Chapter 161: Crimson

I can only hope those poor souls found an oasis in that infernal hellscape. That is me assuming the name is suggestive of what it is actually like. For all I know, it could be a frozen tundra. One of the rings of hell was cold, right?

Walking down a random street from the list on my dislocator, I wasn’t focused on where to go. Picking a location on a whim, red hot fury, clouding my mind. Walking down the broken cobble street with enough force to send more cracks through it.

“She dares! How could someone do that?!” I cry in anger. The logic is reasonable, but morally? It’s downright criminal!

Yeah, let’s dispose of the bad of society in the worst possible way. Not even used as a deterrent as the worst possible punishment. At least then, it would do some good. Yet, they must preserve their image. If the public knew what they were doing… I shiver at the thought. “The rumors were correct…” I sigh In tired melancholy.

Shaking my head slightly, getting a little life back in my bowl. “Cant let stuff like this keep me down; there are souls that need help escaping.” Using the cheeriest mindset possible. “Time to head to Inferno.”

Heading home, the slightest of positivity peering through the emotional storm behind my façade. Taking a seat within the library, hand on chin in the most historically accurate thinking pose.

“The Tardis, right? It’s the best chance… But I will also have to manually go through and designate hundreds of dimensions. It will take a long time. Well, it’s a deeper nether, right? Shame nether portals in the nether lead to an exit. Perhaps, if I managed to escape the bedrock floor, I could enter inferno. But, I don’t currently have the means to break bedrock.”

Continuing to mumble thoughts out loud, I didn’t hear Cassie enter. Hearing a loud “Roar!” Startled me out of my mental stupor. Falling off my chair is panic before spotting Cassie. She’s currently on her arse, laughing.

“That’s evil!” I cry out, standing up in embarrassment.

“And funny!” She manages to say between laughing fits.

Rolling my eyes, I give her a quick hug. She brings me closer, nuzzling my chest slightly. “So, what’s got yeh head in the clouds?”

“Trying to figure out how to enter Inferno.”

“Am I supposed to have heard of that?”

“No, of course not.” Sitting back down, bringing her closer by the hand. “The Nether has a deeper layer, with actual demons – Inferno. I want to access it.”

“The nether is already a death trap for anyone outside the top 5% of the world. You want to go to an even more dangerous location?”

Knocking on my armor, “immortal and nigh indestructible, remember?”

“Heading to a plane with soul-stealing demons,” she scolds.

Lowering my head, “Yeah, your right. Shouldn’t get cocky and use every resource to protect myself.”

“Better. I would try and stop you, but I am sure you are too free-spirited for that. Just promise me you will settle down in peace for a few dozen years in the near future.”

“I can promise I will try. You know what Felix is like.”

“A dick, yeah.”

Shushing her with my hand, “don’t piss him off. If he will kill millions for his goals, he is not someone to annoy.”

She shoos my hand, “he won’t hurt me. He wouldn’t want to upset you, not for any reason like being nice. If you are upset, you might go on strike.”

“That… Makes sense. Still, don’t tempt fate. You know if you tempt fate, it will bite.” Remembering my mother’s words. She was generally always right. Except when I ate those ghost peppers for one hundred pounds, “the stomach cramps won’t be worth it!” She warned. Well, it was worth it. Walked away with a heavy pocket and not a single cramp. Call me steel-gut.

“Fine, I will keep it in mind.”

“Thank you.” Feeling my new fear of Felix in my chest.

“No problem, so, what’s your plan so far?”

“To get to inferno? Use the Tardis to manually move through random dimensions until we find it.”

“Why don’t you go to the nether, then move to the next dimension over. It is just a level deeper, no?”

Stunned into silence before tackling her into a hug, “That’s genius, love you.” giving her a quick kiss before rushing towards my room to pack.

Looking over my shoulder, I see her shyly waving with a tinge of red to her cheeks. Turning my attention forward, dodging the incoming wall; rushing to my room with renewed focus. With haste, I grab my spare gear, some crap from my ME, and a whole host of random items.

Using NEI, I search for a ‘soul shield.’ Thankfully resulting in a lot of results, one of which being a neat little poppet. Costs 2 drops of luck, but it’s the cost of safety, I suppose. Saves me from 3 situations in which my soul would be destroyed, stolen, or restricted in any permanent sense. If this thing breaks quickly, I am out of there. The fact this item exists means soul damage is a thing. For someone with unlimited bodies, that is a terrifying concept.

Definitely going solo for this one; just the thought of risking Cassie and Jengal scares me.

Walking towards my Tardis slowly and patiently. The intended location is by no means considered ‘good.’ No reason for me to rush. Walking along my grassy island, I feel a weight on my back. Stumbling forward as Chic chooses to jump onto me.

“What do you want?” I ask her, getting stoic silence in return.

“It is dangerous….”

Suddenly hearing a pang as she hits my head. No pain, but I understand the meaning behind it.

“Fine, shrink down.” Handing her the shrinking amulet.

Coming to the Tardis, I enter. Getting settled, stretching my limbs, and eating a chunk of chocolate.

Heading towards my dimension-based controls, “overworld, hu? Let’s see what it says if I move it down 1 dimension.”

