ᵀᴴᴲ 9ᵀᴴ ᴄᴉᴚᴄᴌᴈ

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Timer ended. . .​

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As Jane continued down the tunnel she noticed a bit of light, though it was masked with the fabric of her dress. Stopping to pull out the mirror she smiled with joy that she could see once more, though only barely at first as it was blinded to her dark adjusting eyes.

Giving them a moment to adjust she looked into the mirror with a faint smile, quietly cursing that this did not happen sooner. However given all the things she had to face it seemed wise to assume that they had just been busy.

"Hello? I'm... My name is Jane. Can you hear me?"

While speaking she did the best she could to keep moving, having the idea that staying still was the worst idea still.

 

"Hello? I'm... My name is Jane. Can you hear me?"

It work! This mirror actually worked. Still he still couldn't celebrate completely just yet. "Yes I can hear you. I'm Dante." Talking to a mirror did feel strange, but it was worth it if he could get some help. Especially with his currently injured. Still he kept on moving through the tunnel. He didn't know what was ahead of him, but there was no way he was going back.

 

OOC- Oh my god, looked back and completely forgot I had a MOTHERFRICKING SWORD.

It felt like an earthquake, and Allison nearly toppled over into the abyss, but managed to still be alive by clinging to the rope like a cat. She had to get out of this place pronto. Fu*k it, I'll just have to tough it out and climb. She thought eyes wide with the fear of everything around her collapsing into the oblivion below. Quickly, she grabbed her sword that she had managed to attach to her pants, and after getting off the bridge on the other side, going away from the wall, she started sawing at a knot trying to release the rope bridge from its restraints from the side. It didn't take too long and soon, she was ready to swing on the rope to climb back to the ledge at the base of the wall. She hoped she wasn't too fat or something and the rope would just snap as soon as she swung on it. It was a lot of tension for sure, but this was the only way she could think of getting the maximum use of the rope to the other side to get ready for the climb. Taking a breath, she steeled herself and dropped off the side, swinging to the other side, planting her feet against the rock face. Grunting at the impact, she hurriedly pulled herself up the rope over the side of the ledge and laid on her back before something terrible happened.

The tremor seemed to have stopped almost as soon as it had started luckily, but as the voice said, she didn't seem to have much time anymore. Sitting back up again after her small break, she pulled up all the rope from the bridge and examined the length. It looked all right. But I'll still have to free climb. Allison sighed as she craned her head up to look at the wall again. Looking more carefully she could see a few ledges that looked like they could potentially be rest spots as well as some newly formed cracks, most likely from the tremor. All right, well, I've got nothing to lose. What luck that the earthquake would create some hand and foot holds. As long as that earthquake didn't make them too loose, I might be all right.

After readying the rope, Allison got to climbing again, this time not being afraid to jump and reach for cracks for handholds and footholds. Every single time, she feared she would miss and plummet like a rock, but likewise with each risky jump and reach, she steeled herself for a second death. It was all or nothing every single time. When she managed to reach the first "rest area", she only had a few seconds of rest before quickly jumping back onto a foothold as the ledge crumbled away. Heart pounding, Allison sighed and continued on, looking forward to the next rest area. The plan was to somehow fix the rope to be of some help towards the middle stretch of the wall, as that seemed to be the area with the least amount of hand and foot holds. At least as far as Allison could see. However much to her surprise, it ended up being the area with the most easily accessible hand and foot holds, the stray cracks being perfect for climbing. It's almost like I got this rope for absolutely no reason. Man, what a waste. If I had known this would happen, I would've just left it there as a bridge. She thought scowling as her arms and legs burned from exertion. The thought that she was halfway up cheered her on and simultaneously depressed her.

