Just Visiting

Fennel found herself laying on the floor of an unknown area. She was dazed and confused. Moments before she was surrounded by her compatriots, and a brief flash of light later she was here. Where “here” was she didn’t know. What she did know was that this wasn’t what Spades had intended when she’d pushed her into that machine. Spades never let her out of her sight; not when they were on a job together.

The ground beneath her was soft and plush. Looking closer, it almost appeared as if it were made out of vapor or fog. Not something you'd expect to be able to stand on. While it was soft, it didn’t have much give or bounce to it. It was rather solid for something so vaporus. Fennel could feel a slight tingle throughout her entire body. This place, wherever it was, seemed to be radiating a magical energy unlike anything she'd ever felt in her life. Not even the magic circle that'd summoned her to the mortal realm exhibited this much power. It was almost overwhelming.

Being teleported so abruptly was quite disorienting. Fennel found herself unable to move temporarily. Not that she wanted to. The ground was so soft and the area was pleasantly warm; completely opposite to where she'd just been. It would be nice, if Fennel knew where she was. Not knowing was frightening, and it prevented her from enjoying the warmth of the area for much longer.

Finally, Fennel had gotten her bearings and sat herself upright. She could now see this place much more clearly. Looking to her left, she could see brilliant blue pathways lined with small trees and shrubs unlike anything she'd ever seen before. Their leaves were all a soft and inviting blue, and the bark on the trees was almost pure white. The leaves themselves seemed to bear intricate patterns on their stems, rather than the branching lines of a typical plant. Very peculiar.

To her right… Another person. A person who looked quite shocked to say the least. Not surprising, given the fact that Fennel had quite literally teleported here in a near instant. Fennel scrambled to her feet as fast as the terrain would allow her. This woman didn't look old per say, but she did appear worn and weathered. Her blond hair was pinned up in a messy bun, with a few prominent grey streaks scattered throughout. Above her head was what appeared to be a glowing ring of sorts. It lazily tilted to one side, which only added to her tired and worn appearance.

The woman stared at Fennel for several seconds. It was impossible to decipher what she was thinking just by looking at her. Her poker face could easily surpass that of Spades', which was quite the accomplishment. Both of them continued this staredown for an uncomfortable amount of time. After several seconds had passed, the woman sighed heavily and pressed her hand to her forehead.

In the blink of an eye, Fennel had a knife to her throat; it's blade pressing against her flesh ever so slightly. The knife was made of a jet black material with intricate green patterns running along its length. Seeing it sent a rush of adrenaline through Fennel's body. Everything in her body was telling her to run, but she found herself unable to. It were almost as if her legs were locked in place.

At first it seemed like she was going to end Fennel’s life right there and then, but something stopped her. What caused her to stop Fennel didn’t know. Perhaps it was the last bit of leftover luck from being in proximity to Spades. Maybe her being alive was the worse outcome. Whatever it was, it filled Fennel with terror. Today had just taken a turn for the worse.

"You there. You're gonna keep your mouth shut and you're gonna do what I say." The woman said, pressing the blade down harder "Otherwise we're gonna have a problem"

"W-what? Wait, hold on!" Fennel stuttered in reply.

"What did I just say? Keep your mouth shut. I don't know who you are or how you got here, but I really don't have the time to put up with anymore of this…" her voice trailed off briefly before continuing "Anyway. You're going to shut up, and you're gonna start walking. Understand?"

Fennel nodded her head the best she could with the knife pressed against her throat. The woman nodded in return and then nudged Fennel to get her walking, moving the knife away from her throat and down to her back. Her legs started moving almost on their own. It was as if Fennel's instincts had completely taken over her body. Survive. That's the only option. Do whatever it takes to survive.

The woman led her down the path, past a large golden gate and into an endless open area filled to the brim with filing cabinets and paperwork. No one else appeared to be in the area, although it was hard to tell for sure. The entire place was one giant maze; a maze Fennel could never hope to navigate on her own. Still, the woman seemed to know exactly where she was going, and the two marched on.

