Chapter 6:( One Step Closer )
"Before we start," said Ame, "We are gonna get back Kiara first."
"What, how?" everyone asked.
"Calli will do it," Ame replied and Calli groaned. Ame attempted to make eye contact with Calli, but Calli looked away. The other idols looked at the two of them, confused.
"You know what to do, Calli, do it, work your magic."
"No," Calli refused, one hand over her mouth, blushing.
"C'mon, say it," Ame pressured, "Do it or else I'll ground pound your mom."
"Ughh fine," Calli, gave in and she reluctantly walked out to the edge of the dock, right next to Marine's ship, groaning and rolling her eyes
"What is she gonna do," Matsuri asked.
"Just watch," Ame grinned with a smug face. Calli then took a deep breath, then shouted towards the cloudy sky.
"Oi Kusotori…. Would you go out on a date with me???"
Rays of light suddenly pierced through every bit of the clouds, and the bright blue sky became clear. From the sun light came flying down a phoenix in extreme speed, half transforming into her human form as she crashed into Calli with a hug.
"YESS OH MY GOD, I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU TO SAY THAT FOR SO LONGGG," Kiara cheered as she snuggled Calli, trying so desperately to kiss her lips, but Calli just blocked it with her hands.
"Alright everyone, now that we got Kiara back, good luck!!" said Ame, and everyone stepped through their portal, Haato boarded Marine's ship with HoloFantasy to travel through the sea, which was parked at Kushiro dock, Hokkaido. "We'll meet back at Kushiro dock in exactly 2 hours, it doesn't matter if you succeed or not."
The portal that led to Yokohama closed behind them as soon as Matsuri and Lamy stepped through. The other side of the portal was not what they expected. Instead of bright sunlight and people lining up to buy tickets, the stage was destroyed, smoke filled the air and the props were burning. Bodies laid on the ground, alive or not, two people stood in the middle of all the bodies.
"Oi oi oi, ahh-kusa. I don't give a fuck who you are, or what you're doing," shouted one of the figures, gritting her teeth, "But Shirakami is mine you motherfucker, you're gonna pay for what you've done to her."
"And what are you planning on doing, black fox?" said the other figure while raising its scythe. "You and that white fox use the same body, so what makes you think you are any better now than that white fox??"
"I am more ambitious," said Kurokami, but before she could do anything, an avalanche rushed down from behind. Kurokami dodged and the avalanche managed to hit Death.
"Fubuki!!!" Matsuri shouted as Lamy catched her breath after throwing out the avalanche. "Are you ok?? What happened??"
"This asshole showed up outta nowhere and beat the crap outta us," said Kurokami as she started telling them where the others are, "Wolf girl is over there, the fennec fox ringmaster is over there, the lion is there, and the duck is over there. The lion ate the sheep some time ago but I don't give a shit. Shirakami was defeated as well so I took over her body"
"Well, well, you saved me some time finding you," said Death, floating out of the pile of snow. "The robot idol's information is very reliable, I shall hunt down every last one of you before I dispose of her."
"Why are you doing this?? You know Calli wants to stay with us," Lamy asked.
"She is a reaper, not a fucking idol. She was one of the most respected souls alive in both Hell and Heaven before she decided to pay the human world a visit. She was my proudest student, thousands of souls reaped each day with ease, and now, barely even ten. No, I will not let my student fall like this, I am ashamed of her actions, and she should be ashamed of herself, and that's why I'm taking this away from her."
"That's sounds pretty fucked up to me," Kurokami gnarled.
"It doesn't matter if you know this or not, you're all gonna die anyway."
Lamy summoned another avalanche towards Death, but Death phased through the snow like a phantom it is and threw its scythe at her. Kurokami stretched its claws and dashed in front of Lamy to deflect it. Matsuri pulled out her Loli-Note and wrote down 'Death' in her notebook, but nothing happened.
"My lifespan is too long for you to reverse me, my dear child," Death explained. "I am a million times older than you are, kid."
