The gold embossed letters glinted under the light, white card thick and hard. It looked like a linen, ridges and lines made to look like a pretty invitation. It is pretty my mind chided me. Love is beautiful, more so when you get to watch it develop and maybe even assist it through your own subdued ways. Who would have thought that the devil could have a heart? Certainly not I, the man himself.

I am the devil though I do not go by that name. Officially my title is master of the afterlife, devil was just an easier form to take. Over the years it has become a rather negative name, no thanks to the humans. To them, I am all things evil and not something to be messed with. Don't get me wrong, I am exactly that. But they do not see the real me, the person that is and always will be normal. I was made in the image of mankind with the hope that they would not be frightened when they came to the underworld and for the most part, it has worked. Telling a person that I am the master of the afterlife confuses them and they do not realize that they face the beast himself.

My world is beautiful though some would see it as endless and odd. A land of leaf litter that looks like an autumn day, black trees that hold the souls of those who should never return to life and a red sky. It is beautiful, people do not see how much effort has gone into crafting those leaves or the trees. Of how the sun glows red here and not the usual ball of yellow and orange. How it is always the one temperature, perfect weather.

As I flicked the card back onto the desk I sighed heavily, turning out to the view of my world. The underworld, limbo, hell. Call it what you will, I loved it all the same. Cerberus whined as he put his head on my leg, he could feel the downturn in my mood. He was a loyal dog, even if he had moments of being incredibly annoying.

My latest addition to the underworld was Rowan. She was the soon-to-be wife of my right hand, Nicolas. Rowan had been so upbeat when she knocked on my office door, her pretty beaming smile could liven the most dormant of hearts. Nicolas was a lucky man. My mood had been in a good place, even the wedding invitation had not subdued it. After all, who could become upset at two people showing their loved ones that they want to spend eternity with each other? Certainly not this man. I was happy for them; they were the newest of my loyal servants. Demons and in a small way, they were vampires as well. Life was growing within Rowan, that was her reason for her servitude to me. All that she wanted was to give her love a chance at watching a child of his own grow. Since Nicolas had become a demon, he was no longer able to create a child and it was something that upset Rowan terribly. She gave her life as a human to give him a chance.

No, Nicolas and Rowan marrying did not send my mood into a downward spiral. It was the invitation itself. I was grateful to be invited. Pleased that they cared to think of me. But in doing so they brought up dark and morose thoughts within. Two little words that could create this mood. Master Anton Dremain plus guest. Plus guest.

Who does the devil bring to a wedding? One of his own kind? Unheard of. One of his demon play things? Unwise. I could imagine the uproar already, picking one over another would be tantamount to starting a war between the women.

So demons and deities were out of the question. Maybe I could go solo to the event. No, I would not be doing that.

"What a preposterous thought."

Cerberus whined again.

"And what are your thoughts?"

His head turned to the window, to the land that I had once walked on a daily basis. I had become tied down to this desk, with the growing world came a higher movement in my world. Life and death moved quickly and I no longer had the time to walk and gather my thoughts.

But with the newest addition to my team, life was a little easier now. Nicolas handled the crows, dealing out their movements and ensuring that the souls made their way into the underworld. He had taken up the task with little issue, I smiled softly as I scratched behind Cerberus's ear. The deal for Nicolas's life wasn't a standard one but it was one that benefited this world and of course myself which was standard.

"Let's go for a walk."

Cerberus barked and started to trot to the door, he knew the word walk.

Nolia was behind her desk pretending to work as usual. Lucky for her the duties of my assistant wasn't that hard or time-consuming.

"Going for a walk, any problems let me know."

"Uh, of course, my lord. Did you remember your appointments this afternoon?"

"If I'm not back in time have Taino handle them."

I was out the door before she could say anything more.

Witches slinked in the shadows, curling their fingers around the pillars. They could sense my down turned mood, hissing as they slowly edged their way out from the darkness.

"Do you really dare go against me?"

They whimpered and pulled back, watching me as I continued in my path across the courtyard. Try as I might, I could never rid the underworld of the desperate witches. They fed on the unhappiness and morose thoughts and feelings. It boosted their dark magic and helped them through their pitiful lives. Not all witches were like these, those that came here for that purpose were only a select few.

