Seth howled in terror as he flew through the land of horrors.
His worst fears, horrific beings, scenes of chaos and death.
Every vision of fright imaginable formed and collapsed around Seth as he came closer and closer to insanity. Seconds shifted to eternities, directions became irrelevant, and thoughts turned to hallucinations as his trip into Gehenna progressed.
Whispers… whispers of voices both familiar and foreign people rose above the chaos surrounding him.
Pain erupted across Seth’s head in response to the voices, but it was barely registerable compared to the nightmares terrorizing his other senses. Eventually, the pain became too much and his eyes that were previously shut in an attempt to save his mind creaked open. Trying to ignore his environment, he focused on what was causing the searing pain… only to find a picture that curdled his blood.
It was his hands.
They were covered in tufts of familiar golden hair and an egregious amount of crimson blood. “ahhhAHHHHHH!!!”
A shrill scream was released from his throat, unbidden as he realized his own hands were trying to tear through his skull. In response to his unhinged shriek, a series of disgusting eye slits shot open across his arms and met Seth’s terrified gaze. In an instant, the hands were upon his face and he could do nothing but scream as they dug into the cavities of his eye sockets.
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Long after Seth’s mind had already broken, a hand of pure darkness emerged from the chaos to engulf Seth. The sudden silence brought Seth back to reality like a splash of ice-cold water. His eyes were back under his control, but he could not say the same for the rest of his extremities. Tremors racked his body as he lied in the fetal position staring into the black. Tears streamed down his face and screams echoed through the space as he relived the horror over and over in his mind.
“Well, aren’t you a sorry sight,” a voice from behind Seth giggled.
Seth didn’t even roll over to observe the new presence, as he didn’t hear it in the first place.
“Ah, I forgot lesser being’s minds can’t handle this realm for long.”
A slow melody of footsteps were played as the voice strutted over to study Seth closer. A slender hand white as snow reached over to cradle his head.
In an instant, Seth was suddenly on his feet and his thoughts were finally silent. He quickly did a full turn in place, panicking at the absence of chaos that had filled his mind just a moment ago. It was as if the hell he saw earlier never even existed. Not to mention, he didn't feel any of his previous pain either.
“Where am I?” He whispered to himself.
A voice like velvet answered from all around him, “Welcome, little one. Do not panic, for you are now safe from the pests on the outside.”
Seth whipped his head back in forth, searching for the origin of the voice. “Who are you? What do you mean outside, the outside of what? Where am I?" He demanded.
“Hell of course.” A voice whispered into his ear.
Seth fell back away from the voice in fear as he finally found its owner. A man stood in place next to where Seth stood originally. Well, “man” was a loose description as the thing in front of him was humanoid in shape and its voice smooth and humane like a man’s. Everything else about the thing was definitely not human in nature. It was around six feet tall, but it could have easily been eight if not for it being in a hunched position.
The figure was absolutely wreathed in ink black chains. The chains looked alive as multicolored ruins appeared and disappeared all over them, and they were wrapped so tightly around every part of the figure’s body that no skin was visible from its neck down to its ankles. Its arms were also bound behind its back and a web of chains stretched into the void connected to the figure.
“Hello my little friend,” the figure said. “I am so happy to see you.”
————
Seth stared at the dark being. In an attempt to show mock confidence, Seth went to look the creature in the eye, only to find that the whole top half of its face was also wrapped in chains. The only thing he could see of the thing itself was its stark white six toed feet and its creepy manic grin. It's smile made Seth lose all bravado. It contained way more teeth than a normal mouth, and the grin stretched unnaturally across its face, wider than any one he had seen before. Its black lips curled menacingly around its perfectly white teeth. Worst of all, Seth watched as blood mixed with some black liquid dribbled down the creature’s chin.
“Who are you?” Seth asked shakily.
“I am known by my captors as Folly,” the figure sniggered. “And you are Seth Shrike, the harbinger.”
Seth furrowed his brow in confusion, “How do you know who I am? And why are you in chains?”
“I know all who enter my domain, you are no different. As for why I am in chains, well that is because of you of course. Because you found the anomaly I created, my captors learned about my little mistake and saw fit to confine me further. But even now, I can still access my domain, for it lives purely in my mind.” Folly cackled.
