Cozy's Inferno: a Journey through the Darkest Void

Cozy Glow

After navigating the city of Dis, we finally reached the palace of Hecate, the former goddess of magic. The palace contained the furnaces which was the source of the fire in the entire city, and it made Sunset especially uneasy, as she knew this place would be her final place of torment should she fail. According to Helel, Hecate possessed the necessary key to take a path beneath the city, leading to the blind prisons, the lair of Medusa, who could turn you to stone with but a look, like the cockatrices from my homeland.

I shuddered at the thought, statues freaked me out after having spent years petrified. And the thought of spending eternity as a statue in Medusa's lair freaked me out to the point I feared it more than whatever fate the Adjudicator had in store for me in the ninth circle. I had gotten a taste of the cold of the 9th circle when I passed those mausoleums with the cold fire that contained the Lucifer worshippers. It was the same unnatural cold that had filled my body and soul since I came to these lands. I would have preferred to face the riddles of the Sphinx compared to facing Medusa. But Helel told me that there was little point. As the Sphinx’s gate only led to a different part of the Blind Prisons, which meant we would have to face Medusa anyway. Getting the key from Hecate would mean that we would be able to bypass dealing with the Sphinx however.

The entrance was decorated by murals of three snakes eating each other and the doorknobs depicted some kind of flaming, demonic horse, which Helel told me was a Nightmare. The entrance hall was vast, the darkness lit by smoking torches and infested by hundreds of snakes, slithering between the statues of both humans and ponies, their faces frozen with a terrified expression, I shuddered, knowing exactly what happened to them. Helel took us to a long corridor lined with a ruby red carpet that led from the entrance hall to the throneroom. The carpet glistened as if it was made from actual ruby. When I walked on it felt sharp, it hurt my hooves, causing me to decide to fly over the jagged carpet. The throne room’s ceiling was as tall as that of a cathedral, the room was lit by lanterns that seem to be made from skulls that hang from the ceiling. A scalding metal pillar rose from the center of the room, emitting thin coils of smoke. It appeared to be a chimney of sorts, transporting vapor from the furnace underneath the palace.

The throne room was filled with larger snakes than the entrance hall, some close to the size of a pony, or at least as big as I was. The individual sitting on the obsidian throne was not Hecate, but a well-dressed devil who introduced himself as Duke Valefor. Helel told him that he sought an audience with the Queen and asked him about her whereabouts. Valefor kept insisting for us to show them the proper documents, but Helel repeated their request three times, and the devil finally gave in and told us that the Queen was in the high tower of the palace, in her personal quarters, and the Queen had told Valefor that if someone wished an audience with her, they had to make it to her quarters. This seemed to worry Helel, who told us that the high tower was the lair of the Erinyes, three sisters named Megaera, Tisiphone and Alecto who in the time of Hades had been minor deities of vengeance, representing jealous rage, vengeful destruction and endless anger respectively. They had been the daughters of Nyx, the goddess of the night. Getting past them would prove difficult even for a group of our collective power.

The high tower stretched towards the sky and in the windows outside I could see it reach almost as high as the hurricane in the second circle. The staircases to the high tower were made of shining white marble, soiled with streaks and stains of blood ranging from dark brown to deep red, signifying there were blood both old and recent, no doubt the work of the Erinyes. A horrible chamber awaited us above, it was a vast torture chamber, filled with sharp cages of iron, stocks racks and pillars with chains attached to them. The chimney that we saw in the throne room ended here, fueling a furnace, close to it were several branding irons and various other torture implements. The floor itself was coated in a thick coat of blood. There are also several more statues at this location, prisoners who had been turned to stone by Medusa. The Erinyes could also be found in this room, the three sisters busy torturing various damned souls at the racks. The Erinyes appeared as old women with snakes for hair and with great batlike wings on their back, one of them wielding a spiked whip, another with a scorching iron that would usually be used to brand cattle, the third, while wielding no implement of torture appeared more ancient than the rest, her body almost looking mummified.

The one with the branding iron suddenly turned towards us and hissed:

“What are you doing here? You reek of sin.”

