The Great Pomegranate Tragedy (Introduction)

Part 2 Song: Ingrid Michaelson Breakable

Gerda:Part 2
Kelsey surfaced, not in the park, but in some place very different. However she was a little too busy to notice that quite yet. For the time being she was a little preoccupied with not drowning. As she frantically reached for the shore the only thing other then survival that crossed her mind was that she could have sworn that the part of the river she’d been at had only been knee deep-not well over her head. Dragging herself to the safety of shore-which oddly enough was a brick road-something Kelsey also failed to notice as she took a few sputtering breaths.
“Fu-ack!” Coughing up more water then could have possibly been healthy it took another few minutes of near hyperventilating before she realized that something was well…weird.
“Toto I don’t think we’re in the Pearl District anymore.” She murmured softly Instead of being greeted by the familiar sight of the unusually clean and bright downtown area of Portland she was looking at a dark, dreary landscape. Heavy stones where laid out in a sort of half-assed pathway. Well it wasn’t heaven. That much she was sure of, heaven wasn’t so…gray. And hell was supposed to be hot, but she was cold. Not just cold but wet too-which made for a bad combination. But she wasn’t dead. That was encouraging. The happy feeling didn’t last long as her teeth started chattering and she realized that she’d lost her left shoe.
“Well this sucks.” Why couldn’t she go fun crazy? You know the kind of crazy were you think that you’re a bouncy ball. She had to be the kind of crazy were you think you’re sisters been kidnapped, almost drown yourself and imagine your in some strange place. And all because of some stupid little piece of paper-parchment-thing. Speaking of which, Kelsey noticed that her fist was closed around something. That something was a crumpled, soggy, insanity inducing letter. She glared down at it for a second, letting it know that she hated it with every fiber of her being. But hated or not it was what had gotten her into this whole mess, and so very carefully she unfolded it. It was blank.
“Yeah NOW it’s blank. After it drags me here-well HERE I AM! And I guess I’m gonna save Ali all by myself!” She fell over and started laughing so hard that she started coughing again. She kept coughing until she threw up, which was overall unpleasant experience. Too be fair she was scared, cold, wet and alone. And having learned her lesson she choose not to become hysterical again. Getting the acting as crazy as she felt out of her system Kelsey stood up as calmly as she could and decided to do an inventory check. Well her shoe was gone, and there was no way she was going back in after it. So that left one worn and uncomfortably wet converse shoe still in place. Real helpful. Her clothing situation was also less then ideal. Her simple black tank top and what was once a cute berry colored paisley skirt were still dripping wet and didn’t offer any defense from the frigid night air. And other then that cursed piece of demon paper she didn’t have anything else. Kelsey shivered miserably.
“This really, really sucks.” As she was lamenting her situation a sharp noise caught her attention. A crow took off from the branch were it had been perched with a loud caw-nearly scaring Kelsey to death. But it was the first living thing Kelsey had encountered so far. That in itself was reassuring and she felt a sort of sinking feeling as it flew up and away over the river she’d fallen in…or out of? As she tried to figure out what exactly had happened, since normally people don’t fall into a shallow bit of water and come out in a river deep enough to have currents she found her gaze wandering away from the direction the bird had been flying and towards the road. If you could call it a road, it was more like a series of flat bricks and rocks set into the ground randomly. However as she looked down it she noticed that not too far off there what looked like buildings lined the street. Needing no more incentive then that she started off towards the small group of buildings.

Phersphone:Part 2
Something was wrong. Before she even opened her eyes Ali knew that something was just wrong. When she opened her eyes she KNEW something was wrong-very, very wrong. Now Ali distinctly remembered having gone on a walk and finding some nice wildflowers, but was willing to admit that very well could have been a dream, deciding to ignore that the pain she’d felt from falling had been very un-dream like. But it was a little harder to write off her current surroundings as a dream. However that didn’t stop her from trying. It wasn’t so unheard of to wake up inside a dream only to still be asleep…she must be dreaming that she was dreaming because last time she checked her bed didn’t have a wooden canopy over it. Again she decided to ignore the lavish detail carved into the oak, and how soft the equally extravagant silk sheets were. Those weren’t the sort of features you’d normally notice in a dream-no all those things seemed to suggest that this wasn’t a dream at all, but quite very real. And that simply was impossible. Her deep brown eyes widened as they made they’re way to the room surrounding the bed, which was just as if not even more ornate. It was getting increasingly impossible to be in denial about the situation. But none-the-less she still clung to it. Getting out of the bed she pointedly avoided looking at things so instead she looked over herself. She was still wearing the same dress she’d been wearing in the other dream. I was a cute little thing, made up of purple jersey fabric that hung on slender frame and showed off her slight curves and athletic build nicely in a vaguely Grecian way. It was the perfect dress for going on a nice summer walk in-or at least that had been her thought process when she’d put it on. Shaking her head Ali shrugged the thought away
“…really realistic dream” Alison muttered as she took a few tentative steps toward the door.
