land of the damned || bear & reydan

[HeyThereLittleBear]

Before the world had understood science, it understood magic. And from the very beginning, magic had been what ruled the world. It brought rain to the deserts and influenced kings and servants alike. Magic brought great kingdoms to rise and fall, and influenced great political decisions. With the rise of science, magic was temporarily forgotten, pushed to the sidelines as man learned in leaps and bounds. They conquered the land and soon took to the seas, the last great venture being to conquer the skies. It wasn’t until science started to reveal its shortcomings that magic started to resurface.

It didn’t take long for magic’s hold to swiftly regain its footing from all the lost years, turning into a trade that was just as profitable as any. But with its great resurgence came grave consequences to ignoring it for so many years. It was so much easier for a man to learn his trade in dark magic, as it was much easier to learn to enchant things poorly than to take the long way around. White magic, with all of the good it could do the world, was practiced by so few.

And it was because of that fact that so few trusted the magic dealers, though their spells and enchantments were things to be in awe of. They sold rings that could accurately predict your death and scrolls that could summon and demoness for a night, and even sold the occasional crystal ball to accurately predict a small amount of your (possible) future for up to a fortnight. They were miracles of modern magic, while cars were miracles of modern science, and people were just as in awe of them as they were when magic ruled supreme.

It was the promise of all that magic could do that made the young woman find herself in the small shop of wonders, her eyes large as she took in all of the oddities that surrounded her. For a good majority of her life, she had played everything safe. Her parents had laid out strict rules for her and had guided her to believe that magic was a thing of evil, and would curse her for all of eternity. They had raised her in the world of science and had encouraged her to find happiness in the mechanics of the world, to learn and study all that it had for her.

But mechanics didn’t fill her empty bed and mechanics didn’t stir her emotions in the way that all of the dealers promised they would. The shop had a small array of love spells and potions against the back wall that was decorated with enough frills and lace to make one sick. The salesman looked to be an honest man, his hair combed neatly against his head and his eyes a clear blue, a smile forever plastered on his lips. He watched her from afar as she perused the small selection, feigning interest in something across the aisle as she eyed a small potion.

He approached as she hesitantly moved towards the potion, pulling her hand back at the last second. “Oh, don’t worry. I can assure you that we hold our customer’s privacy before all else. I can… Explain these all to you, if you’d like?” He motioned towards the love potions and spells, and of course the rings that would find true love. She was hesitant, but she offered him a shy smile, her eyes moving towards the floor. “I, uh,” She played with her hands in front of her body and then her hair, not sure of how to explain herself to this stranger, “I would like that.”

She didn’t need to explain herself to him. He didn’t have to know the ins and outs of her failed love life. It had been a messy affair, from blind dates arranged by her friends to online dating that had ended in only disaster. She had ‘played the field’ since she was a young teen, but it seemed that love wasn’t in the cards for her. And she wanted it so desperately, dreamed of the fantasy life that she could have with a husband to love and a man that wanted nothing more than to live his life with her. Just them for ever and ever, amen.

Alicia pressed her lips together as the man explained the bits and pieces to her with the most gentle of tones, picking up several of the items to show them how they worked. He was an honest enough seeming man, though she could tell that he was well practiced in the art of the trade. As they came to the rings, he offered one out, a simple ring that was cut princess-style and set in white gold. The stone in it was a soft pink in color - a true pink diamond, he assured - and was as clear as the sky outside. Her fingers moved over the smooth metal softly, entranced by the beauty of the craftsmanship.

It was such a lovely piece, and if it truly worked it would be the perfect thing for her. It didn’t generate false love like potions, it merely led you to the situation in which true love could be formed. The salesman smiled as he took her hand in his own, his tanned skin so deep in contrast to her porcelain flesh. He slid it onto her finger slowly, admiring the way the jewelry looked on her finger. “It suits you, if I may be so bold.” He said, running his thumb over her knuckles slowly. She felt her cheeks grow hot as he lifted her hand up, motioning towards a small dark pink piece that rose from the stone. It was a heart, the point at the end swirling slowly until it came to be fixed on one particular direction.

