Glenn made his way down the streets of a town that looked exactly like Lindworm. Rationally, he knew it was the Underworld, but that truth hadn’t quite sunk in yet. Still, he noticed some things as he walked.
First of all, the town’s layout was a bit off. At some point, he moved from the main street to alleys with intersections that shouldn’t have been there and strange connecting roads. There were even times when he was brought back to streets that he was sure he’d just passed. Glenn was aware that the more he walked, the deeper his sense of uneasiness grew, until it far exceeded what he’d felt when he started.
It really isn’t Lindworm. This is someplace else.
Then, he started to see more people…though he wasn’t sure if he should call them people. As he walked along, he passed by shadows without a clear form. Most of them slipped into the thick fog, leaving him unable to tell what species they had been in life. They were hiding in the fog—or rather, the fog seemed to be deliberately hiding their forms.
When Glenn asked Cottingley about the enshrouding mist, he answered, “The mist is but your own perception. You are still connected to the living world. As long as you are living, you must not know the rules of the dead. Hence, your subconscious denial takes the form of mist, keeping you from clearly seeing the spirits of the dead.”
“Mr. Cottingley, can you see the dead?”
“Yes. I can see them. But you needn’t worry about that. They are simply residents of the Underworld. That is all. They are not spooky or gloomy.”
Glenn accepted this answer. The Underworld had its own laws, which could only be learned after death. Therefore, he simply accepted that there was no need for him to learn more at this time.
Wait? But in that case…what is happening to me…in the living world? he suddenly wondered.
If he wasn’t dead, then had he been taken to the hospital on the verge of death? If so, Sapphee and Cthulhy must have been beside themselves. He needed to get back as soon as possible, while his body was still warm.
Didn’t Kunai say that she buried dead flesh that no longer had a voice?
Kunai Zenow, a flesh golem made of patchwork flesh, had said she could hear the voices of that flesh. If those voices were souls, it meant that vital soul was not with Glenn’s body in the living world.
I need to get back…
There was no concept of the soul in the medicine Glenn studied. Living beings could fulfill their functions as living beings without needing to define what a soul might be. However, considering the existence of Deadlich Graveyard City, he was sure that souls and spirits did exist. There was no guarantee that his flesh would remain safe without its soul, which was why Cottingley had gone to the trouble of coming for him. Glenn had to get back to the realm of the living so he wouldn’t make Sapphee sad.
He wondered how far he’d walked. Time and space and everything else were ambiguous in this place. He thought he’d been going quite a while but had no sense of getting closer to the castle he could see in the Central Square. Ultimately, this was probably proof that the Underworld rules Cottingley had mentioned didn’t apply to Glenn. This was completely different from the world he lived in, which led him to assume that the laws of time and space were different, too.
Then finally—
“We’re here.”
As if in response to Cottingley’s words, the castle that still felt so far away was suddenly right in front of him the moment they turned onto the main road. The road that led to the Central Square was rimmed by iron railings that didn’t exist in the real Lindworm. It was like a clear signal that he was about to cross over into another domain.
There was a figure lingering quietly at the gate that Glenn assumed was the entrance to the castle. He could see it clearly, even through the mist. He could tell it was unlike the others, probably because he had seen her before. It had the form of a headless nun.
It was none other than Molly, who stabbed Glen with a shovel-shaped spear.
“So that’s who brought you here,” Cottingley said, glaring at her through the mist on high alert.
Glenn also observed the being that resembled Molly. First of all, she was headless. He’d thought she had the head tucked under her arm when she killed him, but he didn’t see it now. He wondered where it had gone.
A fluorescent green flame flickered from her neck. The flames transformed into butterfly shapes and fluttered away, mysteriously disappearing into the air. A fitting look for the spirit world.
In the real world, the Dullahan’s body begged many questions—but surely, she couldn’t just come and go from the Underworld as she pleased? Like Cottingley said, she was just a messenger of death that had taken the form of a Dullahan. In other words, a reaper. Though he didn’t know why the reaper had the same face as Molly…
There was silence. The Dullahan Molly did nothing. She simply held her weapon in one hand and lingered quietly at the gate. As Glenn pondered whether he could approach her or not—
“Leeet’s ask!” Cottingley said loudly. “I am Cottingley Bradford the sixth, servant of the Fairy Queen. Oh, guard of the Underworld, gatekeeper of the Castle of Death, we understand the Lord of the Underworld is here. We would like you to convey that we have an urgent matter—yes, as you can see, it pertains to the town doctor who you brought here!”
“H-hello,” Glenn said, bowing his head slightly.
There was no response from the Dullahan. She kept her weapon in one hand and turned her body toward Glenn. At first glance, she seemed to be wearing the same nun’s habit as Molly, but Molly didn’t have the protective armor on the backs of her hands and feet that this woman did. Her clear readiness to fight made Glenn feel nervous, despite himself. He didn’t know what would happen if she were to kill him here in the Underworld. Maybe what was left of his soul would disappear.
She remained silent.
“Ergh, she’s not saying anything… Hey!”
The Dullahan didn’t answer. The head she had been holding under her arm when she attacked Glenn was nowhere to be seen. The front of her body faced them, but it was unclear what she was thinking.
The hovering woman, with her voluptuous limbs—and headless at that—gave Glenn a feeling he couldn’t describe.
“Mmm, y-you—You dare ignore me, deputy of the Fairy Queen?!” Cottingley was finally getting irritated. He flew at the Dullahan and dealt a staggering blow to her breasts, which were the easiest target to strike.
The Dullahan’s body jerked with surprise. It was reacting to something.
“Hmm?” Glenn watched her.
The Dullahan whipped around, turning first this way and then that, her hands stretched out in front of her. Her body was swinging from side to side, as if she were searching for something, but eventually, perhaps out of fear, she took her weapon up with both hands and started trembling. Her feet were pigeon-toed. Her body had clearly stiffened. She was rigid and Glenn could see that the way she shook was unnatural.
“Just what are you playing at?! Without so much as the courtesy of greeting me, Guard of Death!”
She kept her position.
Cottingley’s words were not getting through. At first, the Dullahan had seemed to tremble with fear at something invisible. Then, she began moving from side to side, clearly flustered. The fairy seemed disturbed by the behavior.