Cozy's Inferno: a Journey through the Darkest Void

Sunset Shimmer

After getting off the ferry that ferried us across the river Styx, we entered the city of Dis. The obsidian walls surrounding the city towered above us, the devils manning the walls looking down on us with disdain, them hurling both insults and excrement at us, seeming to aim for me in particular, yet the authority of Helel managed to get us through the gates. The pavement was made from pure obsidian and the walls of both the buildings and the outer walls themselves appear to be made of a combination of obsidian and black iron, all looking incredibly filthy, soot from a furnace staining every surface, every surface hot to the touch, I quickly learned not to let my hands touch any surface, as it would quickly sear my skin. I told Cozy to use her wings to hover above the ground and not to come into contact with any surface. Jezebel appeared to be unbothered by the heated surfaces, explaining that her species was extremely resistant to fire.

The city was vast and labyrinthine, the buildings looked sinister, all with a military appearance and function, like they were was preparing for a siege at any moment. Helel explained that this had once been the case, as the city was the fortress stronghold of Lucifer’s and Hades’s resistance against Yaldabaoth, while the city ultimately fell, it managed to hold the armies of the Adjudicator at bay for a while. Among the bastions and watchtowers, scores of devils kept watch. The city consisted of many concentric rings, leading to the center of the city and the palace of Hecate, which meant we needed to pass through all of them. I had a bad feeling about this, as the fire burning within me had intensified since we entered the city, the pain being worse than ever. It was almost unbearable enough for me not to be able to continue walking, but I forced myself to continue regardless. When I broached the subject with Helel, they told me that this is because the city of Dis, the circle of heresy was the circle that Minos would condemn me to after I died. I knew why, it has been obvious during our entire journey, that my beliefs about redemption and rehabilitation were ideologically opposed to the punitive justice embraced by the new masters of the underworld, as my will defied theirs, I was considered a heretic in the eyes of the Adjudicator.

The entrance to the first concentric circle, which Helel called the Flaming Torch Arc had a banner of an emaciated mastiff with a torch in its mouth decorating the gate. Inside the arc were countless blazing sepulchers. I could feel the fire within me intensify as I got close to them. The air being filled with horrific screams from inside these tombs. I could feel a strong urge to enter one of these mausoleums to figure out what is going on inside. I couldn’t quite get in as the flames consumed the entire building, but from the entrance I could see countless wailing souls being caught in the infernal fires around a coffin, which was also engulfed in flames. The flames within me grew in strength the closer I got to this coffin. It was then I realized the reason behind this, if I were to die or lose my hope, I would be confined for all eternity to such a coffin.

Helel explaining that each of these sepulchers housed an individual who were monotheistic followers of the so-called one true God, Yaldabaoth. But their teachings were incorrect and led to schisms between the faithful. The founders that came up with these incorrect interpretations were to be trapped in a flaming coffin at the heart of the tomb, while their followers were condemned to be trapped in the sepulcher itself around the coffin and be burned together with their teacher. I could hardly even imagine such unbridled cruelty being inflicted on anyone, some part of me was consumed by fear and would do anything to avoid such a fate, I felt a desire to surrender to the Adjudicator and beg for forgiveness to avoid being trapped in such a coffin for eternity, yet I knew they wouldn’t listen and potentially condemn me to the burning tombs anyway. Another part of me was consumed by anger that anyone would be subjected to such a fate and that part of me wanted to rage against the heavens in a fruitless rebellion, regardless of what would happen to me as a result. As I just couldn’t accept such cruelty being seen as any kind of justice.

The others seem to have noticed my distress, as Cozy chimed in and told me:

“Don’t worry Sunset, we will get out of this awful place, maybe we can even help us trapped in torment within the underworld.”

Helel told us both that if we were successful in freeing Lucifer, Yaldabaoth’s hold of The Underworld might be broken, and the afterlife restored to what it used to be. Yet this all hinged on a single assumption, that Lucifer had what it took to defeat Yaldabaoth. A fact I wasn’t so sure of, as they had lost once before. Jezebel put her hand on my shoulder in order to comfort me, but without saying a word. Yet the gesture was enough. With their combined efforts I found the strength to continue. The Flaming Torch arc, other than the flaming tombs were filled with infernal forges where blacksmith devils constructed various weapons and torture implements. Yet fortunately the devils left us alone, too busy with their work.

