Chase blinked as he stared up at what he realized was supposed to be the sky. Naturally, it was completely unfamiliar to him, namely because it was completely blood red and starless. The only thing present that told him whether it was day or night was the moon hanging high overhead.
“Huh,” Chase mused aloud. “Guess I should have clarified whether the Underworld was actually, you know, under the world or not… Of course, that begs the question of why they’d even call it that in the first place...”
His questioning was suddenly cut off by someone appearing from behind and landing on top of him with a startled shout. It took Chase all of two seconds to realize it was Melanie. They both stayed for a moment, her lying on top of him and their faces inches away from each other, before Melanie abruptly scrambled off him and began to dust herself off.
“Gods…” she muttered. “I thought I’d enjoy returning back here, but I already have brimstone dust in places I really shouldn’t.”
“Oh, is that what this shit is?” Chase said, looking down at the ground, which was covered in granulated red powder. “I thought it was just red sand.”
“That’s basically what it is. It’s harmless so long as you don’t go huffing it.”
“Why would I ever huff it?”
“I don’t know, because people do weird shit.”
The two of them were cut off by another person flying through the portal. It was Carmine this time, though she didn’t land on Chase as he’d already moved out of the way. Instead, she landed in a heap just underneath the portal, grimacing as she was covered in brimstone dust.
“Gods above…” she muttered. “This is like rolling naked in a pile of sand, but worse because I’m pretty sure this is going to stain my clothes…”
Chase raised an eyebrow at that. “You know a lot about rolling naked in sand?”
“Fuck off, it was a figure of speech.”
“That’d be the first time I’ve heard that particular one be used. You sure you’re not a closet degenerate, Carmine? Hells, for all we know, you’ve got a history of showing up to the beach completely nude, probably scaring all the small children and old people who were there.”
“Honestly, she wouldn’t even need to be naked to do that,” Melanie offered.
Carmine grit her teeth as she picked herself up off the floor, but before she could order Melanie to do something demeaning to herself, the portal spat Victoria out. Unlike everyone else, she actually landed with a bit of grace, managing to stay upright in the process.
“Showoff,” Chase told her as the portal abruptly closed behind her.
“Thanks, I try,” Victoria stated.
Carmine crossed her arms. “Hmph. Did you really need to shove me through the portal like that?”
“You were taking too long,” Victoria replied. “Zarrun told us he wouldn’t be able to keep that thing open forever. And besides, I knew you’d be fine if you landed on your ass.”
Carmine glared at her, but didn’t respond, instead turning towards Melanie. “You’re the one who’s lived here,” she said. “How close are we to the Demon Queen’s castle?”
“Look behind you,” Melanie offered.
Carmine blinked, then turned around, as did the rest of them. Sure enough, a few hundred meters away, a large, obsidian-colored castle loomed overhead. At the sight of it, Chase couldn’t help but whistle.
“Damn,” he noted. “Puts your old castle to shame, Carmine.”
“What?” she asked, her eyes narrowing. “I had to build mine with limited resources, you know.”
“Oh, I’m aware. I’m just saying, even taking that into account, hers is bigger than yours. I mean, just look at it – there’s gotta be, like, ten floors to that castle, there. And the turrets and spires… oof. I’d feel bad if I were you, is all I’m saying.”
“Melanie, smack him for me, please.”
Melanie obliged, slapping Chase across his face. Chase’s only response was a toothy grin.
“Glad to know I can still get under your skin, Carmine,” he said.
“Like nobody else can…” she muttered with a shake of her head.
“What’s the best way into this place, Melanie?” Victoria asked. “Without getting caught, killed, and eaten, of course.”
Melanie blinked in surprise. “...Sorry, you really think any of us can just sneak in?”
“...Yeah? I mean, we need to speak with the Demon Queen herself. That was the plan, right? So that kind of necessitates getting in to see her.”
“Oh, well, there’s basically no way we’ll be able to sneak in – the castle is too heavily guarded, the guards are too high-leveled for us to even think of taking out, and the only one of us with enough DEX to succeed in sneaking past in the first place is Chase. And somehow, I doubt he’d be willing to do that, because it’d mean going in alone.”
