Chapter 1. Awakening.

P14: The Ferry to hell.

We went through the portal and entered a tunnel, illuminated by torches on the wall.

“This place is creepy,” Cecilia shrivelled.

“Yeah, this place gives me goosebumps,” Leyla said quietly.

“Really? I feel fine,” I replied to them.

“Of course you are,” Cecilia expressed with a hanging face.

Leyla chuckled.

We moved deeper inside the tunnel until we reached the end of it.

Reaching the end there was a sea covered in thick fog.

“A sea?” Leyla was surprised.

“Looks like it,” Cecilia confirmed.

It wasn't an ordinary sea covered in thick fog.

“It is the devouring sea, it leads directly to hell. If you even get a single drop of this water on your body then your essence will be devoured,” I explained to them.

“Oh, Now I'm starting to regret coming here,” Cecilia said jokingly, mixed with fear.

“Yeah perhaps I should have mentioned that tiny detail,” I answered with a joking tone myself.

“How do we cross the sea?” Leyla questioned.

There was only one way to cross it safely.

“Watch and learn,” I walked up closer to the sea.

I reached my hand into my pocket and pulled out a gold coin, it had a crown symbol.

“What kind of a coin is that?” Leyla looked at the coin in curiosity.

“It's a hell gold coin, and that's what we need to pay for the ferry” I told them.

“Huh?” Both of them were more confused.

“It's better to show than tell,” I replied.

I threw the coin far away into the devouring sea.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Cecilia shouted in confusion.

We heard the coin bounce on the water a couple of times until it disappeared in the fog.

*Blob*

*Blob*

*Blob*

Until the sound fainted as it got further away.

Until there was nothing but silence only the sounds of our breaths could be heard.

Then we heard a sound that came from the river in the distance.

“Do you hear that?” Leyla was nervous and slightly shaken up.

“You can hear it too? I thought I went crazy,” Cecilia answered with a shaken-up voice.

As the sound became closer and closer they began to shake more.

“He's coming,” I told them standing in front.

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“W-Who?” Both of them asked in a shivering voice.

“The Captain,” I answered.

In the fog, we could make out a dark figure moving closer and closer.

Leyla and Cecilia held each other and moved closer to me.

“It won't harm us right?” Cecilia wanted to make sure.

“No need to worry, he is strictly business and transports anything and anyone as long as you pay,” I tried to calm them down, which turned out to be harder than I thought.

As the Captain got closer we were able to see him.

On a boat, there stood a figure holding a long paddle moving the boat closer to us, the figure was wearing a black robe hiding its body, only the face wasn't covered which was a skeleton skull.

“Are you sure he won't harm us?” Leyla made sure.

“Yes, watch and you will see,” I replied.

The boat reached us and the Captain parked the boat horizontally.

“Get in,” The Captain had a deep voice.

“It's been a while, Captain,” I said with a greeting.

“It has,” He answered.

We got inside the boat and sat down.

The captain began to turn the boat and headed for hell.

“He doesn't seem bad,” Leyla turned to face him.

“I told you,” I said while boasting slightly.

“Be sure not to boast too much Cassius,” Cecilia said with grumpy eyes.

Leyla faced me and had a pressing question to ask me.

“Cassius. What did you mean by ‘it's been a while’?”

I answered her.

“It's not my first time visiting hell, I met him during my first visit here during the Tragic War. He also sailed me across just like now,”

Time passed and the both of them chatted about the current situation.

I stood up and made my way to the Captain.

“I see you are still sailing across the devouring the sea,”

The captain stared straight ahead.

“Of course, this is my only purpose until the end of time,” He replied.

“How's hell been?” I questioned.

“It's still the same, she's still the same,” He replied while staring ahead.

“I see,”

“Vampire King, I was surprised to hear that you have been killed all those years ago,” He said.

Even in hell, it made the news.

“I was sealed not killed by the man I trusted the most,” I replied.

“I had no idea that this was possible given your power,” He remarked.

…….

“He had help from Humans and Werewolves, even a Celestial was present, but it was my fault for letting my guard down by trusting him,” I said lowering my head.

“You seem to trust them,” The Captain said about Leyla and Cecilia who were talking to each other like close friends do.

I smiled slightly, “I'm surprised at myself, you would perhaps think that I couldn't put my trust in anyone. Yet here I am with these two who I call friends living a better life than I ever did, I trust them completely,”

“Hmm, be sure to protect them, those are pure souls,” He said, it was strange he never showed concern for anyone.

“I will protect them with everything I have,”

“Captain, do you perhaps think I should leave the throne to Dracula and live a quiet life?” I asked because since I joined the academy I had more of a life than I ever did being a King.

“It's not up to me to make that decision, but from what I heard your Kingdom is not all sunshine and rainbows. People still suffer under oppression under Dracula's rule. You are the only one who can stop that Lord Cassius,” His advice was helpful and helped me see things more clearly and made me more determined than ever to reclaim my title and bring justice for the weak.

“Thank you, wise Captain,” I said my thanks and sat back down with Leyla and Cecilia.

The captain smiled slightly, probably for the first time in thousands of years. “You're welcome,”

We were close to the end and approached hell.

“You two, I will place a spell of protection on you that protects you both from the effects of hell,” I went over and stretched out my hand and a magic circle appeared.

Both of them began to glow which showed the spell being in place.

“I don't feel any different,” Leyla looked at her hands.

“Same here. Are you sure the spell is working?” Cecilia showed concern.

“It is,” Reassuring them.

We saw an orange light through the fog.

The light became bigger and bigger.

“Is that?” Cecilia stopped mid-sentence.

“Hell?” Leyla finished her question.

“It is, prepare you two. From here on you need to be on guard at all times,” I warned them.

The orange light became brighter and bigger for every inch that we approached closer.

We passed the fog and floated in the air, we saw an endless land with fire surrounding it.

“What are those lights?” Leyla pointed at countless lights that were floating toward huge crystals.

I explained it to them. “Those are essences being attracted to reincarnation crystals, once your essence enters one of those crystals you will be reincarnated without memory of your previous life,”

Looking below Cecilia asked her question.

“Who are they?” Cecilia pointed at the ground.

People were walking carrying boulders on their shoulders being supervised by demons.

“Those were individuals who committed devastating crimes when they were alive, they are not being reincarnated instead being tortured for all eternity,”

Leyla and Cecilia looked away since the screaming coming from them was too much to handle.

I used Domos to block out the screams for them.

“Thank you, Cassius,” Leyla said with relief.

Moments passed and the Captain made an announcement.

“We arrived,”

He stopped the boat on land we got off.

“Thank you,” Cecilia bowed her head to the Captain with Leyla doing the same.

“You are welcome,” He left us and turned from where we came from.

We turned around to see a land covered in ash and dead trees, plants and skulls of all races.

“Where do we go from here?” Leyla questioned.

“We move forward until we reach her castle,” I said and we walked forward through the dead lands of hell…