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The distribution of this story is for personal use only. Any other form of distribution is prohibited without the consent of the author.
Two sexes, two poles, two of me...
Up, down, left, right, two of me...
Front, back, heaven, earth, two of me...
Angel, devil, two sides of me...
And inside I'm hollow ... inside I'm hollow...
Inside I'm hollow... Inside I'm hollow...
Jesse lay in bed, watching a "Revolutionary Girl Utena" marathon. James lay asleep beside her, and Meowth was curled up at the foot of the bed. It was a rare thing for them to actually sleep indoors, in their line of work. The boss didn't usually give them money for a hotel, so they camped out most of the time. Today they had lucked out. They had managed to steal enough money to afford a nice hotel room with cable television. They were on the trail of the "twerp trio" trying (yet again) to steal Ash's pikachu. Jesse watched as Jury and Utena dueled on the television. All though that episode, Jesse had been thinking about Jury, who was trying to prove that miracles didn't exist.
"I hope they do," thought Jesse. "Because it'll probably take a miracle to catch that brat's pikachu..."
Jesse turned off the TV and laid down, snuggling close to James.
"We're going to win one of these days..." she thought, as she drifted off to sleep.
"This is all your fault!" Jesse yelled at James, as they soared through the air.
"It was Meowth's fault!" James whined, pointing at the flying feline ahead of them.
"Shut up, yous two!" Meowth yelled. "Dis ain't Meowth's fault! It's you two idiots dat screw everything up all da time!"
"Shut up!" they yelled back.
Suddenly Jesse noticed where they were going to land. It was a lake full of gyarados, and they all looked very hungry...
"Meowth doesn't wanna be catfood!!!" the cat pokemon cried.
"Prepare for trouble!!!!!" they all screamed in unison, squeezing their eyes shut.
"Where are we?" asked James.
"I... don't know..." Jesse replied, staring at the white robes they were wearing. "Could we be ... dead?"
She and James clung to each other and started screaming "We don't wanna die!!!"
"Be quiet, you two!" a voice said.
A short man in a white robe floated down in front of them.
"Who are you?" asked James, still clinging to Jesse.
"I'm the unfortunate person who's been sent to handle you case," was the reply.
"Where are we?!" asked Jesse. "Where's Meowth!?"
"HE survived," the short man said. "And they've been arguing in heaven for THREE HOURS about what to do with the two of you."
Jesse stared at him. "You mean..."
"We really are dead?" James finished.
They began screaming again.
"We don't wanna die! We don't wanna die!"
"BE QUIET!!!" the short man yelled.
They both shut up.
"Now listen up," he continued. "You're not evil, but you're not good either, so nobody knows rather to send you to heaven or to Hell. One-third of the voting party wanted to send you to heaven, one-third wanted to sent you to Hell, and one-third wanted to send James to heaven and Jesse to Hell."
"Thanks a lot," Jesse muttered sarcastically.
"Voting party?" asked James, confused.
The short man ignored both of them. "Anyway, a decision has been made concerning your cases and I've been sent to inform you."
James became hysterical. Clenching Jesse tightly, he started screaming "I DON'T WANNA GO TO HELL! I DON'T WANNA GO! I DON'T WANNA!!!"
The short man continued "Since two-thirds of the overall voting party wanted James to go to heaven, he'll go to heaven."
James stopped screaming and looked rather relieved.
"And since two-thirds wanted Jesse to go to Hell..." the short man finished, "That's where she'll go."
Jesse looked like she was going to be sick.
James started screaming again.
"You can't split us up!" he yelled. "I don't care where we go, just as long as we're together! You can't split us up, you can't!"
The short man stared at James like he had three heads.
"You actually WANT to go to Hell?" he asked.
"I want to be with Jesse!" James said, holding her tightly.
Jesse stared at him, disbelieving. This was the bravest thing she had ever seen him do, and he was doing it for her.
The short man sighed and said "Okay, if that's the way you want it..."
"No!" said Jesse.
The short man was getting majorly annoyed. "Look, lady, I don't have an eternity..."
Then he stopped to consider. "Well, actually, I do but... I don't want to spend it here. What do you want?"
Jesse turned to James. "James, I can't let you do this. I can't let you go to Hell because of me."
"But Jesse, I love you," he said.
"And I love you," she returned, "that's why I can't let you suffer because of me."
James began to cry. "Jesse, I don't care. I don't want us to be separated."
"I'm so sorry," she said, hugging him. "If I'd been better in my life this wouldn't be happening."
"But I was just as bad!" he said.
