Chapter 7: (Marking of the Inception)

Frank burst out laughing. Such a horrendous thing to say! Jester sat between us while stretching his hands towards the fire for warmth. I couldn't bare the misunderstanding even though I really didn't care about what this green pickle thought of me but, I chimed up, "It's a misunderstanding, I was just trying to comfort him with a hug".



"Is that so?", Jester raised his brow at Frank. I knew he didn't believe me, but I couldn't care less.



For a while, the silence dawned on us. As time passed, it was getting extremely excruciating. Man, I couldn't take it anymore.



"Enough of all this! I was kidnapped, forced to help you without my free will, got injured by a flying skeleton, drank 'Venom' and even got to know one of your back stories. Yet, I still have absolutely no idea about what I could possibly help you with, and just because I'm asking you this doesn't mean I believe in any of your shenanigans. After hearing Frank's story and meeting that horrible creature, I'm leaning towards this but I still can't regard this as reality. So tell me for the last time without wasting any more time, what I actually have to do to get the fuck out of here!"



Both of them exchanged looks at the same time, they made it seem as if it was much complicated than this. I don't know how long it's been that I'm stuck inside of this dungeon but I've had enough of it. According to my knowledge of time, it's been some nine to ten hours since I was trapped here.



"Ahem, okay, so we really do need your help or so we believe. But first of all let's get on moving cause at this rate it's gonna take an eternity for us to reach our destination", Frank said.



Out of his I don't know, ever-supplying-bag he threw me a t-shirt. My back was now completely healed, I threw on the t-shirt over my head which had a Pink Floyd print on it's front. I couldn't imagine anyone from hell actually listening to Pink Floyd. That would be a sight to see!



He stomped the fire out with his foot, with Jester already sauntering ahead of us. We started walking, it was quite dark but Frank's emission made it more than clear to see.



"Don't you have some special ability?", he asked skeptically.



"Special ability? The only ability I have is that I can talk to snakes, that's hardly an ability and more of a disability", I replied sarcastically.



"Hahaha, that's the problem with you foolish humans! Y'all never know how to appreciate such precious gifts, Shame!", Jester shouted in an anguished voice. He was walking ahead of us but was definitely within the hearing range. It was my first time hearing his voice take such a turn, usually he kept silent or only opened his mouth to say the most brain damaging thing but now didn't seem to be the case.



"Look, we believe that only through that ability of yours, you'll be able to help us", Frank said hurriedly, trying to cover up Jester's disappointment in humans.



"What do you mean? I have to speak with.......snakes? But it's been years since I've talked to actual, wild snakes!"



"Before you fell into the pit, weren't you only visiting your pet snakes?", Frank asked questioningly.



"No! I mean- yes but, they don't fall under normal snakes. They approached me first in ten whole years and asked me to help them! Before them, all other snakes I've encountered, didn't ever speak to me! They're afraid of me!", I said half-screaming, half-talking. Both of them went completely silent, I continued, "Also I believe they only talked to me because they had some kind of a stupid prediction to make".



I though back to one of the prophecies they had recited:



"You will travel to the command of the king of lust,



Beware of the good and who you trust.



A conquest in disguise will decide your fate,



But for you it's the devil himself who awaits"



Wait a sec - The king of Lust!?!? No, no , no, this wasn't actually happening. I-I-m d-definitely- this is definitely a nightmare!!! Oh no, please tell me this wasn't actually happening.......



Even in this bitter cold, I was slowly starting to sweat. My heart was racing faster, my legs shook so vigorously that I had to halt for a sec. Frank walked beside me, so I held onto his shoulders to steady myself. My palms were getting sweaty from all the nervousness.



If I wasn't mistaken, a look of worry passed his face. As soon as I saw that face, it hit me like a boulder. All the tragedies he faced, his past, everything. And that was more than enough to prove reality for me. I just couldn't fathom that whatever he shared with me was all just a silly lie.



"Hey, you okay? Why are you sweating? Is everything alright?", he asked stopping beside me. Jester paused as well and with a swift look at me he turned forward and started walking as if it was nothing.



"I-I'm fine. I was just lost in a thought, please let's continue. I just want to get over with this", I said trying my best to keep the stutter away.



