James's Descent Ch. 09

"Which would you say is my most driving... feature? Because the way you put it, suppressing yourself to be nothing is not a good thing, it's reducing yourself to an object."

"Oh, easy. Wrath. Or as you called it... Half-Light. But you've got a few strong others as well."

"Really? I don't consider myself too much for that."

"Nope, it's pretty strong in you. Though you've learned to hold it back. Give it just enough. And it's not all bad, don't think that any of the drives are bad. They all lead to good things if you use them well. But they can lead to very bad places if you don't. Wrath is not exerting your anger, the opposite is not forgiveness... that's more like Sloth. No, wrath is when you use that anger on those undeserving, when that desire to correct the world turns only into destruction for your self-pleasure. But you... so often tempted to flex it, yet you used it only when needed."

"Hm. I suppose I do have a strong sense of justice. I never could trust any to properly analyze me. What are my other strong points?"

"Well, going by your little school following, you've got decent mental ones, but drama is a big one. You really like entertaining others, but don't go too hard, you don't go into the whole making drama for its sake. And quite the strong volition. You don't give up, even inside."

She could go on. The man was not unidimensional, but built of the same blocks everyone else was, but a specific combination allowed this particular individual. A high volition could sometimes lead to cowards, to those who prioritize their survival at the cost of any others, but there was a balance, there were strong points in each to speak when needed. And in the end, as one said... these were but drives, he alone stood upon the throne of his mind and could dismiss these voices with the same ease he listens to them.

This was as far as the "pleasant" places of hell would reach. The really good, the good, the decent. She let him know that... and that deeper down started the actual punishments. One might be tempted to stop here, to not indulge in the pain of others. But when those others were utterly deserving twats, James could not hold back.

Deeper they went.

*

It was tempting to equate this new level to the old one as it was, on the surface, rather similar. Another mundane world that seemed to have everything put together. But James could already notice the downturn in people's expressions, the small weight of lethargy in their actions... subtle, but there. Lucy was at his side and waiting to see if he noticed.

"Okay, I guess this is where mildly evil people end up. What's the deal?"

"Oh, I am GLAD you asked! Now, it looks so similar to the last, right, but... depending on what people did, there's a minor annoyance here and there. It's not the same for everyone, but tailored depending on what they did."

She'd walk him through this quiet neighborhood to point at various houses and elaborate on the petty sins and punishments of the people here.

"That guy was a director of an HOA. He was really strict with everyone having their lawns prim and proper, though... not as bad as others. Now his own lawn grows much faster than most and he is so tremendously annoyed by it that he has to do it constantly. Every day he has to get every inch or it's gonna grow like you do not believe."

As observed, the man was pushing a motorized mower to trim the long grass, a grand difference behind him. He'd have to begin the process anew the next day. Nothing was forcing him but his own drive... and the threat of that grass growing tall enough to block windows.

"And that one was always mooching on other people for food. She went on dates just to get good meals. Now she will ALWAYS have a little accident in every meal. Dropped ice cream, scattered fries, not too bad, but something to bother her."

He saw the mildly corpulent woman walking out of her home with the named treat in hand, and almost like clockwork, the cream slid off the cone to fall on her front steps. The next one would be fine, but every instance of her getting to enjoy food was plagued with annoyance.

"OOohh... that guy cheated in online games to the detriment of others. Now his computer flicks off every few hours. Sometimes I like to just walk through here and see them get annoyed."

"Ugh. Had that one with mine. Though not so determined. So, this is the land of minor annoyances for people who were minor annoyances."

"YEP! Proud of it. They weren't too bad, you know... decent all around, but came out with something to put them under the curve. They can get decent living outside of that."

"I assume the level below us has some more major annoyances."

Below... as he liked to call it... was not structured in the same way. It was a much more honest reproduction of the world in those hard times. For the people that made those hard times. Not the few individuals responsible for greater evils, but the many that contributed to it. Their reward, for making the world a worse place... was to experience that place. Those who destroyed a housing market would wander between the most sparse and expensive houses, never again having the homes they held from others. Those who caused war for profit would live through the consequences of their actions on others. Those who listened without thinking and caused harm without concern were thrust into the world where such actions were performed on them. Render unto Caesar what they have given back.

"You seem to take pride in punishing people in a way tailored specifically to what they caused."

"Just showing them the consequences of their actions. Sure, it's NICE when they're at the fun end of the deal, the one that gets all the benefits, but you gotta remind them that one day they can end up at the other end. They can go through the gate and be tortured by themselves in the real world. Oh, and these ones don't get told for a while. Gotta suffer for a bit. Or they'd take it in an instant. Obviously."

"And what if people like me come here and tell them?"

"Well, we worked that out. They won't believe you. I get that you might want to help people, but even such a noble desire has to come with a realization. These people deserve it. This is just the consequence of their actions. Or they will never learn and keep doing worse thinking they can slide through life by causing harm to others and reaping the benefits."

