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Description
Firnis and Veritas had been walking for several hours to say the least, having nothing else to do but speak to each other they did become quite familiar. After a couple of hours, Veritas decided they where taking too long, so she stopped and hired a simple carriage pulled by what seemed to just be regular horses to get them to their location at a faster pace.

The buildings didn't seem to change much as they traveled, becoming a long blur of grey stone that Firnis had previously found interesting to look at, and they where quite exquisite buildings but looking at anything for several hours would normally become quite a bore so they focused more on their conversations.

Veritas sat on one end of the wooden carriage, leaning an arm against the window and looking intently at Firnis as he told her what he knew about intercontinental travel in the human world. Veritas it appeared, was just as interested in information about the human world, which Firnis was happy to provide, as Firnis was about "hell."

The information he gleaned from her wasn't too detailed, but Firnis had at least some idea of what Veritas had meant by sixty seventh circle earlier. He had gleaned the sixty seventh circle he was on seemed to be just one of many circles inhabited by an even greater variety of demons.

"Hell" or so he called it had many names, being called different things depending on the circle you resided. Each circle one seeming to belong to a different era judging from what he had been told, and so the name was different as the inhabitants of that era would normally have a different name for it. According to Veritas traveling from the second circle, (as no one dared enter the first) to the top was a surreal experience, like moving through time.

The circles where of different era's, and as such demons that lived in those eras usually had a hard time adapting to the next circle to rise, which only happened when a new monarch took power. Trying to get more information on this proved futile though as Veritas didn't know too much about how that worked however.

While Firnis was interested in learning the geography and the inner workings, Veritas was not quite interested in that kind of thing regarding the human world. Despite her somewhat stoic attitude and imposing figure, she became as excitable as a young puppy as Firnis spoke to her about modern technology and cultures.

"How can you not be lying, that sounds amazing..." She muttered wistfully after hearing the brief explanation of intercontinental travel by plane. She was gazing out of the window and up at the clouds in the sky, it was almost unreal to see clouds here as Firnis knew that there as circles above and below him, but decided not to question that at least, he wasn't going anywhere and idle curiosity would be left for a later date.

Firnis smiled a little, finding her mannerisms rather endearing, especially considering her normal attitude. However he had stopped talking as she had gone quiet having learned not too long ago that speaking now while she was thinking on what she had been told would quite often result in an annoyed glare and then in him being asked for more information. So he waited for her to snap out of it before he asked some questions of his own.

When her gaze finally returned to him he cleared his throat. "So Veri, mind if I ask you something?" He hadn't called her that yet and was mostly doing it to gauge her reaction, after all he was trying to build a rapport with her considering she did seem to kind in her ow n way, regardless of the fact she was a demon, and also other demons seemed to respect her if the bowing heads of passerby's who saw her meant anything.

She gave him a bit of a quizzical glance as he called her that, but fortunately for Firnis she nodded and didn't say anything against the nickname he had used, of which he was rather glad, though her eyes had a bit of a mischievous glint to them when she responded. "Very well, ask away Fir-fir."

He grimaced a bit, to which she chuckled happily. Considering she didn't seem mad he decided to stick with using her nickname he had given, he would just have to erase Fir-fir somehow at a later date. "Well, to put it bluntly Viri, earlier when you sort of snapped at me, what was all that about?"

She composed herself a little, a mixed look of displeasure and embarrassment washing over her features as she recalled her little mix up. "Well that's to say... Well the best way to put it would be a quick explanation of my purpose." She nodded after saying that as if affirming herself of what she had said.

Seeing that Firnis would not interrupt her she continued. "We demon's rely on a certain kind of energy or wavelength emitted by human souls as they are cleansed of sin by our punishment, without that we can survive on food and drink for weeks, but eventually we need it." She stopped for a moment to let the information sink in before continuing.

"My job is to punish humans who lie, simple as that, and for that I am able to tell when anyone lies to me. The more severe the lie, the more severe the punishment. And I can punish sins confessed to me too of course, whether they are lies I do not know about or sins of a different nature, like murder." She looked over Firnis making him feel a little unnerved by the look in her eyes.

"Though those who hold secrets." She said after a few moments of silence "I can tell that a little, but I do not know of a demon who punishes that, after all we all have our own." She tilted her head slightly and Firnis was certain if her mask wasn't in the way he would probably be seeing a slight smile right now.

