Damien's Hellverse

Damien awoke well rested and prepared for the journey ahead.

The desert had been merciful. They weren't all that deep into the sand.

Nothing that couldn't be managed. He got up and proceeded to dig the woman out.

The hand that he had so foolishly eaten caught his attention and he picked it up.

And he felt a profound remorse.

How could he possibly atone for committing such horror. But he smiled at the thought.

He threw the lady over his shoulder carefully to avoid waking her and them stood up.

Neither him nor his companion had anything to remember to take. They were wearing mere

rags. Such were the circumstances. No food. No water. Nothing.

"Here's hoping they have water over there."

"Or blood at the very least."

He brought his attention back to the suffocating thirst that needed quenching and

attempted to claw at his throat with his thoughts. But to no success.

He approached the door to the village. It seemed that at some point in time, they had constructed walls around this settlement of theirs. Damien called out as loud as he possibly could to anyone willing to open the door. "Please, let us i-in!" and then he collapsed.

He sat up from the bed to see a young woman sewing what seemed like a scarf. She looked up to Damien and promptly jumped from the chair she sat in. She could hear her calls getting quieter as she ran away from him. "Mei-ji, he is awake! He is awake!" She walked back through the door with a

young boy and a middle aged built man.

The door had been opened by a young boy no older than 5. He was a chubby boy with very clear skin and amber eyes. And he wore a turban atop his head. The girl and the man wore very simple, stereotypical clothing you might see in middle eastern countries.

"Thank you, I am in your debt." he said with a half bow, still sat on the bed.

"No, you needed help. So, we helped." the man gestured a wave.

But then he remembered the woman. Porphyria.

"The woman?" he asked abruptly.

"She is fine. Her hand is healed."

Damien attempted to stand up, but the girl moved to keep him seated. The man interjected, placing his hand on her shoulder.

"He is fine, he was simply exhausted."

"Until, you decide you wish to leave, you may sleep here and stay in this town. When the time for dinner comes, Talia will find you."

And with that, the three of them left.

He left the small room in which he had been sleeping. They had replaced his rags with robes of the same likeness as theirs and sandals had sat beside his bed. Damien had assumed they were for him, so he had just taken them.

Damien strolled around the area only to find Porphyria.

He sat down beside her.

"I see your hand has healed." The guilt on his face was apparent.

"Yeah, it's weird, isn't it? I didn't think you could heal from your hand being eaten."

He looked away, trying to hide the guilt.

"Don't be ashamed. I'm glad you did it, if you hadn't neither of us would probably be here now." Her smile was sincere and she gave him a hug.

He took note that she was reading and decided to grab a book for himself.

They had an antique, aged aesthetic to them and the binding was quite unique. The binding looked wax-like in nature. It seemed quite viscous and had a slightly sweet scent.

Quite reminiscent of honey, yet surprisingly overpowering.

There didn't seem to be any new books though, the reasons to which deluded him, but he refused to let it take away from the fact that the book her was reading seemed to be really interesting.

Among the books, he wasn't actually able to find any record of the world they were in, its history, anything.

Nothing.

"Hey." he tapped her shoulder.

"They haven't by any chance actually explained where we are or anything like that, have they?"

"No, they refuse to mention anything." His mind wandered, and his concern grew.

This world seemed to be shrouded in more mystery than prior. But what was the point of learning more about this "hell" if he couldn't get out?

"Time to eat." A voice called out to Damien and Porphyria.

It was the young girl from earlier.

Porphyria closed the book and put it down on the table. She pushed the chair out with her backside and walked out the building, with Damien following behind promptly.

"Let's go eat."