I'm going back to the real Ness. We're going home, without grimoires and demons and shadows. I can't do this anymore. Screw the damn pact I made with Pluto. He was tricking me, and I'm done. Alexander, if you want to reward me for being a hero, then take me home."

"I can't do that. I'm just here for your ghost. The rest must stay and continue along the path of fate. You must fight, and when you die, you will come to the land of heroes with your ghost. This is just for insurance. Before the reapers get their hands on you."

"I thought you said they were in the right."

"In the war, yes. Generally, no. So, come along."

"I don't want to."

"I'm offering you everything. In paradise, every dream of yours is reality. You can forget, you can remember, or you can live out every single living wish you had. What is in your heart?"

I opened my mouth to refuse again, but, unbidden, my thoughts turned to Ness. To my home. To the mother I never really grew up to know. To the father I was leaving behind. He could make all that real, right? Ness would love me, my mother and father would always be home, and I'd be happy. I'd have a normal name, like Susan or Megan, and the shadows wouldn't talk to me anymore.

"I can't," I whispered.

"What?"

"I want it all to happen because I did something myself. I don't deserve paradise, since I haven't done anything yet. Come back in a year, and maybe my answer will be different."

"Of course. So long as it's not a no. Because I've had enough of these damned heroes refusing paradise. It's a happy ending to the story! Who wouldn't want that! I died honorably, and so I deserved paradise!"

"Not today. Now, it's better to refuse everything good until you're a martyr to a long-dead cause."

"Interesting. I will think on that. But before I go, I'd better tell you to get that taint cleansed. An angel or a god could do it, but a very powerful demon placed that spell, so it will take more than me. Farewell."

Damn. A taint? Of course there was a freaking taint.