The torture in his head was unending. Ardeth was curled tightly in the fetal position, too crazed by pain to notice anything. Luckily for him, the other, spiteful souls knew that he was suffering great agony, and they left him alone. Far in the corner of his mind, in the tiny area untouched by Hell, he could hear talking. He barely noticed it was there, and was fighting too hard against insanity to care, but there were definitely voices in the back of his head.

"What is it doing here?"
"I do not understand myself how it came to be here."
"It does not belong."
"I know this."
"What is there to do?"
"I am not yet sure."
"My Lord, this soul is too early come. You see how it is reacting to this place."
"I know this. Which of my subjects has dared to bring it to this place?"
"I do not know, my Lord. Perhaps it knows this itself."
"Withdraw the punishment for a moment. I wish to see what it does."
"As you wish, My Lord."

Suddenly, it all went away. Ardeth sat frozen for a second, in shock. Then he slowly uncurled and stood. What had happened? What was this place? He was deeply shaken. Around him there was a sickly copper color everywhere, the color of dried blood and roaring flames. Squinting, he could distinguish other shapes, human shapes, staring at him in a peculiar mix of envy and malice. He looked down and quickly shut his eyes, because there was nothing below his feet; there was more copper and people and it seemed to go on forever. He opened his eyes and tried hesitantly to walk; his foot came down and rested on apparently nothing- but the nothing held. He took another step. Suddenly one of the figures snarled and jumped at him. Ardeth reflexively shielded himself, but the figure had bounced off, as if deflected by a wall. Ardeth was disturbed. Would they all attack him now? And would whatever was protecting him hold up against the thousands of figures he could see? But moments passed, and no more attacks came. Instead they all watched.

Feeling very apprehensive, Ardeth began to walk at a normal pace, looking for… what? Everything here seemed to be the same. The figures parted for him, apparently fearful, so he was allowed free passage. But this privilege seemed useless if there was nowhere to go. Standing still for a moment, he tried to think rationally about what was happening. The last thing he remembered was becoming separated from his own body. That in itself seemed impossible, but… if he was where he thought he was, then it made perfect sense. This seemed to be Hell, though he had never believed in such a place. He could think of no other explanation. But how had he gotten here? And why had the pain gone away?

"What is it doing?"
"It is thinking."

Ardeth whirled around, searching for the voice he heard. Far in the distance he could see a small white speck, so small that he almost missed it. He set off towards it at a dead run, relieved beyond relief at seeing something that wasn't the colors of Hell.

"It is coming closer."
"Are you afraid?"

The voices were louder now. The second voice seemed tolerant, even amused with the first voice, who seemed to be a bit nervous. Closer, closer… he could make out the figures now; it was two men, one sitting and one standing near him.

"Why are you allowing it to approach us?"
"I want to see if he knows who we are."

Slowing, panting, Ardeth stopped in front of the men. He blinked. The standing man was muscular, tensely built… and he had the head of a black jackal. "Anubis?" Ardeth whispered in shock. The God growled, pleased, and turned to the seated man.

"It does know us."
"Indeed."

The other man was robed in pure white, sitting on a throne of pure gold. His face was serene, even gentle, and he held the traditional pharaoh's crook and staff. Ardeth could not believe what he was seeing… but then, he could not believe that he was in Hell, either. "Osiris… Anubis…" he whispered, trying to bring his knowledge of them to encompass the fact that they actually existed. "Is this… some sort of dream?" Osiris turned to look at Ardeth in slight surprise.

"No, mortal. This is no dream."