Darkness had many names.

In his domain by The Sea, Maruble had known darkness to be peaceful. He would often let the warm light of his torch flicker out in exchange for the brush of the night's chill. That quiet, which seemed to stretch over those rippling waters, drinking in the moonlight like wine, was the only place he could truly think. Closing his eyes, he would breathe in deeply. It hardly felt better than inhaling those tangled threads of smoke his flame produced— he was the God of Fire, after all— but there was still a sense of purity to it. A moment of serenity.

And yet, the darkness enveloping the Underworld was different. So different, in fact, that Maruble wondered if he had ever seen true darkness until now. His skin prickled as they crept through the labyrinth of caves making up Death's realm. No matter how much he coaxed the torch's flame, he couldn't see more than a few feet in front of them, as if the Underworld consumed any light it touched.

Inconvenient, but that was hardly the worst part.

Scrunching his nose, Maruble was certain that the worst part about the Underworld was the smell. The air around them was thick with the scent of dirt and rot— like the smell of an open grave. Lost in thought, Maruble flinched as Sarah bumped into him from behind.

She whispered, "Sorry, I can't see anything in here."

"Stay a few steps behind me," he said, helping steady her. "The ground is uneven, and I'm worried we'll hit a sudden drop."

She obliged but remained silent, and Maruble pursed his lips. If it were up to him, Sarah would have remained in the human world until he could return, but they were on a time crunch. And after she had followed him into the wildfire without a second thought, he doubted that any amount of arguing would have changed anything. Even still, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was leading them into a trap.

"It's so cold here," she murmured. The shadows on Sarah's face danced in the torchlight as she touched the wall. "I wonder if Jacob's soul can feel it."

"We'll get him out."

"What happens if we can't?"

He didn't quite meet her eyes as he turned his gaze to the darkness. "I can't promise—"

Rattling. No— the sound of chains clinking together.

They froze as it approached. It moved toward them, and then there was another sound— like scraping along the cave floor. Maruble held his breath as the creature inched closer, ready to use whatever power he had left to fight the damned thing, when it suddenly turned back. It moved further and further away, at an excruciatingly slow pace, until the clicking and scraping finally faded.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead, exhaling sharply. "If Noctavius wins, I can't promise what will happen to Jacob's soul."

"That bastard," Sarah choked out. "Has the God of Death always been like this?"

When Maruble was sure the creature was gone, he stepped over a small dip in the cave floor and pressed on. "My mother used to tell me stories about him. She said that he used to live peacefully among the people of Alta and was an important member of the Court of Balance— our governing system in the godlands— but changed when his wife died. To my understanding, he became strange and unpredictable."

She asked slowly, "How did his wife die?"

"I never heard the full story." Maruble frowned and scratched his temple. "Many gods think that Death murdered her himself, but those are just rumors."

"I believe it."

Maruble shrugged and admitted, "I'm not so sure. He helped the God of Balance stabilize Alta for so long. Doesn't it seem strange that he would change so suddenly?"

"Sometimes people do." Sarah pursed her lips and stared into the cave's darkness. "My dad and his friends used to play games together every weekend. I've seen them play tennis, basketball, golf— you name it. And even though I was the only kid, he would bring me along, and there was always a smile on his face." Sarah closed her eyes for a moment, lost in the memory, and then continued, "But as I got older, I didn't want to hang out with a bunch of old guys on the weekend— I wanted to see my friends and party. I think it hurt my dad's feelings because he stopped going after that."

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"What about his friends?"

"He was the glue, you know? Everyone got busy with their lives, and since my dad stopped sending out invites, I think his friends just quit meeting altogether." She shrugged, but the motion was stiff and jerky. "After that, something snapped in him. I didn't realize what was happening until it was too late. I would try to get him out of the house, but he'd always have an excuse, and on the rare occasions he did leave, you could tell he didn't want to be there." Her eyes glistened, but this time, Sarah didn't cry. "It wasn't long after that he— that he passed."

Maruble was quiet for a long time. Finally, he said, "It wasn't your fault."