With a cynical look, he asked, "what do you mean by prediction? What's that about?"



Oh no! ugh my darned mouth. I can't tell him about this, at least not now! I still have a lot of things to confirm. Even if he wasn't lying to me, still he could be in a lie. "Nothing, they just talked some gibberish after eating their food. And I thought maybe it was some kind of a prophecy you know, but I was just completely wrong!", I tried to ward off the implausible tone of my voice by laughing. Damn, my big mouth!



He didn't seem much convinced but was wise enough to leave it at that. "So tell me what I need to do and why", I asked.



The gremlin walked only 50m away from us. He was definitely taking his sweet time. What's the point of walkibg ahead? We were gonna catch upto him in no time!



"Bare with me, okay?....... So every year like us humans have a lot of festivities and celebrations, similar to that, here in the underworld they have the most awaited occasion of the entire year, 'The Seven-day ball'. It's named after the all the 7 princes. Every single day of the week is assigned to one of the princes where each of them prepares a magnificent, striking and glorious gala which continues for an entire week. It is also attended by beings of all nature."



"But what is the purpose of this gala? Is it for peace among the realms?", I asked confused.



"Hmm, partly. The aim behind this is quite vast but the one that everyone likes to hold onto is - to find suitable partners for the princes."


"Partner!? You mean like a spouse? But didn't you say that this was celebrated ever year? How many more wives do they need that they're still going at it!?!?", I asked frustrated. I mean I wouldn't be surprised if polygamy was still in practice in the underworld.



"As I said earlier, the reasons are vast and this is more likely a cover. The point is, this route that we're currently walking through leads to the main entrance which is guarded by the house of Lust. But in the middle of this lane, there's a hindrance. A huge one at that. It's a fire breathing monster that's rigid as a rock and burns all the beings alive if they try to approach it", he said in matter-of-fact voice.


"The tales of the locals say, that it was the one that fought alongside the princes during the war between demons and angels. But it's too much power was more of a bane than anything, so after the war the creature was locked up inside one of the torture cells to repent. It was due to utter carelessness that it's on loose."



"You have torture cells here? Besides, what can I do? If it's so huge and deadly, how do you expect me go deal with it?" I asked hopelessly.



"You'll get to know that when the time comes. For now just understand that, we together need to remove this monster, so that it doesn't create a hindrance for princess Evelyn's carriage. "



"Princes Evelyn? Who's that?", I asked suspiciously.



"She's the daughter of one of our neighbor empire and also the partner of prince Marcolf for this gala. It is said that her beauty is blinding even to the gods", he said as if in a trance.



I don't think I like this Evelyn woman. Also I don't like how he talks about her. Does he have a crush on her!?



"So you're telling me that I was dragged here without my free will, just to clear up the road for your pretty princess to not suffer any discomfort? Oh, I'M GONNA FUCKING FLIP YOU KNOW!!!!!", I screamed so loudly at him that even Jester was too shocked. He came running towards us as if he was concerned but, I knew better.



"No way, take me back right now!! I won't take a single step from here. I have a lot of important work to do other than clean up roadkill or what-not", I stood grounded to my feet.



A distant screech made me jump out of fear, that reminded me of the injury from that scraggly creature. I shuddered from the recollection of the thought.



Frank sighed heavily and looked at his little friend for help. Jester seemed as lost as a little child in a chocolate factory and just stared into the void.



"Please, Miss Grace, we have no more choices, other than you! It doesn't depend on us, we're just doing the work assigned to us. Nothing more, nothing less. Please, you cannot back away now!", Frank pleaded with a really fucking annoying look. Darn it, that reminded me of Aunt Rose. Ugh, I missed her!



After a minute of me eyeing him with indignation, I finally gave in. I asked, "What's in it for me? Why do you think I'll help you without anything in return? You didn't believe that I would do your bidding just out of goodwill, did you?"



Frank looked lost for a moment. As if he was trying to recall something important. Suddenly he replied, "Answers".



