“Is everything ready?”        

                  Tonight was the first time I was reminded that the Lord was not completely invincible. He had asked for a large pool to be made into the vast land he owned. Jinki complied, since his ability was water. The full moon passed not long ago. The sky was so dark, cloudless and without star.

                  He wore black shirt and pants, and his hair was messy but the wave was perfect. It was the kind of hair that tempted you to run your hand over the smoothness. The Lord looked at the night sky, as if he was observing the movement of the planet.

                  “Why are we doing this?” I asked curiously. Last night we were talking. Tonight we stood by the garden, waiting.

                  “He is calling the Dark Elders,” Jinki whispered and both of us stood side by side. The wind had stopped the breeze. Everything was perfectly still, but I could smell the foul scent from afar. After a long pause, the wind suddenly came, all at once in a perfect sync. The sound was louder than our voices.

                  “Dark Elders? Is there anyone older than him in this world?” I had to yell and put up my hand in defense. The grass was blown to our direction. He was the only one who stood tall. My Lord stared at the water as Jinki put his hand and stopped the water from moving out of the place.

                  “Oh, not of this world, of course,” Jinki laughed, “He might be the oldest in this world, as old as the first plant on the ground, but older beings rule the Underworld. He has been there, has been under their ruthless kingdom. These Elders don’t take human form. They are of something else. They co-exist in a land before Earth was created. The Gods despise them.”

                  “What do we do with beings that Gods despise?”

                  “We become their allies.”

                  I wasn’t sure about this. Nobody messed with Gods. In the Shadow world, we didn’t worship them. But we knew of their existences. They lived far beyond this dimension and many others. The Gods didn’t bother to involve themselves in our worlds. They had lives on their own.

                  I didn’t understand why we had to call upon such danger.

                  “The water…” Jinki suddenly took a huge step forward. He seemed struck, as if something in the water was stirring and it bothered him. I followed him, watching the surrounding closely. No one else was present. The maids were dismissed a day ago. It was just the three of us. The Lord looked over at the both of us, “The two of you can’t go with me.”

                  I could feel my jaw tightened. Jinki was even more shocked than me. His fist tightened defensively.

                  “This world I’m about to enter is not for the living. Only the Deads can go there,” He dismissed us easily. “However.” And that simple word stopped our protests. “I need your presences here. If I am not back by an hour, you have to drag me out, by all means.”

                  He had scared me again. My body reached out in reflex and I could tell by his expression that he was surprised. His calm façade had faltered for a moment and he caught my hand, spinning me around so that his tall, broad shoulder would shield me from Jinki’s view. I didn’t know why I did this. I only knew that my heart beat loudly and my mind was a mess.

                  “What is this?” The Lord had the nerve to tease me, still. “You said you didn’t care.”

                  I looked down at his long, slender fingers. He had clutched onto me tightly so that I wouldn’t fall into the water. I willed myself to calm down, and I did. “I don’t,” I spat ferociously, eyes gleaming in the dark of night, “I couldn’t care less.”

                  “Keep on telling yourself that you don’t care,” He trailed his fingers and caressed my cheeks gently. I flinched at the close proximity. He crouched down to my height and examined my face calmly and carefully. I had to hold my breath for that moment. “If I don’t return, you have to bring me back, no matter what the cost is.”

                  He had made it my life mission to chase him wherever he will be. I had done it once. I had no doubt I could do it twice. He had implanted the unfamiliar taste of fear into me, and I disliked it. Like he said, I would have him safe at whatever cost it was.

                  I scowled at him and stepped back, as much as I hated to. The Lord’s hand hung high in the air, and he was, once again, amused by my defiance. He must have come to know that I was never one to express myself freely, especially in front of my loved ones. I didn’t like to admit this, but he was becoming a part of me.

                  The Lord brought back the sensitive, fragile part of the girl in me. He was someone I loved to hate and hated to love. But I couldn’t shake him off so easily when he was so determined to make me like him. Not to mention, his not-so-subtle flirting and his endless riddles.

                  “Well, then, I’m going,” He shrugged it off as if I had never offended him at all.

                  Come back safely. I whispered mentally. The Lord didn’t spare us a glance when he gracefully jumped into the pool of water. He had connected the Portal to the Underworld, a different dimension from the Hell he belonged to.

                  Hell was flame. Fire everywhere. The Fire Master, a monster specialized in intense heat and flame was amongst his most dangerous creation that kept prisoners at bay.

                  The Underworld was a completely different world. It was a place for unrest spirits. Rumors had it that the world was so cold and lonely that everywhere you went, it was covered in thick frost.

                  Jinki’s laughter brought me back to reality. 

                  “You are the first, my dear Apprentice,” He snickered, “No one talks back to him. At least, none of them talks to him like that and live on to see another day. You are lucky he likes you.” Does he, really?

***

                  An hour and ten minutes.

                  I glanced at Jinki and he stared back at me. The water was still, and there was no sign of appearance any time soon. I grew frustrated waiting. And I was weary, too. The Lord asked for one hour. We were late. What if something happened?