“Somehow, you assumed correctly,” Chase agreed. “Though I have to say… we made it this far, and we can’t exactly go back now. So why in the fuck are you just now raising this as an issue, Melanie? Because I’m pretty sure we were all thinking that we could just sneak in and speak with her.”
Melanie paused. “...Honestly, I didn’t think we’d get this far.”
Chase let out a low groan of annoyance as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Carmine, please tell me you have something…”
“I might,” she offered. “Honestly, I think we’re overthinking this.”
“Good thinking.”
Carmine gave him a pointed look, but continued on anyway. “Look, we have Melanie with us. She’s obviously familiar with not just the Demon Queen, but with her inner circle, as well. So why don’t we just act like she’s managed to team up with me, the two of us managed to capture you and Victoria, and that Melanie wants to have an audience with her old friend?”
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Melanie bit her lip. “Calling us friends is probably a stretch, admittedly…”
“Okay, your old acquaintance.” Again, Melanie winced. Carmine’s brow furrowed. “Co-worker?” Another wince. “Boss.”
“Yeah, that sounds about right,” Melanie admitted.
Carmine sighed. “Great… but anyway, unless anyone has a better plan, I think we’re about out of alternative options.”
“Unfortunately,” Victoria said dryly. “So, just… throw ourselves at the mercy of the Demons roaming around the Underworld, hope they don’t smell something funny about the entire setup, pray that the two of you – Melanie in particular – will be able to convince the Demon Queen to sit down with us, and then essentially throw our situation directly in her face and beg her to help us?”
“Yeah, basically,” Carmine answered.
Victoria scowled. “There’s no way this is going to work.”
XXX
“Why am I doing this…? I feel like a lamb throwing myself at a pack of wolves…”
“If it makes you feel better, I’m right here with you, and this isn’t exactly a highlight for me, either,” Chase noted.
“Quiet, both of you,” Carmine urged. “We need to make this look convincing to the guards, and we can’t do that if you’re both being snappy and don’t appear frightened.”
Currently, Chase and Victoria were being led along a path towards the castle, their hands bound behind their respective backs with some rope Melanie happened to have in her pack.
“Hey, Melanie?” Chase asked. “How come this rope is so incredibly soft, to the point where it leaves no rope burn or bruises? Also, why does it smell like lavender?’
“That’s not important right now,” Melanie insisted.
“But-”
“Not. Important.”
“This is stupid…” Victoria complained. “Our plan is seriously to just march up to the front door and hope they don’t find us appetizing… we can’t even have our weapons on us while we do it…”
“Shh!” Melanie whispered. “I think the guards have taken notice of us!”
Sure enough, once they were about fifty meters out, the two guards standing at the front of the castle – both of them looking like oversized and incredibly muscular Rottweilers dressed in heavy plate armor, standing on two legs, and carrying large halberds, turned towards them. Their orange eyes locked onto the group, tracking them carefully as they all approached.
“Just act natural,” Melanie insisted.
“What does that mean?” Victoria hissed.
“It means let me do the talking.”
“You sure it doesn’t mean act like an animal?” Chase asked. “Because we are dealing with two large dogs, by the looks of things-”
Carmine lightly cuffed him on the side of the head, and he decided that was a good sign that he needed to stop talking.
The two guards tensed as they all drew to within just a few yards of the entrance, only for their eyes to widen in surprise when Melanie stepped out from behind the group and gave them both a friendly wave.
“Hey, guys,” she greeted.
The two guards exchanged a glance with each other. “Uh… where have you been?” one of them asked. “You just disappeared a few weeks ago. We went looking for you and everything.”
“It’s a long story, believe me,” Melanie explained. “And on top of that, it’s one I should really be explaining to Queen Kelvynia right now.”
“Kelv is in a meeting,” the other guard explained. His eyes landed on Chase and Victoria. “Who are they? Snacks?”
“Nah, they’re my prisoners,” Melanie said. “Don’t touch them; I need to interrogate them later.”
“About what?”
“Circumstances involving my disappearance. Again, I’ll be happy to explain everything once I’ve had a chance to speak with Kelv for a bit.”
