Nadia nodded, then pulled on his arm one more time before letting go and starting down the slope again. There were more people and souls being tortured everywhere she looked, so she tried to walk quickly, staring down at where she placed her feet, and not at the figures around them.
The sooner they could get out of here, the better, as far as she was concerned. The last thing she wanted to do was get cornered by something like what had just happened to Bel.
Bel walked with her, ignoring the screaming and crying around them, his thoughts turned inward. He hoped he was right. That couldn't have been his father. His mother had trapped his father's soul after she killed him, and Bel had no idea where he was now. Not this place. He couldn't be in this place. His father was a good man who married the wrong woman.
They passed tar pits, snake pits, and pits that seemed to be filled, strangely enough, with flaming feet, progressing ever downwards, to the point where Nadia was beginnig to wonder if they were going the right way, after all.
But more than that, she was terrified of returning to that strange forest, so she continued onward until she was forced to stop at the edge of a cliff.
It looked like they'd reached the center of this place. Giants stood all along the edge of the pit, themselves so tall and the well so deep that Nadia and Bel stood level with their navels, and had to crane their necks to look the Giants in the eye.
How the hell--Hell, we're in Hell, I'm in HELL--were they supposed to get beyond this?
"Still can't shimmer," Bel confirmed reluctantly. He looked the giants over, hating feeling short compared to them. "So, think we gotta go down in the pit?" he asked idly. Somehow that didn't seem like a good plan.
"I don't know. I think . . . maybe we do." Nadia didn't much want to, either. She could see across to the other side of the pit, and it looked exactly the same as the side they were on. She looked back up at the giants. "Maybe we can ask one of them to help?" The giant nearest to them seemed to be speaking gibberish, but one of the others might speak a language Nadia knew.
The giants turned to answer in a variety of languages, creating quite a cocophany. Nadia winced at the volume, then singled out one that she was pretty sure spoke European Spanish. "//We don't belong here! Can you help us get out?//"
The giant blinked slowly at her, then set down an enormous hand near their feet. "//You must go through the pit. I can lower you.//"
Nadia nodded and turned to Bel. "We do have to go in. He said he'll lower us down." And hopefully not, say, crush them to death in the process.
"Great," Bel said under his breath. Didn't seem like they had much of a choice, though.
The giant let them climb into his hand, then turned and lowered them into a pit. At the bottom of the pit was a large frozen lake. There were people standing in the lake, frozen up to their necks, and further inward, people lying on their backs, blocks of ice over their eyes.
"Guess we gotta walk across that," Bel said as he jumped out of the giant's hand. Feeling that small and powerless had been nauseating and he was glad to be back on his feet again.
Great. Just great. Ice. "I guess so." Nadia stepped forward carefully, worried about slipping and rather wishing Walter were there, like when Al had frozen the pool in the basement.
Bel shivered, wrapping his arms around himself for warmth. For hell, this place was awfully cold, and he was a lot more used to a hotter climate. He began to pick his way across the ice, avoiding the heads and their cries.
Nadia tried her best to block out the shouting and screams from the people trapped in the ice. It worked too well.
The screams seemed to fade out around her, replaced by a steady scribbling sound. She tensed, then turned to see the figure of a small girl, strapped into a chair, her right hand furiously writing something even as she stared into the distance.
An Asian man in glasses approached, and the girl began to struggle. "Нет, пожалуйста, нет,"
The man grinned and grabbed the girl's arm to insert a syringe, and Nadia cringed, stepping back.
"Ohhhh, poor Nadia,"
She turned again. She knew that voice.
"Poor, poor Nadia," said Roberto Fox. Unlike the others, he was only buried to the base of his rib cage, his arms free above the ice. "A regular Cassandra, aren't you, all thanks to Milo Rambaldi
( ... )
Roberto's head snapped back and he let go, sending Nadia tumbling backwards. She gasped for breath, her hand flying up to her neck, and she stayed there for a moment, her eyes squeezed shut. "Th-thank you."
The sooner they could get out of here, the better, as far as she was concerned. The last thing she wanted to do was get cornered by something like what had just happened to Bel.
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But more than that, she was terrified of returning to that strange forest, so she continued onward until she was forced to stop at the edge of a cliff.
It looked like they'd reached the center of this place. Giants stood all along the edge of the pit, themselves so tall and the well so deep that Nadia and Bel stood level with their navels, and had to crane their necks to look the Giants in the eye.
How the hell--Hell, we're in Hell, I'm in HELL--were they supposed to get beyond this?
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The giant blinked slowly at her, then set down an enormous hand near their feet. "//You must go through the pit. I can lower you.//"
Nadia nodded and turned to Bel. "We do have to go in. He said he'll lower us down." And hopefully not, say, crush them to death in the process.
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The giant let them climb into his hand, then turned and lowered them into a pit. At the bottom of the pit was a large frozen lake. There were people standing in the lake, frozen up to their necks, and further inward, people lying on their backs, blocks of ice over their eyes.
"Guess we gotta walk across that," Bel said as he jumped out of the giant's hand. Feeling that small and powerless had been nauseating and he was glad to be back on his feet again.
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The screams seemed to fade out around her, replaced by a steady scribbling sound. She tensed, then turned to see the figure of a small girl, strapped into a chair, her right hand furiously writing something even as she stared into the distance.
An Asian man in glasses approached, and the girl began to struggle. "Нет, пожалуйста, нет,"
The man grinned and grabbed the girl's arm to insert a syringe, and Nadia cringed, stepping back.
"Ohhhh, poor Nadia,"
She turned again. She knew that voice.
"Poor, poor Nadia," said Roberto Fox. Unlike the others, he was only buried to the base of his rib cage, his arms free above the ice. "A regular Cassandra, aren't you, all thanks to Milo Rambaldi ( ... )
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