In a dark throne room lit only by emerald green flames which cast an eerie light, sat a black haired middle age man, his eyes closed and an expression of pleasure upon his attractive face. His throne was made of obsidian and looked anything but comfortable, however, he lounged on it as though it was a velvet cushioned couch moving his hand in tune with the shrill screams in the background.

“Was that really necessary?” The white robed man in front of him asked with a sigh

“Of course it was” the man said his eyes still closed “you know how much pleasure I gain from the misery of others”

“The lightening was a little ostentatious, don’t you think?” The white robed man pressed on

“Ah, but what is life without a blast” he chuckled “you asked for my help and I rendered it. Stop complaining”

There was silence for a while and then he continued “I am however curious about that lamp”

“It wasn’t yours?” The white robed man was surprised he had thought the lamp was a way for his friend to spice things up

“No” the blacked haired man open up his eyes, They were an emerald green and they looked frustrated “what’s worse is, the instant the fog appeared his presence began to fade”

“Who could possibly shield anyone from you” the white robed man seemed skeptical “I never thought you would be so humble, Zalser”

“It’s not humility, it’s a fact” he smirked “someone or something is now involved in your little game”

A sense of urgency gripped the white robed man as he called “Roran”

A white mist answered his call and it coalesced into a red haired man equally garbed in a white robe

“My lord” roran bowed

“Someone is messing with my plans. Escort the boy here and kill anyone who tries to stop you”

Roran vanished in a white mist.

“I hate it when things don’t go according to plan”

***

Hal woke up drifting in a space occupied by equally drifting hills, the space appeared desolate

‘So this is hell’ he thought ‘ doesn’t fit any description I ever got’

He held his hands up to his eyes and could see it shift from healthy to skeletal, he could feel it happening to his whole body .

He tried to steer himself to one of the hills but soon gave it up as impossible. He drifted for what felt like hours

“I take it back, this is Hell!.” He exclaimed “I’m been tortured with boredom”

“This isn’t hell” a benign voice said

Hal turned to come face to face with a bald monk in black robes seated on one of the hills, he smiled at hal and waved his sleeve. A gentle force steered hal to the hill and he sat opposite him

“Who are you?” Hal asked, because when a bald headed man smiles at you in purgatory you ask for introductions

“*Sigh* I’m not able to say for now” the monk said “if we meet again ask me then, I should be able to reply”

“So where is this?” Hal asked

“A bridge” the monk replied “a bridge between the mortal realm and the nether realm”

Hal blinked “excuse me what?”

“A bridge between the mortal and nether realms” The monk repeated

Taking a quick look around, he could see that all evidence pointed to the fact that the monk was being truthful but Hal still did not want to believe it.

The monk chuckled “you will have to believe me, your life will depend on this from now on, your time here is almost up” he sighed “there are forces at work in your life. Ah, look” he pointed “here comes one of them now”

A mist appeared and solidified into a red haired man in white robes

Roran ignored the monk and made to grab Hal’s hand but Hal jumped backwards inwardly glad he could move but surprised by the speed with which he made the move.

“Hold on Mister grabby” he snarled “hands off the merchandize” He was after all still Hal, a ladies man, so he had to uphold his dignity

“You will come with me” Roran said with confidence he dispersed into fine mist and appeared instantly right in front of Hal and grabbed his arm or he would have if a black mist had not enveloped Hal at that moment and he was gone.

“Sigh, what a dilemma” the monk said with melancholy but his smile was wide

“Where did you send him?” Roran snarled

“I have nothing to do with it” the monk said “you know I don’t have the power to hide someone from his majesty”

Roran growled and vanished to report his failure

After he was gone the monk sighed “You just can’t help but cause problems can you? Brother”