Chapter 7 - If You Aren’t Dead

  Alex bounces from point to point, finding it easier to maintain the focus with back-to-back jumps. Every time he breaks the pattern however, his mind struggles just a bit to slip back into the focus for it. Corvus, of course, keeps pace with him with practiced ease.

  During one such pause, Alex bends over, hands on his knees. He huffs, panting lightly with sweat dripping down his brow. That sensation of a headache setting in had grown into a proper migraine over the course of the journey. When he looks up, relief washes over him as he sees the outermost buildings of Last-Stop’s perimeter.

  The smaller structures appear as if cast from melted rock. The surfaces have wavy striations rather than the segmented look of brick or stacked stonework. Some have flat roofs, others appear to have peaked thatchwork. There’s no sense of uniformity, as if the outskirts of the town were built entirely ad-hoc.

  With the pain in his head, Alex decides to walk the rest of the distance the normal way. As he moves in, he starts to notice the figures lingering near the structures. People, both human-looking souls and obvious demons, lounge on stoops or lean against walls. A few take note of him, some lifting a hand to wave in greeting. Alex returns the gestures with a familiar sense of nostalgia creeping into his mind. Even in Hell, there was something about this that just felt natural for him.

  Moving along what appeared to be a road, Alex takes in the details. There’s a sense of well-worn ease lingering about the place. Not necessarily the ease of comfort, but just acceptance. That perception gives Alex a clue for why Corvus holds the place in such disdain. He continues to walk, head turning this way and that, not wanting to miss anything.

  Then Alex sees something truly unexpected. Peeking around the corner of one building, Alex catches a glimpse of two young faces. One human but with slit pupils, the other clearly a demon with boar-like features. When they notice they’ve been spotted, both scurry back around the corner. Alex chuckles and starts to ask Corvus about it, but notices the bird’s presence appears to be withdrawn. He looks around, finally catching sight of him wheeling in the air, high above.

  As if sensing it, Corvus’s voice comes to Alex as if the crow was on his shoulder. “Yes, I’m distancing myself from you for now. This is a situation where our association could be viewed as direct aid if others were aware of it. My presence with you on its own would ‘solve problems for you’. And per our Deal, I will not do so.” Corvus explains, then continues. “However, if you need an answer to a question, I will hear it, even if you whisper.”

  Taking the cue, Alex starts to speak under his breath. “There are kids in Hell?” He asks, glancing around to try and catch another sight of the young ones. “I guess it makes sense, people of all ages die.”

  Corvus responds, showing he did in-fact hear it. “Yes. But that doesn’t necessarily mean those two were mortals who perished young. Both of those children were demons. By my reckoning, one was half-human. Both were born in Hell.” Corvus lets that sink in a moment before continuing.

  “Any being born in Hell is a Demon by nature, even if both parents were human souls. Souls arriving in Hell as children will age normally, growing up as expected. There are several beings who take responsibility for those unfortunates, operating what you might see as an orphanage for them. Though there are others who take advantage of them just as easily.” Corvus’s voice turns icy with that last detail. “I do what I can to limit that latter outcome.”

  Alex is left stunned by that revelation. “So Demons are anyone born in hell? And people have whole families here?” He asks, chuckling to himself. “Wild.” Corvus doesn't answer, seeming to understand that it was rhetorical. Lost in the thought, Alex almost didn’t notice the boar-child running up to him and skidding to a halt just feet away.

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  “You just got here! And you’re Faded already!” The kid exclaims in a high girlish voice, peering at Alex with confusion. “You got some bad-luck, mister.”

  With a smile and shrug, Alex kneels down to talk to the kid. “Yeah, maybe. I took a risk. We’ll see if it pays off later.” He says, then cocks his head. “How did you know I’m Faded?” He asks the child.

  The kid mirrors his head-tip and simply says, “You look faded.” Then, losing interest in the oddity, the kid runs off to rejoin her friend.

  Alex frowns and gets up again, looking around. Once he focused on it, there was a subtle difference in the people he could see. Some were just slightly more vibrant, more solid. Where others did indeed look faded, grey around the edges. Looking down at his own hands and body, Alex notices the same effect. But on him, it’s not nearly as pronounced as on the others here.

