51

'Oh my God!' said Lucien. 'All this time, we've been fooling around on a magical piano?!'

'So, how do we unlock this portal?' said Kuro impatiently.

'An hour-long piece!' said Lucien. 'Extremely complex... it's going to take everything in me to play it...'

'This is the moment you've been waiting for, Lucien,' said Grace. 'Give it your all!"

'Yes,' he nodded. 'I will! First, I must move it to an open space without magic restraint, however – the Gateland would be perfect. All I need is a simple transportation tune...'

He began to play a strange, fast tune, and before he knew it, he was in the Gateland, still playing.

'He's disappeared! Follow him, quick!' said Kuro, and he dashed to the Gateland with Grace beside him.

Squeaks trotted off, wondering how he was going to explain the missing book to the Assistant. 'Perhaps, it's better to hide for now...' he thought aloud, only to have his tail pulled as he was lifted up by it. 'OUCH!'

'Hide, huh?' said the Assistant fiercely. 'Have you betrayed me, Squeaks? I can see something in your pathetic little heart that's changed since I last saw you...'

'My heart isn't pathetic!' squealed Squeaks. 'It feels, okay! And I don't see why I have to be your slave because of one foolish childhood mistake!'

'Oh, maybe I should just end you, then,' said the Assistant coldly, twisting his tail. 'Where is the book?'

'OUCH! I–I gave it to Lucien, I'm sorry!'

The Assistant dropped the rat. 'Bother... looks like I'll have to hurry...'

Halfway there, he heard piano music – at the Gateland. Lucien had a piano? Using his book to escape? Not on his watch.

'Silence!' he boomed, walking over. 'My book, Lucien. Stealing isn't nice, is it?'

'Says the person who steals people's souls,' said Lucien cheekily, testing his scales.

'Grace, get my book back.'

'Why?' smiled Grace. 'Ownership changes, you know...'

'How dare you sauce me, mortal!

'We may be harmless,' said Kuro, as a gust of wind blew their hair about. 'But you don't mess with us!'

'That's it,' said the Assistant, as the wind grew stronger. 'I'll show you—'

'WAIT a minute,' said Azel, swooping in from the sky and startling them all. 'This isn't the Mainland; you can't just do whatever you want and hurt them.'

'Well, this isn't Sheltered Hell, either,' said the Assistant, eyeing him warily. 'So you don't get to protect them!'

'Then, we'll just have to let him play in peace,' said Azel, nodding to Lucien, much to his surprise. 'Go on, demon. Let's see who stops you.'

Lucien began to play the tune of the portal. Slow, lilting notes, the beginning of the arduous piece. The wind grew stronger.

'A storm,' said Azel worriedly. 'It's going to be deadly.'

The Assistant reached out, about to do some evil magic to stop him, when Kuro stepped forward.

'Don't you dare!'

'Do you want to die, cat?'

'I challenge you to a card game. Win and do as you like. Lose and you'll have to leave.'

'Oh, delicious,' said the Assistant. 'But you'll have to bet something, too. How about one of your nine lives?'

'Done,' said Kuro without a moment's thought. 'Bring the cards!'

Grace watched in horror.

'Azel!' called the Assistant, shuffling the deck with such finesse that Kuro got nervous. 'I promise I won't lay a hand on anyone while I play with Kuro, but I can't guarantee my loyal subjects won't try to take advantage of the storm and wreak havoc on your terrain. Beware!'

'You cheating snake!' said Azel furiously, as he saw an incoming group of banshees, hounds and other creatures coming their way as the gale intensified.

'We'll help you fight them, Azel,' said a stout woman, approaching him – Mrs. Sauer – with her rolling pin! 'I've got bounds of light energy that won't agree with those hussies out there! Take that!'

She pointed her rolling pin at a banshee, and it screamed and ran away. 'Heh! And there's more of us, Azel!'

The crowd of townspeople waved excitedly at him.

'You're the most striking lot I've seen in all my years in Hell!' exclaimed Azel, forming a light ball and aiming it at an evil tree. 'Let's fight together, people!'

Lucien played urgently, despite all the distracting things going on around him – the storm, the deadly card game, the fight between light and dark. And then, he noticed the Grace was missing. He stopped.

'Don't stop, idiot!' yelled Kuro. 'PLAY!'

The haunting melody played on as Grace pushed through the raging storm—dust stung her eyes, noise drowned everything, but she kept going. With everyone distracted at the Gateland, it was the perfect time to find the Assistant’s soul storage.

Two lines of hostile trees shook threateningly as she approached the mansion, but she raised her cross. It gleamed, and they collapsed at her feet.

