Giant chains extend from a single obscured point, attaching to hundreds of thousands of floating islands, all surrounded by a giant stone roof… Each chain is intricately decorated and covered in giant runes and bright magic shields, while the islands are covered in towns and cities.

“WELCOME! To the underground! How was the fall?!” Someone suddenly asks- I turn around, it’s a skeleton man in a tuxedo and top-hat. “Wh-What?” I ask, as he walks up and tips his hat. “No need to try and fool me, ol’ chap, I know a Water-Spirit when I see it!” He says, and I consider that maybe THAT’S what I am…

This whole time I’m STILL unsure as to what my species actually even IS… “I’m a puddle kid. Not a water spirit.” I explain, surprising him. “Oh. I don’t know what that is… But if you died, you’re a water-spirit now.” He explains, and it finally clicks-

“I never died, I came in through that gate.” I tell him, and he looks at it. “Oh. But most people are NOT allowed… OH ME OH MY~! Mademoiselle, I had no idea! You must be one of Mother’s guests!” He says, surprising me, as I look around at the thousands of gothic cities…

“We must hasten ourselves, lest we be late!” He shouts, jumping as he clicks his heels before running over to the ledge and jumping right off- “Slow down, I need an explanation first!” I shout, pulling him back up with a string, reeling him in like a fish as I place him back on the platform.

“Alright. Where are you lost?” He asks, as I think of where to start… “How about… What IS this place?” I ask, and he rubs his boney fingers against his boney chin. “Well, it’s the Underworld. A dimension made by some ancient wielder of space for Helvetica herself, you see.” He explains, as I look at the giant gate…

“All souls go through here first before they enter the void. If you pass Helvetica’s judgment, then this is where you will be spending your entire unlife.” He says, gesturing to the entire open space around us. “Are the undead not allowed to leave?” I ask, a little disappointed, now that I’ve realized I hadn’t seen any undead aside from Skall…

“Well, you CAN… But you have to get through the Hounds of Cerberus, who guard the gates.” He says, pointing his cane to a large three headed dog sitting above it. “I call him Juley.” He continues, as I realize we hadn’t even exchanged names-

“Your name, actually. I’m Demitallis Genesis.” I say, surprising him again. “Ah, my apologies, Miss Demitallis. I am Serentorvus, humbly at most graciously at your service.” He says, politely bowing forward with his top hat.

“Alright. So is that a legendary creature up there?” I ask, as I point at the Cerberus. “Yes, his full name is Juleyock, he is the number one most fearsome of the gates’ guardians! Isn’t that right, my friend?!” He asks his friend, the hellhound simply resting one of its three great heads, before transforming-

Three giant guards covered in heavy gothic armor, the chestplate like the skull of a wolf… “We three are the guardians of the twenty-second gate to the underworld. It is a pleasure to meet you.” He says, holding out his hand as I push out a bit of my water for him to shake.

“It’s nice to meet you, Juleyock.” I say, as he nods and looks at what I am assuming he would call his brothers. One of them is already crunching on snacks, the other is working on his hair. “I apologize for the unseemly sight of my lesser halves.” He says, as the pretty one eyes him.

He scoffs and turns his nose up at us- “Spare me! At least ONE of us has to look fashionable while we style on her foes.” He says, making me chuckle… “Besides, you do not take care of your equipment AT ALL, goes to show what a shining example YOU are.” He says, huffing as he cat-walks away, whipping his glorious hair everywhere…

“Do you fight with them often?” I ask, and he looks at them. “Only when we have visitors that aren’t Serentorvus. Speaking of whom… YOU need to stop feeding the worthless habits of my even LESSER half.” He says, poking Serento’s chest as he laughs.

“But I couldn’t do that to him…” He says, as I notice the even lesser half looks at us… “It is a VERY serious problem!” Greater Juleyock says. “It’s only a problem when I run out!” He shouts, making Serento and I laugh. “Now let’em on their way, old man!” He calls out, folding his legs as he rests against a pillow, and plays what looks to be some kind of handheld game.

“WE ARE THE SAME DAMN AGE, YOU UNGRATEFUL RAT!!!” He roars, as the least-best-half rolls his eyes… “Just get back here already. We don’t look as intimidating without you.” The second-worst says, as he pats his face with make-up.

Greater-Half’s arms go slack and he turns around to look at me again. “I must bid you, adieu. Good luck on the journey to meet Helvetica.” He says, before transforming into a bolt of yellow lightning, bouncing off the ground and landing between the other two and transforming back into the great Cerberus.

