When he woke up, a figure stood before him. It had no arms, it had no legs... only a head connected to a human torso. What was supposed to continue from there, down out of her white robe, simply did not.
It floated like a ghost, making no sound or disturbance as it passed — and when it tried to help him up, it did not extent a hand. It sprouted tentacles from its back, posing them as a roundabout immitation of the human limb. He didn't know who he was. He didn't know where he was. There was only rock all around them, no sky. She briefly introduced herself as a Death God, before leading to a room, where five other Gods sat waiting...
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[https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/ec2540e6-582a-403f-b321-ecf4536dc9b1/de9c7ud-f907b27e-5517-4b0a-a5cb-e952b7448e53.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvZWMyNTQwZTYtNTgyYS00MDNmLWIzMjEtZWNmNDUzNmRjOWIxXC9kZTljN3VkLWY5MDdiMjdlLTU1MTctNGIwYS1hNWNiLWU5NTJiNzQ0OGU1My5qcGcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.6ZirPr2WjpuTTW7psusbLzw3ZzvAZn13YV9MW7yfPOY]
Chapter 1
...He was led inside a comfy, air-conditioned living room. The walls were plastered with colorful stickers everywhere, and cute teddy bears filled every nook and cranny he could find. He was told he was in "Hell," even though it looked like he stumbled onto a girls' sleepover party more than anything. For one, he was sitting on some kind of fancy floor couch: a fluffy cushion pillow resting on a fiber/foam pad together with arm bookings. Up on the ceiling hung a flowery chandelier, but down below, a corresponding array of decorative lamps took up space unnecessarily. A box of slippers by the entrance featured rabbit and shark-themed footwear...
The Death God, who previously introduced herself as Memento, was sitting perched on top of a stool table across the living room. —Or rather, sat "hovering," is what it was more like... The hem of her clothes, around the part where her torso cut off, floated three inches off the wooden surface, fluttering, as though her body was releasing an occassional soft wind... Still she had no arms or legs, just a head connected to a body, and now that he got a closer look, she had an unhealthy pale skin that didn't look remotely human. There was a stitch running across her face, down the length from her eye to her left cheek, and on her head, atop her grizzly gray of hair, sat a hairband made of teeth: molars the size of acorns. She sat there in the most dead and uncaring expression one could muster; she looked more statue or decoration than person.
She left him to his own devices without explanation or clarification. Maybe she thought he was just a burden explaining to.
Aside from the Death God, there were three other occupants in the room: one, a supposed "Fire" God; another, supposed "Space/Mind" God she was arguing with; and one supposed "Time" God watching the scene, eating popcorn. The former, called Raine, kept telling the latter to connect a portal to the human world immediately.
"I told you, it's not that simple," insisted Hera, the second girl with waist‐length blue hair sitting on the sofa. "I'm not the one who transported us here, how am I supposed to know which way is back?"
Unlike the previous specimen, she atleast looked like she had a full set of human body parts. She had a tall and slender stature, fit for a runway model, and wore a vast array of expensive-looking jewelry. She gave off the impression of a high-maintainance girlfriend who's hard to get along with.
What caught his attention though, was not the blinding amount of gems she had on her, or the way her eyes glowed an unnaturally bright blue. No... It was the white, peculiar-looking halo glowing on top of her head. Even without needing his memories, he could tell... That's no fashion accessory. It was a flat, two-dimensional ring of light, similar to an angel's halo, except it had three-inch spikes radiating outward, like the Statue of Liberty's crown... The arc centered around a tiny ball of light, much like Saturn's ring; and when he looked, he was filled with an almost hypnotic expectation to see it start revolving...
It sat lop-sided on the top right of her head, making it look like it's constantly about to fall off, but it followed every movement of her head as if connected by some rigid force.
