Well, she couldn't say dad hadn't told her so. Hell sucked.
Kyoko and Nagisa trudged through the barren ashy wilderness, both freezing. Magic hadn't helped; despite both still having their soul gems neither had been able to even transform, much less will any discomfort away. For better or worse, with the exception of increased durability and strength, it was like they were completely human once again… except still stuck with the downside of their souls being housed in tiny rocks.
"Where are we going?" Nagisa asked the older girl.
Kyoko shrugged noncommittally, "Dunno. Somewhere with shelter. Maybe there's a cave somewhere nearby."
"What are we going to do?"
"Suffer mostly".
"Kyoko—"
"WHAT?" the redhead snapped at the younger girl in barely contained agitation, spinning around on her heels to glare at her. Her anger instantly died however, when she saw the expression of forlorn fear on Nagisa's face. She sighed, calming herself down as she brushed her hand through her hair, "I'm sorry, you don't deserve that. Look, I don't know. I don't know where we're going or what we're going to do," she lowered herself to Nagisa's level and put a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder, "But we'll watch each others' back, okay? We'll get through this."
Kyoko wasn't sure if she was telling the truth on that last bit, but that wasn't something Nagisa needed to know. The younger girl mustered up some determination at Kyoko's words, taking a deep breath and letting some of her anxiety out.
And that was when they heard a noise, sticks breaking. Both immediately switched to alert mode, even more-so now that they didn't have any weapons or powers. Boy, did Kyoko feel naked without her spear, or even a box of pocky.
Something vaguely insectoid stepped out from behind some bushes, about the size of a large dog and brown in color. It was almost like an oversized cricket crossed with a spider, but way more dangerous looking. Also it was really pissed off.
"… And this is doing absolutely nothing for my arachnophobia." Kyoko deadpanned as she picked a stick up off the ground. More noises followed—three more bug creatures stepped into the clearing. "Shit."
"What do we do?!" Nagisa asked fearfully as she backed up against Kyoko. The latter threw her stick at the nearest bug, which caught it in its jaws and snapped it like… well, like a twig. Kyoko's eyes widened.
"… Run!" she called to Nagisa, grabbing her hand and pulling her away as the cricket demon… things chased after them.
"I can't go that fast!" Nagisa called to Kyoko as she was essentially drug behind the much more athletic redhead. Nagisa was constantly tripping and skidding across the ground, dragging Kyoko back with her and slowing her down.
"Okay," Kyoko said, "New plan." She grabbed Nagisa and hoisted her over her shoulders into a piggyback ride even as she kept running, "Tell anyone about this and I'll kill you." Nagisa said nothing as she grabbed hold of Kyoko for dear life.
The ride didn't last long though, as Kyoko soon realized she'd made a grave error.
… That error being that she'd just run out of land and was now walking on air. … Falling. Falling through air. Aaaand into a filthy, murky stream. They'd toppled over a cliff, and as Kyoko pulled her head out of the freezing ash-infested waters any remaining doubts she had that this wasn't Hell were dashed.
"H-hate… my… l-life…" Kyoko managed to blurt out between bouts of hypothermia-induced shivering as she dragged herself and Nagisa onto shore. She had to crawl; putting any weight on her left foot was quickly demonstrated as a bad idea when lightning-sharp pain shot through it; something was broken. Hoorah.
The exhausted and pretty-sure-she-was-dying-a-second-time redhead collapsed in a heap on the river bank, ready to let the cold take her. Could you die in Hell? Because right now she'd take sweet oblivion in a heartbeat.
Someone in heavy, ornate robes approached the two beached children, berating them in some language Kyoko had never heard before. She looked up at him and despite herself yelped and managed to scramble back a good few feet. He was old but also not even remotely human, with long ears and greyish, ashen skin.
"… A-are… are y-you a d-d-demon?" shivering aside, her question was strangely calm considering. Despite turning her back on religion after her father… well, after what he did, dying and waking up in a cold ashy wasteland with demonic people and monsters had a hell of a way of reigniting one's faith.
The… man? Demon? He spoke a few more words, becoming increasingly agitated before he gave up and went back over to where Kyoko saw a portable table and chair and a whole bunch of beakers, pots, and other odds and ends on top. The redhead sat up, shivering but said nothing as the demon worked quickly on something; what she couldn't tell. Nagisa watched in silence, also clearly suffering from the cold.
After a minute or two, the man came back over with two small amulets, and motioned to the girls to put them on. They did so and—
"Can you understand me now?" the grumpy old demon man asked.
"Er… y-y-yeah," Kyoko said in mild surprise, "Are… are y-you a d-demon?" she repeated, feeling embarrassed she even had to ask.
The man looked at her like she'd grown a second head, then shook his head, "Not the worst insult I've gotten over the years, I suppose. Now, what are two Akaviri children doing wandering the wastes of Solstheim by themselves? Where are your parents? Please tell me you're not orphans. I detest orphans."
"… S-solstheim?" Kyoko asked, intentionally ignoring the fact that both she and Nagisa were in fact orphans.
"… A-akaviri?" Nagisa asked.
The man looked at them with frustration, "Yes. You," he pointed at them like they were slow, "Are Akaviri. This," he pointed to the land, "Is the island of Solstheim. What. Are. You. Doing. Here?" he paused, "… And why do I detect high levels of magic from both of you?"
"W-wait," Kyoko said, putting the pieces together, "So…w-we're n-not in Hell?"
The man sighed to himself, "This is what I get for skimping on amulets. The spell never sticks right. Hell didn't translate. What is Hell?"
If her question before hadn't made her feel like a stupid child, Kyoko's next statement certainly did, "Er… it's where y-you g-go when you d-die if you've been b-bad."
"Far be it from me to rain on petty folk Akaviri traditions," the man replied dryly, "But no. You are quite alive, though for how much longer I cannot say. Now, would you mind telling me who you are and why you are here interrupting my work?"
"Uh, N-nagisa Momoe," the younger girl bowed despite her body's quaking, flustered, "P-pleased to meet y-you."
"Kyoko S-sakura," the redhead replied, quickly regaining her swagger even though she was still sitting on the ground with a bad leg and was literally dying from her soaking wet clothes and the cold temperatures, "Now w-who are YOU?"
The man looked at her flatly with irritation, both at her attitude AND at the fact she still hadn't answered his second question. He puffed up a bit, "Dear child, I am Master Neloth, Mage Lord and Councilor of the former House Telvanni. Now, if you're quite done being a mouthy teenager, would you mind telling me what in Oblivion you're doing on my property and interrupting my experiments?"