Welcome to Gatori Cafe

The last time I got an invite in a form of a black paper, I ended up finding out I'm already dead. Something tells me, this is also not a good sign.

I was about to take the envelope from TanTan but Damon held my hand and stopped me. He reached for it instead and the envelope sparked fire until it burned to ashes. A piece of paper is the only thing left. I picked it up fron the middle of the ashes.

"Dear little soul,

I, the Supreme Ruler of the Purgatory, am cordially inviting you for a casual dinner with me and my children. I would like to get to know the new addition to the Gatori cafe.

Do begin your journey as soon as you received this."

The Supreme ruler? Liam and Johan did mention him before but is he the equivalent of King? Then does that mean I'll be having dinner with Prince Asmo and his father? If the prince is already like that, I'm pretty sure the king would be very intimidating.

Or is this finally my promotion to be an Angel of Death? Impossible. I remember thay said that it would take years before I can be one.

"News do travel fast. It even reached the old geezer." said Liam.

"So what's the plan?" Johan asked.

"Let's temporary close Gatori Cafe. I doubt it can operate with just the two of you anyway. But don't neglect your main duties while I'm not around." Damon let out a deep sigh. "TanTan, prepare an outdoor attire for Eugene and tell the Supreme leader, Eugene and I will start our Journey tomorrow morning."

"What do you mean you and I? You're going with me?" I asked Damon.

"Who else will go with you? And I doubt you'll even get past Level 7 on your own."

~~

Morning came. TanTan dressed me up. I am wearing a black see-through tight fitting long sleeve top, turtleneck. A sleeveless vest to layer on top of it. And a leather dark rusty red pants and a cape like half skirt to wrap around my waist.

We came out of my room. Damon looked at me from head to toe.

"You should've prepared something more simple. One thing we don't want to do while passing the lower levels is to grab their attention. "

"Damon's right TanTan . Why don't we remove Eugene's vest? " Liam jestingly said.

Damon shook his head in disappointment on Liam's joke. He then approached me and put on me a hooded cape. He wore one for himself also.

"Let's not interact with other souls as much as possible. Always stick close to me."

"This will be your first time going beyond the cafe and to the Limbus to boot. Be careful and always listen to Damon. He's the one you can trust the most out there." Johan send us off.

Up we go the stairs and entered the cafe to the usual back door and exited through the front door. What greeted me is the humid feeling. It feels like summer with a bit of wind.

"Tell me if you can't take the heat. The lower we go the more hot it feels."

We continued walking until we reached a market place. The souls are acting just like humans do. Maybe it is because they were human so I guess the saying old habits die hard. Their appearances don't scare me as much. I guess I've got used to the Purgatory already.

There were also children running around. Does that mean they died at a young age? Or were they born here? Just like Damon. I wonder if he's like that too. A child Damon. I'm sure he looks so cute. I can't help but chuckle as I imagine it.

"What are you laughing at?" Damon asked.

"Ah.. I was just wandering what you look like when you were young. With how good looking you are, I'n pretty sure you were very cute back then."

Damon stopped on his track and glared at me.

"Stop thinking about useless stuff."

Is it just me but I think Damon is slightly blushing. So instead of getting scared of his warning, I find it funny and adorable. He looks quite intimidating maybe because he needs to as the Leader of the Angels of Death but I'm sure he's as friendly as Liam and Johan.

And with a month living and working with him, I know he's very caring.

"How big is Paradis?"

"There are 2 market squares. This one is mainly focused on food and basic needs. This is where we buy supplies for the cafe. Between the 2 market is a residential town for the souls. By night, we can reach the end of Paradis. Paradis is actually not big compared to the other levels. And it even has the least population. "

"Speaking of level, what level are we going to? And how long does it take? " Come to think of it, I never asked them about the levels they keep on talking about. I was focused on the cafe. But the Prince yesterday did mention about Level 7. So that's where we might be heading to.

"The Supreme Ruler is at Level 0 or what we all know as the Limbus." Tantan did mention this before. Limbus is at the bottom level while Paradis is at the very top.

"How many levels are there?"

"Excluding Paradis and Limbus, there are 7 levels. Each level will take atleast a day to travel into." A day for each level? 7 days to go to the Limbus? Then it means it's another 7 days to go back up. We'll be travelling for 14 days?

"Are going to travel on foot? How about the elevator at home? Wouldn't it be faster to take that?"

"Elevators doesn't exist in Purgatory. That elevator only goes from where you're from to our home. "

" But we didn't even pack anything. No food. No extra clothes."

"Each floor has food establishments and accomodation. Although, the lower we get, it gets worse."

"Then how about we buy some food to pack for our Journey?"

" Not allowed. Foods are meant to be consumed on the same level it is made or bought. The same goes for other materials. Bringing them on other levels are considered smuggling and is punishable."

"But you're the Leader of the Angels of Death. Can't you make an exception?"

"No. This is what it means to Journey. The Supreme Ruler wants you to experience this."

Experience what? Tire myself to death? Although I am already dead. He did say there are restaurants at the other floor so maybe no need to worry about starving.

growl~

What timing. My stomach is growling as I think about starving.