I fly down further than I ever have before and see the gates. They're mostly black, but I can see red flickering around them. They look like they're on fire, but there's no heat or flames and they don't burn up.

I pause a few inches away from the door. Do I really want to do this? If I even go in there I'll never be able to turn back. If word gets out that I've even thought of this, my reputation will be ruined forever.

It's not too late. I can still be good. I could just go back and pretend this never happened. Maybe if I worked for long enough, I could be an angel again. If I go in here, there's no way I'm getting my position back.

Who am I kidding? I'll never be an angel again anyway. Why not join hell. They do pay much better, and I'd definitely get more respect from them than I do from the "good" side.

I look back at the gate. The lock on it is as big as I am. I guess the size wouldn't be an issue for their workers.

Ugh! Because I made one mistake, I can't even change into my full size anymore! I know the people working for hell, at least have a normal size that they can turn into. Yet, the people who are supposed to be on the side of good can't even give me that much respect!

That's it! I'm going to do it! I'm going to go and work in hell! Why not at this point.

The space between the bars is just big enough for me to squeeze through. I fly quickly down the path through the underworld until I come to a woman with fairy wings sitting at a desk. She must be one of them!

She looks at me for a moment. I suddenly feel self conscious. I'm only about a fifth of her size and I'm still wearing the uniform of a demoted angel. It's mostly just leaves sewn together into a short dress that hugs my body just enough to show every flaw. I've even still got my dust bag on my hip.

I reach up and pull my hair out of the bun I've always had to keep it in. At least with my hair down it can distract from the rest of me a little bit.

"Welcome to Hell. Do you have an appointment?" she says.

"Um, no," I say, "But I need to see Satan."

"Looking to defect over to our side?"

"Yes, I need to join you."

"Well, you'll have to wait, he's busy right now. I'll let you know when he's ready to come back."

She points to a few chairs a few feet away. Normal sized chairs, no less.

"Okay."

I fly over to the chairs and sit down in the one furthest from her desk. I fiddle with the hem of my dress. I look ridiculous! Why didn't I think to change before I came down here? I guess it's a little better than the old days when fairies weren't allowed to wear anything at all. I wonder if he would respect me more if I went with more of the traditional look. No, I'm not doing that. I look bad enough as it is, I'm not going to walk in there completely naked on top of that.

I look around at the area. The path diverges at this point. It goes in several different directions, but I can't see where each one leads without getting up and following them. I don't want to leave my seat in case he comes back.

I sit for about two hours or so and he's still not back yet.

"Um, Miss?" I say.

"Yes," the woman says.

"Do you have any idea how long it will be before he comes back?"

"No, he kind of just comes and goes as he pleases. Sometimes he's gone for a few minutes, sometimes it's a few days. You just have to wait until he comes back, or leave and try again later."

"How long has he been gone so far?"

"Oh, I think it's been almost a day so far since I last saw him. So that means when he comes back, he'll either be happy and energetic or he'll be in an absolutely hellish mood."

"That pun was terrible."

"I know. It's true, though. Are you sure you don't want to just come back later?"

"I don't think I'll be able to talk myself into coming back down here if I leave now."

"Alright."

She turns back to her work.

"Um, Miss?"

"What is it?"

"Do you have a bathroom down here?"

"Yes, but it's for employees only unless you go further down some of the paths."

"Is it safe to go down them?"

"Not looking like you do."

"What's wrong with how I look?"

She turns around to face me.

"You're kidding, right? First of all, you're tiny. It's also really obvious that you're still one of the heaven fairies. You don't want to know what happens to those when they come down here without a chaperone. It also doesn't help that you really don't pull off that look. And before you ask, I can't leave my post to take you down there. I don't want to deal with the consequences of that. I have work to do and my boss is literally the devil."

"What if I just pulled up my skirt and peed on the seat right now?"

"I think you know just as well as I do why that's not a good idea."

"Fine, I'll just hold it."

"Good luck with that."

She goes back to work and I sit for another hour or so.

Some kind of demon walks up to her desk at this point. After they talk for a moment he sits down on one of the other chairs. He looks fairly human-like except for the fact that his skin looks like the night sky. It's pure black and around his eyes and mouth look like they're made out of several tiny stars. He doesn't have wings, but he's very well dressed, wearing a gray suit and black tie.

Now I have to try even harder to look at least semi-presentable.

He glances at my chair and gives me a strange look. I glance down at my dress to make sure he can't actually see anything under it.

"Don't even think about it," the woman says from her desk without looking up.

"I wasn't!" he says.

"Sure you weren't," she says.

"Aren't you supposed to be in a forest somewhere?" he says.

"I'm defecting to this side."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"How long have you been waiting here?"

"At least three hours, but I think it's been more than that."

"Hmm, well, he has to come back sometime. You're more patient than me. I would have left at about the one hour mark."

