ᵀᴴᴲ 9ᵀᴴ ᴄᴉᴚᴄᴌᴈ

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OOC Thread​

“Congratulations sinners. You have just been awarded a Get out of Jail Free card. What will you do with this new found freedom? Will you repeat your past mistakes? Bear in mind, if you do not act appropriately, you will return here; and maybe in a worse location than before.” An ominous laughter fills the vast expanse.

“Your freedom comes at a price, like most everything else. A series of trials must be completed in order to leave the nine circles. Fret not, you aren’t alone. You shall be given a partner to complete these tasks, but that partner is in a different circle. A looking glass will be your form of communication.”

“Who am I?”

“That is of no importance. Just think of me as… your guardian angel. I like to see sinners given second chances. This hasn’t been officially approved of by those higher up. You and your partner are also not the only ones competing for redemption. Only four may reach the surface.”

“Why only four? I can’t let everyone through. Someone would catch onto what I am doing you foolish mortal,” more ominous laughter, “No one has ever made it all the way there. I will meet you in Limbo, if you survive. I do hope you do.”

The light began to fade. “Oh, one more thing: if you or your partner is unable to complete the tasks given to you, then you will forever be trapped in the circle you are currently occupying. Good luck.”

Blackness.....​

The nine circles, as described in the Divine Comedy, are depicted as suffering located within the Earth. They are categorized in this manner: Earth (the surface), Limbo (first circle), Lust (second circle), Gluttony (third circle), Greed (fourth circle), Anger (fifth circle), Heresy (sixth circle), Violence (seventh circle), Fraud (eighth circle), Treachery (ninth circle). The very pit of the ninth circle contains Lucifer, forever encases waist deep in ice. Even he is not without punishment. A brief description of each circle has been provided. This Role Play is 100% original. No knowledge on Dante’s Inferno is necessary to participate. While details such as the descriptions of the circles are provided from the Divine Comedy, it is an original Role Play.

Spoiler: Circles of Hell

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In Limbo reside the unbaptized and the virtuous pagans, who, though not sinful, did not accept Christ. Limbo shares many characteristics with the Asphodel Meadows; thus the guiltless damned are punished by living in a deficient form of Heaven. Without baptism ("the portal of the faith that you embrace") they lacked the hope for something greater than rational minds can conceive. Limbo includes green fields and a castle with seven gates to represent the seven virtues.

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Lust​

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In the second circle of Hell are those overcome by lust. They are the first ones to be truly punished in Hell. These souls are blown back and forth by the terrible winds of a violent storm, without rest. This symbolizes the power of lust to blow one about needlessly and aimlessly.

"... But to that second circle of sad hell,​

Where ‘mid the gust, the whirlwind, and the flaw​

Of rain and hail-stones, lovers need not tell​

Their sorrows. Pale were the sweet lips I saw,​

Pale were the lips I kiss’d, and fair the form​

I floated with, about that melancholy storm."​

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The English poet John Keats, in his sonnet "On a Dream,"​

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Gluttony​

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The "great worm" Cerberus guards the gluttons, forced to lie in a vile slush produced by ceaseless foul, icy rain. The gluttons lie here sightless and heedless of their neighbors, symbolizing the cold, selfish, and empty sensuality of their lives. Just as lust has revealed its true nature in the winds of the previous circle, here the slush reveals the true nature of sensuality – which includes not only overindulgence in food and drink, but also other kinds of addiction.

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Greed​

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Those whose attitude toward material goods deviated from the appropriate mean are punished in the fourth circle. They include the avaricious or miserly (including many "clergymen, and popes and cardinals"), who hoarded possessions, and the prodigal, who squandered them. The two groups are guarded by a figure names as Pluto, either Pluto the classical ruler of the underworld or Plutus the Greek god of wealth. The two groups joust, using as weapons great weights which they push with their chests:

"… I saw multitudes​

to every side of me; their howls were loud​

while, wheeling weights, they used their chests to push.​

They struck against each other; at that point,​

each turned around and, wheeling back those weights,​

cried out: 'Why do you hoard? Why do you squander?' "​

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Anger​

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In the swamp-like water of the river Styx, the wrathful fight each other on the surface, and the sullen lie gurgling beneath the water, withdrawn "into a black sulkiness which can find no joy in God or man or the universe." The lower parts of Hell are contained within the walls of the city of Dis, which is itself surrounded by the Stygian marsh. Punished within Dis are active (rather than passive) sins. The walls of Dis are guarded by fallen angels.

