Origin - Eleven - Rending Nightmare

Marcia led Alice through a few winding corridors, and Alice found herself... conflicted at what she saw.

When she went to Hell, she had a certain image in her head of what the place would look like. Pillars of basalt, rivers of lava, tortured souls and whip-cracks and demons of all sorts.

What she saw now was the interior of an elaborate castle, with stone walls illuminated by modern lights stuck into far less modern sconces. “This place looks... not bad,” Alice said. She paused a little to look at a grand oil painting on one wall that was as tall as she was. It was of a buxom woman with reddish skin and two curving black horns.

“Who’s that?” Alice asked.

Marcia paused and looked up at the woman. “Ah, one of the former princes of the second circle,” she said. “Like the look of her?” She made a crude gesture towards her chest and Alice sighed.

“No. I don’t think I’m into women, or women with red skin and horns.”

“That’s racist,” Marcia said.

“I... I don’t think so? Are demons even the same species?”

“We can interbreed,” Marcia said with a shrug. “So maybe.”

“Of course,” Alice muttered.

They came to the end of a corridor with a single door, and Marcia opened it, stuck her head out, then closed the door and turned towards Alice. “Alright, so we have a bit of a problem.”

“A problem?” Alice repeated. She didn’t like the sound of that, not one bit.

Marcia shrugged, then gestured down to herself. “As you may have guessed, this isn’t how I look normally. Certain succubi can shift their shape, change little details about their appearance. It makes... certain tastes easier, more enjoyable, even. And of course, you meet people with all sorts of tastes.”

“I have the impression I don’t want to know.”

“Oh, let’s just say that I’ve been exactly what a lot of people were looking for,” Marcia said with a thought. “As for you... I’m thinking peppy blonde, a little shorter than you, maybe all smiles and good mood, and perky--”

“Okay, that’s enough of that,” Alice said. “What was the problem, exactly?”

“Well, when you’re going around, you don’t go around looking like a weak little human,” Marcia said with a gesture to herself. “That’s asking for trouble, even in the Second Circle.”

“So... what, you want me to disguise myself?” Alice asked. She glanced down at her magical girl costume, with its tight blue shirt and white pants. It did clash a lot with the darker stone of the walls and the red accenting on any of the furniture they’d passed.

“Yeah, basically,” Marcia said. “You’re going to stand out in a big way. Your magic is... potent. Look, I can tell you’re nervous because the shadows we’ve been crossing have been moving, and you’re leaving this... magical girl stink in the air. Some lowly demons won’t sniff it out, but anyone powerful won’t miss it at all.”

Alice shrugged. “Do you think I could take them?”

“The... the more powerful people from the Second Circle? Yeah, maybe. In a one-on-one probably. We’re all about the lust and the backstabbing. More princes have died in their sleep here than anywhere else in Hell. But I don’t think you want to take on all of the Second Circle all at once, do you?” Marcia asked.

Alice considered it for a moment, then nodded. “Fine, you’re right. But I don’t plan on painting myself red and hiding myself all day.” She frowned, then reached up to her capelette. It was a smallish piece of cloth that wrapped around her shoulders and stopped at the middle of her back.

She had created a mask from nothing before... Alice concentrated for a moment, and then met a sort of resistance against her will. It was nothing like using her shadow or dream magic, those did what she thought with no resistance at all, this was tugging back.

She frowned, then pushed past the resistance.

The caplette lengthened and grew with a swirl and a snap, like a flag catching the wind. Soon, Alice had a long royal blue cloak with a delicate swirling embroidery edged in a much paler blue. She reached around and tucked her hair away within the cloak’s hood, then tugged it up to cover her face. “Better?” she asked.

“No... now you look like someone who’s trying really hard to tell everyone that they’re hiding something,” Marcia asked. “Where did you learn about stealth, cartoons?”

Alice suppressed a blush. “Will it be enough?” she asked.

Marcia sighed. “Yeah, I guess.” She shook her head, then before Alice’s eyes, Marcia grew by a few centimetres, her hair lengthened, and a pair of large horns sprouted out from her head.

Her skin went from a nice tan to a reddish hue, then straight to a deeper red the likes of which wasn’t natural on a human face.

“Ah,” Marcia said. She stretched her back out with a pop, then much to Alice’s concern, popped the button on her skirt. “You can't imagine how stuffy that felt. And these clothes! So constricting. You’d think with all the technology you humans have, you’d have perfected the bra by now. But no, just have to guess at the right sizes and hope for the best. I swear.”

“Is that what you normally look like?” Alice asked.

“Most of the time,” Marcia said. Her voice had changed too, Alice noted. Becoming a little huskier. “Couldn’t go around like this on Earth though. Now... before we head out, do you have an idea of where you want to go?”

“I... don’t, not really,” Alice said. “I suppose I’m mostly here to kill every demon.”