After walking in silence for what seemed like an eternity, the pair eventually made their way to a round clearing. The floor here seemed more like white hardwood rather than the misty vapor that lined everywhere else. In the middle of this clearing was a small desk covered with papers and files of all sorts, as well as a few vials and mugs.

"Well, now that we're out of sight… Who are you?" The woman asked

"M-me? Oh dear, uh… My name's Fennel."

"Fennel?" She drew out her speech, as if asking for more information.

"Yes. Uh, Fennel Salix. That's my name"

"Uh huh…"

In one swift motion the knife was lowered and then tucked away; still plainly visible as if she still wanted her to see it. The woman looked Fennel up and down briefly, then waved a hand in front of her. Her hand glowed a bright green momentarily and Fennel could feel a slight rush of energy throughout her body. Once she'd done this the woman crossed her arms, still blatantly staring at Fennel.

"You…" she began. "Who sent you here? Your kind isn't supposed to be able to enter this place." Her voice seemed cold and apathetic. The kind of voice you'd expect a serial killer to have. Or maybe it was Fennel's paranoia making her think that way.

Fennel laughed nervously and began scratching at her arms slightly. "M-my kind? I'm not sure what you mean by that"

That was a lie, and they both knew it. Fennel knew exactly what this woman was talking about. Mortals hated demons. They'd been at war for centuries. It was obvious she wasn't fooling anyone. This woman knew she was a demon. Otherwise she wouldn't have acted so hostile, right? On top of that, she didn't look convinced. One of her eyebrows raised as she gave Fennel a very tired and annoyed look.

"I'm going to ask again. Who sent you here?" The woman said, her voice the same as before.

"Who? Well, uh, nobody"

"Bullshit!"

The woman took a step closer. Her whole demeanor seemed to chance, and it was almost as if her face was warping. Fennel was much taller than this woman, but right now it didn't appear that way. Her eyes began to glow an eerie green as a look of anger spread across her face.

"People don't just come here to visit! I know damn well someone sent you, and you're going to tell me who they are before I end your sorry existence!" She yelled. The coldness of her voice seemed to be gone entirely. Instead, it was filled with all sorts of emotions. Fennel was scared, but not scared enough to not notice the change in tone.

"L-look, I'm telling the truth. I have no reason to lie to you…"

"No. No! With all the shit I've had to put up with lately. We've had to deal with Oasis goin’ missing. We've had to put up with this.. this incompitant buffoon coming up here and running amuck. I've had to deal with the stress and worry of entrusting my closest friend with a sorry bunch of fools that, mind you, almost got her killed. I'm the only person in the entire goddamn world that's actually trying to keep things up and running and what do I get in return? A thank you, perhaps? No! I get… I get a soulless fucking demon dropped on my front desk!"

The woman's ramblings. They seemed familiar. Fennel had had many similar breakdowns to this, especially recently given all the work Klaus had been making her catch up on. This woman was stressed out of her mind, and Fennel had been her breaking point.

"Hey… um. Look, like I said I wasn't sent here by anyone. I was hired to rescue an old friend, something went wrong, and suddenly I was here. I don't know what transported me here or why; I just want to get back home.." Fennel tried her best to sound calm, but her nervous stutter voice did not convey that properly.

Silence followed as the woman seemed to be trying to regain her composure. She muttered a few things under her breath, and Fennel could see a few brief flashes of green. In her hands now were a set of files, all of which seemed similar in shape and colour.

The woman opened up a few of the files  and began writing something down in it. Where these files came from Fennel didn't know, but it was safe to assume they'd been summoned here with some sort of magic. This woman seemed to radiate it. Her writing went on for several minutes. Occasionally she'd pause and think for a moment before continuing. It was unnerving. The writing stopped, and she waited several more minutes just looking at the pages of the file. She was most likely reading over whatever she'd written out, but there was no way to be sure. The file's pages almost appeared to glow softly as she read.