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Heresy​

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In the sixth circle, Heretics, (who say "the soul dies with the body") are trapped in flaming tombs.

"From these two, art and nature, it is fitting,​

if you recall how Genesis begins,​

for men to make their way, to gain their living;​

and since the usurer prefers another​

pathway, he scorns both nature in herself​

and art her follower; his hope is elsewhere."​

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Violence​

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The seventh circle houses the violent. Its entry is guarded by the Minotaur, and it is divided into three rings:

• Outer ring: This ring houses the violent against people and property. Sinners are immersed in Phlegethon, a river of boiling blood and fire, to a level commensurate with their sins. The Centaurs, commanded by Chiron and Pholus, patrol the ring, shooting arrows into any sinners who emerge higher out of the river than each is allowed.
• Middle ring: In this ring are suicides and profligates. The suicides – the violent against self – are transformed into gnarled thorny bushes and trees and then fed upon by Harpies. The trees are a metaphor for the state of mind in which suicide is committed. These suicides, unique among the dead, will not be corporally resurrected after the final judgment since they gave away their bodies through suicide; instead they will maintain their bushy form, with their own corpses hanging from the thorny limbs. The other residents of this ring are the profligates, who destroyed their lives by destroying the means by which life is sustained – i.e., money and property. They are perpetually chased and mauled by ferocious dogs. The destruction wrought upon the wood by the profligates' flight and punishment as they crash through the undergrowth causes further suffering to the suicides, who cannot move out of the way.
• Inner ring: Here are the violent against God (blasphemers) and the violent against nature (sodomites and, as explained in the sixth circle, usurers). All reside in a desert of flaming sand with fiery flakes raining from the sky, a fate similar to Sodom and Gomorrah. The blasphemers lie on the sand, the usurers sit, and the sodomites wander about in groups.

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Fraud​

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The last two circles of Hell punish sins that involve conscious fraud or treachery. These circles can be reached only by descending a vast cliff. The fraudulent – those guilty of deliberate, knowing evil – are located in a circle named Malebolge ("Evil Pockets"). This circle is divided into ten Bolgie, or ditches of stone, with bridges spanning the ditches:

• Bolgia 1: Panderers and seducers march in separate lines in opposite directions, whipped by demons. Just as the panderers and seducers used the passions of others to drive them to do their bidding, they are themselves driven by demons to march for all eternity
• Bolgia 2: Flatterers also exploited other people, this time using language. They are steeped in human excrement, which represents the words they produced.
• Bolgia 3: Those who committed simony are placed head-first in holes in the rock (resembling baptismal fonts), with flames burning on the soles of their feet.
• Bolgia 4: Sorcerers, astrologers, and false prophets here have their heads twisted around on their bodies backward, so that they "found it necessary to walk backward, / because they could not see ahead of them.” While referring primarily to attempts to see into the future by forbidden means, this also symbolizes the twisted nature of magic in general.
• Bolgia 5: Corrupt politicians (barraters) are immersed in a lake of boiling pitch, which represents the sticky fingers and dark secrets of their corrupt deals.The barraters are the political analogue of the simoniacs, and Dante devotes several cantos to them. They are guarded by devils called the Malebranche ("Evil Claws"), the sign for their march is provided by a fart: "and he had made a trumpet of his ass.”
• Bolgia 6: In the sixth Bolgia, the poets find the hypocrites listlessly walking along wearing gilded lead cloaks, which represent the falsity behind the surface appearance of their actions – falsity that weighs them down and makes spiritual progress impossible for them.
• Bolgia 7: Two cantos are devoted to the thieves. They are guarded by the centaur Cacus, who has a fire-breathing dragon on his shoulders and snakes covering his equine back (in Roman mythology, Cacus was not a centaur but a monstrous fire-breathing giant slain by Heracles). The thieves are pursued and bitten by snakes and lizards. The full horror of the thieves' punishment is revealed gradually: just as they stole other people's substance in life, their very identity becomes subject to theft here, and the snake bites make them undergo various transformations.
• Bolgia 8: Two further cantos are devoted to fraudulent advisers or evil counselors, who are concealed within individual flames. These are not people who gave false advice, but people who used their position to advise others to engage in fraud.
• Bolgia 9: In the ninth Bolgia, a sword-wielding demon hacks at the Sowers of Discord, dividing parts of their bodies as in life they divided others. As they make their rounds the wounds heal, only to have the demon tear apart their bodies again.
• Bolgia 10: In the final Bolgia, various sorts of falsifiers (alchemists, counterfeiters, perjurers, and imposters) – who are a "disease" on society – are themselves afflicted with different types of diseases.

