1 Welcome to... Hell?

Aries Del Luna had been stabbed to death and was falling into endless nothingness.

He had never feared darkness. At such a young age, he learned to embrace and befriend it. He felt so close with it that he even expected the devil to personally collect his sinful soul and swallow it whole right after he perished.

A long time ago, he decided to offer his soul to the devil then lived the rest of his life like a shadow that thrived in the dark. He brought demise to a lot of people and now death had finally come to claim him.

He deserved Hell and yet it felt like he was not in the netherworld at all.

As soon as he died, he was expecting to be chucked directly into the fires of Hell. He should be suffering eternal torment and not just falling into bottomless darkness.

Hell should be filled with ceaseless punishments and not just an infinite abyss.

"ARIES!!!"

A bitter smile curved on his lips when he heard that familiar sweet voice of a woman.

At long last. His perpetual agony had begun.

"ARIES!!! Wake up!!! You cannot die here!!! You have to save Sunrei!!!"

Sunrei…

Aries laughed to himself. That was the name of the man who killed him.

And the only woman he cared about in his entire life was asking him to save the person who stabbed him to death.

Not bad but he was expecting a more agonizing pain.

"ARIES!!! PLEASE!!! WAKE UP!!!"

He did sense a stinging pain in his chest, and he had to close his eyes when the darkness enclosing him was devoured by a blinding light.

"Aries? Are you awake? Please, open your eyes…"

He opened his heavy eyelids and pain shot all throughout his savagely beaten body. For a moment he could not move a muscle. His vision was foggy. And his head was throbbing more excruciatingly than the rest of his body.

After a few seconds, his vision had cleared and he was momentarily paralyzed by the pair of eyes that were gazing back at him.

Those enchanting sapphire blue orbs that stared at him with worry were no doubt from Pieffer Celestine.

But the Hell's version of her looked quite different.

Her lashes were longer. Her dark brown and shoulder-length hair that was usually ponytailed became dark blue, waist-length, and had been beautifully braided. A sapphire rose pendant was dangling on a tiny golden lace around her neck. Her blouse and skinny jeans changed into a furry pink overcoat. Though the silver hilt was the same, instead of a sheathed knife, a tiny sword was hanging from her belt. Her sneakers had been replaced by a pair of knee-high boots with furs and silk laces. And despite the specks of dust and splatter of blood on her face, she still looked like royalty and not someone that had been brought up in an orphanage.

"Aries, can you hear me? Can you see me? Can you recognize me?"

"Pieffer…" he weakly muttered. Saying her name always felt so good. He could not be any happier in seeing her again. But after all the terrible things that transpired recently, a tiny part of his brain kept telling him to be extra careful. He had to ask, "Are you truly… Pieffer Celestine?"

"Who else will I be?" she asked back with a smile despite her anxious gaze. "Can you help my brother?"

She glanced at the man who looked awfully a lot like Sunrei. He was no longer wearing dark brown contact lenses to hide his sapphire blue eyes. He was also wearing a furry overcoat that had been stained with dust and blood but it was crimson instead of pink. Underneath his furry overcoat was a silver armor, and instead of a knife, he was wielding a sword.

Sunrei was fighting an armored opponent that was holding a huge axe. His thin sword was surprisingly durable enough to remain in one piece despite the number of times it clashed against the enormous axe. His speed and strength had also improved because Aries was straining his eyes to see the movements of the men fighting in front of him.

Sunrei was still moving as light as a feather but his resolve to land a lethal blow had weakened and so was his confidence to win. There was a look of desperation in his eyes as he deflected, parried, and countered his foe. 

And the most unbelievable thing to absorb was Sunrei frantically trying to shield him and Pieffer from that armored person.

Is Hell supposed to be like this? More confusing than agonizing.

Or maybe… Hell is giving me a chance?!

Aries moved his right hand and noticed only then that he was also gripping a sword. It was longer and wider than the weapon Pieffer and Sunrei were wielding. It had a red hilt that looked like the horns of a ram. Its blade was also crimson and glinting like a ruby.

The clothes he was wearing had also changed. His black overcoat had been replaced by red armor and carved on his chest plate was a ram's head.

He also felt something protruding from both sides of his forehead. He glanced up and saw that he had horns like that of a ram.

What is this? Did I become the devil?!

"Aries, what's wrong?" Pieffer was staring at him with grave concern.

"I don't know," Aries honestly answered. He could not lie to her. "Why are you here? This is Hell. You should be in Heaven."

"Sunrei! I think Aries seriously damaged his head! We need to take him back to the House of Ram!"

"Why are you talking to him?" Aries was getting more confused. "He killed you."

"Oh no…" the concern in her eyes turned into fear. "Your head should be treated immediately."