                  “I am going,” I growled, not knowing the reason why I was suddenly so mad. I was mad at the world, mad at Jinki, mad at the water, mad at the Lord. This was ridiculous. I wanted to get rid of it. “He is late and so are we.”

                  “I will go. This is too risky for someone as young as you,” My mentor said in his finale tone. I shook my head stubbornly and replied, “If you are going, then I am going. We have to go together. The Lord specifically asked me to. Besides, if one of us is stuck in the Underworld, the other can still drag him out of that hell hole.”

                  “How heartless of you,” Jinki snorted, and I gave him a look. There was no way in hell I would leave him behind. He surely knew better than that.

                  Both of us stepped into the water. The Portal hadn’t been closed yet. The wetness sipped into my skin and I flinched. Portals weren’t exactly the most favorite form of transportation. Many didn’t know the danger that lied within. I had heard stories of careless beings who were into oblivion with no escape.

                  No one had gone to Underworld and came back. Few of the Shadows knew of this cursed place. My first impression of the legendary trap-hole was that it was so dark. Even my eyes were blinded. It was as if nothing was inside this entrance. I tried to reach out for Jinki’s hand, and I breathed out in relief when he caught my wrist and calmly called out my name.

                  Jinki had pulled me close; so close that my back hit his chest. I could detect doubt and curiosity at the edge of his mellow voice. He asked a question in a low whisper, barely audible, “Did you hear that? The voices… They are approaching…”

                  At first I thought those voices were the sound of wind. But the as I closely listened, I grew restless at the hushes and whispers. It was not humani sound. I recognized them as the Unrest spirits; the kin that was keen on their worldly dissatisfaction. The Demons and Spirits weren’t exactly fond of each other. We often asked for their service without paying back.

                  “Daemon, daemon…” was their hushed whispers. It was their language for the word ‘Demons’. The spirit’s language was spoken in a way that it sounded otherworldly. It wasn’t man or woman’s voice; it was a combination of the two. Sometimes it sounded like a legion of spirits was speaking through one single remain.

                  “Illiash sun adsenz, djiash miridh leygh prior (They are here, more sacrifices for the Elders).”

                  I had grown accustomed to the language. I understood it well. When these spirits surrounded us, their translucent bodies somehow became the light to this darkness. They were green, pale, and sadly to say; pathetic. Jinki and I had our backs facing each other.

                  “Daemon, daemon, quaestus simmone rakhs? (Demons, demons, what are you doing here?)”

                  Damn. I should have brought my blade. It fended off unwanted spirits.

                  “Causalius ryanhi jisadh, demissus vigorsa (What we do is none of your business, lowly spirits),” I spat at them. I heard shrieks and crackles as the replies.

                  “Sentizosza syanh durh, Daemon. Imperium daren nosza (This is not your world, Demon. You have no power on us),” They talked back and I growled. Jinki stiffened as his posture turned defensive. “Nan isz Daemon rugh. Dishya darkhaz fosz andt (I am Demon by blood. I am far superior than you.” Then I paused, glaring at them, “Sentizosza maranh khraen. Interficio ghrusiz biantchaztra. Nun ansesto visza meam. (This may not be my world, but I will kill you if necessary. No one stands in my way.)”

                  “Improbusz! Nian periclir baginh! (! How dare you!)”

                  Before they took one step forward, I lit up a black flame by the palm of my hand. I had acquired this ability from an ancient being too long ago to be remembered. The black flame wasn’t just an ordinary fire. I knew this flame dissolved souls. It killed. Not even the blade could give a clean cut on the souls like the black flame. All the spirits stepped back in fear, again shrieking.

                  “Anima Ignis. Pauculis saolusye danthry maz. Quemadmodzash nian ryakhaft? (The Flame of Soul. Curse the soul who possesses it! How can you have it?)”

                  “Mortifico nan. Disganh mar nian, nun ansesto visza meam (I killed. Like I said, no one stands in my way),” I hissed at them and the flame grew bigger. Jinki’s heartbeat had calmed down a bit, though he was still defensive. “Lead me to my Lord, and I will not kill you!”

                  These spirits did not speak humani. But I knew they understood me well.

                  “Nian fidelis vocabulum (How can we be sure of that)?”

                  They were delaying us. My feet had grown cold from anxiety. I could wait no longer. Either I killed them, or I killed myself. I threw the flame at the closest spirit. The flame hit the spirit directly on the center. The last sound I heard from that translucent body was a haunting scream before the remains piled up into nothingness.

                  “Lead me to him, or I will kill you all!”

                  Slowly, but surely, the spirits flocked together and created a large body. For a second, I thought they were prepared to fight, but they turned around and flew forward. I sighed and glanced at Jinki.

                  “You can be really scary at times, you know that right?”

                  I chuckled and gracefully leaped forward to follow those spirits.

                  “I know… Though I do prefer the term ‘badass’.”