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Treachery​

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The ninth and last circle is ringed by classical and Biblical giants, who perhaps symbolize pride and other spiritual flaws lying behind acts of treachery. The giants are standing on a ledge above the ninth circle of Hell, so that from the Malebolge they are visible from the waist up. The traitors are distinguished from the "merely" fraudulent in that their acts involve betraying a special relationship of some kind. There are four concentric zones (or "rounds") of traitors. These rounds correspond, in order of seriousness, to betrayal of family ties, betrayal of community ties, betrayal of guests, and betrayal of liege lords. In contrast to the popular image of Hell as fiery, the traitors are frozen in a lake of ice known as Cocytus, with each group encased in ice to progressively greater depths. In the very centre of Hell, condemned for committing the ultimate sin (personal treachery against God), is Satan. Satan is described as a giant, terrifying beast with three faces, one red, one black, and one a pale yellow:

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he had three faces: one in front blood red;​

and then another two that, just above​

the midpoint of each shoulder, joined the first;​

and at the crown, all three were reattached;​

the right looked somewhat yellow, somewhat white;​

the left in its appearance was like those​

who come from where the Nile, descending, flows.​

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Satan is waist deep in ice, weeping tears from his six eyes, and beating his six wings as if trying to escape, although the icy wind that emanates only further ensures his imprisonment (as well as that of the others in the ring). Each face has a mouth that chews on a prominent traitor.

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• Pair One
• Pair Two
• Pair Three
• Pair Four

• Username: Firekeyblade
  Name: Allison Su (trolololololool)
  Age: 23
  Appearance: http://browse.deviantart.com/art/Female-91716460
  Partner: Kyle Williams
  Circle: Fraud, Bolgia 9
  
  Username: Monochrome
  Name: Kyle Williams
  Age: 20
  Appearance: Here
  Partner: Allison Su
  Circle: Violence, Middle Ring
• Username: Monochrome
  Name: Jane Taylor
  Age: 24
  Appearance: Here
  Partner: Dante Vale
  Circle: Greed
  
  Username: Master of Keyblades
  Name: Dante Vale
  Age: 24
  Appearance: Dante
  Partner: Jane Taylor
  Circle: Violence, Inner Ring
• Username: Machina
  Name: Rick Alan
  Age: 35
  Appearance: Click
  Partner: Caroline Murphy
  Circle: Violence, Middle Ring
  
  Username: cstar7777
  Name: Caroline Murphy
  Age: 25
  Appearance: Caroline
  Partner: Rick Alan
  Circle: Fraud, Bolgia 5
  
• Username: Dinny
  Name: Kendra "Kenny" Diallo
  Age: 27
  Appearance: Kenny
  Partner: Aiden Scott
  Circle: Fraud, Bolgia 1
  
  Username: cstar
  Name: Aiden Scott
  Age: 31
  Appearance: Aiden
  Partner: Kendra Diallo
  Circle: Fraud, Bolgia 7

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credit to jayn for the layout and graphics <3​

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Six specially selected sinners have been chosen to received a chance at redemption. What will they do with it? The lands of Hell know no bounds. They hold no restrictions. It's only goal-- to keep its occupants from escaping. The lands were rough. The guards were vicious. Its seals are strong and withstanding. Can anyone really make it out alive? We shall see. Who has it in them? Who's heart is strongest? Do they desire the power and will to keep pushing forward and eventually reach the ultimate goal? Six participants. Three survivors? Who has it in them?