Firnis didn't like the way he could feel his body temperature rise at her saying that ,he did have a great many secrets, things he was quite surprised not to have seen on that old mans paper in the office, but he said nothing about that and moved onto another topic quickly. "Are humans bound by that rule too?"

She leaned back in her seat before answering. "An interesting thing to ask, but I will answer." Her gaze on him seemed to contain a little suspicion too now. "A human does not need the energy we demon's need to survive, however they are capable of taking apprenticeship with one of us to gather the energy in exchange for easing their own sentence."

Though she gave no physical indication it was clear by the tone of her voice that the apprenticeships annoyed her. "Outside of doing a demon's job for them, humans may instigate a fight if challenged or provoked of course." She said the next part in a somewhat over the top manner, like someone telling the last line of a campfire horror story. "Unless they bear a justifiable grudge."

Firnis didn't need her to confirm what that meant of course, after all what other provocation would you need to want someone dead other than to have been sent here by them yourself, this face sent a cold shiver down his spine but he said nothing and tried to keep himself from showing his worry. "Well, lets hope no one hates me that much."

Viri looked at him seriously for a moment before bursting out laughing. "Oh my you are going to be a troublesome one aren't you?" He realized that she may have picked up on his half lie there and then. "Though you seem to be of the good sort so I don't think anyone will be THAT angry at you Fir-fir. If there is anyone who you know of though who may harbor such hatred towards you, please inform me and I will help, these grudges can turn ugly at times and are oft born from misinformation."

He chuckled, pretending not to notice that nickname he was already beginning to resent a little. Then responded honestly and in a cheerful tone. "I don think any grudges I have will be a problem!"

She seemed satisfied with that, nodding her head again as the carriage came to a halt. "Well here we are, All That Remains." She climbed out of the carriage first, holding the door for Firnis like a chauffeur, though he could tell by looking at her it was more just her playing around.

He stepped out, looked at the building before me, only one phrase crossed his mind at the first glace of this building I had been imagining in my head, after all one would have certain thoughts being told you where going to an inn in hell, but to summarize its dilapidated walls, the strewn about tables and chairs out the front, the walls eroded and cracked with windows in not much better condition, and a front door that was hanging on one hinge, only one phrase passed his mind.

This place is a dump...

Description
Firnis and Veritas had been walking for several hours to say the least, having nothing else to do but speak to each other they did become quite familiar. After a couple of hours, Veritas decided they where taking too long, so she stopped and hired a simple carriage pulled by what seemed to just be regular horses to get them to their location at a faster pace.

The buildings didn't seem to change much as they traveled, becoming a long blur of grey stone that Firnis had previously found interesting to look at, and they where quite exquisite buildings but looking at anything for several hours would normally become quite a bore so they focused more on their conversations.

Veritas sat on one end of the wooden carriage, leaning an arm against the window and looking intently at Firnis as he told her what he knew about intercontinental travel in the human world. Veritas it appeared, was just as interested in information about the human world, which Firnis was happy to provide, as Firnis was about "hell."

The information he gleaned from her wasn't too detailed, but Firnis had at least some idea of what Veritas had meant by sixty seventh circle earlier. He had gleaned the sixty seventh circle he was on seemed to be just one of many circles inhabited by an even greater variety of demons.

"Hell" or so he called it had many names, being called different things depending on the circle you resided. Each circle one seeming to belong to a different era judging from what he had been told, and so the name was different as the inhabitants of that era would normally have a different name for it. According to Veritas traveling from the second circle, (as no one dared enter the first) to the top was a surreal experience, like moving through time.

The circles where of different era's, and as such demons that lived in those eras usually had a hard time adapting to the next circle to rise, which only happened when a new monarch took power. Trying to get more information on this proved futile though as Veritas didn't know too much about how that worked however.

While Firnis was interested in learning the geography and the inner workings, Veritas was not quite interested in that kind of thing regarding the human world. Despite her somewhat stoic attitude and imposing figure, she became as excitable as a young puppy as Firnis spoke to her about modern technology and cultures.

"How can you not be lying, that sounds amazing..." She muttered wistfully after hearing the brief explanation of intercontinental travel by plane. She was gazing out of the window and up at the clouds in the sky, it was almost unreal to see clouds here as Firnis knew that there as circles above and below him, but decided not to question that at least, he wasn't going anywhere and idle curiosity would be left for a later date.

