Jason Archer is 19 and fresh out of high school. He has his life figured out, and he thinks he might know what he wants to do with his life. His entire future was like a golden road paved just for him, until his grandfather is violently eviscerated...
I continued walking through the sulfuric desert. There was no sun, no moon. Just a constant and relentless red sky. Hell has never been hospitable to living beings. I wandered until I was no longer in a desert of sulfur, but a black void. A large fortress stood in the middle of the void.
I wandered inside, and found a cruel imitation of a medieval knight's armor. It looked like classic plate armor, except it was twisted by demonic designs. A mockery of the soldiers of chivalry. However, this suit of armor seemed....alive. A glowing fire was burning throughout the armor, licking out of the helmet.
The suit of armor said "HALT! WHO GOES THERE?"
"Hi, I'm Jason. I have no fucking clue where I am."
The suit of armor relaxed, and said "Ah, the one that helped Malice."
I replied with "Who are you?"
The suit of armor said "I am Sir Lancelot, formerly of King Arthur's court."
"What happened to you?" I asked.
Lancelot said "Us knights that break the code of chivalry are damned. When we go to Hell, our bodies are destroyed, the only thing left is our fiery souls. Demons put our souls into twisted suits of armor like what I don, but the punishment is worse. Everytime we move, everytime we engage in combat, we Hell Knights suffer great agony to our souls, so that we are cursed to fight like demons and berserkers instead of honorable gentlemen."
I replied "So it's worse than death?"
Lancelot stood silent briefly, then said "Yes. But Malice is our chosen leader. We serve her because she will deliver to us redemption, and allow us to pay penance for the sins we committed as mere men."
I couldn't think of anything to say. Lancelot pointed in the distance and said "You are dreaming. Yet I will let you dream of Baphomet's fortress. That is where Malice is being kept. If you humans wish to still have a world to call your own, you need her, for we that serve her are the best in all the circles of Hell. Even the Myrmidons cannot match us."
I walked toward the fortress.
Two imps guarded the entrance, but they didn't seem to notice me at first. I socked one in the face, and as the first imp went to the ground, I crushed the foul creature's head underneath my boot, and then dispatched the other Imp with the Desert Eagle.
I clambered over the gate, and got hit in the chest by a Myrmidon's sword. I punched the demonic soldier in the helmet, then kneed him in the crotch. As the Myrmidon fell to his knees, I kicked him in the back, breaking his spine and instantly killing him.
I marched deeper inside the prison of Baphomet's fortress. The fortress itself was made out of a combination of rusting metal and a strange blood red stone similar to brick. I had no idea where I was, but after dispatching a few guards I wandered deeper into the prison, in a gigantic cell separated from the rest of the complex.
I was in a massive cube like structure, and in the middle a familiar woman was chained in the middle of it. Demonic runes were flashing everywhere in the large cell, and Malice's limbs were chained to different parts of the cell. She was nailed to a cruel imitation of a cross, and her arms and legs were in heavy shackles connected to the walls.
I jumped off the guard balcony I was on, and did a shoulder roll as I landed all the way at the bottom where Malice was. She looked up, and let out a dry moan.
She said weakly "Why..are you here?"
"To save you." I replied.
Malice smiled through cracked and bleeding lips and said "Can't you tell I'm doing just fine here?"
I sighed and said "You're not doing fine, you're slowly dying and I'm here to save you."
Malice looked me in the eyes, and stared blankly at me.
"How can you save me when you're dreaming?"
"What do you mean I'm dreaming? I'm right here!"
Malice sighed and said in desperation "You have to wake up, or the Specter will find you."
"Who is the Specter?"
Malice said flatly "Wrong question. You need to ask what the Specter is."
I said in frustration "So tell me."
Malice had terror in her eyes and said coldly "Time's up, you want to know? Look behind you."
I could feel the presence of something behind me. I didn't want to turn around, but my curiosity was stronger than my fear.
I turned around, and I could hear something breathing a haunting wheeze the entire time.
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It shouldn't be breathing. It has no mouth. It shouldn't see me. It has no eyes.
Just as it reached out to touch me, the world around me melted away, and I opened my eyelids. I was in a hospital again, but this time in the Hall of Legends. Daniel and Frank were waiting for me to wake up.