"you have been not only blessed with the chance at freedom, but someone to help you along the way. Use it to your advantage. You will need them. The looking glass will be in your possession once you successfully manage to break your bonds. Can you do it? Will you break free? I can only make things so easy for you, after all. You should just be grateful to receive such a glorious opportunity. I can't help you with everything, but I will do my best to lend assistance when necessary. If you feel you absolutely need me, just call. The looking glass can do more for you than just communicate with your partner. Remember that. It is important. Good luck. Again, I pray I see you in limbo, safe and sound."

Allison Su, cast away to the pits of the eighth circle for fraud. In the ninth Bolgia, a sword-wielding demon hacks at the Sowers of Discord, dividing parts of their bodies as in life they divided others. As they make their rounds the wounds heal, only to have the demon tear apart their bodies again. "Can you free yourself? Break out so you are no longer being hacked and healed and hacked and healed? A never ending cycle it is. What will you do?"

Rick Alan and Kyle Williams. Violence. You were once dangerous to yourself. Are you still that way? Middle ring: In this ring are suicides and profligates. The suicides – the violent against self – are transformed into gnarled thorny bushes and trees and then fed upon by Harpies. The trees are a metaphor for the state of mind in which suicide is committed. These suicides, unique among the dead, will not be corporally resurrected after the final judgment since they gave away their bodies through suicide; instead they will maintain their bushy form, with their own corpses hanging from the thorny limbs. The other residents of this ring are the profligates, who destroyed their lives by destroying the means by which life is sustained – i.e., money and property. They are perpetually chased and mauled by ferocious dogs. The destruction wrought upon the wood by the profligates' flight and punishment as they crash through the undergrowth causes further suffering to the suicides, who cannot move out of the way. "So which happened to you? Did you kill yourself, or get rid of any means of survival? How ridiculous could you be?"

Jane Taylor. Those whose attitude toward material goods deviated from the appropriate mean are punished in the fourth circle. They include the avaricious or miserly (including many "clergymen, and popes and cardinals"), who hoarded possessions, and the prodigal, who squandered them. The two groups are guarded by a figure names as Pluto, either Pluto the classical ruler of the underworld or Plutus the Greek god of wealth. The two groups joust, using as weapons great weights which they push with their chests. "You're up next in the joust. Can you escape before your battle? Will you continue to hoard and covet?"

Dante Vale. Violence- Inner ring: Here are the violent against God (blasphemers) and the violent against nature (sodomites and, as explained in the sixth circle, usurers). All reside in a desert of flaming sand with fiery flakes raining from the sky, a fate similar to Sodom and Gomorrah. The blasphemers lie on the sand, the usurers sit, and the sodomites wander about in groups. "Which of the three are you? Are you stuck in the sand, sitting on it, or wandering? How will you escape, dear boy?"

Caroline Murphy. More Fraud. Bolgia 5: Corrupt politicians (barraters) are immersed in a lake of boiling pitch, which represents the sticky fingers and dark secrets of their corrupt deals.The barraters are the political analogue of the simoniacs, and Dante devotes several cantos to them. They are guarded by devils called the Malebranche ("Evil Claws"), the sign for their march is provided by a fart: "and he had made a trumpet of his ass.” "Intrigued as to what you did at such a young age. Tee-hee-hee. Getting out of this mess shall be ever so fun. Lake of boiling pitch? How revolting. Good luck."

You must be creative. No two people shall get free the same way. If your character has done a satisfactory job of finding a way to get out of their bonds, you shall receive a message instructing you to go forward. Will you be able to do it? What will you accomplish in your time spent moving towards Limbo? Will you be able to change your ways upon reaching the surface, or will your wicked past send you right back to the pits of Hell?