"I'm willing to wait."

"Maybe you could have gone home and made yourself a little more presentable if you wanted him to take you seriously."

"I look just fine."

"I can practically see through your leaves, also there's a big hole in the side of them."

"What?!"

I look down and see that he's right. There's a large part of a seam that's completely split open. It stretches from just under my chest almost to the hem at the bottom. That's what I get for playing with the threads. It better not split completely open.

We wait for about another two hours or so. I really should have thought this through better. What if he doesn't come back for another week?! I can't just sit here for that whole time. Maybe I should just go back out and come back in a couple of days. I guess if I'm still coming back it won't matter what the others think of me.

They don't respect me anyways, so I guess it doesn't matter. Either way I can't go back. I have to come and work in hell.

What if he turns me away just from seeing me?! No, he can't! He won't. If he does, then I won't back down! I'm not scared of him. I'm going to march right in there and tell him that I'm going to work here, whether he likes it or not!

I turn to face the demon sitting next to me.

"Hey, it's been like two hours, why are you still here?" I ask.

"It's urgent, and in any case, I think if I'm not here the second he becomes available, I'll be losing more than just my wings."

Suddenly I hear a large boom from the room behind me and the ground shakes for a brief moment.

"That's him," the woman at the desk says, "You better get in there if you still want to."

I fly up to the door and my confidence crumbles. I can't do this. What am I even doing?! I'm about to face Satan himself! This has got to be the dumbest thing I've ever done!

"Sir," the woman yells, "There's a fairy here to see you."

The door opens and a large red hand grabs me. It pulls me firmly into the room and drops me on the floor. I feel the rip in my dress get just a little bit bigger. I grab it to hold it together and look up. He's huge even by normal standards. He surprisingly looks a bit like a giant human except for his giant red and black horns, his long claw like hands, and his entire enormous body being covered in red and black.

Then I look in his eyes. Oh god his eyes! They only show evil. All I see is madness, death and destruction! Fear is the only thing I feel for a moment. Pure and unknowable terror! The kind that you can only experience for yourself.

I manage to tear my eyes away and suddenly feel something warm and wet on my legs. I look down and see that I just peed on his floor and there's a small puddle around my feet.

"I-I'm so sorry, sir," I quickly stammer out.

Oh, God! It's already ruined! There's no way I can come back from this!

"Tiny fairy," he says, his voice booms and I can feel it down to my soul, "What are you blabbering, if you're going to do that I need to make you a bit bigger."

Suddenly I feel every part of my body expanding. After a brief moment I'm standing up at the size of a human.

He lifts me off the ground by my hair. Ouch! That hurts so much! He drops me onto the palm of his hand.

"I-I w-want t-to work for y-you."

"Why?"

"I'll never be an angel again, if I come down here I'll have more respect as a hell fairy than I will if I keep working for heaven."

"And you think hell is an improvement?"

"Yes, sir, and with the new set of gods coming in, I think now is the best time to switch over."

"The new gods are here? Already?"

"They are, and I don't know how long it will be before their new world gets started."

"Hmm, very well. You may work for me if you choose."

"Really? Thank you so much! You won't regret it!"

"Now, you get to stay this size unless you want to change when you're on earth. When you leave the room you will get a key that will lead you to your room. In there you will find a uniform for this week. After your first week you will find your permanent uniform. Enjoy your stay."

"Wait, can't I have something to wear until I get to my room?"

"No, for the first week you get to wear the regular fairy uniform. It's just tradition, deal with it or leave."

"Okay, sir,"

He puts me down and I turn to walk out the door. I step out and look at the woman at the desk. She gives me a look of both pity and pride.

"Well, you must have impressed him, he's letting you take a pretty nice room. Good luck, have a nice day."

The man stands up and gives me a weird look before walking up to the door to go in himself.

"Well, fairy, looks like you made it," he says, "I'm sure it will be a pleasure working with you. Welcome to Hell."

"Thank you," I say.

"Alright, wish me luck, hopefully I can get my wings back this time."

I take the key and feel it pulling me down one of the paths. I notice that I still have my wings, but I can't get them to work anymore. I guess I just have to walk the whole way. The ground feels like packed dirt beneath my bare feet. It's been so long since I last felt that. I don't think I particularly like it, but I guess there are worse things to walk on.

As I move further down the path I start to see demons mixed with a few hell fairies. The fairies look a bit amused by seeing me, but some seem to feel a bit of pity. The demons just laugh or give me hungry looks. I start to see more and more of them as I go along.

Suddenly I come to a large crowd of them standing around something. Great. I push through them and see what's in the center

There's a small hole that's around a black rock. I would like to know what's important about it, but I also don't want to stand out here for any longer than I have to. Finally I reach my room, unlock the door, slam it shut, and collapse onto my bed.