As she read over the files, her expression softened. The anger on her face faded, and eventually her expression returned to its neutral state. Give or take. Her resting face still seemed annoyed, but annoyance and anger were two totally different things. This was more like minor agitation rather than bloodthirsty rage.

"Well," she said, looking back up at Fennel. "You wanna get home?"

"Yes! Please. I'm going to be in a lot of trouble if I disappear again…"

"You'll be sent back in, eh, about four weeks. Give ‘er take"

"What? N-no, I can't be gone that long." Fennel replied, her nervous tone growing more prominent.

"I don't know what sent you here, but whatever it was didn't make it permanent."

"Y-you seem to be a being of… uh, great power. Can't you just send me home immediately? It doesn't seem like demons such as myself should be able to come to this place at all, and I really don't want to cause anyone any trouble…"

The woman smirked. “I could send you back, yes. But I don’t think you want that.”

“Why not?” Fennel asked

“Two reasons, actually. Number one: the magic required to send you down would almost certainly kill you. One of its main purposes is to smite evil and you’re, well…. A demon. Number two:” she glanced around the area briefly, before stepping closer and continuing in a hushed tone. “I’m being watched. Even if it didn’t kill you, the magic required to send you back would arouse too much suspicion. You’d turn into a target”

Fennel stared back incredulously. That’s when it hit her. That ever so slight tingle she’d been feeling. It wasn’t a side effect of her teleportation; it was a side effect of existing on this plane. This world’s magic was trying to destroy her, but without anyone telling it to directly it didn’t have much of an effect. If this woman were to channel this magic, though. Fennel didn’t even want to think about it.

“So… I’m going to be stuck in this place, a place that hates demons and that’s under constant surveillance, for the next four weeks?” Fennel asked quietly

“Mhmm. That’s about the long and short of it”

“I-I’m going to die.. I’m going to die in this place. I’m going to die in this place, and no one’s going to remember me fondly…”

Fennel’s nervous tic took over, and she mindlessly cut a few clean gashes into her arm, which promptly began bleeding. Suddenly, her cuts began to glow a bright blue, and her skin began to burn and warp as the magic of this world began to fight with itself. It seemed as if half of it was trying to heal her freshly cut wounds, and the other half was using this new entryway to attack her body. She yelped out in pain, the whole while still muttering to herself.

“Hey now!” The woman said, another dramatic shift in tone from annoyed to worry. “What in the blazes are you doing there? S-stop that! Goodness me. Don’t hurt yourself there, hun.”

“This… This is hopeless… I’m never going to get out of here alive.” Fennel muttered

“Now now, don’t start talkin’ like that. Things aren’t as bad as you think.”

“Y-you don’t understand. I’m not… I don’t…” Fennel clenched her claws to scratch herself again, but quickly loosened her grip. “I’m not… That lucky.  It’s hard to explain”

“Oh, so that’s what that does.”

“W-what do you mean by that?”

“Well, bein’ completely honest, the only reason I didn’t kill you right off the bat was because you had… You have an infliction. An infliction that was made from this world’s magic. I didn’t know what it was at first”

Fennel stared at her yet again, mouth slightly agape. “Y-you… you mean my curse.. It came from this place?”

“No” The woman shook her head. “Someone or something in the mortal realm had access to our magic, and they somehow managed to modify it to suit their needs. I must say, cursing an evil being such as yourself with magic like this is quite the nasty trick. I’d imagine you’ve never seen magic like this until now, yeah?”

It was all becoming clear now. This place. It was tied to the conspiracy. That blue glow that emanated from her cuts, she’d seen it before. Once decades ago, back when Alder had first cursed her. He’d shot a blast of blue energy that felt eerily similar to the energy that enveloped this place. The other time she’d seen this type of magic was when Spades had stolen that man’s soul a year or two prior. His body glowed a bright blue, before that blue energy was sucked into her deck of cards. No wonder they’d never been able to figure this out. This magic was so rare and niche that it’d never even crossed their minds.

