I observed the room I found myself in. I couldn't help but whistle in appreciation. I say room but the place itself was was much bigger than that. No...this wasn't just a room, it was more of a library. Oak-made bookcases that were laced with gold and jewels. They had completely taken up the walls as they reached the ceiling, completely filled. The top of these bookcases was a large symbol. Two triangles that had been layered above one another with one being inverted vertically, showing a six pointed star. Some weird books were here, some of which I've never heard of. Like 'The Secrets of The Black Desert of the Four Hells' by Lúhon Steelquarry the Demented being one of many. Hearing the sounds of footsteps caused me to snap out of my thoughts. I had turned towards the entrance of the library to see the man that had now entered the room. One thing that could be said about this person was that he was...good-looking, Unnaturally so. Even as a straight man, I could appreciate how good looking he was. His short black hair that flowed without wind. His sharp features that defined his face. The small charming smile he gave as he walked. The finely made black suit that had been tailored to his size. The red tie that was tucked under his back vest. With the black fedora placed above his hair as the final piece. Ears pointing toward the ceiling only cementing how different he looked to me. His eyes had the same pattern of those bookcases, glowing brightly even this far away. "Were you the one I was speaking with earlier?" I asked with eyebrows raised, feeling somewhat jealous at his appearance. That's not fair… ...not fair at all. "Yes…" His voice matched his appearance, it seemed to be in a tone that shouldn't be possible but it had worked for him. So not fair. "...beautiful, isn't it?." Even though it was a question, It had felt as if he was stating something instead. "You should feel blessed. Not many...mortals even get a glimpse of this in their lifetimes." he stated. Wow, I feel so blessed all of a sudden...Can you hear the sarcasm? It's a library, what's there to be blessed about? I like books and all but I don't see the big deal. "This is an accumulation of all of my work throughout the ages…" He continued, it didn't seem like he was talking to me completely. "Every single book here, I have read or created with my own two hands." "And this means...?" I interrupted him. I didn't get what he was going on about but I've long since lost interest. He slowly turned to me, the same shaking I could feel from before started to creep up my spine. My feet trembled as his eyes finally laid itself upon me, his glowing star-lit eyes spinning vigorously. As quickly as that feeling came, it was cleansed from my body. "I forgot how your kind works, unable to understand what is truly before them, even if their life depended on it." he said that last part with not-so hidden anger. "Let's just say 'I don't understand'…" I say with quotation marks even though what I said was true. "...Explain to me what is going on." The world around me blurred, my stomach finding itself a reason to scream in pain and anger. I could feel the large books upon my back as I hit one of the bookcases, the air being knocked out from me. A large hand has wrapped itself around my throat stopping any sort of air from getting to my lungs. "It's times like this I do not understand why I do this..." He had let me go making me drop to the floor. "...To entertain those with the equivalence of a dog.". "Who the fuck you calling a dog?" I called out to him, throat still stinging with lingering pain, however he had ignored me. Opting to leave with his back to me. "My name is Pride, most powerful of all Sins. Look upon my works, ye mighty and despair!" He looked down upon me from a second layer of the library that I haven't noticed until now. His voice projecting itself around my recovering body. "Really Ozymandias?" I asked as I finally gotten up. "Can't you be a little original?" I stood there waiting for that inevitable shake but it didn't appear. Instead his expression became more indifferent. "I thought I would have fun entertaining you but…" He took a moment to think over his words "...it wasn't as fun as it seems." "Can't you just tell me why I'm here? 'Cause it doesn't seem like you're just 'entertaining me'." I asked, crossing my arms in anger as I looked up towards Pride. The Sin in men's clothing looked to be amused, if the small widening of his eyes and the large inhuman smirk on his face was any indication. "So the dog has some bark, Bravo." He clapped slowly, the library enhancing the sound after every clap. "As much as this amuses me…," It really doesn't, I'd rather shove those books down his throat. "...I'd like to hurry up with this. I got an appointment with a mentally scarred crybaby. Oh and don't forget Asshole and Fat ass." I shrugged "That's if Fat ass comes out of his man-cave." "Yes, I saw, well heard was the more correct term." Pride chuckled. "You heard?" I asked, hiding the growing fear settling in my heart. What did he mean by 'I heard'? Maybe he's the mastermind behind this whole scheme of kidnapping. I haven't known him for long but I already don't like him. He seemed like an arrogant 'holier than thou' kind of guy. If he was the leader dealing with all of this, he may have some sort of microphone or camera system throughout the… area. I still don't know where I am. The only other option would be that he was experiencing my memories instead. That would make less sense, if we consider what has happened to me today. So that's why it's the perfect theory. Nothing else makes sense today. So why not? "Yes, I