Chapter 1. Welcome to hell.

Chapter 1. Welcome to hell.

 

11. October 2010.

Limbo.

Darkness consumed everything. No feelings, no thoughts, Dmitry did not even know, if he was breathing or not. He was just floating in it, peacefully and without any possible sites of light. However, he actually has not thought of even wanting it. Nothing left to him.

- Welcome to Limbo, - pronounced a young female voice through the darkness. �" Calculations would begin shortly. We apologize for the delay.

Slowly, Dmitry opened his eyes. Nothing was under him, neither around. Everything, what he saw �" was eternal whiteness.

- Memory calculations are complete, - some time later said the voice. �" Dmitry Sokolov, Russian, aged twenty-seven, mental condition stable. Cause of death �" suicide, Los Angeles tenth of October, year two thousand ten.

- Suicide? �" thought Dmitry, but his thoughts vanished. He felt a heat wave, which went through his entire body.

- Age with most potential �" twenty-three, - continued the voice as the heat became stronger. �" Additional physical and mental changes are being setup.

As the voice spoke of changes, Dmitry understood what that heat wave was doing. His entire body felt it. Dmitry became younger. Even his small bristle, which he used to have because of his laziness, came out on his face.

- Body change synchronization reached seventy percent, - in a matter of couple of minutes, carried on the voice. �" Memory scanning is complete, saving database.

- Adderly, enough, - a second, manly voice appeared. �" I do not feel any need for that useless information.

- Database renewed, sins condition are added, - continued female voice as if she did not hear anything. �" Access to Arena �" approved.

- Finally, - the second, manly voice heavily sighted. �" I thought this would never happen.

- Weapon of choice calculation is complete. Hatchet imbued into…

- Hatchet? Go to hell, Adderly, what was the second weapon of choice?

- A sword, - responded the voice less officially.

- Well, that is much better, than hatchet… - he chuckled. �" There is no need for another butcher on the Arena…

- Sword added, - responded the voice and carried on with her calculations. �" Physical renewal is complete. Motion functions are restored to Dmitry Sokolov.

- That was fast, - uttered the manly voice and Dmitry heard footsteps, which were moving towards him. �" Hey you, worthless corpse! Get up!

For a moment, Dmitry frowned. Somebody he does not even know just called him a worthless corpse. However, he did not respond to that and moved his head and fingers a bit. Every his movement felt clumsy and inconvenient, as if he was doing them for the first time.

- What is it, Dmitry? Are you too lousy even to stand up? �" asked the man somewhere close. As Dmitry understood, the owner of the voice was already in front of him, waiting for him to get up for some reason. �" Come on believe in yourself! You can do it!

Dmitry tried to answer, but he was not able to. He silently opened his mouth and shut it. He was unable to speak, although he was able to move already.

- Useless soul, - carried on the man and took Dmitry by the scruff. �" Was it that hard?

After trying to respond, Dmitry shut his mouth again. In front of him stood a blonde man, with a small pigtail on the left. He was carrying a long, brown coat and a shiny, black metal glove on his left hand.

- Language packs are installing, - faster, than the man was able to ask anything, said female voice. �" Forty nine percent left.

- Thank you, Adderly, - responded the man with a friendly smile and bowed to Dmitry. �" Marcus Bilodo, commentator of the arena, at your service. Welcome to hell, Dmitry Sokolov.

- Language packs are ready, - Adderly interrupted Marcus. �" Sin calculations are complete. Preparing iclaw for morphing.

- Iclaw? �" frowned Dmitry. �" What is that?

- A little something, that will become your best and closest buddy for the rest of eternity, - said Marcus and took a look around. �" Hold on, I will make this place a bit friendlier.

Before Dmitry even thought about opening his mouth, Marcus smoothly passed his hand over the whiteness. From nowhere, everything under their feet cowered in small grass, and above them appeared a bright, blue sky. Somewhere on a distance were seen green, peaceful hills, trees and a small river.

- Well now, where were we? - after finishing world creation, carried on Marcus. �" Oh, right, the iclaw. I will explain it later, when you will get one. Are there any other questions I might help you out with before that?

- Did I die? �" carefully asked Dmitry.