Flicking the lever down. “Unnamed dimension 1, chosen.”

Well, I need to go there to see if my theory is correct. This should be the nether… I hope.

Starting the flight, I feel the thrumb of the Tardis as it takes flight. Setting it to a slow speed and enabling the stabilizer, I head to the door. Opening it and looking out. Watching as the Tardis flies through the time vortex.

After a while, the tardis breaks through the swirling wall of clouds, leading into a large void. Gaseous tunnels run everywhere like veins. Looking further, I see large areas of fog. Occasionally, a colorful shape moves through the foggy formations.

Some of them have only one or two colors, others, a whole rainbow. They each deviate ever so slightly from one and another. The only duplicates being two that float around each other like a binary star system.

The Tardis flies through this empty space silently, not a single shake to be found. Approaching one with a pinkish-red color pallet. Slowly, the ship sinks into the mist, returning to the time vortex, exiting into a bright white light.

The next moment, I’m in the air in the nether. Sending a message to my telepathic circuits the name the dimension ‘Nether,’ for convenience.

Upon landing, I open the door. Taking a short moment to look around, noting anything irregular. The entire dimension is pretty bizarre, so it was a fruitless endeavor.

Returning to the console, I take a deep breath. Flipping the dimension control down another tick. Starting the flight, using the same speed and stability to watch it.

As we leave the time vortex, we enter back into the dimensional void. Slowly heading towards the only truly crimson dimension I can see.

Watch as the cloudy mass ejects firey light occasionally. Sparks being spat out of it like waste material, and the whole thing shifting and moving far more than others.

Glancing over and seeing a pitch-black dimension with gaseous tentacles whipping around. Shivering slightly at it. “Bit creepy, I am avoiding you.”

Chic steps towards the door, peering at the black mass of clouds before stepping back. “You agree, hu?”

She doesn’t even retort, just scuttling away.

It isn’t long before we enter the crimson cloud of fire. The distance from the nether being notably smaller than the overworld to the nether.

Watching as we move along the blood-red vortex, coming the bright light. With a light pop, I see an incredible sight. Buildings of red brick sprayed across a tamed hellscape. Ranches of large red cows, almost pure muscle, kept within bone-white stone fences. Lava rivers spin obsidian turbines; the whole place is bustling with life.

Demons, imps, spirits, humans all intermingle and move about their daily life.

I am stunned into silence, my mental image of an evil hellscape of soul-sucking demons being shattered like a mirror.

Instead of souls being tortured, I see churches with stained glass. Instead of a barren wasteland, I see a bustling agricultural city. Instead of a bad place to live, I see a growing and thriving city.

Caught up within my awe, I spotted too late that people can see my craft. Fingers being pointed, eyes following my ship's automated movements. I hope this won’t cause issues.

Hoping my craft would land outside the city was a pipedream. Promptly landing within a heavily populated district of the city, quickly drawing a crowd.

Sighing, I step out. Hand on Polynesia charm, “hello, I am new here. Nice to meet you all.”

Which quickly caused a stir, hushed whispers being shared from creature to creature. It seems they tend to stick with their race, humans with humans, imps with imps, demons with demons, ghosts with ghosts.

A human approaches me hesitantly. A thin and frail man, middle-aged with hair streaked with silver.

“Hello,” he says, holding a hand out for a handshake.

Stepping forward to shake his hand, which trembles slightly at my sudden motion. “Hi, my name is Aeternum.”

He quickly rushes up, grasping my mouth and shushing me. “Never say you're true name here.”

Pausing in a slight panic, nodding. “Thank you,” I whisper.

Locking my Tardis, “want to take me somewhere Quiet. I doubt the circling crowd will help with anything.”

He nods knowingly, walking towards the city. A few ally ways, roads, and running and we have escaped the curious demons. We sit on some crates in a darkened corner. The air still dry and arid, even in the dark and shaded areas.

“So, hi again,” I say awkwardly.

“Hi.” He replies.

“So, is this inferno?”

He nods.

“I kind of expected… hell. Not this.” Gesturing around.

“We made it nicer.” His quiet and lethargic voice replies.

“Are you from the overworld?” I ask him.

“Yeah.”

“Did you get sacrificed to summon a demon?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you like it here?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you want to go back?” Causing him to pause and think.

“I… Don’t know.”

“Okay, well, this place is interesting,” I say, feeling awkward in this situation.

“Yeah.” Causing me to fall forward slightly. Not the most interesting conversation I have ever had.

“What can people use my name for?”

“Force you to speak truth, feel fear, hurt you….” He trails off into mumbles.

“I see… Thank you.”

“No problem.”

“So, thank you, I guess. I should be going; I appreciate the help.” Getting up to leave.

“Here.” He says, handing me a shard of glowing wood. “We use this to buy and sell – soul wood.”

“I appreciate that, it will help a lot.” Handing him a freshly cooked meal in return. My golden bag proving its worth once more.

Quickly, I leave and walk through the unique city. Catching the eye of the occasional passerby as I look around the scarily familiar city. A few of the stores even have air conditioning.

“Not what I expected,” I repeat to myself once more.