  Continuing to move into town, Alex passes several paths lined with the buildings he now recognizes as common homes. Though the more inward he travels, some larger structures start coming into view. One particularly large one catches his attention. The structure rises several stories above the rest of the town, lined with windows and balconies. The front of the place has a wide double-door with a caprid demon standing out front. The doorman’s body is covered in a dark wool, almost black against the red-tinted stone of the building. And the spiraling ram’s horns curling from his skull give him quite the imposing air, saying nothing of the sheer mass of him. A sign above the door proclaims the establishment to be ‘The 1 Buffet’.

  As Alex approaches, the ram holds out his hand to stop Alex. “No Animus, no entry.” He says in a firm tone. Alex still walks up, stopping just out of arm's-reach from the demon. Seeing Alex stop, the ram lowers his hand and just crosses his arms over his woolly chest..

  “So I have to have Animus to even go inside?” Alex asks, gesturing to the door.

  The ram snorts. “Isn’t that what I just said? No Animus, No entry. More than one Animus, No entry. You want in? Come back with just one Animus.” The ram says, his tone curt and final. Alex lifts his hands and backs away.

  “Fine, fine…” He says and moves along the side of the building. Once the ram-demon is out of sight he pauses to peer into one of the lower windows. Inside, the sight is what Alex expected. Tables with people lounging and eating. Casually filling plates, then emptying them. As he watches, several tables seem to finish, the occupants getting up and walking to a staircase. Others come down and join the buffet. But none move towards the exit. They come downstairs, eat, then retreat back upwards when they’re finished. But the detail that sticks out to Alex most, they’re all Faded. Each and every soul.

  Corvus’s voice draws Alex’s attention away from the window. “These places are in every town near a Nexus. You pay just one Animus and they’ll house you, feed you, even entertain you. You’ll never leave. And once you reach dissolution, they just give your room to the next sap.” The crow’s voice is thick with a resigned disgust. “Wasteful. Just wasteful.”

  Alex doesn’t respond. He doesn’t need to. What else could be said about such a place? Alex backs away from the window and continues to walk. As the moment stretches, he finally asks. “People really take such a deal? Giving up literal eternity, just for food and leisure?” Then he stops mid-step as it dawns on him. “Wait, they wouldn’t even need the food if they just kept the Animus!” He exclaims, mind whirling with just how wrong that felt. Looking back over his shoulder, he couldn’t help but think the building looks more sinister, and much less inviting.

  “For many, it is simply easier to no longer care.” Is the only explanation Corvus gives for Alex’s questions.

  A small distance down another road, Alex finds a bench and settles onto it. He breathes in slowly, closing his eyes. As he relaxes, the ambient noise of a town settles around him like a blanket. Distant voices, a hammer on stone, the rub of metal on metal, even the sounds of a few animals. The disarmingly normal ebb and flow of life, even in Hell.

  “You’re not gonna disappear already, are ya?” A familiar voice breaks his reprieve, and Alex opens an eye, turning towards the voice. The boar-girl stands on the bench next to him, peering closely at his face.

  “Haha, no. At least I hope not.” He says with a smile. “Are you following me?” He asks, lifting a brow at the girl.

  She just shrugs and plops down to sit next to him. “Wanted to see what you’d do.” She says, pointing back towards the buffet. “Knew Gregor wouldn’t let ya in.” Then she leans over and whispers in a conspiratorial tone, “Was kinda hoping you’d try and fight him.”

  Alex just chuckles and shakes his head. “No way. He’d demolish me.” He says making a ‘no-way’ gesture with his hands. “His bicep was as thick as my leg.”

  The girl beams back, “I know! That’s why I wanted to see you fight him!”

  Alex scoffs and reaches over, ruffling the girl’s bristly mohawk of hair. She lets out a squeal and giggle before hopping off the bench and starting to run off. She turns back for just a moment to wave and call out. “Come on, Mama said I can invite you to eat with us if you aren’t dead.”