Oh no. Thump, my heart was beating heavily for the 2nd time since our little expedition finding this monster. I couldn't bare it anymore, I rushed to the side as my stomach heaved. All the memories of the past came rushing at the speed of X-15. I closed my eyes out of fear as I remembered the exact same words from before. I saw a vision of blood on my face, a woman screaming, crashing of vases, and me........lying there completely unmoving.



A gentle pat on my back was enough to soothe my nerves. It was a very familiar hand, Frank stood beside me with panic dancing on his face. My hair was now completely loose and fell on both sides of my face. Even Jester was looking at me, with something of a look I wouldn't quite call worry but somewhat similar.



I needed to get my nerves under control. I cannot react so drastically like this to such news. Eventually they will catch up but still I didn't wanna think about it. I don't need any answers, just let me return safely!!



I heaved a sigh, as I tried to think of an excuse for such a reaction. "Are you okay!?", Frank asked for the 2nd time.



"Yeah, yeah. I'm alright, it was that sweet bun that we ate I believe. It must have gone bad", I said in a dramatic motion of swiping my mouth with the back of my hand.



"Huh, bun? That can't be possible, I thought it was fresh. I even kept it in my bag! Are you sure it's that?", Frank asked as if almost hurt.



Frank was naive. Jester looked at me skeptically but kept his mouth shut. I knew he didn't believe me again, how can he always catch me in these lies?



After a little rest of five minutes, we continued on our expedition. As we walked, the slow, distant ripples of water was heard. It was a river that stretched out long ways in two opposite directions.



Jester halted abruptly, Frank was getting anxious every second we neared the water body. The air surrounding us seemed hefty and congested. That was weird, it was such a big space yet still it didn't felt right.



The water was almost as blue as it could get, completely transparent, shallow with something shining at the bottom.



Frank and Jester stopped and turned to me, I didn't like where this was going. Frank approached me, put a hand on my shoulder and whispered, "You see that shiny thing under there? That's the vessel for the monster, we must get it out of there."



The depth of the water didn't seem much, I could go get it but there was something else about it.



"Since we're already near the river of death, that means the serpent's quite nearby as well", Frank said as he moved around to evaluate the water body.



"But who's gonna get that vessel out of there?", my question was met with dead silence. This was odd, upon seeing their reluctance I offered, "Fine, I'll go. You two wait here ".



"No, you can't do that. How can you say that so casually without not even having an idea about the danger!?", Frank asked me in a reprimanding tone.



"What danger? It's just water, what else could there be?", I asked.



"It's the river Trix, the river of the dead", this time it was Jester that spoke, quite surprising me and Frank. "As the name suggests ", he continued, "Only the dead are able to infiltrate this but if so the living does try to enter this river, he or she'll be destroyed with just bits of you hanging from the body."



"That bird from before- is there any relation to it?", I asked horrified as I remembered the crooked creature.



"Those creatures are the first beings that were born out of this water body. That was how they were born, dead from the beginning. That is why it's said, even if a claw of those birds touches your flesh, you're bound to receive a visit from the death itself", said Frank as he shuddered slightly. Even though he's already dead, he still seemed to be afraid of death.



"Ah, that makes sense why I couldn't almost breathe for the time being. Well, if it's the river of dead, I don't believe a walking, healthy human being should go", I said with a subtle cheer in my voice.



Frank just stared at the river, he seemed to be in deep thought. Was he thinking of going? I mean he's already dead so I guess the river shouldn't be affecting him.....what's he thinking about then?



"I'll go inside, but I cannot touch the vessel. Only the living have the ability for that", he looked at me. I didn't know what to say, if he cannot touch it then how are we supposed to take it out?



This time me and Jester exchanged a look, but before anything could happen Frank stated clearly, "It's gotta be you, Miss Grace. Jester can't take the burn, it's gonna disintegrate him completely. There's no guarantee nothing will happen to you but that's just our last resort".



Suddenly he shimmied out of his khaki shirt, his stomach completely toned with honey biscuits. Shirtless, he was as good as any clothing model if not better. He took out a long rope out of his little backpack, turned around and with a promising look jumped into the river.



The soft splash echoed inside of the dungeon. As soon as he got into the water, it looked like he completely disappeared! The water still looked transparent from the outside but there were no signs of Frank.