When she got to the second rest area in a particularly wide crack, Allison pulled out her mirror and left another message for her partner. "Hey...I'm almost out...I think...what...what about you?" she asked breathlessly as she put weight back into her gelatinlike legs to climb some more. She had managed to tie the rope to a solid piece of rock jutting from the inside of the crack. As she was almost at the last rest area before another couple meters to the top, her foothold collapsed and Allison fell, without a single scream as her heart jumped to her throat. She had managed to fall close enough to the wall, but not hitting it as she fell towards the crack and the rope. When she grabbed onto it and slide down, she screamed then from the rope burn, but thankfully she stopped halfway down the rope. Gasping for air from the realization that she was still alive and also hurting like a motherf-er, she cautiously took off her right hand from the tight grip she had on the rope and looked at it. It was bleeding and stinging and she guessed her left hand was the same, but she still had a long ways to climb. All right, how am I going to fix this? There's no way I'll make it up with hands like these. Painfully making her way back to the crack, she got her sword and cut off some of the cloth from her clothes and managed to bandage her palms relatively poorly, but makeshiftedly. She'd have to ask her partner to tie them for her a bit better. Putting her sword back, and testing her hands as she gently balled them into fists, she figured that this was as good as they were going to get. They still hurt something terrible, but better then exposing them to more rock and cuts.

Sighing, she continued on a bit more carefully and quickly, trying to get off of footholds and handholds as fast as she could without killing herself. After some time, she managed to make it to the last rest stop after a very roundabout route climbing there. Okay. Almost there. Got this. Augh these hands hurt so much. And I bet there's not clean water around here either. God I hope there's no such thing as infections or some shiz in Hell. Maybe it only belongs to one Circle or something. Jesus, I sure hope so. The last thing Allison needed was an infection from millenia old rope burn and rock. Finally after climbing a distance more, Allison reached the top of the wall and rolled over on top of it, panting for breath, and feeling so very sore. She was never a strong person when living, despite having climbed a climbing wall a few times before but it wasn't often, and she never enjoyed it. And she also had a belayer. For safety. That supported practically half her weight. Still lying on the ground on the edge of the 7th Circle, she got out her mirror and said to it, "Hey. I made it. Made it up to Circle 7. Where are you?"

 

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‷ Congratulations. Welcome to the land of violence. . . ‴​

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The Malebrachne bellowed in pain as the pitchfork pierced its skin. The disturbing howl rang out across the land and it released Caroline. The monster began to dissolve into dust, its pitchfork falling down beside her. An angled tunnel just wide enough for a human to fit through opened below her. She fell down into the tube-like structure sliding in various angles. Rocks and twigs protruding in the small space as she slid, hitting her during the decent as she slid against the earth. The pitchfork fell in as well, angled directly at her.
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The Death March was a cruel event in History where prisoners of war are forced to march by others with intent to weaken, discriminate and ultimately, kill. This was one of the ultimate tortures back in the days of war that included forced labour, famine, extreme superiority and death. Kendra Diallo remembered learning this from school back in the old days, she often laughed bitterly at this thought.​

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'Death March? Hah, wait 'till they go through this.'​

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Everywhere was hot and blazing. Her surroundings matched the fiery redness of her locks, except tainted with the crimson red of thick blood and large demons who wielded large, monstrous, ivory whips. The entire ditch echoes with the sound of whips making contact with flesh as the people in it did their death marches. It was everywhere. Kenny looked down at her tainted and scarred skin. The redness of it almost matched the floors of where she walked on or her red locks. She could feel blood oozing out of the cuts that some of the whips made after a blow that surpassed her skin. Everything ached, stung and bled. ​

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WHIP!!​

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That blow hit her at the side of her head, causing her to loose balance and fall on her knees. She didn't even scream or cry even though everything about that last whip hurt her (just like the rest) : When the instrument made contact to the side of her head, she felt her skin part and the blood begin to drip down her side and dampen her hair and when she fell to her hands and knees. In her life before, she often did this willingly but that was her punishment - now, propping herself up in that position completely troubled her. Her bruised, cut open and scraped palms and knees shocked a wave of pain through her entire body as she fell. Looking up between her dyed hair she could see one of the demons above her, laughing and mocking her almost. He raised his monstrous arm up, preparing for another whip. Kenny shut her eyes very tightly, bit her lip and-​

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WHIP!! WHIP!!​

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Blood dropped to the ground in a steady pace, this time not only from the side of her head where she was hit last but also down her sides from where she was just hit twice and also from her lip which she bit to ready herself for the pain - only causing another open wound as she bit down too hard. She gasped out loudly, she knew she had to get up and resume her marching again. Shaking, she propped one foot up and winced at that pain alone. The soles of her feet were almost skinned out from all the marching they have done but nonetheless, she got back to her feet and began walking again. Satisfied, the demon gave her an encouraging pat in the back with another: WHIP!!​

