OOC: This topic will come immediately after Blood Lust

IC: Fire. There was fire everywhere.
In this dimension of Hell, there wasn't simply fire spouting up and creating enormous towers in the background. The pillars of fire shot up randomly, some tall and others thin. There were enormous islands that drifted through a seemingly endless ocean of lava. The islands, an ash gray coal color, that floated on it were large enough for a large village to sit upon and there were various other smaller rocks that drifted along creating a messy environment of red and gray. It was possible to hop from one enormous island to another and it looked like there were a few hundred of these islands in every direction. The rock that they were made of was hard and capable of withstanding the extreme heat and fire all around. The sky was a bright white and, although there wasn't a sun apparent, it felt as hot as if the bright orb of fire were blaring down upon all inhabitants of this plane. This Naraka was one of many faces of Hell and it was a place just as full of torment and suffering as the rest of Hell. Those that were cursed to reside her spent their lives burning away in the molten sea as they scratched and clawed at the large islands that drifted about. Their screams were a constant song of this place. Even if they managed to escape the agonizing fires, they would forever rot upon the islands in this scorching place that held a temperature that approached 500 degrees on a cool day.

There was a breeze. There usually was one and the hot wind would cause eyes and throats to go dry alike. The smell of charred flesh and superheated metal filled the air, almost masking most other subtle smells. Although the sound of the screams seemed dominate, there was a slight ring in the air as well. It resembled the high pitch sound a television made as it was turned off or coming on. The heat was unbearable for any human, so it was created, but they would never die here. No mortal soul could be lost here, nor demon either. It was a place where one would writhe eternally in endless pain and suffering.

Standing on one of these islands was a demon by the name of Cubix. He landed gracefully when he bridged a way to get here, though he wasn't alone either. Cubix had cleverly managed to use his powers to drag another here, against their will; which was completely capable of leaving should they find themselves wanting to do such. This confrontation started in the human world in that city of incredible spiritual powers. That one, that individual, would have been brought here and they would drop right into the sea of lava if they didn't catch themselves.

Darius Ornstien. He would have been enjoying a moonlit night, the cool air comforting him, as he looked over a party accompanied by a superhuman. However, when he was approached by his own, a spell was cast and he would find that the cool night became a blazing heat and he was falling downwards towards a gluttonous river of red. Were Darius a human, the flesh would burn and melt and he'd be caressed by pain's loving embrace. Lucky for Darius, or perhaps unluckily, he wouldn't have to worry so much about the heat and the flames so much as he would the one that forcibly dragged him here.

"I am glad I have your attention," Cubix smoothly said, happy to be noticed. There was a strong power in being recognized and it was with that power that Cubix felt he held authority over the minds of others. It was in making someone acknowledge your existence that you made yourself truly known. Though, Cubix was still in the middle of mulling over whether he truly cared to be known by this creature just yet. It was funny too. From when they first crossed paths to even now, the demon that Cubix brought here did not know who Cubix was. Cubix would have too, with delicacy, detail just what was about to happen.

"I'm not entirely sure you are one with any credible intelligence, so I'll go over just what has already happened and what is about to happen," Cubix would say smirking slyly, "You are a Pretender. A corrupt little light that managed to worm its way through the cracks in the wall and sought to escape to freedom. You, a being that escaped his chain-of-fate in order to evolve into a lowly Pretender. Willard the Slave," Cubix waved his right hand, as if starting a tune. He still hadn't quite explained what it was he brought Darius here for, but Cubix wanted to see just how smart the little Demon was. Maybe he could figure it all out on his own. Cubix would definitely give him a little more credit then. Just a little.


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Everything was a blur then things turned black for a while. What exactly was going on? Several questions raced across Darius's thoughts, the last thing he remembered was starring down one of his own kind. He could feel his body falling, this was a familiar to him. It was like before, when he first died. Being dragged down through sorrow, torment, and hatred. The screams began to echo and wrap his consciousness, things were beginning to become clear all of a sudden. He was being dragged back down to hell, this was different than before. It was as if he was being summoned by someone. Darius's eyes opened regaining his balance. He realized that he was falling into the river of styx.

