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Darius greeted me at the gates very warmly. “Why, hello, Mysiri! Why are you here?”
“I... can I search around for someone?”
Darius’ yellow eyes grew bright to conceal any true emotions he felt. “Why, of course. Feel free to search anywhere and everywhere. If you need any help, please, ask me.” I nodded but discarded the offer in my mind. I didn’t want anyone to think I was the least bit jealous.
“Oh, and Darius?” I said before I had walked too far from him, “if Spike comes... don’t let him know I am here.” Darius nodded knowingly and I thanked him and went upon my search.
Hell does have many twisting, maze-like caverns and corridors, and it’s easy to get lost, but luckily, I knew my way about exceedingly well.
“The end is coming,” someone called to me. I frowned and approached him. “Not for you, but for those of my kind. I hear her plotting it... Oh, evil Naery! Abandoning our daughter like that-...”
“Who are you?”
“Erik-... Oh, Naery! Don’t kill all humans, don’t kill the hybrids, too! No...”
“What?” I frowned.
“I was her lover... she grew pregnant and killed me... She had a beautiful child... wondrous child... Syti. She abandoned the child because it was part human. It’s my fault that she abandoned the child-...”
“But Syti is fine. I know her. She is alive and well. Very strong, and smart, too.”
“Oh! My child... she is fine!” Erik grinned to himself and spoke no more to me, so I moved on. I found a closed door so I knocked on it. I heard stumbling footsteps coming to answer the door.
A girl stood there. I knew it was not Makita, but it was someone that had battled Makita.
“Yes...?” she asked.
“Did you know a girl named Makita?” I asked. She frowned suspiciously at me.
“Yesssss... Come in.” She stepped aside to let me in. “Who are you? What connections do you have? Who do you know?”
“My name is Mysiri. I... I’m friends with Spike and my mother’s Euraefy... I know Tai and Antonio and Syti and Naery-...”
“Quiro! Do you know Quiro?”
“Yes, him too.”
“How is he? How is my Quiro? Oh, I miss him!” She paused. “Wait, Euraefy is your mother? Oh! Finally, I have a grandchild!” She smiled wide and hugged me tightly. “You see, technically, I’m not your grandmother, one of my past forms is. But that doesn’t matter!” She grinned, but her grin soon faded. “That damned Annari got me in here. I should be alive now but she-... oooh!”
“I’ll get you out,” I offered, not thinking. Her eyes grew wild with excitement.
“Will you? Oh, what a darling! My name’s Gina, by the way.”
“Shut your eyes,” I said. Gina obeyed. I was testing something new out and I hoped it would work. After a moment, Gina disappeared and when I threw my mind after her, I saw that what I tried had worked. She was now back on Earth with her beloved Quiro.
I then continued on my way. Everyone watched me as I looked around, their curiosity emitting from them. Eventually I found myself back at the entrance as a “new batch” of “prisoners” was being brought in. I searched the waves and waves of people and was quite surprised when I saw Syti and Annari amongst them.
“Syti! Annari!” I called. Both glanced at me and came over, giving each other hate-filled glares. “Why’re you two down here?”
“Naery destroyed me,” Syti shrugged. “I knew she was gonna, one of these days.”
“She killed me, too...” Annari looked at the ground pouting. I really felt incredibly sorry for Annari as she said that. Naery and Annami were all Annari had. I took Syti aside.
“I found your father. Poor wretched soul. You should go see him. In the mean time...” I turned to Annari. “Annami is down here somewhere. You might want to go find her-...”
“No. She and I had a fight. I’m not giving in... I’ll just go to my room down here...” Annari disappeared and I looked back to Syti.
“Here, I’ll show you to your father,” I offered. Syti smiled and nodded. I took her to where he was. He looked up and knew at once who it was. I smiled and left them to have their reunion without me there bothering them.
“Mysiri!” a familiar voice snarled, causing me to jump. I turned and saw Kyoto. My eyes clouded over.