"I love you, James. I'll always love you..." said Jesse, tenderly touching her lips to his. "Forgive me for not telling you sooner..."
Then, turning to the short man, she said "Take him to heaven, I'm going alone."
"JESSE NO!" yelled James, holding her tightly. Suddenly he felt a force of light pulling him upward. A flame from below shot up and wrapped itself around Jesse.
It yanked her out of his arms and pulled her downward, screaming. In a second, she was gone.
"JESSE!!!!!"
The light pulled James upwards into heaven and set him on the ground. He desperately began trying to dig back down into the ground with his hands. Upon finding this impossible, he turned to where the short man had been, preparing to demand that he be sent with Jesse. But the short man was gone and James was alone. Still on his knees, James began screaming in agony. The emotional pain he felt at that moment would probably have been enough to kill him, if he weren't dead already.
He curled up on the ground and cried in pure misery.
"You should consider yourself lucky," he said. "Not everyone gets the honor of meeting me when they get sent down here."
Despite Jesse's attempt to stand at attention, she was shaking like a leaf.
The devil laughed.
"Your situation is rather unique," he said, "So you'll be permitted to go where you please. Since you're a member of Giovanni's Team Rocket gang you might want to consider joining my army. It's pretty much the same line of work."
"You know the boss?" she asked him.
"Of course," the devil replied. "He's had a place reserved for him down here for years. Anyway, since you're going to be spending eternity here I'll have one of my minor demons give you a tour."
Jesse started to cry. She didn't want to spend eternity here. She wanted to spend eternity with James.
"It's not so bad," the devil told her. "In fact we have a lot of fun down here. Well, not everyone has fun down here, but since you're not condemned to anything particularly unpleasant, I'm sure you'll be fine once you get used to it. Anyway, I'm a very busy person so you'll have to forgive me for cutting this short. Now about that tour... ANDROMEDIOUS!!!"
A minor demon appeared with a puff a smoke.
"Yes, O my master?" he asked, bowing with his right fist over his chest.
"Give this woman a tour of Hell and then show her to her quarters," the devil told him.
"To hear is to obey," the minor demon replied.
Jesse followed the minor demon outside. Other than the heat, the first thing she noticed was the terrible smell.
"What is that?" asked Jesse.
"What?" asked the demon.
"That smell?"
"Oh that," said the demon. "That's just the sulfur in the air."
"It stinks," said Jesse, wrinkling her nose.
"You'll get used to it," he told her. "Follow me."
A light lifted James up and one of angels breathed on his face. His tears abated immediately, but he was still unhappy.
"Who are you?" James asked the angel.
"I've been sent to show you the wonders of heaven," the angel replied.
For the first time, James looked around. The sky was a clear, beautiful shade of blue, reminding him of Jesse's eyes. All around him were flowers and angels, and he could see great white palaces in the distance. It was truly a sight to behold, but without Jesse to share it with, it was meaningless to him. All he could do was picture the flame wrapping itself around Jesse's body and stealing her from his arms. He could still hear her screaming in his mind.
"Come on," the angel said. "I'm supposed to show you around."
The first place they came to was a huge white building.
"This is the Great Library," the angel told him. "It contains a copy of every beautiful story ever written."
Next they went through the biggest garden James had ever seen. The angel told him that every type flower that ever existed grew in it somewhere. James agreed that it was beautiful and asked the angel if he could pick a flower from it.
"Of course. It'll grow back after you pick it," the angel said.
James reached down and picked a red rose. The moment he broke the stem a new one immediately grew in its place. James held the rose to his face. It smelled like a rose, but the scent was more intense. He immediately thought of Jesse, which brought tears to his eyes.
"You like roses?" the angel asked him.
"Of course," said James. "They are the flowers of love and romance."
As they walked through the garden, James was silent, letting the tears flow freely from his eyes.
They passed a couple making love amidst the flowers. The man was gently, tenderly embracing his partner. James blushed.
"You ... allow that sort of thing here?" he asked the angel. "I mean ... out in the open like this?"
"Why not?" asked the angel. "They're expressing their love for each other. What could be more beautiful than that?"
As they passed, James thought of Jesse, and how he had always hoped that one day the two of them could share that kind of intimacy. He started to cry again, silently, letting the tears flow down his face and onto the petals of the rose.
Finally, they got to the end of the garden. They came upon a tower so high that James couldn't see the top.
"What's that?" he asked.
"This is the Birdsong Tower," said the angel. "When you go inside, you hear whatever song you wish to hear the most."
"Can we go inside?" asked James, curious to see for himself if this was true.
