I ran from the, those wicked people that would surely destroy me and anything else that was good. None of them seemed to have enough goodness within them to keep from doing these horrible things to each other at the first whim, and I knew that if they saw the chance, they would do the same to me the moment they became upset about anything. I am not like them, even though I feel similarly. Something about the way I saw them react is... Wrong. There is something wrong with it and them. For them to think that doing those things just because they can is okay, and for them not to feel anything from doing their will and way and getting their will and way. There is something wrong with them, and I will not be part of that wrongness that is them. I will escape this horrible place no matter what, because I will not be one of them. They are sickening and disgusting and terrible people to exist with and even to look at, so my only choice is to climb this mountain. I only hope I don't die, like the rest.

*Dante's 'The Inferno'

Canto I: The Dark Wood

pg.1

Midway in our life's journey, I went astray from the straight road and woke to find myself alone in a dark wood. How shall I say what wood that was! I never saw so dear, so rank, so arduous a wilderness! Its very memory gives a shape to fear. Death could scarce be more bitter than that place! But since it came to good, I will recount all that I found revealed there by God's grace. How I came to it I cannot rightly say, so I drugged and loose with sleep had I become when I first wandered there from the True Way. But at the far end of that valley of evil whose maze had sapped my very heart with fear! I found myself before a little hill and lifted up my eyes. Its shoulders glowed already with the sweet rays of the planet whose virtue leads men straight on every road, and the shining strengthened me against the fright whose agony had wracked the lake of my heart through all the terrors of that piteous night. Just as a swimmer, who with his last breath flounders ashore from perilous seas, might turn to memorize the wide water of his death -- so did I turn, my soul still fugitive from death's surviving image, to stare down that pass that none had ever left alive. And there I lay to rest from my heart's race till calm and breath returned to me. Then rose and pushed up that dead slope at such a pace each footfall rose above the last.

-The Leopard; Lust-

I. Almost At The Beginning Of The Rise You Face A Spotted Leopard, All Tremor And Flow And Gaudy In Pelt.

II. It Will Not Pass, But Stands Blocking Your Every Turn That Time And Time Again You Will Be Eager To Turn Back To Where You Came From.

III. This Leopard Appears At The First Widening Of The Dawn; The First Illumination Of New Light, Where You See 'The Beast' Before You That You Must Overcome.

IV. Aries Appears As The First Zodiac To Illuminate The Way At The Beginning Of The New Day. "Climbing Aries With Those Stars That Rode With Him To Light The New Creation."(After Ophiuchus)

An anarchic people began to close you in from behind.

You find Yourself among an anarchic people, and attempt to find what order you're supposed to be following. Nobody knows what they're supposed to be doing, and yet somehow, everyone is doing the exact same thing. You didn't notice this before, but now You begin to see that everyone is thinking exactly what You are, except for whomever everyone is following behind at their variable degrees and distances. Yet, You are not curious as to who exactly that may be. Though, the words spoken to You before echo in the back of Your head, but You still don't quite understand just how they apply to You quite yet.

You come across someone that's being confronted by a leopard of some sort, but because the group is a group, You don't expect to be attacked. You continue to go wherever You were going, of which You still presently and actively don't really quite know nor understand. You are heading up the mountain with Your friends or family, just because that's all you really usually do and all you can do to occupy your time right now.

"Yeah, I'm not doing any of that." Whatever was going on, the Lawless Ones denied it and refuted it to any degree they needed to in order to deny it. Instead of doing things with the group, they would instead immediately go off somewhere else, fading into the crowd as independents and being lost by the darkness of their image. Each would go to a different location respective to their desires at the time and not bound to any factor nor absolute, just to make sure.

"All Leopards Are Fallen Ophanim."

The Fallen Ranks of angel immediately mobilized to become great obstacles to the ones that ascended the mountain, keeping them at the gate for as long as possible without passage. They did not move without someone else moving, and any time they moved, it was only in opposition or to become an obstacle. These leopards, which looked like women with spotted tails and cat eyes, would smile and attempt to allure the Sinners astray by calling them off to the side to distract them instead of pointing them in the direction that would take them to where they were going.