The Fire God, sitting not too pleased with the previous' answer, was introduced as Raine. In contrast to Hera's more vixen attitude, Raine exhibited a more fiery, impatient disposition. She looked like type who wants everything done her way, and no other way. Those who can't follow orders, don't bother helping. She had short, blonde hair, with a sun-shaped hair tie supporting a frontal ponytail. Whereas Hera dressed in excess, Raine had not a single fashion accessory on her, wearing only a loose orange pyjama with bell sleeves and some shorts.
"You said you'd figure it out once we recovered him," she barked, pointing towards the boy without glancing. He gulped, wondering if he'd done something wrong. But Hera sent a wink at him.
"Ooops~?"
The blonde looked like a boiling kettle waiting to explode. As the two launched into a full-blown argument, (one that wasn't giving him any of the information he needed), the third occupant had scooched over next to his seat...
"Y'know, these two fight so much even though they have way too much in common..."
She had her cream-colored hair tied in twintails, and wore, along with the heart-shaped sunglasses on top of her head, an expression of great sprightliness. "—Want some?" she said, handing him some popcorn.
"..."
"..."
"...Who?"
"Oh, sorry. Name's June."
He nodded apprehensively. "...Yeahhh, that still doesn't leave me much to work on."
"Wait, did Memento not explain anything to you??"
He shook his head.
"That's so like her," she sighed. She looked up again, "Then I suppose you don't know where we are, or why you're even here?"
He shook his head more vigurously.
June closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. "Yoshi yoshi~, big sister June's gonna give you the rough outline!"
She pointed at him. "You... Legendary Hero."
He pointed to himself. "I'm a wut??"
"—This? Hell."
"Yeah, that's what I was told, too, but—"
"—We? Your magic."
"What the fuck does that even mean!!"
"Ok~, gtg bye!"
June jumped to her feet and skated towards the arguing pair, leaving him to just now realize she was wearing rollerblades indoors. It's bad enough Memento left him on his own, but this second girl, too; this is just a whole new level of cryptic. "Yo, Hera!"
The Space God glanced over.
"What movies you got?"
The blue-headed Goddess tapped one of the prongs on her halo. Windows of light began appearing in the air featuring programs from various TV channels. They looked like the type of advanced hologram technology you see in sci-fi settings. "Some horror, some comedy..." she said, flicking through the avilable channels and ignoring Raine's cries (How can we get cable reception from the human world yet not know how to get there???). "Oooooo~, this guy looks hot♡! Ugh, but it's a historical drama..."
"Lemme~! ♡"
June scooched over to Hera, browsing the available channels as well. Raine, sandwiched between the two, looked livid...
"Stop, STOP IT, YOU TWO, THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!!" she flailed like a child, popping the windows like a bubble. "What if we never get out of here???"
"Relaaaaxx," said Hera, "I'll figure something out! This is just a matter of reverse triangulating which leylines we can connect to."
"You said all you needed was the body," reiterated Raine. "He's sitting right there, —do something!!"
He logged another uneasy gulp. Did he do something wrong? Do they need him to do something? Who was he? He had half a mind to raise his voice and ask, but he also felt waiting some of this chaos out would do him good.
"It's fine," June reassured, "I've already checked. We'll get out of here three days from now."
"See?" said Hera smugly, patting June like a pet animal. "If our chief of weather forecast says so, then there's nothing to worry about!"
Raine didn't look like she trust this prediction at all...
"June, you're not lying to me, are you?" she said with narrowing eyes.
"Eh!" busted the Time God, looking shocked and offended, "You're really going there?? Do I look like the type of person who'd lie???"
"If you're so doubtful, why not get Darkstar?" Hera chimed in.
"She doesn't do Light magic," reminded Raine.
"She's taking a bath," added June.
"Plus, she's even more untrustworthy than you two combined!" exploded Raine. "I'll eat a live bat first before I rely on her for anything."
A moment of coordinated silence followed.
"Tch. Well, it's not like we can make any progress right now with what we've got!" said Hera, irritated. "I keep saying this over and over I'm like a broken record now. If June's already predicted when we'll break out in three days, no use fighting it. I say we just let this problem run it's natural course and stay put."