- Oh, yeah, indeed you did, - laughed Marcus at his stupid question. �" As far as I am concerned, no living soul is able to get to limbo. Therefore, you must be dead by now already.

- Wonderful, - frowned Dmitry. �" So, what happens next? Is eternal punishment waiting for me?

- You seem a bit too calm for a human, who just died, - grinned Marcus. �" Interesting, I must admit.

- Felix always told us, that we would end up in hell someday, - shrugged Dmitry. �" Consider that I was ready for this. However, this place is a bit too lovely for hell.

- This is not hell, - responded Marcus. �" This is limbo. The first place you see after death. You do not see each other, but I see you all at same time. A part of my job, I must confess.

- And how is that possible? �" frowned Dmitry.

- Have you seen Adderly? �" asked a counter question Marcus. �" Little, pink haired girl…

- In a black robe, right? �" finished Dmitry for him. �" Yeah, I remember her. Met her at the time I have died.

- She is a death keeper, - nodded Marcus. �" You got lucky, corpse. Not everyone get to see her, while still being alive.

- I do not have any curiosity about her, though, - shrugged Dmitry. �" So, I suppose, sorry.

- I see, - grinned Marcus. �" She is not curious about you also. Not sure, that she even cares, if you are here or not. Her job is to get a dead soul to limbo and calculate everything, what needs to be calculated. After that, you will probably never see her again.

- Great, - coldly said Dmitry. �" If I am not here for any punishment, why am I?

- Well, Adderly calculated, that you are allowed to join arena, - scowled Marcus. �" So…

- Iclaw is ready for morphing, - interrupted Adderly. �" Dmitry Sokolov, I would recommend you to close your eyes in order to prepare for the operation.

- And why should I do that? �" after the voice faded, asked Dmitry.

- Three…

- If I were you, I would have done as she said, - smirked Marcus.

- Two…

- What would happen, if I would not? �" carried on Dmitry.

- One…

- Stop! �" shouted Marcus. �" Adderly, what pain multiplier is currently set?

- Zeroed, Marcus, - responded Adderly.

- Put on maximum, - evilly sneered Marcus.

- Pain modifier is set on twenty, - she announced, and Dmitry felt, as even the air around was now hurting him. �" Anything else there is, that you would want me to do before iclaw morphing, Marcus?

- No, that would be all, - he nodded, without putting away his evil sneer. �" Begin morphing.

- Wait, what is going on? �" after feeling a small, but painful vibration in his left arm, asked Dmitry.

- Nothing much, - said Marcus and shot his ears with fingers. As soon as his left ear touched the iclaw, Marcus grimaced. Even a small touch with maximized modifier felt painful here.

Vibration grew stronger and more painful now. A small sap of sweat came out on Dmitrys forehead, as he held his left arm.

At the next moment, limbo filled with screaming. His left arm blew into pieces, cowering Dmitry and Marcus in blood. Dmitry fell down on the grass, holding his bloody elbow and tried to get over the pain. It went through his entire body, torturing him. Everything was floating, his head felt dizzy. He could not even see normally anymore. All he was able to do �" sit on his knees and try stopping the blood and pain.

- Adderly, shut him up, - some time later, shouted Marcus. �" I cannot bear this screaming anymore.

- Dmitry Sokolovs language packages are disabled, - announced Adderly and at that same time Dmitry carried on screaming, but with no voice. �" Iclaw is ready for morphing. I may begin now.

- Let him have it, - allowed Marcus. �" This will teach him to listen to orders.

- Beginning second phase, - carried on Adderly.

Dmitry fell down from his knees on to the ground. On an open place, where was his left arm �" started growing a metal claw, just as the one Marcus had. It grew directly from his body. Every single part of metal claw was slowly appearing and making place for a next part.

- Well, I suppose you can put pain modifier back to zero now, - said Marcus some time later, when iclaw growing was almost done. �" If not, he might die again. Most likely, that would not be nice.

- Pain modifier is set to zero, - pronounced Adderly and Dmitry stopped screaming. �" Iclaw is almost ready. Should I restore language packages for Sokolov?

