Part One: The DJ of the River Styx
He became aware of pain, first of all. But that was no surprise, knowing where he was. What did surprise him was that the pain stopped when the Dark One released him and stopped dragging him through rock, glass and mud alike. Wounded but unable to die again, the human forced himself to stand. The wounds were instantly healed, as if they'd never been... but his clothing was in shreds and he was covered in mud like some kind of pitiful creature. He tried to look around, but found nothing but darkness on either side of him... except forward, and back, which meant he was in a tunnel, and very possibly, he wasn't in Hell proper, yet. And the moment he even CONSIDERED trying to flee, a pair of huge, glowing red eyes blocked his path... then a second set joined them... and when the third set of eyes appeared, and the human felt that fetid stench of a canine's breath cover his entire person, he knew that exiting was not an option at this point.
"Nice puppy..." The human told Cerberus, but the creature roared with it's triple set of jaws and snapped at him, making him stumble and fall against the wall, just out of reach. This particular human was no coward... or he liked to think so, anyway... but he dared any human, sans magical power, to take on a behemoth of a demonic three-headed dog with naught but their bare hands and feet. Following that age-old adage, something about living another day, he fled down the only escape route he was offered, and found himself standing in line. Great, he thought to himself. There's red tape even down here... well, I guess it makes sense, after-all, not like God has any lawyers, heh. But the oddest thing... when he thought of the 'G' word, some of the lesser demons around him recoiled as if struck, then looked puzzled as to what caused it. This caused the human to grin, and he started humming every hymn he could remember, all to himself in his head, where nobody but he could hear it, and was rewarded with a horrible shock; Charon was approaching him, and stared at him silently. He held out a hand expectantly... and the human realized what was going on. He was causing a disturbance; thus, Charon would ferry him across early, to be rid of him... but the human had no silver.
"Sorry, bone-head, I don't have any silver for you; I TOLD them I couldn't afford to have the River Styx play for my arrival, sheesh." The human wise-cracked, causing only a few damned-souls to chuckle, which in turn caused the miniature demons to lash them with whips. "HEY! LEAVE THEM ALONE!" The human cried, and rushed to try and help, but Charon gripped his neck with a strength that should not have been possible for a walking cadaver... Charon then began to drag him towards the dreaded River... and the human began to sweat. He'd done a good job of bluffing his way through the terror and fear, but after his... incident... on Earth, he had somehow become intrinsically terrified of the water, not because he couldn't swim, he could, and quite well... but he KNEW this river was no Sunday swim. The power of that River would pull him under, and cause him to drown forever more until Judgement Day... maybe even beyond that, for all he knew.
Charon hefted him and threw him into the river, and he landed in that murky, pitch-black water with a resounding SPLASH! that sent a spray of water everywhere, for he was no lightweight and neither was he short, either, so the feat would have been mildly impressive, if the human had not become gripped in an unholy panic of drowning. "HELP!" He shouted as his head broke water, but then the rest of the drowning spirits pulled him under. However...
Just as he was about to experience the worst... a hand pulled him form the water and slammed him onto the deck of a boat. Coughing and sputtering, he had a moment to comprehend... Boat? Looking up, he saw a strange figure indeed... he was tall, and thin, and had great thick bushy hair, and a wild, untamed look about him. He stood before the wheel of the ship- the human winced, he knew it had a proper name, but unfortunately, it'd been his Brother-Friend that wanted to marry the sea, not him -and seemed vaguely familiar.
"You ar'right?" The man grunted, and the human, severely shaken, did not have the courage to make any more jokes.
"As good as I can be, all things considered." He admitted. "Who are you?" The human watched as the man gave a soft, almost sinister smirk, and the human had a brief moment to consider just what was going to happen to him now...
"First time anyone's hailed ME..." The boatman commented, which confused the human. "Never mind a name, but I have to ask you; will you join my crew? We might just get out of here if you do..." The man offered, and extended his hand. The human was very tempted- freedom, so soon! -but his intuition told him he'd better not.
"Thanks, but, no thanks... I don't mean to be rude after you just assisted me like that, but I'm..." The human paused. Waiting for someone? You fool, they won't come after you; the Imp MIGHT, but what are the odds the others would help him? And then again, why would the Imp help YOU? You were a... Human... The bitter taste of defeat soured his already terrible mood. And you know how the Imp feels about Humans... if only... if only I could have survived a little longer, explained what I was doing, who I was... but now... He had no time to contemplate about 'now', as he felt the hull of the boat bump against shore.
"S'alright, boy... I was only half serious. You're free to go to your Hell... it's the honorable thing to do, eh?" The captain(?) said. The human realized there WERE other people on that ship... and WHAT a ship it was! He had no clue what kind of ship was what, but this looked like one tough ship!
"Wow, nice ship." The human commented, very much aware that a pair of demons was coming for him, but hesitating at the site of the magnificent ship. "She must've be really tough, if she's intact down here." The captain(?) stared at him appreciatively.
"Aye, she's carried me this far, and she'll KEEP carrying me... 'til I round it." He muttered, and the human has a foreboding sense of dread overtake him.
"Round... round... the Horn?" He whispered, and the captain(?) nodded. "Then... you're... Da-"
"Nah." The captain corrected him. "Don't say it... just call me... DJ, if'n you must call me anything." The captain's lip twitched in what the human supposed was meant to be a smile... and the human, for everything that had happened to him already, felt relief overtake him...
Until the hands of a demon gripped his arms and began to drag him deeper into the Pit.