The man thought that these levels would be the most populated. He was right, as the real world forced such deals. Nothing got anywhere without something suffering. The earth, the people, or whatever one could make to take the brunt of life's requirements. Grail. Life continues by devouring itself. Or the life of others, often others...

Lucy would lead the man through further worsening situations of worlds, for increasingly worse people that aided in the creation of such worlds. Those who have gleefully gone along with genocide, those who have destroyed the human soul for order, those who have imprisoned thousands and deprived them of basic humanity just for an image... a LOT of prosecutors around here. Especially those from a particular country. But he saw many that came from worlds that were utterly alien to him... not just in culture, but shape. "Made in his image" did not mean humans had the exact look of God, but soul... and there were billions of "races" out there to not even approach humanity in look, but they certainly equaled them in inclination.

"Man has often the pride that he's the only thing with a soul." Lucy commented. "Think he didn't try other options? Never gets anywhere, no matter the shape, size, or other such things. The problem is at the source. As long as he doesn't change, nothing will."

It was tempting to call these aliens, but from their perspective, he was the alien. The choice to see them as human was his own. Souls looked however he wanted to. Others could walk through the halls upstairs and see tentacled beasts waltzing around, giant insects or robot-like beings. Souls were all the same. James would rather proceed to see humans. Much more relatable even if humans were the minority in representation among all the various species in the multiverse, the most common being crustaceans.

After a world that was intentionally as bad as the worst periods in history, it was time to descend to the much more tailored punishments for the worst of what souls had to offer. The ruler of hell did not consider these to be in some descending latter, but rather in ordered categories by their deeds. All before was sloth, indeed a form to punish people who simply sat back and let evil take over, their punishment being the world they have created. Perhaps as a warning, she decided to let the man visit the halls of wrath, where people were being punished for employing their anger on those undeserving.

James saw wide halls in which groups of people congregated, those groups having a smaller, weaker-looking figure constantly belittling them. There were no chains, there was no containment of any sort. They were free to walk around, but these figures, which he assumed to be the "local workers" would hound them incessantly, belittling them, insulting them, and poking at every button to incite anger. Some huddled away in a fresh fear while he saw a few fall to that desire and attack the devil outright. The conclusion was as he thought... they were utterly ineffective and the smaller devil, often appearing as whatever victims these people chose in life... would proceed to demolish them, breaking bones, and limbs, allowing claws to grow to tear them apart, breaking them until the souls were a whimpering mess on the floor, hunting every last one until they were all destroyed to the state they left their usual targets in. And then would come to a very slow healing, a time in which they would be immobilized by their wounds, that figure appearing again to torment them. A pang of empathy might emerge, but James thought of how often such people left others like this and faced no consequence. Well, it was the time for consequences. In other places, the wrath of some was not so easily brought out and much more physical means were employed, often with the devils hunting the beings there as if it was a sport. He abstained even from the suggestion to help out.

"Oh, I know how tempting it is to deal into them what they deserve, but keep yourself out of it. After all, this would be just me saying these people need hurting and you following with no question. The kind of thing that gets you thrown into one of these places."

"And, ironically... you do this to them."

"I'm not like them. We are not like them. This place is not a world, but a consequence."

Consequence. A word to keep in mind. To help with watching this, James asked about the particular sins of some he saw around. The same stories all around... people who saw others as mere punching bags, people who thought violence was their ultimate solution, and those who used threats and pain to enforce their will. A particular group ended up here far more than others. But that was the story of many such groups... each might be susceptible to one temptation. With that in mind, he decided it was time to move on.

Greed was a big one, the hunger for resources simply for one's pleasure, beyond the scope of what they can use, far over the simple desire for aesthetics and security. The vaults of Greed were opulent places beyond imagination, with every possible luxury around in vast amounts. He saw mountains of gold coins, bars, and jewels, he saw a million kinds of expensive and decorative items. It was, at first glance... almost a reward. No need for Lucy to point out the flaws of the place... all he had to do was observe.

Around them were beautiful women offering any and all to take as much as they wanted for the various hoards, with token costs of some show of skill, tales of what they did, or just a bit of flattery. They were offered clothes with an inordinate amount of pockets, backpacks you could fit cars in, and all the capacity they wanted. But there was a catch. The more they took, the more they got weighed down, and either of their own will or by magical compulsion... they could not drop ANYTHING. The logical conclusion would be reached... those here who were not filling their pockets were crushed under the weight of their hoarded wealth, legs broken to splinters under them, backpacks pinning them to the floor and turning their bodies into pancakes, the pain continuous and unending. They were not invisible to each other and all could see how others ended up... but they were driven by the illusion that they would not end up like this, that they could hold onto their gains.... But eventually, they fell to the floor. Yes, you could also take from others, nobody stopped that... but each treasure pulled from them would hurt as much as pulling a tooth, creating a hunger to fill that gap again... to stand on their slowly reforming bodies and limp over to the hoards to begin the process anew. A lot of people here with a particular facial feature.

"Ah, ironic hell. The best kind." James commented on the process.

"I like those that practically punish themselves. No need to put too much effort, just let them do it for you. But there are smarter ones."

