"Ok, Avelina...let's go over everything we studied for!" Avelina said to herself as she paced around her room.

Today was the day that Cloyd and Becky would give Avelina her big test. All of the studying and lessons were leading up to this point. Avelina didn't even bother going through the notes she had written during the lectures that Cloyd and Becky would give her. At this point, she had made a mental note of everything. Cloyd and Becky gave Avelina lessons about Maru, the Maruvian language, magic control, demons, the different levels of said demons, and most importantly, Hell itself. Avelina has been studying all of this information for as long as she can remember. So much of this information awed her. It would scare most people to know this information. But for a girl like Avelina, it was the most exciting information she had ever read. She knows just about everything there is to do with Maru and Hell. And now, Cloyd and Becky were about to put her to the test.

There was a knock on the door, followed by a door opening. It was Aunt Becky, who stepped in with a big smile. "Hello, my little pumpkin!" She said sweetly. "Did you sleep well?" Avelina walked over to her Aunt and hugged her. "Yeah, I did! And I'm so ready for this test!" She said as she looked up at her while she hugged Becky. Becky giggled and rubbed her head. "That's good to know! Now come along! We got a surprise for you!" She said as she took Avelina's hand softly. Avelina looked up at Becky curiously. "Surprise?" She thought. For a test?

Becky told Avelina she'd see what she meant when they were in the great hall. OnceBecky and Avelina arrived in the hall, Cloyd stood in the middle of the room with his hands behind his back and a smile on his face. "Hello, Avelina! Are you ready for your test?" He asked excitedly.

Avelina nods. "You bet I am! But, what's this about a surprise?" She asked. Cloyd chuckled and showed Avelina what he was hiding behind his back. It was a black outfit with mini horns and a long black tail on the back. Avelina stared at it confused. "I-Is that a demon outfit?" She asked as she placed her eyes back onto Cloyd. "YES!" said Cloyd as he handed the outfit to Avelina. Avelina stared at it. Avelina wasn't going to lie; the costume to her was pretty cute. But she still didn't understand why she needed this. "But what's this for?" She finally asked.

Becky walked over to a lever that was across the room. She looked over at Avelina. "Please step back, sweetheart; we don't want you to fall through," she warned her. Avelina did just that, and so did Cloyd. Becky would pull the lever. The floor in the middle of the room began to open up. Avelina watched as this happened. An eerie, dark, and evil feeling quickly overcame Avelina. She stepped forward when the floor was fully opened and looked down. She saw the many stairs leading to the bottom...and the glowing red light below.

"A-Aunt Becky...Aunt Cloyd...does...this lead down to..."

"That's right, Avelina," said Cloyd.

"This is the stairway to hell!" said Becky proudly.

Avelina was at a loss for words. She couldn't believe that the whole time she had lived here in the palace, there was a pathway leading down to Hell. Avelina would then look up at her Uncle as she clutched the demon suit tightly in her arms.

"What is it that I'm going to be doing?" She asked hesitantly.

"You, my little rug rat, will put your knowledge of everything you learned about Demons to the test! And running a little errand for us!" said Cloyd.

"An errand?"

"Oh, Cloyd, don't call it an errand! That's just downplaying this whole setup!" said Becky, glaring at Cloyd. "Anyways," She walked over to a table in the corner of the room, grabbed a glass jar, and walked over to Avelina, handing it to her. "When you get to the gates of Hell, say, "I am here to receive the servant!" they're already expecting one of us to pick him up, so they won't question you too much!"

"And make sure to slouch! They don't need to know that you're a human!" said Cloyd.

"Wait, a servant?" said Avelina, as he was taking in all of this information.

"Don't think about it too much!" said Becky, rubbing Avelina's cheek. "Just do what we told you, and don't ask too many questions!"

Avelina looked down at her Demon outfit and then looked back at her Aunt. Just like Becky said, she nodded and didn't ask any questions. She placed on her Demon suit and began slowly descending the stairs. She looked at her Uncle and Aunt, who were waving at her, and then Avelina started walking further and further down the stairs to Hell. Alexander stepped into the room as soon as Avelina was out of sight for a few minutes. Becky turned to him and smiled. "Oh, hello, Darling!" She chirped as she ran over to him and hugged him. Alexander would hug Becky and greet her. Alexander looked past Becky. "Are you two heading down to hell?" He asked her. Becky shook her head. "No! We sent Avelina down there to pick up the demon!" Alexander's eyes widened in horror as Becky told him this. "YOU WHAT?!" He broke away from her and glared. "You sent her down to Hell? She's just a child!"

But Becky didn't seem worried at all. "Oh, Alexander dear, she'll be fine! Avelina has been studying Demons ever since she first learned how to read. It's in her blood!"

"Studying it and experiencing it are two different things, Becky! It would be best if you had let me do It instead!"

"Alex, sweetheart," said Becky as he rubbed his cheek. "You can't baby her forever. You have to remember that our connection with Hell is in our family. Having to take regular trips down there is the norm. She'll be fine."

Alexander placed his hand on Becky's and grasped it softly. He knew she was right. He just hoped that Avelina would be ok.

...