He pushed off the air using Demon Dart before landing on a island close by. He slammed into the cracked ground, the smell of brimstone and the smell of rotting corpses made him smile. 'Been a while since I have been here.' he thought. The heat was welcoming, something he missed about hell. Here there was no worry of feeling sluggish because of the cold, he was in his natural habitat. Darius stood up and once again that man from before was standing before him. Darius couldn't help but smile at his sibling, he had to be strong. “My attention? You dragged me down here, if you wanted to meet with me you could have just asked.” Darius was never one to back down from a challenge, fear was a foreign emotion to him.

Darius smiled at Cubix's speech, “Willard? Man I haven't been called by that name in years.” Then it was followed by a quick shrug. “A pretender? Worm? You must have me mistaken for someone else. I was given this second chance, to redeem myself for my past transgressions. Unlike the other poor bastards around here I made it out of here on my own power. Regardless of how you feel I will weave my own fate with my own hands. There is nothing you can do or say to change my actions. Your full of yourself, if you think you can make me bow down to you.” He explained.

With a wave of his hand, Darius's hoodie and shirt vanished. Electricity began to crawl all over his body his muscles tightened and his reaistu began to seep out.“But lets cut to the chase, we both know why you brought me here. We can't truly exercise our powers in the human world with out causing the guardians to be on our case. You may already know my name, but to get the formalities out of the way, Darius Ornstein.”

"Actually, that is what this matter is about. That is the meaning behind the 'chase' as you said," Cubix said, undeterred by the little light show. Cubix brought him here for a multitude of reasons and Darius' anxiousness really wasn't going to get him anywhere. Naturally, this would all go upon Cubix's own terms, not that everything would eventually take that one, specific turn.

"Darius Ornstein. Clinging to an identity that isn't even yours. That is the definition of weak." Cubix would say, raising a hand before he would snap. There would be a slight tremble before a small sputter as something was tossed out of the lava. As Darius stood there, preparing for the fight of his life, a charred, molten object would land in front of him. This molten object was so fire damaged and burned away it would seem almost completely impossible for anyone to tell who it was, really. However, Darius would be able to tell. Almost as if the name were whispered in his ear, Darius would know exactly who that was. Old feelings would likely accompany those whispers, running through his body like a tidal wave, and familiar scars would likely be peeled.

Cubix would slip a hand through his hair, looking down at the molten body, "You are a lowly insect. You are an insignificant, pitiful worm and would you care to know why?" Cubix spoke without any kindness. In fact, the arrogant tone made him almost sound as if he were truly talking to some animal of lesser intelligence and strength. Cubix was looking down on Darius and that was clear in every syllable that came from those flawless lips and from that elegant face. "Because you are a coward. Always running away from your responsibility. Always acting upon instinct without rationality. You mentioned getting a 'second chance' though I don't recall anyone offering you any forgiveness. I am not aware of anyone offering you anything other than spurn and prejudice. Who, exactly, offered you a second chance? Could it be your own egotistical, twisted subconscious? They very warped entity that brought you to slay that-" Cubix would point at the burning, rotting corpse.

"You speak to me while hiding behind an ego that is not yours. You do not stand for yourself, but behind a shadow that you are constantly running away from. You think to even challenge me when you can't even declare yourself to me as yourself. You are just criminal trying to escape his punishment. No pride. No shame. No worth. You are essentially trash that escaped through a tuft of lucky wind. You will never escape here or this fate if you don't even understand yourself, your own power, or to truly face your 'past transgressions'. A child going out, enjoying stolen freedom, spent on the lives of dozens and you believe this is rational, don't you?" Cubix swung a sarcastic finger as he shook his head, completely disapprovingly. He could never understand this train of thought. That if you tried hard enough you could overcome anything. That if you continued to look forward that what was behind you didn't matter. Darius was the very sort that Cubix could never understand. Someone that redeemed themselves without saying sorry and those that redeemed themselves by trying to do good that was completely unrelated to their sins. People like that were cowards.