Helel told them that we were here to see Hecate. The Erinyes with the branding iron introduced herself as Tisephone and the one with the whip as Alecto and the one who looked like a mummy as Megaera. Telling us that the Queen instructed them that only those capable of defeating them in battle should be let through. With that, Helel drew their Tempestarii blade crackling with lightning and fighting ensued.

Jezebel muttered an incantation and tendrils of shadow emerged from the floor, restraining Megeara and Alecto and cutting them off from Tisephone. Tisephone attacked Helel and managed to grace them with their snake hair, but the bite seemed to have negligible effect on the fallen Malakhim. I took the opportunity to cast a powerful spell on Tisephone, creating an illusion of their worst nightmare. For the Erinyes, creatures that delighted in pain and suffering, even their own, that seemed to be nothing more than visions of peaceful flowers, singing and dancing happily. The vision seemed to drive Tisephone mad. Megeara attempted to break free of the shadowy tentacles in order to help their sister, but she was unable to escape their grasp, taking a thrashing from the tentacles in the meantime.

Sensing that if the two Erinyes broke free, they would be coming for both me and Sunset next, Sunset uttered a magical incantation and a holy crusader made of pure light manifested next to me, guarding us both. Alecto was also unable to break free of her restraints, but she uttered a spell, and her eyes became black, like portals to the void itself, making eye contact with Helel, who immediately fell asleep. Jezebel responding by approaching Helel and planting a kiss on their lips, immediately breaking the enchantment. In fury, Tisephone turned towards Jezebel, leaving her back open to Helel and… Hesitated, seemingly caught off guard by the innocent beauty of the Lilim, as Jezebel gave her puppy dog eyes. Helel striking Tisephone in the back, Tisephone turned towards Helel instead and attempted to strike him, the blow being easily blocked by Helel, as the mental anguish caused by my illusion continued to take its toll on her mind. Megaera roars in fury as she remained trapped by the tentacles, but was still able to summon a bolt of arcane energy and attempted to direct it at Jezebel, but once again… The Erinyes couldn’t bring herself to do it, instead directing the bolt at Sunset, who was badly wounded by the bolt, but remains standing, the guardian of light flickering in and out of existence for a moment, but Sunset maintained control over the spell.

Sunset responded by channeling her inner divine fire to engulf both Alecto and Megaera in a radiant inferno, severely wounding both, at the cost of Sunset further weakening herself. Alecto, still wrapped in the tentacles targeted Helel with their abyssal eyes, trying to enchant them once again. The Malakh remained resolute however and didn’t give into Alecto. Jezebel turned to Megaera and muttered an incantation and fired a bolt of pure light at her, wounding the Erinyes. Tisephone, barely standing after taking a beating from Helel, tried to fire a bolt of arcane energy at Jezebel, but is once again prevented from doing so by whatever witchcraft Jezebel is employing, Tisephone did however see that Sunset was on her last legs and fires another bolt of arcane energy at her, striking her right in the chest, the flames within Sunset weakening, there is only a small ember remaining now. Tisephone then perished to the mental anguish of the singing flowers.

Seeing Sunset severely wounded, Helel uttered the words of a healing spell and the flame within Sunset reignited. Megaera then managed to break free of the shadowy tendrils, charging past both me and the crusader of light, who took a swipe at Megaera, wounding her, the Erinyes barely standing, the snakes in her hair taking a swipe at Sunset, Sunset narrowly being able to dodge them. Using some of her newly restored divine flames, Sunset fired a burst of light at Megaera, taking her out. Sensing an opportunity, Alecto summoned the strength to break free from the tentacles and fire an extremely powerful burst of arcane energy at Sunset, hitting her and causing her to fall to the floor, her bodyfading away, leaving only the torch of hope on the ground. This filled me with rage, and I uttered a vicious enchantment and directed it at Alecto, the words themselves designed to do harm:

“Your mother is a whore.”

Childish as they may be, with those words, Alecto perished. Leaving us victorious. A few moments later Sunset reappeared at the torch, but the light of hope within her further diminished. The fire within her more and more taking the form of the infernal fire of this circle the more hope she lost. I asked her if she was okay, she told me that she would be better once we were out of the city, where she was constantly reminded of her eventual fate of perdition.