“That heart tells you the direction you need to head. The larger it becomes, the closer you are to your true love… And I will not lie, that is the… Largest I have ever seen it before. You must be so close to love. So close you can almost taste it, can’t you?” Her eyes were transfixed on the small heart, feeling her own heart racing in her chest. Even though he was practiced in his words, she could feel them ring so true in her chest. “You’re right. I am so close.” She closed her hand around his, feeling a small weight in her belly. “I want to… To buy it.”

The purchase was made in a matter of minutes, the girl signing away all of her life savings in such a short amount of time. But it would be worth it, she was sure, so very worth it to have love at last. She could win her money back, but there was no better time for her to find her love.

She set out immediately on her quest, letting it take her down roads that she didn’t know and up alleyways that were full of strangers. She watched with excitement as the heart grew larger, starting to throb slowly as she grew ever closer. Just another alleyway and she would find him, she was sure. As she turned the corner, she felt something - a punch to the chest that made her breath exhale and her eyes go wide. Without understanding, she found herself falling down to her knees, then down onto her side.

Her eyesight was fading as she found herself gasping for air, not comprehending. She heard him then, a deep voice from down the road - “Oh my god! Someone, call the cops. This girl has been shot!” He called out to the crowd that was staring at her, watching as she bled out in the streets. Out of all the onlookers, he was the only one that stopped to help her, getting on his knees by her head. He cupped her head in his hands, running his fingers through her hair. “Shh, you’re going to be okay. We have an ambulance coming. everything is going to be…” She couldn’t catch his last word, her eyes were too heavy.

And even as it stopped beating, her heart felt so full of him.

The girl’s eyes opened once again in a new place, the world full of light and people. They were staring at her, a council of men and women alike. Their faces were neutral but their lips grim. Before her, sat a set of scales, one side quite heavier than the other. “We regret to inform you,” The leader of them spoke, his voice gravely and monotone, “That your sins outweigh your deeds. Your soul is heavy with black magic. You will begin your descent. Farewell, Alicia Spinner. May Satan have mercy.”


And again, the world was black.

* * * * * * *

When the world swirled back to her the first thing she was aware of was heat. It was awful, scorching, breath-sucking heat that made her lungs heave for oxygen and eyes squeeze shut. It was nearly unbearable, like a thick wet blanket that had been set on fire. She forced her eyes open.

“Oh… Oh god.” She couldn't say anything else to the scene before her of a vast and desolate wasteland before her, wind blowing grit and ash into her face and stinging her eyes. God… what had she done?

 

[Reydan]

He enjoyed these moments. The ones where souls popped into existence in the terrifying recesses of Hell. He’d once heard, from a frightened child, that in recent years the prevailing belief was that you fell to Hell. Plummeting down from Heaven, denied at the Pearly Gates and sent packing, arms flailing and mouth screaming into you smashed into the red-brown earth of the subterranean realms. He wondered when that had started; that idea of falling. He supposed, with an idle shrug, that none of the agonized souls that were thrust into the heated darkness had anything to base their expectations on.

In reality they just appeared, along a long outcrop of rock and sand that overlooked a wide valley floor below. Although it probably looked terrifying to them, a world of torture and pain stretched out as far as the eye could see, they were only in the very top circle of the Underworld. It twisted down, as some would find out, like a corkscrew. Burrowing deeper and deeper, the atmosphere getting more foetid and the visions more sickening, as you went. Obviously, most of the souls appearing with little yellow-white flashes were never going to progress much deeper. The majority of humans, especially in this more enlightened age, were minor sinners. Oh of course you got the delightfully evil ones. Those who had killed and betrayed, taken what they wanted by force and neglected, or even delighted in, the consequences. But they were few and far between. Most were just those who had sought a leg-up over their fellow humans. Cheaters, liars, frauds, swindlers, etc etc etc. Boring. Everything about them was boring.

As he watched, though, the steady popping and flashing of humans appearing along the ridgeline was not boring. No matter how long he had done it for, walking among the new arrivals was one of his major pleasures, even if they hadn’t really accepted the realities of their situation. Then again, who would have done any differently if he hadn’t been so awfully familiar with what the blasted landscape before them held in store?
She was…interesting. He watched her blue-white flash of arrival, the small young woman barely more than a girl as she stood, quaking, on the cliff. He grinned. She would be able to see a great lake of fire, its ash and soot stinging her eyes and filling her lungs, but also would be able to hear the sounds of the damned. They always underestimated the screams and wails, the new arrivals, perhaps so shocked by the sights before them and so intent on covering their eyes, that they failed to account for the terrible chorus of agonized voices.