Cerberus panted happily as he trotted beside me. Leaf litter crunched below our feet, crows flew around us. The black trees were strong and firm, stretching high into the red sky.

"I have less than a month to figure out this dilemma Cerberus. Tell me what I need to do."

He stopped to scratch behind his ear, I turned to look at him and wondered why I thought the dog would be able to answer me.

"Maybe one day, eh?"

Cerberus barked at me and continued to walk beside me. I stopped when a line cracked in between a pair of trees. Lines only ever appeared when it was time to leave the underworld.

"Well isn't this interesting?"

I walked into the crack of darkness and into limbo, wondering where on Earth I would end up.

Cerberus stayed by my side, the fire of his body lit up the darkness.

"You might want to put the fire out buddy, we're going out to the human world now. They won't understand."

The light cracked an opening, beyond it was a dark area between two buildings. The view was of a bustling street, the sounds of city life surrounded me. As I stepped through, Cerberus doused his flames and became the normal dog that everyone loved. Not the fire breathing monster that chased his tail.

We walked along the city street, it seemed vaguely familiar though I could not place it. I did not know until I turned the street corner, seeing the busied movement of humans as they crossed the road that was Times Square.

"Ah, New York. How I missed you."

We ambled through the crowd towards a crosswalk, garish lights and billboards distracted me from the task at hand. I should be thinking of a solution to my problem, not soaking in the view.

Taxis tooted their horns, people chatted and laughed, tourists gawked and took photos. Life was amazing.

The sound of a stack of papers hitting the road roused me to the crosswalk. Everyone was pushing and shoving to get across before their time was done. People were far too busy in my opinion. They all needed to slow down and notice the world around them. Get off the phone and look at the world.

A woman sank to her knees and started to pick up the papers, there were some that were stepping on them with little care as to what it might be. I walked over, as always people gave me a wide berth. Stooping to help the young lady with her papers seemed the right thing to do, it's not as if anyone else was bothering.

"Thanks," she said as she offered a pained smile. "Some jerk knocked my shoulder."

"Did it cause damage; do you need medical attention?"

"No." the woman laughed as she spoke.

With the papers in her hands, she stood and looked at me a little weirdly. "Thanks, I really appreciate your help."

"Anytime." I offered and watched her scurry away like a little mouse.

I looked at Cerberus who was sitting at the edge of the pavement, his head turned to the woman once she had passed him. The taxi beside me tooted his horn, indignantly I wandered back to the street edge.

The mutt had his attention fixed on the girl as she slowly started to disappear into the crowd ahead. He whined as he looked up at me, those big brown eyes were so sad.

There was nothing that made her stand out yet Cerberus seemed to think she was alright. Enough to make him whine and give me his own version of a pout. I didn't think it was possible that a dog could pout but this little monster had a way of doing it.

"Alright." I sighed.

His mood shifted and he stood and began to pant happily, following the girl.

What was so special about her? I couldn't say. She seemed like an ordinary human. Her hair was long and black, almost a sleek coloring that shone when the light hit it. Her face was pale with plump red lips, pale blue eyes.

"She who has no name could be called snow white eh boy?"

Cerberus barked at me, frightening the people around him.

"Don't you know what a leash is?" the old woman snapped at me.

"I tried ma'am but he ate the first one. The second one he buried. I haven't found the third or fourth yet."

She frowned at me and huffed loudly, turning on her heels and marching off. The reality of Cerberus was that I couldn't put anything on him, they all burned.

Snow white stopped at a restaurant, pushing through the door. I watched through the window as she dumped the pile of papers onto the front counter, talking to the woman who sat behind it. She seemed to be reasonably interested in what the woman was saying, no doubt she was telling her of the jerk that knocked the papers from her arms. Then snow white donned an apron and began serving customers.

"Well my furry friend, I'm feeling hungry. You can't come in so you need to either figure out how to transform into a human or get into my pocket."

Cerberus whined and moved closer to me, slowly shrinking in size. With the dog now the size of a plastic toy, I placed him in my pocket and entered the restaurant.