Distorted

Chapter Five

Purgatorio.

As we get farther and farther from the castle, and deeper and deeper into this maze of forest I had been through, I take a short look up above the skies only to see that the day was already setting to dusk. Although it was clear, not one single star shone, nor was the moon present.                                 

Setting back my eyes to the forest, though it was dark, I could feel like my eyes had a nightlight vision. Cruella still held both my hands, followed back by the Dalmatians.

We were getting closer and closer to a river with a fast current. As soon as we get there, a boat was set ready, its rower grimacing at us. At first it wasn’t noticeable but apparently he was transparent. I suppose this is a spirit…..or perhaps a shadow? He was a fine, European man with a long jaw, wearing what I think is called ‘the cloak of invisibility’. 

When Cruella finally let go of her tight grip on my reddened wrists, she stepped her right foot in to the boat, followed by the other, then was welcomed by the rower. I sat at the corner, observing them, with a little bit of cringing. The Dalmatians, on the other hand, going to the front of the boat with their lashes being tied on its own, were to be its ‘horses’.

“Your grace. Are you sure with this?”, said the invisible man with a flat voice.

“Why of course I am!”, followed by her scrutinizing laugh.

The invisible man then began to row. He looked similar for I have been through the world since the beginning. He was an ancient poet of myth. He was the poet whom Dante Alighieri liked himself to. He was… oh. Virgil, author of Aeneid, also a shadow of limbo, who guided Dante through his journey from Inferno to Purgatorio. But I never expected him to be a ferryman.

Black mist began to develop as our journey covered a long distance. I sighed, eyeing at Cruella who’s smiling by herself, smoking weed.

Cruella noticed me in a short wile, and offered her weed. “Oh what is it, dear? Want some?”

I just continued staring at her, speaking not a single word. Her eyes suddenly widened in surprise, knowing she forgot something. Moments later, we began to giggle Maleficent’s villainy laugh in sync.

“Ah yes, yes.. Maleficent did her job. Sorry, I was quite taken aback with your presence. Now, dark force, it is? Well, well, well.. You know what I did to these Dalmatians right? Skinned them, used their furs…for my own glamour, and look how extravagant I look and how people respect me so much!”

She paused, then continued in a hoarser tone, “We all have the freedom to do whatever we want and what we desire.” She grabbed a dead Dalmatian puppy from her furred cloak and held it like a trophy, its rancid smell lurking around us.

“See this little thing? Well, just skinned it a bit here and there, and poof! I got this look of mine. Obviously it’s not only from this little one”. She loosened her grip on the puppy and threw it to the river.

“We villains are not really villains, we just oppose what everybody believes to be correct! But you see, this thing that’s stopping you from ruling and destroying the world is not within my premise. One thing you must know, however, is that by destroying the world, you first must destroy yourself.”

Cruella gave one last look at me, telling me through her eyes that there is more to find out in Purgatorio, then continued on with her smoking.

Time continued to lapse until finally we arrive on Mount Purgatory. Virgil waited for us to go out, fixed the boat on a place near the shore surrounding the island of the mountain, then came along with us towards the dark entrance of a cave. My shadow dissolved into the darkness, its silence penetrating me, the dripping water echoing all around us remained the only sound. With Cruella guiding me, I tried holding on to the rigid and damp walls of the cavern.

I stumbled foolishly on a bunch of stalagmites and stalactites, with one of the pointy ones injuring my left knee. I gritted my teeth and tried to resist the pain. Suddenly, a light illuminated. An angel probably.

However, we were welcomed not by angels, but by goblins. Their horns and their fangs illuminating, striking all that’s dark in this place. Cruella and my shadow formed slant behind us, while Virgil kept transparent.

One of the goblins holding a miniscule trident appeared in front of me, drawing something on my forehead using his tiny little tool. I felt my forehead burn, tracing what it’s trying to draw, then made a “JC” out of it. 

A sudden outburst of energy emanated out of me. I could feel myself stronger than ever, remembering everything since the day I was born. The oxygen that I breathe that goes to my lungs that would then turn to carbon dioxide as I exhale is totally, completely captivating me. The blood gushing through my veins, my heart that’s pumping all my organs, I can all feel them at the same time.

While I try to control this grotesque feeling, the goblins talked to us through hand gesture.

Goblin 1: “Come, follow us.”

Goblin 2: “We will show you those who will enter paradise and those who will enter hell.”

Goblin 3: “All these characters from ancient myth and even some fairytale ones are here, waiting to see you.”

We all continued down through the cave, my heart thumping like a bass drum.