Slamming the door behind him, Fike was met with the confused gazes of almost 100 demons. The area beneath the deck was almost bigger than the deck itself, so it wasn't exactly cramped. Still, there was a certain level of stuffiness and claustrophobia from being trapped in a metal box with demons.

Never was there a more clear example of this than with Solomon. He felt like recently all he had done was be trapped inside things and wasn't handling it well.

Surrounded by hulking demons, all of which had completed their first 'Penance' and trapped by metal walls wherever he looked he wasn't in the best mental state.

The nearby demons noticed his discomfort and left him alone, while a few walked over to great Fike.

"You're lucky you got here when you did, I heard we are setting off soon." Said a demon with a third eye in the centre of his forehead. "The name's Trine by the way."

Fike tried his best not to look into that weird eye and quickly got to talking with the other demon. "So how long have you had to wait?"

"A couple of weeks I think." Said Trine, "The barge usually waits a few weeks to restock on fuel and passengers before going down to the next level from what I hear."

Nodding, Fike continued to talk to the friendly demon. "Have you heard any news about what the circle is like?"

"Nah, fraid not," sighed Trine.

After exchanging greetings, Fike was invited to go join some of the other demons in a game played with a few rocks and bones to pass the time. He looked for Solomon to invite him to play as well. But, he was gone.

Fike could only shrug, 'Must have gone back outside'

...

Outside was not where Solomon had gone. That was the last resort. If he went outside, he would have to watch as they fell off the edge. No, He had headed further into the bowels of the ship.

He walked along a black metal corridor, with rough welding and bolts that were begging to be tripped on and couldn't help but think that it was a miracle this ship held together.

His footsteps produced a metallic clang with each step he took in the maze of corridors. The barge itself was bigger than a football field so it wasn't hard to lose your way.

Passing what looked like a mess hall, covered with the scattered remnants of food, he paused. He wasn't searching for anything in particular, he just felt that if he kept moving it might lessen his stifling claustrophobia. A rolling stone gathers no moss as they say... although that might not apply here.

Continuing to walk down the twisting corridor, his pace sped up whenever the corridor took a sharp dive downwards, tunnelling towards the centre of the ship.

In the distance, a faint red glow streamed through a huge grate in the ceiling, right where the corridor widened out. The light flowed down and cast eerie shadows onto the cold, metal walls.

As he drew closer to the grate in the ceiling, he started to hear footsteps that weren't his own. If he listened carefully, he could catch shuffling noises and the clinking of chains.

Solomon knew the saying 'Curiosity killed the cat' but, reasoned that cats had nine lives anyways and it should be fine. He soon came to regret that decision whenever he saw what was making those noises.

Beneath the grate in the ceiling was another grate. Sturdier than the one above and lined with rust. Underneath this grate, in the shadows, various hulking shapes moved, each movement accompanied by the clinking of chains and manacles.

At this point, he knew what to expect. Still, he needed to see it with his own eyes, so, he put his head to the cold, rusted metal and looked down into the cavernous hold.

Perhaps it was fate, because the first thing he laid eyes on was the first demon he ever laid eyes on. With a cloudy gaze and a hulking figure, the rhino demon he had first met at the shores of hell shuffled like a zombie in heavy steel manacles.

Each step was laboured and directionless, it continued to walk in aimless circles with blank eyes.

Solomon gasped and quickly put his hands over his mouth. Maybe, if this was a horror movie, all of the creatures in the hold's heads would have snapped up to look at him. This did not happen. They gave no reaction to his sound. He doubted they even heard it.

Remembering the name of these caged demons, Solomon whispered to himself. "The damned," He couldn't help but shudder at the thought of living like that. It was literally worse than hell.

Especially to Solomon, who felt particularly repulsed by the heavy chains and manacles that bound the walking corpses. It brought back unpleasant memories.

He turned around and walked back the way he came. Even the sight of the damned made his skin crawl.

And, as the walls started to close in on him, he started to run. He ran up the gruellingly steep steel corridor and passed the trashed mess hall with quick steps and even quicker breaths.

Ignoring the startled demons that hurried out of the way, he dashed through the crowd of demons that stood in his way and burst out onto the deck. Strangely enough, he couldn't remember opening any of the doors on the way.

Coming out into the open again, He sighed in relief. The cavern the boat was docked in was still a cage, nonetheless, it was a much bigger cage. Offering him some small comfort.

Hyde saw Solomon run out onto the deck like he was chased by a ghost. His face was always pale but right now it looked a little worse than normal.

"Hey! I knew you would come back for me. Get this madwomannnn mph"

"Shut up brat!" said the aforementioned madwoman as she stuffed her hat into Hyde's open mouth. "What's got you spooked enough to come out onto the deck kiddo?"

"Lesser of two evils," Muttered Solomon.

Ignoring this melodramatic guy, the captain shrugged. "You did hear I'm taking the scenic route right? This time it's going to be a bumpier ride." She warned him.

"How can there be a scenic route? It's just straight down." Asked Solomon after he recovered some of his composure. He clearly remembered that it was just a tunnel that went straight down.

