[center]The Funeral[/center] The funeral for Skylar Montgomery was depressing and full of sadness. The young woman’s death was deemed an accident by the police but no one thought it was an ‘accident’. As friends and family mourned the loss of the young girl, no one mourned harder than her best friend and the one that everyone openly blamed for her death. However, no one cried harder or showed more sadness than Lewis Taylor. People spoke calming to the parents telling them they were sorry for their loss but Lewis couldn’t get himself to move from his seat. His hands laced together and his deep brown eyes gazing in a lost manner at the floor. A large puddle had formed beneath his feet due to his tears. Young Lewis was at a loss. His best friend had died right in front of him; accidently taking her own life due to a risk he didn’t stop her from doing. That day was going to be special, that day was going to mean the world to both of them after spending most of their lives together and now, here he sat, at the age of 18 staring at the coffin of his best friend, the girl he grew up with and the woman he wanted to make his wife. ---- [center]The End[/center] Lewis sat at home staring at the wall of his apartment. He hadn’t ate since the funeral which was about four days ago and he hadn’t been to work since that same time. He just stared long and hard at the wall as if debating on something. Without giving it another moments thought, he picked up the gun that was in his lap, put the barrel to his head and pulled the trigger. [i]Pain, Darkness, Agony[/i] all the words that could describe the feelings he was dealing with came swarming into his vision to the point that he was getting suffocated by them. Cleaning his eyes he grabbed his throat and suffered for a few moments longer before a flash of bright light reflected from his closed eyelids. When his eyes opened the world around him seemed to settle and he found himself sitting in the same room that Sky had experienced before. Expect after approaching the board he pushed both the buttons and his body went into flames. His screams echoed through the quiet room before the floor opened beneath him and he fell. [i]Falling… falling… falling[/i] It felt as though it would be endless falling, his body was on fire and he was screaming out in pain. He felt the rush of wind though it didn’t help the intense pain he was experiencing. His eyes were watered with tears of pain as he held his body desperately turning to cool himself off. Soon he landed, his whole body feeling as though his bones had shattered upon impact. Over him was a demonic looking lizard creature who proceeded to hiss at him before poking him with a spare. Lewis wailed in pain as the creature poked at him several more times, almost finding glee from it. After a few more pokes, another creature showed up. This other creature looked like a giant bull walking on two legs and blowing smoke of rage. Reaching down, the bull creature picked up Lewis like he was a piece of tissue and tossed him cross the darkened room. Lewis’ body flew in a limp fashion across the room before smacking against the wall. “Aaaahhh!!!” He screamed upon the impact before falling lifelessly to the ground. The bull creature arrived swiftly to Lewis before picking him up once again and tossed him in a different direction. This pattered continued down a hallway and into another room; a proper pattern for something not worth carrying and right now that was Lewis. Lewis’ body was thrown in front of a large man standing at a table looking over some documents. “Lewis Taylor, we need to talk…” The man said as he held the papers out to Lewis who was struggling to breathe. “I think you’ll be interested in our conversation.” --- [center]The Ball of Purgatory[/center] It had been three years since Loki had his memories erased and his training had become to become the next top three fallen angels for the devil himself. Why he was chosen… he doesn’t remember. Who he was before… he doesn’t remember. And why he was even in hell… he didn’t know. All he was aware of was that he now had a job, a job a lot of people wanted and he was one of the few to have. His trainer was currently one of the three fallen angels to sit beside Lucifer and Loki was going through intense training, including but not limited to collecting the souls of those who sin. The judging system never lies and Loki’s job was to remove the souls from the room of judgment and drag them down to hell… and this was a lot more fun than most people thought! Not only was this a fun job it is one of the most sought after jobs in hell since it was linked directly to Lucifer. And Loki, just three years into his training, was already doing the job of his trainer. “This whole thing is ridiculous.” Loki said, fussing with his sharp looking black suit with a deep red tie to show his level of importance. “It may seem pointless, but it’s important.” His trainer said behind him brushing off the young man’s suit from the back. “You will be going in my stead, be good, and be nice. If it wasn’t for the angels our jobs would be very difficult. They will give you respect if you give them it. Even Lucifer talks about balance and knows of it’s importance. It’s important you know and embrace it too.” Loki gave a nod before turning his amber gaze to his trainer. “Are you sure I’m ready?” His trainer just nodded with a smile on his face and gave the young man a pat on his back. “Don’t worry, it’s not as bad as you think… plus those female angels are an eyeful,, better than what’s down here.” The two share a laugh at his trainer’s comment. Loki had been dealing with enough woman trying to get to him that not dealing with the demon women would probably be a nice break. However they were fun, from time to time; but today was work and as the brunette fussed with his cuff-links he walked towards the door and left. This year the ball was held in heaven and it was Loki’s first time in the heavens… it was disgusting. Bright and cheery and white; so much white yuck! Shaking his head he let out a small sigh and walked into the ballroom. The lightening was a bit better, not as bright as the outside area but it wasn’t the lower realm where the room they used kept a dark but elegant feeling then… then there was this bullshit. Taking a drink from the nearby waiting staff’s tray he took a quick drink before featuring deeper inside. This was his first mixed-realm ball and he had to represent his trainer to the best of his abilities for, soon the job would be his and he desired and deserved to be taken seriously.