Irium

His goals align with ours. We don"t need to be on a look-out for him, especially when we already have so much on our plates.

"…" Roswaisa doesn"t say anything. She doesn"t seem to dislike the idea, but she does seem to have concerns about it, which is understandable. He does want the entire Demon race to end to turn h.e.l.l into a sanctuary for people like him. That isn"t something to be taken lightly. But the important question is – can we do anything about it? Shouldn"t we just focus on our problems? If we try to do too much, wouldn"t we end up being able to do nothing?

"The words "don"t bite more than you can chew" are written all over your face." Danny says.

"Well, those are my thoughts as of now." I plainly answer.

"Hah!" He sighs and nods. "I agree. We can"t deal with everything, so let"s focus on things we can do, things that we came here to do in the first place."

I nod. After a moment, Roswaisa nods too.

And so, it"s decided.

However,

"There"s something we should check first." Danny says.

"And what is that?"

"The place we were originally supposed to end up at, when we didn"t end up at it and went to h.e.l.l." He says with a proud expression.

I suppose that is something worth checking out, especially for the sake of the question – Why did that fruit-seller guy we were chasing stop running there exactly?

I mean, at the end of the day, it could just end up being that he couldn"t care less where he stopped or that place somehow helped him with whatever he did to teleport us, but still, worth checking out.

*****

And so, we end up at that place. It"s not really any significant place, just a corner; doesn"t seem anything special to me.

"So you two found yourselves in h.e.l.l when you turned that corner?" She asks pointing at the place that is the right answer, and so I nod.

"Hmm …" she makes a contemplating look, "So, what was h.e.l.l like?"

"Why? You"ve never been there?" I ask.

"Why would I go to h.e.l.l? I am an Angel. We aren"t supposed to ever visit h.e.l.l unless given an order by Heaven itself." She says with a bit of a blush. To be more specific, a tsundere blush. To be even more specific, she"s lying. But, I guess I"ll play along ... or not.

"I see. h.e.l.l, huh? Well, it was great. There was greenery everywhere and there were clean waterfalls and plains of wheat and …"

"What are you saying? That"s how h.e.l.l has become these days?" She asks with a troubled expression.

"Why? Was it different when you visited it?" I ask.

"Yes, there was lava and rocks everywhere, looked like the inside of a volcano and the whole place was barren and scary creatures were roaming about and …" she stops, realizing her mistake.

"Yeah, that"s how it looked to me too." So, I casually say that.

"…"

"…"

"That … was mean." She says while looking away, refusing to show the blush I presume she would have on her face.

"You two! Done flirting?" And then Danny comes in with that.

"No one was flirting." I casually say and look at him, "So, did you find anything?"

"I did. And I rather you see it for yourselves than explain it?" He says and points at an unpainted house made of bricks, which looks pretty normal to be honest.

Still, as he has said it, I go in the house and look for myself what he has found … and I find something quite interesting.

"Yare yare!" I say as I look at the fruit-seller standing in the middle of the room. However, he is not moving, or doing anything upon seeing us. "Is he even human?"

"No, he"s not." Roswaisa immediately says. "As that doctor told me, he"s kind of like a doll created off the design of a cartoon character that he once saw on TV."

Well, I do remember seeing a design like this in some cartoon I watched as a kid. Not a coincidence I presume.

"Well, at least right now," Danny says, "He"s lifeless. Doctor probably has no use for him anymore or he wouldn"t be here."

Roswaisa nods. So,

"Well, let"s ignore him then. There"s something more to look at after all." I say.

"What more is there to look at?" Danny asks in a confused voice.

"Behind him!" I say as I move the man (or doll) out of the way and show them a mirror that was being kept behind him. I don"t blame them for not being able to see it before. I too was only able to see it because of the angle I was looking from, but anyway, now that they have seen it,

"Isn"t that?" He asks while turning to Roswaisa.

"It is." Roswaisa nods as she says that.

"Well, if that cliché routine is over, mind telling me what the significance of this thing is?" I say.

"Wait! I thought you knew that already, why else did you point it out?" Danny says with a bit of a Sonoharness coming back after a long, long time.

"I knew that it was something significant because it was placed in a way that any onlooker wouldn"t find. However, I don"t know what it actually is and what makes it significant?" I tell him.

"I see."

"Anyway, Irium, it"s a mirror that works as a portal of sorts between different Asteroid Realms." Roswaisa answers.

"I see. And what the heck are Asteroid Realms?"

"Well, uh," Danny says, "If realms like Heaven, h.e.l.l and Earth are to be given a t.i.tle of a planet, then there are also smaller realms that would be given the t.i.tle of Asteroids."

"Oh, so they are basically mini-realms or something? Fine! Why is one of them here?" I question, and neither of them has any ideas or guesses.

"Shall we step in then?" I propose, expecting the proposal to be rejected, but,

"That might be a good idea." Roswaisa says and continues before either of us could say anything, "Asteroid Realms and their denizens are bound by a contract of not harming anyone who is a.s.sociated with Heaven or h.e.l.l. So, I will be safe. Since you two will be with me, they won"t harm you either."

So, it"s safe. Well then, there"s no point in not checking it out, is there? I convey that question to Danny and Roswaisa and they both nod.

And so begins our descent into the Asteroid Realm, the event that changed everything.

*****