heard. However, how I did doesn't not matter to you." I think it kinda does. "What matters is what I can do, specifically for you." My, My, isn't that suspicions. You insult me and want to now help me. "What does that entail? If anything I know about demons is to go by, I need to give something up to gain something." I could see the barely widening eyes of Pride before he calmed himself "Oh…"He drawled out "…You have a brain behind that skull, I would have never of guessed." My fists clenched at his words but ,other than that, I tried to keep any of my anger from leaking out. "I don't even know why I'm even listening to you. You have nothing I want." I muttered to myself turning away from him and heading towards the door. I have no idea how this place works or if there is even an exit yet there's a door here. I might as well see where it takes me. For all I know, it could- "-You wanna go home, don't you?" H-How did he know that? Is he reading my mind- no he must be. I don't remember when I said I wanted to go home aloud. I kept it to myself at all times. Never have I whined about what I missed or needed. But, if he can read my mind? Does he have the power to send me home? "...Can you send me home?" I asked hesitantly. I'd rather not deal with whatever was going on here. "But of course…" He was quick to answer. "…But can you handle what I ask of you in order to do so?" With a wave of his hand, a large roll of paper had appeared before me. It was completely white, kinda hard to stare directly at it. I opened it up to see a large scribble of text that had stuck out to me. Though what stuck out to me was where I had to sign. 'I,…., give my body and soul to the sin of Pride. In doing so, Pride must complete the task that has been given to him by the user of the contract above. It is non-negotiable and must be done.' Now that was something. To give away my body and soul to something that I could not trust. If I had a lesser mind, I would have accepted and written to be sent home. Yet that could be written in so many ways. I was currently in a body of a … I was currently not in my own body. When I ask to be taken home, I have multiple different places I could end up. 1. Back to where I want to go. Home. 2. Back to where I lived at this age, which would be back in Holland, Tilburg. 3. As this may not be my body, I might go back to where this body knew as home. 4. Just to spite me, he might take me somewhere called home. Getting what I want would be very unlikely, especially from him. As I said before, he was first insulting me only for him to become nicer, albeit slightly, when talking to me. From where I see it, he was trying to cloud my judgement with anger. I've seen it before multiple times. A cheating wife or husband finding their SO with another person. Instead of going after their SO, they would go after that person. Especially when that person might have not known about the that didn't work, he may of been trying to calm me down so I would see him in a better light. Sorry Pride but first impressions are how most people see you for the rest of your life. "Come on~." A large hand had pressed itself on my head. "Don't you want to see your mother?" He asked. Before I could say anything else, everything around me changed. A kaleidoscopic colours burning my eyes as my body whipped around is this space. "What about that Alica girl, hmmmm?" Mom asked as she bit into her burger. "See seems nice plus you see close." I snorted, "Yeah but when I found out she was already dating someone I had to cut it off. Can't date someone when they're already dating someone." Mom smiled "Good, no need to be a homewrecker, do you?" "Nah, I just can't be asked to deal with that evental confrontation with her boyfriend. Plus a girl like that can't be trusted." I scoffed"The only good thing about it would be me and the boyfriend bonding over a bad girlfriend where we live happily ever after as the broest of bros." Mom gave me an over exaggerated sigh "And here I was, wishing you would get a girlfriend already. You're smart, somewhat good looking and you keep yourself in shape, especially after what you used to look like." I groaned "Alright, I used to look fat. Can we now get over that? You bring it up all the time." She smiled again, "Only because I'm proud of your dedication." "I'm smart because you forced me to read like my life depended on it and I keep myself in shape because I hated how I looked. Plus, I'm not somewhat good looking…" I flip non-existent hair…"I'm fabulous." She snorted, "It's a blessing and a curse…" She flipped her hair. "…To look this fabulous." "Yes because I get it from my agonizingly beautiful mother who likes to rub in every one's face whenever she can." I took a sip from my milkshake. "Even if she isn't." I muttered. She still heard it though if the over-exaggerated grimace and hand over heart was anything to go by. "My own son…" She cried out, ignoring the stares she was getting "…To think he was raised this way. Where has it all gone wrong?." I clapped as she kept up her over done act. "9/10 would watch again. Needs more tears if you want a 10." "Gah. Not a 10. I hate you." "Yeah, yeah. Love you too." "Y-You bastard." I whimpered out. Tears dripping down my face. One of the best people in my life… ...so far away from me. "I could see why you loved her. But she isn't as far away as you would think." I perked up "What do you mean by that?" Again the bright light of the roll of paper, a scroll I think, appeared before me. "All you have to do is sign." A quill had now appeared, hovering beside the scroll. I grabbed the two. If I did this, I would be able to see Mom again, one