Once Upon a Time in Hell Ch. 03

Aryella snapped her fingers, and the portal closed. She grinned and jumped up and down with excitement. "I get to keep you! Aren't you glad?"

Dien looked up at her with a pained smile and shook his head slightly.

"I remember," Dien said. "I had been killed because the Chinese government had finally chosen to silence my followers by putting an end to me."

Aryella sneered at him.

"They killed me, but the fact that they had to do so proves that my life had meaning for hundreds of millions of people."

Aryella was rolling her eyes.

"Get over yourself," she said. "Besides, when you start lecturing me about your life story it makes me feel vicious. It brings out my dark side. You wouldn't want that. So stop whining."

"I don't care how it ends. This has been an injustice. I was not given a chance."

"Don't start, shut up shut up shutup!" Aryella said, invoking a spell.

Dien felt as though his lips had been sealed shut. He couldn't utter a word.

"It worked!" Aryella giggled with a sudden spurt of giddy pleasure. "I didn't have to gesture or even point at you! Don't take it the wrong way, it's not that I don't like you. I do. I just don't want your last hours to be ruined by foolish words."

Aryella had been a very common sort of succubus, near the lowest of that order of sex demon. Sure, she was mature enough to have left her sisters in search of greater power, maturity and power were two different things. Her power was almost equal to that of a fledgling, or had been until just now. Thanks to Dien's spirit matter, her powers had expanded greatly.

She felt like flexing them a little.

She brought her hands together in front of her and began casting a spell. Eldritch runes of gold swirled around her fingers as she weaved powerful transmutation magics. Then, all of a sudden, her little chamber began to expand. It spread out until it was as big enough to hold a grove of pine trees, and considerably darker. Red light illuminated an altar that jutted up in the center of the chamber, and there a bed draped with lavender veils appeared, ringed with dozens of burning candles.

She snapped her fingers. Two muscular demons appeared, one with the face of a bird and the other looking more like an ogre. Both were equipped with large, meaty cocks. The bird's was ringed with metal studs.

She curled up on the bed and beckoned to them seductively, and they eagerly climbed the stairs to meet her.

Dien blocked out the sounds of them pumping and grinding, it was all too obvious what was taking place in her bed.

He closed his eyes. His disciplined mind blocked out the sound, and even the intoxicating musky smell that filled her chamber. He sought out his meditative state by habit, and in moments he had entered a trance.

He knew he had no chance to defeat Aryella in her lair.

A great martial arts master once said the best defense was to run away. Dien knew that would be his best chance. But how?

The lipstick. She used it to open portals. He would have to snatch it from her.

He opened his eyes and looked around. The room had expanded dramatically, and he didn't know where she kept it anymore.

He would have to keep his eyes peeled. He opened his eyes and looked up at her bed. Seeing her on her knees, sandwiched between two demons who were eagerly thrusting, proved too much of a distraction. He shut his eyes tight.

"Room for one more," Aryella called, teasingly. He ignored her and re-entered his meditative state.

He would have only one chance to gain the initiative against Aryella, he realized. He would need a foolproof plan.

He meditated on this, and drew a blank. There was no foolproof option, only risks. This seemed a natural enough situation, so he considered one risky option: Use the lipstick to escape first. Then, perhaps he could lure her out of her lair and kill her on the other side.

It leaped into his mind the possibility that in killing her, he would absorb power -- just as he had when he defeated the marilith. Perhaps he would gain his old strength back?

"Ah, over so soon boys?" came Aryella's voice, although Dien was only dimly aware of it. "Well then, thanks for dropping by."

The succubus lounged on the bed a little while, savoring the afterglow, while Dien continued to meditate.

Sheila, that was who he had to save. But how?

"Ah yes, how could I forget? Sheila!" chuckled the succubus.

This time, Dien was listening. He squinted and watched as the succubus drew a portal in thin air and called forth Sheila.

She had just drawn another portal with that same stick of lipstick.

"That's it!" he thought. The only way out of this place seemed to be through those incessant portals she was always making with that same bit of lipstick.

He needed to snatch it. He watched as she placed it somewhere by her bed.

"Sheila, do you recognize that man down there? It's your friend, Dien." Her face was expressionless, her voice monotone, as if reading from a prompter. "You may know him as Matt, but he's learned his true name. You may call him Dien now," she added with dramatic flair. "Poor thing."