"Leave!" Sunrei screamed at them right after he had pushed the enemy a few meters away. "I will follow you as soon as I'm done here."

"No!" Pieffer stubbornly refused and got up on her feet. "We will leave here together!"

Aries grabbed her hand and stopped her from running towards Sunrei. He was somehow surprised that he could touch her and feel her warmth. For some reason, he was expecting to touch a cold corpse or feel nothing at all.

Though things were getting more confusing, he was also sensing a bit of relief.

Pieffer felt real.

As he tightened his grip on her hand, a crazy thought came to his mind. Hell was being generous to him because he had lived a life full of sins. 

But then there was Sunrei.

Aries sighed. Hell was definitely planning something strange for him.

"Sunrei might be your brother. But he doesn't care about you. He will kill you, Pieffer," Aries seriously warned his beloved.

"Stay here," she knelt in front of him. "My shield will protect you," she placed her palms on the ground and a dome of light enveloped Aries. "I will be back."

Pieffer unsheathed her sword and rushed to assist her older brother.

Aries was surprised at the harmony of their movements. Pieffer was providing good support for her sibling. Her light and graceful footwork were astonishing and though her attacks were not strong enough to land fatal blows, it was still good enough to graze the skin of their opponent and annoy him.

But it was only mesmerizing to watch for a minute or two. After that, the irritated armored person released a stronger aura, and his body, as well as his weapon, had been surrounded by a cloud of dark glowing smoke.

"Die, Zodiac Knights!!!" the enemy bellowed as he ferociously and repeatedly slammed his enormous axe on the ground, causing intense tremors that made the siblings collapse on their knees.

Zodiac Knights?

Aries was uncertain if he heard the words correctly, but he could not ponder about it for a long time. Pieffer would die for the second time if he remains sitting on the ground.

Illusion or not, he would protect her with all his might.

He tightened the grip on his sword and walked past the dome of light. But instead of passing through the shield, he had rebounded and slumped back to the ground. The shield would not let him out.

Aries glanced at Pieffer. The ground underneath her was still shaking, preventing her from getting up on her feet. She had to block the axe with her tiny sword while on her knees.

Sunrei, while also on his knees, helped his sister deflect the attack with the sword in his hands. But their arms were terribly shaking.

Aries worried further as he noticed cracks on their blades. He had to do something.

He tightened the grip on the sword he was holding and smashed the shield covering him. He was grateful that it only took one slash to shatter. He hastily sprinted towards the enemy with his weapon raised. He had never held a weapon larger than a knife, but he was surprised at how easily he could carry that broad sword. It felt like he was still holding a tiny blade.

Another good thing was that the opponent had an enormous weapon. Although he had felt Aries approaching, he could not easily swing the axe in his direction.

Aries successfully sliced through the armor of the enemy, slashed the right arm, and nearly severed it. The armored opponent had staggered and collapsed on his knees. Aries failed to see the expression of the enemy because a metallic mask was covering its face, but it was obvious from the uneven breathing of the armored foe that he was exhausted. He could no longer lift his axe with only one healthy arm left.

"Leave," Sunrei coldly commanded at the armored person.

Aries was baffled. The Sunrei he knew would never hesitate to kill an enemy.

"Leave?" Aries muttered while advancing towards the armored person. His puzzlement had turned into annoyance. "How can you let an enemy leave?!"

He swiftly raised his sword, pierced the chest plate of his foe, and stabbed him all the way through the heart. The enemy vomited blood then collapsed motionless on the ground right after Aries callously pulled his sword away.

"Aries!" Sunrei approached him with a worried look. "You should not have done that."

"Why not?" Aries pointed the edge of his sword at the neck of Sunrei. "That devil nearly killed Pieffer. If you let him live, he will come again to kill her. Do you want your sister to die? Again? Does her death give you so much satisfaction that you want to see her die all over again?"

Sunrei was confused while Aries was frustrated.

"I will not die," Pieffer held his hand that was pointing a blade at Sunrei. "At least not today, and definitely not in the hands of our enemy. You can put this down. Let's return to your home."

"That devil will not die," Sunrei pointed at the lifeless armored enemy. The axe he was holding had slowly disintegrated and a cloud of black smoke came out of his bloody mouth. "The vessel will die but not the soul that had taken over the body."

"What…"

Aries failed to finish his question as a blunt object hit the back of his neck.

His vision blurred and he collapsed in the arms of Pieffer.

"Sorry, Aries. Let's talk after you are healed," he heard from Sunrei and the concern in his voice was maddening. Aries would have stabbed that man repeatedly if he was not getting dizzy. 

Fine, Hell. I will sleep for now. I will kill him when I wake up…

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