 

(Why am I so far down? ;_; I have such terrible luck. XD)

Allison sighed before quickly drawing back her breath and wincing as the sword sliced through her torso before moving onto to the rest of her joints until she looked like a doll that was taken apart and put in a pile below her rock that she was previously chained to. She probably could've turned into a masochist and just enjoyed the pain to make it easier on herself, but that was just never something she could do. It wasn't in her. Pain was painful and it hurt every single god damn time that jerk of a demon came by. He wasn't even hot, just ugly. She sighed again as she moved her body parts around to heal themselves in a more proper fashion. How to break free...well if that voice in my head was for real, then even if I get out of here, I've got a long climb ahead of me. Though really, I'm tired of this. I mean really, who am I, Prometheus? she thought while tugging at her wrists. No matter how many times she had tried in the past, her shackles were like glue on her arms and there was nothing to do about them. The demon never cut the chains either, course not he was too smart for that. Freeing a sinner? How dumb would he be? Not to mention her ankles were also chained. In total 4 different chains for each of her valuable appendages. And each time she healed, some magical force would raise her cut body back up to how she was standing or kneeling before. For some magical reason, the cut appendages never bled either. The healing process was painful too, all those cells being rapidly regenerated and connected back again. In the past, Allison had also tried to make the demon cut the chains, but to her surprise, the chains were unbreakable. She had watched that guy swing down with all his might, aiming for her head and torso, but hitting the chain for her dangling arm instead, all there was was a little clink sound. He didn't even make a dent. And of course she had screamed out that all this was such bullshiz. She had tried talking to the demon, flirting with the demon, taunting the demon to try breaking the chains again, and none of it had worked. The guy was probably gay or had the mentality of a robot. Who knows? Then again, maybe this time was different. Maybe her chains were normal chains now instead of the super deluxe ultra forcefield chains she had before. And maybe it was just a mental thing of initially believing she could never escape thus condemning her to her fate. Well now she had hope. The voice had given her hope of escape and she'll take it. They're normal chains. Normal chains. Hell, maybe they're just plastic chains but Hollywood decorated to look like metal. Allison repeated that mantra of "normal chains" as she saw the demon, or Glady as she liked to call him for the Latin word for 'sword', Gladius, approach again. "Hey buddy, how you doin'?" she asked with a wink as she prepared to dodge and swing around, maybe even hop around as a torso to make him try to hit the chains again.

 

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I didn't even get the damn satisfaction of being the youngest female governor for a year.​

I didn't believe in god​

Let alone believe in Hell.​

But here I am, just because I paid for people to elect me. Why is that a crime? Why is that a sin?​

Why couldn't I even enjoy a year of power? A bullet took it away from me.​

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...​

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They had just thrown in someone new, who landed right on top of her. She became stuck, and could not breath for a long moment, she dare not to. Once before Caroline has swallowed pitch and felt her throat burn and melt away. When she got to the surface she breathed in deep, but did not join in with the eternal cries of the others that also found themselves in this lake.​

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A voice in her head had called earlier, but her mind was to focused on herself for her to even bother trying to escape at that moment. She knew what happens when they try to leave. One man had crawled up the rocks and was caught kicked back in. It was the same way, how the hell would you even get out of here.​

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She closed her eyes in pain and for a moment it seemed all the cries had stopped.​

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What way would you go out of here?​

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She looked around breathing heavily, everyone was trying to get out of the pitch. Some jumping in the air for even a moment of release. One of the devils laughed and threw fire into one side of the pit. The fire did not spread her way. That was pure luck.​

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Caroline looked around, nothing. Another man was thrown into the flaming part of the lake followed with more laughter from the devils. At that moment, she looked down into the lake.​

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Maybe the best way out is in?​

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A sigh escaped the lips of Dante Vale. How long has it been since he's been wandering about with this groups of fellow sinners, days, months, years. It was hard to tell when your in Hell. Still the whole time there hadn't been a single sign of a way out. The millions of heads poking out of the ground and the flakes falling from the sky didn't help much. Wonder if up Is an option. Looking up to the sun, which didn't bother him as much thanks to his sunglasses, he tried thinking of something. What if were not the only ones down here, maybe there's demons here only there in the sky watching us. It wasn't a farfetched idea, there had to be something keeping an eye on them, even if it seemed pointless. Assuming his assumption was right, that just left how was he going to get their attention.