"As you wish," the angel said, leading him in.
What James heard next shocked him.
It was Jesse's voice...
"You know us as Team Rocket and we fight for what is wrong. We're tired of our motto so we thought we'd try a song..."
James' face lit up with pure joy.
"It's Jesse!" he cried happily. "Jesse's in here!"
He ran up the stairs calling her name.
"Jesse! Jesse, I'm here!"
The angel ran after him.
"Wait!" he called. "She's not here!"
James stopped.
"But I hear her!"
"No, you hear whatever you want to hear," the angel told him. "Your friend is not here."
James ran out of the tower crying miserably.
"I want Jesse!" he said to the angel when he caught up with him.
"I love her! I don't want to spend eternity without her! Please, you've got to take me to her!"
"I can't do that," the angel told him.
"Please..." James begged, clutching the angel's robe.
"Only an archangel can do what you ask..." the angel said.
James stopped crying and looked into the angel's face.
"Then take me to one..."
"Now over here are the principal torture chambers," said the demon, "the lesser ones are scattered all over hell. Over there are the major cells and prisons and..."
"Prisons? They have prisons in hell?" interrupted Jesse.
"Oh sure," said the demon. "Plenty of prisons. That one over there is Berkeley Prison, the biggest. It's Our Master's favorite. It's named after the Lord Berkeley, who went mad and killed his entire household; his family, servants, and guests. He was hanged for his crimes and after his death his mansion was rumored to haunted."
"So he's a prisoner in the prison named after him?" asked Jesse.
"No, he runs the place!" the demon laughed.
"That hardly seems like a punishment," Jesse replied. "How is it that some people wind up in the prisons and others wind up running them?"
"Sometimes it's decided before they ever arrive, and sometimes Our Master decides," said the demon. "As for Berkeley's punishment, he's never allowed to leave Berkeley Prison. He's been at it for two hundred years already. How would you like to spend eternity running a place like that?"
Jesse thought about that.
"What sort of people do they put in the prisons?" she asked.
"All kinds," replied the demon. "Like yesterday, two sisters arrived in Hell fighting and screaming at each other. Turns out they had killed each other because they were jealous of each other. The oldest one made some tea for the younger one and poisoned it. When she turned her back, the younger sister stabbed her to death, and went to go drink the tea without realizing her sister had poisoned it. Before you knew it, they were both in hell arguing about who's fault it was." The demon laughed.
"But why were they put in prison?" Jesse wanted to know.
"Well, they were sent before Our Master so that he could decide what to do with them, but they wouldn't stop arguing long enough for him to get a word in edgewise, so finally he summoned me and said "Put them in a cell designed for one and leave them there until it freezes over down here!"
Jesse laughed in spite of herself. "So they'll stay there for all eternity?"
"No, just until the end of the world," said the minor demon. "They're in one of the minor cells.
"What about the people in Berkeley Prison?" asked Jesse.
"Well, my personal favorite happened only twenty years ago," said the demon. "A child arrived in Hell (we don't get too many of those) because he murdered both his parents, claiming they didn't give him enough attention. He cut them up and took parts to school to show his friends."
Jesse shuddered. This was the most disgusting thing she had ever heard.
"He got sent to the nut house, and one night about a year later he escaped. Didn't get to enjoy it for long, though. He wasn't paying attention crossing the road and got hit by a semi!" The demon began laughing hysterically.
"I fail to see the humor," said Jesse dryly.
The demon ignored her and continued, "So anyway, his eternal punishment was his greatest fear: he's condemned to spend eternity alone."
"Condemned to spend eternity alone... been there, done that," said Jesse bitterly.
"What's that?" she asked suddenly, pointing to what looked liked an ocean made of fire.
"That's the Lake of Fire," he told her.
"It sounds like it's screaming," said Jesse.
"No, it's the people in it that are screaming," the demon said.
"There are people in there?" asked Jesse. "It's not the kind of place I'd want to go swimming."
The demon chuckled. "They don't either. That's the eternal punishment for the most evil people of all."
"You mean they're trapped there forever?"
"No, just until the end of the world."
Suddenly an imp ran up to them and handed the minor demon a folder.
"Oh good, I was waiting for that," he said, opening it.
"What's that?" asked Jesse.
"It's your file," he told her. "Since they were having so much trouble deciding where to send you, your paperwork was delayed a bit."
"Can I see?" she asked.
"Sure, as soon as I find what I'm looking for."
They walked on a bit further.
What Jesse saw next made her yell so loud the demon dropped his papers.