He became aware of pain, first of all. But that was no surprise, knowing where he was. What did surprise him was that the pain stopped when the Dark One released him and stopped dragging him through rock, glass and mud alike. Wounded but unable to die again, the human forced himself to stand. The wounds were instantly healed, as if they'd never been... but his clothing was in shreds and he was covered in mud like some kind of pitiful creature. He tried to look around, but found nothing but darkness on either side of him... except forward, and back, which meant he was in a tunnel, and very possibly, he wasn't in Hell proper, yet. And the moment he even CONSIDERED trying to flee, a pair of huge, glowing red eyes blocked his path... then a second set joined them... and when the third set of eyes appeared, and the human felt that fetid stench of a canine's breath cover his entire person, he knew that exiting was not an option at this point.
"Nice puppy..." The human told Cerberus, but the creature roared with it's triple set of jaws and snapped at him, making him stumble and fall against the wall, just out of reach. This particular human was no coward... or he liked to think so, anyway... but he dared any human, sans magical power, to take on a behemoth of a demonic three-headed dog with naught but their bare hands and feet. Following that age-old adage, something about living another day, he fled down the only escape route he was offered, and found himself standing in line. Great, he thought to himself. There's red tape even down here... well, I guess it makes sense, after-all, not like God has any lawyers, heh. But the oddest thing... when he thought of the 'G' word, some of the lesser demons around him recoiled as if struck, then looked puzzled as to what caused it. This caused the human to grin, and he started humming every hymn he could remember, all to himself in his head, where nobody but he could hear it, and was rewarded with a horrible shock; Charon was approaching him, and stared at him silently. He held out a hand expectantly... and the human realized what was going on. He was causing a disturbance; thus, Charon would ferry him across early, to be rid of him... but the human had no silver.
"Sorry, bone-head, I don't have any silver for you; I TOLD them I couldn't afford to have the River Styx play for my arrival, sheesh." The human wise-cracked, causing only a few damned-souls to chuckle, which in turn caused the miniature demons to lash them with whips. "HEY! LEAVE THEM ALONE!" The human cried, and rushed to try and help, but Charon gripped his neck with a strength that should not have been possible for a walking cadaver... Charon then began to drag him towards the dreaded River... and the human began to sweat. He'd done a good job of bluffing his way through the terror and fear, but after his... incident... on Earth, he had somehow become intrinsically terrified of the water, not because he couldn't swim, he could, and quite well... but he KNEW this river was no Sunday swim. The power of that River would pull him under, and cause him to drown forever more until Judgement Day... maybe even beyond that, for all he knew.
Charon hefted him and threw him into the river, and he landed in that murky, pitch-black water with a resounding SPLASH! that sent a spray of water everywhere, for he was no lightweight and neither was he short, either, so the feat would have been mildly impressive, if the human had not become gripped in an unholy panic of drowning. "HELP!" He shouted as his head broke water, but then the rest of the drowning spirits pulled him under. However...
Just as he was about to experience the worst... a hand pulled him form the water and slammed him onto the deck of a boat. Coughing and sputtering, he had a moment to comprehend... Boat? Looking up, he saw a strange figure indeed... he was tall, and thin, and had great thick bushy hair, and a wild, untamed look about him. He stood before the wheel of the ship- the human winced, he knew it had a proper name, but unfortunately, it'd been his Brother-Friend that wanted to marry the sea, not him -and seemed vaguely familiar.
"You ar'right?" The man grunted, and the human, severely shaken, did not have the courage to make any more jokes.
"As good as I can be, all things considered." He admitted. "Who are you?" The human watched as the man gave a soft, almost sinister smirk, and the human had a brief moment to consider just what was going to happen to him now...
"First time anyone's hailed ME..." The boatman commented, which confused the human. "Never mind a name, but I have to ask you; will you join my crew? We might just get out of here if you do..." The man offered, and extended his hand. The human was very tempted- freedom, so soon! -but his intuition told him he'd better not.
"Thanks, but, no thanks... I don't mean to be rude after you just assisted me like that, but I'm..." The human paused. Waiting for someone? You fool, they won't come after you; the Imp MIGHT, but what are the odds the others would help him? And then again, why would the Imp help YOU? You were a... Human... The bitter taste of defeat soured his already terrible mood. And you know how the Imp feels about Humans... if only... if only I could have survived a little longer, explained what I was doing, who I was... but now... He had no time to contemplate about 'now', as he felt the hull of the boat bump against shore.
"S'alright, boy... I was only half serious. You're free to go to your Hell... it's the honorable thing to do, eh?" The captain(?) said. The human realized there WERE other people on that ship... and WHAT a ship it was! He had no clue what kind of ship was what, but this looked like one tough ship!
"Wow, nice ship." The human commented, very much aware that a pair of demons was coming for him, but hesitating at the site of the magnificent ship. "She must've be really tough, if she's intact down here." The captain(?) stared at him appreciatively.
"Aye, she's carried me this far, and she'll KEEP carrying me... 'til I round it." He muttered, and the human has a foreboding sense of dread overtake him.
"Round... round... the Horn?" He whispered, and the captain(?) nodded. "Then... you're... Da-"
"Nah." The captain corrected him. "Don't say it... just call me... DJ, if'n you must call me anything." The captain's lip twitched in what the human supposed was meant to be a smile... and the human, for everything that had happened to him already, felt relief overtake him...
Until the hands of a demon gripped his arms and began to drag him deeper into the Pit.