sultal's note: Jim will talk about Illtyde's topography in this chapter. I think it's clear, but it may really help to look at the map on my Deviant Art page as you read. Deviant Art name = sultal-wf. The title of the map is "Illtyde Map (Devil Incarnates - Disney Fanfiction)"

Chapter 7: Devil's in the Details

"Where the Hell are we?"

Jim turned left. He turned right. He looked up at the sky.

"Crap."

Jim hiked his shoulder. The girl jumped as he nudged her ribcage. "Hear that? We're lost."

The girl twisted, trying to return Jim's shove. She was largely unsuccessful, Jim had bound both hands behind her back, but somehow she managed to clip his chin with her knee.

"Thanks to your pirate buddies…" Jim said, dropping the girl in a pile of roots, "…we've been thrown off course. Lost my bearings, I have no idea where we are."

Jim knelt. "Hold still." he muttered, tying the girl to an enormous root. "I've got to map this place out. Just freeze for like a freaking second."

The girl did not corporate so Jim was not gentle.

"Would you just cool it?! Ow!" Gruffly, Jim hugged her legs and reached for the unfinished knot. "Just stop moving – just – ow! Geeze! Come on!"

Jim shoved. "Okay quit with the valiant effort! We don't have time! Do you want the pirates to catch up? Do you want to go back to Captain Hook? Remember what he was doing to you on that ship?"

The girl inhaled sharply. She stared at Jim as if he had slapped her. Slowly she subsided. She stopped struggling.

Jim tightened the knots. He glanced. She looked away. But Jim saw tiny, teary glints in her eyes.

"Better get used to the idea. Of torture."

Jim settled beside the girl. Cognizant that he had threatened as if he did not intend to hold her ransom, Jim quickly clarified. "I'm just going to sell you back to Captain Hook for all his treasure anyway."

Jim turned. "Clear?"

The girl glared into the forest. Her jaw was clenched but Jim could practically see the curses tingling on the tip of her tongue.

"Still not talking?"

Her eyes flashed like blue grenades.

Darkly, Jim spread his hands across the forest floor. Exposing dirt beneath prickly white moss, he started to draw. "Whatever."

Jim wasted time sketching and re-sketching lines. Alternatingly drawing and erasing images in the dirt, he pretended to be dissatisfied with each attempt. The rhythmic motion preoccupied his body, giving his brain space to think.

The girl was driving him insane.

First, his shoulder was aching from carrying her. Second, every other body part was sore from where she kicked, punched, or hit him trying to escape.

Third, Captain Hook apparently wanted the girl very badly because the entire pirate armada was on Jim's tail. Since the first night raid, Jim could not sleep. He was an emotional time-bomb, hyperreacting to every sound, sight, and thought.

Finally, the girl's silent treatment was getting old. Really fast. Jim had never kidnapped without his brothers, but in every one of those instances the victim's screaming made the process a whole lot easier. There was something about a victim wailing "Unhand me!" or "You will rue the day!" that set the stage for an amazing adrenalin rush and licensure to mock the victim.

But the girl was silent. Occasionally she would make small, displeased noises but she never spoke. She just smoldered in her silence.

Jim traced a line in the dirt. It was probably just as well. Screaming would alert the pirates and probably give him a headache. The girl's silence was fortunate, but it was also unnerving. Jim wished he could crack open her thoughts. He wished more that he could stop his own.

"Okay." Jim swept the dirt. Drawing a square, he narrated aloud.

"Okay, here's a map. This square is Illtyde. If we split it – "

Jim swiped his finger down the middle, cutting the square in half.

"—then we get West Illtyde, land of sinners– "

He drew a 'W' to the left.

"—and East Illtyde, land of saints." – "

He drew an 'E' to the right.

Pausing, Jim addressed the girl. "East Illtyde. That where you're from?"

Per her usual, the girl glowered. However, she tilted interestingly as Jim added to his improvised map.

"West Illtyde is separated into cults…" Jim muttered, finger hovering over the left box. Adroitly, he modified the bottom so the line curved inward.

"The southernmost part West Illtyde is shaped like a claw." Jim balled his fist in the dirt. "The claw closes around this mark right here….Neverland."

The girl opened her mouth. Jim caught the movement and froze. Like a baited deer, Jim waited for the girl to speak. For a moment she seemed on the verge. Glued to Jim's fist, she attempted invisible words, obviously in silent debate. Then, with a defeated sigh the girl relapsed.

Jim waited a moment longer. Then he continued.

"Neverland is part of an island chain." Jim poked holes with his fingers. "And the islands belong to the Cult of Pride, in the Sea of Lust. But the Cult of Lust…."