"WHAT IN THE HELL IS THAT?!!" she cried, pointing to a huge baby floating in a clear fluid sac. The thing was easily ten times the size of Jesse. It looked like an embryo inside the womb.
"That's the Child of Darkness," the demon told her.
"It's HUGE!" said Jesse.
"Well, it IS two thousand years old," said demon.
"TWO THOUSAND?!" she cried. "You mean it'll sleep like that forever?"
"No," the demon replied. "Just until..."
"Just until the end of the world," Jesse finished. "I should have figured." She bent down to help the minor demon pick up the papers he dropped.
"Here it is," he said, picking one of the papers up. "This is what I was looking for." He gathered the rest of the papers up and put them into the folder.
"Here you go," he said, handing it to Jesse.
She opened the file. The first page had her name on it and listed all her faults. Vanity, Aggressiveness, Mistreating her loved ones, Deceitfulness, Dishonesty, Pride, Disloyalty, Thievery... The list went on and on. The more she more she read, the more upset she got. She realized she had faults just like everybody else, but reading them all on paper was too much for her. Especially the bit about "Mistreating her loved ones." She realized it was true.
"I hate myself," she cried. "I hate myself and everything that I am. I spent my whole life with James yelling at him and hitting him and in the end, he was willing to go to hell for me! I was so mean to him, and now I'll never be able to let him know how much I loved him and appreciated his companionship. I'm a horrible person and I deserve to go to Hell! Oh James, I'm so sorry!"
When she began to cry, the minor demon took the file from her hands.
"What's the paper you kept?" she asked, pointing to the single sheet of paper in his other hand.
"Your punishment," he said.
"Punishment?" she asked.
"Well, they don't call it eternal damnation for nothing," he told her. He handed her the paper. It said:
"Eternal separation from her beloved."
That was all she could stand. Jesse fell to her knees, screaming in hopeless misery.
"The archangel Jerahmeel is nearby," the angel said, "I'll take you to him..."
James felt a light engulf him. Suddenly the angel and world around him vanished, and he found himself standing before a beautiful man with golden wings. James felt humbled in the presence of this being.
"Please... c-can you help me-"
"I know why you have come," the archangel interrupted, "You have come to save one of the unworthy."
"Jesse is not unworthy!" James cried angrily, forgetting his fear. "You just don't understand her! Sure, she can be mean sometimes, but that's because of the hard life she's had to lead. Deep down she has a good heart and I know she loves me. She chose to go to hell alone rather than see me suffer! I have to save her!"
"Why?" asked the archangel.
James closed his eyes, but the tears still flowed down his face. "All my life, I've everything come to me easy. I was born into a life of wealth and privilege, and even when I ran away and met Jesse, I still had it easy. I always had Jesse to take care of me, but Jesse hasn't been that fortunate. She was born poor, and lost her mother when she was a child. She grew up learning to fend for herself, she had to be strong to survive! But I love her strength... if it hadn't been for Jesse's strength and endurance we might not have lasted as long as we did. I've always admired how strong and beautiful she is..." his voice trailed off for a few seconds. Then suddenly snapping back into reality, he continued, "She may be aggressive, but she's always taken care of me, and I know she loves me as much as I love her! It's my turn to help her, and if I can't, then at least we'll be in hell together!"
"You would choose eternal damnation over salvation just to be with that woman?" asked the archangel.
"Yes! I love her!"
"Turn around," the archangel told him.
James did so.
A large mirror stood before him. As he stared at his image he noticed something he hadn't before. He had wings! A pair of large, white, beautiful wings! He put his hand over his shoulder to feel them. They were real!
"This is your true form," the archangel said. "But that is not what I wanted to show you." The archangel waved his hand and the image in the mirror changed. James saw what looked like an orchard. The trees bore all different kinds of fruit, and strangest of all, they had blossoms and fruit at the same time. James meant to question the archangel about this, but before he could the image in the mirror changed again. This time it was a field filled with laughing children and all different kinds of Pokemon.
"Is all this part of heaven?" James asked.
"It is," the archangel replied. "Would you really choose to leave this forever?"
"Yes," said James. "Because without Jesse it is meaningless to me. Without love, there is no such thing as paradise." He touched the mirror with his fingertips, and the image faded out and turned black. "Without love, there is nothing."
The archangel smiled knowingly and waved his hand again. A new picture appeared in the mirror. A group of people were kneeling at the top of a tower. It looked like they were praying.
"I don't understand," said James, "What are they doing?"
"That is the Tower of Wishes," said the archangel. "Those you see are wishing for their loved ones living on earth. They protect and guide them though the power of their wishes."
