A Journey Through Hell and Heaven

Chapter Three: Fighting Back

I look around, trying to wrap around the fact that I'm in Hell. It looks like I'm on a small platform surrounded by a lava lake and a couple pillars of skulls around it. There seems to be a mainland near this platform and I need to get there. I know trying to shapeshift is almost futile as powers are weakened severely in Hell. I want to escape though, so might as well try something at least. I grow wings but I barely hover before falling back down. I know my regeneration isn't going to help me with the lava, as I'll just sink but I have a different plan, it might sound crazy but I can't do anything else.

I suddenly rip my own left arm off and throw it at a nearby skull pillar, it breaks it and the pillar falls on the platform. I position it a bit and walk over it to the mainland. Now even though my regeneration is slowed here, it'll still grow back at an average pace.

I walk around the mainland and see hundreds of tortured souls everywhere. I wish I could help them, but everytime I try to save one, some demon will chase me away. I can't even fight back cause of my missing arm and weakened powers. Eventually, I see a giant gate made of flesh. I walk towards it but I'm ambushed by an army of demons. I'll try and fight my way out but I can't gaurantee my survival.

--POV CHANGE--
(Eve's perspective)

After I leave the pretty garden, I can't find the village so I think I'm lost, hopefully Mod and Alzo forgive me for being late! I see some circus lights and since there doesn't seem to be anyone else, I'll head there and ask for directions, I hope they're nice!

--POV CHANGE--
(Alzo's perspective)

It sounded like the crazy man is approaching, so we break as many bars as we can in a hurry and we soon break out. He finds us in the act of escaping and we gang up and fight him. He surprisingly did well and took out a few of us, but we outnumbered him and knocked him out. We escape the circus and everyone else runs for their freedom. I noticed a familiar figure outside the circus, so I started walking towards the figure, curious on who it is, but before I knew, the ringmaster seemingly recovered and dragged me back. It looks like he has more fight in him than I thought, I'll have to stay behind for a while.

--POV CHANGE--
(Modesto's perspective)

After hours of fighting, I'm getting extremely exhausted, I am already injured from my missing arm and now from the many wounds the army inflicted on me. Eventually I collapse and I feel my hand get cuffed behind my back and I get dragged up. It looks like I've been arrested or something similar. I'm taken by some demon and forced to walk miles until we reach the end of the mainland and we stop. There's a sea of lava everywhere except one small and distant island in the background. The demon spots a skeletal flying bird and suddenly leaps up and latches onto one of it's claws and he holds on until we're over the island and he lets go. We fall but he grabs into a tree branch, which I'm guessing was strong enough to not break from the momentum of us two falling.

After getting a closer look, it turns out there's a building here and the building looks like a prison. I'm dragged inside and eventually thrown in some prison cell. I see others in prison cells too. The prison bars look like they're steaming hot.

"Hey, I go by Toro" some prisoner across from me introduces himself.

"Hello, my name is Modesto" I greet him back.

"You're actually quite lucky that you got arrested at this time"

"And why is that?"

"Because me and some other prisoners are actually just about to escape prison, we've only got about a day or two for the plan to start, want me to give ya the info?"

"Sure"

"Okay, when they let us outside for a bit, there's actually a hole in the wall that's keeping us in here, but they're too lazy to fix it so they just throw a couple guards there. We've been using our own dead cellmates as weapons to fight back against the guards, like I have a knife made from the bones of my previous cellmate that was killed unjustly because of a guard being bloodthirsty. So when we go outside, we all gang up on the guards, then we damage the wall enough to leave."

"What about backup? Surely if some guards are going to be killed, they'll know, right?"

"You see, we have a certain prisoner that can tank hits like nothing, it's why he's the guards favorite to torture, but he'll be shielding us from the damage and fight the guards off"

"Is that it?"

"Yep, we haven't got a set day for it yet but we're going to discuss that tomorrow lunch"

I was going to ask more but a guard came in and turned off the lights, telling people to go to sleep or we'll be hanged, bit extreme, but this is Hell so that's to be expected. I lay down on my bed, temperatures start dropping fast and now it's very cold. Weird how those lights made it boiling hot but without them, it's freezing. Even the prison bars seem to be frozen solid. Without anything to do about it, I just close my eyes and pray that this isn't the last time I close them.

--POV CHANGE--
(???'s perspective)

I pack my belongings and continue walking elsewhere. I have made this decision in my life, there's no turning back now. I'm a nomad, I can never live in one place for too long so I just keep moving. I do what I do to live by since it's the only way I can make money nowadays as an assassi-

"You there! Have you seen this person?"

Some guy interrupted my thoughts and showed me a picture of me.

"No"

I say as I kept my hood covering my face and walked on. He somehow guessed right when he pulled my hood off and revealed everyone in that street who I was. Before I could get caught, I sweep him off his feet and run off into an alleyway and away from that village before anyone could call the police.

It's becoming night so I need to sleep somewhere. I leave the village and set up my camp behind some boulders. I always keep a knife on me for self defense. As I lay down, I reminisce the time I've spent with someone I loved. It's been so long since I've seen them that I honestly don't remember how long it's been, 100 years? 200? 300? I don't know anymore, all I know is that I want to see him one last time before I die from my bounty.