The first guard peered past her, meeting Carmine’s gaze. “And who’s she? Haven’t seen her around before…”
“She’s a…” Melanie hesitated. “...It’s complicated,” she said.
“Ah, I see.” The guard paused. “So, I’m not surprised you’re actually into women, but isn’t she a little young for-”
“Okay, okay,” Melanie interrupted, cutting him off. “You’ve both made your point. What can I do to get into the castle right now?”
“Well, we wouldn’t say no to getting to eat the Paladin,” one of them offered.
“And I just told you that’s not happening. So what is it that you-”
Carmine suddenly let out a huff and stepped forwards. “What if I told you that your little incursion to try and find Melanie as well as the ensuing massacre succeeded in pissing off the humans badly enough that they’ve decided to launch a Crusade in retaliation?”
Both guards turned towards her with wide eyes. “...Sorry, but who are you?” one of them asked.
“I’m the one who’s currently trying to stop countless Demons from dying,” Carmine growled. “Now, I’ll admit that I don’t know much about you all, but I can only assume that since you’re all here, on your own plane of existence, that as a general rule, you aren’t interested in a drawn-out war with humanity. If that’s the truth, then you should let us by right now, because our only hope of stopping this thing is to speak with the Demon Queen face-to-face about it.”
Again, the guards exchanged a glance with each other. “...We’re not supposed to let anybody by-”
“I’ll take the heat for it,” Melanie offered. “Just say I threatened to striptease and expose my breasts to you both unless you let us all in. She’ll understand, I’m sure.”
“I… suppose that would work,” one of them finally admitted. “Okay, fine. You can all go in, but be quick about it, would you?”
The two of them stepped aside, allowing their group entrance to the castle. Melanie gave them both a nod of appreciation, then poked Chase and Victoria in the back to get them walking towards it.
“Ow!” Chase exclaimed. “Melanie, I think we can drop the act now.”
“Better safe than sorry,” she stated.
Chase’s only response was to sigh tiredly as they all approached the front doors to the castle and stepped inside.
XXX
Name: Chase Ironheart
Level: 6
Race: Human
Class: Warrior
Subclass: Swordmaster
Strength: 20 (MAX)
Dexterity: 15
Intelligence: 10
Wisdom: 13
Constitution: 18
Charisma: 16
Skills: Master Swordsmanship (Level 10); Booby Trap Mastery (Level 8); Archery (Level 4)
Spells: Rush (Level 7); Muscle (Level 4); Stone Flesh (Level 6); Defying The Odds (Level 1)
Traits: Blessed
Name: Carmine Nolastname
Level: 6
Race: Greater Demon
Class: Arcane Witch
Subclass: Archmage
Strength: 10
Dexterity: 13
Intelligence: 19
Wisdom: 19
Constitution: 12
Charisma: 8
Skills: Master Spellcasting (Level 10); Summon Familiar (Level 10)
Spells: Magic Dart (Level 7); Magic Scattershot (Level 5); Fire Magic (Level 5)
Traits: Blessed
Name: Melanie Vhaeries
Level: 6
Race: Ascended Human
Class: Necromancer
Subclass: Arch-Lich
Strength: 8
Dexterity: 13
Intelligence: 18
Wisdom: 16
Constitution: 15
Charisma: 12
Skills: Raise Lesser Undead (Level 10); Raise Greater Undead (Level 3); Unorthodox Weapon User (Level 8)
Spells: Touch of Death (Level 5); Gravesinger (Level 7); Armor of Bone (Level 3)
Traits: None
Name: Victoria Firelight
Level: 7
Race: Human
Class: Paladin
Subclass: Devotee
Strength: 17
Dexterity: 9
Intelligence: 13
Wisdom: 13
Constitution: 19
Charisma: 11
Skills: Swordsmanship Mastery (Level 5); Blunt Weapon Mastery (Level 8); Archery Mastery (Level 5)
Spells: Holy Light (Level 6); Ward of the Gods (Level 5); Bane of the Undead (Level 7); Divine Bolt (Level 4)
Traits: None
