Melody looks at the door in front of her. Once she passes through, it's too late to turn back. Somehow, she understands this. She stands up straighter. The key in her hand gleams. Melody's pale fingers reach up for the place to insert the key. She does this, gently. As she turns the key, the door opens itself. And there it is. A hallway of darkness. She walks soundlessly ahead.

This is it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lettuce and Pai are walking down a dank hallway. Candy is leading them. "Once we get to the end, we have to go to the temple," says Candy suddenly. "The temple of what?" asks Lettuce. "The temple of the goddess."

"Tell us about this goddess," says Pai. Candy sighs. She seems to have been expecting this. "well, for starters, the goddess wasn't what you would call nice-looking. She had six eyes, and each eye went closer to her ears. No one ever saw her face and lived to tell about it. Instead of hands, she had hooves with sharp, bone-like pincers that could easily rip someones heart out when she got hungry. Which she didn't very often, thankfully. She also had her own bible, full of lies. It told of her as the creator of the universe, but in all honesty, she was the most powerful demoness alive. She was almost more poweful than Lucifer himself."

Candy sighs. "It was horrible. The church of God worshipped her for about 4 midnights of the week. They brought sacrifices, namely humans, some provided by the town doctor. They truly believed she was a goddess. They never stopped to think about the consequences. They didn't understand that with the final sacrifice, the world would end. You see, she told them that the earth needed to be cleansed of the evils of humans. She told them that they needed to give her power, so she could open the gate sealed by the devil. They believed her lies, and said of course, they would sacrifice whatever she needed. All because she told them they would go to paradise, and be freed of their bodies, and they would also become gods and goddess's themselves. 'You will recieve the powers you were meant to have,' she told them. So they sacrificed. Cats, cattle, sheep, dogs, and children and adults. One woman sacrificed her husbands son."

Candy pauses to let this sink in. "She told them that they would be deity's if they could open the gates of heaven. Then, they could do as they pleased. She told them sweet lies. But without one sacrifice, it was all in vain. The sacrifice of the goddess's own daughter, Azanthra."

Lettuce gasps. "You said Azanthra was good!" she accuses.

"Azanthra is good. She was supposed to cultivate her hatred on earth, but instead sought love and compassion. She was undeniably good. You see, when demons and angels die, as they just may, their powers are cleansed. meaning that if the powers were good, they would be cleansed of that. The same if the powers were evil. So all the demon and angel Azanthra had, well, It was hers to do as she pleased with. Demons have to choose. Kill or let live. Azanthra choose to let live, even though she was never shown much love. So you see, her demon powers didn't make her kill, and her angel powers didn't make her let live. They were just powers. Not good, not bad, but they were hers. Thats it."

Pai nods. He's heard of this theory in demon mythology.

"So either way, the church said they of course would sacrifice Azanthra. The church leader Ona, she said she would do it. So she took a knife, and crept into Azanthra's house in the dead of the night. But Azanthra knew she was coming, and split the knife in half. Then, she created a whip of embers, and used it to slap Ona away. Ona tried to fight her, but Azanthra sent Ona flying. She tried to warn Ona the goddess was evil, but she wouldn't listen. She flat-out refused. So Azanthra attacked her with a whirlwind that teleported Ona to front yard of the church."

Candy looks sad at this. "So, the church decided they had accumulated enough power anyways a few failed homicide attempts later. It seemed like a great idea to just open the portal. Until they actually did. Well, lets just say that the fire of the bad place rose up and consumed the town. But there was a slight problem. And by slight, I mean huge. They had enough powers to open the gates halfway. Why was that a problem? They swung shut after three hours of pain and misery. Demons could hardly fit through, but still tried. They killed most everybody the fire didn't kill. The others were eventually consumed by the flame. But either way, after the first little while, the demons were stopped. But the fire kept up for three hours. It litterally brought hell to earth. So instead of going to heaven, we were bound here forever. Not optional. Attendance is mandatory. But either way, everybody died a horrible death, and the guy that escaped commited suicide. But on a more cheerful note, when the gates swung shut, They crushed the goddess. She screamed, then blew up in an explosion of blood. So we're safe from her. She's busy ruling her section of the bad place. She can never come back. But we still have to deal with the demons. Of course, Azanthra got her Mother's cleansed powers. She used them for good, though. But the church wouldn't quit. They wanted to bring the goddess back again. So they tried again to kill Azanthra. So Azanthra sent away half of her soul, along with some of her powers. That way, Azanthra wouldn't be killed."

Candy stops. "See?" she says.

Lettuce grabs Pai's arm numbly. She nods. Pai also nods. "I think your daughter is in danger of being killed," says Candy. "If the church finds her, then, well, lets just say it won't be pretty. Because I think Melody is Azanthra's other half."