“It has to be a dream.” She repeated as she touched the door applying pressure to make it open.
“a really, really realistic dream.” Somehow saying it didn’t make her feel any better. The funny thing about denial though is that it comes in handy for being able to ignore obvious signs such is how the door creaked a little when she opened it or the fact that she had to open it at all. The heavy oak gave way to her reluctantly and she found herself in an elaborate hallway that followed in suite with the room-displaying an over the top flamboyance that had she been in the right frame of mind Ali would have probably made fun of. Not that it wasn’t beautiful. Ebony marble stretched out in front of her, wherever she was if the length of the hallway was any indication of how big the place was it was extremely large. Like maybe a castle or something. She hadn’t made it more then a few steps when she noticed a strange sound, not completely unlike a growl. Alison froze. As the noise intensified it became increasingly clear that the source was behind her and that it was not just similar to a growl. It most definitely was a growl.
“Just a dream.” Ali breathed, she didn’t dare speak louder then that-but somehow managed to gather up the courage to make a run for it. Go figure. Ali was fast, but whatever was behind was faster. She made it maybe a few short feet before it easily outran her, the click of claws hitting the floor and echoing throughout the grand hallway. Instead of taking her down as Alison assumed it would the beast galloped ahead of her, suddenly stopping and spun around face her. Ali came to an abrupt stop herself as she came to face to face with her pursuer. The beast, was doglike in appearance but was bigger then any dog Ali had ever seen, It’s head easily reached her shoulder. And it was black, not just that sort of dark chocolate you find on most dogs but an actual black-it was the sort of black you’d find at night when all the lights in the house are turned off and all the doors are closed. It almost blended in with the marble tiles that made up the floor of the hallway. The dog-beast bared his teeth at her, snarling as he blocked her way. It’s yellow eyes glittered, focused completely and intently on it’s prey. The monster took a step towards her.
Ali fainted.
Somewhere not too far away…
A very tall man leaned against a carefully and wonderfully carved pillar of dark granite. He himself looked as though he was a statue, his perfect features modeled after some Greek god. Which actually made perfect sense. He looked distracted though, not the sort of expression you would expect to find on a statue. He remained like that, until another person entered the scene. A cloaked figure carrying an odd, long wooden paddle.
“It would seem that the border’s been breached.” The figure stated, as he pulled his heavy hood down revealing a unkempt and rough looking man. An untidy beard and entirely scruffy appearance hid what otherwise would have been a rather attractive looking face. If it hadn’t been for a nose that looked like it’d been broken at least once and that whole disheveled look it might have given Aiden cause to be mildly concerned. But as it was he didn’t see the man as any sort of threat to his long reign as Hottest Lord Ever. Aiden frowned at that.
“What do you mean breached?”
“I mean that an otherworlder fell out of the river.” The man retorted, sounding more bored then anything else.
“Charon.” Aiden paused, trying to keep his temper. “As my ferryman you’re supposed to insure that sort of thing doesn’t happen…mortals can’t just pop in on us like that.” The ferryman blinked slowly.
“And just what was I supposed to do shove her back in? It doesn’t work like that.” Even as the King of the Underworld started to become visibly unhappy with him-bordering on dangerously so, Charon remained unfazed. “You said it yourself mortals don’t just pop in on our world-in order to make the transition from the otherworld they have to be brought over.” Aiden stopped to think that over. “So it was out of my jurisdiction.” Even if he wasn’t afraid of his boss Charon wanted to make it clear that he wasn’t responsible for this little mess.