"The power of their wishes?" James asked.
"They can find no peace, even in heaven, because without their loved ones they are incomplete. So they remain in the Tower of Wishes, protecting and guiding their loved ones until the day when they can be reunited."
"Then you do understand!" said James, turning to him. "You do know how important is for me to..." His voice trailed off.
The archangel stared at him for minute and then said, "This mirror will show you anything you wish to see."
James turned back around and faced the mirror.
"I want to see Jesse!" he cried. "Please show me Jesse!"
The mirror showed Jesse lying on a dark red bed. She was crying.
"Jesse!" James cried. "Jesse, can you hear me? I'm right here, Jesse!"
"She can't hear you," the archangel said.
James pressed both hands against the surface of the mirror and continued to watch his beloved...
"I know it's for the best... I couldn't let him come with me. I can't believe I'll never see him again..."
The demon had calmed her down long enough to show her where she would sleep. She didn't even know people could sleep in Hell. The number on the outside of her door was "666." The demon had told her that in Hell every room number was 666. He explained to her that in each building the doors were different colors, and that's how everyone could tell them apart. Her room was "666-red."
"I wasted my life," she said, sobbing into her dark red pillow. "I knew he loved me, and I never told him how I felt, because I was afraid of losing him..."
She rose from her bed and went to the window.
"What a fool I was..." she said, pressing her hand against the glass. "I thought if I got too close him, something would take him away from me... just like everything good in my life. Whenever anything good happened to us something always ruined it. I didn't want it to be the same with James... but something did take him away from me... and now it's too late..." She pressed her forehead against the window pane and cried bitterly.
Suddenly she heard her door shut. She turned around. A woman was standing there, leaning on the door and staring at Jesse.
"What to you want?!!" Jesse snapped. "Haven't you ever heard of knocking?"
"Why should I?" the woman asked her.
"Because you're supposed to knock before entering someone's room!" Jesse yelled.
"Not here," said the woman.
"What do you mean not here?" asked Jesse.
"What makes you think you're entitled to privacy? This is Hell."
The woman came closer to Jesse and continued to stare.
"Well, what do you want, then?!" said Jesse, getting extremely aggravated with her.
"I wanted to see you," was the reply.
"Why?" asked Jesse.
"Because I live in the next room, and wanted to know what you were like," she said.
"How long have you been down here?" Jesse asked her.
"About three years," the woman said.
"Why did you get sent here?" asked Jesse, sitting on the bed.
"I killed my baby," the woman replied.
Jesse stared at her in absolute horror. The woman showed no emotion, it was as if she were discussing the weather.
The woman continued, "I was raped by my father. I fell in love with a man named Paul and we were going to be married until I learned I was pregnant with my father's child. When I gave birth, I killed it, and then myself."
Jesse just stared at her. That was the most horrible thing she had ever heard.
"Why were you crying when I came in?" the woman asked her.
"Because the man I love is in heaven and I'll never see him again," she said, beginning the cry again.
"Don't worry, you'll feel better in a few days," the woman said.
"The hell I will! What would you know!?"
"I do know," the woman said. "In a few days you'll forget that you loved him. Your pain will be gone. It'll be like it was never there at all."
"What are you talking about?" Jesse asked her.
"Love cannot exist in Hell. It has no place. Your love for him will fade out of existence. I don't love Paul anymore. I can't even remember what it feels like to love."
"You mean I'm going to forget James?" Jesse cried, standing up.
"Of course you will, it's for the best-"
"Get out of my way!" Jesse yelled, knocking her to the floor. She ran from the room. "I've to get out here," she told herself. "I can't forget James, I won't!"
She ran out of the building and ran smack into a major demon.
"Just the person I wanted to see," he said, handing her a piece of paper.
"It's a draft notice," he told her. "Our Master wants you to join his army. I've been sent to collect you."
"Like Hell!" she yelled, ripping the paper in two. "You take me out of here right now!"
Jesse didn't notice that a crowd had gathered around them. They all began laughing at her.
The major demon also laughed.
"OUT of here? There is no way out of here. Right now you are in Our Master's good graces. If you cause trouble you'll just make things worse for yourself. Now let's go!"
"No! I don't belong here!" Jesse shouted. "This place is filled with murders, rapists, and baby killers. I may not be a saint but I'm not evil, I'm not!"
She grabbed the sword from the major demon and swung it at him. He just backed away and motioned some of the minor demons to come assist him.
"I'm getting out here," Jesse told all of them, "even I have to fight every vile thing in Hell to do it."