After making sure Sunset was okay, I turned my attention towards Jezebel to congratulate her on a job well done as it was her spell of summoning those tentacles that assured our victory. By holding the other two Erinyes in their grasp for so long we were able to deal with Tisephone. Jezebel blushed before telling me:

“it’s just a trick I have picked up on during the time before my home realm fell, a time where we didn’t know any pain and life was a paradise, if you think they are useful for combat, you should just see what they can do for pleasure.”

I think I prefer to not think about how a Lilim like Jezebel would use these shadowy tentacles for pleasure. When I asked her about how the Erinyes couldn’t attack her, she explained that Lilim had this aura about them that inspired sexual attraction and love, which made it hard for any being to lay a hand on them. I found what she said to be true, as upon closer inspection, while she didn’t resemble a female of my species, I reluctantly had to admit I found her quite beautiful with her alabaster skin, small, thin, yet curvy figure, and long ebony hair, not to mention her black feathered wings, which was the one trait that I could recognize among pegasi, and they would have been considered especially beautiful among the residents of Equestria as well. Now that she mentioned it, even if we were enemies, I would have found it difficult to lay a hoof upon her. My wings started stiffening just by looking at her, a reason I often avoided looking at her for too long at a time, so I had to look away to avoid an especially embarrassing moment. Jezebel seemed to know what was happening and she smiled and told me it wasn’t uncommon for people to have better reaction around her.

Where the bodies of the Erinyes used to be, there were now three keys on the ground. A regal female voice could be heard in the distance:

“Well done, not many have been able to defeat the three sisters. The daughter of Lilith especially, well done.”

Out from the shadows came what appeared to be a rather striking human woman, almost as beautiful as Jezebel, her raven hair flowing behind her, she was clad in a regal dress, a crown of her head and a pair of torches in her hands, she was flanked by a pair of animals, a black dog and a polecat. I realized that this was Hecate, the one who had once ruled as the goddess of magic, and now served as the Queen of the Damned.

Helel turned towards the goddess and spoke with an authoritative voice, even though they were in the presence of the goddess, Helel didn’t show any sign of deference. Who were they? Could they really be a simple fallen angel?

“Queen Hecate. I ask for your support in our endeavour to reach the ninth circle, I know you are officially aligned with Yaldabaoth, them having granted you this position after Hades was chained up. But don’t you miss your place on Mount Olympus? Don’t you miss being a goddess and not just a servant of a tyrant? I have now found companions that still has hope strong enough to light the way to Prometheus, and we have the means to free them.”

Helel gestured to Orpheus to show her the lyre. Orpheus and Euridice, who had been cowering in a corner of the room while the fighting had been going on, came out of their hiding spot and presented the Lyre of Apollo to Hecate. Helel explaining that they thought it would be enough to restore hope to Lucifer and reclaim the underworld. Hecate was lost in thought for a moment before speaking:

“Very well, by defeating the Erinyes you have proved yourself to be worthy of passage. I will not try to stop you, but remember, if things go awry, we never had this conversation. The official story must be that you stole the keys and went through the door hidden behind my throne without my knowledge. I dread to imagine what Epimethius would do to me if he discovered my treachery. Take the keys and go. But be warned, Medusa is in the tunnels beneath the palace, and further down is the labyrinth of the Minotaur. And if you do manage to reach the ninth circle, be aware that there is a primordial evil in that place, a power much greater than Promethius that is the source of the evil in this place. Even Epimethius fears it, so they sealed it away at the very bottom of the underworld. I fear that if you are going to free Promethius, you will also awaken that ancient terror. And maybe not even the Lightbringer could illuminate that darkness.”

With those parting words, we took up the keys from the ground shortly before the Erinyes returned to life. The sisters were hissing at us, but Hecate wouldn’t allow them to harm us. We made our way down to the throne room once again, Helel moving the throne out of the way to reveal a door with three keyholes. Inserting the keys, the door opened, leading us down a staircase towards the furnace below and then deeper down. In the furnace, a matrix of molten lava so hot that it looked white could be found, covering the entire area of the city. Sunset told me she wanted nothing else but to extinguish that infernal fire forever. But it was unlikely we had the means to do so, so we had no choice but to continue with our journey.

