The Time Capsule

Chapter 17: The Flames of Hell

Chapter 17: The Flames of Hell 

Angelica blinked open her eyes the next morning- or was it morning? She could barely tell in the room she was in, for it was still dark as night. Until a tiny circle of light appeared, just out of reach, bobbing in and out of the darkness like those Angler Fish Angelica had read about. It was like a reading light, or a headlamp, her light in the darkness when...a terrifying shadow of fangs was silhouetted on the window, just below the light. Angelica screamed and the fangs disappeared, a tiny whisper filling the darkness. 

"Shh, keep it down or you'll wake the king and queen!" the stranger said in a rather high and shrill voice herself. "Just a trick of the light! As if the darkness had teeth!" 

"Stay to the path, Angelica Sparrow...the darkness has fangs," Angelica quoted Nightwing with a shiver. 

"What a strange thing to say to a child!" the voice tinkled with laughter. "Come, step into my light so I may see your face." 

"...Why?" Angelica asked. 

"Because shadows are but strangers in the dark, are they not?" the voice giggled. 

Angelica overcame her wave of sleep and slowly swept her dress over the side of the bed, nervously going forward into the small ball of glowing light. It washed over her feathers, illuminating her every flaw. And a beautiful girl stood on the other side, every part of her glowing with magical dust. Her silver and blue hair cascaded down her back over a pair of pretty wings, and her dress seemed to be made of bluebell petals.

"H-hello?" Angelica tried.

"Hello, darling!" the fairy exclaimed, lighting up in a smile. "It's been *ages* since I've had proper contact with any human. But you must be starving! Come, let me lead you to the kitchen and give you a proper tour of this place. And before you protest, the king and queen insisted!" 

"And...you are?" Angelica asked, desperate to keep up with this energetic young fairy. 

"True!" the fairy said. "I have not introduced myself. Aline, it means radiant with light! Comes from the Celtic forests. But enough about me, it's time to take care of you!" 

With that, she flapped her wings and whizzed down the hallway like a bullet of gliter, making a ruckus that must have destroyed half the place of...wherever they were. Angelica refused to believe they were *inside* a tree trunk, it was utter blasphemy. For one, she wouldn't be able to fit in her full size, so she must have been shrunk. which she would definitely remember. For another...fairies didn't exist. This must be some illusion and she was going mad...yes. Yes, that was the most probable answer.

And for another, she definitely wouldn't be able to remember the path the fairy whisked her down. A shiver ran down her spine, but she was led to a room draped in curtains and carpets of intricate designs, the symbol of the universe connecting the fairy kingdom to every living thing. A feast set the table that would please the divine heavens, a huge roast beef, rice pudding, steak and kidney pie, chips and gravy. Food a weary traveller would kill her, which Angelica very much was, and would.

"Plenty to go round, Elion and Maureen insisted you eat," said Aline. "You've had a long journey here and have a long journey yet to go." 

"Er...thank you," Angelica tentatively took a seat. "You're being really nice to me. My dad always told me stories of the fairies' hospitality, I thought he was going mad. But here we are. What do you mean, a long journey yet to go?" 

"I understand you are to travel on the Road to Nothing?" Aline asked, and Angelica nodded through a mouthful of pudding. "A very dangerous expedition...are you sure you're up to the task?" 

"Tell me more," Angelica motioned with her fork to continue the story. 

"A Sphinx sits on the middle of the road, between two dimensions," Aline said. "It asks you a question, the oldest question in the universe.

"Tell me more," Angelica motioned with her fork to continue the story.

"A sphinx sits on the middle of the road, between two dimensions," Aline said. "It asks you a question, the oldest question in the universe. If you are able to solve this riddle, it will allow you passage. If you do not answer...it will send you...the other way. The way *most* mortals go." 

"When you say most..." Angelica said. "How many...mortals...have made it to the other side?" 

And perhaps the most important question...how many of them had survived? Angelica was so fixated on her food that it took her long enough to notice that Aline's usually very bright eyes had gone dark. She swallowed nervously. 

"All mortals who have passed have ended up somewhere else," Aline explained. "Except for...one man. A very special man. I'm told his name is James Sparrow." 

Angelica dropped her fork, the metal cluttering to the table. Her father had attempted the very same quest that she was about to undertake. She would be following in his footsteps. What if it turned her to the dark side like it had for him? Would she meet creatures along the way who had also encountered her father? It could be her way to determine exactly *how* he went dark. Now she was tempted to go even more.

"And er...one last question," Angelica said. "When you say....somewhere else. What exactly do you mean?" 

Clearly she had approached a topic never talked about in the fairy kingdom, for Aline looked extremely grave.

"Hell," Aline said.

"Oh," Angelica got out. "What...what is...hell-what is *hell* like?" 

"Finish your pudding," Aline said. 

"No," Angelica set down her fork. "Tell me what it's like." 

"You will need a strong stomach for what comes next," Aline said. "Finish your pudding." 

***A note from the author*** 

My darling Aline is often so possessed with mental capabilities that could shatter the universe if she used them to her full extent. It is with this knowledge that I will leave you to take her advice, and proceed to chapter eight with a full stomach. As the most dangerous knowledge is best approached when one is full and content. For soon, they will never feel the same again.-A.S

***note from author ends***

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