Damien's Hellverse

The doors were thrown open upon Damien's and Porphyria's arrival, to which they were welcomed officially with a feast fit for kings. The hall looked like how Damien imagined Valhalla to be. It had glorious wooden torches, a 6 massive tables side by side to occupy the entire hall. Based on the size of the hall, he assumed that the meals throughout the day all occurred in this very hall. It truly was a sight to behold.

Everybody was already seated so the entrance was a bit awkward. Regardless, they took the seats that had been made available for them next to their new-found friends.

"The village elder will make the announcements; before we eat so don't start just yet."

The pair sat patiently waiting for the announcements from the elder, but Damien's stomach became impatient. It began to make disturbing sounds.

So, he punched it. But the sounds didn't cease.

So, he sat there, praying his stomach wouldn't embarrass him any further. And it didn't.

"We have no major announcements, however, I would like to give a warm welcome to the newest members of the northern sector." He gestured towards the seats occupied by Damien and Porphyria and with that, all heads turned.

"You may start."

From the front of the table, going towards the back, people began eating. They both followed the lead and began eating. At the table was anything a person could wish for. Chicken, Lamb, Fish, Salad etc. The feast looked magnificent.

Damien turned to the man sitting next to him. He had this majestic, black mane. There was a massive shroud of hair sitting on his head like black flames and a beard that merged with this hear by way of his sideburns.

"Hello, I'm Damien." They shook hands.

"So, what's the deal with this place anyway? Backstory? Etcetera?" he waved with his spoon while asking.

The man coughed while chewing a piece of bread.

"I'm sure you know by now that we do not speak of it."

"Well, what the fuck? I have nothing to lose."

"Many have come into this world before you. Many have inquired on the nature of this world. Hell, some called it. Ferr, Pokol, Jahannama, impyerno. I think I have heard just about all the names for this place."

"What are you getting at, Mr?" he interrupted.

"What I am getting at, impatient young man, is that where you and all the others have come from? You have the wrong idea. It isn't a burning world with a tyrannical, malevolent god of some sort." he would not reveal everything. They would not allow it.

"It is simply another world occupying a perpendicular spatial orientation in an alternate universe."

"Hmm."

Now he understood. There wasn't really a hell after all. He was still alive. Which mean he could get back.

"So, has anyone ever gotten back? To where I came from, I mean."

"I couldn't tell you if I wanted to. I wouldn't know."

This was not convenient. A wild goose chase, across an unfamiliar world, looking for something which he didn't even know what exactly he was looking for.

The conversation ended there and Damien continued eating in peace. He tilted rightwards and turned his head to Porphyria. He brushed her hair to the side and whispered something into her ear. "We are going to get the fuck out of this world."

He couldn't decide the exact point at which he had decided he wasn't going to discard the young woman, whose hand he had eaten in the desert.

In her he had found someone that he could use. Someone he could trust.

Ultimately, someone he was going to need. For better or for worse.

He turned to the man with the mane, needing the answer to one last question.

"What's at the top of the tower?"

"The devil!" he exclaimed.

That was all that needed to be heard.

"Let's go. We are going to need our rest." he noticed that she had finished her food so he grabbed her arm and led her out of the hall.

By this time, almost everybody had left the hall having finished their dinner. They made their way back to the room they had recovered in. Fresh bedding had been put into place.

"Turn around. I'm going to get undressed." he couldn't see her but he heard her articles of clothing come off, one by one until she had stripped herself down to her bare skin. He imagined her undergarments sliding against her skin. In such a god forsaken desert, how had she managed to keep her skin so smooth?

"I'm in bed now. You may turn around." she said, her back turned towards Damien.

She wasn't facing towards him but he felt uncomfortable getting undressed, while so exposed. So vulnerable. So he got into bed first and then proceeded to take off his clothes and throw them out from beneath the sheets.

He lay in bed, staring at the ceiling trying to remember something from his life on Earth. But he couldn't. All he knew for certain was the cruelty he had inflicted upon others. He wreathed at the thought.

Some time passed before he heard a movement beneath the bedsheets across the room. And then he saw a slender figure climb out from the bed. It was Porphyria. She walked over to Damien's bed but clearly unconscious. She pulled the sheets up and climbed into his bed. This was awkward. He could feel her bare breasts pressing up against his back. This was going to make for one hell of a night.