Private/Closed The Bell Of Avici

[Shiny Blue Gardevoir]

The accursed bell's chime still rung in Valentina's head.

Going against the wishes of her mother, her beloved, and everyone she'd ever met, Valentina had rung the bell of Avici. She'd had no choice, and in the process, she'd condemned herself to eternity in the very bowels of Hell.

Valentina had read a lot about Avici, when she was growing up. That unlike the other Hells, Avici was very quiet, since the torture down there was so relentless, that sinners didn't even have time to scream between punishments. That it was the very worst of the Hells, reserved only for killers, and those who defiled holy ground.

Valentina had thought that she would have time to prepare for her eternity here, but, as bad luck would have it, she'd choked to death at the dinner table, at the tender age of eighteen.

The primarina opened her eyes, expecting fire and brimstone and demons, but instead, she found herself on a misty river, in a little rowboat. A creature who appeared vaguely pokemon-like was rowing, oh-so-slowly.

Though she felt it stupid of her to ask, Valentina asked the creature, "Is this...Is this Avici?"

"No," the creature answered, with a low tone, "You're not going there yet."

 

[Ry_Burst]

Jay's hands shook as the bell rang. The bell of Avici was a legend that no one dared test, expect for the few desperate. But Jay's mind went blank as an odd feeling overcame him. Fear, stress, and so much more.

He died soon after. Some say it was a car crash, that only killed one luckily when it could have killed more. But Jay knew it was his punishment for his sin.

The Luxray opened his eyes to find that he wasn't where he'd thought he would end up. He pictures chains, fire, and eternal suffering. His vision was slowly coming back to him, and the first thing he saw was a strange creature making repetition motions. He heard a voice ask if this was Avici which was the same thought as Jay was having.

"No. You're not going there yet." This was the creature's response. By this time, his sense had returned and he saw he was on a boat.

"What the hell," he breathed softly.

 

[Shiny Blue Gardevoir]

"Why?" was all that Valentina could say, as she glanced at the other passengers. A luxray, who seemed to share her confusion was the first to speak up, after her, "We rung the bell of Avici...So that's where we're supposed to go, isn't it?"

No reply.

 

[FrostCrispz]

Halt had fallen down off a mountain he was climbing. He waited for the last bit of pain, before his death, but it never came. He just kept falling. Unable to make a sound, he laied back, alone, falling to his demise. Suddenly, the infernape appeared onto a boat, like he has been their the entire time. "The heck is this place?" Halt asked, his head in pain from the headache he gained from the fall.

 

[Cicada]

Akella sat slouched over his brother's crumpled form, holding his hand in both of his own and watching him by the firelight, rain thundering against the passage they had congested with branches and rocks, protecting them and their fire from the rain. Smoke furled up from the flames, rising and flattening against the roof of the cavern's mouth, jagged with stalactites, wet and dripping with humidity. He patted Domai's bruised knuckles and fixed his eyes to the wall, watching the light dance against its irregular surface, his silhouette wavering accordantly.
Akella had been endeavouring to convince himself that Domai's disease had been curable, or that he would recover with time. It had been days since his double had become unresponsive, venturing far past the limited realm of Akella's medical expertise. He would set him out in the sun every morning and bring the bowls he had fashioned from stone, glutted with glistening freshwater and pressed either one to his brother's chapped lips, but knew that the exercise was futile in its entirety.
When his brother's shallow breathing had trickled to a stop, Akella had allowed himself to hold his breath correspondingly, retracting his fingers from Domai's glacial skin and held the bridge of his nose, eyelashes fluttering against his cheeks and a cocktail of anger and sadness brewing in his chest. He cried bitterly, tears hot against his alabaster cheeks, because he knew fate would not allow his brother and him to part.

The sound of water rhythmically lapping over the sides of the boat were what stirred him, his eyes flickering open and immediately grimacing against the dark. He squinted in order to make out the vague shapes of his companions amidst the gloom, their features indiscernible. He was densely pressed into his brother; near enough that Domai feared they had somehow become a singular entity for a second time. However, upon wriggling all ten of his fingers and toes, he determined this was not the case. Akella's hands were clasped over his own, although he faced the opposite direction and showed little acknowledgement of his consciousness.
"Akella?" he asked inquisitively, his tone quiet and perplexed. When his brother turned abruptly to face him, his face was wet with tears. Domai opened his mouth to say something to convey his shock and sympathy simultaneously, but the words refused to exit his mouth. He gripped his brother's wrist and stared at him meaningfully. "Where are we?"
When Akella refused to meet his gaze, he turned on the others, the corners of his mouth twitching. "Where are-"
"-we?" finished Akella contemptuously, his voice little more than a croak.