 

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The land of the greedy. Those that covet, envy, and hoard. The circle is a wasteland, piles of treasures stack to the skies in mountain-like form, but are unobtainable by anyone and everyone. The lines here are long and seemingly endless. The vast wasteland is filled with jousting tracks where the greedy are forced to fight one another. Pluto watches from above- observing and guarding. His spirits shall not leave his land. Tracks sit below him from his watchtower. Pairs of people stand at opposite ends of the tracks, prepared to fight. The stands remain empty, no one is allowed the pleasure of observing the fight.​

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Giant weights hand from the chests of the damned. They receive not lances, but weights. The spirits are forced to slam into one another, knocking the other over with their chest weight. Whomever falls first is the loser, but there is no prize for the victor. Everyone gets right back in line to go again. Waiting, fighting, falling- over and over again. It's a never ending cycle or misfortune. Those waiting in line are watched by demons, poking and prodding at the sinners with staffs. They torment those in line, beating them, breaking their will to go on, weakening them for the fight. The lines are long, but the waits are short. There is no rest for the wicked. Fight, wait, fall.​

 

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"How ridiculous could you be?"

It kept playing in her head.

Over and over.

"How ridiculous could you be?"

Ridiculous? It was ridiculous to take her own life after years of suffering? Of never-ending pain? Though if she were to be completely honest it was not about that at the end. No, it was for a much simpler reason. She just didn't want to live anymore. It was too tiring, just existing.

Why was just being alive so hard anyway? No one asked to be born, it just happens. So why was some punished for it? None of it made sense. Nor was any of it fair.

The worst part about it all was that in the end, after all that pain, she ended up here. It was like God wanted anyone who suffered in life to suffer in their after-life too because somehow suffering in one place just wasn't enough.

The thought made her want to scream.

But now it seemed that she had a chance to escape this unjust fate thanks to whoever this voice was. It said something about higher-ups so it couldn't be God, if such a thing truly did exist. Was it some demon? To think...something everyone thought to be evil being the kindest thing she's ever known. Even if it was only doing this for amusement or something and was only letting three of them out it truly did feel like the work of an angel. And she silently thanked the being as this unmoving existing carried on.

However, even with the promise of a way out of here it seemed impossible to do so. How could a tree run? All it could do was feel its old body hang from its branch and pain from the harpies. Though if it could feel pain than surely something could be done here... Maybe there was a way to transfer her soul or whatever to her body. How, she had no idea. But there had to be some way...

Maybe, just as a start, she would imagine herself being whole again. Even so far as feeling the pain in her body, the scratches and bite marks appearing on her skin. Her crying out. Just something, anything to make it feel as if she was normal.

 

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‷ You're running out of time. Time does not flow here as it does where you are from. Will you be able to break your bonds before someone realizes what you are up to? I do hope so. I would very much like to see you succeed like nobody has. ‴​

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She raised her head up and breathed in what could suffice as air, and sunk underneath the pitch.
x​

It burns.
x​

She expected it, she allowed herself to sink under. She wouldn't dare open her eyes to see where she was going, unless she wanted to lose her eyesight.​

x​

She swam down into it, as though it was a pool of burning water. When she felt stone she held onto it and felt the ground. She did this in about 20 seconds, already losing air. When she reached a point where the cliff and ground under the pitch met, she felt around until a large gap was found in the wall. She swam into it and lost her breath.​

x​

She made sure not to swallow any of the pitch as she shot up. She was not going as fast as she would in water, but she hit the surface very fast and breathed in air. But she noticed a change in location. Everything was dark.​

x​

Shit, am I in an air bubble under rock?​

x​

She moved around and noticed that it was almost like a cave, she was still in the pitch. She decided it was better to just keep swimming in the cave rather than go back to where she was.​

x​

The problem was the air was limited in this cave.​

x​

She kept going whispering to herself, "Please, oh please don't be a dead end..."​

 

Dante looked around for anything that could be used to attract attention. Aside form the headed buried in the sand, bodies lying on it, and other wandering groups, he found nothing. Then again, maybe one of the other sinners here could help. Now the question was how was he going to get them to help. He took a few moments to think on this before coming up with an idea. All he would need is for enough of them to cause a disturbance, a noticeable one at that. So, he worked fast to get them to do anything that could draw attention to themselves. When they all started doing it, he just had to hope that his plan would work.