Kurokami then realized that the scythe from Death's hand disappeared, she alerted the other two to be careful, but even with the warning, Matsuri wasn't quick enough to react to it or dodge it, the scythe stabbed her from the back and she fell to the ground. The Loli-note disappeared from her hand and was replaced by her own blood, spilled from the wound that's below her breast.
Lamy caught her before she fell to the ground and she rested Matsuri on the ground as the scythe flew back to Death, but somehow Death failed to catch it, instead the scythe slashed Death on the shoulder. Kurokami seized the opportunity and charged at Death while Lamy gathered the others and freezed their wounds, hoping they would wake up. Death couldn't dodge Kurokami's fierce attack as the chaos effect still lingers on it. One idea suddenly struck Lamy, they got all of the idols that were here, wounded or not, they can still be treated. She bolted straight up and turned towards Kurokami, then told her to hold on for much longer. If they manage to escape Death now, the idealized future would be more promising than the chance they have now. She looked up into the sky and shouted for Shion, but the portal never opened.
Lamy tried calling for Shion again, but still the portal didn't open. Lamy started to panic and Kurokami got knocked back, dark matters devoured her. Lamy froze in fear and as Death gently tapped on Lamy's back, she collapsed like a broken glass. She reached for her sake, but she left her sake on Marine's ship.
"Why didn't Shion-senpai open the portal," the thought raced through her mind and Death raised its scythe.
All of them were dragged to Hell.
Kyoto, famous for their temples and shrines, OkaKoro arrived at the foot of Fushimi Inari Shrine. They walked down the stone road, through the bamboo trees and at the end was the shrine. Sakura trees blooming, petals fell down, then all of the petals started swirling around one single point and Sakura Miko appeared before them.
"I sensed your unusual presence," Miko started. "You two are now ordinary humans, may I ask you to state your business at my Elite Shrine????"
"Mikomiko!!!!!" Korone waved at her enthusiastically, and Miko burst into tears as she welcomed Korone to her arms. Her face suddenly turned serious.
"While I may be conscious now, my powers are locked to this shrine when I wake up and the only way to unlock me is to wish for it and draw out a lucky card. Please tell me you brought more people to come help."
"No Miko, it's just us two," Okayu replied, Miko sighed and led them to the wishing plate. Okayu volunteered to go first, she tossed a few coins in the box that's in front of the shine and kneeled on the pillow, then she wished for Miko's freedom, got up and rang the bell a few times and returned back to Miko.
"Alright, here goes," said Miko after a sighed, then a few sakura petals flew towards Miko, delivering a bamboo stick, then she read, "You're luck for this year is.... Middle luck, maybe you should try and take things easy and best not to bet on 50% chances, make sure you can get it 100% before you do it."
"Aww nya~ I didn't get it,"said Okayu.
"Don't be discouraged, you still got me!!" said Korone and she too tossed a few coins in the box and wished for Miko's freedom, then she rang the bell a few times and returned back to Miko. "I can get it, wang wang!"
Sakura Miko gulped and reached in the wishing late and sakura petals delivered yet another bamboo stick. Korone and Okayu stared at the stick intensely, hoping for the good news to come. Then Miko announced:
"Your luck for this year is…. SUPER LUCKY?! Almost everything will go right for you this year and fate will secretly grant you a wish of your deepest desires?!! KORO-SAN, NOT MANY PEOPLE GET TO EVEN LISTEN TO ME READ THIS STICK!!"
Sakura petals flew around Miko once more, as if telling her that she's free now, but once again, Shion didn't open the portal for them no matter how much they called for her name.
Back to Tokyo, Kronii and Irys stepped through the portal and set foot on the top of Mount Fuji.
"Holy shit it is freezing," said Irys. Strong wind blew past them, their hair flew around uncontrollably. "So who are we looking for this high up, it's cold as fuck you know."
They kept walking forward until they saw something shiny, they rushed towards it and saw a huge piece of diamond in front of them, with Hoshimachi Suisei inside. They hesitated for a moment, then decided that they should take her back with them, until they heard something coming from above them.