“Kyoto. Hello.”
“You betrayed me. I see you paid the price. Say, where’s Spike?”
I did not have the heart to tell Kyoto that I was not dead. “Alive, still, I reckon,” I replied softly. Without my will, my eyes had flared up at the mention of Spike.
“You’re mad at him,” Kyoto said simply. I frowned at him a second, then sighed, not denying myself the truth any longer.
“I suppose I am, huh?” I shuddered. “Hey, you ever hear anything about someone named Makita?”
“Ohh, yeah! Sure did! Some guys were talking about it-...”
“Where are they?”
“Down the hall, last door on the left.” I thanked Kyoto and hurried to the room he had specified. I knocked on the closed door and a guy that looked slightly like Gina stood there.
“What?” He muttered. I smiled my most friendly smile.
“I was wondering if you knew about the whereabouts of Makita?”
He frowned suspiciously. “Why do you want to know?”
Without thinking, I let the story unfold of Naery’s plan, what I knew about the time when everyone lived in Hell, and I explained that if I wanted to save the world, I would have to find Makita first.
“How do you know you’re supposed to stop Naery?” he growled.
“I’m the only one that can,” I replied softly.
“Well, if you’re looking for Makita, you should find Spike, he should know.”
“Chuck, who’re you talking to?” another male voice called from within. Within moments, another face peeked out from behind Chuck.
“Who are you?” he asked kindly. I smiled brightly at him and he returned the smile.
“My name is Mysiri. I am looking for Makita,” I explained. Chuck walked back into the room where I could not see him.
“My name is Charlie,” the kinder of the two smiled at me. “That Makita sure was tough. Hm. I haven’t seen her since our battle, but I’ve heard she and Spike fused together so they could defeat Nosferatu. I’m not sure if they could undo the fusion afterward. I’d ask Spike, or maybe Darius, if I was you.”
“Thank you. I’ll take that into consideration,” I beamed at Charlie. I did not want to ask Darius for help, though, even if I was getting frustrated. “Maybe I’ll see you later, Charlie. Good-bye,” I left and went to speak to Syti. I felt that she may know where Makita was.
Syti was sitting with her father talking. When I came over, she looked up and smiled at me.
“Can I help you? I owe you so much, Mysiri.”
“Yes, maybe you can help me,” I smiled at Syti’s father, then looked back to Syti. “Do you know where Makita is?”
“... Not sure, but I sense that she is very nearby-...” Just then, someone ran right by us and I ran after her. I knew I could easily trap her. She retreated into a room and I walked right through the wall into the room.
“Who are you?” She demanded.
“My name’s Mysiri. Are you Makita?”
“Uh, no.” My face went immediately downcast.
“I’m sorry for the case of mistaken identity. Why were you running?”
Just then, someone started banging on the door. “Let me in! Get out here!” he screamed into the room. She looked utterly frightened. “Let me in, Lyvia! Now!”
“That is why,” Lyvia sighed. My face grew bright.
“Lyvia! You’re friends with Spike!”
“Was, anyway, yeah.” Lyvia frowned. “How do you know him?”
“We were living in the same house. We were adopted by some people. So, do you know where Makita is?”
“No idea. I haven’t seen her around in a long time.”
Whoever was outside continued banging on the door and screaming.
“D’you mind if I put an end to that?” I asked. Lyvia shrugged.
“If you can, be my guest. Just don’t let him get me, please.” I nodded and opened the door. When he saw me, he smirked. I punched him straight in the face and he cried out.
“You broke my nose!” he swung his own fist at me, and I grabbed his arm and pulled it around to his back.
“You leave Lyvia alone, or I’ll do much more to you. You got it?”
“Y... yes! Let me go, I’ll leave! I’ll leave!” he swore. I let him go and he ran away. I turned back to Lyvia.
“So you don’t know where Makita is?” I inquired. Lyvia shrugged.