"Matt?" Sheila exclaimed. "What happened, where did the rest of you go?" Dien looked down, unable to stand the sight of them. Not because of guilt -- he felt none. Rather, the two naked babes threw his meditation off completely.

Aryella smiled and took Sheila's hand. "He may not want you anymore, but there's plenty of things we can do together."

With that, Aryella drew Sheila into her embrace. Sheila succumbed to her touch, only to gasp in shock at the touch of what just then appeared between Aryella's legs: a large, veiny, purplish maroon phallus with a throbbing tip.

"Do something, you gotta help me!" Sheila called to Dien, but he was blocking them out, trying not to hear what his senses told him.

Sheila looked down at the demon's pulsing cock. It had grown to very generous proportions and was dripping with some sort of clear, viscous excretions. She caught a whiff of musk, acrid and primal.

"Oh god," she whimpered, her head swimming. She fell under the seductress's spell completely. She dropped to her knees in front of the demonic phallus.

Aryella grasped a clump of her hair and cruelly yanked it back. Sheila's head was snapped backwards, but she kept her eyes fixed on the phallus, opening her mouth wide with wanton eagerness. She licked her pretty lips.

Dien kept his eyes shut. He ignored his ears as the gagging and glurping sounds commenced. He had to think, and think clearly.

He returned to the idea of using the lipstick to create a portal to escape through. It could work, he thought. If only he knew how the lipstick was activated, he thought he just might have a chance. Was it her demonic powers alone that caused the lines she drew to crackle to life? If not, how did he make the magic happen? How did she choose a destination, did she merely think of it in her head? Or was there a spoken command? He had to know, he wouldn't have time to figure it out in a snatch and run.

He thought back to the way she had used it in the past, but his memory was vague, hazy. He remained calm and focused, and tried to remember.

"Here it comes!" came Aryella's voice. Dien's concentration broke. He had to look. Sheila was on her knees, jerking the demonic phallus with both hands. Her mouth was open in eager, almost desperate anticipation. Aryella was swishing her tail and fondling her heavy breasts with pleasure.

The succubus began blasting a load of pearly goo into Sheila's face. The first burst went straight into her open mouth, the next two spurts hit her chin and splashed off, down her neck and breasts. Dien forced his eyes shut as Sheila began moaning and giggling with surprise.

"Did you see that?" Aryella asked of Dien. "Look, that idiot is just sitting there, when he could be pleasuring us both."

"More for me," Sheila whispered, now crouched over the bed and spreading herself with both hands.

Dien struggled to regain his train of thought, but part of his mind was following the action. He peeked again to see Sheila draped over the edge of the bed, wiggling her hips at the succubus. Aryella's dick was bigger than ever and she was preparing to give Sheila a proper railing.

Focus. He needed to clear his mind, and follow the train of thought he was on. He pictured a white contrail in a bright Himalayan sky, and retraced his steps.

No prayer in hell.

Escape.

The Lipstick.

He chanted. What about the lipstick?

No chance in hell.

Escape.

The Lipstick. Oh! He remembered. How did it work?

Aryella had not twisted it in any special way, or studied it carefully before using it. She seemed to always open the portal up.

Hopefully it would be so simple. They would use the lipstick to escape. Where? Straight to heaven? No, he reasoned, it would not work. If there was something he and Sheila had in common with those in Limbo, it was that they had not yet earned the right to pass through those gates. If there is a heaven, exclusive enough to keep out a pure monk such as himself, then heaven would probably send angels to cast them out for daring to tread there.

The only place left he could call safe was Limbo. Going there would accomplish little, however.

The minutes slipped away as Dien continued to meditate. It was difficult when Sheila was screaming with ecstasy, getting her mind blown by Aryella boffing her from behind. There were things even he could never truly block out.

"You like that, don't you?" Aryella asked, amidst Sheila's erotic moans.

"Matt, come up here and join us," Sheila called. "Please, bring us that hard love stick. I want to suck it, I want to ride it!" she said.

Then she let out a wail as a soul-wrenching orgasm roared through every fiber in her body. A few moments passed, where Sheila's heavy groaning and hooting were all he could hear.

"It's so good," Sheila panted.