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'Death March? Please. Please, I would rather be in a death march. Because at least it's a march to their deaths - not this. Not this eternity.'​

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One foot in front of the other - every step was a struggle. Every step was pain. Kenny wanted out so bad. She knew she had to get out and she's been trying but it was just hard. Trying to escape forever wasn't easy. The bridges they walked on were eternal - sure they scaled up in the stone ditches in different levels and they would pass each time and time again but what came up always went down. She's tried collapsing on the highest bridge but that didn't work, she was brought back to her feet by an array of whips. She's also tried the give-up-I-am-done-with-this method which was incredibly painful, remembering it still caused much pain. She wasn't very great at submitting to orders - heck, all her life, the only thing she was ever good at was getting others to follow her by alluring them with her physicality. It was the only thing she was ever good at. She was a master at seduction.​

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Maybe, just maybe - that was it. Maybe the thing that could get her in that Hell-hole was the one thing that could possibly get her out. ​

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WHIP!!​

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She only winced at the pain that severed her bare arm. She brought a hand over that open slash and felt the blood coat her fingers and played with the thick liquid. She licked up her bloody lips and let the blood paint on it like lip tint. At the corner of her eye, she peered at the demon who just hit her, staring at his entire being from head to claw.​

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'Seducing a demon? That could work. It could. I could make it work... Besides, I've gotten countless monsters to my bed before.'​

 

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x​

Caroline hated this feeling, falling almost in a free fall with a weapon of death propelling straight towards her.​

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She reached out and tried to grab it by one of the prongs. When she got a grip on it she lost it because of a rock in the wall. She reached out with her other hand and got a firm grip on it, trying to turn it around so she was holding it by the handle rather than the sharp prongs.​

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She stabbed it into a wall and held on tightly as her body hung from the pitchfork.​

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How far off the ground am I?​

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It's just one of those moments where I wonder if I am human...​

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Aiden stood motionless, not because he was in shock, but because if moved, ran, or even blinked, the lizards would bite him. At first the bites weren't so terrible, but he felt like he was losing something every time.​

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At the same time he figuring standing still would make him an easy target.​

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Aiden wouldn't dare look at the lizards, although he felt one crawling up his leg and heading straight up his body. He knew this one was going for his neck.​

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Step on them.​

Step on them?​

Step on them!​

Step on them?​

STEP ON THEM!​

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Aiden flailed his right arm and the lizard went flying as he jumped from lizard to lizard. How the hell was this going to work out? At least he didn't have the snakes coming-​

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He heard a hiss behind him and clenched his fist.​

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FUCK.​

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He started to run faster.​

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Grab the snake, use it on the other snakes. Maybe it has the same effect on animals as they do on humans.​

Or you could sit here and let them transform you again?​

I prefer the later​

You would, my friend, you would​

I'm not your friend​

I'm not your enemy either.​

Don't speak for me.​

Yeah don't speak for him, what does he know?​

You all are not helping you useless little-​

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Aiden grabbed one of the snakes launching towards him and felt it squirm as it tried to bite him. He grabbed hold of the end of it's neck and let go as another snake went to bite him. The snake bit the other and the other snake stilled itself.​

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Aiden grabbed hold of the neck again as it tried to escape. He continued to run, not knowing what would happen to the other snake.​

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Having caught her breath again from that tremendous climb, Allison sorely sat back up, wincing at how much her whole body ached. Her partner still hadn't answered her and at this point, she was starting to get slightly annoyed but hey. Maybe her partner was busy with his/her own crap in this frozen Hell. Speaking of which, Allison did notice the change in temperature up on this cliff. It really was a little warmer up here. It was still kind of cold, but Allison didn't mind it that much. It was far better than the temperature down from where she was before. Slowly getting back up onto her feet, and wincing in pain when she used her hand to help push herself up, Allison surveyed the area before her. There was another gigantic wall a good distance away that looked like it went in a circle, surrounding the inside like a wall to a city. However, this didn't seem like any normal city, and Allison figured it was really surrounding more punishments for more sinners. The question was, how to pass through it? Can I go around?

 

Allison and Caroline- Seventh Circle: Outer Ring
From her new height, she can see Phlegethon, a river of boiling blood and fire. In it contains sinners who are submerged 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. Extreme heat rolls off of the boiling waters and the river appears to go on forever from east to west. It is at least 100 yards wide and there are no boats to cross it. The land around the river is desolate and lifeless, no vegetation can grow there. It would appear that the only way to the other side, is straight through the strong currented, blood boiling, river. The Centaurs will also shoot anyone they see on the land in this area.