 

[Shiny Blue Gardevoir]

The boat's unearthly captain turned to face the two, casting them an almost perplexed gaze. If she didn't know any better, she might've guessed that they were a pair of deino, but judging by their unspoken bond, she immediately deduced that they had had once been a zweilious. These two would be an interesting pair...

"We're crossing the Sanzu River, right now," she answered, "I was originally assigned to ferry the lot of you to Avici, where you'll suffer without any hope for escape, be it in the form of ascension to Heaven, rebirth, or delivery into one of the lesser Hells..."

"Then, if we're not going to Avici," Valentina chimed in, "Where are we going?"

The creature glared at the primarina, before continuing. "I've opposed the very idea of Avici since the beginning," she began, "Especially over a minor offence like ringing a bell. So, I'm giving you a chance to avoid your sentences. We're going to a very special purgatory, where you'll be allowed to make cases for yourselves. Present me with all of the facts about yourselves, and your reasons for ringing the bell, and you might get to escape your fates."

At that moment, Valentina was overcome with raw emotion. She trembled, sinking to her knees, as her mind went blurry. Avoid Avici? She'd be damned if she wasted even a second of this opportunity.

"Thank you..." was all she could say to their benevolent captain, wringing her gloved hands, "Thank you so much!"

She was quick to admonish her, however. "I'm afraid that trying to win me over like that won't work," she spat, "Princess Valentina."

 

[Cicada]

Akella and Domai's expressions slackened simultaneously under the tone of finality in their sailor's words, driving into them like a gravestone. Their shoulders sank, and the revelation of his death sank further into the pit of Domai's stomach and festered there, clawing at the walls of his chest and leaving him immeasurably numb. Akella was in a similar state of vacancy; a curtain had fallen behind his grey eyes, locking him into himself indefinitely. Domai's mouth was moving with trembling lips before he had even the time to fully process their situation.
"We can't be d-d- He-"
"-he said it was curable-"
"-only a flu-"
"-easily curable-"
The two weakly choked out fragments of their blearily distributed thoughts in turn, hardly audible above the gurgling of water beneath the boat. Akella's grip had tightened on Domai's wrist, his glossed nails biting into his brother's fragile skin. They each fell silent once again, reminiscent of a twinset of mechanical dolls in need of new batteries.

 

[Shiny Blue Gardevoir]

"Save the theatrics," the creature said coldly, "You're here, you're dead, and once we arrive in purgatory, you might be able to make me spare you from Avici. Clear?"

Valentina shook her head, lips pursing. "I think they understand that, but still, it's quite a shock, realising that we're all dead," she began, casting a sympathetic glance at the pair, "I don't think any of us saw our deaths coming so soon...Well, I didn't, at least..."

Their captain turned away from them, focusing on the foggy waters ahead. A few other boats passed them; one carrying older gijinka, and another carrying babies and children. She didn't react as a small buneary began crying for her mother.

Valentina, meanwhile, shuddered at the sight. Death truly was indiscriminate. She, of all gijinka, should know that; Valentina had been the princess of the Suwa kingdom before her death.

 

[Sun and Moon]

(So sorry, I forgot about this.)
Mist woke up, in a place that didn’t look evil or bloody at all, but a little sailboat on the river.
“Wh-w-Where am I?” Mist looked confused. She thought that her punishment was death, well, she did die, but she thought she was going to hell. The tragic fact is that Mist died while she was brushing her teeth. Her family thought that she choked to death, but that didn’t happen, what did happen was she rung the bell for half a million berries, not knowing it was the Bell of Avici. She saw a couple other Pokemon. A Primarina, a Zweilous, a Luxray, lots of poor Pokemon that also rung the bell. But then she saw a weird looking Pokemon, it looked majestic, but the look in its eyes made Mist not wanting to speak. “This is my punishment...” she whispered. “But how do I get out of here?”

 

[FrostCrispz]

"You rung a bell. Am I right?" Halt the Infernape replied to the pokemon. He made a symbolism with his hands representing ringing a bell. "Ding-a-ling?" He turned to the boat master. "How much farther. I want to meet this guy?"

 

[Shiny Blue Gardevoir]

(Apologies for the late reply, guys. Let's try to keep this going @Sun and Moon @Glaceon trainer @Ry_Burst @Carver )

The fog cleared, and the boat skidded to a halt as it entered shallow water, and then, dry land.

"We've arrived," their captain announced, standing up to full height. She resembled a young, purple-skinned woman, with tattered black robes, and the shoes of a Basque peasant; that was clear as she got up off of the boat, heading away from them without another word.

Valentina got up, trying to follow her, though she found it difficult to run, let alone walk, in her grand robes. "Wait! Aren't you suppoed to tell us where to go, miss, er...?"

"Muermonio," the creature responded.