SIN would speak through the Leopard Women, who would continue to use Temptation to get their way, looking with all intent to find out information just to make sure they could be a blockade to it. "And where do you think you are going?" the Leopards spake, coy smiles on their faces.

The Antagonist would punish the Sinners if they were to succumb to a Sin after being Tempted.

The Great Shadow That Overcast The Land, One That Was Over All The Land And Not Just Half Of It, Would Bear Its Presence Closer To The Ground. The Dark Shadow, Which Pressed Down With A Great Force Upon The Atmosphere, Would Intensify The Gravity Of Everything That Was Under It.

"Rebel," A Voice Called To The Only 'I' That Defected From The Group, Singling That One Out By Giving Him A Title, "Walk With Me And Not This Group, And I Will Show You The Way Up The Mountain." This Voice Was Of God. There Was No Other Rational Nor Logical Option Given All Other Variables Were Spoken For By Everything Else. This Was The Only Time He Would Hear This Voice, And None Could Hear It But He, Himself.

The Dark Shadow Of A Hand Loomed Within The Clouds, As If Ready To Pick Up The 'Rebel,' In Order To Move Him.

-"Where We Last Left Off;"-

Everywhere Under The Shadow Of The Hand Would Feel The Presence Of The Pressure Of The Darkness.

"Thus The Holy Hour And The Sweet Season Of Commemoration Did Much To Arm My Fear Of That Bright Murderous Beast With Their Good Omen."

I, the Rebel, who heard a strange voice call out to him that was to go astray from the group, and also saw that the group was returning, would immediately throw Myself at the mercy of this higher power that suddenly pressed down upon Me, and I would fall to My knees, as if ready to bow. "Yes, please!" I cried, seeing now that this Leopard was something that I would not be able to overcome and also have enough energy to deal with the group or find his way back, even if coming out victorious. "God, have mercy on Me!" I would humble Myself and allow Myself to be moved wherever and commanded however may be in order to get off of this mountain and away from these people and out of this terrible world. They would be considered the same person, if necessary. (Consent)

Otherwise, You notice that the rest of the group is still walking along the pathway, even in spite of the Leopards that appeared. Still, some of Them were enticed by their good looks and prowling ways, finding the allure of it sensual, of sorts, and therefore sentimental.

They stopped what They were doing to go answer the question. "We're going to fetch water for someone." The crowd stopped, trying to think who they were fetching water for, even though many of them weren't thirsty. Many of them had a person that had told them from someone else that they needed something and inevitably just followed through on it, whilst others that were told would just be following blindly behind where the others were going, since they just didn't know where the water they were fetching was.

Some of Them started to go home, having gotten tired. The smarter ones deemed it senseless, yet still descended back down to the base of the mountain instead of thinking to overcome the trial that was still in the mountain once They decided to leave.

The group got smaller.

The Nomadic Valparaiso Denizens that blended in with the crowd would gawk at the beautiful women that suddenly appeared, no matter what they had just looked like before, since they looked good now. "Is that...?" they looked around, stooped down low, crouching and squinting their eyes real careful to get a good look at their bodies, "... Bitches?" They licked their lips.

"Hold on, these mere weans need to learn something real hot fast." They slicked back their hair and immediately stepped forward to the front of the ranks, even turning around from exiting just to return to the front, and gave crooked smirks as they already began to calculate the first move. "Step aside," the Valparaiso Denizens would say, pushing back any of the others that tried to get in front of them and possibly have a first shot at these easy targets. "Get in line." The push was rather aggressive and assertive, and a bit threatening, as if insisting not to even think to get in the way. Yet, there seemed to be some sort of pleasant anticipation on their faces that might make it seem otherwise. "So, baby, since you're asking so many questions, how about you answer some of mine?"

They were immediately 'on that.'

"II. A Sin Can Exist Without Anyone Sinning, But Once A Sinner Exists, The ‘Laws Of Sin,’ Which Are ‘Slavery Laws’ Return To Being In Effect."

The first targets, which were Foreigners, would step forward to greet the trap that was set for them just as ordained by their nature. The Leopards, who would systematically engage anything that would engage them, took on the headstrong flirtatious Denizens without batting an eye, almost as though this was common. "Like what?" they began coyly, now paying no mind to anyone or anything that wasn't directly engaging them. There was a knowing look in their eye that also had a certain desire to it, as if searching for something. Their tongues were light, as were their words, and they would say nothing beyond what they had just asked. Still, they kept great focus on the ones that were interacting with them, trying not to smile.