of the last people I could talk to and the last of my family. If I needed something, she was there. What would she do if she was here? "So all I have to do is sign?" I asked. Mom was waiting. "Just sign the paper." He was getting irritated now, he was very impatient. Opening the scroll, bringing it to it's full size before me. I looked to the quill in some sort of reassurance. I had to do this. No other way to go about it. I lowered the quill towards the scroll and wrote upon it. Pride's smile grew to an enormous and unearthly size. "Yes...Yes. Finally." He snatched the scroll off of my hands and read it. Only to blank at the sight. "Do you know what you have done?" He asked, hands trembling. "Why?" I replied with a question "It's because…" I grabbed the scroll off of his weak hands, "…I REFUSE." I screamed ripping the scroll to two. The sounds of screaming coming from the scroll. "NOOOO." He screamed, trying to piece those two together. "My favorite thing to do is to say no to people who think they are better than me." I sated looking down at him. He turned to me, an expression of pure hate and anger. Fear filling my body. "You destroyed the contract…" He pulled me up by the shirt. "WHY?!" I looked towards the spinning symbols in his eyes before pushing down the fear within. "I saw the perfect chance to say my favorite lines." That didn't do anything to calm Pride down. If anything, it made him worse. "You did all of this, all of this, for a reference?! You could have gone home back to your mother." "Yep…" I replied popping the p. "Also the fact that I don't trust you, but mainly for my guy Ronan." "I was serious, I would have sent you home. This was no time for a reference." He growled throwing me to the floor. "Nope, there's always time for a reference." I state with absolute composure, pulling myself up. "Here let me show you." I said turning around. Pride stared at the dust cloud that was leaving his library with an expression of pure anger. "NIGERUNDAYO" A large amount of wind impacted the library, taking the dust with it, leaving it spotless. The only thing out of place was the lack of child. Pride could feel his teeth gnashing against each other. Letting out his rage, he smashed his fist into one of his many bookcases, making many books fall onto the floor. Strangely none hitting him. "He should of just signed the scroll…" He started walking away from the area "…Would have helped us both." "Come on...Wake up." I awoken to see Simon's fear filled face. He was shaking me vigorously to wake me up. "Alright, Alright. I'm awake." I told him, pushing him off of my body. "The guards are here. They are taking everyone somewhere. We might get into trouble." Oh, big deal. We're gonna get in trouble. That's not what I'm worrying about now. No. What I'm worrying about now is the is the issue of that Library? Wasn't I in that library just now anyway? How did I get from there to here that quickly? Maybe...just maybe, I didn't actually go there. Maybe it was some sort of dream I had. No, what I experienced was too real. I can still remember the anger I felt at the Pride, the spine-tingling fear that had wormed itself inside me and the awe of the beautiful golden library. That was something that I couldn't dismiss as a dream no matter how weird this seemed. Then again, I did say earlier that the weirdest scenario seemed the most plausible. That's why I believe that my mind had travelled towards some sort of mindscape. He was talking about magic earlier so that makes some sense. Wait a goddamn second. Of all things to believe, Magic is the answer? That's like telling me that 'It just works'. It makes no sense. A bright light had invaded the room, gracing itself over my dilated pupils. Covering my eyes with my hand, I followed Simon out. I don't know why he left, maybe he heard something that I didn't. Outside my cage, I saw many different children. They were all around the same age. Like Simon's age. Like...Like mine. I had to accept that I was no longer an adult. I am now the same as these children. I am also a… ...child. The first step is to accept this. That's the best thing to do now. I can't spend time worrying about what I look like. I need to get out of here before they can do anything bad to me. I stood by the other children, like Simon did. I had no doubt that he had been listening to what they told us to do, so I stuck by him. Even as I did this though, I was gonna give him the idea that I was going to follow him around. There's no way I'm going to get bossed around by a kid. No siree. We went down the familiar smooth corridors of this place. There were no doors or opening at all as we walked. It was like this area was sectioned off completely. These people seemed so...confident in what they were doing so it didn't seem like we were the only people that had taken. This all seemed very fishy to me. It was like we were sectioned off somehow. I pushed that thought to the back of my mind, it's not like I could do anything about it as of right now. I sighed to myself internally as the familiar soreness started to creep up my legs. So I was right. There are more children. I looked into the large room that had rubble and debris scattered across it. There were many different types of children. From ones that looked to be towards 16/17 to the low age of 7. Though there was one big striking difference. Their clothes were much more worn than ours. It's safe to say these people were wearing rags instead of their clothes. These kids were packed into this room, cleaning all that they could into large containers that they would take for the slavers. I stayed within the large group of children