"Whoever you are, return to where you came from. If you dare lay a finger on her, I will kill-" then she stopped, she saw two familiar figures standing near the diamond.
"Mom?" Irys asked, "Ah wait no, she's not my mom, my bad, uhh. Kanata-senpai?"
Amane Kanata descended from the sky, with her angel wings out and her star-staff holding in her hand. Her weapons shrunk back to the four-pointed star on her head and she stared at Irys and Kronii, they stared back at her.
"You two, are not going wild anymore right?" Kanata asked.
"Not anymore," Kronii replied, then they filled her in, Kanata hesitated for a moment if she wanted to join or not, she thought she'd been through enough, but if it meant that everything could go back the same as before, then she shouldn't say no to that. And once again, Shion failed to open the portal when they called for her.
Amelia Watson remained at Kushiro dock, she took out her watch and clicked the button, then whispered 'multiverse'. Rainbow flashes surrounded her as if she is standing inside a room made of mirrors, each shade of colors of light represents a different universe, as the mirror began breaking into more halves, she turned to look around to see if she could sense the faint presence of the other multi-dimensional travelers, Rosenthal Aki and Momosuzu Nene. She continued looking, holding onto her pocket watch tightly, she heard a faint sound that sounded like Nene.
"And Suuuupaaaaaa Neeeneeeee PUANNCHHHHH!!!"
But no matter how loud that echoed, Ame still can't find the source of the voice. She knew she heard it, so she stopped the multiverse doors that kept multiplying around her, she reversed her time back to when she heard Nene's scream. She turned around again and again, then she thought, why was Nene using her ultimate move?? She turned around again, skimming past the thousands of universerses around her. Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of a pair of blonde hair buns floating out from one of the multiverse, she turned around once more, and expanded the doorway towards that one universe, but all she can see was dark matters swallowing both Aki and Nene and suddenly Death appeared in front of Ame.
"Hello again, Ame, fancy seeing you here, I see that you're alone. Now I shall-"
BAM, Ame closed the doorway, then she closed every doorway and she's back at Kushiro dock, breathing heavily. I need to find the others now, she thought to herself, but Shion didn't summon any of them back.
So what actually happened to Shion?? After the idols part ways, she and Calli, with Kiara glued to her legs, stepped through their portal to Kunisaki, in front of the Rokugo Manzan Temple. Shion spread her hands out and the temple became surrounded by her mana, a faint presence of the underworld lingered onto her mana, but that was from Calli.
"I'm sorry Calli-chan, Kiara-chan, but I can't see a way into the Underworld. Maybe I was wrong."
"Don't worry Shion-senpai, I gotchu," said Calli, and she opened the portal towards Hell, did a quick check inside with her dark matters, and turned back towards them. "Death-sensei is not here right now, if we're to go to the Underworld through Hell, we gotta be quick, or else it will sense my presence and Kiara's presence after a while."
"Why me too?" Kiara asked, as she released Calli's thighs.
"Because you are the being of Life, your life force is way stronger than a normal human being, or any beings in the Underworld," Calli explained, "So you are the most noticeable amongst us three."
"But all we need to do is get out of Hell as soon as possible right??" Kiara asked again.
"Yes, why?"
"Hop on then. Oh and, Shion-senpai, please boost my speed with your magic," said Kiara, as she shook her entire body as if she's a chicken, and then did a high-pitched scream. Flames burst out of her body and wings grew out too, then she transformed into a phoenix. "I can control my flames, it's okay you won't get burnt Shion-senpai."
"Uhh, okay," Shion replied as she used the speed-boosting spell on Kiara and hopped onto her with Calli. Kiara dove into Hell and flew in extreme speed to the directions Calli is pointing. Undying flames burning everywhere, lighting up the darkness of this realm. Each flame represents the sins each soul has committed, atoning for their sins, some may go to heaven after they've atoned it, but most of them will stay in Hell until Death decides to do something with them. Your soul might be a reincarnation of another being from another period of time or another species from another universe.
"Wait," Shion said suddenly, "I think I sensed something with my mana."
