Both Belladonna and Crystal had stared in awe as Annabelle stepped towards them both. She held her head high, making eye contact with the blue collie. Crystal swallowed, clearly intimidated by the angel's presence, especially considering she was the one that judged her as unworthy of Heaven.
"Me and archangel Sakura have heard your plea. You have shown remorse for your actions, as well as a willingness to change your ways. You helped saved many lives from suffering down here in Hell."
Crystal looked up at her. A sense of calm and reassurance replaced her anxiety.
Annabelle continued. "This is a rare gift we give, one we wish we could give far more often. We have decided to give you a new chance of life. We will bring you back to Earth, where you will be given a second chance to prove you can live a good life. Please, do not squander this. This may be the only chance you will ever get."
Crystal was over joyed by Annabelle's mercy. Tears began to well up in her eyes as a smile formed on her face.
"I, I don't know.. what to say.. this is a miracle," Crystal cried.
"We don't give miracles to the damned. You made this happen. I will bring you back to Earth, where you will continue your life the same age as you were since you were sent here."
Crystal smiled in relief. She had never felt so at peace and relieved, knowing that she would be given another chance to turn her life around. But then she looked over at Belladonna, who looked back at her. A look of surprise and disbelief was planted on the demon dog's face.
"But.. what about.. her?" Crystal asked.
Annabelle didn't even bother turning around. In fact this whole time, she never met Belladonna's gaze.
"You won't need to worry about that 'thing'."
Annabelle's insult stabbed right into Belladonna's chest. She had never heard her sister say anything like this about her. Annabelle had always been argumentative with her, but never stooped this low. A look of shock made it's way onto her face. Crystal frowned, also put off by the comment.
"Thing? That 'thing' saved my life, and she saved the lives of others as well!" Crystal retorted.
Annabelle frowned back, "Yes, and I'm sure she did it all out of the goodness of her heart, didn't she?"
Crystal's ears drooped.
Annabelle smirked. "Yeah, that's what I thought. She used you Crystal. She only wanted you for her short-sighted revenge fantasies."
"I know but.. if it weren't for her I probably wouldn't have.."
"It doesn't matter. She's pure evil. You shouldn't trust a monster like that."
"Isn't she your.. cousin or something? How can you say that about her? Don't you love her?"
"She's not my cousin. She was never my cousin. I could never love someone like her, and frankly, I don't think anybody could."
Belladonna was experiencing so many conflicting emotions right now, she could not speak. Every word Annabelle said about her was a stab in the heart. This felt so surreal. She had never felt so rejected and vilified in her life. She always knew she had no relationship with her cousin, and was usually the one to sling the insults, but having them slung at her, was a whole different experience entirely. She didn't even think Annabelle had it in her.
Crystal herself also froze, not knowing what to say. Annabelle cast a spell, surrounding Crystal in a shroud of light.
"Wait a minute, can't I at least say goodbye to.."
Crystal was gone. She was back on Earth, off to start a new life. She finally got what she always wanted, a second chance.
Annabelle turned around and walked past her cousin, still paying her no mind. Belladonna could only look up to her, a look of confusion and sorrow crossing her face. A shroud of light surrounded Annabelle as she prepared herself to teleport back to Heaven.
But before she did, she closed her eyes and spoke. "Abandon all hope, ye who enter."
And with that, she was gone.
"I knew it! I knew it was her!" Red exclaimed, slamming his fist on the table. "That little, double-crossing.."
As Red continued his insults, the wraiths looked at each other and backed away from Red in fear. Red had never been so angry in a long time.
Suddenly, the black chihuahua burst through the door, jumping onto one of the seats. "Your cragginess, demon production has increased by 200%. We have over 400 new slaves."
"Excellent. Her attempts at thinning our numbers were for naught," Red smiled, "Now we just need to wait until more of our troops manage to capture her. This time, I won't be letting her out of that room, up until the lava cools and hardens. Then I suppose she would make a good statue."
Red laughed out loud, the other demons and advisers laughing along with him. Red was not going to let Belladonna get away with this.
An hour had already passed since Belladonna lied there on the ground, still pinned down by the roots. Her mind was racing, trying to contemplate what to do next, or how she should feel. Annabelle's insults played over and over again in her head. She was experiencing emotions she had never felt before. Before she knew it, tears began to drip down her face. She didn't understand why.
"W-what is happening to me?" Belladonna thought to herself. "What is this? Why do I feel so.. upset? N-No, this is a curse! She laid a curse on me! No, she's an angel. She can't curse. Why.. why?!"
Belladonna couldn't hold it back. She began to sob. Tears ran down her face onto the ground as she lied with her limbs held apart. She never felt so alone and rejected. All she wanted was to free herself of this sadness. She didn't care about revenge any more. It was pointless. Red was too strong. She had to give up.
Her sorrow was so great, she cried hysterically, making enough noise to attract demons from miles away. She didn't care though. Nothing mattered any more. They could torture her all they wanted. All she could think of was Annabelle, and how much she hurt her. She never thought she would ever feel bad for anything she had done. For the first time in her life, she felt remorse.