Kyle, Rick, and Dante- Sixth Circle
From the downward angled tunnel, the pair will fall into individual tombs, separating them. The tombs are solid, encased in fire and there is little oxygen--not that the dead need it. The lids shut immediately upon arrival. There is little room to move and the temperature grows hotter by the minute.

Jane- Fourth Circle
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. She will crawl out of the tunnel and come across this icy land. If spotted by Cerberus, she will be forced to join the gluttons that reside here, losing her ability to see and think. A thin ledge edges above this pit, and to the other side, but one wrong slip on the rocks will cause her to tumble down and land in the vile slush. The rocky walls are coated in it, making the walk slippery and dangerous. Getting all the way around the pit without slipping is near impossible.

Kenny- Eighth Circle: 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. The lines go on forever in both directions. The land is vast and empty. The ground is covered in ash, as if a great fire blazed through the land eons ago, destroying everything in its path. The horned demons are gnarly looking and foul smelling. A pungent odor rolls off them and they appear to be completely nude. Muscular bodies that might have once been beautiful are now marred with scars from burns and lacerations. The very whips they use on the spirits had once been used on them. They are bald with beady black eyes and mashed noses. Their horns protrude high above their heads, arching back in a circle manner, like a ram. Their too tiny ears hear little, but their noses keep track of each soul by their identifiable scent. Their nails are pointed and sharp on their large meaty hands. If they grab you, they could easily pop the limb right off. The only sign of escape seems to be running off in the middle of literally nowhere, but that also makes you more noticeable. The land is a cavernous trench, like much of the rest of the Eighth Circle. A bridge crosses the expanse to reach one end of the Eighth Circle to the next, but getting there is half the battle.

Aiden- Eighth Circle: 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. The bolgia is also filled with serpents, dragons and other vengeful reptiles that torture the thieves endlessly. The bites of some of the snakes cause the thieves to spontaneously combust, only to regenerate their bodies for further torment in a few moments. They are pursued by the monstrous fiery Cacus. Other thieves are denied human forms and appear as reptiles themselves, and can only assume their true shape if they steal a human shape from another sinner; this involves a very painful transformation for both souls involved. The land is a cavernous trench, like much of the rest of the Eighth Circle. A bridge crosses the expanse to reach one end of the Eighth Circle to the next, but getting there is half the battle. This particular region is deep and pit-like, keeping all the reptiles of Hell contained in its grasp. Scaling a wall seems to be the only way to the bridge, but getting free of the snakes, lizards, and dragons is another matter in and of itself.

 

Dante continued to walk on, even when he suddenly fell into the tomb. Originally he thought it was going to be pitch black in there, but the walls of flames quickly changed his mind. He tried moving his arm around, but it was a little difficult with the cramped space that he was in. Oh well, Hell's not known for it's comfort. That was true enough so he just continued to move forward. With no clue of what lied ahead for him, he would have to attempt to be careful.

 

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So Dante was the name of her partner. How weird was that? It was just a name begging to be sent to Hell. However, no one asked to be here. Or that was her hope, especially for someone she was working with to get out of the place. It would have been awful to be forced with someone who had no desire to leave.

Putting that aside she continued down the tunnels as she thought of a reply. They had to keep talking for her to have the light, right? But she didn't really have anything to say...

"I'd say nice to meet you but it seems out of place here."

The sentence was basically her thoughts slipping out so she really hadn't paid much attention to them. All thought to them especially slipped away when she finally saw the end of the tunnel. Smiling with relief she exited them carefully, only for her nose to winkle up in disgust from a smell and for her body to soak from the rain.

And once out she found that the ground below her was thin, giving little room to walk. Holding the mirror instead of the wall seemed foolish but if Dante needed the light then she would be dooming him. Stepping back into the tunnel for a moment and looked into the mirror. There seemed to be light where he was...so it should be fine.

"I need to put the mirror away now, so good luck." And with that it was stuffed back into her pocket as she stepped back out, beginning her careful course along the edge.

