Back in the Land of the Dead, in the Castle of Imminent Doom and Despair, the Lord of the Dead sat in the Room of Voices, still holding the orb that allowed him to talk through Dante. The skeleton sighed even though it had no lungs or a beating heart, and listened to the skeleton crows cawing on a dead tree just outside of the window. James, the living man sat across from Death, a scowl on his face. "Don't look at me like that, I can't just interfere in the world of the Living as I please. The best I could do was give them that warning." James glare at the talking skeleton narrowed. "That damn skin stealer has been chasing my brother for seven years now, and the best you can do is send a warning? Normally you would just go and bring the skin stealer back and put them in the boiling pots." Death got up from its chair and placed the orb back on its pedestal. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to tell you this, but I've been losing my grip on the reins. More and more skin stealers have been breaking out of here, and the Land of the Dead has been going through... changes." James gave it a curious look, but the skeleton merely pointed out the window at the skeleton crows. James studied the bird carefully, and saw what Death meant. The dead birds were beginning to grow flesh, not a lot but enough to notice. "What's going on Death?" The skeleton sat back down in the chair and said, "Because so many dead beings have been going to the Land of the Living, the Land of the Dead has been shifting from death into life. And the Land of the Living is starting to shift from life into death. Because of this I've been slowly losing power to control the dead. Hell, until you came here I was beginning to neglect the fates, a fatal mistake on my part. If the shift is allowed to continue, everyone living being will die and life will start all over again, but on this side instead of the other. I will lose my position as Lord of the Dead, and be cast into the Oubliette for failure of catastrophic proportions." The living man stared, wide-eyed, at the Lord of the Dead, shocked at what he had just heard. "Is there anyway to stop the shift from happening?" Death paused for a moment, "There is, but it will require your brother and his, er... new friends. And even then, it's a very VERY small chance it will even work, mainly because I've let the situation spiral out of control to this point." James looked down at the floor, then back at the skeleton. "Where do we start then?" Lord of the Dead and the living man left the Room of Voices and went into the Room of Many Disorganized Plans.
End of part 6.
End of part 6.