The tunnels below the furnace were pitch black, the only light that could be seen was from Sunset’s torch of divine flame. But with the eyes of Minos I could see just fine. The tunnels appeared to be made of stone, but there was something off about it, on closer inspection it appeared to be closer to petrified organic matter than natural stone. Like gore and viscera smeared across the walls and petrified, I surely hope the damned souls whose bodies made up this tunnel weren’t conscious in their current state, but knowing this place they probably were. I shuddered to even think of it, it was bad enough to be aware of your surroundings while you spent years as a statue, alone with your own thoughts, never mind spending eternity smeared across the wall and floor. Random limbs still retain their shape in the walls and on the floor, soon making it obvious this terrain used to be people. Tons and tons of snakes were found slithering around these petrified limbs. The tunnels would soon expand into a vast complex of cells, containing various gigantic humanoids, some with only one eye, others with a hundred arms, according to Orpheus the one-eyed creatures were Cyclops’s and the hundred handed ones Hecatoncheires. All turned to stone by Medusa to spend eternity as a statue. Turns out the fate of the princesses inflicted on the back in Equestria was considered bad enough to be inflicted upon the residents of hell, I wonder if they ever truly realized what they had done. Helel referred to this place as the Blind Prisons, the lair of Medusa.

While the navigated the labyrinthine prison complex. I felt a greater sense of fear than I’ve ever felt in my entire life, for only one look at that creature they called Medusa could turn you to a stone statue and I would be trapped here for rest of eternity reliving the worst time in my life. To avoid being taken off guard by the monster, I looked down to the ground, it was then my eyes, enhanced by the eyes of Minos discovered something significant. Next to the horrifically disfigured remains of what had once been a man, petrified as part of the tunnels, were a polished bronze shield, in the light of Sunset’s torch I could see my own reflection. If I remember correctly of how beasts like the Cockatrice works, if you look at it indirectly, as through a mirrored surface, you wouldn’t turn to stone. Furthermore, what if the beast was tricked to look at their own reflection? I felt a sudden boost in confidence as I picked up the shield. Orpheus telling me it looked like the shield of Perseus, an ancient hero famous for having slain Medusa. When I inquired about how he manage such a feat, Orpheus told me that Perseus managed to slay Medusa by using the mirror shield to gain a way to keep track of the creature and cutting of her head. Looked like Medusa had her revenge in the afterlife, as the remains of these petrified corpse was likely none other than Perseus, judging by the presence of the shield. When I inquired about what would happen if Medusa looked at herself through a reflection, Orpheus told me that while this has never been tried, it just might work.

I inquired from Orpheus all I could about Medusa and they told me she used to be a priestess of Athena, cursed by her daughters when she violated a vow of celibacy when Poseidon raped her in one of her temples, transforming Medusa into her current monstrous form. While nobody had seen Medusa’s form without turning to stone, she was said to, like the furies, have snakes for hair, and the body of a serpent. I told Orpheus that Athena sure was a monster for punishing a woman who was simply a victim of Poseidon. Helel responded with that while the lords of the previous regime were as filled with douchebags as the current one, both Athena and her brother Ares had sided with Yaldabaoth during their insurrection, so Athena was currently one of our enemies.

It was then I could hear something slithering from the corridor in front of us, I told the rest of the group to close their eyes while I looked in the mirror shield to figure out the location of the monster while telling Sunset to give me the torch, holding it with one of my wings while holding the shield with the other. Just as Orpheus described, Medusa might have once been beautiful, but she was now a monstrous hybrid between a human and a snake, with the upper body of a woman and a lower serpentine body, her hair was full of snakes that all hissed in chorus. As Medusa got closer, I try to illuminate her with the light of the torch and took my eyes off the shield and shoved it in her face. I closed my eyes to avoid getting a glimpse of her without the shield. My heart skipped a beat, Medusa screamed in terror, and after waiting about 30 seconds of nothing happening, all while still worried what would happen if my plan didn’t work. I eventually dared to open my eyes again. Before me was a stone statue, forever frozen in place with a familiar expression of terror on her face. The same expression that had once been on my face when I was turned to stone. It didn’t sit right with me to inflict this fate on someone else, but for now I had little choice. I felt bad for Medusa, who was originally a victim of the gods. I told myself I would one day free Medusa from her curse as well as all those who had been petrified by her. This was not the fate I would wish on my worst enemy, one day these victims of petrification would be free of the underworld, so they could once again see the stars.