General Warning: This story contains a serial killer. He will be killing people in a variety of ways. However it will *never* be sexual and the victims will *never* be children. This warning will be at the top of every post. I will include chapter warnings as appropriate.
Chapter Warning: None
Word Count: 1,862 Total Word Count: 3,553
Chapter 1 part 1
In the not to distant future…
Elsewhere…
Desphen was lounging on the balcony outside his suite in his private wing of the palace. He was not sure why when given the chose of views he had picked the set of rooms with the best view of where Charon docked when delivering the newly dead. He suspected that if he were to go to the land of the living and consult a psychologist he would not like the answer he would be given.
He rolled over onto to his back and relaxed a little bit more. His parents were in the throne room this time of day and he was bored of going to the forecourt and watching new souls be judged. Too much screaming in Tarterus, blissed out folks in the Elysium Fields and bitter heroes in the fields of Asphodel. day after day, year after year, decade after decade the same routine. If only something interesting would happen. he supposed he could go play with hell hounds again in secret. His father had forbidden him from playing with them when he was much younger. Something about not ruining them for their purpose. What purpose? All they ever did was range around the underworlds sniffing every soul they came across. A little game of fetch surely could not ruin them. They were lazy bastards after all.
Desphen shut his eyes and considered taking a nap to pass the time. He was just beginning to drit off when a klaxon split the air startling him into sitting upright. He cursed what ever had caused the noise. It happened every few decades or so but he had never been told what the noise meant. Each time it happened he was asleep of nearly so. He was beginning to think that he was either cursed by a trickster or people just had really bad timing.
He waited patiently for the sound to stop, and when it did he started to lay back down only to be startled again when his father appeared on his balcony.
“Get up and go change,” Hades said, “Where something formal. We are going to a meeting.”
“What kind of meeting?” Desphen asked.
“A meeting of the rulers of the underworlds. Congratulations, you are finally old enough to go, watch, and keep your mouth shut. Seriously, do not say anything until after the meeting. Most underworld gods are short on both patience and temper, and this meeting is likely to strain both. It would be unfortunate if you said something that irritated one of them at a time like this.”
“A time like this? Does it have to do with the alarm?”
“Yes, now hurry up. We need to be there as soon as possible.” With that Hades turned and left the balcony. “I will meet you in the forecourt.”
——————
An hour later Desphen walked into a well appointed room on the border of his father’s realm, past Cerberus and near where Charon started his journey. Well to be more precise it was on the border of all the underworlds. Desphen was not quite sure who it worked but every underworld for every pantheon seemed to share this particular section of real estate as entrances. He had thought that it might be because when reapers had multiple souls of different faiths they could save time by depositing them here and letting the souls be processed on the outskirts instead of having to trek all over creation. Now he saw that there probably was another reason. Neutral territory.
His father took a seat at an oval table and waved for him to stand behind him against the wall. They must have been late because every other seat was filled. Some of them he recognized and some of the him did not. Across from his father sat Hel the dead half of her body out of sight beneath the table. To his father’s right was Baron Samedi and to his left was Anubis. Osiris and a fellow that Desphen suspected was Lucifer flanked Hel. There were a few that looked a bit like they came from the Americas and others India and the Far East judging by their dress. There was even one that he could not make heads or tails of what with all the tentacles and next to him was a fellow dressed like a pirate grinning madly. Desphen was not sure what religion they were from. The one with the tentacles seemed very old and terrifying but didn’t fit the image on any religion he had heard of. The pirate seemed awfully young compared to the rest of them and was playing with a plate of spaghetti for some unknowable reason while continuing his mad grin. Desphen looked at the pair again and decided that while he would be taught who they were eventually, after all one should now one’s neighbors, that he could wait to be introduced to them.
Hel cleared her throat drawing Desphen’s attention back to his father and the other gods he knew by name.
“Well we all know why we are here, let us get started. Yama? I believe the soul in question was in your care?”
Yama replied, ” He was sorted to me even though he was an agnostic as his was his parents because his maternal grand mother was a Hindu.” He flipped open a file.