A slow, dragging sound against the craggy lane made me whip my head in it's direction so fast that it almost got dislocated. Me and Jester were all alone now, but that ever increasing sound put us on alert.



I bravely moved to the front as if I knew about what it was. Even though I had an idea, I just couldn't comprehend it to be the truth.



A ginormous body only heard of in tales, a head so massive that is enough to hold two elephants, it's eyes shining ruby as if dipped in blood. At the sight of us, it hissed blaringly that I had to cover up my ears with both hands and before I knew anything, a huge scorching blast of flame moved towards me. A voice beside me shouted "DUCK!" , and I did in time cuz when I opened my eyes, in front of me was Jester!



As I crouched, he stood before me, shielding us from the hot balzing flame with a ....bag!? Wait- that's Frank's backpack! How is it able to protect us like this!?



The snake now moved in a very agitated manner, I noticed that one of it's eyes were bleeding. Jester pushed me forward to the snake, it was humongous!



When our eyes locked I didn't know what was happening but, it followed my every move. As if he was alert but couldn't decide whether to strike or not. I wanted to help, it's bloodied eye looked incredibly terrible.



"Hey! Hey! Look here!!", I shouted at him. At first I didn't seem to have any effect on him but after a minute or so, it looked at me almost grounded to the spot.



When Jester moved towards me, it's pupil fixed upon him. It hissed menacingly as he approached nearer.



"We're trynna help you! Please!!"



As soon as i said it, at the shore a rope floated to the front. Frank! He got it! While keeping my eye's fixed upon the serpent, I moved backwards and once I turned to the front, Jester was at my back again, protecting me from the blanket of fire with the little bag.



I held the rope and started pulling it up, it seemed quite long. An, "hurry up!", from Jester made me work faster. I could feel it, a heavy object bound to the rope. I dipped my hands inside the water to grab it and as soon as the water touched the surface of my skin, it sizzled. It burned so bad that my hand was completely filled with blisters upto my elbow almost instantly.



I screamed at the top of my voice, Jester didn't look back. I was hurting so bad, why did it hurt so much!? Tears rolled down my face as I got a hold of the vessel, It looked like a regular Mason jar. As soon as I got a hold if it, I ditched tne water and ran. I was completely panicking, I couldn't feel anything in my hands. For a sec, I even thought they were gonna fall off.



At a little distance, Frank's crown of hair was visible. Jester jerked me around and I was once again face front with the serpent. It hissed at me threateningly but didn't dare to pounce. "W-what do I do?", I winced as the cold touched the red, swollen area on my hand.



"Trap it inside!! We don't have much time, it seems to hate movements and looks like it's got it's eye's fixed upon Frank!", he wishpered near me as we both stood completely unmoving.



Put this huge ginormous serpent in this jar!? But that's not possible, I just couldn't wrap my mind around the idea.



A stream of fire went over my head towards the direction of Frank as soon as he got out of the water, he dipped his head inside once more to survive from the flame. I had to hurry, but I didn't know how!?



I shoved the jar towards the snake and recalled about the power of summoning. With a blinding light coming from the jar, the gigantic body was gone with a poof! White smoke belowed from it's spot as silence confined us in it's grip.



I just stood there in a daze, when Jester came running. He took the jar from me and hastily closed the lid. I didn't notice before but his hair on top of his head were giving out smoke, I didn't expect him to protect me like that. I was very much thankful.



Frank got out of the river, his hair slicked back, the water dripping from his hair sizzled and evaporated as soon it hit the ground. He approached us and before I could ask about how he was, he took in my arms in his. They burned from the cursed water, my hands had turned unsightly. But then, why did he look at them with such concern and care?



We set up a fire to rest and recover. We finally got the snake, I believe the only reason it seemed agitated was due to it's injury. I fell down on my butt with relief.



We sat surrounding the fire and surprisingly, Jester sat beside him with his eye trained upon my blistered hands. "Thank you, for saving me earlier. Who knows, if it wasn't for you I may not have even survived", I said with genuinity.



Maybe it was just the effect of all the burns or probably just my imagination, but a slight tint coloured his cheeks. His eyes seemed to avoid my gaze, for a sec I almost called him cute before the silly thought evaporated into the thin air.