“May we go now?” Serento asks, and I look down to find a nearby platform. “Alright, but I have more questions.” I say, before moving my mass like a ramp under his shoes then sliding him right over my head. “Tell me what Helvetica is to you.” I say, as I jump down!

“Sh-She’s the mother of the underworld! Word is law in her house!” He shouts as we land on the first island. Skeletons in all assortments of gothic baroque clothing come out of their homes to see me. “Is Eternal Skall an undead?” I ask, surprising him as he sits down while I jump forward.

“He’s known as the greatest desire of the underworld, having left a long time ago. He broke out and promised us he would return with glory, yet he never came home…” He says, sniffing as he wipes away a nonexistent tear…

“Some say he’s the desire of Helvetica herself, while others believe he was once THE father of the Underworld! To complete our family…” He melancholically says as he wraps his legs with his arms, while I travel the island. “So Daddy said he’d be out for a bit… And never came back?” I ask.

“I suppose that’s accurate, from a certain point of view.” He says, making me laugh internally! “So what’s with the roof?” I ask, and he looks at it. “Ah, yes, the Endless-Verth. It’s a mass of some material that quite literally DOES extend for eternity. So we won’t run out of room.” He explains as I finally jump off the first island and down to the next one…

“Where are we headed?” I ask, and he points down. “To the very bottom, my friend. That is where Helvetica waits for us.” He says, as I look down and realize there is no straight path… When I said hundreds of thousands, I meant millions. There are so many of these super-massive islands…

I guess a world of their own would only make sense, for the World Powers… “How big IS this place?” I ask, as we land on the edge of another island, a sort of gothic-candy-land, if you would. I jump, not having the time for this.

“I guess being surrounded by walls to begin with makes it to where you don’t care WHAT’S above you.” I say, looking at the awe-striking number of islands surrounding me… “How large are these islands anyway?...” I ask, as we continue descending the Underworld…

“About thirty cubic miles each, last time I checked, they numbered eight-point-six-billion.” He says, and I stop. “Stop.” I say, as I sit here and wrack my head around that number… “Is something wrong?” He asks, as I look at the islands and feel my head go dizzy…

“What ISN’T wrong?! How is this- Why do you- How the fuck does this work?!” I scream, as I fall off the side of the island- “L-Language young master- And I don’t know! It usually fluctuates around that number anyways! That’s just what I was told.” He shouts in exasperation, as we land in the middle of another island-

“Good lord… Alright. Fine, I’ll just… I don’t know, I’ll do something with that information. Feel free to tell me random stuff as it comes to you.” I say, as I begin making my way to the other end of THIS giant island. “Actually. Doesn’t that make this place larger than Orion itself?” I ask, and he nods.

“Yes, almost everyone gets allowed into the Underworld. The only ones who don’t are anyone who is more powerful than Helvetica herself.” He explains, as I jump off the next ledge, falling towards the ledge of a gothic island covered in standing water, full of aquatic types.

I mix with the water, and Serento greets the undead aquatics as I pull us through and out. “I guess that would explain it… I assume people die all the time, en masse… The chaotic NATURE of Orion taken into consideration. What do you think the rates for getting in are?” I ask, as he rubs his chin.

“Probably seventy-percent. The rest are either too hard for the guards, or Helvetica won’t be able to stop them in time before they escape.” He says, and it all begins to make too much sense. “So nobody gets out?” I ask, and he shakes his head.

“No, they DO. All the time, in fact. Each island is covered in diverse and powerful creatures, some with as few as just one, most with as many as thousands. Not even Helvetica can stop all of them.” He says, as I notice another one of the gates, its own Cerberus of a different build.

We descend past a few more islands, finally landing in what looks to be an Arena- “Ah, one of the many Arenas! I wonder who the host is.” He says, sitting politely on top of me in the middle of the Arena in anticipation… “You’re aware WE’RE in the Arena. Right?” I ask, and he stares at me.

“Right. Uh oh.” He says, jumping down as he lifts his cane into a defensive posture. “Well well well… Look who we have here!” A fat skeleton with stubby legs carried on an over fainting couch. “How are you so fat?! You’re a SKELETON!” I scream, shutting him up as he glares at me.

“Punish them.” He simply says, before pressing a button on a tiny control panel. “Well, I WAS getting tired of falling…” I say, as I watch the four gates open and skeletal warriors come marching through. “Just knock them apart, Helvetica’ll fix them up later.” Serento whispers to me.