Firnis smiled a little, finding her mannerisms rather endearing, especially considering her normal attitude. However he had stopped talking as she had gone quiet having learned not too long ago that speaking now while she was thinking on what she had been told would quite often result in an annoyed glare and then in him being asked for more information. So he waited for her to snap out of it before he asked some questions of his own.

When her gaze finally returned to him he cleared his throat. "So Veri, mind if I ask you something?" He hadn't called her that yet and was mostly doing it to gauge her reaction, after all he was trying to build a rapport with her considering she did seem to kind in her ow n way, regardless of the fact she was a demon, and also other demons seemed to respect her if the bowing heads of passerby's who saw her meant anything.

She gave him a bit of a quizzical glance as he called her that, but fortunately for Firnis she nodded and didn't say anything against the nickname he had used, of which he was rather glad, though her eyes had a bit of a mischievous glint to them when she responded. "Very well, ask away Fir-fir."

He grimaced a bit, to which she chuckled happily. Considering she didn't seem mad he decided to stick with using her nickname he had given, he would just have to erase Fir-fir somehow at a later date. "Well, to put it bluntly Viri, earlier when you sort of snapped at me, what was all that about?"

She composed herself a little, a mixed look of displeasure and embarrassment washing over her features as she recalled her little mix up. "Well that's to say... Well the best way to put it would be a quick explanation of my purpose." She nodded after saying that as if affirming herself of what she had said.

Seeing that Firnis would not interrupt her she continued. "We demon's rely on a certain kind of energy or wavelength emitted by human souls as they are cleansed of sin by our punishment, without that we can survive on food and drink for weeks, but eventually we need it." She stopped for a moment to let the information sink in before continuing.

"My job is to punish humans who lie, simple as that, and for that I am able to tell when anyone lies to me. The more severe the lie, the more severe the punishment. And I can punish sins confessed to me too of course, whether they are lies I do not know about or sins of a different nature, like murder." She looked over Firnis making him feel a little unnerved by the look in her eyes.

"Though those who hold secrets." She said after a few moments of silence "I can tell that a little, but I do not know of a demon who punishes that, after all we all have our own." She tilted her head slightly and Firnis was certain if her mask wasn't in the way he would probably be seeing a slight smile right now.

Firnis didn't like the way he could feel his body temperature rise at her saying that ,he did have a great many secrets, things he was quite surprised not to have seen on that old mans paper in the office, but he said nothing about that and moved onto another topic quickly. "Are humans bound by that rule too?"

She leaned back in her seat before answering. "An interesting thing to ask, but I will answer." Her gaze on him seemed to contain a little suspicion too now. "A human does not need the energy we demon's need to survive, however they are capable of taking apprenticeship with one of us to gather the energy in exchange for easing their own sentence."

Though she gave no physical indication it was clear by the tone of her voice that the apprenticeships annoyed her. "Outside of doing a demon's job for them, humans may instigate a fight if challenged or provoked of course." She said the next part in a somewhat over the top manner, like someone telling the last line of a campfire horror story. "Unless they bear a justifiable grudge."

Firnis didn't need her to confirm what that meant of course, after all what other provocation would you need to want someone dead other than to have been sent here by them yourself, this face sent a cold shiver down his spine but he said nothing and tried to keep himself from showing his worry. "Well, lets hope no one hates me that much."

Viri looked at him seriously for a moment before bursting out laughing. "Oh my you are going to be a troublesome one aren't you?" He realized that she may have picked up on his half lie there and then. "Though you seem to be of the good sort so I don't think anyone will be THAT angry at you Fir-fir. If there is anyone who you know of though who may harbor such hatred towards you, please inform me and I will help, these grudges can turn ugly at times and are oft born from misinformation."

He chuckled, pretending not to notice that nickname he was already beginning to resent a little. Then responded honestly and in a cheerful tone. "I don think any grudges I have will be a problem!"

She seemed satisfied with that, nodding her head again as the carriage came to a halt. "Well here we are, All That Remains." She climbed out of the carriage first, holding the door for Firnis like a chauffeur, though he could tell by looking at her it was more just her playing around.

He stepped out, looked at the building before me, only one phrase crossed his mind at the first glace of this building I had been imagining in my head, after all one would have certain thoughts being told you where going to an inn in hell, but to summarize its dilapidated walls, the strewn about tables and chairs out the front, the walls eroded and cracked with windows in not much better condition, and a front door that was hanging on one hinge, only one phrase passed his mind.

This place is a dump...