that had been taken with me, watching for anything I could have missed. I admit that I wasn't paying attention but I couldn't or wouldn't say that aloud. I was stopped from my inner thoughts from the feeling of my shirt being pulled. I looked over to see Simon beside me. "Are we supposed to do that as well?" He asked me. It seemed like even if he knew how to take charge, it may of been fake or just him obeying the slavers orders. But still, I have to commend him for being calm right now. He was bawling his eyes out earlier. "I think so…" I trailed off as I looked around. There seemed to be many different groups of people around here. With their own friends, the kids had taken up various areas for them to work at. Without knowing the rules of this place, written or not, I was hesitant to go near them. There was a small area that seems free, however, the old man that had been working there and the fact that the kids seemed to stay away from him was setting off the wrong signals. "...Let's go over there." I pointed to the area that the old man was at. I didn't want to get the consequences of these groups by interacting with them. If I go over there, we would be mostly left alone and I deal with the old man. The fact that I thought that he was some pedo was a little harsh on my point. There weren't any malicious stares that were directed to him nor was he sending any...lustful stares to anyone else. I guess I would have to see what he must be like before judging him. I walked off making sure Simon trailed after me. I knew that he was the only one I could somewhat trust currently. Mainly because he was already sticking by me. He must feel the same way. We kept our heads down, making sure we didn't draw their attention. It was best for us to do so. I could see how strong they were, using their strength to pick up large stones without any kind of strain. As we came up to the empty area, the old man had perked up. I didn't think he was expecting someone evident by his shocked expression. "Hello there." He called out to us. I noticed how weird he looked. He was old enough to have gray hair, said hair grew all the way down his lower back. He had a thick gray beard that reached down to his chest. He wore dirty shorts with no shirt. He was quite skinny, his ribcage showing. The weird thing was his eyebrows. They were as long as his hair, reaching his shoulders. I noticed how Simon had stepped closer to me. I think he was scared of the man. That's a good mentality to have in this place. Keep to yourself and trust no one. "Nice to meet you. I'm-" I stopped mid-sentence. I was about to say my name but thought better of it. With what I know of demons from legends and fictions, giving out your real name would be bad. Especially when I just met with a demon of Pride. "…Call me Akira." The old man frowned. Did he not like my name or something? "And you?" He asked. "This is Simon." I told the man after noticing how Simon didn't answer him. He's definitely scared. "Ahh, Nice to meet you both. My name is Rob." Rob replied. From first impressions, he seems nice. However, I'm still going to keep my eye on him. "Alright, as much as this is fun and all, are we supposed to do what the others are doing?" I asked him to which he nodded. "Yeah, just follow them and you'll be fine. " He answered, confirming my suspicions. Even though I had so many questions… Where are we? Why are we here? How do we leave? Who is Pride? What is magic? How do I use it? ...I kept my mouth shut and grabbed a large rock with both hands and threw it into a fairly empty container, gesturing Simon to do the same. "When the fuck do we finish?" I asked Rob. The dull ache of my legs were long since forgotten after the bleeding pain in my arms made itself apparent. I let my throbbing limbs hang by my side, staring at the old man who was just as tired. "Soon, I believe. They don't really like to work us to the bone or we would cost more food and water for them." "Yeah, I can see why you would think this isn't working to the fucking bone." I hissed the last part at him. I wasn't really angry at him but I needed something to let my anger out on and he was the only one here. The soft sounds of panting calmed me down slightly. I looked down to see the exhausted Simon. He had long since fell to the floor, falling asleep halfway through our work. I had to move his body behind some rocks that I had left for last to hide him from the patrols. "Even as you whine…" I'm not whining "It's impressive that you are able to keep up with the others. They have been at it for a while." I looked around to see the other kids in the same situation as me. These people were kids that have been here for god knows how long. "I used to work out before this so that's not a surprise." I told him. It wasn't the truth but it wasn't really a lie though. I used to go to the gym to lose weight but stopped after going for a while. I just never had time to go and college work started to creep up unexpectedly. He was going to reply back but stopped after we heard something coming from behind us. It sounded like...cheers. We nodded to each other and we took off to see what was going on. Well after getting Simon up. Kids all around us started to push against us as we got closer and closer. They were too strong for me to push back with my tired body. It got to the point where Rob, Simon and I had gotten separated from the crowd. Suddenly, a large force from behind me had pushed me in and I found myself at the front of the crowd. It was a circle of people that had were looking towards two people within it, cheering them on. The other being… ..Me. This is the 'Pit', isn't it?