“True. But then the question is who would have brought the mortal over…using my river.” Charon shrugged
“Not my problem.” He made a move to walk away-
“Wait-” Charon sighed, he had a feeling that this was going to end badly for him. “Did you notice anything about this mortal. Did she say or do anything that might indicate what she was doing here?”
“You know I wasn’t really in an observing kind of mood when it…” Aiden gave him a look hard enough to make him reconsider his answer and Charon sighed again. “She was young.”
“Pretty?” Aiden asked more out of habit then honest curiosity.
“Sure-I don’t think she knew what was happening. I don’t really think that she’s much a threat. She just randomly showed up
on the Upperworld side, practically right across the bank from us-almost drowned too.” “Is that all?” Ready to dismiss the whole issue without another thought Aiden almost didn’t listen to the reply.
“I think she mentioned something about trying to find someone, said something about an Ali. Can I go now?” At the mention of Ali Aiden hissed sharply and Charon glowered knowing that he’d probably just blown any chance he had of being allowed to leave. Aiden visibly bristled, although he didn’t know the details he knew that this posed a potential threat to his plans. He paced for a few moments and Charon watched still glowering. It was never good when Aiden paced, it usually meant that he was plotting. “You’re probably right about this girl not being much of a threat but just in case.” Charon rolled his eyes, he knew what was coming next.
“But just in case you want me to go take care of her?” Charon finished for him, he’d done other such favors for Aiden in the past-they weren’t fun but it was his job.
“No, well yes. I don’t know who brought her here and I don’t want to risk starting a war. I’m going to have my hands full for a while and I just don’t have patience to deal with that too. No. What I want you to do is go find this girl, and keep her away from the castle.”
“What?!” Charon balked at the very idea. “I’m not going to baby sit some human girl for you Aiden!” “Well actually yes you are.” Aiden replied coolly, his ferryman had always had a habit of talking back to him but they both knew that in the end Charon would do as he was told. He didn’t have a choice. Their conflict was interrupted by a howl. Charon felt the hairs on his neck rise in response to the unearthly baying.
“She must of woken up.” Aiden said, more to himself then the other man-but then remembering his ferryman offered his usual calculatedly casual smile. “You will go find this girl and keep her away from the castle.” He started off but stopped almost in mid step. “And clean up a little before you leave, you’ll scare the poor thing half to death looking like that.” With that said he left, leaving a very unhappy Charon who suddenly found himself contemplating how hard it would be to kill The Hades, High Lord of the Underworld.
When Ali came to she was in that damn bed again. That was enough to make her want to pass out again. But this time she was better prepared-and alive which was a little comforting.
“Alright…not a dream.” She stated, letting the full weight of what she was saying sink in for a moment before sitting up.
“Very Observant of you.” Ali screamed. There sitting beside her bed was a man, sprawled across the chair next to her bed in a relaxed position, laughing softly. Ali frowned. She’d never liked being laughed at, and this was no exception, scary non-dream or not. She did notice that he was handsome. And not in the ‘oh you know Jimmy down the street he’s so cute’ kind of handsome. But handsome in a devastating sort of way. But then Ali was the short of girl who would notice a guy’s looks even in an utterly strange situation.
“Well.” The man started, clearing his throat and collecting himself. “I can see you’re feeling better that’s go-.”
“WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!!!” Ali interrupted, at least she had the presence of mind to do that. She may have been aware of how good looking her captor was, or even how nicely his eyebrow arched at her sudden outburst but that didn’t mean that she was stupid. Unfortunately all her question earned her was more laughter. “WHAT THE HELL’S SO FUNNY?” They continued like this for awhile longer, with Ali screaming at him and yelling profanities and other such unkind phrases, and the man laughing so hard that he almost fell out of his chair until Ali had to stop to catch her breath.
“Are we done now?” The man asked.
“You’re the one who was laughing at me.” Ali shot back.
“Yes, I’m sorry about that but you see people don’t normally laugh at The Dark Lord.” Now it as Ali’s turn to laugh, which obviously wasn’t the response “The Dark Lord” had been looking for which filled Ali with a sort of sense of satisfaction-but also suggested that he was actually crazy.
“Oh God you’re serious. You’re like some kind of crazy serial killer aren’t you?” By this point she was panicking a little “You’re gonna kill me aren’t you?! OH GOD IT’S LIKE THAT HOSTLE MOVIE!!!” Okay, maybe more then a little.