"It is, it is good. Lucky for you, I haven't figured out how to drain you," Aryella said. "I'm just doing this for fun."

Sheila looked down at Dien. She was still so full of his spirit essence, she was considering whether it was yet time to feed again.

"I hate to see you sitting there with all those demons," Sheila blurted.

Dien opened his eyes and looked to either side of him. Indeed, the room had grown rather crowded with demons. He saw a cyclops of some sport, and a number of other muscular demons, some fat mud-like beings, and even some rather handsome looking fellows that might be mistaken for human men, if not for their glowing eyes.

Dien realized suddenly that the end of his meditations were long overdue, and each moment brought more dangers and more ways for the succubus to violate and defile Sheila. He cursed himself for his inaction.

"Thought and deed are not alike," he muttered under clenched teeth. He kept his eyes on the ground as he traversed the floor and climbed the steps to Aryella's bed on a pedestal.

He spotted the lipstick on a cushion. Moving as fast as he could, he snatched it and drew a circle on the ground. A crackling black portal opened. Before Aryella could react, he dived in feet first, taking the lipstick with him.

Then, he was gone.

He landed on a rocky slope amidst a reddish glow. It was the same place where they first tumbled into the cave-hall that led to Aryella's lair. He snapped his fingers as soon as he could, closing the portal behind him.

He inspected the lipstick. It seemed to have plenty left, so Dien decided to test a theory. He would try to check out Heaven. If he got through, he could check things out, maybe get a pair of pants or a robe. If things went badly, he would leave the same way he came.

A black portal appeared on a cloud that overlooked a vast green slope, and Dien stepped through it.

The mountainside was covered with emerald green meadows and dotted with terraces and streams, Greek style temples and Oriental pagodas. He had a bird's-eye view, but parts of higher elevation were obscured by clouds, as was the valley below. Distant areas of he mountain to the left or right were likewise cloaked in thick clouds.

Dien marveled at the beauty of the place below. Bushes and hedges were trimmed into lovely patterns and shapes, ponds and waterfalls sparkled with gold from a brilliant sun. Everything was an endless, exuberant expression of perfection.

Dien expected a more hasty response. He decided that considering the danger, he would leave the portal open for a moment, scanning the skies for any possible threats.

They appeared almost immediately. Two bright beings flapping shimmering white wings and brandishing swords came swooping towards him. Even at a distance their words came crashing through his mind with deafening clarity. "Go back. You are forbidden! Shameless! Blasphemer!"

They crowded around his little cloud, flapping their wings. Each one was at least twice as tall as he. Muscular as well. Dien had no doubt they were about to swing those massive swords at him. In one hand he clutched the lipstick. Having no clothes and no pockets, he transferred the lipstick to his off hand.

As the first one swung, Dien mustered his best disarm technique. Somehow, miraculously, he wrested the blade from the angel's fingers with one hand. The other angel's blade was already arcing toward him.

The massive sword in hand, he somersaulted through the portal back into limbo faster than you can say "thief."

He dropped the glowing clabbard on the ground to free up one hand, and then he snapped his fingers. The portal closed behind him.

The blade was too heavy for him to swing. Still, he could put it to good use under the right circumstances. Resting the blade over his knees, he sat down in the solitude of limbo and took a moment once more to meditate. He needed a plan. His first attempts at planning had been interrupted, now he could continue in peace.

This time he cut short his contemplations as soon as he had a workable plan. He drew an apple-sized circle in the ground and called out. "Oh, Aryella, it's me, Dien!"

Aryella was inside her cavern, plotting furiously.

"I knew you would return! I have Sheila here, she's still alive, if that's what you're after. Let's make a trade."

"The girl is all I want. Give me the girl, and I will give you the lipstick."

"The lipstick you stole? That's not part of the bargain. You don't get to keep that. You can have the girl, but I want you. Don't even dream of -- "

"No."

"-- trying to -- what? How dare you refuse!"

Dien watched as fingers appeared through the portal. She began stretching the corners out, making it wide enough for her to leap through.

Dien grabbed the massive sword and stood, heaving the heavy pommel up high and pointing the tip right down into the portal. He waited until he saw her face appear. Then, he jumped down, driving the wickedly serrated blade straight through her nose, punching through bone, then shredding her neck and collar, moving straight down through her torso and finally stopping at her hips.

