Tulip and I stood next to one another in the parking lot as the writer took a can of spray-paint and made drew a circle on the ground. He looked at it thoughtfully, then drew an x across it.
"What does it mean?" Tulip asked.
"Nothing," the writer said. "And everything. It means whatever you want it to mean."
"Do you always talk in cryptic bullshit?" Tulip said.
"Most of the time," the writer said. "We just need two more items. You two stay here." He walked to the right and then stopped, turned around, and walked to the left.
"So why are we traveling with him again?" Tulip asked me.
"He's going to lead us to the Wall," I said.
"And how do you know that?" she asked.
I shrugged. I didn't know if I should tell her about the ORACLE or not. I tried to play it safe. She didn't seem to mind being in the dark. She told me that it was fine just having an adventure for the sake of having an adventure. "Like The Hobbit," she said. "Although with more eldritch abominations."
We stood there talking until the writer came back. In one hand, he held a handgun. In the other hand, he held a cheeseburger. He set the cheeseburger down in the center of the x-ed circle. Then he held up the handgun.
"Are you sure he knows what he's going?" Tulip asked.
"No," I said truthfully.
The writer pointed the handgun at the cheeseburger and was about to pull the trigger when a voice said, "Wait, wait, wait!"
A man ran into the parking lot. He wore a black hoodie with the same x-ed out circle on the back. He pulled down his hood and I saw he was young, with long, dark brown hair. "Dude," he said to the writer. "Were you going to shoot that cheeseburger?"
"Yep," the writer said.
"That is not cool," the man in the hoodie said.
"We needed a way to find you and this was the fastest," the writer said. "Hello, Omega. By the way, you can eat the cheeseburger if you want."
Omega's face broke out in a massive smile. "Awesome," he said and grabbed the cheeseburger, gobbling it up in three bites.
"We need a favor," the writer said.
"Are you runners?" Omega asked. "I only do favors for runners."
"Sure," the writer said, "though we're running towards, rather than from. We need to pass through the Seven Hells."
"Whoa," Omega said. "Even I don't go near those places."
"Still, we need to go through them," the writer said. "We need you to show us the path."
"Why?" Omega asked.
"You don't need to know that," the writer said.
"Then why should I risk my life for you?" Omega said.
The writer laughed. "Risk your life? Which one? From what I've heard, you have so many, it's hard to keep track."
Omega seemed ticked off at this. "It still hurts when I die, dude."
"Fine," the writer said. "We need to pass through the Seven Hells in order to reach the Wall. And that will allow us to save the universe."
"Sweet," Omega said. "Why didn't you just say that? Okay, follow me."
Tulip turned and looked at me. I shrugged. Who was I to question the wisdom of the writer? If this Omega was to be our Charon, then so be it. I just hoped they both knew what they were doing.
We starting walking behind Omega and he began to talk. "Going from plane to plane, that's easy. You just have to find soft spots, places where reality bends. Reality is like a seven-layer dip. You got the melted cheese on top -- that's normal reality -- and then you got the guacamole and the sour cream and the salsa. Those are the in-between places, like the Path of Black Leaves. Then you get lower than that, where everything becomes mushy. That's where the Seven Hells are."
As we walked, the landscape around us changed. The parking lot faded away, the buildings disappeared into fog, and the ground turned from concrete into wet earth.
Trees entangled with vines rose around us. We were in a swamp. I could feel the humidity of the place bearing down on us.
"Now, because reality is so mushy in this place," Omega said, "things tend to get even weirder than normal. Like this place. This is the First Hell."
"Welcome to Abzu. Welcome to the Hell of Life."
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