"I know, I was just a kid." She said the words as if she had repeated them to herself many times before. "What I'm trying to say is that people change, and unless you see the moment that something snaps inside of them, it could look random— like it happened out of nowhere. No one realizes how far back pain stretches. They don't notice it until it becomes their problem. Or it's too late."

"You think the God of Death is the same?"

"Who knows?" Sarah smiled, but the haunted look lingered. "Probably not, but it's something worth thinking about."

Maruble eyed her carefully as they moved through the cave. She never talked about her father— in fact, she usually avoided the subject at all costs. Part of him wondered if her words had more truth than he realized. Not just for Death but for all of them, himself included. Was that the reason he left his mother's temple so young? The reason he ruined his father's party and burned the human mountain into oblivion? He didn't know. Perhaps, when they were safe, he would spend a long time thinking about it.

"There's light up ahead," said Maruble, grateful for the distraction. Not only were his thoughts giving him a headache, but his power was still recovering, and even the simple act of keeping the torch alight weighed heavily on him. "Let's move in slow, try and stay—"

He never finished the sentence.

The creature staggered forward and blocked the light of the exit. Maruble took an instinctual step back as the monster's shadow stretched out before them. It was large, so large that it had to hunch over as it moved through the opening, and was so thick that large folds of skin fell down in layers. Not only was it tall, but it was also wide— perhaps wider than the tunnel itself. It muttered and gurgled to itself as it paced back and forth, claws raking across the floor. There were chains on its arms, but they weren't attached to anything. The creature had pulled them from the wall completely, and they rattled loudly behind him, along with the stones it had been attached to.

He risked a glance at Sarah, but she wasn't looking at him. Her eyes were glued to the creature's skin. It was rotten, with bones jutting from random points throughout its body. Trying not to gag, she covered her mouth and whispered, "Tell me there's another way out."

"I'm going to distract it." Maruble kept his face neutral, but his eyes searched the opening desperately. "On my word, I want you to run for the exit."

She hissed, "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"I'm the God of Fire, remember?" His smirk didn't quite reach his eyes. "I'll be right behind you— just wait for my signal."

Maruble waited as the monster crossed to the other side of the opening. It felt like a lifetime, and his heart hammered in his chest, making it harder and harder to breathe. The sound of the creature's claws against the cave floor sent shivers down his spine. They remained still until the exit's light was fully visible. Finally, he put a hand on Sarah's back and said, "Go."

Sarah ran.

She ran as fast as her legs could take her, keeping a wide berth between her and the monster. Her eyes remained locked on the exit, not daring to look at it. Hearing her footfalls, the creature turned and started moving towards her, but Maruble was faster.

He raced forward and swung the torch in its face. Immediately, the creature cringed away— but that didn't last long. It screeched, suddenly furious, and moved towards him. The monster started slowly as Maruble ran for the tunnel's entrance, but then it became faster and faster. When its claws reached for his neck, Maruble tossed the torch into the tunnel and sidestepped into the shadows. The creature moved past him, too focused on the fire to notice.

Maruble made a break for the exit.

When the monster reached the torch, it screeched louder, seemingly annoyed that it had been tricked, and chased after him. It was faster this time, and his breath caught in his throat as he ran. Sarah shouted for him at the exit. He raced towards her voice— the creature was so close that he could feel it breathing down his neck. Right before its claws could reach for him again, Maruble dived into the exit, and the monster jumped in after him.

Then stopped.

As Maruble stumbled backward, the monster reached for his legs to no avail. It was stuck. The creature thrashed in the exit, trying to dislodge itself, but the tunnel was not wide enough for it to pass through. He brushed himself off with shaking hands and moved next to Sarah. Slowly, the creature's movement stopped, and it muttered to itself incessantly in a language he had never heard and never wanted to hear again.

Through bated breath, Sarah asked, "What the hell was that thing?"

"I'm not sure." At first, Maruble considered not answering, but he was too exhausted to formulate a lie. "I believe that used to be a human soul— one that was trapped in the Underworld for too long."

They stared at the monster together. Eventually, it gave up and returned to its opening in the cave, and the clinking of chains slowly faded away. For the first time, Maruble realized that the Underworld was not simply a place for the dead to pass on. It was a place where the dead stayed— where their souls became bound to the infinite darkness.

Forever.