“Calm down I’m not going to kill you.” He sighed, pulling a hand through his tousled blonde hair in what could have been easily mistaken for annoyance if not for wicked sort smile that reached his grey blue eyes. This was turning out to be more difficult then he’d anticipated. Difficult, but amusing. Ali did not calm down, instead she grabbed a pillow and with a wild look started beating him mercilessly with it. And it wasn’t one of those nice soft satin and down pillows it was one of those ridiculous beaded pillows that are too uncomfortable to be used for anything besides decoration-or beating psycho kidnapping murders with. The self proclaimed Dark Lord grabbed Ali by the wrists, not roughly but hard enough to keep her from swinging that awful pillow. “That’s enough of that.” He growled, he wasn’t angry but he was done playing games-and being hit with a beaded pillow-which actually made a fairly decent weapon. “Alright now I’m going to let go if you promise to calm down.” He offered, which he thought was quite charitable of him considering she’d just attacked him. Ali nodded so he let go and so she promptly started hitting him again, this time pounding against him with her fists. This time when he grabbed her wrists he pinned her down on the bed, and it didn‘t seem to take any effort on his part to hold her down. “Fine you don’t want to calm down, this works for me too.” When she finally stopped struggling he loosened his grip a little but not enough so that she could break free of his hold. “Just calm down and I’ll let you up.” Realizing that she didn’t have much choice, and growing more uncomfortable by the second having a strange, possibly insane man on top her Alison relented.
“Fine, just get offa me.” she muttered through clenched teeth. The man got off without comment, it wasn’t until he was back in the chair that he shot her an impossibly charming smile.
“See now was that so hard?”
“Bite me.”
“Careful now, I might just take you up on that offer.” Ali shuddered at that, while she didn’t believe the whole Lord of the darkness bit she had no doubt that he did. But scared or not she wasn’t the type to pass up an opportunity to mock someone-especially when they were such an easy target.
“Oh yeah I forgot you’re the Lord of Darkness or whatever.” She rolled her eyes but picked the beaded pillow up, just in case.
“Well technically I’m the Lord of the Underworld. But you can call me Aiden.”
“Yeah…right.” Ali scoffed. “I thought you were supposed to be more evil looking. You know with black hair and red eyes and all that.” He really didn’t look the part of a Dark Lord, in fact if anything he looked angelic with that soft blonde hair that fell into those grey blue eyes. Aiden snickered a little at that
“Were do you people get that from?” shaking his head he looked Ali over a second. “Do you really think I’d go running around wearing a cape looking like some Goth stereotype?” When she didn’t answer he continued with his critique “You shouldn’t believe everything you read.”
“So what you’re like the devil?” Aiden shrugged leaning back against the chair with his arms spread over the top with a untroubled expression. “Call us whatever you want; gods, angels, demons, faeries, monsters-it really doesn’t matter. In the scheme of things what we’re called is much less important then what we are.”
“And what is that?” Ali inquired, still not convinced.
“Immortal.” Aiden answered nonchalantly. Ali frowned at that.
“You’re no god.” She said slowly, that much she was sure of.
“True, I never claimed to be…well maybe once but that was a long time ago. But you’re right I’m not God.”
“And I don’t think an angel would kidnap someone.” He may have looked it, but Ali refused to believe he was an angel.
“What about a demon?” He asked playing along with her thought process.
“No. You’re just some seriously messed up person-someone who’s like played dungeons and dragons too many times.” Though she had to admit that of three he fit the demon category the best.
“If I was just a delusional mortal could I do this?” He asked, decided to skip ahead to the part where he stopped being accused of being a deranged killer. With an elegant and practiced flick of his hand a dark substance pulled from the shadows. In a liquid movement the shadow danced to his hand on command.
“What the…” Startled Ali clutched the pillow to her chest. “Shadow manipulation.” Aiden finished for her, smirking smugly. “It’s a Lord of the Underworld sort of thing.” “Alright lets say I believed you about all this…hypothetically speaking of course.” She said softly as the safety of her crazy man argument fell apart in front of her.
“Of course.” His smirk widened enough to show off dazzling white teeth. Ali noticed that they weren’t pointed which was a small comfort. “Then why am I here?” Her tone dropped down to a whisper, she was afraid to hear the answer.
“You’re going to be my queen.” He answered easily, not even giving it a second thought.