He landed in her lair next to Sheila, who was still in a sex-induced stupor.

With a rush, the succubus' impaled corpse dissolved into black ashes that were whipped up by a sudden wind that swirled around Dien. The vortex began to glow, lifting him a few inches off his feet, and he began to grow, bigger and stronger, until he was once more a massive, muscular man.

Demons clambered up the steps, eager to destroy him and Sheila. He grabbed the clabbard, and struck with inhuman strength and precision. One by one, he shredded Sheila's minions with bone-sundering blows from the mighty blade, sometimes using only one hand. With his other, he was punching and even using demons as flails, to demolish the torrential onslaught.

When the fighting was done, he dropped the sword with a clatter as he felt the energy from the lesser demons flood into him as well. He felt incredibly strong and vital. The cloying power of Aryella's scent was gone from the chamber.

Dien stood on the bed and poked his head up through the portal. Reaching one mighty hand out, he felt around in the dirt until he found the lipstick. He drew it back inside and, with a snap of his fingers, the portal was shut.

He shook Sheila, who was laying on the bed with a blissful smile on her face.

"Sheila, are you alright?"

"Mmm, never better. Matt, do me here on this bed."

"Later. We have to get out of this place."

"Now, I want it now."

"We must go now!" he roared, taking Sheila by the wrist and gently pulling her from the bed. She knelt by his feet, resting her head against his knee.

Dien quickly tore the bedsheets from the bed, and, looking around, he grabbed some garter straps and belts that he saw lying around. Then, he wrapped the satin sheets around Sheila's shoulders and fastened a belt under her arms. He then took the bedspread and wrapped it around his waist. He cinched one end by bunching it up and tying the garter straps around it, and soon he had fashioned a makeshift skirt. He carefully tucked the lipstick inside it, until he had found a fold that would securely hold it.

Finally, he lifted the sword in one hand.

"Sheila, we are going. Can you stand? Are you well?"

"Feeling better," she managed, swaying as he helped her to her feat. "Where did you get that sword? You are amazing!"

Dien reached into the folds of his makeshift skirt and took out the lipstick. "We are going to confront your murderers now, while there is time. The forces of Hell may be after us. I will do my best to protect you."

Sheila did not want to see her father, but a part of her did want to say her final farewell to the despicable hypocrite.

Dien drew a circle in the air, and helped her through.

They found themselves in a nightmarish frozen wasteland. Everywhere they looked, there were mountains of ice. The surface of the frozen slopes and glaciers were studded with the faces of tormented souls whose bodies were encased in ice up to their faces. Their skin was sickly white, but lichens grew along the seams where ice and flesh met at the surface. Below, their bodies were hideously illuminated by some unearthly light.

"This, this seems familiar," Sheila murmured. "I have heard of this place, the 9th layer!"

Sheila realized that she had stepped on someone's face. She nearly fell trying to find a gap between faces upon which to stand and regain her balance. About to fall, she struck her heel down directly onto someone's face.

"Take no heed, step on them," said one voice, up on the side of an ice wall. "They deserve it."

"Slut, whore," came a mutter nearby.

"YOU!" bellowed Sheila, pointing at the face that had hurled the insults.

"You're no daughter of mine," her father grumbled, revealing rotting green teeth. "What do you want?"

"Shit, you haven't guessed it? You ugly, sinful piece of garbage! I hate you! You and your filthy sons, you good for nothing animals -- "

"We did quite well for ourselves, and even collected on your insurance policy. Thank you," he said.

His sudden change of tone did nothing to disarm her. She was only further enraged. "You got money?!"

"Yes, and now it does my heart great joy to see you here in hell, where you belong."

"She's not here to stay," Dien interjected.

"Oh, I see," said the voice, laughing. "Just passing through, I take it?" He laughed, heartily. "That's a new one," he said in a most sarcastic tone. "I've never ever heard that one before. Whore. Bitch!"

So it went, back and forth. Many times, she threatened to stomp his face in, but she never did. She did gain a few bits and pieces of information about what happened after her father and brothers murdered her. Rather than proclaim that it had been an honor killing, they told the authorities that she had run away, and later her body was "found" so that they could collect on her insurance. Others in the town knew of his deed and sought to deceive the FBI and local police, who in turn made only a cursory investigation before dropping the case out of apathy.