Chapter 2
The girl arrived in Hell not in flames, but darkness, cast to the floor of a stone cavern whose edges ended only in blackness. She felt no particular discomfort, other than that of sensory deprivation. But then she sensed light coming from one end of the passage, for now she could tell that she was indeed in a tunnel. It was a foreboding, flickering light in the distance, but light nonetheless. The girl looked the other way, but saw only darkness. So she went towards the light.
The girl came out of the tunnel, and found herself still in some kind of cavern, but large enough that its expanse couldn't be told. She stood on the banks of a river. It flowed black and thick, like oil, its surface impenetrable. The source of flickering light was a single torch, held in the hand of a hooded figure. He was not the only being to stand on the riverbank, however.
Other souls wandered listlessly around the cavern, in the space between the oily darkness of the cave the girl had came from, and that oily blackness of a river. Some of their expressions appeared blank, while others seemed as deranged animals. Besides these, some still looked relatively... lively, leastways, in comparison with others having the personage of a corpse, their faces gaunt and grayed. Perhaps they had been dead longer?
Uncertain of how to proceed other than that she would rather not follow the example of the listless souls around her, the girl approached the hooded figure, asking what this place was, and why she was here. He told her that this was where some souls arrived upon passing their first challenge, wherein they must now surmount the next. For indeed, by even coming out of the tunnel the girl had succeeded past her first challenge. Some souls would flee ever deeper into the darkness and stay there for eternity, driven mad by their own fear of the light and what may lay in store for them as punishment. The souls she saw here were simply unable to surmount the next challenge.
As for the purpose of the tests, the being gave no answer. The girl asked what the next task was. In the being's reply was only this, "What is your crime?" The girl must only answer this. If she could answer, the boat would take her across the river. The girl now saw that a small rowboat sat floating on the river behind the hooded figure, although lacking oars. After a time, the girl answered that she believed her crime to be pride. The being considered her from the shadow of his hood for a moment, and then nodded.
He stepped aside, and the girl boarded the little boat, thus passing her challenge.