“Ha, that shouldn’t be too hard.” I say, as I fire a bearing shot at one, knocking them to pieces! “Oh, this’ll be great!” I shout, as we proceed to fight tooth and nail against them! They caught on pretty quickly to my one attack… Still, the practice was hellacious, they even taught me how to use my bearing shots more practically!

“Bye, everyone! Thanks for having me!” I call out, as the fat skeleton flails his little arms in anger. My new friends waved me off as Serento and I traveled through the greater island, and finally jumped off. “So… How far away ARE we from it?” I ask, descending further and further.

“Well… I dunno’, I do say! We’ll just have to keep going!” He says, as I look at him, taking my eyes off the ledge of the eye for just a moment- I fall down, barrating myself for making another mistake as I notice a young skeleton below us, and landing around him.

I pull him to the top, he’s covered in garments from head to toe. “Greetings.” Serento says, nudging his hat as the boy looks at him. “I almost crushed you alive! Sorry about that!” I say, as I move him back onto his feet by adjusting him with my mass.

He shakes with fear… “I-It's okay…” He says, as Serento crawls over to the ledge at the dip in my body- “Eiy, be a good sport and point us to the nearest map! Would ya’?!” Serento calls down to him, and the boy’s arm erects itself at blinding speed.

“Are most children this way here?” I ask, as we move forward. “Yes, the trauma of death is hard on the majority of them. The young man seems to have still been dealing with it.” He says, as I turn around and can’t help but pity the boy.

He looks way younger than I was when it happened. I doubt it was even his fault, the circumstances must have messed him up horribly. We look at the map, it’s a set of layers, we’re about a tenth of the way there. “Oh great, this is going to be all day…” I say, as I squish my body to fruitlessly convey my disappointment…

“It’ll be a while before we get there. I’ve got a few places we could stop by, and since you’re still alive, you might want some food too.” He says, making me realize these people are undead, I’d certainly doubt most of them have to eat… “You guys have food?”

“Of course, the soulblooms grow everywhere, their plump yet delicate structure make them quite nice, digestible by anything, even ghosts and skeletons!” He says, as I look around to see giant soulblooms… “I hadn’t noticed them until now. I actually have a couple soulblooms at home, so I’m surprised I hadn’t realized.” I explain as he rubs his chin.

“Right, the soulblooms on the surface… Souls cannot leave this realm like they can leave yours, so I doubt yours have enough to feed on.” He explains as I watch the giant stem of a glowing soulbloom rise into the air. “Do these things also produce the light in here?” I ask, and he nods.

“Most of it, yes. Here wait, tap that button.” He says, and so I do, making a full three dimensional geographic map of each layer appear… “Wow.” I say, as I push out a mass of my body to adjust it. “Here wait, let me see if I can find it.” He says, jumping from the top of my body.

He brings it down to his level, and I stare as he adjusts and separates them until he finds one near our tiny tiny location… “Here it is, a nice place that grows them. That way we’ll have a snack before we head down further.” He says, as I focus on just how large this place is…

Eight-point-five-BILLION… “There are… SO MANY ISLANDS… I may never see the end of it…” I say, as he looks at me. “Well, don’t worry, you don’t need to. Not even Helvetica herself has seen every island.” He says, as I look around at the dense forest of the island…

“Really puts it into perspective just how powerful some people must be, if someone like Helvetica can rule such a large territory…” I say, as he looks at me. “Right, let’s get moving. Remember, this one.” He says, pointing at it again as I analyze every island around it…

“Alright, I know the way.” I say, before picking him up again. Luckily, like every other creature on this planet, my memory is actually perfect. It doesn't come to me in an instant, of course, but I don’t forget anything. EVER. So yes, I’m still prone to mistakes, like not connecting two things in an instant.

That’s enough of THAT reminder, since you HUMANS- Yes, I find that funny -can’t be asked to remember something for longer than a couple hundred years. Even though I’m still not even technically seventeen years old. I was born on february fourteenth, in case you were curious.

I jump off the side, Serento in tow, traveling quickly as we descend to the center- I notice a light just barely past the already many layers of large islands… The light is blue, and descending fast. I watch as it descends next to me, and it’s Demistar! As I suspected.

Blue light? Usually her. “Demitallis! There you are.” She says, surprising Serento as we land on the next island… “Demistar. What are you doing here?” I ask, as she folds her arms. “Please. You thought I’d miss THIS? Now that I KNOW you’re important, I’ve decided I’LL be part of your little adventure.” She says, surprising me as she points at herself…

“R-Really?! That’s awesome! Here, meet Serento, he’s been guiding me to Helvetica’s place.” I explain, showing him to her, and he just can’t help but stare! “Well, hello there, little guide.” She says, as I place him on the ground and move away, giving her more room to meet him!

