It was late into the night, and Charlotte was still up with the power of her hat, reading book after book. By the time she noticed, it was already three in the morning.

I should go to sleep...

But someone else has another purpose for her. 

Silla burst into the room with a bright smile showing her shark teeth. Instinctively, Charlotte backed herself to the wall, ready to defend her position. With how many times she was caught off guard by Silla, her mind and body adapted to the pervert's assault.

"Little one! We'll be going on a field trip!!", Silla excitedly announced, hands flung in the air.

Field trip?

"Come on, hurry! I'd prepared everything so just jump right in!!", Silla snapped her finger, Charlotte thought it was for dramatic effects, a blood-red ritual circle appeared where the door once was. It formed into a portal leading to what looked to be the very image of Hell itself.

"But... I was about to sleep.", Charlotte weakly protested. Half of her mind said she needed to go to sleep, the other half was curious and wanted to go.

"C'mon! 3 hours adventure! In and out! It will be over very quickly! Just a trip down to Hell, nothing to worry about!!"

Before Charlotte can react, Silla moves behind her lifting her. With no way of fighting back, Charlotte simply accepted her fate and got dragged to the portal.

Goodbye, my room...

Silla was very excited, not for any good reason knowing her. To add more fuel to Charlotte's dislike of Silla, her back felt something burning, etched into her skin. For the first time, Charlotte shot a hostile glare at Silla, which for some reason made her smile even more.

"Just some protection ritual, Hell isn't very kind to humans, you see. It'll go away when we get back so no worries!", Silla giggles, walking the both of them into the gate of Hell.

A wave of heat washed over Charlotte, making her sweat immediately upon entering. But she did not mind that the view in front of her took away the minor inconvenience.

They are standing on a cliff made of deep red stone, watching over a range of human face mountains, all are expressions of sorrow, rage, grief, and every negative emotion possible. Under the mountain range is a river of boiling blood bubbling. Further away, Charlotte could see a plain of tall blue grass breaking the color palate of the whole place.

Silla, being the guide, pointed out all of the locations, "Those mountains over there are the Range of Condemn, they are made of people's regrets in life, the safest location in Hell. Down there is the Heresy River, made of the blood of believers and sinners of God, not a place I would go to. Over there in the far back is the Plains of Sorrow, those grass grew by the tears of human who was wronged by the servants of God, also would not recommend going there."

"Then... where are we going?", Charlotte asked while her eyes still stuck to the scenery. There was something wrong about this place, except for the fact that this is Hell itself.

"I don't know, Hell isn't like it used to be thanks to a certain someone.", Silla shrugged, "There isn't any brothel or big city, only a few scattered houses since Demons hate each other."

Silla put Charlotte down, she grinned mischievously while taking a few steps back away from the girl. Another portal appeared behind Silla to drop off a briefcase with a demonic seal on it.

"I'll leave this here, it has all the things you need like water and ration.", Silla stepped through the portal, "The seal on your back will forcibly bring you back to the real world in 3 hours, so don't worry!! Ciao!"

She went away, and the portal closed. Charlotte turned back, her eyes widening with disbelief.

She... left me... and somehow it was not surprising at all...

Not lingering on the thoughts for long, Charlotte took the briefcase and looked around. There was a pathway leading down to the lower level. Guess there is only one way.

But first, Charlotte checked the briefcase to see what was in there. There was nothing much in there, just the things Silla said, a big canteen of water, and five ration bars. There was one other thing Silla did not say anything about. The last object in the briefcase was a pistol.

The gun itself was similar to a magnum in shape and length. It has a silver color with the line "Ut Lux Ardet" etched in gold on the side of the gun.

"May the Light Burns...", Charlotte read the lines in English. There was something about it, she could not tell.

Charlotte picked it up, she could feel the weight of it. It was heavier than the canteen, but holding the weapon she did not mind the weight at all. It feels right.

Charlotte smiled, swinging around her weapon for the test, up and down, right to left, aiming at random things. Like the burning dog that just climbed up the pathway.

Enemy

Without any further thought, Charlotte aimed her gun at the dog that was now running at her at an extreme pace, unlike normal dogs. Not that Charlotte knows what a normal dog is like.

She pulled the trigger without any hesitation. The firing knocked Charlotte back due to the abnormal recoil. She could feel a few of her bones were cracked and many tissues were damaged. As for the dog, the golden bullet went through its entire body and somehow caused it to explode. Bits and chunks of the dog flew everywhere.

Unfortunately for Charlotte, a bit of flesh landed on her dress, burning a hole to get to her leg. A primal fear awakened in Charlotte, realizing this thing could cause permanent damage to her body. She kicked it away with a violent swing of her leg, then covered it up with the black goo of Reverie.

The power of human imagination ate away the remaining flame, replacing her burnt spot with it. Charlotte did the same with her broken right arm, helping her bones back in the right place, filling the cracks, and connecting the damaged tissues for them to heal up.

Without the help of her hat and the pendant, Charlotte knew she would be lying in pain exhausted, or even both. Only a few minutes of being here had already reduced her to this state. How am I going to survive this...

 

Adapt, Survive, Overcome. 

 

An unfamiliar voice came into her head, it was not Reverie, Charlotte was sure of it.

"Who are you?", Charlotte asked. But no reply came. This is starting to feel like Reverie all over again... wait...

Are you one of my powers? 

No reply. But Charlotte has a prospect of what that voice was. It is awakening.

One of her powers was returning. She thinks back to the words Reverie said, getting out of her haven. Looking around, this place certainly is not Charlotte's haven, it is Hell.

I could unlock my power here...

Now with a goal, Charlotte stood up, eyeing the pathway down. Her azure eyes reflect determination, ready to explore what Hell has to offer.

=0=0=0=

Back in the real world.

 

Athen stabbed Silla right in the stomach with her sword, impaling her to the wall. Rage filled the woman's eyes, she was furious at what Silla did.

"SEND HER BACK NOW, YOU BITCH!!", Athen screamed directly to Silla's face, making her wince due to the loudness.

"Nah, this is for her good!", Silla smiled while blood bleeding out of her mouth.

"That place is FUCKING HELL!! The Abrahamic Hell is the most dangerous kind!! You should know that!! For Zeus' sake, what don't you understand?!?!", Athen twisted her blade, making the pain even more agonizing for Silla.

"C-Chill, Charlotte won't die. That place is pretty barren! Nothing there will be able to badly harm her! Trust me!", Silla tried to draw a ritual on the wall with her finger, her smile faltering a bit.

"Oh no you don't!"

A spear made out of lightning pierced Silla's hand. Normally it would have fried a normal person to death, but for Silla, it only paralyzed her whole body as long as the spear was still in contact with her.

Now desperate, Silla summoned her bony wings under her coat. She launched them at a speed comparable to bullet flying. One spike impaled Athen's heart, while the other struck her head, killing her instantly.

The two weapons impaling Silla vanished. A breath of relief washed over her as she stared at Athen lying there. 

The blood spot on the ground expanded more than it should have, arms of blood came out enveloping Athen and dragging her down through the pool of blood. 

Silla breathed a sigh of relief. Athen will be back in less than an hour, Silla should hide while at that—

Athen's hand grabbed onto Silla's ankle, catching the woman off guard. Next, the arms of blood assisted Athen in dragging Silla down.

"Well, shi—!!"

Silla too was dragged down into the pool of blood.