He's been beat up again. This time, just a little bit worse.

He sobs for a few hours, his grandma takes care of everything he needs. From his food to his clothes.

Ryuji is in a little bad spirit after the beating though. So she decides to make his favourite soup.

She gathers the ingredients and starts preparing it immediately. Her spine is a little bit bent due to the years taking a toll on her, but she doesn't look bothered by any work at all.

Ryuji's ears stand up immediately on smelling the stew.

He slowly walks over to the Kitchen and looks at his grandma from the corner of the gate.

She is preparing the soup in a large container. Enough for them to eat all day. But he knew she'll probably give half of it to the homeless kids near the bridge, Almost at the outskirts of the area he lives in.

That's what he liked about his Grandma. She wasn't greedy at all. She always did something good, not just for him, but everyone around them. And she never failed to take care of him. She was such a mature lady.

His Grandma notices him standing in the corner, and smiles at him. Ryuji blushes a little and runs over to her, hugging her. He still cannot reach over her, but he knows he'll soon be old enough.

"Are you finally ready to help me, Grandson?" Ryuji's Grandma says in a kind and soothing tone.

Ryuji nods enthusiastically and immediately runs to get the plates. He starts washing them slowly. All the plates his grandma used to cut the vegetables.

Then he sets up the bowls and everything.

After a while, as the soup is all hot and served, He drinks it with such an elated happiness. As if a 9-5 worker just came out of a hot shower after a whole week of work.

He puts a hand on his tummy and rests his head free, supporting himself using his hand on the ground.

*Burp*

His Grandma Chuckles and both of them share a few laughs.

Then, after a few minutes, a concerned sound appears in Grandma's voice

"My sweet pea Ryuji. You've.... Not been lonely, right?"

Ryuji looks down, a little put down, "It's a little sad sometimes, Granny.... But...."

He looks up at her with hope and innocence, a slight smile on his face, "As long as I have you, i feel i don't even need to worry."

His Grandma Chuckles.

But Ryuji has a question of himself, "But grandma.... Don't you ever get lonely.... Without grandpa.... Or ma and pa...."

His grandma looks for a little, and starts speaking, "You're a little small, Ryuji.... i don't know if you'll properly understand. But i want to tell you about my life.... and my emotions.... because life is really unpredictable, right? When he went away from me.... I felt a little sad..... But...."

She forms a small smile on her face, "I found comfort in living with his memories....

He fought hard for the future of this country.... And whenever I do something nice for the people around.... I feel I'm protecting something he dearly molded...."

She gestures Ryuji to come sit by her side. He slowly slides to her, and she faces him, "And your Pa.... He was the memory he left me.... I loved to watch him grow up.... When he grew up, he married a girl from our neighbourhood who he had spent all his childhood with.... They both were a lovely couple.... They eventually left me too.... When I was watching dreams of leaving everything in their hands without a worry.... But...."

Her eyes well up a little, and she hugs Ryuji's head, "But they left me such a precious memory too.... I'm so sad and scared.... What if I cannot be there anymore.... When this little snow flake needs me...."

Ryuji might be a little small.... But he understood what his grandma meant.... But to him, Death was still a concept he didn't properly understand.... It wouldn't be until later he would have to learn about it.

And the Current Ryuji, He knew death all too well.... You could say that because.... Uh.... He was dead himself.... On earth ofcourse.

Right now, he was just eagerly awaiting what was in store for him.

He looks around to sense his Comrades's presence, but .... They're nowhere to be seen.

He is startled by this. By the time he realises something is off, his speed starts decreasing. He looks around in the vast space. All the stars that were illuminating it were suddenly gone. As if someone flipped a switch and turned them off.

He turned around once, then turned back again. He felt he had come to a halt, he wasn't moving through the path.

He was a little worried about what could've happened, but took a deep breath and turned his body into a fighting stance. His left leg behind his right, and his right hand high, with his left hand near the abdomen. It looked like a stance for both defending and offending.

But what he saw baffled him.

A black Tiger, his yellow and blue eyes, stood there, looking at him as if he were a prey.

Ryuji looked at it with surprise.... What's this Tiger doing here?

But if that wasn't enough to baffle him, A man, wearing a black suit with frills that had yellow highlights walks through one of the mesh walls. His face extremely handsome and full of glow. His skin clear and spotless. His hair are long and a little curly, forming a nice hairstyle. If that man had existed somewhere on earth, any Woman would fall head over heels for him.

But this situation was not ideal.... Who was this man?

The Man slowly walks behind the majestic black tiger and starts petting his head, the tiger still glaring at Ryuji, just a little less aggresive now.

"W-Who ar-"

"Holding the pathway of Souls in a constant state for more than a few minutes is taxing, even for me. So, Ryuji, Listen carefully."