“No idea. Say, do you know Jim?”
I smiled. “Yes, I saw him. He is fine,” I assured her. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go look around some more. Lyvia said farewell and I went to find Darius.
He was standing at the gates and when I approached him, he grinned. “Mysiri! Did you find what you were looking for?”
“Actually, no. Is Makita down here?”
“Sure is.”
“Okay...” I paused. “What’s down there?” I gestured to a corridor behind another gate.
“Oh... that’s um... would you like to go back there? Go ahead; it’s hard to explain it.”
“Thank you. I’ll go.” I walked through the gate and followed the twisting hallways until I got into a room that had some enormous mirror type thing. “Ask it to see someone and what they are doing,” a voice echoed. I hesitated.
“What is Spike doing?” I asked. It showed Spike walking through a forest looking around. I thought a moment. “What is Makita doing?” I asked, on a stroke of brilliance. All it showed was my reflection. I frowned and repeated my question. Still, it only showed my reflection.
“Is it broken? No, it can’t be, it showed Spike... so why doesn’t it show Makita?”
Darius came in. “So, what do you think?”
“Darius... how come it showed Spike, but not Makita?” I inquired. Darius smiled slightly.
“You sure you don’t want to figure it out on your own? I’m sure you can figure it out.”
“Okay, if you believe I can find it out, I’m going to...” I frowned. “What is Spike doing?”
“Why, looking for you, of course. Can’t get here, though, you know. He swore he’d never return. In fact, with his last ounce of strength, Nosferatu put a wall up to stop Spike from getting into Hell again.”
“Darius, is Naery going through with her plan?” I asked, my voice incredibly low. Darius’ eyes grew sad. I knew what his answer was.
“Yes. All humans, and anything the least bit human-...”
“Not Antonio!” I exclaimed. Darius shrugged.
“If she can...” Darius knew he did not need to finish his statement.
“Well, not me! I won’t let her,” I swore. Darius smiled sadly and wandered away. I turned back to the mirror. “Show me Antonio.” It showed Antonio wandering in a forest much like the one that Spike was in, but he kept glancing behind himself, as if he was fleeing someone. I frowned and left the room, hurrying back to the gates, feeling deep in my gut the fact that more people were coming. I watched over the crowds, looking for familiar faces. I spotted Kyoto’s parents and teleported them to Kyoto without asking first. I had assumed they wanted to be with him.
“Mysiri,” I heard someone call. I glanced in the direction it came from. “Mysiri!” I looked closer.
“Oh! Jim-...? I wonder if she’s killing everyone but those who were born full Vampire?” I wondered aloud. “Why’re you down here, Jim?”
“Some really strong vampire came...” he shrugged. “Is Lyvia-...?”
“Yeah, I’ll send you to her...” I did just that and continued to watch over the crowd. Someone caught my eye by just standing still, leaning against the gate. “Antonio!” I cried out. “She actually-...” I shook my head and ran over to him.
“Yeah, she killed me. It’s okay. I knew she would-...”
“But she could? Antonio, I thought you were stronger than-...”
“Pshh. I wasn’t trying to not get killed. It’s okay, Mysiri, really. Spike’s putting up quite a fight, considering Makita’s soul isn’t in him any longer-...”
“Spike! Damnit!” I shook my head. “Where is Makita?”
Antonio stared at me very hard. “She’s very near. She’s always very near to you,” he murmured. “You tried the reflection block, right? It always shows who you want, it never makes mistakes. Here, give me your hand.” Antonio teleported us to the room with the reflection block in it. “Ask, Mysiri.”
“Where is Makita?” I asked. Again, my reflection just stared back at me. Then, it changed. Only for a
second, but I knew at once what it was telling me. “... I am Makita,” I said softly. Antonio smiled
slightly. “I am Makita,” I repeated, more confidently. “Spike... I’m coming... we will save the world
once again.”
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