“He was a difficult case. Not because he did not deserve punishment but because his sins were so myriad that placing him in the right hell was problematic. Eventually we totaled up his crimes by type and the type with the most transgressions placed him in that particular hell. We sent him to Andhakupa, the hell for those who harm others with the intention of malice. He was due to stay there for centuries before being returned to life as a lower life form.”
Osiris looked over at Yama. “And how did he escape? We haven’t had a break out in a few decades. Did he bribe someone to be let out? Has he been reborn or is he a shade?”
Yama shifted, clearly uncomfortable. “I am looking into the bribery issue.I do know he was pursued across the border by a few of the hounds but it seems that he managed to slay them.”
The entire room seemed to take in a breath of surprise. Anubis sat forward. “He killed
a few hounds? How did he manage that? More importantly, has the Huntress heard about this? Where is she now?”
Yama shifted uncomfortably again.
Hel tapped one manicured nail against the table drawing all the gods attention to her. “Before I left my hall she was gathering her packs together in anticipation of the hunt. She did not seem to be aware of the deaths then, but five will get you ten that she she knows by now. And that she is going to be very angry.”
The whole of the table looked at each other, and an air of awkwardness seemed to bloom amongst them.
Lucifer shook his head and snorted, “Damn it all, enough of this. What where the crimes in question, Yama?”
Yama flipped through his file, page after page of slipping through his large fingers. “Warren Greer, ninety six counts of murder by torture. At five of which were priests or priestesses of various faiths. Died in a shoot out with police. Brought to the underworlds by the reaper Clyde. Sentence of over one hundred lifetimes in the appropriate hell. Safe to say that he will probably start killing again once he finds a host and that poor bastard he picks is probably going to go down for the crimes. What with all the modern technology the police have these days.”
The entire table shifted again and the pirate sighed. “Well best be hoping that the poor landlubber he be picking is heading down here in te first place.”
The entire table nodded in agreement. One of the gods Desphen did not recognize but thought came from the Americas replied,
“Well the more we talk about him the longer he has to find a host and start killing. Let us summon the Huntress and send her out!”
Hel shifted forward a pressed several buttons on the table in a set sequence. The entire table sat in silence for a few minutes. Then there was a quick rap on the door before it opened to reveal a young woman who walked in, two hell hounds at her side, shutting the door behind her before coming to stand before the table.
Desphen was confused. Well to the point he had been confused for a while. A huntress? What and more importantly who was that? Why would she be be upset over the death of a few hell hounds. While fun to play with there were so many of them they could lose a few and not make a dent in the population. Why were these two hell hounds, one of which was so massive he might as well been a horse, heeling? Also why was she where shades in the underworld? It was not like the got a great deal of sun down here. Well unless you went to one of the hells where part of the punishment was to be baked by one.
Still he remembered his father’s cautionary words and kept his mouth shut. He could always ask his father about her later. Surely if his father deemed him old enough to come to the meeting, his was also old enough to have the questions caused by the meeting answered.
The Huntress seemed to sweep her gaze around the room dismissing the contents of it, though she seemed to linger the briefest of moments of Desphen, but he told himself that that was just fancy. Then she held out one hand and asked, “So who is it this time?”
Yama passed the file down the table to her, seeming to take her sheer brazen insolence in stride. “Warren Greer, serial killer. We think he that he will go back to the city he killed in most often, London. The nearest portal is Stonehenge.”
The huntress stood as still as a statue. “The nearest portal is Saint Paul’s Cathedral on Lungate Hill, in the temple district of London. Why Stonehenge?”
Lucifer laughed off her disobedience while the other rulers seemed to be greatly irritated, “well, well you do know your ley lines and portals. let’s just say that it is the nearest portal not in current use at the moment. If it was a solstice or equinox you would have shifted even further away.
She scowled, did an about face and strode out of the room. The next thing Desphen heard was something like a thunderclap. Hades spoke up, “Well that is the hunt cast. Shall we reconvene when the escapee is caught so we can question him on how he got out?”
There was a chorus of affirmatives and the rulers of the underworlds filed out. Hades stayed seated and only rose when all the others had already left. Then he stood, motioned for Desphen to follow and strode out.
icefallstears 