"Ugh. I've always known you were a letdown, but today, my disappointment is just immeasurable with you. How can you suggest we do nothing, all because of a simple future prediction??? For all we know, three days could be only the best case scenario with us working 24/7 to break out! And you want to push that to next week by procastinating!?"
"Excuse me???" interjected June, sounding even more offended now. "Three days is three days, m'kay? Regardless of what you do, that future is sealed. You're not the Time God here, so stop talking about things you don't understand and STFU!"
"Oof!" said Hera. "Guess that settles it then. Here, go watch some TV~"
A window screen appeared onto Raine's face. The veil of light masked her expression, but a second later it sprouted into flames and disappeared, revealing a very serious look.
"So you're saying..." she said, in a voice shaking with silent fury, "Even if we do nothing but laze around all day, the answer will just, magically come in three days?"
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"That is what I'm saying," said June with a straight face.
"And how, pray tell, would that be possible?"
June cleared her throat, and mustered the most generous, non-condescending expression she could make. "Your future, is for you to find out."
"Do I look like a fucking retard to you?"
"You do to me," slipped Hera.
Hera and June both laughed their hearts out.
"Shut—!"
As the Fire God grew redder and redder, the prospect of getting his share of this conversation seemed to wade further out of reach.
"So let me clarify again," said Raine, recovering. "You're saying, it won't matter what we do in the next three days, because us getting out is already predetermined. We can all just, laze around for the next few days, and we'd magically get a key out of here in three days' time."
"Of course!" shot June instantly.
"And all outcomes lead to the same thing; even if we exert all our effort, we can't shorten that three-day time restriction to two days."
"Nope~"
"So, even if we say, Agyros and Hera work together to bust us out... it will take three days?"
Hera furrowed her eyebrows. "Bitch, that isn't even gonna take one whole day. Scratch that, I could finish this myself, two days tops."
Why don't you, Raine was about to sourly ask, but before she could, June interrupted "Waitwaitwaitwaitwait—!"
She was sweating wildly now, and although she was looking up at Raine with a calculating expression, he got the feeling she wasn't particularly looking at anything in the room: her iris were glowing a deep shade of red, and a series of 1's and 0's seemed to be raining down on the insides of her cornea.
"She's looking at the future," explained Hera, reading the confused look on his face, then yawned, This is gonna take a while~, stretching.
After a few more seconds, June snapped back to reality. "We will die!"
"Correction. You will die," rectified Hera.
"I will die!" repeated June.
"Not my problem," said Raine, "Blame your stupid Time magic for being so useless. C'mon, Hera! We've got a long 2000 km to drill up!"
"I didn't say I'd do it," said Hera, clicking her tongue, though she was clearly weighing the options: do the work of excavating to the surface, (whatever that means), or get made fun of by Raine for being all talk. "Hmmm..."
Hera gestured towards Raine. "Will she die?"
June looked uneasy.
"...y— ...yes."
"You are garbage at this," frowned Raine.
"Well, what can you expect from a genki girl. Lying's not in her genes," said Hera, standing up and stretching. Her casual wear exploded into a flash of light, and next moment, she was wearing what looked like a garb for ancient Roman royalty. "Fine, I'll do it. But don't bother helping! I'll do this myself, easy peasy."
"Y— You're not really going to leave to die, right, Hera?" said June weakly. "Right? Right? We're tomodachi's, right?"
"Dude, stop speaking alien. You're gonna be 6000 ft under soon if you don't do something."
"I'll call Agyros," chatted Raine, as she and Hera made their way to the front door, leaving June.
"No need, I work alone."
"You sound like Darkstar."
"You sound like my mom."
"Heh...."
Across the room, Memento, the Death God, gave a soft chuckle. "...Mom."
A loud noise suddenly ripped the atmosphere, as if a very long zipper was opened at the speed of light. The next thing he knew, June was standing before Raine and Hera, blocking their way to the exit.