"Me, too, I sense a fragile soul/life," Calli and Kiara said in unison so precisely that Shion stared at them and asked if they're sure they're not married. Kiara flew towards the source of life, and into a tunnel, and then after that, from hallways to hallways, until it became too narrow for Kiara's phoenix form, the further she dove in, the frown on Calli's face grew bigger.
"This," Calli muttered in fear, "This is Death's lair. We gotta get outta here, Death will know someone's here the moment we step foot into the place."
"But we gotta save whoever's in there, someone is dying Calli," Kiara argued. "Even though I am the symbol of Life, I can revive myself but anyone else."
"Ugh fine, let's go then," Calli groaned.
"You two even bicker like a married couple," Shion thought to herself, as she followed them down the path. They turned from one way to another, all the souls swirling around in the cells of eternal flame that even Kiara can't control. After a while, they finally stopped at one room, it's a very small room compared to the other rooms. Robocco's parts are torn apart into pieces, telling the three of them that Death was just here. (The battle of Yokohama at the start of the chapter, Death dragged them in while the three of them were flying around the twist and turns, then Death left for the next victim almost immediately, which is Nene and Aki from the multiverse battle with Ame.) They walked deeper down the path to the end of the room, Botan, Polka, Subaru and Fubuki along with Matsuri and Lamy lying on the floor, dead.
"It's useless, Death pulled their soul out," Calli examined. "And Matsuri-senpai and Lamy-chan literally just left us. Damn, Death-sensei never took a break."
"Death used Robocco-senpai as a map," Shion pointed out, while examining Robocco. "Her main core has been ripped apart and her body parts, but her memory chip is fine. Maybe if we could plug it in a computer, Robocco-senpai could be revived as an AI."
"That could work," said Kiara, and she began walking down towards the end of the room. Someone was chained on the wall, her clothes ripped, and bruises covered her entire body, faint blood stains still lingers on the side of her mouth. It was obvious that she has been roughly treated over the past years, her Kenzoku hat laid on the floor flat. Tokoyami Towa clinged onto her life, surviving. "TOWA-SENPAI, OH MY GOD WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU!!"
The three of them rushed to unchain her, Kiara supported Towa's body and slowly laid her on her lap while Shion performed a healing magic.Towa's body healed at a really slow rate since her stamina isn't keeping up with the spell. Calli then sensed something in her, she drew her scythe and pointed the tip of the scythe at Towa, then suddenly, an insane amount of dark matter were drained from her body, way more than anyone could've hold onto, it is a miracle that Towa is still alive. After that, the healing spell became more effective and Towa woke up with a start.
"Stop, please stop torturing me," Towa muttered weakly, her voice so soft and pitiful that brought tears to Shion, she was worried that the healing spell wasn't working at all.
"This must be Death's doing then?" Kiara asked.
"Yeah no shit Kusotori," Calli answered.
"Then why didn't it kill her like it did to the others?" Shion asked.
"My guess," Calli pondered for a while, and then answered, "is that we have similar energies. Death said Ame harmed it 2 years ago even though Ame never mentioned or knew that she did, and Death also stated that it's powers are returning. So if that's the case-"
"It must've drained Towa's powers and life source to recover!" Kiara finished Calli's sentence.
"Yes Kiara, because Towa is a devil from the Underworld, we Shinigamis and Reapers don't have that much of a difference with devils and onis, therefore Towa was the unfortunate victim that Death found first," Calli explained. "We got the memory chip, and we saved Towa now, we have to get out of here now, if we stay here any longer and Death will return."
"Wait but, if all the idols who were taken by Death are here, do you think Mumei and Bae are also here?" Shion asked.
"I don't know, I can't sense them anywhere," Calli replied, "Dead or Alive."
They hurried out of Death's lair and resumed flying on Kiara's phoenix form and flew out of Hell as soon as possible. After a short while, when eternal flames were out of sight, signaled them that they had exited Hell. It became pitch-black, but Calli has night vision. She guided them out of the darkness until they reached the Underworld, illuminated by lava and blue flames.