My next torture was flogging. I would be flogged by the torturers infinitely for an indefinite period.
But I made a dash for the entrance of the layer the moment I was out of the vat. I found out that day that the guards of hell were actually pretty weak.
If I have to sum it up, the guards of hell were as strong as a regular human. They were humanoid but had totally different looks.
They were grotesque to say the least. Even a glance at them would give you nightmares for days.
Looking at them for so long, I became accustomed to their looks. At first, I couldn't differentiate between them. Eventually I got the hang of it and I started to notice their individual differences.
I tried talking to them but they do not have their own will. They were like flesh dolls with primitive commands.
Their jobs were following the schedule and guarding hell.
I pushed them into the vat and dashed towards the entrance. Many guards came for me but my body was different somehow.
I was stronger than the guards of hell. I was faster than them and I was luckier than before.
I ran outside but fell. I forgot that each layer of hell is located in different dimensions. I need to be able to jump through dimensions if I really want to escape hell.
The intermediate space between each layer of hell is called the limbo. It's a space which is hard to describe from a human point of view.
The closest example would be chaos. It's a chaotic mess of space, time, matter and continuity. It bends endlessly, folds endlessly, breaks down endlessly and regenerates endlessly.
Existence is impossible in the limbo. Even a soul can not survive the chaos that is the limbo.
I fell in the limbo and I was prepared for my end. My wretched existence had gone on long enough. I just wanted everything to end.
I closed my eyes, calmed my mind and fell into oblivion.
That should have been the end of it. I should have been deceased. Yet, I existed.
I opened my eyes to find someone staring at my face. A soft sensation on the back of my head made me comfortable. It's a first for me.
The person staring at my face was a girl. I knew her. She was the girl who fell in the vat.
"If you stare at me like that, I will fall in love with you."
I didn't know what came over me but I uttered that line.
She gave me gentle smile.
"I don't mind if you fall in love with me. Because I already fell for you."
She put her hand on my forehead and started ruffling my hair. It honestly took me a minute to process what she said.
"You know, you are the first person to actually tell me that you love me."
"Well, it took a lot of courage on my part. I am serious!"
I was baffled. I was caught off guard. I had always proclaimed my love for the girl I loved. I did it so naturally and so shamelessly that I cringe at the thought of it.
Was I really nothing more than an obnoxious person? It made me realize once again that I really was nothing more a lowlife pest. I disrupted her social life. I was nothing more than an eyesore.
"You can't berate the person I love."
She sternly reprimanded me. But I was just judging myself objectively.
"I fell for you the moment I saw you. It was many years before you were even born. Your soul, it's the only soul I saw that resonated with mine.
I will not hide it from you. I have caused you a great deal of troubles. I had altered your behavior a bit. I had changed her thought process a bit. I did accelerate your death for my own goals.
I even sent you down to the deepest layer of hell where the worst criminals are punished eternally. Even after inflicting so much pain , am I still worthy of loving you?"
A teardrop fell on my cheek. She was silently crying.
From what she said, I should hold her accountable for all the misfortunes of my life. I should condemn her for her deeds.
My life, my love and even my death, it was all orchestrated by her. And yet, I can not do that.
I can not hold her accountable. Call it being soft on her or anything. I am an easygoing and forgiving person.
"But it just proves that you love me so that you lose sight of everything else around you. I will not call it healthy nor should I call it happy. Yet my heart can't hold you accountable for your sins. Your love is too heavy. So heavy that my very existence may be crushed but I am willing to risk it.
I want you to stand together with me. Stand by me and support. Are you prepared to overthrow the tyrant? I want to change the world. I want to teach everyone that we are free. Will you stand by me when that time comes?"
"Of course."
She gave me a smile with tears still in her eyes and puts lips on mine.
I entire existence was elated. It became strengthened. Her kiss, that was the first time I kissed someone.
"I may not be able to offer you much in return but I give you myself. Everything that I am, I own, I create and I become, belongs to you from now on. In return, stay by my side forever."
She closed her eyes and kissed me once again. This time, it was more passionate than the previous one.
I wait for her to finish. After letting go of me, I ask her.
"Are you really okay with just that much? Should our terms not be as equals?"
"No. I am not shameless enough to become your equal after what I did to you. I want you to name me. Give me a new name. Dye me in you color and take control of my soul. My soul, my body, my authority and powers, all belong to you. With my authority, you can easily challenge the tyrant, my father, to a battle with the system at stake."
The situation got out of hand real fast but I can only accept it. I think of a good name for her.
"Alina, that will be your name from now on."
She looked at me and gave me the brightest smile I had ever seen.
"Alina, that shall be my name from now on. I am Alina, your Alina." (Alina)
She giggled happily and hugged my arm. I suddenly got a clingy girlfriend. And I feared that she would put me through considerable stress but I am happy.
The looming, ominous feeling of someone controlling my life was gone. I could finally live the way I wanted to live.
"Alina, does your father know that you are here?"
"No, I snuck out when the attendants were not looking. He may have found out that I am missing. You don't have to worry though. In this limbo, even father thinks 10 times before stepping in." (Alina)
"Did you predict that I would try to escape?"
"I knew that you would try it sooner or later. So I threw a tantrum to visit hell and father reluctantly agreed. I fell into the vat to give you the barrier which would heal you enough to let you escape.
I had already prepared a base in this limbo so I knew when you might fall. The rest is as you know it." (Alina)
So she had predicted almost everything. I prepared myself to amass power to take on the tyrant, God. Alina would become the trump card in our battle against God.