Marcia looked at her, lips pursed and hands on hips. “Really?”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Alice shifted on the spot. “No. I don’t think indiscriminate genocide is the right answer to anything. But... maybe we can prepare a space to fight some demons in. Those who answer to my taunt will probably be the same ones that I’d have to fight in any case, right?”

“That’s more like it,” Marcia said. “I think I know of a few good places for that kind of thing. Come on.”

With that, Marcia spun on her heel and pushed through the doors.

Alice fixed her hood, making sure that it covered the sides of her head properly before she flicked her cloak out to dislodge any dust. Then she followed after Marcia.

There were two demons on the outside of the building, both flanking the doors with long spears held in their hands. They were armour made of some sort of leather and to Alice’s disgust, had the uncovered lower bodies of male goats, but neither of them reacted to her passing, and soon she was distracted by the sights and sounds ahead of her.

The space they’d teleported into was a vast building of stone covered in blood-tinted ivory and surrounded by tall fences. It stood atop a plateau, with more castles and grand estates all around, like a massive shelf that kept going and going with a slight inwards curve until she lost sight of the end of it all in the distance.

Below was another plateau, then another, each tier a smaller circle until everything levelled off at a huge city.

Skyscrapers rose out of the city, the tallest of the buildings rising all the way up to the stoney ceiling above. Huge lights lit up the massive cave, some affixed to those same tall buildings, others hanging off of natural pillars of stone that were as long and thick as cargo ships.

Alice slipped past Marcia and crossed a road to stand on the edge of a precipice overlooking it all. “Are the lower levels the other circles?” she asked.

“No, this is all the Second Circle,” Marcia said. “Welcome to the Kingdom of Lust.”

There were massive billboards on the buildings of the city below, and even from way up high she could hear competing jingles and the blaring of distant horns. Cars and trucks were jammed on streets that didn’t have enough room for all of them, and even from afar, Alice could make out tiny figures in the city below.

“How many people live here?” she asked.

“In the Second Circle? I don’t know, a billion?”

“Ah,” Alice said.

“What? How many people did you expect to have to fight?” Marcia asked.

“Fewer than a billion,” Alice admitted. Two things crossed her mind then. First, it was going to take more than one long weekend to fix all of this. And second, her sword--and even Marcia--seemed entirely convinced that she’d be able to destroy all of this if she really put her mind to it.

That second thought was exceptionally disturbing.

“Well, the Second Circle is the most populous,” Marcia said. “And I’d say the most civilised, though maybe pride is a little bit ahead. Greed has the best toys, most of the time too. Come on, let’s get a cab?”

Alice turned away from the edge and followed after Marcia. Soon, the demoness was flagging down a coach. It was a carriage with a thin demon sitting upon it with a long whip in hand. Before him were six demons covered in tight leathers chained together like horses on a carriage.

Marcia climbed aboard and Alice reluctantly followed after her.

“So, the upper tiers here, well, these are for the well-off, the princes and their confidants, the rulers of the Second Circle. The further down you go... well, it’s not hard to guess, I think.”

“I got it, yes,” Alice said.

“So, there’s this nice big arena not all that far from here. The Circles of Wrath and Violence have the best gladiatorial shows, of course, but theirs end in bloodbaths in the crowds. Ours end in a lot more fun for everyone involved. The arena happens to be close to a nice big teleportation station. One of the more open, public ones, instead of a private one like we just used.”

“That was a private one?” Alice asked.

“For the well-to-do,” Marcia said. “You don’t think I’d make it to Earth and back from a ritual room designed for just any peasant to use, do you?”

“Marcia,” Alice began. She shifted on the seat of the carriage. It was little more than a thin cushion over wood, and wasn’t nearly as comfortable as she might have wished. “Just who are you?”

“Well, Marcia’s hardly my real name,” Marcia said. “My real name is Mania, and right now, I’m really no one of any great interest. Just a girl with more ambition than sense.”

“So, you’re not one of these princes of Hell?” Alice asked.

“Not yet,” Marcia... Mania, said. “But maybe one day soon. You don’t seem inclined on wiping the slate entirely clean, which means that you’ll need someone to help you rule. Unless you don’t plan on ruling over Hell at all, in which case... well, someone will need to fill that void.”

Alice leaned back into her seat and wondered just what she’d gotten herself into.

Then, after a long trip past several mansions guarded by imps and others, and down a switch-back road that brought them down a level or two, they finally arrived at the arena that Mania had mentioned.

It was a grand thing, as large as any football stadium than Alice had ever seen, and it was all encased within one of the stone walls wrapped around the city.

No one was filling the space, but judging by the ads being plastered by the front, that wouldn’t last forever. The entire space was somewhat enclosed, that only meant that there was lots of room for shadows to reign.

“Yeah,” Alice said as she looked around. “This will do.”

***