The tunnel’s end.

After roughly twenty minutes of walking, Pawn had finally reached her destination, the barrier at the other end of the tunnel. Only past this point could truly be considered to be 'the demon realm.'

She was thankful that she hadn't run into any demons while on her way down, as she didn't have the right mindset to fight them anymore, and it was doubtful that the demons would share her mindset.

Before her, on the other side of the barrier, she could see a vast and endless wasteland, dark grey in colour as it was made of volcanic ash rather than sand. A few dozen horrible looking purple and green plants scattered themselves throughout the otherwise grey scenery.

The sky itself was black and starless, slightly glowing pale red clouds being the only light source, other than Pawn's communication orb at least.

'I'd be angry as well, if I lived in such a gloomy place,' Pawn thought as she looked over the scene, 'I pity all those born into this awful world.'

She then ran some of her energy into the light orb and spoke out loud.

"I'm at the barrier, Lumin, what next?" Pawn questioned as she kept a healthy distance from said barrier.

She then waited for a reply, and after a several second delay she received an unexpected one.

"...Walk through the barrier and then open the package," Lumin's voice ordered, her voice emanating from the stone, "Your next orders will be written on a piece of parchment within the package."

Pawn was shocked. She hadn't expected this turn of events at all.

"Uh, that's a bit..." began Pawn, confusion evident in her voice.

A low ranked, support type celestial, being sent alone into the demon realm... Pawn had never heard such a bad joke before!

"Won't you trust me...?" Lumin repeated the words she had told Pawn previously, her tone now sounding somewhat solemn.

This time it was Pawn who gave a several delay before replying.

To be honest, this time, the answer was no. Pawn could no longer see this this journey going any way but poorly. But still, disobedience at this point would do her no good. Her options were only forwards or backwards, after all.

"Okay," was all she said, in the end.

She then, reluctantly, proceeded to do as she was ordered. Pawn stepped through the barrier and unwrapped the package.

She turned to observe the tunnel entrance as she tore into the package.

Like the entrance in the celestial realm, this one was dug into the side of a hill as well, however, it was completely far less lush than the other hill had been. The hill in front of her was utterly barren, only a single withered tree stood proudly at its top, completely black, hiving likely caught fire at one point.

Pawn finished opening the small package and took curiously look at its contents.

It contained a tiny colourless stone which she had never seen before, and a tiny scroll of parchment, which, when opened, had no actual writing on it.

'It's blank?' She thought as she stared at the scroll in confusion.

Perhaps sensing Pawn's thoughts, Lumin began speaking once more.

"Don't worry about the scroll being blank," she said, "it will tell you your instructions once you activate the stone."

"Haa... and how do I do that?" Questioned Pawn, with a sigh.

She could not understand the reason for the scroll to have such an odd gimmick, especially since she would be removing it the instant she acquired it. It was just so tedious.

"Push the stone through the barrier the moment I tell you to, okay," Lumin said calmly.

"Now then, on the count of three, do as I said," Lumin continued, "one, two, thr-."

Pawn fumbled as she tried to quickly grab the stone from the box, barley managing to pick it up before the count of three.

"Three!" Said Lumin.

In response to which, Pawn quickly slammed the newly acquired stone against the barrier. And to her surprise, it didn't go through.

"Eh?" She exclaimed, not having expected resistance.

She pushed harder, and harder, and harder, until eventually, finally, it went through.

And then, it exploded.

An extreme amount of light, sound, and force impacted Pawn's body, forcing her away from the barrier she had just passed through.

"Ugh!?" Pawn let out a short yelp as she collided with the ground a few metres away from the tunnel. She desperately covered her ears and closing her eyes as the light and sound intensified.

And then, in an instant, the light and sound both vanished, as if they had simply been a lie, leaving behind nothing, not even the tunnel itself.

In it's place was only the hill of ash, and the dead tree which still sat upon it.

Pawn then lost consciousness.

Hours later...

When she awoke, Pawn groggily got up from the ground, feeling totally disorientated.

'The demon realm,' she thought as she observed her surroundings, 'why am I in the demon r-?'

And then her memories suddenly came rushing back..

"Wait!" She shouted as she looked towards the barrier, or rather, towards the barrier's previous location. And just as she had expected, It was gone.

After a few moments of shock and stunned silence, she noticed the scroll parchment laying near the hill, now pulsing with pale blue light.

She retrieved, and opened it once more.

It read simply, 'Common ranked celestial, Pawn, do to the breaking of multiple rules and regulations, is henceforth permanently banished from the celestial realm, effective immediately, by order of Lumin the just.' The paper had Lumin's signature at its bottom...

Pawn just sat there in confused silence as she tried to process the situation, her eyes still partially blinded from the light, her ears sill mostly deafened from the sound.

Then came Lumin's voice once more, with a few final words for Pawn.

"I'm sorry, I take no joy in this, but this is goodbye," the communication crystal that lay nearby on the ground glowed slightly as the words came through it, "I love you, sister."

The crystal then went black, a sign that the crystal on the other end of the connection, the one owned by Lumin, had been destroyed.

Pawn was alone.