“H-Hello… You’re D-Demistar… I was a fan, when I was alive…” He nervously says, poking his fingers as he looks down. “What? Aren’t you still a fan? Sorry I wasn’t there when you were alive… But hey, I’m here now.” She says, holding out her hand to shake his.

“All thanks to me! For being so nice as to introduce you.” I say, congratulating myself for being who I am, as they begin staring at me, and Serento looks away. “Right. You’re right, Demitallis, all thanks to you.” He says, as Demistar’s gaze focuses on him again, fixed on him for some reason.

“I’m glad you’re here, Demistar. Imagine all the stuff we’ll be able to get done together.” I say, making her laugh. “Nah, I’ll mostly just be watching. I mean, if I think it gets out of hand, I’ll step in. There’s few things that could even stand up to me, let alone defeat me.” She says, as I look down at the next island we’re headed for.

“Yeah, alright, you got a point.” I say, before jumping off the platform. “Well, I’M certainly happy to have you accompany us, madam!” Serento says, landing on top of me and surprising Demistar, while tipping his hat again. “This is a little embarrassing…” Demistar says, chuckling…

“But I’ve never actually been married!” She says, gliding down alongside me, surprising Serento in return. “My apologies, madmoizelle, I perished the thought, as though a lady such as yourself could go without!” He says, making her giggle. “Please, you charmer.” She says, as we land.

“That’s enough, Mr. Serento. Your words are flattering, but I’ve had better.” She says and he stops entirely, I swore I could have heard the sound of breaking glass… “O-Oh…” He says, less of a word, and more a high pitched squeal… She giggles again-

“Oh~ You’re just too cute. Come on down, now.” She says, landing on the edge of my top, and taking his hand before jumping down with him. A dragon flies over head, surprising me, as they land on the ground and wave at it. “Galoria-Volst-Aglicia! Greetings!” Serento calls out, and it swoops around and lands next to us…

“Hello.” She’s a girl! To be more specific, she’s a skeletal dragon covered in green flames. Don’t worry, I already switched out my water for the one resistant to temperature fluctuation. “What are you three up to?” She asks, as Demistar leans against me.

“Meet Demistar of Utopia, and Demitallis of- Uh…” He says, looking at me as I realize how little of myself I’ve told him… “Demitallis-Genesis, from Neo-Genesis-Haven, a floating island itself, actually.” I answer for him, and he claps his hands.

“There you go! What brings you out here?” He asks, as she lies down. “Mmh… Just out for a stroll.” She says, as Demistar focuses on her… “So how’s a dragon like you get allowed into the underworld?” Demistar asks, as Galoria lies down… “By being lazy~...” She says, as something comes to me…

“Man, it’s so weird you guys have all died… What was it like for you guys? When you woke up again.” I say, and the two undead stare at me for almost a full minute- “WELL… For me, it was the scariest and greatest moment of my life… Some part of me couldn’t accept it, the other wanted to move on…” Serento says, as he places his hand on his chest.

“It was a wake-up call for ME. I used to be a powerful dragoness, raising entire cities to the ground, and amassing one of the world’s greatest hordes. But then I died, felled quickly by a single man, and I realized that for all my power and my might…” She says, looking down…

She sighs, then sits up again. “It was ultimately meaningless. He was many years older than me, so I should have realized I wasn’t prepared… Anyways, I got tired of it all, and now I speak to the people, and they’re very kind, and very respectful.” She says, looking at Serento.

“So yeah, I made quite the turn around.” She flaps her wings and shoots into the air. “Goodbye, my friends~!” She calls out, as Demistar walks up next to Serento. “Are there any other dragons around here?” She asks Serento. “Apologies, but not as far as I’m aware…”

She nods, and walks away. “You head off without us, we’ll catch up with you, Serento.” She says, pointing down the street. “Oh?” He asks simply. “I need to speak to Demitallis privately.” She says, and he perks up with realization. “O-Oh. My apologies, meet me at the Bronto Cafe!” He says, before finally running off.

“Hey, kid. You’re getting… REALLY strong. You know that?” She asks, surprising me as I stare at her. “Listen, you’re gonna’ have to start holding back, and NOT slam sandworms into paste.” She says, surprising me she knew about that-

“So you knew about that?” I ask. “Yeah, I don’t actually like huge sandy areas like THAT, but yes, I was watching.” She says, as I further consider what she meant by holding back- “Anyways… Once we get some time, I’ll teach you how to suppress your abilities.”