'Third time you lost,' said the Assistant to Kuro with a smirk. 'Want to bet another life? I'd like to take all nine of them!'

'Yes,' said Kuro, looking at him in the eye. 'It was fun playing with the biggest player. But it'll be more fun making him lose!'

Lee pointed his lighted pencil at a deadly tree, and it crumbled to pieces.

'Thank you,' said the girl he had saved from its clutches.

'Heh, it's nothing...'

A crescendo of notes from Lucien made them all smile towards him, before a roar of thunder and a sheet of dust ahead sent them in a renewed panic.

Clang! Grace pushed the door open, and found the same white space. Then, she heard the voice again. Help me! Please!

'Where are you?' she called out, looking around urgently.

'Here! Under the boards!'

She frantically grabbed a chair and began to break through the floorboards, and sure enough, there was a space beneath it!

'My gosh!' she exclaimed.

Rows and rows of lighted jars arrayed the shelves of the secret cellar. The lights moved within them, trying to escape. Just as she was about to touch one of them, she felt a hand on her neck and screamed. It was a banshee!

'You only have one life left!' said the Assistant. 'Are you still foolish enough to play?'

Kuro paused. Then he looked at Lucien, and nodded, shuffling the cards. God, I've never prayed, but if you're listening, please, let me win this game. Even the best players need a little luck on their side.

Lucien played the last and most complex notes of the piece he was playing. The feeling was intense. There was too much at stake. He sighed. Look, God, I know I don't pray, but I've always believed. I've never asked for anything. But today, I beg you, let this work.

The townspeople cowered at the incoming shadows of the storm and the dark forces within it.

'Oh Lord, though we may be sinners, save us now,' muttered Mrs. Sauer.

'AMEN!' said Azel and the townspeople together.

Grace struggled with the banshee, terrified. Was this the end? No... 'God,' she whispered with her eyes closed. 'Please be with me... with us...'

A mournful howl sounded, and then a fierce growling. The mysterious dog had showed up and bitten the banshee! Grace hurriedly began to undo all the jars, until she reached the last one and rushed outside.

'There's so much lightening,' she heard Azel say when she returned. 'Could it be..'

Drip. Drop. A raindrop fell on Grace's skin. Rain in Hell?!

Everyone looked up, except the Assistant, who realised he had lost the game.

'Guess I got my lives back, after all,' said Kuro smugly. 'And you mind your own business – wait, what's happening with you?!'

The Assistant gasped as he looked at Grace, and then at the banshees, who were turning into beautiful women as soon as the balls of light rushed into them. 'YOU TOOK MY LIFE AWAY!?!! YOU WILL DIE!'

Azel stepped in front of her. 'And I will die protecting her if I have to!'

But he didn't have to. The Assistant began to age horrifically and deteriorate before their eyes, until he was reduced to nothing but a squirming life form.

'VETLA!' boomed Azel, and he was exterminated.

Lucien finished playing the piece, and a portal appeared out of nowhere, gaping wide. 'I did it!' he said, beaming proudly, before looking up. 'It's raining?!'

'It's the special mercy of God,' said Azel, as the water began to pour over them. 'From now on, it will rain in Sheltered Hell, due to the good deeds of the people here. It shall be like Earth – or even Heaven, sometimes.'

'Wow,' grinned Lucien. 'Just when I'm about to leave, things get real good, huh?'

'You're still leaving?' laughed Azel. 'Figured. I was instructed to let you and Grace out by the main gates. You can live the rest of your lives on Earth, and when you die, you can choose Heaven or Hell, as you please.'

'What wouldn't I have given for this earlier,' said Lucien excitedly. 'But now that I've spent the last one hour on this portal, I may as well go by it, right?'

'I knew you'd say that,' grinned Azel. 'As you wish. I'll miss you two, but I suppose I must bid you Farewell.'

'Bye, Azel,' said Grace. 'Thanks for everything!'

'I suppose I may miss you too,' said Lucien. 'But Farewell! Come, Grace, are you ready?'

'Duh!'

They stepped through the portal. God, I hope nothing goes wrong this time...

THUD! The sound of traffic made them rush to the side.

'What the hell are you're doing, idiots? Get off the road!' someone yelled at them

'Oh my gosh!' said Grace, as she walked with Lucien to a patch of grass.

'Grace,' said Lucien excitedly, looking around at the trees, the sky, the towering buildings of the city... 'We did it! We made it to Earth!'

'So I guess the summoning didn't go in vain, then,' grinned Grace. 'I did get you to Earth!'

'You did!'

'What's next?'

'I don't know... some voodoo on your aunt to convince her let me stay with you?'

'Lucien!?'

'I'll take that as a yes. Let's go!'

THE END