 

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‷ What is going on here? ‴​

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At first the piles of treasure taunted her every waking moment, and Jane desperately tried to get at them only to fail every time. After so many failures no more attempts were made. It just made no sense to keep trying, though some souls down here still did so. Even those who had gotten here long before her.

She tried reasoning with them, telling them it was pointless. But no one really listened. It was a shame, because she really had hoped they could work together for freedom.

Freedom... An impossible dream. Or so it seemed until the voice.

Now there was a real chance to get out of this wretched place.

But the real question was how? While in line they were guarded and tormented by demons, one of said beings stood a few people before her. Its staff knocked one soul down before it started bashing against the poor sod's back. All she had was a mirror and a few words of a voice without a body to go off of. Perhaps she could ask whoever that was on the other side of the mirror for advice... Though instead she simply hid it, fearing the demons seeing and breaking it. And it was just far too early to risk losing it.

Her first thought was to hide in the treasure until they noticed her missing and started the search, waiting for it to move away from her before slipping out, but it was impossible to get there... So plan B. What was plan B?

Plan B could be... to take the demon's staff and knock it out, rewarding herself with an opening to run and maybe even try plan a. So she waited until the line moved her closer to the demon, taking deep breaths along the way.

 

After a couple of failed ideas, Dante had manage to get the group of sinner to start praising God and begging him for forgiveness. With any luck, the potential demon would find this enjoyable and comedown to taught them. If that worked, then he would have a possible ride out of this place.

 

​

From pretending to feel pain in her body to imagining the fingers twitching and eyelids opening. This as well as trying to sway her branch for the body to fall to the ground. It was hard working as both but she had practice being a tree, plenty in fact. So it was like breathing, something that took no focus which allowed her to give all of it to being human again.

An idea to help popped up. Instead of just picturing her moving and feeling in her body could there be a better way to do this? Perhaps to think back to her life... That lead straight to sorrow though, which sounded like a bad thing. After all it seemed like this was their time for a second chance. Throwing it all away again through despair wasn't the way to go.

So instead she thought back to a happy time in her life. It was when she dated someone she truly loved and made plans for the future then. That was the feeling she focused on and tried transferring next.

And if emotions weren't enough she pictured the times they danced together, hoping that it would be enough to get free.

 

​

x​

She kept on going until the levels raised, and ground was felt at the end of the tunnel.​

x​

It's like light.​

x​

She quickly crawled up onto it, climbing out of the pitch and crawling on her knees until she was a few inches away from the edge. She fell on her back and breathed out, she felt the stick tar covering her and wished that it was gone. She could not see anything, but knew she was now on earth. Light being absent was a sign she was encased in the earth, and she could only hope she would now be free of the pool forever.​

Hope. Finding hope in hell is like finding a needle in a haystack.​

x​

She forced herself to stand up, but before she did, she felt a mirror in her hand, but it was completely covered in dried up pitch and stuck on her hand. She walk a few steps in the darkness then stopped.​

x​

"I don't know where I am or know where I am going..." she whispered to herself, "If I can see my partner through the glass... can it send back a light from their side?" she kept walking in the dark until she felt a wall, "Ugh but it is stuck on my hand... how am I supposed to get out of here?"​

 

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She finally reached the demon. It started to poke her arm with the staff and, to keep calm, she took a deep breath. This had to be timed perfectly.

It had to.

Looking towards it Jane watched its movements, waiting to get in sync with its timing. After each poke there was a three second waiting period.

She had it down perfectly and just in time too because surely it would not be long before it started to hit her instead of giving nothing but pokes.

So after it pulled back the three second waiting period started.

In the first second it laughed.

The second it aimed.

The third would be painful, but just before the staff could make contact Jane's body turned and it went right by her.

She reached to grab it, hoping the demon was too shocked to fight back before it was hers.