When The Foreigners Were Distracted By The Enticing Wiles Of The Leopard Women, I, Myself, Who Had Just Claimed A Rebel In My Name, Would Lower My Hand From Above The Clouds And Grasp Him Firmly To Secure My Hold On Him. "They Are Distracted," I Say To The Rebel, "You Must Do As I Say So That They Do Not Notice You When You Escape." For Those That Interacted With The Cats, There Was A Fate For Them, Which Was Coming Through Their System Soon Enough. The Rebel, Who Was Completely Under The Control Of The Higher Power, Would Be Moved Carefully Out Of The Area Whilst The Foreigners Succumbed To The Iron Jowls Of Lust In Its Weaker Form. "Come. They Are Weak. I Will Show You The Weakness Of This People, And Also The Next Up The Mountain. There Are Several Other Trials, Traps And Snares Upon This Mountain."

When The Shadow Of The Hand Sought To Move From Over The Area, The Rebel That Was Taken Would Be Moved Along With It, And Nothing Would Come Upon Him Due To The Covering. "Whilst You Are Walking Up This Mountain, Your Name Shall Be Dante, And This Shall Be A Name That Will Be Made Great Through You."

"Yet Not So Much But What I Shook With Dread At The Sight Of A Great Lion That Broke Upon Me Raging With Hunger, Its Enormous Head Held High As If To Strike A Mortal Terror Into The Very Air." The Lion That Was Spoken Of Was The Foreign People Stepping Forward To Deal With The Leopards First Before Anyone, As A Lion Would Take The Initiative Before Anyone To Do. "And Down His Track, A She-Wolf Drove Upon Me, A Starved Horror Ravening And Wasted Beyond All Belief. She Seemed To Rack For Avarice, Gaunt And Craving. Oh Many The Souls She Has Brought To Endless Grief!" The She-Wolf Is A Huntress That Is Different From The Leopards, Where She Goes Out And Searches For Her Prey Rather Than Sits And Waits To Lead Them Astray. "She Brought Such Heaviness Upon My Spirit At Sight Of Her Savagery And Desperation, I Died From Every Hope Of That High Summit." The Mountain Trail Seemed Treacherous Initially Due To All The Wild Beasts That Blocked The Way, But Dante Would Be Guided Carefully By The Shadow That Covered His Tracks.

"And Like A Miser -- Eager In Acquisition But Desperate In Self-Reproach hen Fortune's Wheel Turns To The Hour Of His Loss -- All Tears And Attrition I Wavered Back; And Still The Beast Pursued, Forcing Herself Against Me Bit By Bit Til I Slid Back Into The Sunless Wood." Dante Would Be Approached By This Attractive, Yet Completely Desperate And Sexually Stimulated Woman That Cornered Him And Brought His Back To A Wall. Through Mental Engagement, They Would Fornicate With Their Minds, And So Dante Was Trapped In A Mind Lock During His Escape From The Group. He Was Much Further Away From The Group Once The She-Wolf Came Upon Him, And Was Already Broken Away From The Crowd To Be Dealt With On His Own.

You immediately come to terms, as a group, that with the Leopards distracted by the socializing foreigners, which had stepped forward rather eagerly and left You in the background, and decide to continue on up the mountain to fetch water for whomever sent You.

You follow behind a person that had of his own left the group and seemed to be walking a different path than everyone else. This person interests You and a few of Your group members, and just as easily as you were almost led astray before would you divert from the group again and try to walk where the rebel of the group was going. If not to try to bring him back to the crowd, to at least see where he was going that was different from where You were sent. You did not remain in the area for very long, for the mountain's trail was tedious and knew that getting the water from the higher level would be a chore. The smaller group puts You in a state of discontent, however, and You become sad that people have left You in order to go do something else. You judge them in Your discontent, but find many of the things You think and feel about the others, You can also apply to Yourself.

You continue to walk up the mountain blindly, puzzled, yet with a one-track mind.