And so I present to you, my NaNo for 2010! I post it here in the hopes of getting criticism and other points of view, because I want to get my proof-copy done perfect. I'm still editing, although I imagine updates will be quick since most of it is written anyway. This is my first time letting anyone read it, so enjoy!

I dedicate it to all the awesome people who know who they are. C:

Arthur is the angel in charge of bringing souls from Earth to Heaven, and has been on the clock for more than six thousand years without vacation. He's overworked and underpaid, and he's finally snapped. Whisked away by his best friend/worst enemy Francis, the Ferryman for the river Styx and Arthur's demonic counterpart, the two abandon their jobs in favour of a holiday in Europe.

Meanwhile, there is Alfred, Arthur's adopted son and not the sharpest knife in the tree. Al believes his father is dead, and with the help of not-quite-demon Feliciano, he will stop at nothing to avenge his father's death (whether or not that actually happened).

All's fine and dandy for a while, but without the otherworldly deities around to do their jobs, things start to go wrong, and Earth is bearing the consequences. Enter Yao, a Chinese clairvoyant whose prophecies never come true, and the other two members of the Asian Trio; Kiku, a Japanese youth cursed with terrible luck (but only on Thursdays) and the Korean man, Im, who is a hell of a lot more trouble than he's worth. Together with their friend the Canadian kid, an unfortunate student possessed by the soul of a dead Viking woman, the guys decide that it is up to them to stop the world from coming to an end.

Of course, no apocalypse would be complete without a horde of flesh-eating zombies.

The Cast

Angels

Arthur

The angel in charge of carrying souls to Heaven. An uptight, crusty old deity who takes the form of a young English gentleman. He's been around since before all this new-fangled "Iron Age" nonsense, which makes him quite senior in rank (but nobody ever listens to him). Wrongfully accused of dying.

Alfred

Or just plain 'Al'. One of the younger angels, and the only one who wears jeans around Heaven. He's not the brightest, but he makes up for it in determination and good intentions. Instigator of the plan of Avenging Arthur's Death. Of course, Artie isn't actually dead, but Alfred won't let that stop him.

Demons

Francis

The ferryman who carts souls across the river Styx and into the gates of Hell. He's been around longer than Arthur. Takes the form of a suave blonde in his early thirties. His job is pretty dead, so he delights in taking trips to the human world to pick up chicks, buy fashionable clothes, pretend to be French and tick off Arthur as much as possible. Accused of murder, but doesn't mind it too much.

Feliciano

Probably not actually a demon. His presence in Hell is a mystery, since he doesn't do much, but nobody bothered to throw him out. Quite close friends with Francis. If one did not know better, one would call him kind of "special", but that's all speculation. Nobody seems to find this strange.

Bosses

God

An obnoxious child who delights in overworking his angels and rarely listens to advice. Is extremely interested in humans and decides things on a whim, often causing disastrous consequences which have to be dealt with by His subordinates, such as famine, earthquakes and Justin Bieber.

Satan

CEO of Hell and generally a sadistic bastard. Loves His job more than any sane man should. Insists on having a life soundtrack and always has his musicians following Him around. Tends to stop whatever He is doing to correct his their song choices.

The Devil's Musicians

A trio of strings. Nobody has ever heard them speak.

Humans

(the Asian trio)

Yao

A Chinese clairvoyant who frequently has prophetic dreams that never come true, although that doesn't stop him from trying to warn everyone anyway. He also communicates with the dead, mostly through text messages. His biggest regret is not getting an unlimited phone plan early on in life.

Im

An energetic young Korean who delights in messing shit up. Prefers to look at the brighter side of life (as in, "As long as someone else is suffering worse than me, I'm just fine!").

Kiku

A Japanese youth cursed with terrible luck (but only on Thursdays). He doesn't know how, but Im suggests that Kiku has somehow pissed off the God of Thursdays. Kiku is starting to believe this. He also suspects that the God of Mondays is angry at him too (but then again, the God of Mondays hates everyone).

and

The Canadian Kid

A suicidal Canadian who laments his existence following the fateful day he ate a haunted orange, causing him to acquire the soul of a long-dead Viking woman. He now has two souls fighting over possession of his body, because let's face it, it's pretty cramped in there. The Canadian kid's numerous attempts at suicide are routinely thwarted by passers-by, most of the time by accident.

The (Un)Dead

Pochi

Kiku's dog. It's an unpleasant little bastard.

Elizabeta

A soul who should have departed a long time ago, but for some reason found herself hanging around on Earth. Centuries have gone by and she is now stuck in the body of a young man, although she doesn't seem to mind this as much as he does.

The Zombie Herd

A legion of the undead forced to wander around Earth as their souls have nowhere else to go. Perpetually questing for brains, but start to get smarter as time goes by. One of them is dyslexic.