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After the fall Kyle got to her feet, realizing that she was now alone. Wishing to fix that she pulled out the mirror, hearing someone speaking on the other end. But without her voice she could not answer. Oh, she hoped they were not in need of her. Otherwise she would feel just awful.

However her emotional state hardly mattered when she noticed how hot it was becoming. Putting the mirror away she began looking around for a way out of the tomb, noticing nothing but flames. She saw them before but thought of them as no threat until now.

Jumping through them could work if they could not die again but... Well in everything she watched and read the flames of hell consumed souls. So that wasn't something she wanted to do, not unless it was a last resort.

There was the lib above her, but with it shut and high above it didn't seem like a likely way of escape. But there didn't seem to be a door of any sort... Grasping at straws now Kyle began search the floor for a trap door, hoping to find anything to get out of there.

 

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'Ugh. No. I can't. I just can not.'

Kenny felt her throat burn as acid from her stomach crawled up her esophagus at the thought of seducing such beasts. She quickly took a deep breath and swallowed the vomit that almost escaped her. She gasped out after swallowing down the bile and the distinct smell of puke welled inside of her and up her nostrils and in her mouth which was probably incredibly gross but no where was it near as gross as the demons that surrounded her. They were the most vile things that she's ever seen - and she had a high standard for that, with her stooping down so low in her ways in life. She's seen, done, and done with many disgusting things in her life but this was like the ultimate boss battle of grossness. The demons were completely repulsive. They were large, with bodies that are broken and bleeding and almost as if they had gone into a meat grinder and put themselves back together poorly - yet at the same time, their large bodies carried so much strength with their sour, prideful, and smirking faces. Their big eyes as round as tennis balls were pitch black at every point and looked down at every soul who marched. Their noses were big too and looked weird and lopsided. They had big, meaty hands that held the whips with this immense power and the longest, sharpest, pointed nails to match. The only small thing about them was their tiny, bean-like ears because on their hairless heads rested large horns that circled on themselves. In addition to their disgusting physicality, they had this signature smell that came off them and ventilated through the entire trench. It was the most repulsive odor she could ever imagine and she knew that the smell would never leave her. It made her forget about her little vomit episode almost immediately - it was just that gross. Kenny knew that she probably smelled of them as well, but she knew that the demons knew her sent and would hunt for her like a bloodhound searching for the lone rabbit in a room of darkness.

She took a look back at the demon again. 'No. Never. Never ever.'

Kenny looked around the emptiness of where she was. Her eyes felt heavy just looking at everything and feeling hopeless. A scowl formed on her face, she felt like she was deteriorating. She knew she wasn't of course, because one: she was already dead and more importantly two: even if she did actually deteriorate, she'd just reform and everything will happen again. It was a cycle - an endless cycle. The cycle of her life in Hell. Her jaw tensed at how she thought. Was this really what was left of her? She shut her eyes tightly to fight of tears, which was no use since she was already crying. Her tears traveled down from her light eyes to her soft cheeks, and to her pointed chin before finally falling down to the ash covered ground.

She sniffed loudly as she cried and felt like she had a little heart attack as she did so. She feared the demon had heard her. As she walked, she could feel her body shaking slightly in fear and she anxiously looked back at the demon by her. It was just there, walking straight ahead, gripping its whip as if it heard nothing. Her olive eyes immediately zoomed to that one small feature of these large, repulsive demons: their ears. The demon had not moved because it did not even hear her. She stared more freely at the demon and studied it. 'It's time to be smart Kendra. You aren't usually smart, but this time - you have to be. Okay. small ears equals poor hearing. Check. Big, pitch black eyes? Possibly blind or poor vision? Big hands: obviously lots of strength there, you know this. Big horn and claws: I honestly don't even want to think of that. Big nose... keen sense of smell. That's how they track us!! By our scents!! We all put off a certain smell aside these guys, I bet that's how it goes! Right! Okay so-'

WHIP!!

Kenny suffered another blow, one to the back this time, which caused her to fall over completely. She lay on the ash covered floor, flat on her stomach and on her face. She could feel the blood trickling down her back and onto her sides as well as the ash pricking her damped, blood coated skin. That's when it hit her. That was it. That was the answer. She slowly got up to her feet, making sure she had lay there for a moment first. As she got up to her knees first, she lay her palms openly at the ground and closed them into fists slowly as she collected some ash in secret, then finally she got to her feet and walked on. She placed her hands at her arms again, opened them slowly and began to rub the ash on her wet arms. She used the blood that she had on them like an adhesive. Grazing over her wounds hurt but she only winced at the pain and tried to keep a straight face. Was this going to work? Where was the logic in this? Masking her scent with ashes? Was this just a futile attempt? Was this a suicide mission? Was this just the last desperate thing she could do before giving up?? She began to doubt herself because of what she was doing. She actually didn't know half of what she was actually doing but she had one intention: escape.