The entrance to the second concentric circle was decorated by the banner of a fierce stout on a blue background with a white key on its head. According to Helel this was the Key Arc. The road here became narrow and winded between archways and rusted and ruined buildings as well as steep staircases, their appearance exotic and ancient. This part of the city housed hundreds of temples of different designs, dedicated to hundreds of different religions. A circular building stood out from the rest with a colossal key on its roof, surrounded by an entire congregation of celebrating devils. I had to see what all the celebrating was about, so I entered the building, only to find a huge well consumed by a flame so hot that the flames burned white. The flame was kept going by the devils who continued to throw books and manuscripts into the flames, the flame growing taller and ever larger for each book that was thrown in. Helel explained to me what was going on:

“Those who burn at the bottom of this well are the Gnostics, individuals who believed the world was controlled by a sinister entity known as the Demiurge, also known as the false god Yaldabaoth, who despite their claims were not the True God, incidentally they happened to be right, not that this spared from Yaldabaoth’s wrath. The flames are kept burning by burning texts Yaldabaoth deems heretical, it is said that when the flames reaches the key at the top of the roof, it is time for the apocalypse.”

Helel also explained that there was a spiral staircase inside the well that leads to the burning catacombs of the followers of other philosophies considered heretical like Platonists, Zoroastrians, Hermeticists and Epicurians. All eventually leading to a gate guarded by a Sphinx which would lead to the seventh circle. While this was a possible route for us to take. No one had ever been able to pass the Sphinx as its riddles were nigh impossible. Cozy did want to try going this way, but she was eventually convinced to do otherwise by a combination of both Helel and Jezebel. Cozy sure had a lot of faith in her own intelligence.

The entrance to the first concentric circle was that of a female centaur on a red background, Helel called it the Centauress’s Arc. It primarily consisted of a garden of metal refuse fused together in spirals that was recovered in a carpet of ash. Unlike every other location in this city, it wasn’t burning hot, but rather, quite cold, like the Arctic, a freezing wind blowing across this section of the city, encasing everything in frost. More sepulchers could also be found at this location, burning not with heat, but with cold blue flames that produced an icy cold. Helel explained that most housed within those sepulchers were the followers of Lucifer, all doomed to share a portion of their master’s punishment of the frozen wastes of the ninth circle. Yet not even being allowed to be close to their master in actually being condemned to the ninth circle themselves. I noticed the frost surrounding Cozy was even more noticeable while we remained at this location. So, she quickly urged us to move on. I think this said something about where The Adjudicator had deemed to place her after death.

The final arc’s entrance was decorated by the banner of a red reptile on a black background. Called by Helel the Salamander Arc. Filled with even more crypts, these ones burrowing into the ground. Helel explained that these housed the followers of primitive and prehistoric religions that worshiped things like the sun and the moon. Unlike the rest of the Adjudicator had allowed them a small respite by being buried alive a fair distance away from the burning flames, as in life they were just ignorant of the true master of the universe. Yet it spoke volumes to me that this Yaldabaoth considered simply not knowing of them a crime worthy of punishment at all. Considering ponies worshipped entities representing the sun and the moon, I suspected most of our kind would be relegated to this arc after their death, even if they hadn’t otherwise done anything wrong.

We also passed the library that Helel explained contained all the heretical texts ever written, devils could be seen going in and out of this building, constantly gathering more texts to feed to the white fire in the second arc.

After passing through this last concentric circle, we finally reached the heart of the city, the palace of Hecate. If only I knew what horrors would await me inside, maybe I would hesitate to enter. I looked up towards the sky and wondered if we would ever get out of this place or if I would be forever condemned to burn in a coffin for all eternity, just because I had the audacity to believe no creature no matter how villainous deserved to be tortured for all eternity, because I tried to save creatures like Cozy. My hope had slowly started to leave me, constantly being consumed by the Flame of Hope we needed to traverse this Abyss of pure darkness, I wondered if it would truly last until the end of this journey. The skies above were an empty blackness containing no stars, as to signify that there wasn’t even a single spark of hope left in this place.