"You leave me no choice," she said with a shaking voice, but striking a pose nonetheless. "I'll—... I'll repair the damage you do to the cave! That's right, you want to force open a way up? Let's see if you can damage it faster than I can rewind time!!"
"Just admit it!" said Raine, "Your three-day prediction is bull!"
"No!" said June. "I'll make it true... Even if I have to fight you!"
"You asked for it," said Raine, cracking her knuckles. "Let's take this outside."
"Hooold it," said Hera, grabbing Raine by the collar as she walked, strangling her. "I saaaaiidd I work alone. In case your skull is too thick to understand, I can beat June, and drill a hole all by myself. No, scratch that. In fact! I can beat June, beat you, drill that hole afterwards, aaand I'd still have energy left to spare."
Raine, massaging her neck, looked like she wanted to gouge Hera's eyes out.
In the span that the three were running their little skit (I'm trying to help you!), he had crawled across the room towards Memento, the one who woke him up.
"Pssst," he whispered, tapping her on the shoulder. "Sorry to disturb... It's me again..."
She turned her eyes on him while keeping still. It's clear he's not getting into the conversation of those three anytime soon. Out of all the girls currently in this room, this quiet Death God is the most approachable.
"What exactly are they saying? I can't follow..." he asked.
She waited for a while. Then finally answered, "《Hell》is deep underground. They plan to excavate upwards to reach the human world. But it's so far away. Thousands of kilometers, in fact. With nowhere to put the digged up rock, 《Hell 》will be buried in fallen debris long before we break surface."
"And? What happens after that?"
"We die."
"Oi!!" he called out. "WHAT'S THIS CHICK SAYING ABOUT YOU TRYING TO KILL US???"
The three stared at him.
"Well, yeah. That's what we've been discussing for the past five minutes," said Raine, as though this was easily a matter of fact.
"Weren't you listening?" said June, acting concerned. "We'll be buried six-thousand feet under."
"Daffuqk was I supposed to understand any of that garble!!" he said.
"Slow af boi," coughed Hera.
"Wait," he said, "I wouldn't happen to have some epic, hidden power I can use to save myself now, would I?"
"Nah, you're magicless," said Raine.
"Dry as a rock," said June.
"A bird has more magic than you," said Hera.
"B—... But you've all got magic! You're Gods! Maybe I'm a God of something, too!"
The others pondered...
"...God of suck?"
"God of bad luck, probably..."
"God of having two eyes..."
"I think I've heard enough..." he said, exhausted. He lifted his hand and made sweeping motions in the air, prompting something magical to happen. He stopped when nothing happened for the fifth time, and sighed.
[https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/ec2540e6-582a-403f-b321-ecf4536dc9b1/de650sv-ca92042a-9e19-4d38-994c-7cf76c2b49e9.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvZWMyNTQwZTYtNTgyYS00MDNmLWIzMjEtZWNmNDUzNmRjOWIxXC9kZTY1MHN2LWNhOTIwNDJhLTllMTktNGQzOC05OTRjLTdjZjc2YzJiNDllOS5qcGcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.xXi5WzduwlsMY6GlXjVKERWBAUyDEJgbJOEy3VWinUg]
"Well, if I'm just an average human, then I'm gonna have to vote against this, this... digging up a hole operation you're pursuing... I will die!"
"...He's right," sighed Raine.
"Oh shet, you serious???" he said, dumbfounded it worked.
"We can't endanger Shion's life any more than it already is. I'm suspending all plans to drill the rock above us from now on. No one's got any problems with that, right?"
No words issued from the others.
"Good..." said Raine. "Maybe I was trying to rush things a bit back there... Fine. We'll wait and see if June's prediction comes true, it's only three days. If we still don't get out by then, we'll work on a plan B."
"Does...? Does that mean...?" started June, teary-eyed.
"No, no one's getting buried six-thousand feet under," confirmed Raine. "Case dismissed."
