As the man finally collected himself and composed himself to gaze into the infinite and finite before him, he heard the faint sound of encroaching bells and trumpets. He thought little of it for now. He was more preoccupied on identifying as to why he was so intrinsically drawn to the wall itself. As he pondered why he was there he finally had time to admire his own reflection. What he saw felt almost foreign to him. He remembers bits and pieces of a life he had before. One of peace and tranquility followed by faith to a singular being yet they all felt fuzzy to recollect. Yet the sight that he saw of himself was much older than he remembers. The memories he still has had him be a slightly chubby 5'8" male with lightly tanned skin aged at 16, yet now he looked to be somewhere in his late twenties with a full face of hair and a trimmed down shape. Sadly, he still had that birthmark lain upon his head like a target, much to Cain's disappointment.
His original hypothesis of time flowing differently was proven right as he had aged multiple years in his time within this near limbo state. Yet that wasn't his main concern. His concern at the moment was remembering who he was and what exactly he fights for, he wants to remember his ambitions and dreams yet, he is unable to. All he can remember of his identity now is his name, Cain.
As Cain pondered all this, he seemed oblivious to the man standing beside him. This persisted for a short time before a light coughing sound drew Cain's attention back to his surroundings.
"Hello there!" declared the elderly man.
Cain jolted in surprise yet said nothing. He was wary knowing that whenever he interacted with someone or something in this domain it ended horribly. So in anticipation for the worst, he stayed quiet and positioned himself in a manner to escape.
"Rest assured young man, I won't try to hurt you. I'd rather talk and discuss than to resort towards violence and barbarism." he raised his hands as he stated this, helping ease Cain's worries and doubts lightly.
"Fine, I'll listen to what you have to say. Only if you promise not to hurt me or tell those pursuing me in the distance where I go after this. Alright?"
"Sounds good," responded the old man, "now time to talk why are you here? I have stood here for many eons, longer than you could feasibly fathom and yet, here you stand as my first visitor. What brings you here?"
"I... don't know. All I know is that when I first woke up I was in front of this very barrier and staring into it's reflective surface. I have this strange pull to it, an obsession to breach it's walls and see what is behind the veil." Cain stated.
"You have finally reached this place and want to pierce the veil protecting this safeguard of human souls? This is a grand sanctuary, a haven meant to protect the mortals of the terror behind this wall! Nothing grand awaits you behind this veil turn back now!" warned the old man.
"Why should it matter to you if I see beyond this wall!" yelled Cain in defiance. The response he received was not one he expected.
"You will be defying God's will in every shape, way, and form." seethed out the old man.
This revelation set Cain to ponder and questions to be answered. 'Does this mean that this heaven? Wait if this is heaven why is everything such agony and pain with no true bliss or peace. In addition Shouldn't that mean that incomprehensible being was an angel?' and as Cain's inner monologue resumed, he hit an epiphany and had to ask the question.
"Is this the gateway to hell?" asked Cain.
The old man stood there for a time thinking before answering yes, a simple word such as that was enough for Cain to realize the horror of what he would've entered. Before he could think more he heard the bugles and realized how close the angels and forces of this "Heaven" were.
"Wait what is your duty here and your name old man?" asked Cain with finality before running away.
"My name," the old man said, "is Uriel the guardian of Hell and my job is to stop anyone approaching the Gates of Hell and to stall them enough for the forces to arrive or to kill them directly."
This revelation rocked Cain. In the few seconds he stood there he could only think of what was going to happen to him. He had no time to think, now was the time for action and to remain alive no matter what. Before anymore could be done or said by the old man now identified as Uriel, he ran parallel to the barrier trying to escape from all those trying to stop him.
'I know he warned me that behind this veil is only Hell itself but I MUST know what is behind. The nagging feeling in my mind is all consuming and if I'm going to die anyways might as well sate my curiosity.' Cain thought.
As he ran he turned around once to see if he had outrun the forces chasing him. This was a fatal mistake as what he saw before him were hundreds of the same angels he had seen before yet the sheer complexity of their structures threatened to rupture his already weakened mind.
"Ahhhhh!" screamed out Cain in agony. The veil that stopped their true forms from being perceived seemed to weaken with so many clumped together and that didn't help Cain's case with his already advanced perception. Now he saw the deeper intricacies with impossible geometric shapes and non three dimensional shapes, yet that wasn't close to the worst. He finally noticed Uriel in the back, and it stupefied Cain his immense size. He stood taller than every other angel with his central eye structure being a fourth dimensional constantly shifting mass that never had a definitive radius, plus where his rings were supposed to be had been replaced with golden swords of light.
Cain quickly looked away shortly after in order to avoid crushing his mind with their mere sight. He wanted to continue running and flee from his pursuers but he knew that it was a losing war that would end in his capture or death by their hands. So taking a leap of faith he jumped towards the Gates of Hell hoping for some salvation or reassurance this way. The moment he touched wall itself he passed out from the sheer strain forced onto his soul before descending through it's membrane.
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Cain awoke to staring at a white ball the size of his fist in front of him. Intrigued, he analyzed the ball and found it a perfectly white ball. As he was about to turn and leave he spotted one singular imperfection: an incredibly small black puncture on the side. Baffling as it was, Cain had to familiarize himself with the environment and beyond him he noticed something impossible.
All around was an endless field of impossible colors and undefined geometric shapes. The landscape plagued with creations of vile and unholy creations made with intentions not yet clearly defined to Cain. Yet as he was horrified of what lay before him, he could feel this land seep into his thoughts. As his mind strained to perceive the immaterial and his mind was breached, all he could do was stay there frozen in place as he was dragged further into this void. Thoughts whispered through his mind all of which ranged from curious thoughts of food the next day to even depravities better left unsaid.
Cain undeterred, pushed with all his might to calm his mind and block his mind from the surge of thoughts. "My mind is a fortress! My mind if a fortress!" Cain screamed out in futility hoping someone, anyone would hear him and try to save him. If some stroke of luck or due to his presence already watching him, an ancient and unyielding force descended upon Cain and rescued his soul from being devoured by one of the Chaos Gods.
As Cain's vision blacked out, all he saw before embracing his new peace of mind was the damned white sky he had grown so familiar with once again.
WC-1412
Total word count-3331