I smirked as he turned away from me flustered, this was the second time he has shown such emotions. Still, this was progress.



Suddenly Frank kneeled beside me completely dressed, his hair still wet from the river. His hazel eyes turned a shade darker under the cast of fire and made him look almost too good to be real. He passed me the same transparent bottle from before, I knew what was inside. I gulped it in one go, and the familiar sensation of bile in my throat returned and before I knew it, I was completely passed out.


I didn't realize how long I was actually blacked out but a cold splash of water woke me up again. I didn't even need to guess as a vague groan escaped my mouth. Jester stood before me in a very familiar stance, holding water. My hands now had completely recovered with a mild sting to it, my brows furrowed as I took in my vicinity.



Frank was nowhere to be seen, we were still at the place before I lost consciousness. I smiled at Jester slightly, he got super flustered as our eyes met. He wasn't the one to react like this, something's definitely changed in him.



I remembered the snake, it was locked up in the jar. That sight was oddly uncomfortable to me. I took the bottle containing the venom of Delphine and poured a few drops inside. The snake layed unmoving but I hoped it would recover.



"How can this little jar hold such a gigantic being? .......it's almost as if magic!", I said as I remembered there's no such thing as magic.



"You already know the answer. The jar's specially enchanted to hold this beast", Jester replied sitting beside me.



"Then what about the backpack? How can it shield us from such fire without taking a single tear? And how can it store such huge amount of amenities inside of it?", I asked eagerly.



"The backpack was something gifted to Frank by the cyclops", he replied in a grave tone. "We don't have a great relationship with them as of now but, when we did, they used to gift us items made with immense durability and accuracy. The backpack is also enchanted with magic to store a huge amount of stuff in it without restraint. "



"Cyclops? They're actually real!? B-but how?", I asked confused.



"Yes, a lot of the things you know are real. Even cyclops, even magic and many more. So broaden your horizons because a lot of things that you believed to be not real are actually the reality in the underworld", he said with a slight glimmer in his eyes.



Frank came walking from the opposite direction. He seemed deeply engrossed in a slight parchment that looked to be a map.



"Come on, we don't have much time. We should be reaching the Segregation by now ", he said in a hurried voice.



When his eyes landed on me, they searched my face for any discomfort but I reassured him with an encouraging nod.



We traveled a bit further before coming to a stop as black fog, the blanket of nyx surrounded us. This was all too familiar. I felt like I've been here before, b-but that was impossible!!



A silent thud of a boat made it's way towards us. A black hooded figure stood with a single oar in it's hand. Frank walked upto him, digged through his back pockets and handed him some shiny golden doubloons.



With a motion of a tourist guide, he spread his arms wide open and announced loudly, "Welcom to the Segregation!".



The what? We got onto the boat and I realized that this was too much familiar. Suddenly I remembered my nightmare, black hooded figure, a boat, a bloodied door with skulls ...... this all couldn't just be a coincidence.



We got on and the boat started rowing, below us flowed golden translucent water as I had guessed. I didn't realize that Frank was staring at me, "Ahem, I've seen this place before", I said to distract myself.



"That's not possible. No actual living human being has ever seen this and made it alive, maybe it was something similar?", he asked confused.



"Nope, this exact same place, boat, hooded figure. Everything's the same..........I saw it in a dream", I shivered while recalling the memories of the nightmare.



Both of them got completely silent, the only noise came from the splashing of oar against the water. They looked at me as if I had said something inhumane. But before I could open my mouth to explain further, the boat reached the shore and we hoped out of it.



"Well, this concludes the Segregation. This place is enchanted to only allow the higher beings in the society to enter the gates of hell", Frank said inspecting the surrounding.



Jester was already ahead of us. He looked extremely tiny compared to the huge black door that stood before him, it was nothing like my dream. It was shining as if recently polished. No skulls, no dripping blood, nothing. With a light push from the gremlin, the door opened upto a loud, buzz of people. Thousands of lights and glitter fell upon my face and made me wince but then my heart raced incessantly when, somewhere behind me Frank declared, "WELCOME TO THE UNDERWORLD!".





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