Another Love, Another Woe || Wednesday Addams & Enid Sinclair

What In The Panesko

The stream took them down to the fifth layer, Panesko, at a descent pace. It allowed them some time to overlook everything as they rode the stream down. The sky was a blinding red and vapor polluted. The terrain was rocky and mountainous with cracks and chasms up to a hundred feet wide. The demon city and palace were all the way to the west, and the red and gray palace was half built into a mountain. It was going to be a long trek to get there since that's where the waterfall was again. Though hopefully they can take the river all the way there. However, the layer seemed to have other plans.

Wednesday looked forward and her eyes widened when she saw that the river was about drop down into a hundred foot deep chasm with many rocks at the bottom. "Drop incoming! Jump off!" She leaped to the right to the rocky terrain and landed on her stomach.

The others eyes widened and were quick to follow, Ajax landing last just as the boat dropped off the edge. They all stood up and peaked over the edge of the chasm just in time to watch the boat crash on the bottom and the wood burst apart.

Enid sighed. "Guess we'll need a new boat."

"First we need to get to the demon city." Wednesday looked across at it since they were in the east. She could barely see it through the various mountains. "Come on." She started walking. "We have a long way to go."

"We always do," Ajax said sadly as he and the others followed.

They all walked toward the demon city, having to go up and down the mountainous terrain. They noticed the Styx flowing in small channels through the layer, and soon enough they started seeing souls walking around. Only the souls weren't just walking around, they were fist fighting each other as they yelled at each other angrily.

"Oh yeah," Wednesday remembered as they stopped to watch two guys fist fight. "Panesko punishes wrath."

"By making them eternally angry?" Bianca asked.

Enid chuckled as one broke the other's nose. "It's like saying 'fine, be that way'. They led with wrath in life and now it's the only thing they're allowed to feel as they basically punish each other."

"It probably helps that the Styx is the river of hatred," Wednesday pointed out. "It's the only one around so they probably interact with it a lot so it fuels their anger even more."

"Then maybe we keep going before they notice us," Ajax suggested. "Because I don't know about you guys, but I'd lose in a fist fight."

"I'd win," Bianca, Enid, and Wednesday all said together as they began walking again.

Ajax rolled his eyes before trailing after them. "Yeah, yeah, rub it in."

They kept walking, this time trying to be a bit stealthy. Giving themselves a wide berth around the other souls and even using boulders to hide from them when necessary. It was all going well when they were suddenly teleported in a swirl of red energy.

When they reappeared they now stood in a giant Rome coliseum with none of their backpacks or weapons. The ground was stone, layered with some sand on top and the stone wall around them was ten feet high before it turned into rows and rows of seating. All of which were filled with cheering demons of all kinds. The arena itself was a hundred and fifty foot diameter and they were all smack in the center, four metal gates leading elsewhere in each cardinal direction.

"What in the gladiator?" Ajax exclaimed.

"Welcome one and all to our final show of the evening!" A voice echoed out through the arena. They looked up and saw a woman standing in the 'VIP box' so to speak. It was hard to see her from so far away, but she had short swooped back black hair, wore some type of armor over her light brown skin, and had softly glowing red eyes. This was Brixena The Vexed, the lord of Panesko. "Today we have some special fighters! A couple of no good trespassers!" The demon crowd began to boo. "They come through here on a mission, but I say we make them earn their way!" They began to cheer. "They will have to fight through waves of monsters if they wish to continue! And it won't stop until they've all died! This is...THE LAST STAND!" The crowd went wild as all their faces turned into panic.