The woman could tell Fennel had just come to a world shattering realisation. Anyone would be able to tell just by looking at her. She’d just uncovered a major part of this conspiracy against her, and this piece of the puzzle was game changing. At least, it would be, if she knew what to do with this newfound piece of information. As things stood, while mindblowing, this little tidbit of information was useless. This beautiful, wonderful piece of information. Useless.

A slight grin spread across the woman’s face. She sat down at the desk in the center of the room and shuffled through a few pieces of paper. A second chair materialized on the opposite side of the desk, and she gestured for Fennel to take a seat. She did so hesitantly, still trying to process everything she’d just been told.

“Fennel, hun.” She began. “You’re going to be here for awhile. Why don’t we help each other out?”

“W-what?” She said in response.

“I don’t have you on file directly, seeing as you don’t meet our criteria, but your name’s popped up quite a few times”

“I don’t understand. What does that mean?”

“This is the hall of records. Every event in recorded history is stored here, including your escapades with this “Crew” of yours. But, you don’t seem to be like them. Oh no, your name predates any mention of the Crew by a longshot. It seems you lived quite a normal scholarly life before gettin’ involved with them.”

“Yes, I did. I-I never wanted to become… Well, a criminal…”

“I can see that. And that’s why I think we can come to some sort of agreement, hun. You’re here, and we can’t change that, so why not make the best of it?”

“C-care to elaborate? I still don’t think I follow”

“Hun, do you see all these papers?” She gestured to the endless rows of filing cabinets. “My job is to tend to the Hall of Records”

Fennel nodded in understanding, but said nothing in response.

“But, as things stand, I’ve had to take over my superior’s job on top of all this. Plus the added stress of being under constant surveillance. I have something very important I need to do, something that could quite literally bring on the end of the world if it’s not dealt with, but I can’t do that and tend to the Hall of Records and keep the balance.”

“I see. So you want me to take over your workload?” Fennel asked

“Exactly.”

“And, uh… What do I get out of this?”

“A powerful ally. I have connections. I can help free you of this curse, and I can get you away from this Crew of yours. You’ll be able to return to your old life. A life free from all this needless torment. Who knows? An alliance like this could do the world a great service if we play our cards right, but that all depends on you.”

Fennel sat for a moment, thinking over the woman’s offer. It sounded too good to be true. Far too good to be true. There had to be a catch, she was certain of it. Never in her life had she made a deal like this that didn’t come back to bite her in the end.

“And… What if I refuse? What then?” She asked

“Well, if you refuse I’m going to lock you in a room, and you’re going to spend the next four weeks out of sight. Not to be harsh, but I’m not the only thing up here that could kill you. It’s to avoid suspicion”

“I guess… If those are my options, I think I’d rather accept your first offer. I doubt you’ll be able to help, but I’d rather not be stuck in a cell again. Never again. Not after what happened last time…”

The woman smiled. With a flick of her wrist and a brief flash of green, a pin materialized on Fennel’s chest. It looked like a small dreamcatcher, with intricate woven strings and dangling feathers at it’s base. It even had a few green gemstones embedded where it’s beads would have been. As the pin appeared, Fennel’s appearance began to change as well.

The scars that lined her body began to fade, and her clothing turned from tattered and torn into something a bit more formal and friendly looking. The notches in her ear seemed to fuse back together. Even her hair changed, going from messy and uneven to a more tame and soft look. She didn’t look demonic anymore, even if the changes weren’t drastic. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think she was a mortal just like everybody else.

“Well, today has taken a turn, but I think it’ll end up being for the better.” The woman said, extending her hand. “Welcome to the Afterlife, Fennel”