"I just want.. I want to be.. *sniff*.. with my cousin. I want her to.." Belladonna babbled, her eyes closed shut. "No.. she could never love me.. she said it *sniff* herself. It's too late.. far too late. Nobody could ever love me."
Belladonna lied their and brooded, not even bothering to try and escape. To make matters worse, the roots surrounding her were only tightening further, eventually starting to choke her. Belladonna gasped for breath as the roots became tighter. Her vision began to fade and her face went numb as the roots cut off her circulation. Then suddenly, all went black. She could have sworn she saw a group of demons, most likely sent by Red, try to grab her, but they were too late. She died.
Belladonna felt her stomach jump out of her throat. She then heard a splash, and felt like she was underwater, except the water seemed to cause irritation and a burning sensation. She swam back up to catch her breath, and found herself back at the shores of Hell. She immediately swam back to shore, sputtering and wincing from the burning. It wasn't nearly as bad as the lava, but still painful nonetheless.
She stood on the shores on all fours, shaking off the toxic water as much as she could. The chemicals made her dizzy, and she stumbled through the broken glass beach back to the badlands. She was grateful to have all her physical wounds healed, but a much deeper kind of wound afflicted her. She could not get over the fact that she needed to earn her cousin's approval. She was the only family she really had, and she had no other purpose to fulfill. Everything else seemed so empty to her.
She pointed her nose to the sky and yelled out. "Annabelle, can you hear me? Please, I just want to talk. Can we please talk, just one on one?"
She waited a minute for any signs of her showing up. Nothing.
She yelled for her again, still nothing. She prayed hard, trying to elicit an answer from her, but still nothing. At this point, she was sure that Annabelle didn't have any interest in pursuing things further. Her head drooped, and she slowly dragged herself through the badlands, wandering aimlessly. She no longer had a purpose. She had nothing to fight for. She was no longer angry at Red, or anybody else. She didn't want to admit this, but at this point, she was but a wandering spirit.
A wave of anxiety and fear had trapped her. She then realized the reality of the situation. She was doomed. She had nothing else to do, but wander aimlessly until she gets tortured again. That was her fate. Normally, most of the new denizens already become aware of this, but Belladonna, having been in Hell for decades, had just begun to realize her situation. She felt like such an idiot. How could she not realize just how screwed she was?
Belladonna was too worried to be angry at herself. She could only imagine wandering these wastes for years, and years, and years, until she finally goes insane, writhing on the ground in agony, wishing everything would just disappear. She wanted to disappear.
Eventually her walk turned into a run. She ran aimlessly through the wastes, trying to run from any sounds of demons coming her way. She panted in fear, wide eyed like a deer in headlights. Nowhere she ran to was safe. She had to keep running. She ran and ran until she was out of breath. She collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily. Just then, she could hear demons coming her way. She knew what was about to happen next.
The demons came out from the smoke and began beating on her. They tore her limb from limb, poking, branding, tearing, scraping, crunching..
She could feel every nerve in her body sending her signals of pain. This was far too much for her. She shrieked in agony, begging for them to stop. She cried out for help. Suddenly, somebody did come. She couldn't make out what dog it was, but it seemed like it was friendly. The strange dog all of the sudden made a scowl when he saw who it was.
"Belladonna. Oh how the mighty have fallen," the dog smirked.
"P-Please, help.. I'm.. in so much... please.. kill me," Belladonna stammered.
"And why should I help you? You are nothing but a witch."
"N-No I'm not! I... I can change! I'm not... that bad... please, believe me!"
"Ha, in your dreams. Have fun with your new demon friends!"
With that, the dog left.
Belladonna had once again felt rejected. It wasn't as bad as being rejected by her sister, but it still stung. The demons continued to torture her, for what seemed like hours. Finally, she took her last breath and passed away.
She re-spawned back at the shores again, falling into the water a second time. She went out to the badlands again, wallowing in self pity. Wishing she could find a way out of this. But then she got attacked by demons, again. She got killed, again. She got sent back to the shores, again.
This same spiel happened again, and again, and again, until she couldn't take it any more.
Belladonna cried out as loud as she could. "Please! Please cousin! I can't take any more of this! I just want to talk with you! I know you hate me, and I know I've been a terrible cousin but.. please! I'll promise to be nice! I'm begging you!"
Belladonna collapsed onto the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. "I'm sorry. I.. just don't.. *sniff* want to be.. alone anymore."
Moments passed. It came to the point when Belladonna couldn't cry anymore. Her tear ducts were drained, and her eyes were sore. She slowly got back up and stretched her legs, preparing for yet another mindless journey. But before she was about to start, a flash of light appeared in front of her. A shape of a dog could be seen. Belladonna's face lit up. This was a miracle. She was finally going to have a chance to make amends with her cousin.
She ran up to the figure, hugging it in her arms. "Oh Annabelle! I'm so sorry! I.. I shouldn't have treated you so badly all these years! I.. I... huh?"
She looked at who she was hugging. It wasn't Annabelle, it was Sakura.
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