Another section of the vaults instead treated those not susceptible to that particular punishment, those with not enough pride to fall to that trick. Instead, this place was similar to the more conventional worlds, but the catch was that anywhere and everywhere someone would try and take what the people here worked for... there was no difficulty in taking even positions similar to what they were in life, earning vast amounts of money, but at practically every step they would face something that stripped them of that cash, bit by bit until every day they earned millions and reached home in debt. It was a self-propagating system as their usual response was to simply do the same to others, draining MORE cash out of whatever source they had, and whatever came upon them was worse. Everyone here was starving, their homes were in ruin, and they could barely afford to sleep as their doors were pounded night and day by debt collectors to pull from them anything they had on either real or perceived debts. Force was not an answer as everything that hounded them could rip them apart.

"Almost an exaggeration, but I guess they now feel how their victims did. But I'm gonna be an optimist and say that not every business owner or politician is here."

"Oh, not all. But a good amount. Too many people using their positions for money they haven't earned. But this is just for the really bad ones. If they were just... a bit too greedy, they'd just go on the annoyance level and get robbed every week."

A pattern was emerging. James wanted to see one more to be sure. Onto the often ignored sin of Envy. Once again, there were two major groups. The ones who can punish themselves and those who need that enforced. But here, all looked like normal worlds, with people walking about in some veneer of civilization... until the man saw a woman steal another's purse just to have it. The self-punishing people were equally split into two groups, even if they were in the same place... souls were offered fine things of all kinds to have and show off, often with a change happening almost every "hour", leading to those who did not catch a particular fashion to seek another to get their fix... or for some to simply take what others have so they don't have anything. The idea that you aren't winning unless someone's losing, preferably everyone else. These souls were hand-picked to enact this endless cycle of violence upon each other, needing nothing but some fresh supplies to motivate assailants. Today's victim is tomorrow's aggressor.

"I'm noticing something." James knew there was no reason to hide it.

"Oh, are you?"

"Yes, there seems to be a great accent on feeling what their victims felt. And this is not just punishment... this is an attempt at correction."

"Ding! Well, I try. But they barely remember what happened here. Maybe next time they won't have their ego inflate or they won't turn into monsters. But for everything I try, the other fucker tempts them back. An eternal back and forth."

"I'm surprised they didn't destroy you yet."

"If they would, it would be an acknowledgment of being wrong. No, can't have that. Instead, they went with the whole idea of making the worlds themselves refine souls into what he wants... while I try to beat it out of them in here. That's what they wanted me to do in the first place... just use this place to form them further into the kind of soul they want to see."

"And what soul does God want to see? Is there a Heaven?"

"There is, but not for the 'good'. Only for those who would praise him no matter what, those he can show off as some peak of humanity and what he wants to pass off as... an endless number of mindless puppets who obey the creator in every thought before they have it."

"His own circle jerk. Or an echo chamber."

"Yep. Sad, really. You don't get up there on any moral principles. There are monsters right beside saints, some of the most devout and pure people right beside those who kill just because god wills it. How I wish I could get my hands on them."

"How come those here didn't end up there? Looks like plenty would qualify."

"Nope. Gotta be without any inkling of even considering asking a question. Any doubt, put them back in the soul presser. Or so was the idea. I turned it around. Technically following the rules if not the spirit. He wanted a soul refinery, didn't say exactly how."

An interesting peer behind the curtain. They'd march on through further places to punish sins known and unknown by the man... things that one did not consider a sin but he still thought was a bad move. Further "down" were the utterly personalized punishments for particular individuals who have done more harm than nations combined. Dictators were forced to wander blasted wastelands where all they could do was starve forever, their skin forever shredded by the cold winds, their every attempt to build returning to ash. Others who sought to subvert societies to their will were now freely molded into shapes, each transformation painful as the audience demanded another and another. And then there were worse people... those who have been so tempted by HIM to do his work and have caused so much pain to the world that they would be here an eternity in an ever-extending and diverse conga line of suffering, all kept perpetually fresh to hammer the message into their very soul... you DO NOT indulge that guy.

If there was one question left is if these descriptions did justice to what Hell and its punishments are, and they both did and did not. Some people are punished by their own sins, others need that correction applied. As much as satan might joke about penis presses or people-balloon animals, about boiling pots or the sand litter... these punishments were above human comprehension, either experiencing the great pain of realizing what pain they have caused... or having such a pain enacted on them so they can better realize it. Equally, one may think of the pleasant places above to be populated by people basking in the joy of what joy they have brought to the world, the greater, the better... or the insufferable neutrals who could go on with barely a thought, much as they did with life, but Lucy was merciful and would not hold them to HAVE to do good or be damned. There was plenty of evil in the world to punish.

James found satisfaction in this... in the knowledge that there was a consequence for such actions, even if it was here, removed from the world, and to many so easy to forget. That was all this place was... consequence. For good or bad. Perhaps the big guy would have wanted completely different consequences for people, a training facility to further refine each soul with every iteration toward the yesmen he desired. That plan seemed to have failed.