Hera took two flower vases and threw it against the wall two times, immitating a judge's gavel. Oddly enough they didn't break upon hitting the wall, though they did crash magnificently on the floor after.
"Yatta~ ♡" beamed an all new revitalized June, zooming out of view and slapping him on the back a second later. "I knew you could do it, Shion! Sasuga, Shion-sama! (Ow!)" before teleporting to the vase and fixing it with Time magic.
"Is that—? Supposed to be me?" he said, massaging his back.
"More or less," answered Raine. "You were called Shion before you lost your memories. Of course, you can pick a new name if you want. You're basically a different person now from the original Shion, anyway."
"A different name, huh?" He was not really in the mood for thinking up names right now. "I'll think about it later..."
"Ugh, so bored," groaned Hera, who had slumped back on the sofa again. "Maybe something good is up."
She turned on the TV channels, but instead of a clear picture like before, this time, all they showed was static.
"What the—? Who's jamming my signal!" said Hera, "June, is that you?"
"Hmph," she pouted. "You tried to kill me. If it wasn't for Shion, I'd be buried alive right now. And I've yet to hear an apology from you. So until you say sorry, no TV for Hera!"
"Fine!" said Hera, "I'm sorry."
"No! You have to mean it!"
"...Look, I'm really bored right now, so how much is this going to be?"
"I want diamond-encrusted glasses," said June shamelessly.
"Done," answered Hera, as diamonds the size of almonds sprang to life around June's pink sunglasses.
"Awh sweet!" beamed June, trying them on.
"June, that's rude. Don't wear your shades indoors," said Raine, but June ignored her.
"Next, I want diamond rollerskates."
"This better be the last one," said Hera annoyed, entertaining the request. Just like before, diamonds embedded themselves in June's rollerskates, making them look very expensive indeed.
"Nice!" cheered June, trying them out by doing quick Figure8's around the room. "Weeeeeeee!"
"Can I have my TV back now!" Hera called out over the noise, though it was easily drowned by June's cries. No matter how many times Hera repeated, June didn't hear it.
And then, out of nowhere, a second voice uttered something...
"Yeah, I'll have some diamond-encrusted toilet paper."
June tripped up from the surprise voice and came crashing into the kitchen.
He wheeled around. Sitting on the couch next to Hera, the source of the unfamiliar voice, was a girl with bat wings growing out of her back. She had long, black hair that was still dripping wet, and yellow eyes that glowed like a snake's; only a bath towel covered her entire body. A bull horn could be seen sticking out from the top left of her head. The other side however, where another bull horn was likely to be, was covered by a white, strap-on fox mask, leading him to suspect her right horn was broken, or possibly missing...
"Darkstar!" breathed Raine. "What in God blazes are you wearing?"
"Whops~" said Darkstar, holding her hands up and noticing she'd failed to change out of her bath towel. Then with one snap of her fingers, her hair lost all moisture and a jet black, sailor school uniform spread over her entire body.
"Gross!" screamed Raine.
"We sit there, you know!" screeched Hera.
"Are you an animal or something?? Don't just cover yourself with an illusion, go back and wear actual clothes!!" yelled Raine at the top of her lungs.
"Haah?" fussed Darkstar, now cleaning her ears with a finger. "It's fine, isn't it? We're all women here."
"We. Have. A. Guest," said Raine through gritted teeth.
"I know," Darkstar smiled mischievously, turning to observe him. "Man, you really are the splitting image of—"
"GET YOUR ASS OFF THE COUCH AND PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!" screamed Hera, now sounding manic.
"I have clothes," said Darkstar, gesturing to her sailor uniform.
"We saw you! That's just an illusion!" argued Raine.
"I dunno," said Darkstar, tugging at the collar. "Looks pretty solid to me. And how would you know if these clothes are an illusion. For all you care, I could have been wearing this uniform from the start, and tricked you with an illusion of me wearing a bath towel."
Hera knew there was no way to win this game, so she didn't answer...