She leans against a lamp post, and I crawl up to indicate my attention. “You see, at your growth rate, you’ll probably be strong enough to tear apart planets before I can even get you properly trained in college.” She simply continues with the occasional hand gesture.

“Huh, so I’ll be so strong I gotta’ lock away my power? My ego’s gonna’ feed well tonight.” I say, laughing at myself. “Hey wait. How about Slade? I heard he was pretty up there. How strong is HE?” I ask, and she folds her arms.

“It’s hard to say, but he IS one of the STRONGEST in the world. Here wait-” She folds her arms and looks away, tapping her foot rapidly like a certain speedster, until she perks up! “Damn. Robin doesn’t know either.” She says, surprising me. Robin actually knows Slade, turns out. But I guess she doesn’t know that about him.

“Sorry, but his strength can’t be recorded. She DID say he was physically tougher than most celestial bodies, though.” She says… Celestial Bodies… Planets, Stars, and other such great masses in space… I wonder how quickly people forget what a feat of power it is to destroy planets…

“So when do we start?” I ask, and she stands up. “Not yet, but we will soon.” She says, and realization hits me- “Wait. Does EVERYONE do that?” I ask, surprising her. “Not EVERYONE. But most people, yeah. Even I do it.” She says, and I just stare at her for a moment…

“So you’ve been holding back?” I ask. “YEAH.” She exaggerates- “Did you seriously think this was all I could do? Listen, we usually just call it resting power, our most relaxed state of being. You’ll be learning the fundamentals, essentially.” She says, as I shrink down in size, feeling the mass flow right off of me.

“I hope that doesn’t ruin anything. So is this important, Demistar?” I ask, as she picks me up. “Of course. You’ll be glad I taught you this as soon as I did. I mean seriously, Slade can hardly move without lighting up the atmosphere.” She says, surprising me again.

“Jeez, I see what you mean. Let’s go meet up with Serento already, though!” I say, making her chuckle as she runs over to wherever he is.

We arrive to find him speaking to some ladies, until he notices us and invites us over. “Please, come meet my new friends.” He says, as Demistar pulls up a chair. Even the CHAIRS has a gothic build. Do they not know anything OTHER than Gothic?

Maybe try a dungeon ashetic? Crypt? Anything other than gothic. Demistar sits down, placing me on the table, as the girls stare at us. “So he wasn’t lying. What brings someone like you out here?” One of them asks. “My little friend here. Her name is Demitallis.” Demistar says, improving my popularity by leagues.

“Oh how cute.” The other says, placing her hands together. “Y’all gon’ have ta’ stop that, Demistar. The more people talkin’ about me the more likely he gon’ find me. Ya’ hear?” I ask, surprising her with the accent. “O-Okay. ‘Sorry about that.” She says, a chuckle in her voice.

“So you’re being stalked? That’s horrible?” The next one says. They’re all Skeleton women, most likely ancient, all three of them- “Yeah, so don’t let word get out. I’ve got enough paranoia as is.” I say, as I feel my conviction sway, and almost consider having the thought of killing them…

“Tell me more about yourselves.” I say, yet still a little uncomfortable talking to ANYONE right now. “Well, this is Colastra, I’m Poltora, and finally we have Zilloko.” She says, gesturing to them as they do the same to each other in unison.

“Right, I need to ask people for their names more…” I say, realizing I might have a problem with that… “Anyways, please continue.” I say, knowing I shouldn’t risk getting on their bad side… Which doesn’t really count with these guys, since they’re stuck here, but I’m going to anyway.

And so they told me about themselves, we actually had a lovely conversation. It even helped with the anxiety that was eating at me. I told them a lot about what happened, Arigold, the world powers, and why Demistar is helping me…

Well, not really WHY she’s helping me, but that she just is. She never really DID tell me why Liyoxis is so fixed on helping out ME specifically. Anyways, I’m mostly just glad I won’t have to worry about these three, since Demistar had to introduce me to them.

As Demistar carries me out of the building, followed by Serento we arrive at the ledge of the island and jump once again, descending further into the depths of the underworld.

End of Chapter: 55 “Welcome to The Underworld.”

Thank you for reading.

“Oh-me-oh-my~! Thank you indeed!”

“Hrmph.”

“I apologize for HIM, I gladly thank you.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

“Those bullies! I have not the time for you, I have work to do!”

“Thank you!”

“How sweet, indeed.”

“Hey, thank you.”