Jim tapped the top of the map. "…is more north. Near my home, the Cult of Greed. I live right on the boarder of Greed and Lust. That's where we need to get first. I can store you in the Treasure Trove. One of the bear cages. At least 'til things cool off."

Since the comment involved her, Jim glanced at the girl. She seemed unimpressed, especially at the 'bear cage' remark.

"So, we need to get north. To the upper half. But…" Jim squiggled three fingers horizontally across the entire map, left to right. "All of Illtyde is split into north and south by this water system, the River Vein. Don't know about East Illtyde but in the west…."

Jim pointed outside of the left box.

"The River Vein in West Illtyde is fed right from the ocean, the Sea of Sloth. There are like a billion rivers, streams, and waterfalls that run through the center of West Illtyde before dumping into the schism separating the countries."

Jim pondered, fingers suspended over the map.

"We started in the Sea of Lust on Captain Hook's ship. Near Neverland. In the south. If we keep going north we eventually have to hit the River Vein. Since we haven't…"

Jim circled the bottom half of the map. "Then we are here. Somewhere between Neverland and the River Vein. Okay..."

Jim sat on his haunches. He lowered both index fingers.

"The Cult of Glutton doesn't have its own region. Glutton sinners just travel in packs, like maggots. So, there are only two cults left: Wrath and Envy."

Jim rubbed his knee, thinking.

"Envy is farthest West. On the coast. And the Cult of Wrath covers the claw shaped peninsulas and the space in-between. And the space is filled with…"

Jim touched the earth.

"…woods. Wild woods."

Jim considered. He held his jaw. Looking out, he surveyed their surroundings.

They were in a forest, and had been for days. Spidery roots and cobweb branches strangled each other. The landscape seemed confused by the difference of uphill versus downhill, resulting in a slanted, horribly unmanageable terrain.

"Great." Jim said, his answer painstakingly clear. "I think we're in the Cult of Wrath. We are too far south. We need to go north. Way north. More north than the Cult of Greed. More north than the Cult of Sloth. We need to get…."

Jim sliced a tangent line through the center of the map.

"Here." Carefully Jim drew an 'X' between the left and right halves. He tilted his head sideways. From the new angle, the 'X' looked like a cross.

"The Crossroads." Jim stared at the mark. "The only spot where West and East Illtyde meet. Where the ocean falls up to Heaven and down to Hell."

Jim wiped his hands. "That's where I'll sell you. If we make it by Friday the thirteenth Hook won't be able to kill me. I'll be protected by – whoa!"

Jim jumped. The girl had quietly crept closer during his monologue. Hands still behind her back, she gazed interestingly at the drawing. Jim was startled by her proximity, but confused when she extended a foot over the map.

"Hold it."

Jim grasped the girl's ankle.

"You're pissed, I get it." Jim held her foot aloft. "But you don't have to get hissy and ruin my map."

The girl looked highly affronted. Balancing on her hip, she tugged her foot and nodded at the map.

Jim narrowed his eyes. "What?"

Again she tugged. Again she nodded.

Jim did not release. "You want at the map?"

She nodded.

Jim squeezed. Her muscles contracted under his fingers.

"I swear to God if you mess up my map, then I'll mess you up." He dropped her ankle. "Got it?"

The girl wrenched away. With a little huff, she wriggled so her dress fell more evenly over her legs. Then, positioning over the map, she made a delicate swipe in the dirt with her slipper.

"You wanted to draw? That was it?" Scoffing, Jim jerked the girl's ropes. "Wouldn't it have been easier to, oh I don't know, ask? God…."

Jim leaned over the map.

"…you are a pain in my ass. Okay. What's this?"

Jim outlined the girl's addition. She'd made a simple, horizontal line intersecting the halves. The line was placed at the top of the map, just inferior to The Crossroads.

Jim frowned. Mentally superimposing his crude sketch over atlas diagrams, Jim tried to identify the girl's landmark.

"Another path connecting West and East Illtyde?" Jim traced the dirt. "The Crossroads is the only place where the countries connect – oh. Wait. The Inn Between?"

Rotating on his ankle, Jim looked at the girl. "You drew the Inn Between? That bridge city between west and east? Okay. What about it? We're not going there if that's what you're – "

Something reflective gleamed through the trees. Jim spun, chasing the white reflection as it vanished from the corner of his eye.

A pulse hammered in Jim's throat. Reflexively, he stretched a hand to the girl.

"Did you see that?"

She did not answer. But when Jim turned, he saw she was scared.

So was he.

"Come on."

Jim untied the girl, and together they bolted through the trees. So terrified were they, Jim forgot to sling the girl over his shoulder and the girl forgot that she was supposed to give Jim a hard time.

They also forgot to erase the map, which the creature tracking them sniffed and smiled at, before padding softly in pursuit.