 

​

​

She sunk to the ground and sat down once more. She rubbed vigorously at her hand in hopes of getting some of the pitch off. Although she could not get it off completely, she managed to clear off a few specks of it, and a little bit of light shined through it.​

​

Her first instinct was what she chose to do, she looked through the specks to see if she saw anyone... at that moment, she could not. She held out her palm in front of her because the mirror was still stick, and she used the mirror like a flashlight. It kept fading out on occasion.​

​

The light it gave off was better than walking blind.​

​

She finally got up to a wall and looked up. There were rocks she could climb to bring herself to the surface. She did so and found herself in an under part of the cliffs people often tried to climb. She knew jumping out and running would be risky, especially with the tar on her body. She looked once more in the mirror and then walked along the underpart until she found a section concealed enough for her to sit and clean off the mirror more.​

​

"Hello? Is there someone on the other side who can hear me?" she whispered as she observed the area and tried to listen for approaching footsteps.​

 

[/url]

It worked! She actually had the demon's staff in her hands now. However she was so overwhelmed with surprise the demon nearly gotten over its own shock. What a mistake that was. But in order to fix it she gave the thing a good whack on the head before leaving the line.

Running with the staff in her hands was an odd feeling but she wasn't exactly willing to lose it just yet. After all it was the only weapon she could find in miles unless she got extremely lucky. And looking at the fact that she was in hell made her doubt her luck. So Jane held on tight as she made her way to the nearest tower of gold.

Just jumping in seemed physically impossible and even if it were possible the gold would undoubtedly crush her. So instead she ran behind it, hoping no one had seen her do so. That is when she remembered a being watching from above. Surely this would not be enough. Even something like that needed time to look around though so perhaps she was still safe.

Still, no use in wasting time. So where to hide?

Aha, a chest was near by. Once emptied of its contents it was wide enough for her to fit in it. But after waiting what would she do next? As far as she could tell there was nothing but an endless wasteland. Would the voice tell her another hint? Reward her in escaping the demons but placing her elsewhere? If not then she had no idea...

Wait. Maybe the mirror would help? Perhaps talking to whomever it was on the other side would give her some insight, and she could even do that while hiding, sparing her some time.

 

​

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‷ Congratulations on breaking your bonds. Now it is just a matter of getting free- moving on to the next circle. Prepare yourself. Difficult obstacles shall stand in your way. ‴​

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"How do I move on to the next circle?" She mumbled, mostly to herself as she didn't think the voice would reply.

While Jane thought it over she was removing gold from the treasure chest she found before climbing in, making sure it could easily be climbed out of so she would not end up trap inside. That would have sucked.

Once inside she pulled out the mirror from a pocket hidden in the folds on her dress. A rather useful thing she liked and probably the reason she bought it. Though if she knew she was going to die that day she would have picked out a comfortable pair of jeans instead. Anyway...moving on.

While waiting to see something in the mirror she thought about her next move. Was it as simple as running through the wasteland until finding a path or something of the sort? No other ideas were coming to her...so that would be what she did.

Before then though she would wait until the demons went away, if they had even followed her here. It gave her a chance to rest too, which was something she never had since coming here.

Her feet were so sore...

But not wanting to stay put for too long she got out once she thought it to be clear and headed in the opposite direction of the line. By doing so she didn't give the other end of the mirror much time to call or even speak to it, but what if they were hiding like she was? Talking to them would make noise, noise that could end up putting them in danger. Though...they could do the same by contacting her first...

Unsure how to go about this she decided to just keep the mirror out while running, hoping for the other person to say something before the next obstacle. If not... Well, she would think of something. Sooner or later...

​

The branch snapped and her body fell to the ground. But instead of just knowing this from a third-person perspective she felt it herself. The pain of falling. The feeling of dirt under her hands.

She was breathing again. Well, more like gasping for air. Did the dead even need to breath? Either way Kyle was thankful for the functioning lungs again but the time for joy was short lived at the sound of a harpy's shriek. She turned and began crawling for the branch, throwing off her noose while doing so. It would be her only defense against the dangerous monster.

Once her fingers tightened around it she was on her feet, swinging it at an in-coming harpy. It flung its talons at her but was unable to close in enough to do any real damage. There was, however, a nice scratch on Kyle's arm. Though it was traded off with a good smack by the branch.

That hit broke it even further though and she was forced to throw it aside. Now defenseless she turned and began maneuvering through the thorns and trees.