Otherside SE4: Hell is Something Something (Pt.2)

Otherside SE4: Hell is... Something Something

Part Two: Another Planet's Hell

At a small table with a delightfully handwritten note reading Children’s Table, Noel was trapped. She wasn’t supposed to be there. Sure, she wasn’t technically supposed to be in Otherside as well, but that hadn’t stopped all the other scaredy cats from being there too. No, she was literally 1000 years old. She had died and had came back multiple times from the pits of the abyss, and coated in the carrion of so many ugly, ugly people. So why was she stuck in this stupid table then? Noel had a mission. An actual, really important mission.
“Are you enjoying the party so far, miss?”
This demon wasn’t like the others she knew. He was too cheerful and kindly. He’d probably get so bullied by even the lowest rung of her former wranglers. This group of weirdos must of been his idea of paradise.
She lifted the tea cup to her lips, the tea most likely “expertly brewed”, but she wouldn’t know that. “... It’s… nice.”
Though, pulling herself out of the tiny seat was her main objective now. And this tiara horned babysitter was one of the most stubborn obstacles she faced right now.
“Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Belial.” He said, with a calm smile that covered a buzz of utter joy at the relatively subdued crowd, for now. “And you are?”
She was quiet, but then gave a light “Noel.” like she remembered giving many, many times before. It was with different syllables and sounds, but the concept was identical. Belial smiled, which meant that he must have been pleased with that.
“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Noel realised again that she was practically stuck here. Great. A sound like a stick though a chest rattled through the air, practically, and literally lifting her from her seat. There’s benefits to being bound to prevent someone from getting hurt. Belial could only watch in concern before he roused himself over towards the screaming Nokken as well.
Noel attempted to push sound out of her vocal cords, just as she pushed aside others to get to the reason for her presence.
“Lee Corse, are you alright?”


Lee’s sobbing drifted down into a confused whimper, his eyes locking onto a pair of faded white eyes that he most definitely recognized. “Y-you… You’re not going to take me in?”
“Mister Corse, she’s a guest as well!” Belial said as he finally landed, picking up Marea and Buzzter from the ground with a sweep of red and black. “She’s been as confused as anyone else here, and besides, more the merrier, no?”
She then threw her heavy, manacled hands on Buzzter’s thankfully fuzz-padded cheeks.
“You’re such a precious looking bee.”
He smiled through his squished face. “Um… thank you!”
Noel tilted her head, her face dropping into concentration. “You think your shell could handle being scooped out? You’d make a good dolly regard-”
“Whoa!” Lee’s body then swooped right between, attempting to release Buzzter’s head from the ten-year old looking corpse child. “Sorry ‘bout that! She’s just sort of…
“Noel! Why are you here? A-aren’t you with him?” Lee himself whispered, attempting to twist in her direction.
The younger, ominously scruffy child stared up at him, like she honestly thought he’d actually remember something important this time. “I have to be with you. That’s an actual contractual thing, Lee Corse. You have to be kept safe. Your fathers said so.”

The fishman pulled away again, clutching onto the punchbowl he had before.
“Noel, first of all, turning others into dolls is not polite behavior at a party.” Belial said to her, trying his best to stay calm, even if things like this threatened to happen. “Secondly- Lee might be still be trying to adjust.”


Life had to be going on out there. Even if it should have been just only a few days in Otherside, Zee had a feeling that more time must have passed than that. There was a pang of conflicting interests that she knew wasn’t there before. More memories that should have been generated by a few near-death experiences and a brief trip to a giant’s suburban home. Hell, she felt like she had an actual job that needed more mental focus than this. But here they were.
Here.
In a cave. Surrounded by creeping inkblots that actually did end up saying all that out loud to them. And the one phrase that came up more often than not was {This shouldn’t be happening now.}


“This feels like a work of fiction.” Zee asked Lee, in their minds. “One that I don’t know if actually making or not.”
Lee blinked, turning his focus on the antics in the room, as Noel continued to interact, as Belial attempted to keep her from latching other’s faces, and onto the one thing he found to be stable around here. “What, is this some sort of creative blockage or something?”
“It’s not a lack of creativity, it’s just-” Zee paused, trying to figure out the most delicate way to put it. “- Actually happening now?”
“And?”
“And I don’t think I have an ending in mind for this one.”

Lee was quiet for a moment. “Is that supposed to be metaphorical, or literal?”

“Both? Look, I’m sorry if this seems a bit self-centered or something, but I don’t really like not knowing what’s going to happen. I could handle it out there, because that’s what happens out there. Things happen without your control and you react to them the best you can. I can do that. In here, there’s so many people planning things out to the tiniest detail that I’m not even sure if anyone actually knows what’s actually the truth or not. Or if it’s going to actually happen.”
From the outside, it looked like Lee was having an internal crisis, but in truth, he was slowly getting tired of all this. “And you’re saying that’s my-”
“I’m not.” Zee replied, turning Lee’s head to the floor along with hers. “We’re all frustrated here, I know. I just want to get some things cleared up before, you know, the end.”


“Look, I’m sorry.” Lee said, outloud to the rest of the party. “Tell you what? I’ll let you ask any question you want. Any question, and I’ll answer it the best I can possibly can, alright?”
And so it was.



Go ahead. Ask away.