"Ah, but I suppose you could confirm it for them," Darkstar beckoned to Shion, still pulling the collar down. "Don't they look solid enough? Go on, you can touch them~ ♡"
"Get away from her!" shot Hera.
"Enemy of all women," snarled Raine, launching herself between him and Darkstar.
"I wasn't even doing anything," he said exasperated.
Hera and Raine began examining the fabric of Darkstar's uniform, stretching and pulling it in several places. ("Ow~, ow~, ow~ ," whimpered an injured June as she limped back into the room. No one paid attention to her.)
"So," said Darkstar while the examination kept going, "How's Underworld life been treating ya?"
"Well," he answered, "Seeing as how I nearly died within fifteen minutes of waking up, I'd say... not good."
"Huh??"
"Hera and Raine tried to dig a hole to the surface," hissed June, massaging a knee.
"Dig a hole? These stooges? They can't even open a can of worms if their life depended on it. Ow!"
Hera just pinched her somewhere undisclosed. Raine, sighing, got up... "It's real."
"Thanks," said Darkstar. "...Dumbass."
"You're on your last warning," growled Hera. "Next time you go commando, we're locking you up in the basement!"
"And who are you, the fashion police?"
"Yeah I am!" said Hera. "As long as I'm under this roof, no one is allowed to dress improperly!"
"Whopee..." celebrated Darkstar.
"You alright?" Raine beckoned to June.
"Nooo~, I'm in so much paaaiin. Mou, this is all your fault! Darkstar, baka!"
June threw one of her diamond-encrusted rollerskates at Darkstar. It should've hit her on the head, but just as the rollerskate made impact, part of Darkstar's head dissolved into a flurry of bats. The shoe whizzed past without hitting anything.
"How is this my fault?" complained Darkstar as the bats congregated to form a fully completed head. "Blame Hera. She's the one who got you those shoes."
June, still looking disgruntled, picked up the second shoe and lobbed it at Hera. "Hera baka..."
This time, the rollerskate just phased through Hera as if she were a ghost.
"You done? The TV better be up now, I swear..."
"TV rots your brain," commented Darkstar. "Not that you'd have one..."
"I can't believe I'm saying this," lamented Raine, "But for once, I actually agree."
"Ah!"
Darkstar's face suddenly lit up, as though she remembered something important. Her expression suddenly turned grim, and she avoided eye contact with everyone. "She's here."
"Oh, thank God, I'm starving," said Hera.
"You think she found any meat?" said June.
"I sure hope so... 'Cause I am not prepared to go vegetarian."
"You guys are too picky with your food," said Raine as the front door opened.
"Yahallo," greeted a little girl carrying a huge basket of dark black things.
A kid? he found himself thinking.
The loli had waist-length lavander hair, and blue green, wide open eyes that looked like they never blinked. An antenna was sticking out of her head, and circling her were what looked like three, tiny UFO-like machines.
"Ah, this must be Shion," she greeted. "I've been listening while I was out hunting. Sorry to hear about your memory loss."
Before he could say anything, "Agyros! You've got meat there, right?" June interrupted, drooling.
Agyros poured the contents onto the floor. Out rolled various, gross-looking demonic things, like worms, insects, eyes, and tentacles.
"Yatta~!!" exploded June, hugging the loli, "Oh, Agyros~ I love you so much ♡♡♡"
"Is that...? Is th—!"
He couldn't even finish the sentence... He was about to ask if they were going to eat that, but one of the eyes opened like a jaw, revealing rows of teeth inside, and he almost threw up.
"Quit stallin' over there, fire's ready," called Raine, who had set a bonfire on the floor akin to a campfire.
"We're not cavemen here," lectured Hera, "Please exercise proper etiquette when partaking during mealtimes. And the floor is going to get soot."
"June can just clean it," said Raine. "Or, you know... You could always try using your Light magic for once."
"Suck ass!" said Darkstar, now skewering black insects on a stick, while Raine roasted a slimy, tentacle kebab.
"Can't you two atleast wait 'til Mori prepares the food?" said Hera, exasperated.