He glares at Ryuji, making Ryuji feel a heavy pressure on his body, a heavy, menacing and bloody pressure, As if his soul is gonna be crushed to pieces if he dares to go against him. He felt like he was the prey.

The tiger growled low, it's gaze still locked on to Ryuji, Amplifying the crushing dread.... This tiger.... Wasn't ordinary either.

The man took a step closer, his polished black shoes making no sound, and his smirk deepened-- a cold, joyless thing devoid of humanity.

And with a cold, Menacing voice, he says, "If the other gods see you.... They'll connect the dots.... And everything I've done will be in vain."

He suddenly appears in front of Ryuji, his finger on his heart, "It's a shame, Ryuji. If you had gotten to come to Elysium, Maybe I'd have taken you under my wing."

Ryuji's heart starts burning and he screams in pain.

"UAAAAAGHHHHHHHH!!!!"

The pain of having his heart burnt was much worse than being cut, Tortured or having your nerves exposed outside your body.

Ryuji glances at the god in pain, The god looks nothing like the graceful being he just looked like a few seconds ago, all he sees in that expression of his is a desire to give pain. The god slowly brings his lips closer to Ryuji and speaks, "Ryuji.... Remember my name... I'm Taijin.... I decided to have mercy on you by not destroying your soul right here and right now. Worship me if you like! Haha!"

And with a push, he leaps back.

Ryuji's eyes turn blood red and he falls to his knees. The Pathway of Souls splits into two and a huge serpent appears above in the sky. With a large growl, the white menacing serpent, With pristine white scales, opens his mouth that has a thousand fangs, dripping a green liquid, a potent poison that could even work as acid.

Ryuji is getting his teeth, his eyes brimming with Hatred and confusion. But the man is too far. Before he knows, he walks away with his Black tiger, and disappears in a puddle of light. Stabilizing the pathway of light once again. But now, The pathway he's going to is much worse. The serpent suddenly lunges at the pathway, and eats Ryuji up, breaking the path that's still not able to move properly. But before long, the Pathway is empty and the Serpent itself stars slithering in the space itself. Supposedly disappearing....

*

*

'Uh....... My body.....'

[Antidote injected in your body. Trying to neutralize the poison....]

**

[FAILED] 

**

[Antidote injected in your body. Trying to neutralize the poison....]

[FAILED]

"You think it's okay to use all our resources on this man?"

Ryuji hears faint voices in his ears, they are not too loud.... Are they far away.....? they are not far away though.... It's just that he can't hear properly right now.

He feels a cold, wet cloth cleaning his body off. But he can only feel the sensation when he focuses on it. The pain in his body is too great to be focus even on his most basic senses.

But he gathers the strength and opens his eyes, he sees a beautiful woman, standing there, Tending to his wounds. And beside, there's a handsome man, looking in around his 30's sitting there and preparing some kind of medicine in a bowl made of a skull.

The woman shouts, "I don't think Medicine is enough! It's not working! We need to use the leeches to extract the venom from his blood!"

The man hurriedly puts the medicine down and runs over outside, "I'll get them! Try your best to keep him alive!"

"I am!"

The woman is looking worried..... After a while.... The man comes back and they start attaching leeches to every part of his body that has a wound.

"My God.... What was he doing there.... The demons would've killed him if he was seen...." The man exclaims, His voice heavy with concern and surprise.

"I don't know...."

Ryuji's strength betrays him and he goes unconscious.... Again.... He doesn't know it.... But he's already woken up at least 8 times before and fell asleep right down again. Those both had gotten used to this and didn't bother to react, knowing he'll fall asleep right back.

**

Both of those kind souls perform the surgery for hours. Giving it their all.

And finally after 3 whole days. Ryuji wakes up.

He slowly opens his eyes, feeling dizzy, the pain still radiating in his body. But at least he's conscious.

He supports himself to sit up straight, his body is covered in bandaids all over.

He looks around his surroundings and sees he's in a small cave. The cave is lit up with a few candles, a few utensils lying around in makeshift cabinets.

Some rags covering small openings in the cave.

He slowly tries to get up. He clenches his stomach in pain, walking slowly towards the cave opening.

It surprises him a lot to see where he is.... He sees himself on the edge of a cliff, Almost about to fall. The sky is pitch black, Not even a single star in it. And the bottom of the cliff is scorching lava. It's hundreds of feet below him.... But still, If he fell, he wouldn't survive it at all. And his death would not be at all pleasant....

He can feel the heat of the lava till here..... But it's still not enough to cause him any discomfort.

The soil is red in color, which he only noticed just now, the stone he's standing on is hard and sturdy, but he still doesn't trust it. Realisation hits him and he immediately hugs the wall, breathing heavily as he realises the gravity of his situation, only one question echoing in his mind,

'where am i?'.

Suddenly a voice speaks from behind him, "Oh? The new unfortunate soul is finally up? Welcome to hell."

"HELL?!"