'I need more.'

Kenny bravely bit her lip and halted completely. She knew this wouldn't work for long, because the demons were repulsive but not stupid so she had to gather as much ash as she could. Though, just as she had predicted-

WHIP!! WHIP!!

Kenny smiled when she fell to her stomach again. She never knew she could feel so happy of a double whip. She dragged herself to sit on her heels, making sure her body barely touched the ground. Her forearms, her chest, her shins, her knees, her thighs, her feet - all of these grazed the rough ash covered floors. This caused gashes and cuts on them, of course, but she didn't mind. That only meant the ash would coat her better and stay there. She even let her face grind against the floor, which was painful. She felt like the ground slashed at her skin and muscle and even meeting the bones behind all of that that sent a ringing sensation through her head as the ashes clung onto her skin like salt to an open wound. She sluggishly brought herself up from her heels, making sure she got more ashes in her fists and she began walking again. She coated her shoulders with the ashes she collected and ran the rest over her hair with her fingers. She looked down at her body, most of her front was covered in ashes and blood already. Her body covered in almost glittering black and white specs. She knew she needed one more. Just one more, but she knew she had to fall backwards. One more would probably give off as a pattern though, but she had to try.

She stopped again. She heard the whip being drawn back by the demon and just before it made contact she made sure she turned on her heel-

WHIP!! WHIP!! WHIP!!

Triple whip? Wow. That was new. She fell with such force on the ground that she thought she would blackout for a moment - but she didn't. She breathed heavily, feeling her scalp open up at the back of her head and more blood spreading. She shifted slightly, making sure every part of her back was getting ash. She looked up blankly at the demon who had whipped her. It was laughing at her, mocking her. Her hands balled into fists, gathering more ash, but she did not move. The demon snickers, then moves in closely to look at her lashed, fragile, limp body laying there. Kenny felt her breathing constrict as the demon grew closer, so she tightened her lips together. She knew she had to work fast - as fast as she ever could. The demon was close. The smell was horrid, she was ready to vomit again but she fought that back. Just as the demon was about to draw back to whip her again, she lashed out by forcefully throwing some ash into the demon's nostrils and some at his eyes. It immediately reacted to it and she took this time to get on her feet - much faster than she ever did in her record of being in Hell - and she ran.

She didn't know where she was headed. She had no sense of direction. She almost felt no pain. She could barely make out where she was or who or what she was pushing aside. She could feel the blood trickle down from the numerous cuts on her body and drip onto the floor. She could feel her feet take every step yet at the same time she felt like she was going nowhere. Nonetheless, she did not stop running.

 

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The fiery walls close in tighter, creating no room to walk. It is now a flaming metal casket rather than a tomb.​

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"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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​

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‷ Congratulations on breaking your bond Kenny. . . ‴​

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". . ."​

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When the fiery wall around him prevented his any progress from him, he began to think of a way of get out. Odd weren't in his favor of the possibility of the of being able to walk through without any bodily harm, especially since the temperature was rising and breathing was becoming more labored. As for another option, there was always the possibility of digging under the flames, but he didn't have anything to dig with. Even if he was to use his hand, it'll take too long. Still his options were limited, so he started to kick the ground in the same spot as a way to get a hole started. Even if this didn't work, it's not like he would've been a wasted effort.

 

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No two ways are the same. It is different for everyone. . .​

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​

x​

Oh my...​

x​

She stared at the new circle before her from the place she hung. Just when she thought nothing could be worse than a lake of pitch, this just looked like stereotypical hell. Caroline took a deep breath as she examined the area. She couldn't go around it, she probably couldn't go under it, she had absolutely no idea how she could possibly go over it.​

x​

Damn... do I have to go... through it somehow?​

x​

She looked at the mirror in her hand and lifted up the limp arm as best she could, still dangling from the cliff and spoke, "Hello... is anyone there on the other side?"​