"Aw, don't be such a sourpuss, Hera," prompted Darkstar. "You'll never have these again once we break out of Hell, might as well enjoy the local cuisine while we're at it."
"Ingredients are always best served fresh," said Raine.
"This is a nightmare," said Hera, dazed. "How am I living under the same roof with you savages."
"They're not seriously going to eat that, right?" he asked, pointlessly, because the next second, Raine bit down on a burnt tentacle and a greenish pus started oozing out. June, Hera and Shion all collectively fought not to vomit.
"I think I just lost my apetite..." groaned June as she watched the two feast on fresh demon bits.
"This... This is a crime..." said Hera, turning green. "I'm not sure what, but this... this should be illegal..."
"Weak stomachs, huh?" said Agyros. "Better switch fast, Memento! Before these guys pass out."
Memento, noticing her name being called, glanced at the pile of writhing demon bits on the floor. "Mori is not your slave, you know," she sighed, just as her body began to glow, enveloping every detail in a bright glare.
He could see the bright silhouette of Memento's head, slowly detaching from her body as though it were a motorcycle helmet being taken off, revealing a second head with long locks of hair. The new figure sprouted legs of light, and now had hands like a normal human organism.
When the light simmered down, in the Death God's place was now a loli with cat ears and emerald green hair. She looked sleepy, like she suddenly woke up from a nap. Her right eye was a bright shade of gold, but her left eye was dark violet, with a heart insignia embedded within. A huge leaf dangled from her ear like an earring, and on her lap, where Memento's head was supposed to be, lay a dusty-looking skull. He knew without explaining: this was a completely new person from the Death God.
"Please..." begged Hera, "I can't take any more from these two..."
The sleepy loli jumped off the table, crawling on all fours like a wild animal and settling herself on the pile of demon guts, where she rolled around like a cat searching for the best spot to sleep in, before laying down in a curled up position.
The moment she did that, all the demon grub suddenly popped into pieces of recognizeable meat. Chicken thighs, pork and beef cuts, fish, shrimp, as well as all kinds of fruit vegetation growing on the tile floor. Not only was the demon meat being transmuted into different material, they were clearly multiplying in quantity. The spread of food reached Raine and Darkstar, turning their demon barbecue into sausages and bacon.
"Ehhh? You're no fun," whined Darkstar.
"Yaay, food!!" cheered June, diving into the fresh pile of produce and emerging with a big ham.
"Agyros. The works, if you would..." said Hera.
"Air fried, right?" said Agyros, as the three mini-UFO's launched into the food pile, levitated a lamb chop and began spinning around it.
"Sorry, I'm trying to watch my cholesterol," said Hera. "I'm gaining weight for some reason lately."
Over at the bonfire, June sat down: a huge ham in one hand, and a whole watermelon–on–a–stick in the other, roasting them both as though it were perfectly normal.
"..."
"..."
"...."
"...You are gonna eat that, right?" asked Raine, worried.
"Nah, I just want to test out what happens," said June, rotating the whole watermelon like a turkey.
"Don't waste food, man," Raine sighed.
"You're not gonna dig in?" said Agyros beckoning to him. "It's a bountiful harvest~"
"Oh yeah, that reminds me," said Raine, "We haven't properly explained the situation yet, have we?"
"I already explained it to him," pouted June.
"I bet it's a lousy explanation then," said Darkstar, "...if you're the one who gave it."
"Yeah, it probably is," agreed Hera.
"Definitely," finished Raine.
"Eh!? It's a detailed enough explanation!! Tell them, Shion!"
"Even if it is," said Agyros, (Darkstar snorted), "It's probably biased to some extent. Best he hears the story from all of us, so everything's laid out as objective as possible."
The others all agreed, except June. "Just so you know," she persisted, "you won't be telling him anything he hasn't already heard."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." said Darkstar.
"Here," said Raine, preparing him a skewered fish on stick. "This is going to be a long talk..."