"You hated that human. You hated him with all your guts. For the things he did to you and for the anguish he poured through you. Though, who's fault is it really? Though, guilt is not what I'm honestly looking for. No. You knew this human, when you were alive, would be judged by the rightful power. You had to have believed that. But, instead, you became blinded and took it upon yourself to play the God. Then he died. He is still dead, suffering for his crimes, though why aren't you, Pretender?"

Cubix lifted his hands, slowly, with his palms skyward almost as if he were commanding something to stand. Other bodies came from the lava. Other molten, chared, tormented bodies that screamed and wailed. They burned, the pain never becoming dull or capable of being adjusted too. They suffered for what they did and were sent here as reward for their own transgressions. It was their fate to be here, their destiny, and no matter how much they struggled, they couldn't escape what they deserved. Everyone of those dead would be related to what Darius did towards the end of his past life. They could have been people that he killed or others that killed his loved ones or even those that hurt and spurned him during his days as a human. None of them were pure or innocent, but they would all know him and he them in some way. He would feel their life, hear their energy. Each one of those red, burned sacks of barbecued slabs of meat would be screaming endlessly, their pain infinite, and they would be so lost in their pain they wouldn't even be aware of what was going on.

The bodies would fall, landing on the sides of the large, black stage Cubix and Darius were on.
"If you cling to this past, this reality, then you should still be suffering as they are. Why should you be able to simply run away and enjoy your 'second chance' when you are as guilty as they? You, Willard the Slave, show me nothing but a coward that hides behind the legacy of another and have no intention of truly making amends for his crimes. You will forever be this weak little thing that tries to show off mere rocks before a fully stocked artillery. The power you hold, as a lowly Pretender, is nothing before mine. I will simply kill you over and over as you are, fool. However," Cubix started, his tone changing completely. He went from full of himself and as a know-it-all to someone that almost sounded interest in company. His red eyes looked at Darius with a strange curiosity. He wasn't going to go on preaching forever, that was obvious. Cubix could have easily said all this in the human world were that the case. There was an important reason to this session and, as Cubix had already noted, it would most certainly end up as Darius initially assumed.

"You can show to me that you can throw aside these moronic human morals, farce of a title, and you can show me that you have moved passed this pathetic, miserable past. If you could speak to me as a Demon, and not this insulting Pretender, you might be capable of actually escaping here. In order to do that, you need to grow up. Not simply get older, as simplistic as that would be, but to become the demon that you are also pretending to be. Not Willard, not Darius, but something else. If you come present yourself to me as a Demon, one completely unrelated to that weak and pitiful human, maybe I could consider showing you what it is to fully be a Demon. Not as some inferior, self conscious brat that needs to prove himself to a superior, but as an equal who can honestly see passed the lines of gray. So, how about we try this again, formalities reinstated?" Cubix would have finally finished his long winded explanation.

Really, it sounded almost contradictory. He wanted Darius to make up for his passed and do things directly, but he also wanted him to "grow up" and evolve into something entirely different. To seek or give forgiveness for those lives that he snuffed out and to truly compensate for the things that he took away that could never be given back, regardless of the motivators towards his actions. To move on from human attachments and to toss away the bodies around him into the passed that was beyond him and to mentally and physically change into the creature he became by no longer connecting those things to himself. He wanted him to be human and not human at the same exact time. That would likely leave anyone wondering which direction to react to Cubix's statements.

Denial, rejection, hate, annoyance, acceptance, understanding, clarity, peace, despair, sorrow and just pure rage were all potential roads with so many different forks and crossroads. Was Darius human? If so, then how did that make him better or more worthy than the others that suffered here? If he were human, should he not just submit to his fate, the very one he crafted for himself? If he were human, then should he not truly find some way to redeem himself right here and now, through the very lives he destroyed arrogantly? If he were not human then was it not right to stop running around Hell behind a human's name? If he wasn't a human, then what was he seeking redemption for? Hadn't he already gotten passed that? Hadn't he already moved on far passed morality and justice? There wasn't any point for him to hold onto the actions of the past that were passed. He could even just attack Cubix without a reply or second thought, though Cubix honestly hoped that he could use words to at least explain the nonsensical being that he believed Darius was.

Cubix could only wait now. Wait for Darius to decide.
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