“You see, every time I physically enter the mortal dimension, I unwillingly create an anomaly from the outpour of the outside realm’s energy.”
It took a second to hold back even more laughter. “I just love watching the destruction the anomalies cause.”
Folly finally lost his composure and laughed uncontrollably for a full minute. Seth was completely unnerved by the insane figure named Folly, but he had questions that needed to be answered.
“You keep mentioning the 'outside realm.' What is that, what was that place I saw before I got here?” There were many other things the figure said that didn’t make sense, but Seth needed to know what the things he saw were. They would forever live in his nightmares, and Seth needed to make sure that’s the only place they stayed.
“Those that know of its existence refer to the place you saw as 'The Other Side,' but us residents like to call it Perdition.” Folly stated with a wicked grin.
“Residents? You mean you have to see that constantly? I could barely hang on for the weeks I was in there, I can’t imagine living in that hell.” Seth exclaimed with a traumatic sigh.
“Weeks?” Folly broke out into a booming cackle. His mouth unhinged and a long slick black pointy tongue shot out of his mouth and spasmed around to display his manic pleasure. He finally settled enough to finish his thought.
“You ignoramus! You weren’t in there for weeks, you were only in there for five seconds! BAHAHAHA!”
Folly’s whole body shook with laughter and his ink black toenails scratched the ground repeatedly in response to his fit.
Seth was supremely disturbed by the fact he had only been in Perdition for five seconds. He was pretty sure that he also lost his mind during the experience, so in reality he didn’t even last that long. While Folly laughed, Seth calmed his own turmoil in order to ask another question. Abruptly, Folly silenced himself and interrupted Seth’s response.
“ENOUGH!” He shouted with a surprising amount of authority. His voice sounded devilish and terrifying as it forced Seth into literal submission. Seth couldn’t even make a sound as it felt like his mouth had been sewn shut. Folly turned back to his original grin like nothing even happened.
“Sorry little one, but I need to speed this up. Although I can access my domain by will, these chains only allow me to temporarily open it. As the creator of the anomaly, I am forced to give you access to its power. But I am infinitely bored in this realm, and the only rule is I have to give you a chance to get its power. Honestly, I don’t care either way, but last time I had someone absorb an anomaly I created, he turned into a black hole! BAHAHAHA! It was beyond entertainment! It would be a true waste if I just opened the anomaly to you. So, let’s make it a little game, hmm?”
Folly swung back and forth in his chains, thinking. He stopped mid swing and screeched, “I GOT IT!” The creature hacked in place and spat a disgusting glob of red and black fluid onto the ground in front of Seth. Ghostly purple flames sputtered to life at Seth’s feet and three lines of text appeared in the flames.
-Grave Prophet: Learn the secrets of the Damned.
-Embodiment of Ruin: Leave only death and destruction in your wake.
-Presence of Doom: Wield the power of the inevitable.
“All bring death, yet one yields life. Now choose your curse little one.” Folly’s grin widened, “Because of the risk on your part, I will sweeten the deal... If you live, I will give you a few little presents.” He finished with a more sinister edge than usual.
Seth didn’t even notice the change. He was too absorbed in the choices before him. For his whole life, Seth didn’t care about school. It wasn’t because he got bad grades or anything, in fact, Seth’s worst grade at the end of the year was a B in AP US History. It was specifically because he thought the school system was outdated. There was so many useless subjects and it did nothing to prepare you for adulthood. All in all, Seth was a smart guy, so it only took him a few shorts minutes to understand the catch in Folly’s choices.
“I have decided.” Seth declared in a confident tone. Folly’s smile reached each ear as he listened to Seth’s declaration.
“Oh have you now little one? Are you sure that you don’t want to think it over a bit longer?” Seth set his jaw and trusted his gut, because even if no one believed in him on Earth, he would just have to muster enough resolve to make up for it. “What is your choice little one?” Folly questioned expectantly.
“I choose the “Presence of Doom,” He stated.
Folly’s expression revealed nothing. “What made you decide on the “Presence of Doom” ability?”