- Yes, I believe so, - approvingly nodded Marcus. Right after that, heavy sights of Dmitry reached his ears. Marcus evilly smiled again and squatted near him. �" So, did you like it?

- Get lost, - coughed Dmitry and tried to stand up, but his body was still shaking because of pain. Even with modifier set back to zero, he still was feeling some leftover pain in his body.

- You will learn how to respect authorities, - said Marcus and started typing something on his iclaw screen. �" Hard way or not �" is for you to choose. Your worthless soul got a chance to fight your way to the gates of heaven, and you are still neglecting Adderlys suggestions. I cannot allow that intolerance to grow in you.

- Nice to hear that, - whispered Dmitry.

- Now, while I have some time to play around with you �" let me tell you about basics, - said Marcus and stood up. �" If you wish to set to heaven, you will have to win seven fights in the arena. Lose three times and off to Kainaken you go, for at least a year. Not the best place to be in, by the way. So, listen to Adderly and me. Then you might just survive. The rest is up to you.

- Splendid, - carried on whispering Dmitry.

- As a gift, you have received a small amount of cookies. Spend them wisely, - continued Marcus. �" Actually, if I were you �" I would have changed my outfit. Just a tip, nothing to it, though. In Getolium, the seventh circle, you would be able to find some shops.

- Cookies? �" frowned Dmitry.

- Yeah, - nodded Marcus. �" Many centuries ago, hell used to have gold as a volute. However, someone in heaven did not like that. Therefore, Lucifer changed volute to cookies. That blasted sweet tooth…

- Iclaw applied successfully, - interrupted Adderly. �" Dmitry Sokolov is now ready to leave limbo.

- Wonderful, - smiled Marcus. �" He was getting on my nerves anyway.

- Have a nice day, Marcus, - said female voice and Marcus nodded. �" I will take a small coffee break in Hoodnaken. Care to join me?

- Not now, I still have a lot of work to do at the arena, - sighted Marcus. �" Thank you for the offer. Oh, and tell Wolf, that he still owns me my death-day cake, while you are at it.

- Will do, - happily responded Adderly. �" Out.

- Traitor, - rolled his eyes Marcus and sat back on squats. �" Just between the two of us, Dmitry �" always listen to those, who are higher. Here in hell, it works differently, than in the living world. The stronger you are �" the higher you are here. Take any word of advice and be thankful for it. There is a lack of nice people in hell, you know.

- I will try, - as the pain started fading, peacefully answered Dmitry.

- Well, that was easier, than I thought it would be, - smiled Marcus. �" You have to get up, though.

- Yeah, I guess so, - said Dmitry. He stood up and looked at his new, metal arm. �" What do I do now?

- I will send you the manual for iclaw using, - promised Marcus and sat down on the ground, watching the clouds float around. �" And pretty much the basics of hell itself. All you need now �" is a name for the arena, and we can begin.

- Is Sokolov not good enough? �" carefully asked Dmitry and took out his amulet.

- It is boring and stupid to use your own surname as an arena name, - sighted Marcus. �" If you do not have any other ideas for it, though �" then I would not argue.

- Is Phoenix occupied? �" after looking for some time at his amulet, asked Dmitry.

- Phoenix? No, I cannot remember anyone with that name, - sneered Marcus. �" Would there be any other suggestions maybe?

- No, I think it is good enough, - nodded Dmitry. Afterwards, he hid his amulet back into his shirt.

- Then it is decided, - clapped his arms Marcus and stood up. �" Are there any other questions, maybe, before I will send you to your new home?

- Nothing I can ask now, I guess, - answered Dmitry.

- Good. Here, take these, - responded Marcus and took a notebook and a pen right from thin air. �" You might need it.

- What for? �" asked Dmitry, but took the gift.

- Hell is not a happy place. Start writing a diary. Helps to kill some time, - he winked and directed his metal arm on Dmitry. �" Until we meet again, Phoenix.

Before even Dmitry had a chance to open his mouth, everything covered in darkness. As soon as it faded, he ended up in some shady one-room apartment. Through the window, there were seen other small, wooden houses and a giant wall, that was about fifty meters tall. Most likely, it separated parts of this strange place he managed to end up in, the city of hell.