As he watched those who arrived around her were drawn, as if my invisible fishing lines hooked into their very souls, towards their appropriate punishment. But she remained, standing still if shaky, and it intrigued him. He stalked closer, nostrils flaring. His close cropped beard framed a sly yet interested smile, his dark eyes flashing as he approached her from behind. She was naked, as was he, their bodies streaked with the dirt and debris of Hell. Chance was that she hadn’t noticed yet, but he, of course, had. More experienced in what to expect here. He let his eyes drift over her pert little bottom and slender, yet gently curved, feminine hips. He licked his lips. His own frame was well built, dark hair on a broad yet not too muscular chest. He was easily taller than the young woman and, as he stepped up behind her, he drank in her scent. So alive with fear and desperation. So perfect.

‘Lost?’ he intoned with a deep voice, waiting for her to spin around and see him standing there, a playful smile on his lips, as he watched her terror up close.

 

[HeyThereLittleBear]

The suffering of the damned rose to her like a symphony of pain she had never wanted tickets to, her shock turning to horror as understanding started to come to her. Her porcelain skin had turned nearly pure white as she backed away from the ledge and backwards into the dusty wasteland behind her. Her eyes couldn't process what she was seeing and she instead shut them, wishing she could open them and find herself in her bed waking from a vivid nightmare. When she opened them instead, she was confronted with watching more souls arriving and being snatched away... Except for her.

The hooks seemed to grab people nearly as they landed and their screams echoed as they were taken... Who knows where?

The voice from behind her was almost too much for her to process at first, but anything was better than what she was looking at. She spun on her heels to be confronted with the opposite of what she expected. A man. He was like a glass of water in a desert, his face friendly enough and smile welcoming, his hair swept by the wind and her eyes drawn then to his chest, her eyes admittedly lingering there.

"I..." Lost didn't begin to describe what she was, so she settled for nodding in agreement, looking much like a deer in the headlights, "I don't understand." She pleaded with him, her confusion plain on her face as she struggled to make sense of what was going on. "What-- Is this... Is this... Hell?"

 

[Reydan]

He saw the relief in her face, the pleading tone in her eyes, and the way her gaze lingered over his physique, and knew he had her. In that moment he knew that this little waif of a thing was his. It was all he could do to resist licking his lips.

'Hell, Hades, Avernus, Yomi, Erlik...take your pick' he smiled, gesturing around them. 'Personally I think the Underworld works best - a sort of non-denominational catch-all, if you will. Helps with the confused atheists when they turn up here. Bad enough to be in Hell without realising your whole system of non-belief was a mistake.' He winked playfully at her.

'Ohh, hang on, coming through' he said with a sudden grin, taking her by the elbow and pulling her forward to him as a rushing noise announced the arrival of another soul behind her. Her form pressed against his, her naked rear pressing against his crotch, and his arms instinctively encircled her waist. Protective, sure, but also possessive. This was, after all, a dance he had danced many times before. He was confident in the extreme.

The soul flickered into being before them, a podgy middle-aged man with a broken nose and black eyes. He looked like he had been badly beaten. He had little time to do more than gasp out a 'wh..whatt?' before the hooks latched into him and he was whisked away, yelping in horror, into the heated air around them.

He tutted. Shook his head as if watching something mildly shocking on daytime television. Daytime TV. What simple sins mortals continued to devise for themselves. 'Its never anything good if they get taken so quickly' he said, musingly, as he watched the scene before them.

She was still pressed against him and his hands were still on her. He turned her, making sure the petite young woman was still nuzzled up against him, and grinned down at her. His thick cock was nestled right against her exposed sex. He enjoyed the thrill, even after so very long. 'Do you have a name little moth?' he asked, his voice a pleasant teasing so out of place here. 'I only guide people if they have names they are willing to share.' The implication, that he would guide her in this place, hung heavy in the air.