Although Seth had seen unimaginable horrors and had experienced more pain in the last day than he had in his whole life, he could still spot a cheap riddle when he heard it.
“It was pretty easy to figure out after that little wordplay at the end. You left all the clues there for me, I just had to pick up on them.”
Seth’s attention was totally focused on his own “genius” explanation that he didn’t realize Folly was shaking violently in his chains.
“First, the ability: “Embodiment of Ruin” was a trick. At first glance, it sounds like a promise of incredible power, but then I remembered something you mentioned before, that the last thing to absorb one of the anomalies you created became a black hole. And that is exactly what I would have become had I chosen that ability. Embodying a force that leaves only “death and destruction.”
The chained being continued to shake while its grin widened to unimaginable proportions and its nails raked the floor.
“Secondly, the “Grave Prophet” trait was another trick. This one has no outside clue. It was a simple matter of reading between the lines. The only way to “learn the secrets of the Damned” is to literally become one. Had I chosen that trait, I would probably have been killed instantly, huh?” Seth finally turned his eyes back to the figure wreathed in darkness and lost all the nerve he had gained while explaining. Upon Seth’s gaze shifting back to him, Folly finally released the howl of laughter he had been desperately holding.
“EXCELLENT! PERFECTION!” He shrieked.
Folly’s tongue lolled yet again outside his mouth as he convulsed in glee. “That was extraordinary! The perfect entertainment to chase away my eternal boredom! Oh yes, you earned this little one.” Folly’s jaw unhinged and a fountain of darkness erupted from his mouth.
The darkness rushed toward Seth and crashed into every hole of his face. His eyes, mouth, nose, and ears were engulfed in the black oily substance. Seth thought he would pass out from suffocation when the onslaught finally ended. He shakily arose from the knee he took unconsciously and looked back at the chained figure.
“Don’t worry, you will definitely be feeling the changes when you wake up,” Folly tittered.
Seth’s brow furrowed when he realized what Folly just conceded. “Wait, I have been asleep this whole time?” He asked with confusion.
“Yes and no little one. For a mortal of your weak caliber to enter Perdition, you must have your soul pulled here by a being with sufficient power that exists here physically. So to say when you wake up, I truly mean when I release your soul.” Folly finished with his trademark manic grin.
Seth didn’t like the idea of his soul being under Folly’s thumb, “Alright then, can you send me back now?”
The insane creature clicked its tongue. “Did you already forget about my extra little incentive?” Folly asked in mock hurt. It shuddered for a second and then opened its mouth. Its black tongue unfurled to reveal three items. Seth approached the being and let it drop the items into his outstretched hand. Upon closer inspection, he identified them as a sparkling black rock, a pearl white marble, and an... eyeball?
“What am I supposed to do with these?” He questioned.
“Well, consume them of course.” The being said as if it was obvious. “First, you must replace one of your eyes with the one I provided.” Seth looked down at the mysterious eyeball in his hand. The supposed whites of the eyes were actually void black, and the iris was a glowing purple halo in the sea of darkness. Seth couldn’t lie, it was pretty fucking sick, but he didn’t understand how he was just supposed to replace one of his eyes.
“How am I supposed to just switch out my eye for this one?” He asked.
“Just like this,” the chained figure replied as it shot out its spear like tongue and picked up the eyeball out of his hand and slammed it into Seth’s left eye socket. A pained scream ripped from Seth’s throat as he clawed at his face that was free flowing blood.
“FUUUUUUUUCCCCCKKKK!!!” He screeched. “WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOOOUUUU!?”
Folly was shaking in his chains from his wretched hysterics. “ENCORE! ENCORE!” It chortled. Slowly it calmed down enough to talk again.
“Our time is running thin my little one. I will speed up the process of consumption so you can be sent back to the mortal realm. As Seth continued in his agony, Folly used it's tongue to insert the orb into Seth’s mouth and then lashed a cut on his crippled arm to which he shoved the sparkly black rock into. Seth was now trying to clutch both his eye and his wrist to stop the bleeding.
“Farewell now little one, I look forward to your next show...”
The last thing Seth heard before he ascended into the light, was laughter from the maddest being in all of creation.