Avelina held the empty glass bottle in one hand while she had the other against the wall as she descended the stairway to Hell. She made sure to be cautious of each step she took. The fact that there was no railing to support her gave Avelina a lot of anxiety about descending the stairs. Avelina felt as though she had been walking down these stairs for hours. She looked up and saw that the entrance from where she came was nowhere in sight. As she looked down, she saw the red light below her was closer. She was almost to the bottom. After descending the stairs for five more minutes, she finally reached the bottom. Avelina walked down the last few steps, and finally, she had arrived in Hell, or at least the beginning part of it. She stood across from a stone bridge leading to a large steel gate guarded by two very tall demons. Avelina gulped and held the glass bottle in her hand as she walked across the stone bridge. That's when she remembered what her Uncle had told her. "Remember to slouch!" And she did just that. Once she made it to the gate, two of the demons guarding it stopped her dead in her tracks and pointed their pitch forks at her.

"Halt, who goes there?!" said The male Demon.

Avelina didn't know how to respond. She couldn't believe she was in front of an actual demon. She looked up at it. He was at least 6 feet tall, entirely black, he sported two large wings, and his eyes were bright white. Avelina had to reply before they became suspicious. "I um-" She cleared her throat. "I come from above to receive our servant...." She said in a raspier voice.

The Demon looked confused as he stared down at Avelina. "A servant? What are you talking about?" He asked aggressively.

That's when the other demon guard spoke. "Wait...I think he's talking about that demon put on princess duty!" This Demon said with a more feminine tone.

"Oooh," said The Male Demon. "Right, Right, him. Wait right here..." The large metal door behind the demons opened, and the tall male demon stepped through the gate. Avelina and the female demon were left alone for a bit. Their eyes moved around the area to avoid direct contact. That's when Avelina asked, "Soo um...anything interesting happened lately?"

The female Demon replied, "Eh...it's hot..."

The large metal door opened up, and the male Demon stepped through the doors carrying a Demon by the tail. This demon was way shorter than the two tall demons standing before Avelina. The male demon tossed the smaller one named Luci to the ground. Luci lets out an "OW!" The two Demons began to snicker, "Have fun being on princess duty, you little pipsqueak!" said The male Demon as he and his partner stepped through the gate, laughing out loud.

"Alright, guys! Thanks for wishing me luck!" Luci waved at them as they closed the gate.

Avelina looked at the gate when it closed. Princess duty? Is this why this tiny demon is here? Why would someone want a demon for a princess? As Avelina asked all of these questions in her head, Luci looked up at Avelina and snapped his fingers. "Hey, Tuts! Enough daydreaming! It's time to get going! I got a big job to do, and it's not going to get done by us standing around!"

Avelina stared down at Luci and said, "Oh, umm ok," She held the bottle out to him and was about to open it till Luci stopped her. "Uhh...yeah, that's a no. Do you think I'm really going to get into that bottle? Do you know who I am? I'm a big shot around here! I run Hell!"

Avelina just stared at Luci. She took off the cap to the glass bottle, and Luci was sucked right into it. Avelina placed the lid on the bottle tightly, and she stared into the bottle. "Wow...you fell for that real easy..." She said with a smirk.

"HEY! Y-You caught me off guard!" Luci said defensively.

"Oh really?" said Avelina, as she went back to the stairs and began making her way back up.

"Uh, yeah? I am satan after all!"

"Uh huh..." said Avelina, unconvinced, "If you're satan, then why did I have to put you in a bottle? And why are you so tiny?"

"Why are you asking so many questions?" Luci asked, annoyed. "It's because I'm the best of the best!"

Avelina just giggled. "Alright, tough guy, whatever you say!"

"Hey, watch the sass there! I can easily break out of this bottle and END you!"

"Ok then, break out the bottle," said Avelina.

"Wait, what?"

"Do it! Break out of the bottle!"

"I...Uh...well, I can't right now..."

"Oh really? Why's that?"

"I DON'T FEEL LIKE IT! And I didn't have breakfast yet soo..."

Avelina laughed. "That's what I thought!"

The walk back up to the top wasn't as long as the walk down. It was because Avelina and Luci talked until they reached the top. Avelina stepped back up through the entrance. Becky and Cloyd looked at Avelina with big smiles on their faces. "Avelina, my sweet little niece! You did it!" She said as she walked over to her and took the bottled demon out of her hand.

"Excellent indeed!" said Cloyd. "Great Job Avelina! You passed!"

"YESS!" said Avelina as she pulled back the hood of her demon outfit. She then gaped when she saw Alexander. She ran over to him and hugged him tightly. "ALEXANDER! YOU MADE IT JUST IN TIME!"

"Are you ok, Avelina?" Alexander asked worriedly. "Did any of those demons try anything with you?"

Avelina would shake her head no. "Nope! They didn't even know I was human! The suit worked perfectly!"

Alexander would let out a relieved sigh and pats her head with a smile. "Fearless as always, little Lina..." He chuckled. "Come on, let's get something sweet to celebrate you passing the test!"

"YAAY!" said Avelina as she took off the demon suit and hopped into Alexander's arms.

Once Alexander and Avelina left the room. Becky and Cloyd stared into the bottle where Luci was sealed in. "Soon, Luci, you will be sent straight to Dreamland! And our quest will soon be accomplished..."

The two of them left out dark laughs that echoed the halls.