Grinning The captain looked at Solomon with the eyes of a predator. "That was just the river mouth, Naturally it would get wider, and deeper."

Solomon groaned, he really couldn't catch a break today.

In fact... now that he got a better look at the deck there was a lot more activity than last time. Scorn and Marco ordered a bunch of sturdy looking fish-type demons around with vigour.

He couldn't help staring as a Demon with the head of a squid manipulated its tentacles into carrying 6 gleaming metal spears. He could recognize that metal too, but why did they need spears?

At the front of the barge, Hyde spat out the hat that was shoved in his mouth and shouted, "She didn't mention the monsters!"

Solomon turned his head robotically to look at the captain and spoke in a small voice, "Monsters?"

The captain laughed uproariously at his shellshocked face "Of course! as the water gets deeper, wouldn't there be sharks in those depths?"

Thinking about it logically, the creatures that Hyde and Fike fished out of the lava hadn't just popped into existence in order to be caught. They were just the weaker ones.

At this moment, Fike followed Solomon out onto the deck in order to check on him. Strangely enough, Solomon thought that he might enjoy this.

...

Just as he had expected, Fike got on with the sailors like a storm and quickly joined them as they bustled from place to place, while carrying various weapons and ropes.

At the front of the boat, Hyde struggled with bulging muscles against the ropes that strapped him to the railing.

Scorn started packing ballistas with ammunition fashioned from the bones of various monsters with the help of Marco.

Solomon could watch all of this from his perch at the very highest point of the barge. He wasn't sure why, but he had ended up climbing the lookout post in order to get away from all the noise. He doubted he would be much help in setting up anything anyway.

Perhaps he had lost his fear of heights after his time in hell scaling the cave walls. Or maybe it was as he floated in the universe above the lantern bearer. It might have been a case of exposure therapy.

While Solomon continued to wallow in self-pity, he was snapped out of it whenever the captain of the ship slapped him on the back and he almost fell off from the frighteningly high mast.

Right before he fell, his tail whipped out and, like a whip extended to wrap around the railing of the post. Despite this, he felt boiling anger rise up from the pits of his stomach and his emotions bubbled over.

"Why are you fucking messing with me!?" He yelled at the captain

She just looked confused when he shouted at her. "Stop whinging, don't come to the highest point on the boat if you are afraid of falling idiot!" She snapped at him. In all honesty, she had only done that to test if he could keep his footing up there when the boat took off. She would feel bad if he was thrown from up here and died.

Solomon apologised in a small voice. He didn't know what was happening to his emotions lately. Was it his demon side coming out that made him so temperamental? He hated not being in control of his own feelings.

After Solomon apologised, the captain didn't pursue the matter or make it awkward for him. She simply patted him on the shoulder and jumped off the towering mast, landing nimbly on her goat hooves.

...

Eventually, the hulking mass of black metal that was the barge shuddered into motion, chugging through the opening in the lava curtain and out towards the edge of the abyss.

Feeling the air rush past his face, as he stood all alone on top of the mast a weird feeling of contentment rose up inside Solomon.

Solomon only felt a growing excitement the faster that the barge tore through the magma. Even as the boat kept speeding up, as it headed towards the gaping maw that glowed red leading towards the abyss. His excitement grew.

Expanding like a balloon that was continuously pumped with air, his expectations grew as the front of the boat tipped over the edge.

Until... With an explosion, the balloon that was swelling inside him burst, and the barge tipped over the edge.

As gravity swapped directions for everyone onboard, Solomon felt weightless for a moment, Just a moment. But it was enough. At that moment, as he floated up in freefall above the falling ship he had escaped the clutches of gravity. However briefly it was, he felt complete.

Quickly, his tail lashed out and wrapped around the top of the mast. Finally tethering him back to the physical world.

Plunging down with the barge as his speed increased and the wind hammering against his face upped its intensity, Solomon grinned.

Beneath him, the captain gracefully hopped along the railings, kicking any of the disfigured monsters that dared to scramble their way onto the deck. She dashed about the deck as a blue ball of fire, wreaking havoc wherever she went.

Another ball of fire, an orange one. Desperately dodged between the legs of the monsters and sailors that littered the deck. Somehow, Hyde had escaped his restraints and now he was scrambling through the chaos around him up towards safety.

The burly sailors cheered as Fike launched his harpoon into the throat of a particularly gruesome sea monster, pinning it to the deck. He seemed to have attached a rope to the harpoon in order to retrieve it after it was shot out.

Above all this chaos, Solomon floated, barely tethered to the ship in the billowing wind, untouched by it all and letting out whoops of delight.

Hyde heard the shouts of delight and looked up to see the crazy person who was enjoying all this was Solomon! He couldn't help but laugh, "At least he's smiling" He chuckled, before barely dodging the razor-sharp claw that flew towards him.

Still, even as Solomon fell, barely hanging on to the barge that thundered down the waterfall of magma, accompanied by the chugging of the engines driving it forward and the cries of demons and monsters alike, he only had one thought, 'I'm glad they didn't turn off the engines'